Chapter 222: Permission to Warp, May Fortune Favor You (Part 2)
Orbit of Sanctuary Star.
The massive fleet brought out by Sith began to slowly separate.
A large number of old warships and damaged vessels were left behind; although these ships were not individually powerful, their numbers were immense.
They might be slightly insufficient for an offensive, but they were perfectly suited for the defense of Sanctuary Star.
Meanwhile, the more elite and advanced warships slowly retreated to the rear, away from the front lines of combat.
At the same time, supply materials from Sanctuary Star began to be frantically transported to this fleet, which was about to rush to the aid of Terra.
Watching the Transports roaring into the sky before him, strong air currents carrying clouds of dust rushed towards his face.
Sith raised a hand to slightly shield his eyes while observing the dense swarm of Transports taking off and landing, a veritable ‘ladder to the heavens.’
‘The supply replenishment will be completed within three hours.’
‘Because you, my lord, left behind enough warships, Leontus was able to divert a large number of elite Solar Blade fleets to join your expeditionary force.’
‘Now, it is not just the Imperial Navy, but also elite warships from the Adeptus Mechanicus, the Battle Sisters, and the Custodes.’
Lorgar Aurelian followed behind Sith, his tall, golden figure attracting the attention of many busy Mortals.
However, upon seeing Lorgar Aurelian’s respectful posture, the crowd’s confusion was directed more towards Sith, who stood in front.
The war zone was so vast that those who knew of Sith were merely a drop in the ocean compared to the massive population within the sector.
Most people were still completely unfamiliar with Sith.
Therefore, they were truly curious: who exactly was he? To be able to make the Marshal of the Imperial Guard bow his head in respect.
Sith watched a Transport fully loaded with ammunition slowly ascend, his gaze following it upward, seeing that not only were his own black warships gathering, but a large number of equally elite warships from other factions were also converging.
Aside from the Imperial Navy and the Custodes, who were relatively composed.
The Battle Sisters of the Ecclesiarchy and the machine fleets of the Adeptus Mechanicus would erupt into grand cheers upon learning they were joining under Sith’s command.
Sith even saw a Battle Sisters warship prominently displaying the name ‘Sith’ as it sailed toward orac, seemingly intending to serve as a personal guard.
‘They know me?’
Sith withdrew his gaze in confusion; after all, in a galaxy where information was isolated and efficiency was slow, despite Sith fighting for so long, the vast majority of people still did not know him.
Not to mention the Segmentum Solar, which was shielded by the hive mind.
Only Lorgar Aurelian looked away, slightly embarrassed, not meeting Sith’s eyes directly.
‘The Imperium… not all factions have such slow information transmission…’
Sith was taken aback, then realized—not to mention the Adeptus Mechanicus, who knew if they were ‘critically’ using certain xenos or even AI technologies?
And the Ecclesiarchy went without saying; they were wealthy enough to establish their own Astropathic Choir and build dedicated Ecclesiarchy channels, so their information transmission efficiency was surely countless times better than the Imperium’s.
So much so that while Lorgar Aurelian and Leontus were unfamiliar with Sith, the Ecclesiarchy and the Adeptus Mechanicus were quite familiar with their newly ascended saint.
Too tired to even complain about the Imperium’s terrible resource utilization, Sith finally arrived at the massive landing platform.
The last Transport carrying supplies roared into the sky, and in the heavens, the fleet about to embark on the expedition to Terra was making its final preparations and assembly.
A large number of hangar doors began to slowly close, and the glow of the engines intensified as energy was poured in.
Lorgar Aurelian watched Sith in the middle of the landing pad; facing the gradually quieting environment and the boundless fleet ready for departure in the background, he adjusted his mindset and bowed his head respectfully:
‘My lord, we are just waiting for you.’
Lorgar Aurelian looked at Sith, while Sith gazed up at the vast army above that was unhesitatingly following him to Terra.
After taking one last look from the perspective of the surface, a ball of green light enveloped Sith and Lorgar Aurelian.
When the green light dissipated and Sith reappeared, he was already standing on the bridge of orac.
The area was filled with busy crew members, and Van Roth was below, continuously barking out orders to mobilize the fleet.
Lorgar Aurelian looked at the familiar bridge before him, his expression freezing once again, as if he had returned to the era of the Great Crusade.
But that era had long passed, and the person sitting on the mechanical throne of this warship, which represented the highest glory of the Imperium, had been replaced by Sith.
The sounds of bustle gradually faded with Sith’s return.
When the final ‘confirmed’ was received, Van Roth finally turned around to look at Sith, who was seated high on the throne, while the crew members also watched respectfully.
The Black Gold Custodes, who had left a deep impression on Lorgar Aurelian by standing silently on both sides of the bridge, were there; outside the portholes, the engines of the boundless fleet were at maximum output, all decks were sealed, and the portholes were crowded with countless figures looking toward the massive hull of orac.
Even on the ground, the roar of battle seemed to have quieted down significantly; all eyes on Sanctuary Star were fixed on Sith.
Time seemed to slow or accelerate—it was hard to tell—under the silent gaze of everyone, Sith finally slowly raised his right hand.
‘Depart.’
He spoke softly, but the response was the sound of instruments operating, as the entire bridge became noisy once again.
Then, accompanied by the countdown transmitted to all warships, when the Servitor’s electronic countdown reached ‘three,’ the countdown vanished, and instead, Leontus’s personal broadcast came from the nearby spaceport:
‘Beacon lit, flight path clear;’
‘Permission to Warp granted, may fortune favor you!’
…
Sol System.
As an ordinary star system outside the third spiral arm of the galaxy.
From the perspective of the galaxy, this system seemed no different from any other.
Even the habitable planet within it was neither unique nor massive.
But it was precisely here that was the most focal point for all races in the galaxy, whether they admitted it or not.
Because this habitable planet was named Earth, and the species bred on Earth was called humanity.
Therefore, as the galaxy entered the human era, it could be said that everything in the galaxy, no matter how intertwined the conflicts, could always be traced back to the shadow of Terra in the end.
Thus, when war erupted in the Sol System again after ten thousand years, it naturally attracted the eyes of the entire galaxy.
Although the hive mind had shielded the Warp, both humans outside and other xenos races were imagining how heroic and fearless the humans in the Sol System must be, and how they were dealing devastating blows to the Tyranids.
However, for the humans currently in the Sol System, everything seemed not quite so wonderful.
In the Earth-Moon system, the orbital firepower on the moon had gone completely cold.
Broken warship wrecks, carrying dense corpses, tumbled silently in the cold void.
Distant Pluto, Mars, Jupiter, and other planets were roiling with dark shadows, and at the very core, Terra, the warship wrecks that had just rolled past were slowly pushed aside by an immensely huge figure.
The Tyranids also had super warships.
When the ultimate Tyranid bio-ship, known as the ‘Ancient Ship,’ swam past Terra’s orbit, several continents on the ground were plunged into darkness beneath its shadow.
And looking at the super-beast, beside which even a battleship seemed like a shrimp, in the shadows on the ground.
There was none of the heroic, desperate resistance that the outside world imagined.
Nor were there any traces of the Tyranids receiving devastating blows.
There was only the boundless shadow of the roaming behemoth, and human soldiers cowering behind high walls…
Filled with terror!