Seeing the slightly stiff, unnatural expression on Grey Wind’s face, Gauss became even more convinced of his theory.
“I knew it! Russell is nothing but a puppet—just a puppet! Five years ago, when the Governor of Faya first boarded that ancient vessel, he was already compromised! That ancient warship contains not only a massive hoard of relics from the Golden Age, but also an evil artificial intelligence that has been slumbering since antiquity!”
And the girl standing before him, who looked no different from a living human but possessed not a single organic component in her body, was undoubtedly a remnant of the Cybernetic Revolt—the Abominable Intelligence that had slept inside the warship until now: an Iron Man of the Golden Age!
The disguise of this Iron Man was so exquisite that if he hadn’t recently updated the bio-scanning technology in his cybernetic eyes, he wouldn’t have been able to see through it at all!
It all made sense now.
The sudden appearance of the Ork fleet and their War Moon, the unprecedented assembly of the Imperial Navy, the pilgrims charging to their deaths with absolute resolve…
everything made sense.
An intense, burning hatred ignited within Gauss’s metallic chest.
It was a deep, visceral loathing of artificial intelligence carved into the very genetic code of every human being, making him wish he could turn into a wild beast and tear this monster in its cute girl skin to pieces.
However, blinded by his hatred, Gauss failed to recall that the new bio-scanning technology he had installed in his cybernetic eyes had seemingly come directly from this “Iron Man’s” database.
“Well, I can’t be bothered with you. Under orders from the Grand Marshal, I am taking full control of the Seeker’s systems. Just sit tight, don’t move, and watch me work.”
Grey Wind turned around, leaving Gauss slumped in his seat.
She walked toward the central cogitator arrays of the control room.
The central cogitator arrays put up a symbolic resistance for a mere few seconds before falling completely silent, with not a single bio-electric current passing through the brains.
It took her only a moment to seize absolute control of the Seeker’s systems, primarily because the space station’s core structure had been constructed by nanomachines to begin with.
Through her auxiliary sensors, Grey Wind could see the massive Pilgrim Fleet still continuously emerging from Faya’s Mandeville point.
Ships surged past the Seeker in rapid succession, rushing toward the battlefield.
In terms of pure engine power, the Seeker’s energy core was far superior to these commercial and civilian vessels, which had only undergone rudimentary refits.
However, hampered by its immense size, the overly redundant weapon systems and void shields consumed a massive amount of energy.
Consequently, the space station’s travel speed was actually much slower than that of the pilgrims.
But this suited Grey Wind’s plans perfectly.
“According to Jabaxsti’s prophecy, the greenskins possess an artifact that contains powerful life energy. The Imperium of Man assembled these two massive fleets—the Martyrs and the pilgrims—specifically to seize this artifact.” Read this novel at novelping.com for the best experience.
“But they aren’t the only ones. The Tyranids are also salivating over that treasure. They are already on their way, and the swarm will soon enter the theater of war.”
“The Grand Marshal believes that in addition to the humans and the Tyranids, other factions will also interfere in the battle for Faya…”
Russell’s directive to Grey Wind was clear: at the opportune moment, take control of the Seeker, cut through the high-orbit battlefield, launch a direct frontal assault on the Ork Battle Moon, and cover him while he seized the artifact.
Grey Wind navigated the Seeker space station, dodging the main battery fire of Ork warships at seemingly impossible angles while scanning the wider battlefield with her auxiliary sensors.
The primary theater of this war was in Faya’s high orbit, specifically the airspace of the Second Moon.
The Ork War Moon hung motionless above the Second Moon.
Countless scrap metal ships of all sizes continuously launched from the lunar surface, taking to the skies to engage the human pilgrims in a fight to the death.
“That giant iron sphere hasn’t moved since it appeared. Is its propulsion system damaged?” As the most powerful unit, it was highly unusual for the Battle Moon not to enter the fray.
Grey Wind analyzed this abnormal phenomenon.
Meanwhile, a slender pilgrim ship trailing a long tail of fire roared past the Seeker, slamming headfirst into a massive Ork warship at maximum thrust.
The entire vessel plunged deep into the Ork ship like a spear.
Countless crudely armed human soldiers, wielding basic lasguns, threw open the hatches and flooded into the enemy ship’s interior like a tidal wave from the newly made breach, engaging the Ork forces in a bloody, close-quarters melee.
The Pilgrim Fleet was not a regular naval force.
They knew their ship-to-ship firepower was sorely lacking, and that they stood zero chance of victory in a conventional naval engagement.
Their solution to this problem was simple:
Use human lives to wage boarding actions.
With wave after wave of suicidal boarding actions, the fanatical pilgrims overcame the absolute deficit in firepower, forcing a space battle where they were heavily outgunned into a series of evenly matched, close-quarters melees.
The Imperium lacked everything—except people.
“What a bunch of madmen,” Grey Wind muttered, banking the Seeker to avoid the most intense volley of enemy fire.
Having piloted ships for countless millennia, Grey Wind’s piloting skills were flawless.
Yet, even she could not steer a lumbering space station entirely unscathed through such a chaotic battlefield.
Both the humans and the Orks had gone completely mad.
As far as her sensors could reach, there was only endless slaughter.
Lances and macro-cannons flared in alternating succession, like fireflies flickering in the dark of night.
As the battle raged on, an uncountable amount of ship wreckage scattered into the void, gradually forming a ring of debris around the Battle Moon.
Countless physical mines drifted among the wreckage like venomous snakes coiled in dark corners.
Any vessel that strayed too close, whether human or Ork, suffered catastrophic damage from the resulting violent explosions.
Compared to the gentlemanly skirmishes across the stars, Grey Wind felt that this savage conflict—utterly devoid of humanity—was what true war looked like.
As the Seeker pushed deeper into the fray, its massive size naturally drew extra attention from the greenskins.
Grey Wind skillfully utilized the various weapon modules aboard the station to shoot down the incoming Ork vessels one by one.
Her seamless coordination was as precise as a machine.
…Well, she technically was a machine.
However, even a machine collective intelligence like Grey Wind had its limits.
No matter how powerful the weapon systems mounted on the Seeker were, it was nigh impossible to carve out a clean zone in a space battle of this scale.
Soon, small, high-speed raiders packed with heavily armed Orks began braving the storm of gunfire, moving in formation to launch boarding actions directly against the space station.
The large scrap-metal ships behind them began providing cover fire with fierce, rolling broadsides.
The rain of incoming fire was so dense that even Grey Wind found herself feeling slightly overwhelmed.