The Starfire's entire hull shuddered and groaned with supernatural terror as it tore itself from the glittering madness at the end of its uneventful warp voyage, leaping thunderingly out of the calm sea like a predator, and Surrounded by the aura of the gone.
The auspicious matrix is still ringing when detecting the new surrounding environment. The blurry and incomplete sea-green three-dimensional image of the Ma'kande galaxy is slowly appearing on the holographic screen in front of the command throne on the bridge.
Soshyan stood in front of his throne, flanked by Lothar and three other team captains, as well as the chief priest.
"We are still 2 hours away from the highest orbit."
Lothar said that he wanted to focus on the tactical report.
"Preliminary scans indicate that there is a craft in our path, we are still identifying it, and considering the possibility of an encounter, we are reading macro gun data and the possibility of encountering debris in the gravity well range."
Soshyan listened carefully in front of the screen, Yazdan Shahinian in black armor nodded thoughtfully, and the captains of the independent team were also learning to do tactical analysis.
"According to the information transmitted back by the Astropath, the defensive orbital station on that planet seems to have been activated."
Lothar continued, clicking on the runes embedded in the holographic control panel that highlighted the three-dimensional image of the orbital station.
"We received a warning signal and some noise. The weapons on the orbital station were not activated. Considering the possibility of invasion, there may be survivors on it."
"Did someone come first?"
Armin muttered something.
"Have you determined that they were attacked?"
Soshyan is still more cautious, because he has not seen any traces of battle, and the auspicious device has not yet scanned the wreckage of the battlefield. It is difficult for an orbital defense station to fall silently.
This sounds incredible.
"There's no clear evidence yet, but that slow-moving ship may give us an answer."
"We must act quickly."
Yazdan said, clicking his skull helmet.
"It appears our initial plans do not need to change."
Soshyan quickly made up his mind.
"If the orbital station that sent the signal is still resisting, that will become our base of operations."
As he spoke, his eyes must have been fixed on the three-dimensional image of the orbital station, as if he wanted to carve it into his mind.
"If not, we will take it back, and as a rule, the supplies that are about to be sent out are stored in the temporary warehouse at the orbital station, and we will go in there and take our goods, no matter what is in front of us."
The assembled Space Marines nodded silently.
"Before that, we have to board the ship to see what happened. Maybe this will help us understand what we will face later."
Soshyan turned his attention to Farzad and Ustad.
"Your squad will follow me aboard the ship."
"yes!"
"Sir..."
Armin spoke, but before he said the following words, Soshyan interrupted him.
"Your team serves as a reserve team, ready to respond to emergencies at any time."
He hesitated for a moment and finally accepted the order.
"Get ready quickly and gather at the torpedo launch bay in 10 minutes."
The Astral Knights quickly prepared for war. For many recruits, this was their first official battle as Space Marines in power armor. Previously, most of them only participated in the battle as scouts.
As the armament slaves and craftsmen were busy assembling the warriors, the deck was filled with the friction of armor and the whistling of servos, as well as the prayers of chastity brands.
Soshyan flexed his metal glove, observing the intricately carved tiny seals on the fingers and feeling the perfectly synchronized response.
The power armor he now wears is not the one he wore during his service, nor is it the one he repaired after the War of the World Engine. This armor is actually the armor of his former Chapter Master, which has always been Stored in a secret room.
This is a set of MKVIII type precision power armor, which is much more powerful than his previous set in terms of protection and functionality.
Not only is the neck guard added, but the torso and limbs also have thunder-like sculptures, paired with the main color of Astral Knight silver-gray, just like the thunder that has accumulated enough energy in the clouds, waiting to release huge destructive power at any time.
When he wore it for the first time, Soshyan realized how different the armor's machine spirit was from his old suit. It had an uncanny power of movement, as if urging him to fight.
After the servitor affixed the Purity Brand to his right pauldron, Soshyan donned his helmet, allowing the automated senses to connect to his own.
Despite already having an iron aura, Soshyan tried to make himself as much like the other warriors as possible.
No matter who he was before, he is the current chapter leader.
Soldiers will follow his example.
"Farzad."
The sounder on Soshyan's helmet sounded, and the squad commander turned from his formation and bowed his head in salute.
"Are your recruits ready for blood?"
Soshyan asked, turning his gaze to the assembled recruits.
The array of silver-armored warriors reminded Soshyan of the scene on the Storm again, but at that time they had more than seven hundred warriors, but now there were only twenty.
"They are ready, Chapter Master!"
Farzad said, Echo looked at his team members with his eyes, and it could be seen that some recruits were still shaking slightly because of the battle.
For a moment, Soshyan remembered the days when he had just undergone transformation and served as a recruit in the recruit company.
They should have been polishing themselves in the recruit company for a period of time, but the cruel reality forced them to mature quickly, and such maturity was likely to be paid for with blood, but Soshyan had to do it.
The helmet concealed his lonely expression.
"Very well, attack captain, you will work with me and break into the bridge directly."
Farzad bowed his head again.
"As you command, Chapter Master."
"Ustad."
Another captain stood up and lowered his head.
"You and your men go sweep the engine room."
"As you command, Chapter Master."
The prepared team then crossed the arsenal and set off towards the launch port.
Each soldier has been given detailed combat doctrine and tactical reports, environmental overview and enemy analysis, and they all know why they are here and what they need to do.
At this time, Soshyan's communicator rang again, and Lothar's voice came.
They are passing through the asteroid belt and it will take a while.
More importantly, the ship in the void suddenly stopped. Lothar felt that Soshyan should come and listen. They received some strange signals.
"Report to Port 1, soldiers."
Soshyan told them.
"I have to make a decision back on the bridge and I will join you when we reach our intended location."
After saying that, he left the assembly area, and as he walked towards the bridge and passed through the corridor, the Starfire began to vibrate.
The strike cruiser's weapon array has been ignited, and the uninterrupted sound waves of macrocannon fire and light lance fire shook the surrounding space.
The fleet was moving through the system's asteroid belt, and it was necessary to clear the way and break up the barrages of icy rock before they could do any sustained damage. The strike cruiser's void shields effectively defended against the barrage that shattered it into hundreds. Thousands of pieces of debris, although occasionally the lights inside the ship would dim slightly after a particularly tricky impact.
