"Orikan!" Trazyn lunged to Orikan's side, first wrapping himself in a thin field before placing a hand on him.
Orikan did not respond to Trazyn. That enormous spherical detector had also lost its usual radiance, dim as though buried beneath a thick layer of dust.
Trazyn urgently treated Orikan's overheated body. He could not understand why things had deteriorated so badly, but he knew there was still a king he could rely on.
The emergency distress signal crossed the vast distance and reached the Silent King directly. He turned to look at the Milky Way woven from countless stars. After a moment of silence, he ordered the forces to contract their defensive lines. He would take a portion of the dynasty fleets back to investigate.
The Emperor sensed the Void Dragon's abnormality. In ancient times, he had fought this master of technology. He had imprisoned the Void Dragon beneath Mars's surface and established the Dragon Guard specifically to watch over it.
But now, it seemed that even those dutiful Dragon Guard could not protect the sarcophagus sealing the Void Dragon against the Deceiver's bizarre abilities.
Facing the unrest beneath Mars, the God-Emperor could only divert part of his strength to empower the Dragon Guard watching over the Void Dragon. The Astronomican on Terra blazed even brighter, its light cast directly toward Mars within the same Solar System.
Fortunately, the Void Dragon had only been stirred into a vague consciousness by a fragment of True Word [Thing]. Its absolute command over machinery was constrained by its limited mind. Having broken free of the sarcophagus, the Void Dragon could only display the C'tan's incomparable might in the clumsiest manner.
Its liquid-mercury-like body formed plate-like scales that rippled without end. The Void Dragon used this simple method to block the Dragon Guard's attacks,