Shadow-pattern Stormbird
The flagship of the 7th Legion, the Void Hunter Relic-class warship.
Sanchez's Communication Bead beeped, and after he pressed it, the voice of navigator Melanie Visher came through.
"Reaper Lord," the female navigator's elegant voice betrayed a hint of weariness, "We have reached the Anchor and are ready to proceed to the real-world Auten System. We await your permission."
"Permission granted to initiate the jump." After issuing the order, the Reaper Lord walked toward the Simulacrum Sanctum.
The Primarch entrusted him with three Relic-class warships, making the 7th Legion the only chapter to possess more than one Relic-class Chapter.
His warship was the flagship of the Black Emperor after his return to the Legion, and he believed that this was a greater honor than Howard Fender receiving the Gloriana-class Battleship.
Sanchez wanted to prove himself worthy of the honor in Osiris, but by the time his fleet arrived, the outcome of the Void battle was already decided.
However, this also gave him more time, and the ancient warship, which had been around for thousands of years, underwent a fundamental transformation due to new technologies.
"Reaper Lord, please allow me to offer my assistance. With my help, we can maximize the range advantage of our four warships."
Gabriel began by saying that he drew inspiration from "The Iron Hands" to establish heavy firepower companies in each Chapter, with Catachan being the final step.
Having completed its duties as the Master of Ordnance, two new Relic-class warships arrived in Catachan from Nocturne.
After overseeing the technical modifications to the two ships, including the Punishment-class Reactor, he arrived in Osiris with them and carried out further technical modifications on the former Legion flagship.
After a moment's thought, Sanchez concluded that this would not diminish the honor he had gained, and that he needed the Master of Ordnance's assistance to achieve a perfect hunt.
"Master of Ordnance, welcome to the hunt."
The two walked side by side across the ancient bridge deck and into Simulacrum Sanctum as large as a transfer deck.
Runes lit up the data niches formed by data devices, and the captain and other officers were already in position.
Sanchez and Gabriel settled into a chair surrounded by cables, electronic devices flashing blue light, their spines connected to data interfaces, merging into a sea of data.
Sanchez and Gabriel focused on the comprehensive data acquired by the fleet's Auspex system, while their Brainy Cat found a comfortable spot and lay down at their feet.
Gun Deck, Chief Gunnery Officer Jacob Gordon.
His facial features were dull, his skin was pale, and his feet were deformed into hooves.
Jacob smiled, engrossed in the flow of information within the implant.
It feels so good to no longer have to communicate with these "intruders."
The Gordon Family is the Children of the Void; they lived on this ancient warship before the Imperium was even established.
They are traditional and conservative, unwilling to accept any change.
But Jacob wholeheartedly welcomed the new changes; now that he was part of the Simulacrum Sanctum, he no longer had to painstakingly communicate with foreign officers.
He was familiar with every minute detail of every ancient cannon, but like his predecessors, he could not understand outsiders.
Every time he communicated with other officers, he had to rack his brains to understand what they were trying to say, and it was even more difficult to get others to understand him.
Jacob had thought he would soon be replaced.
At this point, a turning point arrived.
As part of the extended "tentacles" of the Simulacrum Sanctum, he does not need to spend a lot of time and brainpower to understand it.
As the information flowed in, he understood the orders and even, for the first time Reaper Lord's tactical intentions.
The Void Hunter's hunting target was an enemy cruiser-class ship marked A-1, which was identified as the flagship of the enemy fleet.
In order to attack the Relic-class warship, the enemy must make a breakthrough to even reach the ship, where his partner can then destroy the prey.
Jacob called his artillery pieces his dance partners, and each time he commanded them to fire, it was like dancing together, which was much more interesting than the boring social dances of the foreign officers.
Jacob had an idea and assigned tasks to the Gordon Family members who managed the various artillery groups.
[Cannon groups 1, 2, 3, and 4, lock onto rune D, fire.]
...]
His orders were transmitted within a breath to the end of the artillery command system—the gunners, who were also the end of the Simulacrum Sanctum's artillery system.
Jacob watched with delight as his four "dance partners" simultaneously took their "steps," and the shells struck the enemy ship's target deck at the same time.
[Perfect dance steps, stepping to the same beat.]
Achieving such perfect coordination, accurate to the second, over a distance of over 100,000 kilometers, used to rely solely on luck, but now it can be done routinely.
Jacob was filled with amazement at the artillery's synchronized movements.
He knew that the officers on the bridge couldn't comprehend its beauty.
In the past, they wouldn't have cared about the minute differences in time during long void battles.
Things are different now. The application of the Simulacrum Sanctum and the leap in computing power have brought second-level differences into the officers' view.
Even if this difference is of very low importance, at the lowest level of concern.
As Jacob pondered, his consciousness surged, generating a feedback report.
As Jacob enjoyed the New Life brought by the Simulacrum Sanctum, the Shadow of the Throne jumped from Warp to the Auten System.
Nimrod walked over to examine the holographic image of Arsena Dunn presented before him, focusing first on the four Relic-class warships.
On a square tactical plane perpendicular to the Star Ring, four Relic-class warships are positioned at the center of each of the four quadrants.
The cannons of the four warships rained down a dense barrage of bullets on the heretic lord's fleet.
The heretic lord's fleet, advancing at full speed to attack the Relic-class warships, had a loose formation due to the difference in speed.
After hunting Reaping the fastest escort ships, the Relic-class warships simultaneously make tactical movements before entering the firing range of the enemy's capital ships.
The tactical plane moves in a direction perpendicular to the annular plane, much like a parallel movement.
Lacking a clear target, the enemy fleet was forced to launch another attack on the Relic-class warships, only to be subjected to simultaneous fire from four warships once again.
"The Reaper Lord has perfectly utilized the range advantage of the Relic-class warships," the Primarch's Attendants exclaimed in admiration.
The 7th Legion suffered no losses.
"The Reaper Lord has won the Void War," Nimrod, looking at the planets within the galaxy. "The Auger Matrix is now at maximum power, scanning the planets within the galaxy."
When the 7th Legion ended the Void War and the 11th Chapter arrived, the Primarch's Attendants received a report from the Auger Matrix Master.
"My lord, there are five planets in the Auten System. Among them Planet IV have been identified as habitable, and signs of life have been detected."
After a moment's thought, Nimrod issued the order.
"Honor Guard and 'Lucifer Blacks,' 1st Regiment of the Vostonia Auxilia, attack Planet I."
"The 7th Legion and the Catachan Auxilia are attacking Planet III."
"The 11th Chapter and the 2nd and 11th Regiments of the Vostonia Auxilia are attacking Planet IV."
After giving the order, Nimrod's consciousness spread out, reaching the W-36 armed deck, and sent a Thought Impulse to Maria Kournikova.
"Assassins deployed, target: Planet Auten I, Fortress V."
Because of the accidental discovery of the mind network of the Osiris Mind-Seed, Maria and her companions were not assigned any missions; now, they are beginning their journey to fight alongside the Legion.
"Following Your will, my Lord," Maria responded in her heart.
"Assassins, move out!"
Maria's blue eyes flashed with a sharp light as she took the lead and approached the Infiltration-pattern Stormbird.
After studying the complete Stormbird data left behind by the tech warlord Tang, the Legion's Tech Sergeant successfully developed a more mobile model equipped with Quantum Field Repulsor, which they named the Shadow Type.
After the orbital bombardment ended, three Shadow-pattern Stormbird flew toward the surface of Auten I.
The black, super-heavy landing craft darted across the surface like ghost birds, undetected by any scanning system, and landed in the valley outside Fortress V.