Three Killnage-class conventional cruisers.

Hovering silently in the void.

This is the seizure of the Josda Jumping Gang.

Because most of them are redesigned from scratch, there are still very obvious differences between Chaos warships and Imperial warships in terms of shape and style. Both have a similar design layout, including fins under the hull, aft bridges, port and deck layouts, and weapons arrays in the bow layout.

But there are significant differences. The design style of the Chaos Battleship is relatively simple, unlike the intricate church elements of the Imperial Battleship, which is roughly the difference between the Gothic style and the Baroque style. The Gnaku is a triangular shape that sticks outward, and the Chaos Battleship has a sharp, flat bow, but it is not the "Σ" type of armored bow of the Imperial Battleship, so it cannot ram the enemy ship at will.

In addition to these three Smash-class cruisers, the Iron Float Warrior Regiment had captured the Underworld-class Heavy Cruiser, which was also a kind of Chaos Warship. Since these Chaos Battleships are part of the Chaos Space Marines, they have also been modified to have the same features that Space Marines need—a teleport, a launch port for an airborne pod, an orbital bombardment capability, torpedo tubes, or a flight deck for launching assault boats and Thunderhawk gunboats.

The total space and energy of the battleship are limited, and the addition of these functional facilities to serve the space marines will reduce the array of other weapons. Generally speaking, a strike cruiser of the size of a conventional cruiser has only the same firepower as a light cruiser, and a strike cruiser of the size of a heavy cruiser has only the same firepower as a conventional cruiser.

But the armor and speed of the strike cruisers in general were not weakened, and even strengthened, which was the key to their ability to perform "strike" missions.

The Jumpers captured the bridges of the three ships and paralyzed their command centers, but there was still a lot of cleanup to be done to capture the three ships once and for all. Control key parts – such as the sub-light engine and the subspace engine. Find and kill all the Chaos Space Marines, and identify and purge all mortal crews - whether they are Chaos cultists or plundered slaves, the latter often with a silver lining, and the former will not be tolerated for all executions. The three warships already belonged to the wargroup, and it was necessary to prevent the enemy from deliberately destroying the key facilities of the battleship.

Compared to naval warships, Space Marine warships and Chaos warships usually use a lot of machine servants and slaves to replace mortal crews, which is a good thing, and warbands don't have to worry about killing too many crew members and no one piloting the warship.

After some purging, it may result that no one will control the weapon array, but it will be okay to barely drive back to the Marquez King Zone, and then they will be further cleaned, transformed, and strengthened in the Phaeton Casting World Portal.

After recovering the "Broken Army Golden Armor" and Brother Zong, leaving behind the slow battle barge, Fu Qinghai personally took a strike cruiser, led a company and two imperial transport ships, and went to pursue the transport cruiser that had run away.

…………

Ni Deliner Subsector.

The Giraud system.

The transport cruiser of the Draconis family had just arrived here, and it was quickly recognized that there was a rebel naval force in the system - another transport cruiser. And the markings on that battleship are very familiar to them.

"The Vickers Family."

Viscount Sunderland gritted his teeth and said.

"We know them?"

Zofia whispered to her adoptive mother.

The Janikov man explained in a low voice:

"The knights of House Vixtrek are among the most loyal servants of the Renegade Titans, the Skull Legion. They are fanatical followers of the Mechanical Gods, a family of knights who followed the expeditionary fleet to conquer the Rings of Steel, loyal to the Forge Commander, but it was this unquestioning devotion and supreme obedience that ultimately led them to the deepest depravity. ”

Zofia doesn't seem to understand.

In fact, to put it simply, traitors like the Vixtrek Knight Family and the Curissadai Titan Legion are inextricably linked to the Dead Skull Legion, the former is the vassal Knight family of the Dead Skull Legion, and the latter is a split part of the Dead Skull Legion Titan Assisted in establishing. Are they loyal? They are very loyal, but they are loyal to the wrong person - the Dead Skull Legion is the hardcore of Warlords Horus and Kalbo Howl.

The Dracones discovered that the Vickerstryk transport cruiser was dropping a cross-orbital lander towards some industrial world, and they seemed to be a little flustered, hurriedly releasing the lander, and then the battleship immediately sailed out of orbit.

"They want to take over that industrial world?"

A large number of knight pilots gathered on the bridge.

A family knight asked.

"I don't know."

Viscount Sunderland squinted his eyes and said:

"However, now that we have found this shameful depraved family, our first battle in the Ni Deliner sub-sector will start with this group of marauding knights."

The patriarch said in a deep voice:

"Assemble and get ready to ride!"

"Yes, sir!"

The family knights replied in unison.

……

Viscount Sunderland came to the lower cabin.

Find the long-awaited Nemonix Sage.

"Honorable Sage."

Viscount Sunderland whispered:

"Thank you for helping us."

"You're welcome, Viscount."

Nemonix Sage smiled and said:

"We all belong to the same knightly world, and it is our sect's business to assist the knight family in their conquest."

Unlike in the presence of the Sovereign Sage, who always appears as an electronic ghost, the Nemonix Sage reveals his true face in front of Viscount Sunderland, as a mediocre technocracy, like all other technocrats.

During the war in the Ring of Steel, the "Data Regulation" sect of the Nemonix Sage has been reluctant to help, and on the eve of the Draconis family's expedition, they suddenly approached the head of the family, Viscount Sunderland, and offered to help.

And said that this was the request of the ruling sage.

Viscount Sunderland knew very well: they were trying to curry favor with themselves, and they wanted to change their minds in this way, but these small favors did not change his determination in the slightest, and the Draconis family would definitely break away from the Cult of the Mechanics.

"We're going to descend on that industrial world, and then defeat the fallen knights and reclaim the Empire."

Viscount Sunderland spoke.

"Good luck with your victory, Viscount."

Nemonix Sage smiled.

Viscount Sunderland nodded and said nothing more.

Lead a group of pilots to the Throne of Machines.

……

The Warhammer 40K has always been the way it is.

Some of the Imperial factions have them, and so do the Chaos factions.

There are already Chaos Space Marines corresponding to Space Marines, and naturally there are Chaos Knights corresponding to Imperial Knights.

There are three types of Imperial Knights: those loyal to the government of Terra and those loyal to the Cult of the Mechanicus, and the Freedom Blade.

There are also three types of Chaos Knights: the Apostate family loyal to the Chaos Space Marine Legion and the Purgatory family loyal to the Cult of the Dark Mechanics.

Each Chaos Knight is a twisted reflection of the Imperial Knight. Originally created using standard stencil structures during the Age of Dark Technology, the Knight's Mech seeped into the War Engine over the years and centuries, tormenting its mech, causing them to mutate profoundly as machines.

Giannico told Zofia:

Once a glittering beacon for the Knight Mech and its pilots, now the Chaos Knight and its fallen nobles form a symbiotic beast of anger and hatred. Only the most powerful Fallen Pilots will be able to communicate with the Throne of the Machines, and will not go mad in the process. Those who survive will also become tortured creatures.

"Thirty-one knights, forming five spear formations."

The chief knight taught his adopted daughter by word and deed:

"In a moment's battle, you must follow me and cover my left flank, understand?"

"I understand, Your Highness Janico."

Zofia nodded.

The two climbed into the Knight Mecha separately.

This time, Zofia failed to pilot the "Fire Fury", and she was stuffed into the cockpit of a squire-class knight. The steed is an agile mech made of plastic steel and adamantite gold, a broadsword squire known as the Bloodhound, with a chainsaw sword at the end of one arm and a set of thermal spears in the other, a double-barreled hot-melt weapon, and a logging gun on top, to name a few of her weapons. Its meching let out a cautious roar in greeting its new owner.

There are not as many models of knights as official knights, there are only two models in total - the broadsword squire and the handle ring squire, the former is equipped with a thermal spear and a chainsaw sword, which can be regarded as light cavalry specializing in melee combat, and the latter is equipped with two squire automatic cannons, which is equivalent to an archer specializing in long-range output.

Zofia's five senses began to expand with a vertiginous shock, the external viewfinder and bird chart array began to work, and the instruments in the cockpit and the images outside the cockpit gradually overlapped. Her vision was panoramic, with increased width and depth, and with a single glance, she could see what it would take more effort for mortals to see around her.

At the same time, a large amount of data refreshed and scrolled on her retina display, and her array communicator was awakened, sending information from open communication channels directly into her ears. For those who are not mentally prepared, such an intensive sensory input can lead to catastrophic psychological trauma and even death. But for Zofia, who had completed the link with the bigger, stronger, and more majestic mecha hunters, she didn't feel any discomfort at all, and the extra effect of adrenaline only made her feel excited, making her tremble all over.

The cross-orbital lander unfolds.

Each spear array stepped out of the hatch in turn.

The Janikovs led a spear formation.

The Viscount of Sunderland leads a spear formation.

The Draconis family starts riding!

It's an industrial world with complex terrain, and the city is littered with the remnants of the mining industry, wide tunnels and giant caverns that can withstand orbital bombardment. In such an environment, the bird is not very sensitive, and the Imperial knights are scattered, cautiously expanding the search range.

Scan the ruined ruins of the ruined city around you.

This place has long been looted.

Viscount Sunderland came to a conclusion.

Why are they here?

Thinking of the transport cruiser that hastily lowered the transorbital lander and then immediately left the planet's orbit - the Viscount had ordered the family battleship to go in pursuit.

What does the enemy seem to be hiding?

Viscount Sunderland thought to himself.

"Ahead, an energy signal has been detected!"

The voice of the knight's squire interrupted his thoughts.

A team of Fallen Knights emerges from the tunnel.

"Werther XI, damned traitor."

Half black gray and half dark green armor paint, the sword pierced the family coat of arms wrapped in white gears from top to bottom, and after Viscount Sunderland confirmed the identity of his opponent, he turned on the loudspeaker and said the name of his opponent coldly.

"Draconis, why are you?"

The other party looked a little surprised, as if he did not expect to encounter another group of Imperial knights here.

"Fate has brought us together again, and I will purify you and desecrate the ugly things of chivalry."

Viscount Sunderland said coldly.

"Yes, fate ......"

The other party sighed.

On both sides of the confrontation, the main force on the side of the Draconis family is the Ranger Knight, and only the head of the family, Viscount Sunderland, is driving a castle master knight. The main force of the Vickers family is all marauding knights, and the head of the family, Wilt XI, is a tyrant knight, which can be described as an equal opponent.

The head of the opposing knight's mecha resembles a slender metal skeleton, with a shrunken jaw and a large mouth with fangs hanging down. The Fallen Knight raised his right hand, and inside the lightning fist was a Space Marine, who was wearing black and gold power armor, without a helmet, and his head was lowered as if he was in suspended animation. Then, the lightning fist gloves squeezed hard, crushing the pottery and plastic steel, and the superhuman flesh of the Space Marines spewed out from the cracks in the armor. The Fallen Knight slowly smeared the remains of the Space Marines on his bumpy, spiky armor, shredded flesh and armor hanging between the gaps between the welded spikes and skull chains, and some of them falling in a trickle.

Viscount Sunderland watched in silence.

This is a heinous provocation and blasphemy.

"I thought it was going to be these guys."

The leader of the other party smiled and said:

"I prepared a prisoner in advance, it's really a flattering eye to the blind man, it's a pity, it's a pity, it's a pity, it's ......a pity."

Zofia stared at the black gold power armor.

How does it feel...... Sound familiar?

"Your very existence is a blasphemy of duty and honor! Don't try to provoke us with such acts, Werther XI, today is your death! ”

Viscount Sunderland proclaimed loudly, raised his chainsaw sword, switched back to the communication channel, and shouted:

"All knights, follow me...... Vomit! ”

All the knights heard the change in the communication channel, and the viscount's voice changed suddenly, as if he was vomiting heavily, and the voice was extremely violent, as if he was going to vomit all the internal organs, and he was still scratching his throat vigorously.

"I... Vomit, vomit, wow-"

Heart-rending, sparse vomiting sounds.

All the Imperial knights were stunned.

I was a little overwhelmed for a moment.

In the distance, the fallen knights at the edge of the tunnel were also stunned, and the leader of Velth XI, tilting his head, the sensors and detectors of the knight's head kept flickering, and he found that the main knight of the castle on the opposite side suddenly began to tremble, and the viscous and rotten pus mucus oozed out along the cracks of each mecha.

Then there were the wriggling white maggots and the buzzing black flies, which kept falling and the flies rose into a cloud of flies. Then, the steel began to crumble, the surface of the armor bulged with boils, the lord of the castle trembled, the pus on his body began to bubble, and a steady stream of green foul-smelling miasma was spewing from the exhaust vent behind him.

"It's ...... Nurgle? ”

The well-informed Werther XI spoke to himself.

"Hum—"

An ear-piercing scream accompanied by intense pain swept through the communication channels of all Imperial Knights, and Zofia felt the blood roaring in her temples, and the iron ring on her forehead suddenly became extremely heavy, weighing her out of breath.

"It's Chaos Waste!"

Giannico screamed:

"Zofia, disconnect the communication link!"

After a long period of continuous training, Zofia didn't think much about it, and almost subconsciously, he manually disconnected the communication link, and with a "click", the sound in his ears disappeared. The pink-haired girl looked around and was shocked to find that several other knight mechs were also showing the same symptoms as the castle master knight.

"Boom-"

The knight of the castle lord suddenly raised his right arm, and the city breaker cannon was aimed at a normal Ranger Knight, and opened fire blatantly, the Cruiser Knight's ion shield was aimed at the Chaos Knight in front of him, and he didn't expect the attack from the side at all, and he was caught off guard, and the cabin suddenly burst out with a cloud of sparks, and he staggered and fell.

The two sides did not wait for the two sides to fight.

The Imperial Knights have begun to kill each other.

"Woohoo! Boom Boom! ”

The castle knight began to be covered with rust and patina, and the group of Shieldbreaker missile launchers on his back sprayed missiles indiscriminately around him. Several knight mechs that had also undergone mutations turned their chainsaws towards the "Fire Fury", and the chief knight was instantly besieged by three knight mechas!

"Buzz-boom!"

"Fire Fury" slashes the serrated blade with a sword.

There was a shout from inside the loudspeaker:

"Run, Zofia, run!"

Helplessness and fear filled her heart, and Zofia watched in a daze as the Janikovs were encircled, and the huge knight of the castle had turned and raised his weapon. In the distance, the Chaos Knights cluster is running towards this direction with their legs outstretched......

With his superb fighting skills, the chief knight controls the "Fire Fury" sword to stab through the mutant knight.

"Run, Zofia!"

…………

"Click, click, click......"

The night sky is dark, and raindrops are falling.

Dripping in puddles of water among the ruins, rippling and rippling.

A broadsword squire, walking alone on the side of the road.

Zofia walked with a dull face.

She had almost forgotten how she had finally managed to get out of the brutal and chaotic battlefield. The Imperial knights, who had been subjected to some kind of "infection and mutation", had completely forgotten the combat skills they had mastered, and fought with a completely animalistic instinct, wielding their weapons in no order. At the last moment of his escape from that battlefield, the "bloodhound" looked back and saw that the "Fire Fury" was overwhelmed by the many mutated knights...... He then raised his left arm and shot through the leg joints of a mutant knight mech trying to chase him, causing it to fall to the ground.

"His Highness Janiko, Janikov ......"

Zofia muttered to herself in a low voice.

Suddenly, she closed her eyes.

"Mommy, Mommy......"

Although her senses were still in sync with the broadsword squire, and although her body and vision were still existing as a knight mecha, the moment she closed her eyes, she could still clearly feel two streams of heat sliding down her cheeks.

The industrial world is even quieter at night.

The faint flames that occasionally lit up in the distance, like a cluster of ghost fire in the darkness, faltered and extinguished.

Zofia drove the knightly squire and walked another seven or eight kilometers, along an old main road. Abandoned trucks are scattered around, rusted from prolonged exposure. One of the factories she had just seen in the distance was now much closer, about a kilometer away. There is no command, no goal, no way forward...... She didn't know if there were any survivors in the knight family, not to mention a spear formation, even if there was only one knight squire.

She just walked aimlessly.

The factory-like building was so large that knightly squires could even pass through it from below. No one knows what it was built for. Considering the size of the plant, it is possible that even Titan components or battleship shells were produced. However, it is only marked on the map as "Abandoned D-26".

"Didi, Didi!"

The bird's voice rang out harshly.

The threat alert panicked her.

"What's that?"

The "bloodhound" turned cautiously, and the girl's heart immediately sank. A twisted humanoid mechanical figure stood in the distance, just at the edge of her ornith's range. It was almost twice her size, about the size of the castle lord knight piloted by the viscount. However, this is not the noble Warframe of the House of Draconis, it is painted in vivid green and black, with a black skull relief pierced by a black sword and located inside a white gear. Bloody chains wrapped around its head. The chainsaw weapon on his arm was still dripping with blood, wisps.

It was the Marauding Knight of House Vixtrek.

Zofia's eyes widened suddenly.

The Fallen Knight began to walk towards her. This approach, slow and relaxed, moves its legs a little leisurely, as if a carnivore is not interested in its prey.

"A lone beagle. Are you afraid of death, dog? Just escaped from your master? ”

Every time the giant war machine moved towards her, the Bloodhounds involuntarily took a step back.

"All I'm worried about is not doing my job. Cowardice is the root of heresy like you. ”

She tried her best to keep her voice fierce, but the situation was not ideal. In this moment, how she longed for her fellow broadsword attendants, or "the fury of fire". Although Zofia is talented and trains hard, the enemy in front of him is not an opponent in the same level at all, and the huge size gap between the plundering knight and the broadsword squire can erase all differences in the quality of pilots, and the other party cannot be a rookie.

The Thermal Spear can destroy it.

Zofia thought to herself:

However, the range of the hot melt weapon is too short, and if you control the broadsword squire to get within the optimal range, you will face the danger of the enemy reducing the distance at explosive speed.

"Hahaha......"

The Fallen Knight erupted in a cruel laugh:

"You're so daring!"

"Well, well, it's always a pleasure to crush a scrap dealer like you."

He tapped his carapace with his fist:

"I am a 'Faith Breaker,' and I swear by the name of the Vickers Trik family." There was an elaborate mockery in his words. "So you can know who's your Grim Reaper, isn't it, puppy?"

"I'm the broadsword squire of House Draconis, a twisted monster who sold his soul, bah!"

Zofia scolded.

At the same time, we are thinking quickly about countermeasures.

"House Draconis?"

The Fallen Knight laughed:

"You may well be the last of your family to fall. A defeated dog, a real loner. ”

"Shut up, stinking idiot."

The pink-haired girl thinks of her adoptive mother.

Angrily snapped:

"You're a bunch of rotting maggots."

"Whatever you want, you don't know how to respect the gods. You don't need to miss them too much, I'll end your pain as soon as possible and give you a decent death. ”

Without further warning, the Marauder Knight attacked and charged her down the road, the massive mechanical paws easily crushing the freight truck.

The Bloodhound turned and galloped down the road, her vengeful desire begging her to silence the traitor with a weapon, but there was no point in dying here, and the knightly squires in the Wide Strip had no chance of winning. So, she desperately tries to escape from the Marauding Knights. She thought the only possibility was to get back to the factory quickly and hide somewhere in the factory.

The good news is that the Knight Squire has a slight edge over speed. As she ran, she could hear the sound of the traitor's heavy logging gun, the bullets sparkling in her armor, and she felt the dull sensation of raindrops hitting her back, and Zofia, who had always respected science, couldn't help but pray to the god of all machines, praying that the bullets would not get into any gaps.

Behind her, a series of small car wrecks and the crashing sound of transport vehicles indicate that the Chaos Knight's impatient desire for destruction is waiting to be unleashed. The Marauder grabbed a small car and waved it in her direction. Luckily, the car didn't hit, but rolled and slid down the road, causing quite a few sparks. Being smaller, she constantly jumps in and out of her way, avoiding obstacles around her so as not to trip and catch up.

The door to the factory was close at hand, closed from top to bottom, and due to the sheer size of the building, it could accommodate broadsword attendants, and the "bloodhounds" leaned through the breach into the dark factory grounds. Her sensor kit and ornithography data immediately complemented her vision, and she couldn't see the purpose of the huge machine shadows everywhere, some of which were as large as hills, and the gaps between the streets and alleys were covered with dust.

There were corpses everywhere, they had fallen long ago, and all that was left was a pile of bones and metal shelves. The robes and flesh they wore had long since rotted. Some production machines were damaged, walls and columns were destroyed. Even the emblem of the giant skull gear, a symbol of the Cult of the Mechanica, was not spared, a place that had been fought for, not just abandoned.

There was a loud bang behind him.

The Marauder Knights also came in.

This traitor could not squeeze around like a "bloodhound", but could only desperately smash the path forward, and the rotten metal crumbled and collapsed under the attack. A moment later, the massive body of the Marauding Knight emerged from the flying debris, only to realize that he had lost track of the broadsword squire.

The factory is quiet.

The readings of the bird divination were also unusual.

"Hehe, play this trick with me?"

The Fallen Knight laughed and began to look around.

"Come out, come out, beagle." The Fallen Knight coaxed, the twisted inhuman voice harsh in the silence. "I'll let you die a happy death."

The interior of the factory is still quiet.

"What are you hiding?"

The Fallen Knight shouted.

"To be the last link in a string of failures? You can't save the world! However, I was amazed that the Steel Ring could last so long with such a mediocre guard force. Look at you, run and hide, and in the end you can't even save yourself. ”

"You're just a knight's squire, and you don't even know what to do without your knight, do you? It's just a toy that can only obey orders. What are you? Poor pathetic distant back-up? A specially bred genetic hound? Dirty mud legs who think very highly of themselves? ”

The Fallen Knight continued to pound on her mental defenses.

"You're a peasant, I can hear it, your rude low Gothic accent. If you have the courage to face me, the puppy will die with its owner. Do you think you have a great destiny and that you are destined to have more? Amusing. You are nothing but a crippled slave, and you beg your master for scraps of food. Now that they're dead, you're nothing. ”

The Fallen Knight continued.

He thought that Zofia was an ordinary squire and wanted to humiliate her in this way and provoke her, but he did not understand the relationship between Zaffia and Janicor at all, completely beyond the special relationship between ordinary knights and squires.

The Marauder Knights strolled across a covered bridge.

Suddenly, a burst of shouts rang out above his head:

"The time of death is come, traitor!"

Broadsword attendants descend from the sky.

Hot molten flames erupted.

The Chaos Marauder Knight, who had been mentally prepared, shifted the ion shield above his head, raised his lightning fist gloves and swung them upward, but he didn't expect that the hot melt cannon muzzle was not aimed at him, but a bunch of giant water tanks with promethium logos printed on the side.

"Boom-"

The water tank exploded, blowing up the structure that fixed the covered bridge, and the huge impact lifted the two knight mecha out together, and the huge steel covered bridge above the head collapsed and smashed on the backs of the two knights, but the broadsword squire was petite, and the covered bridge first smashed on the back of the plundering knight, and after breaking into two, it formed a triangular arch bridge support structure, and the "bloodhound" just lay in this small gap.

This series of events evolved beyond Zofia's expectations, and she didn't plan so many steps.

But she reacted quickly, and while the Marauder Knight was still lying on the ground, she immediately kicked out of the covered bridge with both legs, stood up with one hand, and swung her spinning chainsaw sword, plunging straight into the gap between the Marauder Knight's back armor and skull.

"Zizi Ka Ka ......"

Pull, pull, pull, pull......

Zofia roared in her mouth:

"Ahhhh

Until blood gushing out of it mixed with engine oil.

Blood flowed slowly, spreading all over the ground.

Zofia finally gasped and stopped.

"Ha, ha......"

The Marauding Knights did not move.

I killed a Marauder Knight.

The words echoed in Zofia's mind.

What the fuck am I ...... Unexpectedly......

Killed a Marauder Knight?

Although there is an element of luck, no, it is almost all luck, but ...... If the family is still there, if her mother is still there, with this feat, she can be directly promoted to become an official knight, and becoming a chief knight is also just around the corner.

After a long breath, the Bloodhound straightened up, turned and walked towards the factory gate.

The knight's squire had just made a hole in the wall.

Suddenly shocked.

Outside the factory, six Marauding Knights of the Vickerstrick family stood in a semi-enclosed circle, quietly waiting for her.

Unbeknownst to her, the other Marauder Knights had been notified to come and surround the Raider long before the Marauder Knights entered the factory.

Finished.

That was the only thought in Zofia's mind.

…………

(End of chapter)