The Lictor, maximally specialized by the will of the Hive Mind, had successfully penetrated the humans' fortress-like defenses. Like an invisible shadow, it infiltrated the relatively "safe" area behind Planet Plantidium's front lines.
However, its mission was just beginning, and a pressing problem lay before it: how to precisely locate the whereabouts of the Ultramarines Chapter Master, Marneus Calgar, and the leader of the Helldivers, Robert?
The Hive Mind's computational ability was near infinite, and its grasp of the battlefield situation far exceeded mortal imagination.
Although it could not directly pinpoint Calgar and Robert, through long-term monitoring of human communication patterns and the chain of command, it could roughly determine which areas served as command posts or rest areas for high-ranking officers.
Therefore, a simple and crude plan emerged: infiltrate these areas, find a high-ranking officer who was alone, and silently extract their memory.
The Lictor's specialized extraction organ was capable of pulling out the required tactical information and personnel locations without killing the target.
However, this seemingly efficient method carried enormous risks. Regardless of whether the target was left alive or killed and their body destroyed to conceal the act, an attack on or strange disappearance of a high-ranking officer would immediately trigger human vigilance.
If it only led to tightened defenses, that would be acceptable; the Lictor was confident it could weave through physically crowded groups without alerting a soul.
Its true fear was that upon learning of an invisible assassin's infiltration, the humans would immediately arrange for Calgar and Robert to be evacuated via orbital shuttle to the fleet above Plantidium. At that point, it would completely lose its targets, and the mission would fail.
After careful deliberation and calculation by the Hive Mind, the Lictor ultimately chose this high-risk plan. After all, if the targets' whereabouts remained unknown, all subsequent actions would be fruitless.
Rather than passively waiting, it was better to take a risk and seize this sole opportunity. If they were alerted, so be it. If the highest command layer of the humans truly ran away at the slightest disturbance, there was truly nothing that could be done.
Meanwhile, deep within Planet Plantidium, in a temporary command post, the supreme commander of the Helldivers, Pyro, was alone in his private rest chamber.
The room's lighting was dim, with only the central holographic map table emitting a faint blue light, projecting the brutal battle situation in the Plantidium sector.
It is worth noting that to accommodate this holographic map table, the rest chamber was very large, while its primary function as a rest chamber was crudely handled. For example, the bed could only be described as a simple assembly of four iron rods and a wooden board.
Just then, a faint knock sounded on the metal door of the rest chamber.
"Come in," Pyro replied casually, without looking up.
The door slid open silently, and a thin figure walked in. It was the Adeptus Mechanicus Player Archer. He was wearing a red robe stained with oil and dust, carrying a toolbox, and walking briskly.
"How come you're here?" asked Pyro a little confused.
"I was getting bored on 'Super Earth', I need some action," Archer replied.
Without any further greeting, he walked straight to a section of the floor in the center of the room and, without a word, began skillfully operating his tools, lifting several metal floor panels.
Before long, with a slight mechanical friction sound, a massive metal cylinder was slowly raised from a hidden compartment beneath the floor. It was a strategic nuclear warhead, its surface painted with striking yellow and black stripes.
Archer carelessly moved it out onto a clean repair mat, then skillfully disassembled the warhead's outer casing, exposing the complex wiring and reaction core, and began routine maintenance. A faint smell of ozone and metal immediately filled the room.
Almost immediately after Archer had disassembled the nuclear warhead halfway, another knock came from outside the door.
"Report, Commander, First Company Captain Sol Invictus of the Ultramarines has arrived," the guard's voice came through the speaker.
Pyro finally looked up: "Let him in."
The door slid open again, and Sol Invictus, clad in Terminator Armour, strode in. His heavy ceramite armor looked particularly colossal in the dim room, each step carrying a weighty sense of power.
However, when his gaze swept across the center of the room and saw Archer tampering with a strategic nuclear warhead, even the Space Marine, who had witnessed countless wonders, couldn't help but pause.
"This is…" Sol's voice held a slight hesitation.
Pyro waved a hand, indicating to Sol not to worry, his tone as relaxed as if discussing what to eat for dinner: "Oh, it's just routine maintenance on a strategic nuclear warhead, you needn't worry. Even if it accidentally detonates, the external explosives will at most only kill me; you, in your Terminator suit, certainly won't die."
Sol's brow furrowed almost imperceptibly upon hearing this. But since a mere mortal was so unconcerned, it was not appropriate for him, an Astartes, to say more. He withdrew his gaze, turning his attention back to Pyro, returning to the main purpose of his visit.
"Commander Pyro, surely there is a place for our First Company now?" Sol asked in a deep voice.
Originally, during the initial phase of the large-scale spatial battle, most of the Chapter's Terminator Squads were not directly deployed to the battlefield.
Their heavy, slow characteristics were incompatible with the tactical rhythm of high-speed assault and flanking maneuvers at the time.
But now, as the battle devolved into a drawn-out, static defense, the Terminators' heavy armor and powerful firepower would undoubtedly play a crucial role.
Pyro nodded, tracing several areas on the holographic map table with his fingertip. Those areas were immediately marked with red light: "Yes, Captain Sol. The Tyranid swarm's offensive is slowing down; they are attempting to solidify the front lines and establish complete suppression.
Now is the time for your heavy forces to exert their power. These battle zones are under the greatest pressure, but they are also the most critical nodes, requiring massive firepower and defense to hold them."
Just as the two were talking, Archer completed his "routine maintenance." He carefully reassembled the nuclear warhead's internal components, then perfectly sealed the outer casing back into place.
Finally, he pushed the lever, and this heavy harbinger of death slowly descended back into the underground compartment. The floor closed, and the room returned to its former calm.
For some unknown reason, upon seeing the nuclear warhead completely disappear from sight, Sol Invictus, the fearless Space Marine, instinctively let out a sigh of relief.
And when Sol Invictus's momentary distraction, which lasted less than 0.1 second, ended, and he turned back to look at Pyro, the sight before him instantly froze like the most terrifying nightmare.
Right where Pyro had been standing, a blurred shadow suddenly materialized—it was the Lictor!
Its head was now a gaping maw, having swallowed Pyro's skull whole. Viscous flesh and shattered bone splattered between its jaws, accompanied by a chilling crunching sound.
Almost in the same instant, the Lictor's scythe-like limbs sliced through the air like lightning, carrying the whistling breath of death, and lunged straight toward the head of Sol Invictus!