The Emperor’s Angel of Death

#3440 - Super Armor

"What fast missiles!"

Talos barely reacted when the missiles hit their targets. His surprised voice came through the vox-grille in the mech's head. Not far away, Soshian chuckled and replied:

"Of course. These are comparable to the Short-Ones' missiles. Use them sparingly; we don't have many."

"Understood!"

More targets rose in the distance. The Paragon mech's primary weapons, two plasma accelerators, began firing, seemingly without needing to warm up. They launched highly compressed plasma towards the distance like rain.

The barrage was incredibly forceful, and the targets were no pushovers either. They were protected by thick chitin or ceramite, mimicking the Tyranids, each defense built to 'heavy armor' standards. Yet, under the plasma accelerator fire, almost none could withstand a second hit. More importantly, Talos was hitting every shot.

"This assisted targeting is amazing. I've never been a marksman, but this... I'm starting to think it's doing the shooting, not me."

"Don't worry, no Iron Men inside, just more advanced electronics."

"Any melee configuration?"

"Of course."

Talos then received a prompt from Qingzhao. He stopped firing, and shimmering claws extended from the mech's wrists.

Simultaneously, a group of aggressive targets appeared. They had simple builds, like a bunch of round-headed dolls, but they moved quickly and aggressively, rushing towards Talos.

"Come on!"

Talos roared with excitement. A high-pitched sonic boom of intense blue energy erupted, and the Paragon mech's vectoring thrusters ignited, propelling the massive body into the air.

As the metal panels spread like wings, Talos charged into the enemy ranks in his favorite stance.

Giant claws plunged into targets, tearing out internal lines like entrails. A man-sized armor shell spun through the air and crashed a dozen meters in front of Soshian.

The Paragon mech was a tiger among sheep. Its claws flew, tearing the targets apart, its lithe form dodging the clumsy iron fists.

In less than three minutes, all the target drones were on the ground, twitching heaps of metal.

"Got anything tougher?"

Before Soshian could answer, several large doors opened in the distance. A large group of mechanical Tyranid Shrikes poured out. Soshian's primary enemies were Tyranids and Necrons, with Tyranids being the more numerous. Therefore, the new weapons were designed primarily to counter Tyranids, making Tyranid-type 'target drones' essential.

Qingzhao also had a strong interest in this extragalactic gestalt swarm. Soshian had even brought some live Tyranid specimens and samples from the Royal Court for it to study. Gellan quickly analyzed the parameters of these living weapons and manufactured similar targets.

Of course, replicating the adaptability and variability of Tyranid bio-weapons was difficult. They could only simulate their average speed, strength, and the defensive power of their chitinous carapaces.

"Good!"

Talos growled. The weapons on his shoulders switched to melta-compression cannons, firing two slender, searing red lines that instantly pierced the heads of several Shrikes. Yet, even without heads, these mechanical Tyranids continued to run for a short distance.

The distance between them vanished in an instant. Massive claw blades and bone swords whistled. The Paragon mech fired while parrying and counterattacking with its claws. The Paragon's autonomous firing system had taken over the shoulder-mounted primary weapons, selecting targets based on Talos's movements, without interfering with his close-quarters combat.

But the Tyranid targets were indeed tougher than the previous ones. After Talos knocked down seven or eight mechanical Shrikes, his chest took a hit. A shallow scratch appeared on the new relief—at the moment of impact, a layer of pale golden light appeared on the Paragon mech's surface, negating most of the damage. This was the most unique aspect of the Paragon mech's energy shield: it had both active maintenance and reactive trigger modes. Without switching modes, the Paragon mech defaulted to reactive trigger mode, activating the energy shield only before an attack landed. The millisecond-level reaction time was fast enough to handle most weapons, and its biggest advantage was energy conservation.

Of course, against energy weapons, especially laser weapons, it was better to switch to active maintenance mode, but it would continuously consume energy, increasing the reactor's burden.

Faced with being surrounded, Talos activated the Paragon mech's anti-gravity system and vectoring thrusters. Golden-red plasma trails sprayed from the mech's rear, the high-temperature exhaust scorching blackened, cracked patterns on the mechanical Tyranids' surfaces. The Paragon mech leaped into the air, raising its arms and firing down wildly with its shoulder-mounted primary weapons.

When it landed again, several large containers suddenly rose around it, opening to reveal various melee weapons, including swords, axes, and halberds.

"Not bad."

Talos retracted his claws and grabbed the largest chain halberd, custom-made to his personal preferences.

Then, the thrusters on the mech's lower back ignited, and the massive Paragon crashed down like a meteor, its immense force instantly crushing a mechanical Shrike. The swinging chain halberd whipped up a whirlwind of death, scattering metal fragments hundreds of meters away, some even flying towards Soshian, who casually deflected them.

A dozen minutes later, when the Paragon stood amidst a pile of metal wreckage, chain halberd in hand, it only had a few more scratches.

"These things."

Talos pointed to the several metal spheres surrounding him.

"They're not weapons, are they?"

Qingzhao answered him.

"They are dimensional matrix protection devices. When an incoming devastating attack is detected, they will activate, creating a dimensional matrix. When the Paragon mech is within it, it is theoretically immune to all external physical attacks, but it cannot move or attack. The matrix can last for twenty seconds."

"Hmm, sounds exaggerated. Even against Necron weapons?"

"Including them, but the current test site cannot meet the needs for actual combat testing. We can move it to external space."

"No need, knowing is enough."

After speaking, the Paragon mech's visor quickly dimmed. Then, accompanied by a blue beam, the naked Talos slowly descended from the opened space behind it.

After returning to the metal cabinet, re-equipping his power armor, he came to Soshian's side, and said with a smile:

"I've experienced it in this life. Besides you, am I possibly the only Astartes to have piloted such a giant mech?"