The oppressive atmosphere in the hulk continued, making even the air seem stale and boring. The stamping of power boots was particularly loud in the silence, and the microgravity environment also made the joint locks rattle.
Looking at the mess on the road, Beria said sadly:
“This place of loyalty became a tomb.”
They stopped in front of a pair of huge plastic steel doors. 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 in front of them so that their blades touched their mouths in tribute to the Emperor. respect.
The Deathwing Terminator's armor plates were large and bulky, and its limited range of movement made it unsightly for many wearers, but Belial still managed to maintain an elegance.
Soshyan was not in the mood to pay attention to this. He finally determined this place as the forward base, and immediately asked the soldiers to weld the eight vents shut, and deployed a small Wolf Spider turret inside - its armor-piercing shells could defeat any attempt. Creatures moving through the pipes are deterred.
Soshyan then contacted the Techmarine detachment, composed of Techmarines from several Chapters, who were 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, thermal signals indicate that both reactors are active."
"What about the circulatory system?"
"It has not been damaged yet. Its machine spirit is still there. We found a reading of the central cogitator array. It is stationary, but still alive."
"Can you wake it up?"
"sure."
The Forgemaster's voice vibrated with the cutting interference of the hulk's exterior.
"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."
Nestor Gur, the technical sergeant of the Ascetic Chapter, also expressed his opinions at the right time.
"We might be able to use a replacement machine spirit."
But Roglis seemed a little impatient. He was the youngest in the team, and sometimes he couldn't stand the slow pace of other forging masters.
"This is a holy ship, brother, more holy than most, and 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, and many parts are in the process of completing this work There will always be one or more key systems missing.”
"We have gravity now, but we need air circulation and lighting. This is very 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, just a moment."
The Forgemaster switched his voice channels and called over to another channel to speak to one of the Techmarines, followed by a chant that was dulled by the electronic transmission.
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.
The space is too large to be fully illuminated, and the shadows have shrunk behind the pillars on either side of the corridor, refusing to give in any further.
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 equalized.
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 at it, there were 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 Grand Master's wrath, the Deathwings began chanting requiem prayers for the dead.
Finally, among the bones, the incense burner on the Deathwing Master illuminated a terrifying skull.
It wasn't exactly human. Although the facial bones had the characteristics of a human child, there was a misshapen bulge on the back of the head.
Soshyan walked to Beria, stared at the alien skull, and said in a deep voice:
"These aliens will pay the price."
After speaking, he turned around and said to the technical priests:
"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 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."
Drawing on the empire's famous experience in exploring hulks, Soshyan was not in a hurry this time and chose the safest plan. Anyway, the other two battle groups were not strong 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, the gene stealers like to open up the front road to let people pass, and then use pipelines to maneuver. , sneak attack from the side and rear, forming a fatal 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 to a wider terrain, and then drown them with numbers. In fact, narrow terrain is more disadvantageous to them. After all, in terms of individual strength, they are actually Far inferior to Space Marines.
Moreover, Beria personally believes that pure-blooded gene stealers are actually weaker than mixed-bloods in frontal combat, because their attack method is very single, they can only rely on numbers to overwhelm their opponents, and they cannot use human weapons like mixed-bloods. The composite army does not have the variety of biological weapons that the real Tyranids have. Only a very small number of psychic individuals can launch psychic attacks, so it is 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 one massacre after another.
Soshyan had seen this tactic in a book recording ancient Terran military warriors. The commander at the time used it to deal with the highly mobile rebels. It can be summed up in one sentence - build a stronghold and fight stupidly. .
This tactic may not be beautiful, but it must be the safest and most effective. Anyway, Soshyan now has sufficient manpower and material resources, so why not do it?
As the plan was issued, the soldiers immediately fought separately according to their respective affiliations.
