Chapter 669 Invisible Enemy
Adamantua sector.
The Forge World of Adamantua.
The Battle of Voltron was over, and the Imperial Fists moved to the Forge World. This is the core of the entire star region, the most important empire world in the star region.
A dirty dusk enveloped the land.
Against the foggy, reddish sky, the Imperial Fists' battle barge, the Antorax, hung like a rectangular tusked moon in low orbit.
Chapter Master Mohan has mobilized nearly ninety percent of the Imperial Fists' strength in this operation. This was a spectacular display of force. In the eyes of Second Company Commander Kurland, it may be a bit too spectacular.
But there are also political issues involved - what the Adeptus Astartes excels at is starting wars and ending them. When peace lasted for too long, maintaining a force as powerful and costly as the Imperial Fists proved difficult, especially in the heavily fortified core of Terra.
They need to be released, given a purpose, and won a victory that the people in the core area will celebrate. Exterminating an alien like the Chromium Beast is a fitting way to prove a power like the Imperial Fists.
The Imperial Fists shattered the outer portion of the Chrome Beast's massive lair and fought its way inside. The company led by Kurland took the lead, and ten minutes later, other companies followed on the other side of the biological building. The space warriors broke into the lair in multiple directions, becoming the Chrome Beast's nightmare.
Kurland charged alone in the dank flesh tube. His bolter spits fire, and his power sword never leaves his hand. Use explosive bombs to shoot the larger Chrome Beast, and chop down the smaller Chrome Beast with the long sword. Kurland roared his company's war cry as sliced and exploded aliens flew around him.
They eventually cleared the area with great difficulty.
"Are you tired, Captain?"
a Space Marine asked Kurland.
"It's almost time to turn the page."
Kurland put away the bolter and said:
"The next time I come to this unlucky planet..."
"Zizzi, buzz, buzz—"
His words were suddenly drowned out.
A sudden low noise came from deep within the lair. Although it was very short-lived, it resounded throughout the sky. It shook the entire lair complex, temporarily overloading their communication systems and pricking their ears. The Kurand eyepiece display took a while to reboot.
"Here is the golden throne. What was that just now?"
Kurland asked, looking around.
"Requesting to speak to the fleet."
The Space Marines under my command are asking repeatedly:
"Fleet received, please reply."
"Some kind of broadcast signal."
A technical sergeant said:
"Ultra-high frequency, high intensity, total duration of six point six seconds...maybe it is a new weapon?"
"Chrome Beast brought out a new type of weapon?"
A Space Marine asked with some confusion.
"It's possible, keep going."
Kurland replied somewhat reluctantly.
They continue in their footsteps. After a few minutes, communications were restored, and fleet liaison officers in orbit reported that they had not been able to identify the voice either. It was received by the entire planet, even the Imperial armed forces in orbit.
About half an hour later, the sound appeared again, this time lasting for seven point nine seconds. Kurland's company was engaged in fierce hand-to-hand combat with dozens of dense chromium beasts, and the noise caught everyone off guard.
The Chromes looked slightly shocked when the sound stopped, before they returned to the fight with inspired fury. It's like they're getting scared and starting to panic.
…
The forge world of Adamantua, orbital space.
A total of four sonic booms occurred over the next ninety minutes, each lasting longer than the previous one, and communications were completely disrupted. After the fourth sonic boom occurred, Chapter Commander Mohan walked across the bridge of the battle barge thoughtfully, sat on his huge steel throne, and then raised his head to signal to the communications attendant who had been waiting patiently for nearly two hours:
"Contact all forces on the ground immediately."
Since the latest wave of attacks began, Mohan has been standing in front of the battleship's strategic stage, watching every piece of data reported by air power and ground forces, and personally correcting every slight deviation in the execution of tactics.
Defense is the greatest skill of the Emperor's Fists. But even in the midst of an offensive, the Imperial Fists' strategy is fluid. No surprises, no mistakes, no risks. Leave the reckless advances to the wolves of Fenris or the hunters of Chogoris. The Emperor's Fists are the Empire's best tactical engineers. Even the most varied assault plans can be planned with the same precision as the most complex defense arrangements. .
It is often mentioned that Leon Jonson once mocked Rogal Dorn's sophisticated thinking, saying: "Once the battle begins, all plans will become useless." Dorn retorted: "That's because of your The plan was not correct enough.”
Indeed, the Imperial Fists' strategy had saved Holy Terra in its darkest hour, and the strategy proposed by Dorn and inherited by Morhen basically did not use the rigid word "plan" but was called "Attack Plan" - As the battle unfolds, various emergency response plans carefully planned in advance can be gradually forgotten one by one.
Combat is the most chaotic and volatile event in the galaxy, with thousands of possibilities at every stage. Some Space Marines, such as the Dark Angels, respond intuitively when changes occur. An Imperial Fist, on the other hand, anticipates and prepares for all possibilities, and simply chooses the most appropriate response with ease.
but now.
Mohan had not made such a contingency plan.
His eyes were fixed on the screen in front of him.
"Isn't this a sonic boom?"
Mohan asked his technical crew.
"No, sir."
The officer in charge of the detection array replied:
"This is an isolated incident."
He pointed to a piece of data on the screen:
"Look here."
"gravitational?"
Mohan frowned and said.
"Yes, sir."
The technical crew member affirmed:
"The gravity in the galaxy is experiencing drastic and abnormal changes."
As the Chapter Master of the Imperial Fists, Mohan is also a veteran of space naval battles. His eyes followed the green curves on the screen, and suddenly he felt that the shapes outlined by the curves looked slightly familiar. .
"The several function curves formed by the changes in gravity remind me of the gravity curve at the Mandeville point."
Mohan said slowly.
"You are perceptive, my lord. The mass-gravity curve is similar to the Mandeville point, albeit on a much smaller scale."
The technical crew agreed.
"Have we previously detected gravitational instabilities in the orbital region of the Adamantua Forge World?"
Mohan turned his head suddenly and asked.
"Yes, my lord."
The technical crew member nodded and said affirmatively:
"The entire area was surveyed as we approached, yet these readings are completely new."
"Like a sonic boom?"
Mohan murmured the question.
The technical crew member nodded and said:
"We noticed that the initial sonic boom occurred approximately two minutes after the initial noise, and it was only then that we discovered a tiny floating object on our orbital anchorage. Analysis showed that the tow assembly unit on the port side of the battleship exhibited gravity The anomaly, which caused the anchor to roll, was corrected and we rescanned and discovered that sixteen more anomalies had occurred on the same side during this time.”
A lot of obscure technical terms.
Mohan felt that he had caught some clues.
The mortal captain standing next to him suggested:
"If it is confirmed that there is indeed gravitational instability in orbital space, then we will have to let the fleet retreat, and we must make a compromise on the ground assault."
Mohan nodded after hearing this. He had a company in hand that hadn't even been deployed yet, these Space Marines waiting in the drop pods of the battle barge.
"Have you seen this before?"
Mohan turned to his captain and asked:
"The gravity peak first rises, then bursts like a bubble, and then returns to the original state...Have you seen this before? Throughout your entire naval service."
The captain shook his head and said:
"I have seen gravity being greatly weakened. And the current situation where it bursts like a bubble is more like being on the edge of repeated teleportation points in the subspace."
"Any connection to Mandeville Point?"
Mohan tried to find the pattern.
"It is indeed similar, my lord. I have seen many non-Euclidean gravitational effects on translational interface tearing curves. As my mentor always said, the Warp does not change of its own accord unless someone makes it change. "
Mortal captains can only offer some conjectures.
"Do you think this is natural?"
Mohan felt uncomfortable hearing "warp".
"I'm not sure, there's no precedent for this. But I think we have to accept the fact that we've entered a gravitationally unstable region."
The captain shrugged and said helplessly.
At this moment, the deck suddenly trembled violently, making a dull and heavy sound. This huge impact came from the collision of some huge object with something of the same mass. Hot and pungent smoke filled the bridge. diffuse.
Sirens rang throughout the bridge.
"what's the situation?"
Mohan turned his head and looked around and shouted.
The captain yelled orders and demanded reports, and the staff on the bridge rushed to their posts.
"The gravity bag is deployed inside the reactor core on the starboard side! Our hull is cracked and leaking. I don't know if we can control the damage and maintain..."
A technician shouted the bad news.
"Something must be attacking us..."
Mohan threw himself in front of the bird fortune teller.
"Sir, please lead all troops and auxiliary forces to leave this battleship and land on this planet before we suffer a catastrophic anchor failure and crash."
shouted the captain, grabbing his arm.
…
A cluster of battleships in orbital space.
An Imperial Fists Captain watched helplessly as the damaged Antorax began to fall and break away from the sailing formation. The battle barge's engine apparently malfunctioned, spewing clouds of radioactive dust. After a communication interference, all communications connecting the fleet were also interrupted.
"There is a company of soldiers inside!"
The Captain of the Imperial Fist held his head and exclaimed:
"What just happened?"
His captain was also in shock:
"We don't know yet, sir."
"Restore communications, find out as soon as possible! I didn't see any drop pods or escape boats leaving the battle barge."
The company commander had a very bad feeling.
And the truth is, almost nothing can be seen at this time. Monitors, repeaters, and image-intensification screens are shrouded in radiation and gravitational distortion. Tech-priests aboard the battleship are working to solve the problem, analyzing the captured data.
The conclusion reached was very bad: a pocket of gravitational distortion was detected somewhere in the orbit. No one can give a reasonable explanation for this, and no one can fully explain why the ship was attacked without warning.
Now, the Antorax, a fully manned ship, a battle barge, the Imperial Fists' Chapter flagship, and maybe a whole company of Space Marines.
In an instant, it was all gone.
The Imperial Fist Captain looked at the flickering and frame-hopping screen in front of him. Unable to resist the force of gravity, the battle barge is slowly sinking into the gravity field of the forge world of Adamantua. How long will it last? fifteen minutes? Half an hour? One hour? Due to the huge pressure accumulated in it, the damaged engine is likely to explode before landing.
"Send a rescue boat to them immediately!"
The Imperial Fist Captain roared and ordered:
"At least part of it can be saved."
"We're doing everything we can, sir."
The men busy around him answered.
The Captain turned to face the ship's Tech-Priest.
The oil guys also looked at each other at a loss.
"I want an explanation for this."
Captain Imperial Fist waved his hands and said:
"I want a full explanation of this!"
The Oil Guys nodded, but the Imperial Fist Captain was not confident in their response, and they were as confused about the matter as he was. He was about to say something to stabilize the mood on the battleship, when the screen behind him suddenly burst into dazzling light.
"what happened again?"
The Imperial Fist Captain turned around and asked.
The airwaves are filled with static and chaotic distortion.
However, the entire bridge was silent and no one answered him.
He also stared blankly at the scene outside the porthole window.
The Imperial Fists fleet in orbital space.
Explosions are happening one after another!
Then a huge pressure swept over him.
The Imperial Fist Captain has not yet reacted.
The battleship under his feet was shattered in the twist.
…
The forge world of Adamantua, surface.
The sky was pierced by several rays of light.
What fell from the sky was not rain, but some kind of inexplicable liquid. It fell like hail, making every piece of ground slippery and sticky. The Chromium lairs were blown to a pulp by orbital bombardments and gunship air strikes. Smoke rose from everywhere, mixing with the wind and mixed with the heavy rain. Kurland heard the downpour hitting his helmet.
Kurland climbed out of the ruins of his lair.
By the way, he pulled out several of his battle brothers.
and the Adeptus Mechanicus Sage Laurentiis.
He was contacting the battleship cluster in orbit, but did not receive any reply. Something blocked the communication signal. Fortunately, their mission on the surface was completed.
"what is that?"
Laurentiis suddenly pointed to the sky and asked.
"We don't have time for sightseeing, sage."
An Imperial Fist warrior said abruptly.
"No, look."
Laurentius demanded insistently.
Kurland picked up four explosive magazines and handed them to his teammates. After completing the distribution, he turned around and looked at where Laurentiis Sage's fingers were pointing. There is a beam of light in the sky, it is a broad beam of divergent light that pierces the thick clouds, but there is a dazzling light core in its center, although it is small but very red, like the embers of a burning star. fragments.
"The end of a ship."
An Imperial Fist warrior said bluntly.
"Fuck, what the hell..."
Another soldier subconsciously wanted to curse.
"I don't understand, why? How did these chrome beasts take out one of our ships? In the name of the throne, when did these damn vermin get orbital weapons? When did they have the ability to engage in space naval warfare?"
An Imperial Fist warrior held his head in disbelief.
Sage Laurentiis calmly analyzed and said:
"We still don't know how these chromium beasts travel through space. According to my speculation, they use the subspace tides to disperse their eggs, but the theory of large-scale migration cannot explain why they have such a high population density on this planet. So large but never seen or described. I don't believe they had ships or fleets in our usual sense. They shouldn't have ships at all, but..."
Laurentiis paused as he spoke.
He was silent, and so were the people around him.
Dirty raindrops slid off the edges of the Space Marines' armor. The yellow ceramite giants stood motionless, like a group of sculptures. They kept the same posture, raising their heads and staring blankly at the gray sky in the distance.
More bright beams pierced the clouds one after another.
The heavy clouds are becoming riddled with holes.
Inside these holes are large amounts of debris.
Large and small, dragging thick smoke and dust, they rolled down.
Each fragment of the wreckage represents a battleship.
Not "one ship" but "many ships".
None of the Imperial Fist warriors could speak.
Time seems to have frozen at this moment.
The Imperial Fist fleet was completely annihilated.
…………