Standard Terran calendar.
Obscure Star Field, Walvis System, Flame Star 2
The giant space station is groaning.
It is like a dead creature floating in the void at the moment: the steel shell, the hollowed-out interior creaking, there is no sign of any creature moving on the internal skeleton and gun base, and no one is kneeling in the silent church. , there is no light source in each cabin, and the remaining light is almost exhausted.
However, somewhere in the vast depths, there was a flickering light of armor.
Six moving pale lights glowed like the beams of search lights, reflecting the light on the steel wall as cold as ice.
A group of armored warriors moved in a single file along the corridor, and although they walked slowly, their footsteps turned into ripples of metallic sound that echoed through the endless maze of corridors and pipes.
Around them, extremely weak singing followed.
【Asking the Emperor to save us】
Yanis Bozovic remained in the middle of the team, holding a bolter in both hands, chanting battle prayers with the sisters beside her, their voices stretching out like tentacles into the cold.
Ahead of her, Sister Captain Adriana Velez walked in front of the exploration team.
Holding her pistol in one hand and her detector in the other, the screen glowed with a dull green light.
【From lightning and storm】
The melody of this prayer is very intimate and harmonious, flowing among the people as if they share the power of six people. Their jet black armors are all made of plastic alloy and plastic steel armor plates, and their cloaks are intertwined with black and white. Each one is embroidered with the symbols of the Order of the Ebony Grail.
As Battle Sisters, they were sent to this space station floating in the orbit of the planet to conduct reconnaissance. Their main tasks were to find survivors and protect the property of the Imperial State Church - the unit to which this space station was affiliated.
Flame Star 2 is not a habitable world. In fact, it is a dead world with extremely high surface temperatures and active volcanoes everywhere.
But the thin atmosphere of this planet contains some kind of magical substance that can greatly increase the burning time of candles.
Therefore, the Ecclesiarchy obtained the development rights of this planet and built a huge space station.
Every day, tens of thousands of miners drive small collection spacecraft to the planets below, collect those materials in volcanic ash and storms, and return to the space station for basic processing and transportation to various state religion worlds.
But a few months ago, this space station suddenly lost contact. Since this planet is not an important location, and there are no Astra Militarum troops stationed nearby, even if it is called, it may not respond.
So the state church simply sent out the Zhili armed forces and the battle sisters to investigate.
The Ebony Holy Grail Order, which is closest to this place, has taken on this task——
Eventually, a cruiser arrived carrying five squads of nuns.
But after their search, the Flame Star 2 space station was just floating silently, like a slowly decaying corpse, without any abnormality.
All life seems to have evaporated.
"Keep the formation closed."
Adriana Velez's orders sounded softly on the team channel, and echoes continued to echo into the void.
Due to her outstanding performance in the New Badab War, after returning to the order, she was quickly promoted to an intermediate commanding nun, able to command several squads at the same time.
However, she was still accustomed to personally commanding from the front line, which earned her a reputation for bravery and fearlessness.
There are even rumors that the nun has included her in the list of candidates for successor.
【The Emperor saved us...】
Behind Yanis, Josu Huina Pate continued to sing, her voice intertwined with the singing of the sisters. Yanis and she graduated from the same nun college. As early as in the college, the church or the It was easy to find her solitary figure in the cathedral, standing steadfast and praying patiently.
But here, distracting thoughts are a danger, so Agnes dismissed these thoughts and focused on the prayer.
【From plague, temptation, witchcraft, war——】
Although not fully understood, the prayer is unquestionable: He is everywhere.
As the procession moved down another iron staircase, past a hatch or vent on another level, they would chant His name and He would walk around them.
【The Emperor saved us...】
Even here, deep in this vast steel tomb.
"I'm worried that the station's machine spirit is dissipating."
Velez said, her tone still calm.
“But judging from the fact that the air and gravity fields still exist, it may be enough to support it for a while, and we will continue to move towards the bottom, heading towards the fusion reaction below.
Heap, if there is any sign of life, I think that's where we should go. "
"learn."
The team members responded to her obediently. The team passed a T-shaped intersection and headed downwards. Everyone prayed silently in their hearts.
They walked down two more floors, all the way to the creaking and dirty bottom channel. The screen above the terminal emitted a wisp of white noise, and they projected ghostly images on the rusty wall. Like lights, wires hung above them like exposed nerves.
The red boots stepped on the fallen servo skeleton, and it responded with a grin with empty eyes, as if it was mocking the ladies.
"There's movement!"
A shout came from the front, and the owner of the voice was Sister Jenny, a heavy weapons hand.
Agniss instinctively entered a fighting crouching position, aiming the bolter in her hand at the entire corridor.
In the narrow beam of the armor's illuminator, she saw an erratic, confusing figure moving toward them.
: Blue-gray muscles, a strong body, deformed limbs, skin with obvious stitching marks, and a sharp blade shining in the dark.
A second later, the muzzle of Sister Jenny's heavy bolter exploded with a dazzling red flash like lightning - fully automatic fire mode, the noise was very loud.
On the radio channel, Velez also gave orders.
She said in a calm tone:
"Jenny, keep the suppressive fire going, keep them pinned in place."
"As commanded."
[The Emperor saved us...]
Bolt guns beat the hymn of war. The figures staggered, roared loudly, and fell down. Their faces were covered under blood-stained metal masks. The hoarse sounds came from under the masks, more like It's a cry of pain.
They were very fast, and even though they were hit by explosive shells, they still tried to swing their melee weapons at the nuns.
During the fierce battle, the explosion swallowed up the entire corridor, sparks ricocheted around and on the walls, and water and waste materials flew everywhere under repeated impacts and impacts.
"Eileen!"
Velez fired and shouted into the intercom.
"Did you encounter any enemy troops there?"
"Encountered enemies, unknown number!"
