Agathos was not far from Omiron. After seven days of Warp travel, Gao Yi's fleet left the Warp and entered the Agathos System.
Gao Yi could already see the light emitted by the stars of Agathos's system from the bridge.
Three planets owned by the Mongert Dynasty were orbiting the star, forming the capital world of the Mongert Dynasty.
Yet, as the augur array scanned the area, not a single ship of the planetary defense fleet that should have been docked in orbit was to be seen, leaving only a field of wreckage in the void.
The God-Emperor preserve the planetary defense fleet of the dynasty. Veil said in disbelief.
One had to know that the dynasty world routinely maintained a battle formation composed of ten frigates and destroyers.
Now, so many warships being destroyed was an unbearable loss for the dynasty.
Approach Agathos first, get close enough to transmit to the governor.
As the warships slowly approached the planetary orbit of Agathos, Gao Yi also saw his capital world clearly.
Massive hive cities covered the continent, and tiered hive structures stacked like skyscrapers accommodated most of the population on this planet.
Only a small portion of the population wandered the wastes, struggling to survive by scavenging scrap.
They not only faced issues of food and survival supplies, but also had to deal with mutant raiders and mutated beasts.
Yet before he could observe further, he seemed to see several points of light across the hive cities heading toward his fleet.
Several plasma shots fired from the ground defense batteries shot without warning toward the battle formation approaching orbit.
He did not expect to be shelled in his own capital world?
Activate void shields immediately! Emergency evasive maneuvers!
Several plasma bolts crashed into the Golden Ram's void shield, shattering it instantly.
Another massive laser array fired a beam that cut a frigate that had not yet raised its void shield into two halves...
Looking at his void shield, which had almost all of its energy consumed, Gao Yi was also startled by this firepower.
Sail out of orbit immediately!
Gao Yi looked at the destroyed frigate and finally understood how those defense fleets had vanished.
The massive planetary defense batteries on the ground posed an absurdly high threat to warships.
In most cases, if you wanted to conquer a fully prepared planet, you not only had to destroy the fleet, but you also had to disable the planetary defense batteries on the surface first, otherwise orbital bombardment of the planet was nearly impossible.
A single plasma cannon blast was enough to destroy a warship without active void shields.
Even cruisers could not withstand the direct strike of ground planetary defense facilities.
Moreover, most warships in Warhammer lacked atmospheric operation capabilities; strike cruisers of the Space Marines could manage it, but Gao Yi had nowhere to find such a thing right now.
The situation on Agathos is even worse than imagined. Even such vital facilities have been taken over?
Captain! Under these circumstances, before eliminating the batteries, it will be hard for us to even get close, let alone send teams to land on the ground!
Can we still contact the ground?
I'll have the acoustic array master try again!
With the continuous attempts of the acoustic array master, they finally managed to barely contact the governor of Agathos.
You... you are the Rogue Trader's heir? I am Rebecca, Governor of Agathos. Greetings to you, glory belongs to you and to the dynasty! The enemy has jammed our communications!
The screen's signal was intermittent and broken.
What is going on with those batteries?
War! Family infighting has evolved into war! Originally, the power struggle was just a political conflict, but when everyone learned of your return, those traitors launched an armed coup.
They assaulted the planetary defense batteries. The systems controlling the air defense systems in the upper hive were compromised by an unknown program, and they shelled the unprepared fleet. Now any loyalist shuttle attempting to lift off will be shot down!
Listening to Rebecca's words, Gao Yi roughly guessed that it must have been the fellows of the Dark Mechanicus who made a move to seize control of the batteries.
Since their target was Agathos, they surely had more people participating in this.
Is there any way to send troops to retake the batteries?
Forgive my incompetence... I once tried to do so, but once you enter the mid-hive, everywhere you go there are madmen shouting of Dawn and Daybreak. They mix among the civilians, making them completely impossible to distinguish.
The moment they see the dynasty's soldiers, they launch frantic attacks. I suspect those traitors and cultists have colluded with one another.
Just as she finished speaking, the governor's signal cut out again.
Captain! Or we could simply brave the loss of one or two frigates and force an orbital bombardment. Although it will cause severe damage to the hive city and lead to massive collateral casualties, it is the only way left.
Orbital bombardment is impossible. The hive city is a vital asset of the dynasty. Once orbital bombarded, the losses will not only be massive amounts of property, but also a huge population. Rebuilding the hive city would take decades at least!
Then please let me lead a strike team to force a breakthrough! Let me retake those batteries for you!
There is no need. I have a way to deal with these batteries, as long as we can destroy them without being detected, it should be fine, right!
But that's simply impossible!
Yet after saying these words, Veil felt something was amiss. Had the miracles Gao Yi brought everyone not been numerous enough?
Veil, help me find some pilots in the navy who have flown fighter jets.
Fighter jets? The Golden Ram is not equipped with carrier-based aircraft!
It wasn't before, but it will be soon!
The psionic crystals in Gao Yi's hands were enough to build a starport.
And Gao Yi's target was precisely the Banshee Fighter that could be manufactured in the starport.
These light stealth fighters should be able to accomplish his tactical objective.
However, based on the experience of building barracks, a starport would certainly require a large amount of metal, and building banshees would definitely require a lot of metal too.
The metal reserves inside the warship were not enough to bear such a large consumption.
However, since he had arrived at his capital world, Gao Yi no longer needed to spend massive effort purchasing from the Ecclesiarchy. Was not Aglarans within this system a mining planet?
Helmsman, change course and head to Aglarans!
Aglarans did not possess a complete defense system like the capital world.
Several mining facilities and refining facilities were the entirety of this planet. Other areas were completely unsuitable for human survival; once outside the work areas, a normal person might not survive even a few minutes.
Rather than a mining planet, this place was more like a prison. The person in charge here was responsible for production while also concurrently holding the position of warden. Aside from a small number of soldiers, almost all the miners were criminals, and the Mongert Dynasty also treated this place as an exile prison.
Nearly five hundred thousand people were distributed across various mining sites.
People who came here never had the chance to leave in this lifetime, forced to continuously work here, using labor to repent to the God-Emperor and wash away their sins.
Facing Gao Yi's arrival, the person in charge here was struck mute with fear. Of course he knew about the events on Agathos, and he was afraid that Gao Yi would vent his anger on him.
Fortunately, Gao Yi had no such thoughts, and as the turmoil began, fleets transporting goods had not come to Agathos for a long time.
Not only had food not been delivered, but the accumulated minerals had not been hauled away either.
A massive amount of refined ore had already filled the warehouses, and workers could no longer continue laboring. There was no capability to leave the planet here, and if no one came again, it was estimated that everyone would die here.
The warden no longer had the confidence to suppress these criminals either.
Before you continue