Warhammer 40K in a box

Chapter 555 Team Up and Set Off
Deep within the massive dock at the heart of Rostov III Starport, a high-intensity lighting array, like countless cold stars, illuminates every rivet and weld of the steel behemoth with exquisite detail.

The two enormous ships, like steel behemoths lurking on their adamantine decks, exuded completely different auras of danger.

One is the "Iron Will," an enhanced strike cruiser belonging to Deathwatch. Its bow is sharp as a spear, and its thick armor is covered with subtle battle scars and repair marks, exuding a sense of grimness and deadly efficiency from countless battles. Adjacent to it is the "Analyzer," a research transport ship of the Mechanicus. Its lines are relatively smooth and flowing, and its hull surface is covered with a dense and complex array of sensors and shimmering runes, revealing an endless thirst for knowledge and precise computational logic.

At this moment, the engines of both ships were in preheating mode, emitting a deep, continuous roar that seemed to come from the depths of the Earth's core. Strong vibrations were transmitted through the sturdy decks, mixed with a strong smell of plasma exhaust, engine oil, and the burnt smell left over from metal welding.

The cold lights flowed across the smooth, mirror-like deck, illuminating the busy, stiff-moving mechanics and the hurried, red-gray-clad technical priests. The humming of various precision instruments blended with the roar of the engines, creating an industrial symphony.

Ferrus's five-meter-tall, silver-gray body stood like the keel of a ship on the command platform in the center of the "Iron Will" bridge, making him the undisputed absolute focus of attention.

Her voice came through the ship's intercom clearly, cold, precise, and brooking no doubt:

"Attention all personnel. Mission objective: Kuiper Belt edge, coordinates Sector-734, unknown creation 'Pioneer IV'. Highest priority: Obtain a technical sample or core blueprint of the device that generates its unique psionic resonance field. Code of conduct: Maintain absolute silence throughout the entire process, keep engine output power at the minimum threshold, and prohibit any form of active scanning or energy emission. Threat response plan level: Gamma, strictly in accordance with the 'Standard Procedure for Contact with Unknown Advanced Non-Imperial Technological Creatures'. Any action that triggers the preset contamination threshold or encounters an active attack will immediately trigger the highest priority 'Purification Protocol,' which takes precedence over sample acquisition itself. Understood?"

Her sharp silver eyes, like a scanning array, slowly swept over the silent, standing members of the operation below.

The invisible pressure, like physical gravity, makes everyone unconsciously straighten their backs.

Captain Guterres stood like a rock at the very front of the line, behind him were the battle-hardened members of the Death Watch Titus squad.

They were clad in heavy power armor, their postures calm and vigilant, like a silent wall of steel.

The ancient insignia of different Space Marine chapters on the power armor are faintly visible under the unified Deathwatch paint scheme, telling the story of their respective glorious pasts.

The colossal Sage of Cal occupied a corner of the rear of the bridge, its numerous nimble mechanical tentacles dancing like living snakes, precisely inserting into the various data interfaces of the main control panel.

Its massive logic core flickered steadily with a deep blue light, and its built-in multiple data firewalls and physical self-destruct modules were fully activated and ready for action.

His multi-lens visual focus was firmly locked on the isolated target point in the center of the holographic star map.

Sage Aurejana stood slightly below and to the side of Felus, intently calibrating the portable, high-precision energy field analyzer in her hand—"The Eye of Truth of Ominisea."

Complex data streams scrolled rapidly on the small screen in front of her, illuminating her expressionless face, which was made of cold metal.

Several servo skulls, shimmering with a faint light, orbited around her like satellites, emitting a continuous, subtle hum of computation.

Maria stood near the heavy hatch of the bridge, wearing a specially modified "Radiant Sentinel" knight mech pilot suit, the tight material outlining her strong physique.

The sensor interfaces on both shoulders flickered with a faint standby light, while the exoskeleton on the right arm was connected to the base interface of the heavy laser cannon.

She was meticulously checking the locking valves of the mecha's joints and the connections of the energy lines, her fingers gliding over the cold metal surface.

His pale gold eyes held a mixture of excitement from participating in such a high-level operation for the first time and an undisguised nervousness.

She subconsciously looked up, her gaze fixed on Captain Guterres's rock-solid, focused and composed back, seeking a moment of calm.

Taking a deep breath, Maria lowered her head and slid her fingers rapidly across her personal data panel. The holographic projection immediately displayed the eerie and unsettling structural diagram of "Pioneer IV." She forced herself to concentrate, trying to memorize the marked key energy nodes and potential contact points.

Liz stood alone in an inconspicuous corner at the edge of the bridge.

A specially crafted small force field, constructed from anti-psychic black stone, glowed faintly on the floor, forming a dark boundary.

The heavy, silent nun's grey robes enveloped her from head to toe, the hood pulled low, revealing only her taut jawline. An invisible field of "emptiness" permeated the area within several meters of her, like a cold, heavy tide, creating an absolutely silent zone that instinctively felt oppressive and as if the soul had been ripped away.

The passing technical servants and low-level machine servants instinctively avoided this area.

She stood there silently, like a deserted island isolated from the world.

Beneath the tightly bound collar of his grey robe, inside the specially made neck collar that Ferrus was forced to wear, the indicator light of a miniature emergency transmission beacon was steadily flashing a faint green light.

Carleon, a think tank member belonging to the Ash Knights, stood a few steps away from the edge of the Liz Force Field.

He was clad in black and white power armor, the psionic runes engraved on the armor emitting a faint yet resolute glow.

His eyes were closed, his brows furrowed, and his powerful psychic perception, like countless invisible tentacles, cautiously probed the psychic environment inside the ship and the background psychic fluctuations in the void ahead.

At the same time, he had to spare some of his attention to be constantly vigilant and try to adapt to the intense interference brought about by Liz's powerful "emptiness" field, ensuring that his "eyes" and "ears" as a psionicist would not be blinded by this absolute nothingness.

He is a crucial sentinel for the team on a non-material level.

"At your positions." Felus's voice ended the briefing, devoid of any morale-boosting or emotionally charged words, only cold commands and absolute authority.

Her gaze, like a searchlight, swept across every corner of the bridge once more, confirming every detail.

"The 'Analyst' is responsible for perimeter surveillance scanning, maintaining full-band communication silence, and the safe reception and transfer of samples. The 'Iron Will' is performing its core mission: close-range target reconnaissance and sample acquisition. Departure."

The engine roar suddenly rose, instantly transforming from a low, suppressed howl into a deafening roar.

The entire bridge structure trembled slightly as a result.

A tremendous thrust came from beneath their feet, pressing the crew firmly to the deck.

The two steel behemoths slowly detached from the starport's anchorage, and the thick traction beams connecting the hulls silently went out.

Above the dock's dome, several layers of massive alloy gates slid slowly to the sides amidst a deep, resounding hydraulic roar, revealing the deep, boundless void that swallows everything.

The "Iron Will" and the "Analyst" simultaneously adjusted their attitudes, and the huge thruster nozzles at their tails lit up with a stable and dazzling blue-white light, like two stars resolutely throwing themselves into eternal darkness, accelerating towards the dead-sounding airspace at the edge of the Kuiper Belt where a strange geometric pulse signal had been detected.

The main lighting on the bridge dimmed as the ship entered cruising mode, leaving only the faint, cold light emanating from the instrument panels, control consoles, and the central holographic star map.

Guterres's gaze was sharp as an eagle's as he surveyed his team and the situation on the bridge.

Maria's knuckles turned white from gripping the mecha's control stick so tightly.

Liz remained motionless within the force field, like a frozen statue, with only the regular green light around her neck indicating her life and readiness.

Felus stood like an unshakeable steel monument before the command console, his silver-gray eyes fixed intently on the all-consuming abyss outside the main observation window, and at the end of that darkness, the twisted geometric creation that awaited them—"Pioneer IV".

The void silently opened its cold and unknown embrace.

(End of this chapter)