54: victory

The red alarm lights stained the bridge with an ominous, bloody hue. On the main screen, a massive red light spot representing an unknown threat was rapidly expanding from the edge of the tactical star map. Its energy reading curve rose like a steep mountain peak, coldly announcing a threat level far exceeding any previously encountered individual. The dawn acted like a provoked hedgehog, with all energy conduits beneath its armor plating humming as they entered an overload-ready state. On its menacing bow, the focusing rings of the giant wave twin-linked plasma macro cannons lit up one by one with a ghostly blue light, resembling the fierce eyes of a giant beast opening.

"tranquility module, running at full power! All personnel, check your neural interfaces and mental firewalls!" Han Zhe's voice rose above the piercing alarm, echoing through the bridge and all combat channels. His fingers swept across the tactical panel, pulling up the enemy's predicted trajectory and energy reaction peaks he had just calculated. "keystone, calculate the optimal engagement distance and main battery volley window! Prioritize shield energy distribution to the bow and the predicted impact surfaces!"

"Target speed: 0.12C, still accelerating. Estimated time to engagement: eleven minutes and thirty-seven seconds. Optimal volley window: range of eight thousand kilometers, duration of three point five seconds. iron curtain shield energy redistribution complete; bow and upper hemisphere shield strength increased to 125%." keystone's response was fast and precise, accompanied by the faint crackle of electrical noise from the increased load on the ship's systems.

Eleven minutes. A moment between life and death.

"Alpha Squad, enter the high-speed assault craft and stand by for boarding operations or emergency maneuver interception. Beta and Gamma Squads, take your positions and check internal defense nodes and damage control preparations. SCV units, stand by in the core area for emergency repairs." Han Zhe's orders came one after another, mobilizing every ounce of power within the ship. He glanced at the array of green icons on the side screen representing the status of the tranquility modules; most were steadily lit, with only a few still being fine-tuned. This hastily commissioned new equipment was about to face its first, and perhaps most brutal, live-combat test.

"Stalker-II platforms, spread out and conduct harassing fire. Disrupt their sensors or propulsion systems to create an opening for the dawn's main battery volley!"

"Missile launch units, load can opener anti-armor missiles. Set to volley mode. Target: the enemy ship's potential energy nodes or weak joints!"

Every unit began to mesh and operate at high speed, like gears in a precision war machine.

In deep space, the dawn completed its turn, presenting its broadside to the direction of the enemy attack while its bow cannons locked on from afar. In the distance, that cluster of red energy signals representing a terrifying existence had transformed into a hideous silhouette that was becoming clear and rapidly expanding in their field of vision.

It was not at all like the Aberrations they had encountered before, which were like enlarged versions of space creatures. This was a much larger, more... sacrilegious creation. It was roughly spindle-shaped and over five hundred meters long. Its main body seemed to be composed of countless thick, dark red fleshy tentacles resembling living worms, twisted, entangled, and fused with rusted metal plates covered in spikes and blasphemous runes. Its 'head' had no clear mouthparts or sensory organs, only a fleshy aggregate that constantly writhed, spewing dark green spiritual light and viscous acid. Dozens of tentacles of varying lengths extended from its body, with ends that were either sharp claws, cannon barrels, or simply giant suckers that constantly opened and closed. Its method of movement was not jet propulsion; instead, it seemed to 'swim' through space, leaving behind a faint, mentally unsettling trail of Warp spiritual light and a low-pitched 'hum' full of hunger and malice that acted directly on the soul.

"Energy signature confirmed: a fusion of high-level Chaos contamination and unknown bio-energy. Psionic readings... extremely high! Detecting a large-scale reality distortion field! Warning: This field may affect our ship's sensor accuracy, weapon ballistics, and shield stability!" keystone's warning carried an unprecedented severity.

A reality distortion field! This meant that conventional aiming and physical attacks might be significantly less effective!

"Main battery charge complete! Target in range!" the Gunnery Chief's roar rang out.

"Fire!" Han Zhe ordered without any hesitation.

Boom—!!!

Two suffocatingly thick torrents of azure plasma roared from the bow of the dawn, tearing through the void and pouncing toward the hideous monster at near-light speed!

However, just a moment before the plasma streams could hit, the reality distortion field around the monster produced a visible, violent ripple like water waves! The moment the two lethal plasma torrents touched the field, they underwent a bizarre deflection and scattering! Most of the energy was twisted and refracted into the surrounding void, with less than a third of the power actually striking the monster's main body!

Dark red flesh and metal vaporized and exploded under the high temperature. The monster's massive body shuddered violently, letting out a silent but psionically transmitted shriek full of pain and fury! A massive, scorched hole appeared where it was hit, its edges dripping with molten matter and foul pus.

But it wasn't dead! It wasn't even heavily wounded! The flesh around the wound was writhing and regenerating at a speed visible to the naked eye!

"Main battery hit rate only 34%! Damage lower than expected!" the Gunnery Chief reported urgently.

"Missile volley! Cover the main battery for another recharge!" Han Zhe gritted his teeth.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh—!

Dozens of can opener anti-armor missiles screamed out from the dawn's vertical launch cells on its broadside, trailing white smoke as they swarmed the monster like bees. Simultaneously, the dispersed Stalker-II platforms began harassing fire, their thin laser beams and railgun slugs striking the monster's thick bio-metallic carapace, sparking a series of faint flashes and slime.

The monster seemed provoked by these dense but limited-power attacks. Several thick tentacles swung out suddenly, easily swatting away or detonating most of the missiles in mid-air, with only a few hitting the target and exploding in small bursts of fire to little effect. Its attention seemed completely drawn to the dawn. The fleshy aggregate at its head writhed violently, and a thicker, darker, almost solid breath of ghostly green Chaos energy—like a beam of light that could end the world—suddenly erupted, shooting straight for the dawn!

"Full shields! Emergency evasion!"

The iron curtain shield generator emitted an overburdened whine as the pale blue energy film in front of the bow instantly condensed into something nearly solid. The ghostly green breath slammed hard into the shield!

Sizzle—!!!

A piercing roar, as if energy were violently annihilating energy, resounded through the bridge! The shield light flashed frantically, flickering in and out, and the area that was hit rapidly became thin and dim! A violent vibration traveled through the ship's hull, as if it had been struck hard by an invisible giant hammer!

"Shield strength dropped to 45%! Overload risk!"

"Port side Section C external sensor array destroyed by energy aftershocks!"

"Minor leak in energy conduit number three inside the hull!"

A single attack had brought the dawn's defense system to the brink of collapse!

"We can't let it do that again!" Han Zhe's eyes were bloodshot. "How much longer for the main battery to recharge?!"

"Sixty-seven percent! Forty-two seconds remaining!"

Forty-two seconds was enough for that monster to fire twice more, or even rush forward and tear the dawn apart with its tentacles!

"Alpha Squad! Sortie! Target: the suspected energy convergence nodes on the monster's body (marked by keystone)! Disrupt its attacks! Buy time for the mothership!" Han Zhe roared into the communication channel. This was an extremely dangerous order, nearly a suicide mission, but there was no other choice.

"Alpha Squad understands!" Alpha-01's voice was frighteningly calm. The deployment hatch opened, and three specially reinforced CMC-2A model armor suits, equipped with short-range assault propulsion packs on their backs, shot out like three cannonballs. They charged without hesitation toward the colossal creature and the pervasive Chaos spiritual light!

On their suits, the flow-disruption field indicator lights for the tranquility modules flashed frantically inside their helmets, resisting the omnipresent, maddening whispers and malicious spiritual pressure. In their vision, tactical markers guided them toward several 'nodes' on the monster's body that were pulsing slightly and flashing with abnormal energy light.

"Spread out! High-speed maneuvers! Avoid the tentacles and the breath!" Alpha-01's command was short and clear. The three suits darted like agile birds through the sky of flailing tentacles, scattered acid, and psionic missiles, pushing their speed and maneuverability to the limit. Occasionally, small tentacles brushed against the armor, leaving corrosive marks and dents on the Simulated Taosteel-II surface, but they could not stop their advance.

"Locking on Target A! long nail, armor-piercing explosive rounds!"

"Target B! downpour, suppressive fire!"

Alpha-02 and 03 were the first to open fire. The roar of sniper rifles and the hiss of machine guns were silent in the vacuum, but the lethal projectiles flew accurately toward their targets. The armor-piercing rounds bored into the pulsing fleshy nodes and exploded inside, blasting out clusters of disgusting pus and shattered organic tissue. The machine gun barrage suppressed the small tentacles around the nodes that were trying to protect them.

The monster clearly hadn't expected these few 'bugs' to be able to cause such precise and annoying damage. The energy output of the hit nodes became visibly disordered, and its second breath, which was currently charging, was interrupted. It let out an even more violent psionic shriek. More and thicker tentacles abandoned their pressure on the dawn and instead lunged frantically at Alpha Squad!

"Maneuver! Evade! Don't stop!"

The three suits pushed their thrusters to the limit, performing all sorts of inconceivable evasive maneuvers, narrowly avoiding one lethal grapple or strike after another. New scars were constantly added to the armor plating, and alarms frequently rang inside, but the steady operation of the tranquility modules seemed to allow them to maintain an astonishing level of calm and tactical execution even in such a high-intensity Chaos contamination environment.

"Main battery charge complete!" an expectant roar came from the bridge.

"dawn, fire! Target: the energy aggregate at the monster's head!" Han Zhe seized this precious window, bought by Alpha Squad at the risk of their lives.

The giant wave main battery roared again! This time, because the monster's attention was divided, the strength of the reality distortion field had also weakened. The deflection of the two plasma torrents was significantly reduced, and they slammed squarely into the writhing, spiritual-light-spewing fleshy aggregate at the head!

Rumble—!!!

An explosion ten times more violent than before occurred! The monster's entire 'head' was almost completely evaporated by this single strike! The wild Chaos energy lost control, forming violent energy turbulence and secondary explosions at the wound site, which quickly spread along its body! Large swaths of dark red flesh carbonized and peeled off, and the twisted metal structures snapped and melted!

The monster's massive body rolled and convulsed frantically in the void, letting out a dying, ultimate shriek that nearly tore the soul! Its remaining tentacles flailed weakly, gradually losing their vitality.

"Target energy signal decaying rapidly! Life activity has ceased!" keystone confirmed the result.

They won? No, it was a pyrrhic victory.

"Alpha Squad, withdraw immediately! Medical team, stand by!" Han Zhe ordered immediately, his eyes fixed on the three suits that were tossing in the explosion's aftershocks and struggling to return.

The Stalker-II platforms quickly moved forward to meet them, providing cover and towing. When Alpha Squad's armor finally stumbled back into the deployment bay and the hatch closed, medical robots immediately swarmed them.

"Vital signs... stable. But... intense mental fluctuations, signs of minor cognitive confusion. tranquility modules overloaded and burned out. Requires deep psychological intervention and module replacement." The Medical Officer's report made Han Zhe breathe a sigh of relief, but his heart remained heavy. The tranquility modules had protected their minds from complete collapse under extreme pressure, but it had clearly come at a cost.

"Spare no expense, give them full treatment," Han Zhe said solemnly. Then, he looked at the main screen at the monster's wreckage, which was slowly disintegrating and emitting the last of its foul spiritual light.

"Send out SCVs and Stalker-IIs to collect all valuable samples, especially its biological tissue, energy core residues, and any structural fragments that might contain technical information. Pay attention to isolation and purification procedures to prevent the spread of Chaos contamination." The battle was over; it was time to reap the rewards. The monster's corpse might contain key information for countering such threats, or even... the possibility of turning its power to their own use.

"Additionally, conduct a ship-wide contamination check and purification. All personnel who have been in contact with the external combat environment, including bridge personnel, are to undergo basic scanning under the tranquility protocol and psychological evaluation," Han Zhe added. Chaos contamination was insidious and could find any opening; they had to be cautious.

The dawn was scarred and battered, but it still stood tall. It had just chewed through a most difficult obstacle on the edge of life and death, using its newborn fangs and hastily equipped mental defenses.

The first battle of the individual anti-Warp equipment had come at a high price, but it had proven its indispensable value.

And through this battle, the dawn and its crew would completely bid farewell to their past luck and naivety, truly stepping onto the front lines of the bloodiest and most bizarre battlefield in this universe.

In deep space, the monster's wreckage gradually cooled. And the lights of the dawn, set against the pale blue Glimmer of the restabilized shields, appeared exceptionally firm, and exceptionally... lonely.