Chapter 115: The Hive City's Void Shield
Chapter 115: The Hive City's Void Shield
Lucan's fleet was also already approaching this tainted star sector.
He did not yet know what was happening there at this moment.
However, as the warship navigated the Warp, the surrounding Empyrean had already begun to take on a strange, blood-red hue.
The warship's sealed bulkheads blocked observation by the naked eye.
But the psykers were exceptionally sensitive.
The Astropaths and Navigators were already feeling unwell, to say nothing of Lucan.
His Xel'Naga projection in the Warp appeared exceptionally active.
Lucan, sitting in the captain's seat, looked at the goosebumps on his arms.
He closed his eyes, and his consciousness entered the Warp.
The Emperor's cold sun was still beside him, but in the distance, a dense blood-red color had almost formed into a physical substance.
He not only saw this power originating from Khorne, but he had even seen the shadow of a daemon world.
The planet, currently being transformed, had a part of it already dragged into the Warp.
And this shadow was continuously deepening and solidifying as the transformation continued.
"Has this planet already fallen to this extent?"
And when the Stellar Pioneer and its escort fleet exited the Warp, the planet, already embroiled in a bloody battle, entered Lucan's view.
The fleet orbiting the planet also noticed Lucan's arrival, but at this moment, they didn't even have the time to respond to him.
The Imperial warships had deployed almost all their available soldiers to the ground. The fleet had been continuously trying to conduct an orbital bombardment on the planet to support the ground troops, but with little effect.
And those Chaos fleets that had previously been repelled had also reappeared and were constantly harassing them.
Seeing the arrival of Lucan's massive fleet, they once again accelerated their escape.
Every moment, countless soldiers were dying in battle.
The existence of daemons was simply too powerful for ordinary mortals.
This planet had gathered the most elite warriors of the Winterscale Dynasty. Under the enhancement of Khorne's power, they were even stronger. And the wealth of the Winterscale Dynasty meant they were all armed to the teeth.
And after all this time, the force led by Scyvilla had still not accomplished its designated tactical objective. The situation was constantly deteriorating.
It wasn't just daemons killing the soldiers. As the slaughter continued, killing daemons and traitors also provided strength to Khorne. An increasingly dense Khornate corruption was spreading across the planet.
Khorne's corruption was also eroding the minds of these soldiers.
Those with wavering wills even began to attack friendly forces without distinguishing friend from foe.
And as his own fleet approached the orbit, Lucan also began to observe the battlefield.
The light of explosions was clearly visible from orbit.
Lucan tried to order the weapons on his fleet to aim. Similarly, all attempts at locking on failed. Only the main cannon of the Stellar Pioneer could.
Golden Age technology was truly astounding.
On the wastelands outside the hive city, the environment was already being assimilated by the Warp. Plants and beasts from the Warp had also begun to appear.
And these bloodthirsty beasts were gathering together and heading towards the hive city.
Not to mention Flesh Hounds, there were even more dangerous Warp beasts appearing, like "Brass Bulls," which were more dangerous than common Bloodletters.
Lucan gave the order for an orbital strike. As the bombardment reached the ground, the location where the Warp beasts had gathered was instantly vaporized.
A massive crater appeared on the surface.
And the special property of the Stellar Pioneer's main cannon not only destroyed the enemies on the physical plane, but the Warp energy in that area also vanished.
The Stellar Pioneer's action attracted the attention of all other surrounding warships.
"It's the Mongorte Dynasty's powerful flagship! By the God-Emperor, what model of main cannon is that?!"
However, Lucan was not very optimistic, because the vacuumed Warp space was quickly filled again. The surrounding Warp was simply too active.
Those daemons and beasts, with the help of the dense Warp energy, would return here again.
Wanting to kill all the daemons was simply impossible; these non-material entities were endless.
And Lucan immediately turned his attention to that hive city.
The barrier between the Warp and the material universe was very strong. The source of all this must have a medium.
Almost without thinking, he knew that the medium must be within this hive city.
Lucan didn't need divination; he just needed to utterly destroy it!
However, when the Stellar Pioneer traversed its cannon and aimed at the hive city, a large number of communication requests were being patched through.
And every communication was telling Lucan to stop his action.
"Lord Lucan! Inquisitor Scyvilla, and Lord Kourda, and even the Magos of the Mechanicus and the Emperor's Angels of the Deathwatch are still inside! You cannot do this!"
Hearing their words, Lucan couldn't help but rub his head.
"Daemons are already appearing in the material universe on this scale, and you guys are still this brave? Do you think you're too strong, or do you think Khorne's daemons are too weak?"
However, Lucan knew they also had no other choice. After all, they didn't have a Stellar Pioneer. To prevent this planet from completely becoming a daemon world, this was the only thing they could do.
Lucan respected their sacrifice. Normally, they might engage in intrigue and not-so-decent acts, but in the face of the greater good, this fellow Scyvilla truly lived up to the name of Inquisitor.
However, respect was one thing, but Lucan had no intention of putting his own warriors in danger.
If one shot could solve the problem, he didn't want to resort to actions that would require more sacrifices.
"Ignore their requests! Charge the main cannon and destroy that hive city!"
Instead of sacrificing his own troops, it was better to let Scyvilla and the others, who were already prepared, make the sacrifice they had readied themselves for.
Seeing Lucan's warship still preparing to fire, the Imperial warships even began to adopt an attack posture towards Lucan's fleet, especially the warships of the Kourda Dynasty.
They clearly did not want to see their own Rogue Trader die just like that.
Lucan's escort fleet also immediately prepared for battle with them.
But before an internal conflict could erupt, the Stellar Pioneer's main cannon had already fired.
A beam of light that seemed to illuminate the void shot directly towards the top of the hive city.
When the main cannon hit the location of the hive city, the expected destruction did not occur. A massive void shield appeared above the hive city.
Clearly, the Winterscale Dynasty had also invested heavily in their own capital world.
Lucan could do archaeology; Winterscale could as well. And Winterscale, which had existed for several thousand years, had also dug up some good things.
And this void shield was discovered by the Winterscale Dynasty while exploring a lost world, also suspected to be technology from the Golden Age.
The Winterscale Dynasty had installed it on their capital world to protect the hive city.
In the underhive of the hive city, countless energy conduits delved deep into the earth to provide energy for the void shield generator.
It wasn't just its plasma reactors; those energy conduits also drew upon this planet's geothermal energy.
The skull mound at the tip of the spire also sensed the power capable of destroying it. The profane sorcery of the Warp was supporting this void shield, resisting all attacks.
Lucan could clearly see that layer of void shield was about to shatter, but every time it was about to break, the void shield would hold up again.
And Lucan's orbital strike also alarmed everyone in this hive city.
The massive roar made everyone unable to help but look up at the sky.
The Imperial forces fighting in the uphive, where the sky could be seen, couldn't help but show a look of disappointment in their eyes as they looked at the flickering void shield.
And Wolteng looked at all this smugly.
If this hive city were so easily breached, then the Winterscale Dynasty couldn't possibly have stood tall in the Expanse for several thousand years.
"Damned plutocrats… even my Agathos doesn't have the protection of a void shield like this!" Lucan cursed.
(End of Chapter)
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