"Our Lord Warmaster has been in a good mood recently. He doesn't look as gloomy as he did at the beginning."
Veronica, who was wearing a smart brown uniform and a long black skirt, put down the tea and put the data pad in her hand on the table while teasing Soshyan.
"Hey, I told you not to scream like that, it's not good for people to hear you."
"What are you afraid of? Will anyone else install a bug in your place?"
As she spoke, she pushed the data pad in front of Soshyan.
"A summary of next month's fleet ration forms is here."
"Well, thank you for your hard work."
Soshiyang nodded, sincerely thanking Veronica. In fact, she was handling many chores in the fleet during this period. Even many soldiers and logistics officers were surprised by her extraordinary computing power and memory, and suspected that she was Without the addition of the Meditator Sequence, her thinking agility is completely different from that of a mortal. She can get results immediately for many data without even using the Meditator.
Although there are many Space Marines in the fleet, they are generally not willing to deal with trivial chores. Even if they have the ability, after the second establishment of the army, Space Marines rarely need to use their brains in this area. Vero In a sense, Nika serves as the "deputy brain" of the expeditionary force.
Of course, Veronica's extraordinary concentration, memory and computing power are not without price. To keep her energetic, Soshyan has to pay some of her own "energy".
"I see it's hard work for you. You have to deal with those Astartes who have more awkward personalities every day."
"Oh, this is what I'm doing, what can I do? If possible, of course I would like to be a private on the front line. I only need to pull the bolt gun at the enemy."
"Yes, yes, commanding thousands of troops will make our dear Warmaster very tired."
Feeling the gentle hands kneading his neck and shoulders, Soshyan closed his eyes slightly. He hadn't had any real rest for about a week. Although his body was not tired, his spirit was quite exhausted.
"By the way, the small team sent by Mr. Doral has arrived in the Maelstrom area. It should be near the Endinion star cluster."
"So fast?"
"Although there is no webway in the Maelstrom area, there is in the neighboring star areas. It is faster than us walking slowly."
"Yes, the webway is indeed a good thing. If there is a usable webway in the Maelstrom area, there may be a chance to give Huron a blow."
"According to Sir Doral's instructions, after the team arrives, they will stay on standby as instructed. We will give them new instructions after we arrive. This is safer."
Suddenly, Suoshiyang thought of something and opened his eyes suddenly.
"Um...wait? Veronica, how did you receive such distant news?"
"The Hea Talisman has the ability to communicate across the void. Although it is in fragments, this function has been retained. Is it similar to your Astropath?"
"Hiss...there are so many think tanks in the fleet, don't let the news leak out."
"No, don't worry."
"Be careful and try to use this thing as little as possible in the future."
"I know~"
Veronica let go of her hand, walked to the table, held the edge of the table with both hands and said:
"I'm going to get you some dessert, made with Chegris' dairy products."
"Um."
Soshyan nodded, picked up the data pad on the table and started browsing. Then Veronica walked out of a room from the side. This was her exclusive passage, and there were only a few people on the ship who knew about it.
There was no one in the corridor at this time. When she walked around a corner, she suddenly found that the lights in the other corridor on the right were extinguished for some reason. When she inadvertently swept through the darkness, she suddenly felt as if something was watching her. .
It felt like she was walking in a dark forest and looked up to see a strange black bird staring at her on the branch - she didn't know why she had such a strange association.
"who?"
She frowned and stopped, looking carefully again, but saw nothing.
Suddenly, the lights in the corridor turned on.
There was no one there.
"Strange...an illusion?"
Thinking that she was in a claustrophobic space, Veronica shook her head and walked away.
————————
"30 seconds until landing."
Among the various noises, the voice of the servitor was even more noisy.
"Take action and praise the Emperor."
Grimaldus felt the restraint device gradually tighten, the flight attitude of the entire drop pod changed drastically, and the noise from the rear engine became louder.
Suddenly, the entire airdrop pod descended vertically, accompanied by a shuddering and creaking sound from the metal parts.
With a loud noise, he realized that he and the power armor were being impacted by a huge impact, and warning symbols flashed amber light on his retinas - they had arrived.
As the youngest member in the history of the Brotherhood of Swords, Grimaldus is already very familiar with this feeling.
With the sound of shattering stones and steel, the airborne capsule completed its mission. The restraints were disconnected one by one. The soldiers took out the bolt rifles from the mezzanine. The surrounding baffles fell outward one by one, raising the surrounding dust. and grit.
"Almighty Lord of Mankind, witness the battle we offer you."
With a low chant, Grimaldus took the lead and walked out of the cabin.
Through the heavy haze, he saw layers of rocks and desert covering most of the area, all the way to the building structure surrounded by solid high walls. The mountains in the distance were shrouded in flying sand, extending towards one end of the horizon and the other. At one end is a relatively flat, stony wasteland.
"Expand, be alert, and concentrate!"
Then he gave the order, and the soldiers quickly formed a battle formation. Their black armor and white crosses were particularly eye-catching in the dusty gray sky.
The Black Templars, a splintered group from the Imperial Fists during the Second Founding, are launching crusade across the galaxy in the name of the Emperor against all enemies of humanity, whether aliens or heretics.
This battle will be Grimaldus' first time as commander of a battle company, with twelve warriors at his command.
The Black Templars operate with coordination, precision, and speed that mortals cannot understand. In years of fighting and fighting, this extremely efficient operation mode has been deeply ingrained in their bones.
The battle company quickly crossed the landing site and came to the edge of the parapet. Through the blinding smoke, Grimaldus saw the stone decorations and arched doors and windows inside the dome building.
A group of people crowded around the window with guns pointed at the sky, while others ran towards the turret-like fortifications scattered around, which were equipped with heavy weapons.
Apparently they were aware that the empire's angel of death was coming.
If you look closely, you can see that the ground around the dome is broken and cracked, and the building itself is also badly damaged, but through the cracks, the lime building materials and stained gilt decoration are still clearly visible.
Now it is almost in ruins. The symbol of the Empire's double-headed eagle was once engraved on the top of the dome, but now it has been deliberately erased and replaced with the eight-arrow starburst chaos symbol crudely woven from metal strips.
