59: Get on the bus, let's go collect rent in space.

【Terra - archimedes Hive City - Secret Dock】

The Thunderhawk Gunship's engines faded from a deafening roar to a low whimper, finally falling completely silent.

The landing gear made contact with the ground with a heavy thud, as if a weary giant beast had finally found a place to rest.

The hatch's hydraulic system activated, hissing as it slid open to one side, venting a cloud of cooled white mist.

N-05 followed behind C-19 and stepped down the ramp.

His magnetic boots stepped onto the hangar's cold alloy floor, producing a clear and rhythmic metallic clanging sound.

The air was filled with the familiar and unique scent of ozone, hydraulic oil, rust inhibitor, and coolant.

He instinctively adjusted the parameters of his respiratory filters, expecting to see the familiar barracks corridors covered in grease and ammunition crates.

But he was wrong.

They stood in a cavern. A cavern composed of steel, rock, reinforced concrete, and endless pipelines, so vast that the rangefinder of his tactical eyepiece needed to recalibrate its depth of field.

Overhead was no ceiling, but a dome suspended hundreds of meters above, covered in thick pipelines and reinforced trusses, where searchlight beams pierced down like light swords cutting through the thick industrial dust.

Where the beams of light converged, a silent silhouette was moored.

A ship.

N-05 tilted his head back, the servo motors at his neck emitting a faint hum. His eyepiece automatically adjusted its focus, zooming in further and further. Data streams scrolled frantically at the edge of his vision, marking out dimensions, contours, and preliminary estimates of armor seams.

Length: One thousand two hundred meters.

Prow: A sharp wedge structure; unpainted Adamantium composite armor plates reflected a cold, rough gray luster under the intense light, still bearing the scorch marks from welding.

Hull: Both sides were densely packed with turret mounts, missile silo covers, and the sensor orbs of point-defense weapon arrays.

Every protrusion and indentation followed a pure geometric logic born for projecting destruction, devoid of any redundant decoration, possessing only a suffocating pragmatism.

No insignia. No decorations. Only the weight of the steel itself and the oppressive feeling brought by the silent aim of the weapon arrays.

This pressure even made the Astartes, who had just returned from a blood-soaked battlefield, feel a slight, almost imperceptible adjustment feedback from their power armor's servo systems, as if they were facing a higher-level Predator.

“Coordinates confirmed. archimedes Dock, Core Hangar.”

A voice came through the hangar's broadcast system with a slight electronic echo; it was Li Cang's voice, calm with an underlying hint of fanaticism.

“Combat unit, C-19 and subordinate squad, identity verification passed.”

“Welcome aboard.”

“This is your new home—the ‘sword of truth’.”

...【Holographic Operations Cabin】

Li Cang looked at the warship data displayed on the screen, his lips curling up uncontrollably like a child who had just received a favorite toy, but this smile contained more of the cunning of a successful scheme.

Unit Name: ‘sword of truth’

Class: Armed Transport (Heavy Refit)

Size: 1200 meters long

Armor: 800mm Composite Adamantium

Shields: Geller Field generator x1, Void Shield generator x2

Main Guns: ‘Mars’ pattern Macro-cannon batteries x4

Secondary Guns: ‘Jupiter’ pattern ship-borne Lance x2

Point Defense: Auto-targeting bolt shell Turrets x50

Hangar: Stormbird x3, Thunderhawk x5 (to be replenished), Drop Pod silos x20

Crew: 1500 Servitors/Mortals + 200 Astartes

“Truly beautiful.”

Li Cang's fingers slid across the hull structural diagram on the screen, his fingertips lingering on every weapon node.

He could see the bridge, engine room, weapon decks, barracks, Medicae... this ship was like a fully functional mobile city, a steel fortress capable of firing Lances and Macro-cannons.

“This is a man's romance,” he murmured to himself. “Though it's a bit ugly, it's hard enough and big enough, and that's enough.”

“Commander.”

C-19's voice interrupted his self-indulgence, still in that same emotionless reporting tone.

“How shall we handle the ‘leviathan’?”

“The leviathan...”

Li Cang turned his gaze to another screen.

That massive land carrier was currently like a dead giant beast, quietly moored in the center of the battlefield, emitting black smoke.

Its engines had stalled, its weapon systems were all offline, and the surrounding area was littered with the corpses and wreckage of countless Pan-Pacific soldiers.

“Let the Mortal Auxiliary Army and Servitors take it over.”

Li Cang quickly issued the command, a flash of cold shrewdness in his eyes.

“Admiral Harlock is to be thrown into the Brig and handed over to the Tech-Priests for memory extraction. The Empire needs his star charts and all intelligence regarding the Pan-Pacific home base. The things in that old man's head are worth more than his life.”

“The ‘leviathan’ will serve as the Empire's first ground military fortress on Terra. Using Harlock's surrendered troops as a foundation, form the first batch of Planetary Defense Forces (PDF). Then leave five Astartes as Overseers; whoever dares to rebel, execute them immediately.”

Li Cang's arrangements were airtight, squeezing the resource utilization to its absolute limit.

“Everyone else, board the ‘sword of truth’.”

“We are moving out.”

“The target is?” C-19 asked.

Li Cang smiled. It was the smile of a hunter who had seen his prey, or rather, a creditor who had seen a debtor.

He zoomed in on the star chart, his finger pointing at that red planet covered in gears and factories.

“Mars.”

Li Cang's voice carried a hint of ill intent.

“We just signed a contract. Now, it's time for our ‘partners’ to fulfill the additional clauses in that contract.”

The so-called ‘Olympus Treaty’ was, on the surface, about technology sharing and a military alliance.

But Li Cang had tucked quite a bit of his own private agenda inside.

For instance, ‘In order to combat common enemies, Mars is obligated to provide the first batch of free military equipment support to the Imperial army.’

When he was on Mars before, Li Cang wanted vehicles and production lines.

Now, he had a ship and the ability to put a gun to someone's head; he wanted something else.

For example... Titans.

Of course, Fabricator-General Kelbor-Hal certainly won't agree easily.

That is the pride and joy of the Adeptus Mechanicus.

So Li Cang needs to fly this ship, park it at his doorstep, reveal all the gun ports, and then ‘friendly’ remind him.

“Look, we both have the ability to navigate the universe. There are still so many enemies in the Sol System. To maintain the safety of the ‘Holy Alliance,’ don't you think you should ‘sponsor’ a bit more?”

This wasn't called extortion.

This was called ‘demonstrating strength and fulfilling promises.’

“For the greater good”...【‘sword of truth’ - Bridge】

An hour later.

C-19 stood on the bridge of this Cruiser.

It was smaller than the bridge of the ‘leviathan,’ but more precise, efficient, and filled with that unique, cold, and sacred industrial aesthetic of the Adeptus Mechanicus.

Countless holographic screens floated in the air, displaying various data of the ship.

Dozens of Tech-Priests in red robes were busy at their posts, their mechanical limbs connected to consoles, chanting complex binary prayers in a grand mass.

“Engine preheating.”

“Geller Field stable.”

“Void Shields fully charged.”

“Navigation system... locked onto Mars coordinates.”

C-19 walked to the Captain's command throne.

It was not a comfortable chair, but a steel frame covered in data ports.

He plugged his power armor into it, and instantly, the senses of the entire ship flooded into his brain.

He ‘saw’ the Macro-cannon shells being automatically loaded, those massive projectiles like the scepters of death.

He ‘heard’ the low roar of the Plasma Engines, the beating of a heart.

He ‘felt’ the invisible barrier formed by the Void Shields around the hull; it was his skin.

“Hive dome... is opening.”

Accompanied by a massive roar and the vibration of the ground, archimedes Hive City's hundred-meter-thick alloy dome slowly slid open to both sides.

Outside was Terra's eternal, grayish-yellow sky. Long-absent sunlight pierced through the clouds, spilling onto the pitch-black hull.

“Engine ignition.”

C-19 issued the command.

The Plasma Engines at the rear of the hull erupted with blue flames, and thrust exploded instantly.

The massive hull began to vibrate slightly, then slowly and firmly rose upward.

It passed through the hangar, through the Hive's superstructure, and finally broke through that polluted atmosphere, charging into the vast starry sky...【Holographic Operations Cabin】

Li Cang looked at the images on the screen.

The pitch-black ‘sword of truth’ was like an unsheathed blade, suspended above the scarred blue planet of Terra. Below it were the vast wastelands and scattered sparks of civilization.

Before it were the endless stars and the dark universe.

Li Cang looked at this scene; his eyes held none of the so-called romance of the ‘sea of stars,’ only a cold, even ruthless calculation.

“C-19.”

Li Cang's voice rang out on the bridge.

“Navigator, set a course.”

“Target: Mars.”

“Let's go see that Fabricator-General.”

“I hope he can understand the language of the ‘omnissiah’.”

The light of the engines carved a blue trail in the darkness until it disappeared into the depths of the sea of stars.