The Empire begins with the Fourth Scourge.

Chapter 2642 The Rise of the Black Nest (Part 2)
2642. The Rise of the Black Nest (Part 2)

Severance Tann looked at the sensor images transmitted back to her. Due to the powerful and chaotic magnetic field of the gas giant planet Jorib, the scanning of those satellites was not going smoothly.

The situation worsened when she ordered the use of biological detectors for scanning, as all that could be transmitted back was countless noise waves.

Left with no other option, Severance Tann ordered the immediate scramble of 200 fighter jets to conduct close-range scans of the planet's satellites.

Although this might result in unnecessary losses of fighter jets, Severance Tann had to do it in order to find any clues about the Kilik swarm.

Two hundred fighter jets ventured deep into the chaotic and violent gravitational field of Planet Jorib, where both the planet's storms and powerful magnetic field posed a deadly threat. Sure enough, more than ten fighter jets crashed shortly after the exploration began.

But there were still some results. One of the fighter jets detected a metallic reaction on a satellite called Nrogu! After identification, it was confirmed to be a crashed Victory-class Star Destroyer!

Severance Tann made a decisive move, immediately dispatching 500 Marines to land on the satellite Nogu. This was also extremely risky, essentially sending these 500 men on a mission with a survival rate of less than 50%.

Therefore, Tann ordered all these Marines to be equipped with CMC-300 power armor.

If Tang Xiao were here, seeing the CMC-300 power armor, the Zerg swarm, and the approaching Protoss, he would definitely exclaim, "This is amazing!"

Marines swiftly landed on the Nogu satellite in shuttles and saw that the Victory-class Star Destroyer was essentially broken in two, the fracture digging directly into the soft surface of the satellite. There was also a large hole near the engines.

After deliberation, Marine Corps Captain Ye Chuan decided to split the force into three groups. He personally led one group down through the large hole, while the other two groups, each with 100 men, searched for gaps in the broken section and entered the two sections of the Star Destroyer wreckage to conduct investigations.

Two hundred men were left behind to establish a temporary camp around the wreckage of the warship, securing their escape route. The shuttle also landed, transporting a large amount of supplies to the camp.

Ye Chuan led another 100 people to climb onto the massive wreckage of the Star Destroyer. It might seem ordinary on a space battlefield, but on the ground, even broken in two, the Victory-class Star Destroyer was over 400 meters high! A truly magnificent sight. In fact, if the satellite's gravity hadn't been so weak, climbing onto the wreckage would have been incredibly difficult.

Upon reaching the entrance of the large hole, an engineer took out his equipment to scan and carefully examine the gap. Looking at the inward-collapsed main armor belt, he said, "Team Leader Ye, this thing should be a hole blasted by a proton torpedo."

"Proton torpedoes?" Ye Chuan frowned. "After listening to General Tann's explanation, I thought the Kilik swarm had taken control of the Imperial fleet. Where did those swarms get proton torpedoes?"

“I’m not quite sure…” The engineer looked at the instrument in his hand and walked to the other side following the directions. “But it looks… like bugs.”

As he spoke, he snapped off a large piece of green substance from the hole, which looked like dried snot.

"Use a proton torpedo to blast a hole, then let the bugs get inside the warship? Do bugs even have that kind of intelligence?" Ye Chuan crouched down, looking at the deep hole, and waved his hand, saying, "Let's go in!"

The soldiers immediately found a foothold at the entrance of the cave, attached ropes, and began to descend along the entrance.

Upon entering the cave, one can see an increasing amount of green material hanging on the surrounding structures. Inside the warship, some of the green material is even very thick and has not yet dried, remaining in a viscous pus-like state.

"Everyone, get into combat mode! Those bugs might still be inside!" Ye Chuan said cautiously. They all raised their C-14 Gauss rifles, ready for action.

Generally speaking, the army of the Kingdom of Dawn is equipped with Valkyrie assault rifles, which are only 2mm in caliber and achieve extremely high muzzle velocity and powerful kinetic energy through hypermatter acceleration to cause damage. After the CMC-300 power armor began to be deployed in large quantities, the Halo Weapon Systems Group released enlarged versions of all their light weapons for use with power armor, making them more convenient for combat.

The C-14 Gauss rifle produced by Tyron Heavy Industries, while possessing immense firepower due to its 10mm caliber, was somewhat redundant for killing on the battlefield and would reduce ammunition capacity. Therefore, this weapon was not used in many situations.

However, since this battle was against the Kilik swarm, Tang Xiao personally instructed Severance Tann to ensure that the Marines used this type of Gauss rifle. Because you can't judge the Kilik swarm by human standards; a 2mm bullet can easily kill a person, but hitting the insects might only be a tickle.

The Marines cautiously searched inside the hole. Following the large opening, they discovered that the proton torpedo had penetrated the warship's main armor belt and destroyed its reactor. No wonder the warship had crashed.

"Two proton torpedoes," the engineer said in a deep voice.

"what?"

"Two. One blew open the main armor belt, and the other flew in through this big hole and destroyed the reactor," the engineer said, pointing to the damaged reactor.

The area was already filled with deadly radiation, and even with the protection of the CMC-300 power armor, they dared not get too close.

"Is that even possible? This hole is at most less than 5 meters wide," Ye Chuan frowned. "There must be strong anti-aircraft firepower here, and the warship isn't stationary."

“I don’t know…” the engineer shook his head, “but that’s how it is here. The proton cloud collapsed twice. Once on the outside, and once on the inside.”

"Could it be a Jedi?" another soldier suddenly chimed in.

A deathly silence fell over the communication channel... Jedi Knights? If that's the case... then things might be even more complicated.

"Don't make wild guesses! Be aware of your surroundings!" Ye Chuan snapped, forcefully suppressing the growing unease.

Suddenly, a slight noise came from the dark passage ahead. The advanced sensors of the power armor keenly detected the target, and Ye Chuan shouted, "Over there! Fire!"

Rat-a-tat-tat! Rat-a-tat-tat! A dense barrage of bullets was fired, riddling the warship's internal metal structure with holes!

Several soldiers bravely gave chase, only to hear a sharp screech followed by another burst of gunfire. When Ye Chuan ran over, he saw that the soldiers were standing on a large insect.

"Team Leader Ye! It really is an insect!" a soldier said.

At that moment, a dense series of sounds came from the depths of the passage, as if countless things were moving rapidly in the darkness!
"Watch out! There are more inside! Set up a defensive line, we're retreating!" Ye Chuan made a decisive decision. Now that the presence of insects had been confirmed, the situation was different. "Call the remaining troops to come and provide support immediately!"

"They're here!!" a soldier exclaimed, immediately pulling the trigger.
Rat-a-tat-tat! Rat-a-tat-tat!! A dense hail of bullets rained down. Yet, a rustling sound came from all directions, revealing just how many insects lurked in the darkness!
Upon receiving the distress call, the soldiers outside immediately advanced in this direction and simultaneously notified Severance Tann, requesting reinforcements!