Warhammer: Black Emperor

Chapter 289 Joint Exploration of a Destroyed Space Ship with the Eighteenth Legion
827.M30, Islington Galaxy.

Kirkland's company, led by Company Commander Kirkland of the 11th Warband of the "Shadow of Order," along with Cassian Vaughn's 18th Corps, was ordered to deal with the space wreckage.

On the bridge of the heavy battleship Vostonia Shield, Kirkland gave orders.

"I want to open the protective shield and take a look at the wrecked ship with my naked eye first."

"Before we start focusing on the details of the wrecked spaceship, let's use the talents given to me by the father of genetics to feel the battlefield."

The servants' voices rang out in unison, "Yes, sir."

The motors hummed, the blinds on both sides of the windows rose, and the bridge was instantly engulfed in a blinding orange light.

Kirkland narrowed his eyes slightly: "Dim the windows, ninety-seven percent."

Under the silent command of the machine servant, the machine spirit exerted its influence on the glass, causing it to darken.

Kirkland's eyes widened as a bright orange sun filled most of his field of vision.

The ships were close enough that the people on board could see the flares erupting from their churning surfaces.

Islington's star is so violent that of the eleven planets in the system, only four have a combined population of less than five million struggling to survive.

"The wrecked ship will soon pass between our orbit and the star, platoon leader," the captain reported.

"Ten..." a servant began to count down, "Three, two, one."

“I see it.” Kirkland saw a huge black shadow glide across the surface of the star.

"Display the view on the main star chart table, and compensate for the star brightness," Kirkland ordered.

"Yes, Captain," the captain replied, operating the control panel in front of him to relay the orders to the relevant officers.

The bridge resounded with the mechanical hum of "Yes, sir!"

The star chart table flickered, and a holographic image of a wrecked spaceship appeared before the command throne.

Kirkland walked to the star chart table and looked at the spaceship, which was much larger than a battleship and covered most of the Islington Sun.

It was formed by the accumulation of ships and cosmic debris in the tides of the void, like a piece of decorative art that has been smashed to pieces on the ground.

Kirkland raised his left arm, his gauntlet gliding across the chaotic surface.

The aircraft cabins, the turrets of the void ships, the flattened cargo ships, the streamlined warship hulls of the alien spaceships, the cratered hillside asteroids, and the icicles of comets were all haphazardly pieced together.

The materials that make up the wrecked ship come from many races in the physical universe, but what brings them together is the subspace, which is completely indifferent to the laws of physics.

The captain, holding a data tablet, walked to the star chart table.

"The Auger Matrix reports: the mass of the space wreckage is approximately 25.84 trillion tons, with an albedo of 0.96 and gravitational displacement..."

"The best estimate is that it will consist of 136 ships."

"The Auger Matrix chief reports that there are several unstable radioactive sources inside the wrecked ship, making deep detection and scanning impossible."

Kirkland withdrew his hand and looked at the young editor wearing a psionic hood beside him.

"Nicholas, what have you discovered?"

“The psionic readings are stable, and there is no abnormal activity,” the young think tank member said.

“Then I hope you can work with the technical sergeant to find a permanent home for the derelict spaceship in Islington,” Kirkland said.

The time a wrecked spaceship lingers in the real world is uncertain.

"Father, I hope that after recovering the valuable assets, the remaining part can be used as a training base for the legion."

“Training new recruits in complex environments will help improve their adaptability.”

Kirkland spoke, emphasizing the Primarch's command.

“Destroyed ships typically don’t stay in the star system for long, usually five to ten days, and then they leave,” Nicholas said.

"The Eighteenth Legion has been responsible for dealing with the space wreckage that appears throughout the Empire, and their think tanks and technical sergeants are experienced in this area."

“By following the trail of the invaded planet and using astrometric data, they successfully predicted when the wrecked spaceship would arrive in the Islington system.”

“I have already spoken with their think tank director, and he and the furnace master will help me to carry out my father’s orders.”

Kirkland remembered the father of genes' orders and gave commands to the sound array master through the communication headset.

"Sent communications with the 18th Army Corps, requesting the establishment of a communication link."

One sidereal time later, the heavy landing ship.

Eisfeld wore a green-painted Mark I Thunder power armor with a strange helmet decorated with many emerald sensor eyes on a pig-nose helmet.

Their insect-like appearance is bizarre, unsuitable for human clothing, and even less suitable for combat. As a veteran of the Eighteenth Legion, Esfield is one of the most experienced soldiers in exploring the realm of wrecked space ships, and he has the honor of being among the first to board a wrecked ship three times.

"Company Commander, turn off your goggles," Eisfeld's hoarse voice rang out in the team channel, followed by his explanation.

"The wrecked spaceship is close to the star, and its intense light can damage your eyes."

Kirkland immediately gave orders to the Shadow Order: the Second Company of the Eleventh Chapter, under the command of Esfield, approached the wrecked spaceship.

Eisfeld chose a human warship of unknown age, secured it to the surface of the warship with magnetic locks, and cut it with chainsaw gloves.

There is no sound in the vacuum, no roar of chainsaws, and sparks fly in space.

A technical sergeant from the 11th Legion, dressed in full servo gear, knelt five meters away from him, a plasma torch burning at the end of his extra mechanical arm.

After three minutes of eyepiece timer time, they outlined a hole large enough.

Esfield breathed a sigh of relief and said in the team's communication channel, "In my experience, leaving enough space for two Astartes to enter and exit is a simple and effective way to increase the chances of survival in case of an accident."

Kirkland keenly sensed the sadness in the veteran's tone; he had clearly been through a lot, and the dangers of a wrecked spaceship were no less than those on the battlefield.

The second company commander issued an order in Gothic language over the company channel: "Everyone, be on high alert. I don't want you to lose your lives because of stupidity."

Eisfeld was granted temporary authorization by the second company commander to enter the communications channel, where he heard Kirkland give orders.

He gave Kirkland an approving look, then gave orders to the servants he had brought.

Two machine servants wearing vacuum suits carefully took out a cylindrical device and activated the rune.

The piston descends from the assembly, revealing the top access port, screen, and keyboard.

He explained to the crowd, "Because the abandoned spaceship has been in subspace for a long time, coupled with various factors such as star interference, the detection effect of ordinary oracles is not good."

"This is an earthquake detector. By collecting vibration data, it can create a precise map of the wrecked spaceship."

After Eisfeld uploaded the map of the wrecked spaceship to the tactical network, Kirkland, along with his guards, followed him into the inner hull.

Magnetic locks secured their combat boots to the deck, and they took a dozen or so tentative steps to get used to the environment of the derelict spaceship.

Kirkland knew from the display screen in the eyepiece that the gravitational field was below 0.016G.

As Kirkland walked down a corridor, he suddenly sensed a creature approaching, and Eisfeld's hoarse voice rang out in the sound channel.

"The target of the threat is approaching."

Kirkland aimed his explosive pistol at the direction of the threat rune marked by Esfield, and a second later, he saw the target's direction.

It was a strange creature, with the upper body resembling a brown cheetah and the lower body having eight spider legs.

Spider legs slid strangely across the deck, enabling it to move swiftly.

The moment Kirkland saw it, he pulled the trigger, and the explosive bullet he fired hit Eisfeld at the same time.

Silently, the cheetah-like spider-legged creature collapsed on the deck.

"A swift reaction." Eisfeld's strange helmet showed that Kirkland and he moved at the same time, and the Shadow Order behind them were only a moment slower.

After his initial surprise, he concluded that it was because they were well-trained and reacted quickly.

The group continued forward and passed through another corridor.

Kirkland suddenly raised his explosive pistol and pulled the trigger repeatedly.

His guards were only a moment slow, but Esfield did not react at all.

He didn't realize what was happening until the monster was blown to pieces.

“I forgot that the shadow of order possesses keen perception.”

“That’s a gift bestowed upon us by the Father of Genetics.” Kirkland walked to the monster’s remains and bent down to examine them.

Eisfeld also came over, and looking at the countless slender, centipede-shaped legs under the cheetah's belly, he began to explain.

"The Emperor told us that there is no life in the Warp."

"But ships that break in may carry creatures from various worlds, who will be affected by the warp forces of the warp and undergo mutations."

"This mutation endowed it with more hidden physiological functions than the previous mutated creatures."

He shrugged: "The helmet I'm wearing was a custom-made model based on experience, requested from the technical sergeant."

"But clearly, it is not as perceptive as yours."

"The Shadow of Order is perfect for exploring abandoned spaceships. With just a short period of adaptation, you'll become seasoned veterans."

(End of this chapter)