Chapter 437 Mechanical Dream
The Forge World of Atal Median.
Steel Ring Theater Supreme Command.
The white-haired old man in military uniform sat alone at his desk and finished reading the CC briefing in his hand, a piece of biochemical parchment presented by the astrological choir class. The text was very brief, but the message conveyed was shocking:
The battle in the Nidelina sub-sector is over, and the Imperial Army has won a glorious victory! The Dark Mechanicum was completely annihilated, and part of the Chaos fleet fled. The rebel forces have now been completely driven out of the area, and thirteen industrial worlds, two fleet anchorages, and one hive world have returned to Imperial control. The Ulesh Grenadiers, the Imperial Navy fleet, and the Dawnstar Titan Legion suffered heavy losses, but they still retain their structures. There were no survivors of House Draconis, and the losses of the Iron Buddha Chapter were unknown.
The white-haired old man read the battle report over and over again.
The expression on his face was still extremely unbelievable.
He put down the Star Language briefing, raised his hand and rubbed his eyelids that were bloodshot and swollen from staying up late for a long time, then picked up the briefing again and read it to confirm that he had read it correctly.
What's happening here?
Marshal Hexero had huge doubts in his mind.
The situation in the Ni-Delina sub-sector is very bad, all worlds have fallen, and the remaining imperial forces are huddled in defense. He had already given up on that sub-sector. He only sent an Astartes warband and a knight family there as a token of his duty, and ordered Qingshan Khan to make his own decision - he didn't give any hope in the first place. Be mentally prepared and wait to receive the news of failure, but...can this reverse the defeat?
Grand Admiral Heshro's biggest expectation for Qingshan Khan is not to defeat the rebels - the gap in military strength is too great, but to hope that he can rescue some Imperial troops, even if he cannot bring back the Titan Legion and Imperial Guard, and bring those few ships It would not be bad to bring back a naval warship. However, the marshal never imagined that Qingshan Khan was not satisfied with rescuing the imperial army in the hive world, he had recovered the entire secondary sector!
This victory is too great.
It completely exceeded his psychological expectations.
"How did he do that?"
Grand Marshal Hershrow muttered to himself.
He has also commanded the Astartes Chapter, and he is very aware of the combat effectiveness of the Space Marines - there are four other Chapters in the Iron Ring War Zone, but why is the gap between Chapters so big? ? What is so special about the Iron Buddha Chapter that makes this result so exaggerated?
Thinking of this, Marshal Hershrow turned his head and looked at the servo skull quietly placed on the table.
This servo skull comes from the detailed post-war summary report of his direct unit, the Ulesh Grenadiers.
Grand Marshal Hershro picked up the servo skull and pressed the start button. A faint light bloomed in the skull's eye sockets and automatically floated in mid-air. The marshal pulled down a thin metal cable and inserted the end plug into the implant on the side of his forehead. After entering the object and blinking his eyes to verify his identity, a text message automatically appeared in Generalissimo Hershrow's mind.
…
Time: 2.16.133.M31
Document: Imperial Guard Post War Summary Report
Name: Battle of the Nidelina Subsector
Dear Generalissimo Hershrow:
In a fierce battle, we faced the indiscriminate bombardment of two Titan legions. The fortifications built in advance were in vain and soon turned into ruins. There was no way to stop the advance of the rebel Titans. The Ulesh Grenadier suffered heavy losses.
Fortunately, by the Emperor's blessing, I am still alive.
This allowed me to witness a battle that I will never forget.
And report this battle to you.
As early as the first time the Traitor Titan Legion successfully landed on the surface, the Planetary Governor and his family had already evacuated to the airport, abandoning Hive City No. 1 and the planetary defense forces. In desperation, I could only take over the command of the Planetary Defense Force. However, this did not help to defend the hive. The large titans of Kurisatai and the Unruly Lord began to advance steadily, and soon broke through the outer defense line. The Kurisatai Titans' firepower was precise and sophisticated. They demolished the hive's defense facilities at targeted points, and soon our carefully constructed forts and fortresses were reduced to nothing.
This group of crazy traitors, after they destroyed the defense facilities of the nest city, the city gate has been opened to them, but they still target the residential areas of the city and continue bombarding them. They want to cause a complete massacre and extermination!
Until the Titan fell from the sky.
A Titan that I have never seen before, painted in dark black and dark gold, with the legion emblem not clearly visible. It has four arms, with its head on the shoulders, and each of the four arms holds different weapons. This Titan fell from the sky and fell into the middle of the traitor Titan formation. As soon as it landed, it killed two traitor Titans, just like shooting two grunts.
The explosion of the plasma reactor did not harm it, and the reason is shocking and even unbelievable... On the throne, I will never forget that scene - the four-armed Titan somersaulted backwards, avoiding the explosion impact of the Titan's energy core. A behemoth more than ninety meters high somersaulted in front of me! Everyone who witnessed this scene felt their scalps numb, and many of our young soldiers were unable to perform such an action.
The Four-Armed Titan massacred the entire Titan Legion.
Its movements are indescribable.
Elegant, deadly, and violent.
The Kurisatai Titan began to carry out indiscriminate attacks. Many small Titans died in the firepower of the large Titans that did not distinguish between friend and foe. However, the four-armed Titan still stood, and its shield strength was no less than that of other large Titans. One Titan managed to keep up with the two legions, and the Dawn Star Titans also came to join the battle. The battle began to develop in a direction that was beneficial to us... What I didn't expect was that the traitor's last large Titan died in a battle. The mouth of the black beast.
(What is the black giant beast?)
(Grand Marshal Hershrow couldn’t help but frown after reading this. It’s both a “four-armed titan” and a “black behemoth”. He feels that this battle report is getting more and more outrageous. It’s like a space adventure novel written by a third-rate writer. If the colonel hadn't attached the photo, he would have thought the other party was making it up.)
(Continue reading below.)
A giant black beast that looks like a giant Glockus. Its back is covered with black thorns. It stands on two legs and has a long tail. This giant beast opens its mouth and spits out blue energy jets, killing a Warmaster-class Titan with one blow. , shocking.
This black behemoth did not appear out of thin air. It crawled out of the Iron Buddha Chapter's transport cruiser. I'm pretty sure it's following the command of Qingshan Khan. I've seen it with my own eyes. Qingshan Khan used a jetpack to fly in front of the monster, and then used sign language to communicate with it... An Astartes chapter raised the space monster. Used in combat, it confuses me. I don't know if this behavior violates the Codex Astartes, and I don't know if the Ordo Xenos would allow this to happen. I have forbidden my soldiers to speak of this publicly, and I have not mentioned it to anyone but you. I am simply reporting to you what I have witnessed.
That’s it, sir.
Sincerely, salute.
Document author: Colonel Bertram Coos
Document number: KB-281-27-1
Recording Device: Servo Skull # 3
Modification date: [DATA EXPUNGED]
Record location: Hive World II of Axeros
+Distributing this document will result in immediate execution+
…
The light in his eyes went out.
The servo skull slowly fell down.
Grand Marshal Huxley sat upright in his seat.
There were no words for a long time.
Colonel Bertram also knew how to protect himself wisely. When faced with things he couldn't understand, he would not speculate or comment, and would not allow his subordinates to discuss. He would only report truthfully to his direct leader, and then wait for his superiors to issue orders.
He didn't report anything to the Foreign Order either.
To be honest, Grand Marshal Heshro neither knew nor cared about what happened to the black-gold four-armed Titan, because that was a headache for the Mechanicus.
As for the black behemoth, hating aliens is the basic national policy and national consensus of the human empire. The Alien Tribunal is dedicated to dealing with this. However, the concept of "alien" generally refers to large-scale, threatening, and able to harm humans. If an alien race or civilization causes damage to its existence, is a single cosmic monster considered an "alien"?
Grand Marshal Hexolo didn't know either.
It depends on how the Alien Inquisition defines it.
Grand Marshal Hershrow thought back to that photo. The black giant beast did look a little like a Glock. They were both black spiny-skinned reptiles, but...fuck it, there was no Glock that big. Si beast?
Stand taller than a Titan.
The Grox beast is the most widely raised meat livestock in the human empire. Although it has a bad temper and is aggressive, it is adaptable and has a high meat production rate. Every citizen of the empire knows this creature, and its name often appears in Low Gothic. The greeting uses dirty words, such as: as stupid as Glocksmon, as smelly as Glocksmon, or even saying that he/she is Glocksmon's little lover. It can even be used as a compliment - you're as strong or tough as a Glocks.
After reading the post-war summary report of his subordinates, Generalissimo Hershrow picked up another secret newspaper. The cover was marked with the permission level: Vermilion. This is a top-secret report from the Holy Hammer Order, which came through a secret channel and came from the Grand Inquisitor Sid Nora who was far away on the front lines of the Ni Delina sub-sector.
Open the envelope and open the stack.
The first thing that catches your eye are a few photos.
A high-altitude overhead shot shows that there is a temporary landing site on the ground, but this landing site is strangely built into the shape of an eight-pointed star, and there are many furnishings and items of unknown meaning around it. The Grand Inquisitor interpreted the annotations one by one based on his knowledge of demonology and the secrets of subspace, telling Grand Marshal Heshro what the pattern represented and what purpose the Dark Mechanicum wanted to achieve by using this ritual altar.
At the end is a confession.
From the captured black engine oil man.
This confession clearly stated that the Black Machine Oil Man wanted to use all the residents of Hive City No. 1 and the eight loyal Titans to complete an eighth-level sacrifice ceremony, open a subspace portal, and escape from the galaxy.
With the two supporting evidence, Sid Nora put forward his conjecture - the Dark Mechanicum did not want to occupy the Steel Ring, but wanted to plunder resources and bring back the Eye of Terror. There were big problems with the existing combat plan. Must be modified.
Grand Marshal Hershro was lost in thought.
…………
Suzheng, living deck.
A standard Space Marine personal cabin.
Zofia was lying alone on the bed.
Tossing and turning, unable to sleep.
Her consciousness has broken away from the control system of the "Army-breaking Golden Armor", but Titan's automatic perception and detection unit is still running wildly in her mind. Now this impression is overshadowed by the natural five senses of her body. The girl's whole body ached, and a feeling of alienation was passing away in her heart. The memory of the numb metal body gradually disappeared. This feeling seems to be more real than her natural body. Even though everything has passed so long, even though she has left the neural impulse unit and the Pons bridge device, the connection between her and the "Broken Army Golden Armor" is still like a dream, like a hallucination caused by drugs.
Zofia couldn't help but lean her head against the cold metal wall, and raised her hand to rub her greasy hair. The touch eased her pain slightly until her fingers traced the input port under her skull. The headache flooded into her brain again, chills spread across her occipital bone, and her nails hooked on something around the implant port, a scab. The girl picked at the scar, feeling a subtle but sharp sting that overcame her migraine. Zofia looked at her fingers, which were already covered with a thin layer of blood.
The accommodation deck of the Su Zheng maintains a constant temperature, but excessive warmth can occasionally make people feel uncomfortable. The thin sheets were soaked with sweat and stuck to her naked thighs. Zofia had already felt insomnia, and she should have closed her eyes again, but that only made the pain around her neural interface worse. In addition to physical pain, even mental hallucinations came to the door. The girl felt extremely small, as if the body she traveled through the world was just a ridiculous miniature model. She felt like she was shrinking and no longer her original height, as if it was a punishment from the gods.
"It's a waste of time."
She murmured to herself and started moaning again:
"You don't want to sleep, Zofia."
There was silence in the room.
She didn't like this feeling of being alone and uncared for. Her sweaty feet landed on the floor with a dull sound. Zofia went to the bathroom and turned on the faucet. The warm water smelled like machine oil, but she still used water. She rinsed her mouth, then poured a bucket of water on her face, and rubbed it vigorously, which made her feel a little better.
Look at yourself in the mirror.
Weak, haggard, tired, sick...
Zofia suddenly understood what she wanted.
A strong impulse arose in her mind.
"I want to find him."
After washing, I put on my clothes and went straight to the captain's room.
…
"what's the situation?"
Fu Qinghai asked curiously.
He was sitting behind a desk doing business.
"I don't know, I feel so bad."
Zofia said decadently.
"But Camille told me that there is nothing wrong with your body and there are no hidden injuries."
Fu Qinghai said doubtfully.
Zofia pursed her lips and said nothing.
Fu Qinghai looked at Zofia carefully. She had a bad look on her face and her legs were shaking uncontrollably. She seemed to be trying hard to suppress herself from shaking her legs, but this only made her feel more uncomfortable. The girl covered her face with her hands in embarrassment. Her facial features were still delicate, but her hair was a little greasy and messy.
It's like... he just finished taking medicine.
Fu Qinghai has seen drug addicts. Whether it is documentaries about domestic drug rehabilitation centers or news reports about foreign drug rehabilitation centers, the people in the pictures are very similar to the girl's current state, feeling as if there are ants crawling on the skin.
But he knew Zofia never took drugs.
Fu Qinghai pressed the desktop intercom:
"Ask Xiao Fei to come to the captain's room."
…
"This is normal."
After listening to Zofia's description, Xiao Fei said:
"We usually call it 'mechanical fantasy.'"
"Mechanical dream?"
Fu Qinghai got a new term.
"Yes, I once served as the guardian of sacred objects in the Fire Bee Legion. I am very familiar with this situation."
Xiao Fei talked eloquently:
"For Titan captains, doing nothing is the worst state. They yearn to fight. Of course they want to kill the enemy and make achievements, and they will naturally pursue glory. However, beyond this, they have a deeper desire."
"After the captain connects with the Titan dozens or hundreds of times, the glory, the responsibility, the victory, all the good qualities of war will become secondary factors, and the only thing that will always linger is the profound physiological need-their desire. Escape from your own fragile body, and once you experience the excitement of becoming a god's machine, how could you not want to leave?"
"The symptoms are not diagnostic of any physical illness, but more of a neurological and cognitive decline - so Camille would say Zofia is healthy. In my experience, usually Conditions that the pilot crew may experience after leaving the Titan include: body chills, bone aches, and a variety of symptoms ranging from nausea and vomiting to fatigue and dissatisfaction, and even severe migraines."
Xiao Fei counted this list of pain.
Long ago, the Tech-Priests of the Firebee Legion would inform you of the consequences and costs of becoming a Titan pilot.
Xiao Fei knew that many crew members were just like Zofia now, lying in bed in the dead of night, fighting fiercely against the withdrawal reaction of being separated from the divine machine.
The Pons bridge device can only be used on humanoid Titans. "Pojun Golden Armor" is not a purely humanoid Titan. It has many mechanical structures that are completely different from the human body structure, so "Pojun Golden Armor" also uses mental pulse units. Xiao Fei Combining two different control methods, the control system of the "Army-Breaking Golden Armor" was created, which is one of the reasons why it surpasses ordinary Titans.
"Then why didn't I respond?"
Fu Qinghai asked strangely.
He also drives the "Army-breaking Golden Armor" and is also the main pilot. According to the description in the Titan Order, he is the "captain", and Zofia is just the co-pilot.
"You have the brain of M.O.D.O.K."
Xiao Fei nodded his head.
"Um……"
Fu Qinghai fell into deep thought.
He is a space warrior, and his physical strength is different from ordinary people. This is the truth, but is there no other way? How did the other Titan crews do it?
It seems that he guessed what Fu Qinghai was thinking.
Xiao Fei said bluntly:
"It's a pity that there is almost no solution for this symptom, and the more talented the captain is, the easier it is to fall into this symptom. On the contrary, those captains with mediocre talent are often rejected by the Titan machine soul. Having this kind of symptom. In the end, I couldn’t leave Titan at all, and ended up being completely immersed in the amniotic fluid tank, and then..."
Xiao Fei shrugged:
"You know."
Fu Qinghai frowned slightly.
"It's just that it will be a long, long time later. If there is no death, the Titan crew usually serves for a long time. With life extension surgery, it is possible for one to two hundred years. Many Titan legions even use stasis fields to 'freeze' Those Titan captains with extremely rich combat experience and unparalleled kill records will be awakened when war breaks out."
Xiao Fei told another piece of good news that was not good news, but it did not help the current situation much.
Things seemed to be at an impasse.
Both of them were at a loss.
"I don't think it's that troublesome."
Zofia suddenly said.
They both looked at her.
"I know my body best."
Zofia thought to herself and said:
"The situation is not as terrible as Xiao Fei described. I just feel alone and lonely..."
"But I'm here..."
Just as Fu Qinghai was about to speak, Zofia raised her hand to interrupt him, stared into his eyes and said:
"I want to synaesthetically link, with you, now."
Fu Qinghai looked blankly at Zofia's gray-green eyes, suddenly understood, nodded suddenly and said:
"Indeed, that's right. It's not that serious at all. The control system of the 'Broken Army Golden Armor' is not a pure mental pulse unit. It also has a Pons bridge device. This matter is actually easy to solve. I know what you want."
Xiao Fei looked at Zofia and then at the Chapter Leader.
I wonder what the two of you are doing here.
Are you showing off in front of me?
…………