Chapter 5: Imperial Space Station

The landing pad of the space station was pitch black. All the lights, landing indicators, even the display lights of the hangar doors were all extinguished. There was no sound, only a chilling silence.

It was as if they were outside the holy starlight of the Emperor, everything shrouded in a cold silence, everything floating in this deathly stillness.

Gradually, a bit of light began to illuminate this dark world, from dim blue specks to a blazing beam as bright as the sun.

A Thunderhawk gunship slowly moved into the landing pad from the launch exit, its vector thrusters spewing intense flames. All the darkness was lit up by this iron beast. The thrusters gradually descended with a rumbling sound, slowly allowing the Thunderhawk to land on the pad.

The gunship's hatch opened with a bang, and a massive figure stepped out, followed by a second, then a third and fourth. Four Deathwatch Astartes stepped out, each wearing a helmet of their own chapter, but all painted black. Bright lights shone from their bodies, instantly sweeping away the remaining darkness.

The Astartes, armed with bolters and melee weapons, surrounded the deck of the Thunderhawk. Vito also emerged from the cabin, wearing a sealed helmet, each step of his magnetic boots sparking with tiny flashes of light.

The Inquisitor stepped off the Thunderhawk, looking around. It was clear that the gravity and life support systems here had been disconnected, or destroyed.

Vito gave a slight nod to Ragnar, the Space Wolf holding a chainsword, who strode towards a half-open internal entrance door. Ragnar tore the door open, flinging the door panel behind him where it floated in the zero gravity. He charged into the corridor, his blue eye lenses scanning the surroundings.

"All clear, brothers," he said through the communicator in his helmet, then took two more steps inside. Following his lead, the rest of the visitors entered.

The Space Marines walked down the corridor, surrounding Vito in the middle, like giant walls blocking any potential ambush points. Their heavy footsteps echoed in the silent corridors of the space station. Apart from the clanking of their boots, there was no other sound. The place was as silent as if it had been abandoned for a long time.

Bel passed a notice board with station announcements posted on it. "It looks like it was busy here, at least before we arrived."

"Stations like this usually have hundreds of crew members. Even if it was attacked, we should at least see a body or two," Lancelot said, pushing aside a broken table in front of him. The shattered pieces gently hit the wall, then slowly floated away.

"I agree with him, Vito. It's clear there was a firefight here," Ragnar said, turning his head and illuminating a section of the wall with his helmet light. Clearly visible were several bullet holes.

Vito stopped, and the four Space Marines also halted. They stood behind and to the sides of Vito, examining the bullet holes in the wall with him.

"Solid rounds, not explosives," Lancelot quickly concluded. Olaf tilted his head, looking down the corridor, "Someone was running and shooting here, maybe the guards trying to fight back the invaders?" "If so, they probably didn't mind dying with the enemy."

Ragnar's voice echoed from the other end, and everyone walked towards it. Before they reached him, they could already see the massive hole in the station wall. The entire corridor of the space station had been torn open, exposed directly to the void of space.

Vito crouched down, gently running his finger over the fragments on the wall. He looked at the

powder on his finger, "Rocket launcher, hastily and very unwisely fired. I suspect many people didn't die from being sucked into space, but from the explosion."

"But we haven't seen any bodies. Do you think the invaders took the bodies? Or did it on purpose?" Olaf asked in surprise, "But what enemy would do that? The perverse Dark Eldar?"

"No, those perverts prefer the living, not the dead," Ragnar said, slapping the wall with his palm, "And we haven't seen any signs of Eldar weapons. Their flashy stuff leaves traces easily."

"You're right, Ragnar, it's not the Eldar," Vito stood up, but Olaf looked puzzled, "I can't think of what enemy it could be, Inquisitor. And what's in this station that's worth the invaders going to such lengths?"

"I don't know, but I think we can find the answer in the command tower," Vito said, leading the way into the dark corridor, with the four Space Marines following closely.

They didn't have to work hard to find the command tower. All Imperial space stations are made according to a standard template. Even if the exteriors look different, the internal structures are largely the same. If you've been to one space station, you can pretty much figure out the rest.

And Vito and the four Deathwatch have been to more than a few space stations, many of which were not pleasant, requiring a lot of time spent shooting and hacking at enemies.

But this place was much easier. They smoothly arrived at the command tower, which was also empty. A semi-circular giant glass wall was in front, with the Imperial Aquila hanging from the dome above, and under the high dome were countless Mechanicum instruments.

Like many parts of this space station, there were signs of conflict everywhere. Vito walked to the station commander's seat, which had a bullet hole in the back and dried blood on the leather.

Not only that, almost the entire control platform had been destroyed. The perpetrators had brutally damaged the dials with firearms and blunt instruments. Every instrument, every divination device had been destroyed.

"Bel, see if there's any surviving data. I bet these idiots don't understand how machinery works," Vito had just spoken when Bel had already started doing just that.

He used the multi-tool on his arm to cut open a data terminal, and after some fiddling, pulled out a black hard drive, "Clearly, these idiots thought destroying the mechanical dials would destroy everything. All heretics are the same."

"Wow, don't let the Mechanicum know, or those guys will have a fit," Ragnar laughed, watching as Bel plugged the hard drive into the interface. The Astartes stood up, checking the data inside his helmet.

"This station detected an ominous sign a month ago. According to the data, there was an anomaly in a star at an undetermined distance," "What kind of anomaly?"

Vito asked, and Bel was silent for a moment before giving an answer, "Some constellations disappeared, or at least could no longer be observed. The station's technicians thought it was a warp storm and reported it to the station commander."

"Anything else?" "The commander agreed and asked the Astropath to send a warning to the main star during the next window period. Then the record was cut off."

Vito frowned slightly, walking to the front of the command platform to look down. Every instrument had been destroyed, "It seems the invaders tried to prevent them from sending a warning, and they succeeded."

"Except for the distress call sent by the Astropath, which we received, perhaps due to the warp storm," Lancelot said, rubbing a control panel, which gave no response.

"Guys, I think you'll like this news," Bel said, walking towards the group, "A shuttle from the space station left. According to the last records, it was after the firefight."

Olaf stepped forward, "So, this was a rebellion within the space station. The traitors massacred the entire station, and now they've escaped on the shuttle."

"But why would they need to take the bodies?" Lancelot asked, to which Vito shook his head, "That question isn't important for now, and we have no way of answering it."

"How do we find them?" Ragnar asked immediately, clearly eager. Bel was silent for a moment, "The data shows that the shuttle's fuel is very limited. It seems most of the fuel was taken by an Imperial Navy ship that passed by here, leaving the remaining shuttles lacking fuel."

"Can you calculate their destination?" Vito asked, stepping forward. Bel's white helmet nodded slightly, "According to calculations, the maximum fuel of the shuttle can allow the escapees to reach the nearest Imperial planet, the agri-world of Owen-4."

Vito walked to the large floor-to-ceiling glass, gazing at the distant stars before activating his communicator, "Kor, we've made a discovery. Set coordinates for Owen-4."

Vito paused, turning to look at the shot-through commander's chair, "Don't let anyone find out we're here."