Compared with the huge subspace black hole, what is even more terrifying is the change in the physical universe. Under the mysterious power of those Tyranid satellites, the gravitational well of the galaxy also begins to change.
The originally dead galaxy suddenly boiled, with stars shifting and meteorites flying everywhere. Byrno stared at the various panels and calmly commanded the fleet to accelerate while being pursued and intercepted by the Tyranids.
"Gravity correction coefficient, 441..."
"The engine output power has been increased to 89% and cannot be increased further!"
"Activate backup output!"
"Gravity correction coefficient, 497! It has reached a dangerous value!"
"Adjust course, 171!"
When the positions of the stars in the galaxy began to change, the human fleet would have been disoriented by the disturbed gravity. However, the unique design and super computing power of the Hearthborn ships allowed them to quickly compare speed and
The subtle adjustment of the direction can minimize the possibility of being captured by the planet's gravity well.
However, even so, the speed of the fleet inevitably slowed down, and the fastest small biological ships were already approaching the attack range.
"Fire blocking fire on marked area!"
As the railguns and lasers flashed in the void, one Tyranid biological ship convulsed to death, and the heavy conversion beam cannon was able to directly blast those small Tyranid biological ships to pieces.
But there are too many Tyranids. Those Tyranid satellites have not only awakened the original biological ships, but are even constantly creating new biological ships. On the scanning instrument of the Hearthborn battleship, the entire galaxy is quickly being covered by dense red dots.
Fill up.
Soon, the dirty yellow-green planet appeared in the sight of the observation window. At this time, the instruments on the bridge began to sound various shrill warning sounds, and even various emergency lights began to flash.
.
"A huge amount of psychic signals detected!"
"Navigation equipment has been seriously interfered with!"
"The communication array has been seriously interfered with!"
"The fire control system is severely disrupted!"
A series of warnings made Byrnor's hard face almost wrinkled into a undulating hill. Fortunately, the Hearthborn have relatively high psychic resistance, and their equipment also has more advantages in resisting psychic powers (it comes with it)
20% magic resistance gold content) so there is no fatal danger yet.
But it’s hard to say if it continues.
"Change course to 220, slide past the high orbit of the planet, and turn on the auxiliary thrusters."
Then he opened the internal communication again.
"Captain Soshyan, we will pass the planet's high orbit point in about 10 minutes, and the flight deck will be opened at that time. There is only a window of about 2 minutes."
"receive."
Ten minutes later, the Hearthborn fleet quickly slid past the planet's high orbital point, and at this time, behind them and in all directions were densely packed with biological ships.
As the flight deck opened one by one, the silver-gray Storm Crows and Storm Eagles separated from the ship and headed straight towards the dirty planet atmosphere, followed by two Black Star gunships, and finally two unmanned Storm Birds——
For this operation, Soshyan did not choose the traditional Thunderhawk, but instead selected 10 Storm Crows, 10 Storm Hawks, and 12 Storm Claws.
The smaller Storm Crow carries the warriors of the 9th Company, while the larger Storm Eagle carries the Terminators of the 1st Company.
This batch of Storm Eagles and Storm Crows are relatively new equipment and are not relics in the legion's armory. The Storm Eagles are new equipment that only appeared in the late period of the Great Crusade. They were mainly made from the two forging worlds of Tigres and Anverus IX.
However, since these two forge worlds fell to the traitors, the production of Storm Eagle has been greatly reduced. Compared with Thunder Eagle, although Storm Eagle is smaller, its structure and flight system are more complex, and its construction time is also longer.
For a long time, only a few forge worlds in the Empire can still produce them. In addition, only Chapters such as Salamanders and Iron Hands that are skilled in manufacturing still retain a considerable number of Storm Eagles, while the inventories of other Chapters have been lost due to the loss of technology and the battlefield.
Losses are decreasing day by day.
But it happened that Ulan Huda, as the former Eighth Legion that supplied the world, retained most of the STC of the expedition equipment, including the Storm Eagle. Therefore, while manufacturing Storm Falcons and Storm Claws in large quantities, they also manufactured Storm Eagles in small batches.
However, since the war group is already accustomed to using Thunderhawks and big guys like Stormbirds, the positioning of Stormhawks is a bit awkward, and the frequency of use is relatively low.
The same is true for the positioning of the Storm Raven, even smaller than the Storm Eagle. It is a relatively new piece of equipment in the Astartes arsenal, but for a bureaucracy as complex and full of factions as the Human Empire, it has no
Records indicate when the Storm Raven entered service, but rumor has it that the Storm Raven's STC template was discovered by a Blood Angels trainee Techmarine in a long-forgotten Mechanicus archive on Mars during his early studies abroad in M41.
There are only two important reasons for Soshiyan to choose these two aircraft - speed and maneuverability.
In past battles, most of the time, air superiority and orbital control were in the hands of one's own side. In this case, flying vehicles with strong transportation capabilities such as Thunder Eagle and Storm Bird are naturally more useful. After all, the single transportation volume determines
The number of people that can be dropped on the battlefield within a period of time. In this case, the carrying capacity is the decisive indicator. The other is the vehicle's defensive power. After all, considering that you have to rush into the enemy's defense zone under artillery fire, mobility and own firepower are secondary.
It was necessary, because at that time we did not rely on cumbersome vehicles such as Thunderhawks or Stormbirds for air support.
But this operation is different. They are going to operate in a completely isolated world. The enemy will definitely have absolute air supremacy and there will be basically no support in orbit.
So the most important thing about these aircraft is first of all their speed to ensure that they will not be overwhelmed by Tyranid flying creatures, and secondly their combat capabilities, especially their comprehensive combat capabilities, which can handle both air combat and ground support. For example, the Storm Raven can be equipped with a
It has twin-linked heavy explosive bombs, a turret equipped with twin-linked laser cannons and controlled by a servitor on the back. It can also carry 4 anti-armor Stormstrike missiles on the mounting points on the wings, and an additional pair are installed on the sides of the fuselage.
Hurricane bombs are used to enhance firepower, making its anti-air and ground capabilities very balanced. The Storm Eagle also has a similar configuration, with a twin-linked heavy bomber on the nose and a pair of twin-linked laser cannons mounted on each wing.
, but their most powerful weapon is the twin Revenge missile launchers on the top of their fuselage. This missile launcher is similar to the launcher equipped on the Tornado missile launcher, and can conduct a target range attack before or during the assault.
Saturation bombing.
Based on this series of indicators, Soshyan finally chose the Eagle-Crow combination, and the three Stormbirds were equipped with ground vehicles and used as backup transportation and escape vehicles. They would hide when they came to the ground.
, it will only take off again in an emergency or when evacuating.