Chapter 1236: Stand firm and fight stupidly
The depressing atmosphere in the hulk continues, making the air seem stale and boring. The trampling of power boots is particularly loud and faint in the silence. The gravity environment also made the joint locks rattle.
Looking at the mess on the road, Beria said sadly:
“This place of loyalty has become a tomb.”
They walked in a pair of huge He stopped in front of the plastic steel door. Every inch of the door was engraved in gold with bits and pieces about the Holy Emperor.
The Deathwings paused before it, marveling at its beauty, murmuring quick prayers and raising their weapons before them so that their blades touched their mouths in tribute to the Emperor. respect.
The armor plates of the Deathwing Terminator are large and cumbersome, and their limited range of movement makes them unsightly to many wearers, but Belial still manages to maintain elegance.
Soshyan was not in the mood to pay attention to this. He finally decided this place would be the forward base, and immediately asked the soldiers to weld the eight vents shut and deploy a small Wolf Spider turret inside - it The armor-piercing projectile is capable of terminating any creature that attempts to move through the pipe.
Soshyan then contacted the Techmarine detachment, which was composed of Techmarines from several Chapters and was currently below them.
"Chapter Master Soshyan, we find that Geller's position is intact."
Thorin Fleming, the foundry master of the White Temple and the leader of the technical team, sent a message.
“At the same time, the thermal energy signal shows that both reactors are activated.”
“Where is the circulation system?”
“It has not been damaged yet, its machine soul is still there. We found a reading of the Central Meditator Array, quiescent, but still alive."
"Can you awaken it?"
"Of course."
The Foundry Master's voice trembled with the cutting interference on the outside of the hulk.
“It has only slept for a few centuries, all organic parts have died, and the mechanical system has come to a standstill, but the machine soul is still patiently waiting for contact with faith.”
"There are extended system degradations everywhere, the machine spirits are unresponsive, and getting them back up to full speed will require more prayers to the Emperor and the Omnissiah."
Techmarine of the Ascetic Chapter Nestor Gur also expressed his opinion at the right time.
"We might be able to use replacement machine souls."
But Rogris seemed a little impatient. He was the youngest in the team and sometimes couldn't stand the slow pace of other forging masters.
“This is a holy ship, brother, more holy than most, we have to wake it up without making any mistakes, and what must be known is that the power network of this ship needs repairs, many Some of them will be missing one or more key systems before this work is completed."
"We have gravity now, but we need to circulate air and lighting, which will be important for subsequent operations, after all. We do not rule out sending mortals into it.”
Soshyan made his request.
There was silence on the other end of the communicator for a moment, and Thorin Fleming finally gave a reply.
"I will do my best to facilitate your journey, please wait."
The Forgemaster switched his voice channel, he turned and shouted to another channel to follow One of the technical sergeants communicated, and a chanting sound softened by the electronic transmission came.
About a minute later, the news came.
"Chapter Master Soshyan, we have made some progress."
The next moment light crackled across the temple, the ancient lighting tubes glowing in white sparks as energy flowed through them after so long a period of disuse.
The other battle brothers immediately and instinctively raised their weapons. Less than half the tubes were lit, many glowing at the edge of failure, hiding more space in darkness than the light illuminated.
This space is too large to be fully illuminated. The shadows have shrunk behind the pillars on both sides of the corridor, but they refuse to give in any more.
At the same time, air began to flow out of those vents again, and a sigh was released that did not stop until the air pressure was balanced.
As the darkness recedes, more horrific details are revealed.
Behind the security center, the lights no longer worked, but were illuminated by the filthy grease of skulls stacked in a cone.
The floor was covered with debris - rags, broken machinery, relics and bones.
Looking around, there are so many bones, like a whole carpet of bones, as high as ankles, which were then trampled into powder by the Terminator's heavy boots.
"What happened here..."
Belial walks among the corpses in anger.
"What caused the people of the Empire to be slaughtered!"
In the anger of the Grand Master, the Deathwings began to chant requiem prayers for the dead.
Finally, among the bones on the ground, the incense burner on the Deathwing Master illuminated a terrifying skull.
It was not entirely human. Although the facial bones had the characteristics of a human child, there was a malformed bulge on the back of the head.
Soshyan walked up to Beria, stared at the alien skull, and said solemnly:
"These aliens will pay the price."
After saying that, he turned around, The technical priests said:
“In half an hour, establish a communication node here that can cover the entire ship! And deploy large-scale sensing facilities, and set up detection instruments and defense equipment at major intersections.”
After explaining this, he looked at the chapter leaders and company commanders of other chapters.
"According to the previous plan, we will first establish a safety zone around it. Everyone will be assigned to corresponding positions, and they need to be thoroughly cleaned. If there are impassable places, they need to be marked and set up with induction mines or automatic turrets. The scope of this area is centered on this place and covers the surrounding two kilometers. After the deployment of the safe zone is completed, everyone will return here and we will take the next step."
We have learned from the famous hulks of the empire. Exploring experience, Soshyan was not in a hurry this time and chose the safest plan. Anyway, the strength of the other two battle groups was not enough to break through the obstacles, so there was no need to worry that they would get there first.
In this operation, he wanted to minimize the losses and not give the aliens any chance to cause trouble - Beria provided him with a lot of guidance. For example, gene stealers like to let people go in front of them. Pass through, and then use the pipeline maneuver to sneak attack from the side and rear, forming a deadly double-team situation.
Another point is that gene stealers will also use their own kind as bait, using a small amount of sacrifice to introduce the attackers into a wider terrain, and then swamp them with numbers. In fact, narrow terrain is more disadvantageous for them. After all, In terms of individual strength, they are actually far inferior to the Space Marines.
And Beria personally believes that pure-blooded gene stealers are actually weaker than mixed-bloods in frontal combat, because their attack method is very single and they can only rely on numbers to overwhelm their opponents, and they cannot do as well as mixed-bloods. Human weapons are used to form a composite force, and there are no biological weapons as diverse as the real Tyranids. Only a very small number of psychic individuals can launch psychic attacks, so they are highly dependent on the combat environment and terrain.
In response to the tactics and habits of the Gene Stealers, Soshyan's response was to proceed step by step, using point control lines and demarcating areas to advance little by little with the help of automatic turrets and combat robots provided by the Mechanicus, and while advancing, let the fleet Use laser cannons to cut off the excess parts of the hulk, deploy small and sturdy unmanned outposts to prevent the aliens from having the opportunity to maneuver around and attack from the side, and then use tugboats to secure the hulk to prevent it from drifting into the subspace cracks again.
As long as the detour space is lost, these aliens who like to lurk in the dark will have to attack the firepower of the Space Marines head-on. Once their number cannot exceed the firepower threshold of the Space Marines, it will only be another battle. A massacre.
Soshyan saw this tactic in a book recording ancient Terran military tactics. The commander at the time used it to deal with the highly mobile rebels. It can be summed up in one sentence - conclusion A stronghold, a stupid fight.
This tactic may not be beautiful, but it must be the safest and most effective. Anyway, Soshyan now has sufficient manpower and material resources, why not do it?
As the plan was issued, the soldiers immediately fought separately according to their respective affiliations.
(End of this chapter)