LRAB Chapter 88 Istvan III
Chapter 88 Istvan III
Chapter 88 Istvan III (4)
The fifth month.
The transport plane continued its northward advance. Cohen's consciousness meticulously scanned the core area of the main battlefield over the next few days. Three more General-class Titan wreckages were found. One, a Martian-type hull, was relatively well-preserved—its standard configuration of its twin-arm weapon platforms was clearly visible: a plasma destructor on the left and a massive explosive cannon on the right. The leg drive structure of the other General-class wreckage was completely different, with significantly different hydraulic parameters; its unique planetary gear transmission mechanism at the joints provided a more efficient torque distribution scheme. The fragments from the two wreckages corroborated each other, increasing the completeness of the General-class technical blueprint from 89% to 96%.
The Warhound-class Titan variant also received crucial updates on the main battlefield. Detailed parameters of the laser destruction array on the Warhound-class left arm weapon platform have been successfully archived, while the cockpit wreckage provided vital neural interface architecture data, revealing its internal data bus protocol. At this point, the Warhound-class is 97% complete, with only the final 3% remaining.
Fragments of the Terminator armor were almost ubiquitous on the main battlefield. Data on the Hades-type power unit had been completed to 85%, and the design parameters for its signature independently detachable microreactor confinement chamber had been fully recorded. The heavy shoulder armor remnants of the Catafrakt-type provided crucial armor thickness benchmarks for the Colossus-type Terminator armor. Of the nineteen Terminator models, sixteen had achieved over 90% completeness.
Cohen parked the transport plane beside a huge bomb crater on the edge of the main battlefield and jumped out of the hatch. His consciousness, like an invisible radar wave, carefully scanned every inch of land within a five-kilometer radius. There were no new metallic signal sources on the surface. The searchable surface area seemed to have been covered, while signals buried deep underground would require more time and effort to locate and excavate.
However, his persistence paid off in the following days. In several extremely remote corners of the main battlefield, he discovered two more Warhound-class wrecks buried deep within thick layers of rock. The cockpit of one of them was exceptionally well-preserved, and its neural interface architecture's data bus protocol perfectly filled the final gap in the Warhound-class blueprint. The completeness instantly jumped from 97% to 100%. The complete blueprint of the Warhound-class, all its technical details, from the core reactor to the weapon interfaces, from the hydraulic curves of the walking mechanism to the life support system of the cockpit, were clearly laid out in his high-dimensional information space.
The final piece of the puzzle for the General-class destroyer came from the ruins of a supply depot on the edge of the main battlefield, almost completely buried by volcanic ash. There, he discovered valuable spare parts for the General-class repairs—a complete leg drive unit and an unopened, sealed plasma annihilation cannon. The cross-referencing data further solidified the General-class's completeness. Now, the only missing piece is the complete data for the Emperor-class Titan, but that's a challenge on a completely different scale.
By the last week of the fourth month, all nineteen models of the Terminator armor had been completed to a point where over 95% of the components were in place. Details of the Hades-type's power unit, the secrets of the Iron Cavalry-type's shoulder armor structure, and the reactor confinement cavity design of the Alarius-type—the entire technological system of the Terminator armor during the Great Expedition had been essentially completed in his database.
Cohen patiently patrolled the main battlefield for two more days in his transport plane. His consciousness, like the most sensitive probe, extended and scanned every fold of the wasteland. Finally, at the five-kilometer radius of his perception boundary, he detected six organized heat sources. Not cold wreckage, but living things. The energy characteristics emanating from the power armor clearly deviated from the Imperial standard model, and their size was also two sizes larger than that of a standard human.
Chaos Space Marines.
This was not an accident.
Following the Horus Rebellion, the Istavan I was designated a forbidden zone by the Imperial Inquisition. The written blockade couldn't deter Imperial bureaucrats, but it was enough to deter most ordinary explorers. However, for the Chaos Space Marines—those traitors twisted and maddened by the Eye of Terror, driven by the Dark Gods—this planet held a completely different significance. It was a pilgrimage site. Ten thousand years ago, their Primarch swung the first sword against the Emperor here, slaughtering the loyalist offspring who refused to betray him. The Khorne Berserkers considered this scorched earth a hunting ground favored by the Blood God; the blood of any intruder was a new sacrifice offered to the Skull. Every few years, the World Eaters' warbands would send squads back to search for the buried Geneseeds—the seeds of loyal Astartes who perished in the massacre, their purity preserved through millennia of sedimentation. And then there were the more insane, who simply wanted to kill one last time on the land trodden by the Primarch, to hear once more the warp echo of "The Emperor is dead."
Cohen didn't know, nor did he care, which faction this six-man squad belonged to. But he knew one thing: they hadn't happened to be passing by; they had been drawn there by him. The transport ship's shadow field erased all sensor signals, but on the warp psionic level, the Istvan III itself was a beacon. The scars left on this scorched earth by the massacre and betrayal ten thousand years ago had never healed. Things on the edge of the Eye of Terror sensed this presence, passed through the cracks, and returned to this scorched earth. The protagonist simply happened to stand on their path of return.
Come here.
He did not approach rashly, but kept the transport plane hovering at low altitude, his mind firmly locked onto the six abnormal signals.
Four kilometers. Three kilometers. Two kilometers. The enemy has spotted him! The six Chaos Warriors almost simultaneously turned towards the transport plane and began their charge. It was no ordinary run, but a terrifying sprint enhanced by chaotic energy, far exceeding the tracking limits of the Casterland machine gunner's targeting system.
Cohen swiftly landed the transport plane on a higher rocky plateau below and jumped out of the hatch. Twenty Casterland mechs followed closely behind, rappelling heavily to the ground. Their heavy metal feet cracked the rocks as they quickly deployed in a fan-shaped battle formation at the edge of the plateau. The Thinker interface inside the skull silently output a series of command pulses.
"Spread out along the edge of the plateau. Fan-shaped formation, with a firing range covering 180 degrees in front."
Pulse feedback confirmed. Twenty steel giants, each over three meters tall, executed the command precisely. Their thick terracotta armor formed a barrier, and the heavy bomb guns on their shoulders hummed as they turned forward from their standby positions. The repulsive grid activated first, dark blue static pulses flowing from the armor seams. Immediately afterward, the atomic deflection shield hummed into action, a dark blue energy membrane spreading out against the armor surface, emitting a steady, faint glow. The machine souls dormant deep within the machine cores recognized and responded to Cohen's commands.
The six figures, a deep red almost black, bore the glaring eight-pointed star emblem on their breastplates. The deathly hum of chainsaw axes and power swords heralded the start of the battle. The hunter captain, leading the charge, his roughly welded metal nameplate clearly visible on his shoulder armor, saw the steel defenses on the plateau and grinned as he raised his arm.
The Thinker interface inside the skull outputs a pulse again.
"Free fire".
Twenty Casteran mechs unleashed a deafening barrage of explosives, a dense hail of bullets forming a devastating firestorm that rained down on the charging Chaos Warriors. The Chaos Warriors displayed superhuman speed and agility, scattering like phantoms. Most of the explosives detonated behind or beside them, kicking up clouds of debris and dust; only a few grazed the edges of their power armor, sending sparks flying.
The Hunter Captain's explosive pistol roared back immediately. The first shot accurately struck a critical node in the leftmost mech's repulsive grid! The grid erupted with dazzling blue-white arcs of electricity, the atomic deflection shield fluctuated violently, barely deflecting the remaining energy, leaving the terracotta armor surface unscathed. The second bullet arrived almost immediately, slamming into the same node again! The shield's light patterns flickered wildly, emitting a piercing overload hum, but the dual-layer defense system stubbornly maintained its stability! The Hunter Captain cursed, his gun rapidly turning towards the next target.
Cohen's command pulse was issued instantly.
"Focus fire on the second target on the left!"
The three mech cannons instantly turned around, and a salvo of explosive guns accurately hit a Chaos Warrior who was about to accelerate his charge!
Boom! In the violent explosion, his shoulder armor shattered, the immense impact causing him to stagger, but miraculously, thanks to his strong physique and the support of his power armor, he didn't fall! He roared furiously, raising his gun to retaliate, a high-explosive bullet precisely piercing the optical sensor of the leader of the three mechs! The lens shattered, the machine spirit pulse signal instantly became chaotic, but the damaged mech's explosive gun continued to fire! Almost simultaneously, another mech was struck hard on the shoulder weapon platform by a chainsaw axe coming from the side! The repulsive grid and atomic deflection shield burst into blinding light and sharp whistles as the high-speed rotating saw teeth tore at them, the double-layered shields doing their best to absorb the devastating kinetic energy impact, the enormous force still forcing the heavy mech's hydraulic system to overload, the machine losing balance and sliding backward a step! Its powered gauntlets swung out with full force with a dull whistling sound—the Chaos Warrior parried with astonishing reaction speed with his left arm, the chainsaw axe retaliating with an even more powerful blow! The shield glowed brightly with blue light, successfully deflecting the cutting force of the serrated blades and leaving only a deep burn mark on the armor surface.
"Concentrate fire on the central target!"
The remaining mechs instantly shifted their fire, a torrent of explosives engulfing another charging Chaos Warrior! His body convulsed violently in the dense hail of bullets, finally collapsing heavily backward, his chainsaw axe flying from his grasp. But the price was another breach on the flank. A mech whose shield, dimmed by continuous overload, was precisely pierced through its weak point by a whistling power sword! The shield shattered like fragile glass, the blade deeply embedded in the core of the mech's torso! The Mech Soul Pulse signal rapidly weakened. The number of fallen mechs began to rise. The Hunting Captain stepped over the wreckage of a mech, coldly pressing the muzzle of his explosive gun against the optical sensor base of another damaged mech, grinning maliciously as he pulled the trigger, destroying it completely.
"Shrink the formation!"
The Casterland mechs rapidly converged on the center, their atomic deflection shields' energy output forcibly pushed to their limits. Dark blue energy patterns rippled violently across the armor's surface, attempting to coalesce into a more robust joint energy barrier. The Hunter Captain slashed in from the flank! His power sword, wreathed in tainted chaotic energy, slashed fiercely at the relatively vulnerable leg joint of the nearest mech, accompanied by a piercing shriek as it tore through the air! The shield, under the pressure of the blasphemous blade, emitted a shrill scream on the verge of collapse, the dark blue energy patterns instantly compressed into a blinding white! The shield didn't completely crumble, but once the blade, imbued with terrifying power, pierced through! The metal structure twisted, deformed, and fractured! The mech's critical leg transmission structure was severely damaged, its power instantly becoming unbalanced, and the entire mech tilted uncontrollably forward. However, before completely losing its balance, the cannon muzzle pressed against the Hunter Captain's chest armor!
Boom! The close-range bombardment had a devastating effect, sending the Hunter Captain flying! He crashed heavily onto the edge of a crater several meters away, his chest armor shattered and caved in. The last two Chaos Warriors froze abruptly. The Crimson Slayers' malevolent curse was instantly ignited! The Hunter Captain's death acted as a fuse, detonating the chaotic imprints deeply embedded in their skulls. The mad whispers of the warp instantly overwhelmed their remaining sanity. After less than two seconds of stunned silence, both men simultaneously unleashed inhuman, ear-ripping roars—not words, but a destructive scream squeezed from the depths of their souls by the Khorne Berserkers! Corrupted chaotic energy surged from the cracks in their power armor, enveloping their bodies, their eyes turning into boiling pools of crimson blood! The roar, distorted by the chaotic energy, coalesced into a clearly discernible, blasphemous Low Gothic: "Blood Sacrifice to the Blood God! Skull Offering to the Skull Seat!"
A crimson blood shadow rushed straight at Cohen himself, while another transformed into a filthy stream of light, hurtling toward the transport plane parked behind him at a terrifying speed!
"Intercept!"
The Casterlan mech turned its guns with all its might, unleashing a final barrage of explosive fire that slammed into its target like a storm of steel! The dense hail of bullets tore him to shreds. Meanwhile, the berserker charging towards Cohen, accompanied by a nauseating stench and a blasphemous energy field, had already entered his domain, still screaming fragments of its battle cry: "Blood Sacrifice to the Blood God!"
Cohen calmly raised his hand. His consciousness precisely targeted. Decomposition.
The half-broken war cry, along with the body that had been twisted by the warp for ten thousand years, the dark red broken power armor, and all the filthy patterns wrapped around it, instantly disintegrated into invisible clouds at the atomic level and were absorbed into his invisible warehouse.
Silence fell suddenly on the platform, broken only by the hissing of the mech cannons cooling and the dripping of condensate from the armor gaps. The remnants of the repulsive grid and the atomic deflection shield slowly dissipated in the thin air. Of the twenty Casteran mechs, four were completely destroyed, their wreckage scattered among craters and rocks; the rest mostly bore bullet holes or slashing damage, but the core signals of their machine souls deep within their cores still stubbornly persisted.
Cohen repaired the damaged mechs one by one. He reshaped their armor with atoms, replaced their sensors, and calibrated their shields. A few minutes later, all the mechs stood up again, and the Mech Spirit Pulse stabilized.
Cohen stood still, his consciousness sweeping across the battlefield once more. No enemy corpses remained on the ground, only spent shell casings left by the mechs, scorch marks from energy weapons, and rock fragments blasted up by the explosions. In the higher dimension, the blueprints of six chaotically contaminated gene seeds had been archived; he only needed to peel and purify them to obtain information on the composition of the pure gene seed matter.
The complete blueprint for the nineteen modification surgeries, along with the pristine original sequence of the genetic seed. During the Great Crusade, the Astartes Space Marine modification system, personally designed by the Emperor, was presented for the first time in its complete, atomically precise form in his database.