The Emperor’s Angel of Death

The combination of various elements meant that the entire suit of armor didn't have many cultural flaws. The only part that wasn't particularly Imperial was the helmet, which was molded to resemble Sotha's own face, with a style somewhat reminiscent of the Blood Angels. However, the top featured an unknown dragon-like beast, mixing feline, canine, and reptilian features, along with a slightly curved horn. It opened its jaws, revealing canine teeth, and seemed to be holding the entire face within its mouth. The explanation from the Hearthkin artisans was that this was a mythical creature passed down from the ancient times of the Votann, said to have once been a divine beast under the command of the 'Golden Light Saint.' Its eyes could discern all things in the world, and its ears could hear the secrets of people's hearts. Even now, various courts of the Votann Federation prominently display an image of this creature. Oddly, the name of this being had not been passed down, so it could only be referred to by the ancient saint's title: the Golden Light Beast.

Behind the head of the mysterious Golden Light Beast was a massive solar halo, essentially the same as the Imperial Iron Halo, but more refined with flame patterns. Behind that was a red cloak resembling fur, made from the hide of an unknown alien beast or through unique weaving techniques.

Additionally, although it was power armor, it didn't have a power pack. According to the Hearthkin artisans, because the overall size was large enough, the power system could be integrated into the armor without needing a separate backpack.

This suit of armor was personally forged by the most renowned mech-smith grandmaster of the Greater Thurian League, 'Dragonfire' Thorik, in the oldest forge in the entire Votann Alliance. This forge had a name that even the Hearthkin themselves didn't quite understand—Eightfold Bitter Naraka. It was located within the headquarters planet-fortress of the Greater Thurian League, where Thorik worked for several years to complete the piece, eventually naming it 'Unshakable Starfall'.

As a masterpiece of the Hearthkin, the quality of Unshakable Starfall was undoubtedly very high. First of all, it was light. Of course, this didn't mean it was truly light, but rather that compared to other armors Sotha, with his physique, had worn, this was the lightest. It was roughly the same as the armor of a normal Space Marine. Additionally, its primary material was crystallized void steel, an enhanced version of the Hearthkin's standard void armor, using an extremely rare and precious crystalline material found in the galactic core. This not only doubled its defensive capabilities but also gave it self-repairing abilities. However, these weren't what Sotha valued most, as even the strongest armor was not as strong as he was.

What attracted him most about this armor was the Celestial Ear communication array. This was a mysterious device, said to be only manufacturable in the Eightfold Bitter Naraka forge, containing an unfathomable spiral circuit. It allowed the user to obtain incredible communication capabilities comparable to a ship-based communication array and could also resist various severe interferences, whether psychic or physical. Most importantly, it came with signal processing and translation capabilities. According to the Hearthkin, it could recognize most known biological languages and communication signals in the galaxy. However, Sotha didn't know the underlying principle. The Hearthkin probably wouldn't explain it to him either, but having this was undoubtedly very useful for someone like Sotha, who mainly operated as a commander.

The second thing that attracted Sotha was the armor's multi-spectrum scanner. It was frequently used in Votann prospecting teams and could detect not only solid matter but also incredibly diverse energy spectra across multiple wavelength ranges. Although Sotha's senses were already extremely sharp, the enhanced multi-spectrum scanner in this armor could penetrate geological layers, scan the substances and mineral compositions and distributions within, and even identify whether there were hollows in mountains or underground. This ability was also very useful in combat.

The third was the weave field projector. This device was the sun halo behind Sotha's head. It was an enhanced version of a single-unit shield generator, capable of projecting shields not only on himself but also on friendly forces, even providing a brief burst to create a shield capable of withstanding heavy fire over a large area. Sotha's powers were mostly offensive, but sometimes if friendly forces were in danger, he might not have a way to help. This provided a means of assistance.

Of course, in addition to this series of 'auxiliary devices,' Unshakable Starfall also had more powerful weapon systems, such as integrated automatic composite bolters in both arm gauntlets and a micro-grenade launcher mounted behind the right shoulder.

However, these were not of great significance to Sotha.

"Hmm, there are no Tyranid tunnels under here yet."

As Sotha's foot stepped onto the soft soil, the armor's multi-spectrum scanner had already penetrated hundreds of meters into the ground beneath his feet, and then he raised his head to look around.

The original mountains had become bizarre beehives, looming in the thick spore cloud, seemingly with countless creatures moving in and out of them. The multi-spectrum scanner also showed that the mountains were terribly barren, with almost no valuable minerals.

In other words, the Tyranids had eaten the mountains bare.

Suddenly, a strong gust of wind swept past, blowing up the long scripture strips on Sotha's body—he had deliberately increased the amount of purity seals to better reflect 'Imperial characteristics' and avoid arousing suspicion.

Another Storm Eagle landed, and then the hatch opened, and a squad of Deathwing Terminators walked out.

At this time, Sotha could already hear the sound of countless wings flapping in the polluted sky. This sound was both evil and oppressive. Sotha looked up and then turned to Mark, who was beside him, and said:

"Is everyone here?"

"Lord Commander, everyone is here... Wait, where are those Deathwatch?"

Only then did Sotha realize that there were silver-gray gunships all around, but only the two black ones were missing. Although communication was being interfered with, they should have been able to land directly at the designated coordinates.

Just as Sotha was wondering what had happened to the Deathwatch, the roar of engines came from the sky, and then two Blackstar gunships swooped down rapidly. One of them had an engine billowing black smoke, and it eventually landed relatively smoothly with a violent impact.

As the hatch opened, Vedrian and the Deathwatch in black armor emerged one after another. The other damaged Blackstar gunship opened the emergency通道, and the Deathwatch kill team inside quickly ran out of the cabin and used tools to quickly extinguish the flames on the engine.

"What happened?"

Vedrian, holding a thunder hammer, walked over and placed the hammer head on the ground, answering:

"We encountered a spore minefield. It was too fast for a moment, the whole sky was full of them, now..."

Saying that, the Watch Fortress Master raised his head.

"The gunship may not be able to take off."