The truck carrying Jaxcaliber Squad and Ignis stopped at a distance from the target power plant, tucked into the blind spot of a road monitor.
"Preparing to deploy the drone swarm."
Jax-05's voice over the comms channel cut off Ignis's thoughts about Nicole.
Nicole had been extremely insistent about joining this operation herself, but once Ignis explained the number of enemies and the firepower they possessed, she knew she would only be a burden. She had to grit her teeth and stay behind. Still, she repeatedly urged Ignis to protect himself and avoid throwing his life into danger again.
Nekomata had also wanted to come—she kept insisting her stealth capabilities were top-tier and that she might even be able to steal whatever evidence they needed. But Ignis told her the enemy almost certainly had night-vision gear. That alone made her wilt.
Anby, on the other hand, was unfazed. She simply felt that this was a worthy mission—destroying a narcotics factory was something worth doing.
At the rear door, Jax-03 and Jax-06 swung it open. Several drone racks had already been prepared. Under Jax-05's direction, the drones rose into the air one after another. These small drones were built for low-noise operation; even in quiet areas, they remained hard to detect. The trade-off was slower flight speed and low carrying capacity. Once outside the cargo bay, they split off according to their preassigned roles, heading in different directions.
"Then Jax-04 and I are going to secure a vantage point. Priority is identifying their hidden sentries."
Jax-03 leaped out of the truck, and the quiet Jax-04 stood up and followed.
"Don't miss me, babies. Once the shooting starts, Jax-04 and I will be the ones giving you crucial fire support." Although his body had left, his mouth had not. The chatter continued until Jax-05 immediately muted him. Likely he'd be released only after the operation began.
"Beginning to tag enemy movements."
Jax-05 worked his handheld terminal, and before long a top-down view of the warehouse—red dots and all—appeared on everyone's HUDs.
"How did you manage this?"
Ignis knew that an Auspex unit could detect enemies in a certain radius, but this was far more convenient.
"Simple—cell networks. Most of them are gang members. Their phones are always on; it's boring standing guard in a place like this."
Jax-05 never stopped typing. "With the drone swarm receiving their signals, I can triangulate the exact position of every connected terminal. Wait—found one device using abnormal data traffic. I'll try intercepting it.
"It's narcotics-trade intel. Recording it now. A drone also found an hidden enemy sentry—they're using thermal-camouflage decoys. Uploading position to Jax-03 and Jax-04."
"He says you're slow." Jax-04's voice entered the channel—a woman's voice, slightly low.
"Tell him to shut up. Once we begin, neutralize hidden sentries first." Jaxcalibur-01 finally spoke.
Ignis watched silently as Jax-05 continued conducting electronic reconnaissance with the drone swarm. The enemy had practically zero electronic-security protocols; he had already infiltrated nearly all of their communication.
Only those mysterious soldiers followed strict regulations—none of them used unencrypted civilian comm devices.
But that did not stop Jax-05. First he had the drones override the surveillance cameras and loop prerecorded footage. Then he placed silent-flight drones at the warehouse windows. Using their cameras, multiple drones located targets and uploaded their coordinates.
Soon, the battlefield became a one-sided window of transparency.
Ignis privately marveled at how effective these drones were. Though Imperial servoskulls could do similar tasks, they were nowhere near this compact. If the Emperor's warriors had tools like these, losses in battle would drop significantly.
"All right, I've completely seized control of their outer security systems. Captain, you may begin. Before you engage, I'll activate the drone network-jamming field to cut their comms."
"Jax-02 stays. Jax-06 comes with me. Ignis, we move."
Ignis and Jax-06 exited the cargo bay. Their captain was already waiting. They exchanged a brief nod and advanced toward the objective.
Every street-side camera had already been overridden by Jax-05's drones. No need for excessive caution. And it was late at night—no one moved in the industrial zone.
Jax-06 sat at the corner of one of the warehouses of the power plant, an inconspicuous spot—meaning it was close to the outer wall. The generator noise masked Ignis's heavy steps. Before they entered the hidden sentries' line of sight, Jax-05 issued instructions.
"Captain, markers up. Two hidden sentries—eliminate them, then deal with the exposed one."
"Even without your markers, I can see them. And stop taking things so personally. I nag a little and you mute me? No wonder your blind dates all fail."
Jax-03 started rambling again. "Look at that—lying on the roof with his ass in the air, pretending that huge fake bird's nest is camouflage. Who the hell puts a nest that big on a warehouse roof?"
"Let me find your heart, little bastard. I'll put a bullet through it."
Two soft thuds—subsonic rounds. Without the Lyman's Ear of an Adeptus Astartes, one could barely notice them.
"Targets neutralized."
Jax-04 reported crisply.
"Child's play. Zero difficulty. Captain, time to raise hell."
"Jax-05, cut his comm permissions. He's too noisy."
"Captain! I earned commendations! You can't—"
The line cut. Silence returned.
"Captain! You can't do this! I have to report intel to you!"
Jax-03 had apparently grabbed Jax-04's headset. Then came the heavy thump of a fist hitting flesh. Jax-04 reclaimed her device.
"I calmed him down."
Jax-04 likely kicked him again, judging from Jax-03's pained yelp.
Jaxcalibur-01 sighed, shook his head, then rushed from the shadows, sprinting across the open road.
At the outer wall, Jax-06 immediately took out a breaching-charge sheet and pressed it flat. Then he suddenly remembered something, glanced at Ignis, and placed a second sheet beside the first.
"Captain, did you bring extra? If we use two here, we may not have enough to breach later."
"No need."
Ignis raised a fist larger than a man. "If we're breaking walls, this works better than explosives."
Blue arcs crackled over Ignis's gauntlets.
"Save it. We'll use his for the next walls. He's actually good at this."
Jaxcalibur-01, seeing Ignis practically itching to act, ordered Jax-06 to conserve supplies.
Jax-06 immediately packed the charges away. Ignis stepped forward and struck with both fists. The
The Power Field shattered the brick exterior, then exposed a three-centimeter Ether-alloy inner layer, then another layer of brick.
"Captain, this is high-strength Ether alloy. Our own charges wouldn't scratch it." Jax-06 inspected the neat opening. "Good thing we have him."
"Seems there's a lot going on inside."
Ignis did not stop. The wall was stronger than expected, but under the Power Field, all materials came apart at a touch. He carved out an opening large enough for a three-meter warrior with ease.
The greatest advantage of the Power Field was not the molecular breakdown but its silence. Creating a hole big enough for Ignis to pass through barely made a sound.
Jaxcaliber Jax-06 eyed Ignis's power fists with open envy.
"No hostiles ahead. Exposed sentries have been eliminated. Drag the bodies into the shadows."
Jax-05 tagged the two corpses via drone. Jaxcalibur-01 and Jax-06 pulled them into a patch of weeds by the wall.
Only the warehouse's own wall remained. Ignis could hear the noise inside—loud, chaotic, excited voices, along with harsh music.
"This batch is amazing! Why sell it? I could enjoy it all myself!"
"Don't question the boss. We have plenty to use. You mess around again, you'll end up like the Cripple—thrown into the raw-materials pit."
"Ugh, don't mention that idiot. His disgusting perfume ruined that entire batch—tasted like drinking horse piss."
"Hey, remember when those idiots tried to provoke us last time? That was fun."
"Of course. I cut off one bastard's junk and stuffed it into his own rash hole. Fantastic time."
"Shame no one's came looking for trouble since. We're stuck babysitting these morons. When do we get a break?"
"A break? I heard the Flowerbed got torched—no survivors."
"What a waste. Those girls last time were right my type. Hey you—move any slower and I'll cut your ovaries out and shove them in your mouth so you can work while chewing."
With the Lyman's Ear and the suit's enhanced acoustic capture, Ignis heard everything through the wall. His face grew warm.
No mistake—this was the place.
"Their personnel are spread out. Be careful upon entry. I'll try to mark high-threat targets near you."
Jax-05 reminded them.
"I have a better tactic. Interested?"
Ignis offered a suggestion.