If Cassandra Vanlescus could have known the Mage's wishes for her, she would have been grateful.
But right now, she could hear nothing and see nothing. All five of her senses had been sealed off. That was the work of the Aquila-pattern.
As everyone knew, if you wanted to send a message out into the universe, time was indispensable. This was not as simple as an Astra Militarum headquarters on the ground contacting a cruiser moored in orbit, where all it took was issuing a few commands to the Logis Engine.
So if the Vengeance's reply reached her ship, they had probably already arrived.
The universe was a vast and terrible place, and the transmission of messages depended to a great extent on time. Communications between fleets already required several hours just to align frequencies, let alone with an expeditionary fleet far away in another star system.
Moreover. Yes, the universe was a vast and terrible place.
And the latter was far worse than the former.
Cassandra drew in a deep breath, and the Aquila-pattern armor's warning sounded by her ear. About five minutes later, the brief lockdown ended. Her sensory deprivation was canceled, and she could see and hear again.
Unfortunately, she now wished she could see nothing at all. The reason? Ah, it was very simple.
The reason was a corpse with its chest and abdomen split wide open.
That corpse with its chest and abdomen split wide open lay right in front of her. It was Colonel Dieter Karma, one of her adjutants. A loyal Imperial Navy officer, extremely hard-line in battle. Steadfast and tenacious by nature.
But now, he had become a bloody corpse, all his organs vanished. His Aquila-pattern armor had failed to protect him, because the armor itself had been destroyed as well.
Cassandra