Chapter 145: Controlling the Portal

"Forge Master, please activate the Teleportation Jammer immediately!"

Diana shouted anxiously, her fists clenching involuntarily; she absolutely did not want her first battle as captain of the Legion Flagship to have any major flaws.

But the number of enemy ships was in the hundreds or thousands, and she truly lacked the ability to track the position of every single one and monitor their movement trajectories.

Under other circumstances, this would not be a major problem, as a single fleet could not turn the tide, but the Primarch had warned that the enemy might detonate the Portal.

Now, she could only pin her hopes on the Forge Master's Teleportation Jammer.

"Initiating Teleportation Jammer!"

Luoxiji's voice came through the comms headset; his calm and powerful tone eased the female captain's tension.

Casting Deck.

The Forge Master's shoulder armor was painted red, representing his close connection to Mars.

Techmarines of other Legions would paint their armor red to signify their close connection to Mars, but the Order Shadows did not; they only painted their shoulder armor red.

Mechanical limbs extended from behind Luoxiji, plugging into the silver Machine construct before him, which was the size of a Knight Mech.

The silver Machine was spherical in its entirety, engraved with dense runes and the binary language of technology.

The lights of the entire Shadow of Sovereignty dimmed instantly; activating the jamming device required immense energy, and power from the lower-priority lighting systems was diverted to the Casting Deck to supply the silver-white Machine.

The language of technology lit up in regular intervals, one rune after another was activated and illuminated, and the silver Machine bloomed with dazzling light.

Inside one of the Forge Master's bionic eyes, energy readings climbed rapidly.

In Luoxiji's inspiration, an invisible force burst forth with a bang.

He shifted his gaze to the Portal area marked as Strategic Point B in the hologram floating above the jamming device.

The jamming device activated, and an energy shockwave spread rapidly across the entire Necromunda system.

The Orb Weaver Alliance's Portal was circular in shape.

The ring extended eight folded mechanical prongs outward, which bent at the central node position, resembling spider legs.

This was the abstract symbol formed after the spider worship that had developed in Necromunda over nearly ten thousand years—the Orb Weaver Emblem—which appeared universally in various buildings of the Orb Weaver Alliance.

The ring-shaped energy devices embedded at the bending nodes of the eight "spider legs" began to flicker at high frequency, brightening and dimming by turns.

The Portal required a massive amount of energy to supply cross-system teleportation; the Orb Weaver Alliance's Portal was set up with a star as its center, and it was precisely through these unique energy devices that it gathered the sun's energy to power the Portal.

The function of the jamming device designed by Luoxiji was to interfere with the gathering and transmission of energy.

The energy pulse that swept across the entire system interfered with the process of the Portal's energy devices gathering energy.

The five energy devices finally extinguished, and in the next instant, the dense Data Crystals on the eight spider legs flickered frantically.

The Orb Weaver Alliance did not use runes like the Human Empire, but instead adopted a large number of Data Crystals to realize functions such as activation and control.

A dozen seconds later, large swaths of Data Crystals dimmed and lost their luster, and the light flickering within the ring suddenly spread to the surroundings like spray kicked up by a stone skipping on water.

The three warships of the Orb Weaver Alliance that had sailed over were like prey stuck in a spiderweb, bound in the energy waves and unable to move.

Data streams danced across the Forge Master's bionic eye; he completed the analysis within seconds and spoke on the command communication channel.

"Portal B is paralyzed; estimated duration, five hours and eleven minutes of ship standard time."

"Enemy ships are caught in the erupting energy and are in a stasis state; estimated duration, two hours and thirty-three minutes of ship standard time."

"The current range of the energy storm is 152,000 kilometers, expected to shrink to 84,000 kilometers in one hour."

Diana breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing this and offered praise.

"Forge Master, your work is highly effective."

The captain calmly maneuvered the fleet toward Strategic Point B.

On the Command Throne, Ninglu nodded with satisfaction; Diana's overall performance was good, and although there was a small oversight, it was within a controllable range, and she had discovered and responded to it in time before he had to offer a reminder.

Under the female captain's command, the Eleventh Legion controlled five Portal areas and subsequently launched an offensive against the orbital defense facilities of the main planet of Necromunda.

The remaining Orb Weaver Alliance fleet attempted to block them, but the battle ended quickly after the Shadow of Sovereignty handed over the defense of E Node to a Frigate fleet and arrived on the battlefield.

The Primarch received the report submitted by the Sound Array Master; progress in the other five systems was smooth, and the Portals were all controlled by the Eleventh Legion.

The system assigned to the Second Chapter was an Agricultural World system of the Orb Weaver Alliance, and they, along with the Seventh Legion, encountered the greatest challenges in the space battle.

During the nearly ten thousand years of development of the Spider Star, the surface ecological environment had been severely damaged, far worse than Vostonia.

The high towers where the Steel Lords resided were surrounded by ash Wasteland, and the population magnitude far exceeded that of Vostonia, making the reliance on external food even more severe.

The Agricultural World system and the system producing Data Crystals were the two most important systems for the tech-aristocrats.

One system maintained the food supply of the entire alliance, while the other was the foundation of the entire tech-aristocrats' Cyber-Technology system.

Precisely because of this, the tech-aristocrats stationed a large number of warships in both systems.

The Second Chapter, which encountered resistance, was the last of the five Chapters to end its space battle.

The Agricultural World system had four habitable Planets, including two grassland Planets, one ocean Planet, and one mountain Planet.

After the Second Chapter annihilated the enemy ships, Lord Merson reviewed the scan results of the Auger Matrix for the four worlds awaiting conquest.

He keenly noted that these four worlds, just like other Planets in the Imperium classified as Agricultural Worlds, did not have large populations, each numbering only a few million.

Merson immediately realized that the management methods adopted by these worlds should also be similar to the Agricultural Worlds of the Imperium.

The serfs were scattered across the entire Planet; they did not care who their master was, as long as they completed their labor and handed over the stipulated quota.

To conquer such a world, one only needed to strike the rulers swiftly to complete the conquest.

Merson issued orders on the Chapter's command channel.

"For the upcoming attacks, we must follow the method requested by the Primarch: precise and efficient."

"The targets are the high towers of each world!"

Influenced by the tech-aristocrats who held a dominant position in the Orb Weaver Alliance, the numerous ruling families of the four Agricultural Worlds had also built high towers one after another.

Of course, the population and scale of these high towers were far inferior to the towering spires of the Spider Star.

Black Drop Pods were scattered onto the four worlds.

The dazzling light generated by atmospheric friction illuminated each world.

The Order Shadow, clad in black armor, moved in perfect formation and assaulted the towering spires.

The defenders used laser weapons manufactured on the Spider Star to launch attacks against the black-armored Warriors.

The scorching beams struck the Mark II Power Armor, leaving only faint marks and causing not a single injury to the Order Shadow.

The Reaver Squad served as the spearhead of the assault; they moved in unison, raised their Bolter Pistols, and with a single volley, shattered the enemy's formation.

Chainswords roared to life, and wherever they passed, they left only severed limbs in their wake.

After the ground battle commenced, in just twenty-two hours, the four thousand five hundred Warriors of the Second Chapter completed the occupation of one hundred and sixty-three towers across four worlds.

Among the five Chapters, the Second Chapter, which had been the last to begin the ground offensive, was the first to capture its target star system, and their losses were the smallest, with only thirteen unlucky souls unfortunately killed by bombs detonated by desperate rulers.

At the same moment, after seizing the orbit of Necromunda, Ninglu also issued the order to attack.

The Primarch climbed into a black Drop Pod specially crafted for him; it was much larger than those used by the Junluanzhanshi, and he could even stand upright inside it.

The black Drop Pod plummeted toward the highest tower on Necromunda, for Ninglu's target was the Chief Iron Lord.

(End of this chapter)