Sky King Enlil
The assault craft's hatch gradually closed, leaving only dim white lights in the cabin.
Tita's armored hand clenched tightly around her sword hilt. A boarding shield half her height rested against her arm, while a Large Caliber Explosive Rounds was firmly secured to her weapons belt by a magnetic lock. Damped mechanical safety restraints hanging from the ceiling held every Artificial Human firmly in place. As their faceplates sealed shut, holographic HUD projections lit up one by one. She swiftly scanned the flashing displays: Power Armor energy, drug and oxygen reserves, every interface, and armor integrity. Only then did she close her eyes. She knew the other sisters beside her were doing the same, and she knew they all felt the same way.
She took a deep breath and tried to calm her anger.
As the planned orders were rapidly and methodically issued through the Communication Channel, her breathing grew stronger and her heartbeat faster. Once her Power Armor entered combat mode, its output gradually increased. The heat vented from its exhausts felt less like waste heat from a fusion core and more like the boiling alchemical blood within her body. The Emperor had not been gone from The Punisher for very long, yet Tita could still feel the unease weighing on every crew member aboard.
She had watched with her own eyes as the Emperor's Pegasus assault craft vanished into the vortex of Neptune's atmosphere. After that, its signal had disappeared completely. Even though the Emperor had warned her this might happen, she still felt as though something vital had been torn from her soul. At a meeting, an officer had claimed that the Emperor might have encountered an unpredictable danger, even hinting that the Emperor was dead and that they should alter their course.
Before