The planet slowly shrunk in their vision, eventually becoming a dull pearl, insignificant on a black velvet curtain.
In its former orbit, a massive and majestic fleet tore open the veil of reality and sailed into the cold starry sea. Dozens of colossal starships, forged from steel, each powerful enough to be worshipped as gods by an uncontacted world.
At the core of the fleet were several transport and supply ships, like moving mountains. Their hulls were covered with cargo ports and crane arms; though lightly armed, their massive bodies carried all the elements needed to launch a ground war—tens of thousands of soldiers, hundreds of armored vehicles, and the immense supplies to keep it all running smoothly.
Guarding these "fat ones" was the backbone of the Imperial Navy—three Lunar-class cruisers. They boasted classic, asteroid-shattering armored prows, and their elongated hulls were lined with dense arrays of macro-cannons and lance batteries, making them the absolute primary source of long-range firepower for this fleet. Around them, several Sword-class and Firestorm-class frigates patrolled like keen hounds, guarding the flanks of the main fleet.
And within this conventional fleet, two distinctly different warships stood out.
One was a space marines' battle barge, its design more akin to an armed fortress capable of interstellar travel than a mere ship.
It eschewed the long-range firepower of conventional Imperial Navy warships, dedicating its maximum mass to armor, engines, and terrifying broadside firepower. Countless turrets, missile silos, and landing pods covered its surface, proclaiming its sole mission: to breach enemy lines, deploy the Angels of Death, and at the closest range, blast enemies into stardust with the fiercest firepower.
In fact, the design of the space marines' battle barge, which placed it at an extreme disadvantage in terms of long-range firepower, also had some political reasons, but everyone was smart enough to keep silent about it.
The other, slightly smaller, strike cruiser was more agile, a perfect complement to the battle barge, a surgical scalpel capable of rapid raids and precise strikes.
At this moment, the bridge where the Helldivers were located presented a bizarre sight.
In stark contrast to the solemn, silent fleet movement outside the windows, the bridge interior was as bustling as a marketplace. The spacious bridge, large enough to accommodate hundreds of crew members, was now packed to the brim with nearly five hundred players. They were the lucky ones who had successfully secured the "best viewing seats."
As for why there were only five hundred people, there were two reasons. First, the bridge's space was ultimately limited; it was impossible for everyone to squeeze in. Second, and more importantly, to clearly observe the grand war unfolding in the vast expanse of space, mere naked eyes were absolutely insufficient; that required special "tickets."
To extend their vision across vast distances and precisely capture every detail of the future battlefield, the players employed various ingenious methods.
One player's right eye was replaced by a humming, blue-glowing precision mechanical eye; another had a fist-sized silver orb floating before him, projecting a holographic image that displayed the fleet array in real-time after multi-spectral analysis; still others were even more extreme, pulling out portable observation stations, with several mechanical arms unfolding and firmly securing them to the floor, a massive telescope lens pointed directly out the window. Helmets, goggles, and data terminals of various unidentifiable names, flashing with different colored lights, were ubiquitous.
Anyone entering without prior knowledge, upon seeing this scene, might well assume that high-ranking Adeptus Mechanicus officials from some Forge World were holding a technical exchange conference here.
This was also why many Adeptus Mechanicus players chose to stay on Perditia. As the largest player gathering spot currently, Perditia circulated all sorts of peculiar items obtained from the gacha system.
For example, a Nuclear-Powered Toaster might just be a useless joke to ordinary players, but for Adeptus Mechanicus players, it was entirely different; they could even be said to have come specifically for such items.
And at present, this was only on the bridge. Since there was glass here for direct observation, players primarily used purely technological observation methods. In other areas of the ship, players directly employing magical methods were also not few in number; it was a scene of chaos and individual prowess.
The Imperial fleet's battle plan was, from the outset, filled with desperate aggression and fanaticism. They did not choose conventional travel, a slow method that would take months or even years to reach the target area, which had long been discarded by the commanders. Instead, it was a short-range warp jump—like a poisoned dagger, striking directly at the heart of the T'au Empire's territory.
The leading Lunar-class cruiser was the first to plunge into the rift of swirling chaotic energy; its massive hull seemed to stretch and twist upon entry, then vanished. Immediately following, the battle barge, strike cruiser, frigates… one by one, the steel behemoths fearlessly threw themselves into that mad ocean.
When the transport and supply ships were also swallowed by that power, the players on the bridge felt as if everything before their eyes dissolved into flowing light and piercing screams. The Gellar Field hummed steadily, isolating the warp's corrosion and madness, but this brief journey still felt like a trip to the edge of hell.
The jump process seemed to last only an instant, yet also felt like an eternity.
When the physical laws of the real world once again dominated everything, blinding starlight streamed through the armored glass of the bridge. The fleet had appeared in an entirely new star system, surrounded by unfamiliar nebulae and constellations.
Almost the instant they emerged from the warp, a piercing alarm blared throughout the entire bridge.
"Unidentified signals detected! Seven in number! Identifying..."
On the tactical projection, seven red dots representing unknown ships clearly appeared. Their forms were sleek and smooth, strikingly different from the rugged, Gothic design of Imperial warships, filled with a certain minimalist and efficient technological aesthetic.
Undoubtedly, this was a T'au Empire fleet that happened to be patrolling here. They were like a flock of sheep leisurely strolling near their home, encountering hungry tigers that had just broken out of their cage.
"All fleet, battle readiness one! Target, enemy fleet! For the Emperor!"
The Imperial fleet commander, eager for military achievements, didn't even bother with any tactical maneuvering; the order was simple and direct. The roar of the engines suddenly intensified, and the massive Imperial warships unhesitatingly adjusted their course, pouncing like a pack of bloodthirsty sharks towards those seven small dots of light.
On the bridge, the players' enthusiasm was instantly ignited.
"Here they come! The fight's on!"
"Look at the T'au's reaction! They're stunned!"
As the players observed, the small T'au Empire fleet clearly showed some confusion. Their formation briefly loosened, and several warships even made meaningless evasive maneuvers. Clearly, the Imperial fleet's method of tearing through space and appearing out of thin air completely exceeded their understanding. Such a nearly magical teleportation method had no corresponding explanation in their scientific system, which was built on rigorous physics and rationality.
However, this confusion lasted only a moment.
The T'au Empire fleet commander quickly recovered his composure from the shock and swiftly accepted this extraordinary reality. Clear commands were transmitted through the communication chain, and the chaotic fleet quickly stabilized, beginning to reform its ranks and point its sleek prows towards the aggressively approaching Imperial fleet.
For this T'au commander, while the situation was unexpected, upon careful consideration, it seemed logical.
How could a vast interstellar empire capable of ruling millions, even tens of millions, of planets across the galaxy not possess a commensurate method of transportation capable of rapid force deployment? Imagining the other side as a primitive civilization only capable of conventional travel was itself an act of arrogance and ignorance.
Now, reality had delivered a resounding slap. And what he had to do was command his fleet to deliver a head-on blow to these barbaric humans in this starfield, for The Greater Good.