"The enemy's psychic vortex cannon was indeed astonishingly destructive. Even the main guns of our celestial-class warships could not reach that level."
"So this was an ancient xenos creation? No wonder Horus had staked everything on it."
On the command deck of the New Caliban, Lion swept his gaze over the latest data that had just arrived.
The battleships sent out to scout had not died in vain. Before their destruction, they had gathered data on the Blackstone Fortress's primary weapon at maximum efficiency.
Without their sacrifice, Lion might have had to use capital ships to test the waters.
How long a warship's void shields could endure, the energy expenditure when the shields overloaded in a short period, the state of the wreckage, and the crew's ability to endure were all precious data—intelligence bought with human lives.
"According to calculations, even the void shields of our Thundercloud-class planetary warships cannot withstand attacks of this level. Once the void shields collapse, our warships can endure at most three hits from the Blackstone Fortress's main cannon."
"Note: three attacks is the absolute limit before this vessel is completely destroyed."
Captain Stannes reported. Having long since lost his emotions, the captain had nearly merged with the Machine Spirit. He could sense the Machine Spirit of this epic warship stirring with a desire for battle.
It was a weapon forged solely for war. Since its birth, this was the first time it had encountered an enemy it might be unable to defeat.
Compared to the dull wars before, the New Caliban was eager to challenge the vastly larger Blackstone Fortress ahead.
Like two ferocious beasts sensing that the other had invaded its territory, the New Caliban and the Blackstone Fortress focused all their attention on one another.
"Three times? That is more than enough."