Warhammer 40K in a box

Chapter 244 The cooked duck flew away

The entry of the Mechanicus' fleet into battle added a new variable to this blocking battle.

As soon as this force from the Mechanicus appeared, it displayed a combat style that was completely different from that of the Imperial Navy.

Their warships are generally equipped with nova cannons. Each salvo fired by this incredibly powerful weapon can draw a dazzling energy trail in the void.

What is even more frightening is that the Mechanical Priests standing on the bridge hold in their hands the relics of the Dark Age of Technology that the Mechanicus has spared no effort to recover from ancient ruins across the galaxy.

These technological creations that members of the Mechanicus have unearthed from various forbidden places over the years, each of which contains terrifying power that is enough to change the course of battle.

Many of them are enough to be called weapons of mass destruction in the dark technological age - dimensional weapons that can distort the laws of physics, singularity generators that can trigger stellar-level energy bursts, and even the ultimate weapon that is said to be able to wipe out an entire galaxy.

If they were willing to play all these cards, not to mention a tomb ship, even the entire Donetsk III planet could be turned into cosmic dust under the divine wrath of Om Messiah.

However, the fervent desire for the xenos technology aboard the Tomb Ships led the Mechanicum to adopt a more cautious tactic.

They will not use those big-kill weapons that may completely destroy this precious archaeological specimen, but instead carefully selected a group of ancient technological weapons that can paralyze rather than destroy it.

In the armories of the sages' forges, those long-forgotten relics of ancient technology were reawakened, and each one was a treasure hidden in the Mechanicus's chest.

The Mechanical Priests whispered binary prayers, guiding these sacred Machine Spirits toward the battlefield.

Among this group of red-robed figures, the most eye-catching one is the clone of the great sage Kaul.

Although the oldest great sage of the Mechanicus, who has lived for ten thousand years, cannot go to the battlefield in person, his clone can still represent his will.

Moreover, although the forging ark he used was only one of the many forging arks he had, it still stored a large number of amazing creations from the dark technological era.

In his life experience, which is long enough to rival the history of the Empire, such a well-preserved Necron Tomb Ship is an extremely rare archaeological discovery.

To ensure the intact capture of this precious alien warship, Cawl even used one of the most precious ancient relics on his Ark - a mysterious instrument from the Dark Age of Technology.

This ancient creation from the dark technological age released a heart-pounding energy pulse the moment it was turned on.

Its operating principles have long been beyond the comprehension of current Imperial technology. Its core flickers with a strange quantum glow, as if devouring the basic laws of the surrounding space.

The shield systems of all the warships on the battlefield immediately produced a violent resonance reaction. No matter whether it was the traditional void shield of the Imperial Navy or the energy shield carefully modulated by the Mechanicus, they fluctuated violently like fragile soap bubbles in front of this ancient creation.

The shield readings jumped wildly on the bridge's display screen. The mechanical priests quickly adjusted the data parameters in an attempt to stabilize the system, but the shield generator still issued a shrill overload alarm.

Some smaller frigates even had to temporarily shut down their shields to prevent their core energy from being completely burned out by the resonance effect of this ancient artifact.

However, Cawl's calculations were impeccable – rather than crippling the friendly ship's shields, he focused the full force of the weapon squarely on the Necron Tomb Ship.

Accompanied by a wave of energy that covered the entire battlefield, the shield of the behemoth instantly dissipated as if torn apart by an invisible hand.

Even more terrifying, the shield system itself had suffered some kind of profound damage, the Necrons' unique self-repair mechanisms rendered useless against this ancient technology. Necrons technology had always been renowned for its near-unbreakable stability, yet now, their shield system was completely paralyzed, unable to restart.

The Imperial Navy fleet would certainly not miss such an opportunity.

The battleship's main gun array quickly charged, the muzzle of the macro cannon flashed with a destructive light, the array of light spears cut through the void, and the dense group of torpedoes swarmed towards the target like a swarm of bees.

The three factions of the Mechanicus simultaneously locked onto the propulsion system of the Tomb Ship.

They knew that once the giant ship regained its maneuverability, it would be extremely difficult to paralyze it.

So, after a brief tactical coordination, the Mechanicus fleet made an almost crazy decision - they directly used the nova cannon and aimed at the thruster array of the Tomb Ship.

The Nova Cannons were powerful enough to tear apart the surface of a planet, and now their target was the engine of this Necromancer.

Several dazzling energy torrents bombarded the tail of the tomb ship, and the light of the explosion even briefly illuminated the entire battlefield.

Without the protection of the shield, even the living metal armor that the Necrons are proud of cannot fully withstand such fierce firepower.

The huge hull trembled in the impact, the thruster array was completely destroyed, and some areas were even melted into a torrent of hot metal by the aftermath of the nova cannon.

This once invincible alien giant ship was finally forced to stop and became the most conspicuous target on the battlefield.

Its massive size once gave it unparalleled firepower and defense, but now it's an inescapable target.

The Necromancer warship could originally rely on its nearly invincible shield and the self-healing ability of living metal to withstand most attacks, but now that the shield is destroyed, it can only rely on pure armor and structure to withstand the bombardment of the Imperial Fleet and the Mechanicus.

Even the strongest metal will eventually succumb to such intense firepower.

However, just when everyone thought that the outcome was decided and the Imperial Navy was about to win the final victory in this battle, the situation on the battlefield suddenly took a dramatic turn.

The fleets of the three factions of the Mechanicus had begun competing secretly, preparing to fight for the final kill to gain priority in excavation, when the reality structure in front of the scarred tomb ship suddenly distorted, and a deep purple warp rift slowly opened like a demon's eye.

"Oh no! This alien warship is trying to escape by warp speed! Block it quickly!" The binary roars of the mechanical priests instantly filled the entire communication channel, and the commanders of the Imperial Navy were so anxious that their eyes were bloodshot.

It is hard for anyone to accept that the duck that is right in front of their mouth is about to fly away!

The Mechanicus fleet immediately lifted all fire restrictions, and those forbidden weapons that were originally intended to be kept as a backup were exposed one after another; the Imperial Navy frantically poured out all its ammunition reserves, and even the close-in defense guns fired crazily without regard for the range limit.

However, this alien battleship showed amazing resilience!
Its living metal shell constantly repaired itself under the gunfire. Although the entire hull was riddled with holes, it still maintained basic navigation functions.

The most despairing thing is that its jump speed far exceeds that of the Empire's most advanced void ship, and it completes the jump preparation almost at the moment the subspace rift is fully opened.

Under the desperate gaze of the Imperial Fleet, this behemoth, despite the firepower that was enough to destroy an entire fleet, slowly slid into the Warp rift with its broken body!
(End of this chapter)