A small Necron shuttle, equally cold in design and sharp in its lines, slipped away from the massive warship like a ghost and slowly approached the Serenity.
Under the precise guidance of several tractor beams, it silently glided into the isolation hangar within the cruiser's belly.
The heavy isolation doors immediately descended, completely sealing off the inside from the outside.
Inside the hangar, several simply designed Hilling combat robots, radiating blue energy halos, had long been standing ready. Their energy weapons were primed for activation, and their cold sensor arrays remained locked onto the Necron shuttle's hatch.
The hatch slid open, and Silent King Szarekh's body of Living Metal, emanating an ancient, icy aura, stepped onto the deck of the Serenity.
His ghostly green "gaze" swept across the hangar like a searchlight.
Although he had already formed an estimate of the Hilling vessel's interior through scans, being truly present within it still sent an almost imperceptible "ripple" through his cold core processor at the sight of details beyond comprehension.
This was a technological beauty filled with order, precision, and vital energy...
Its level surpassed every creation of civilization the Silent King had ever seen, even stirring a tremor called "shock" within his "thinking core," which had lain dormant for tens of millions of years.
"Silent King, please follow me." A gentle electronic synthesized voice, utterly devoid of emotional fluctuation, sounded from a guide robot controlled by the ship's AI.
Without any unnecessary pleasantries, it turned and headed toward the passage leading deeper into the ship.
The Silent King followed in silence.
His metal feet tapped against the smooth deck with a soft, rhythmic click-click, especially clear within the empty hangar.
He could sense that the guard robots' sensors remained focused on him, while invisible energy fields rippled faintly at the