The giant transport platform known as Mobile Land crossed the Sea of Blood and approached Land Two.
The ten Energy Shields on the platform activated simultaneously.
Although it was more than thirty kilometers from the outermost perimeter of Skull Fortress, heavy artillery shells could easily traverse dozens of kilometers, so the shields were deployed in preparation for incoming fire.
The Krieg reconnaissance force had already set out.
Though Creed and Grot had serious objections to Dade's decision, they had no way to interfere with an allied commander's choices. All they could do was watch from the war command center through drone feeds as the more than two thousand elite Krieg Death Korps scouts Dade had dispatched advanced deeper into the blood mist.
Like they were fighting a trench war, the Death Korps scouts formed a skirmish line, slowly trudging forward and feeling their way ahead while remaining alert for any movement that might appear before them.
The blood mist near the land platform had been normalized. To the Kriegers, all equipped with gas masks, it was merely mist filled with blood and posed no threat.
But as time passed and the scouts shown on the command center's holographic display ventured deeper into the mist-shrouded region, the protection offered by their gas masks gradually became extremely limited.
Some began to suffocate.
When someone fell, the dead man's companions did not even glance at him. They simply continued onward with their weapons in hand.
However, the scouts' advance visibly slowed.
"This reconnaissance mission is meaningless."
Heavy footsteps echoed into the command center as a Dark Angels Deathwing captain strode in and loudly rebuked the mortal commander's decision.
"Testing whether we can still fight without Blackstone?"
"What kind of joke is that? Without Blackstone, we would never have launched this expedition in the