The Emperor’s Angel of Death

Chapter 3468: Relocating the Pharos

More than three months later, when Soshian returned to Sotha, he was aboard Elda's warship.

The Hive Fleet had stripped Sotha of its last trace of atmosphere. Although the other planets in the system had also been touched, they were not as severely affected. Only two gas giants and the comet cloud had been slightly harvested. Planets with living organisms were always the biggest victims, as the Tyranids sought biomass more than basic forms of sustenance.

From high orbit, Soshian could hardly recognize the world. Sotha had once been verdant, but all of that had vanished, devoured. Now, it resembled a barren wasteland, and he could even see the remnants of the giant capillary towers—though their fleshy parts had long been stripped away, leaving only the mineral structures that supported them.

These Tyranid feeding sites were quite unique, able to remain partially erect even without muscles and tendons, and apparently difficult for the Hive Fleet to reabsorb, hence their survival.

Even though he had anticipated Sotha's fate, Soshian was still shocked to witness its utter destruction.

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Who could have imagined that this was once the homeworld of an Astartes Chapter?

Soshian paid no attention to the fate of the Scythes of the Emperor. Perhaps they had all died in the monastery fortress, or perhaps they had ultimately chosen to evacuate. However, the wreckage of many ships remained in orbit, along with the abandoned shield stations, their riddled hulls indicative of the attacks they had once endured.

But Soshian hoped they had chosen to perish with Sotha, so that the ancient Chapter could at least retain its final dignity, buried along with its past disgrace.

So he intended to see for himself.

When the warship fleet stopped in orbit, several Asu'焉之翼 wings detached from the fleet and headed towards the planet's surface. At this time, the devastation suffered by the planet was displayed in an even more shocking form before Soshian—the oceans had completely disappeared, leaving only huge abysses and basins, extending like mountain-like curves towards the continental shelf, eventually rising to the coast. Lighthouses perched on cliffs once offered views of the vast sea, but now their empty windows stared out at the boundless emptiness. Ships lay like discarded toys in the dust of the ocean, drained of all matter, and breakwaters stretched from the docks to the bare rocks.

Soshian had seen several planets ravaged by the Tyranids, but somehow, Sotha seemed particularly severe.

Beyond the coast lay a coastal city, where the ravages of biological weapons had scarred the streets. However, some areas remained intact. In untouched blocks, the glass on the roofs still glittered, and ground vehicles waited for passengers who would never arrive.

Soon, they reached the Pharos Mountains, which had also been completely devoured. All the mountains were bare, the exposed rock gleaming white in the midday sun—the Tyranids had licked away even the most basic moss.

The traces of battle were most evident here. Soshian even saw collapsed mountains, mountain peaks with obvious signs of melting, and hills crushed by heavy objects. He could imagine the tide of Tyranid bio-titans surging towards this place from all directions, their massive bodies ignoring the obstacles of the terrain, bio-plasma cannons wantonly firing, or pouring out tons of acid. From afar, biovores and spore mines hurled massive amounts of ammunition at the entire Pharos.

It must have been an apocalyptic scene.

But nowhere were the traces of battle more concentrated than at the monastery fortress of the Scythes of the Emperor. Every rock here was covered with scratches, explosive cracks, and corrosive scars. One could imagine the scene at the time, but there were no corpses, neither human nor Tyranid, all organic matter had vanished.

Standing on the golden phoenix-shaped skimmer, Soshian looked at the twisted and overturned alloy fortress gate and sighed. The Scythes of the Emperor must have defended their fortress with the most desperate posture, but in the face of endless enemies, their efforts were so weak.

There were dozens of gaps in the fortress's protective walls, some blasted open, some rammed open, and the turrets and weapons on them had become twisted ruins, or even slag corroded by strong acid.

The space behind the gate was filled with traces of fierce battles. The marks on the walls showed how intense it was at the time: there were huge claw marks, craters, scorch marks everywhere, almost all kinds of damage caused by all weapons. Many power armors were scattered on the ground, even Terminator armors, on the steps, or at the intersections. The bodies inside had disappeared. Although some armors had fallen apart during the digestion process, some still maintained the posture of the warriors when they fell, the empty handguards clutching the gun handles and melee weapons, the loose artificial fibers keeping the armor in its pre-mortem state. All the armors were riddled with holes, scarred, and all facing the gate.

Not a single Scythe of the Emperor died with his back to the enemy.

"Alas, Duran, send people to collect these armors and put them outside the fortress for now."

"Yes, Your Highness."

The Phoenix Guard fluttered their psychic wings and landed in the fortress. Although they knew nothing about the defenders here, they knew that they had chosen to fight to the last moment in the face of invincible enemies. All warriors would respect this will. They carefully maintained the posture of the armor with their psychic powers, and then transported them outside by the accompanying spirit bone machine bees.

After inventory, the Custodes found more than five hundred bodies. Considering that some of the armor had been completely destroyed, Soshian estimated that about six hundred Scythes of the Emperor had died in the monastery fortress. This number was somewhat different from their pre-war numbers.

If it could be disassembled and transported away, it would be simple, but Soshian asked rhetorically, can it still be put back together after disassembly?