As it turned out, the navigator's guidance was, of course, perfectly accurate. When the Holy Sword Karagon emerged from the gravity well and arrived in the next star system, the powerful psyker immediately pointed out that the being had indeed been in this system—and had left less than four hours ago.
The warships soon found several high-ore asteroids in the belt, corroded by acidic substances. Their ugly, crater-pocked surfaces looked just like rotten apples chewed to bits by pigs.
Well, in truth, all asteroids were irregularly shaped like that. It was perfectly normal.
Of course, without the navigator's guidance, finding the specific asteroid corroded by the swarm in such a vast star system would be like finding a reef in the ocean that an orca had peed on.
The navigator had proven herself right.
"Maintain our current speed!" Major General Magus didn't hesitate again. "Keep the damage-control teams ready for emergency repairs, and start warming up the backup engines."
In fact, even for these brand-new, state-of-the-art warships, maintaining a high cruising speed close to a full charge placed a tremendous strain on their hulls.
At this rate, they were sure to set the record for the shortest service life of an Imperial warship.
Still, under the circumstances, no one would question the commander's decision—or that of the mysterious navigator. They steeled themselves and settled into their promising role as useful tools.
"Analysis of sublight gravitational residue complete. The target's trajectory is confirmed to be moving toward Gravity Well Three."
"This vessel's jump engine is beginning its countdown. Ion Conduit Three exceeds the acceptable threshold. The backup protocol for the sublight engine must be activated."
"Approved! And what about the cobalt armor-piercing rounds? Are the railguns loaded with cobalt armor-piercing rounds? Also, order the equipment officers aboard every ship to conduct