Astartes power armor is not the same thing as the powered suits used by ordinary mortals or even nobles.
It's a dedicated killing harness packed with functions—stronger and more sophisticated than a standard human power suit. And to let an Astartes move with real agility inside such heavy plate, their augmentation includes a specific surgery.
That surgery implants a black carapace beneath the skin—connected to neural receptors and multiple interface ports.
Those ports mesh precisely with a battle-brother's power armor, transmitting the wearer's neural signals at high speed into the armor's artificial nerve network, driving its motion.
That's why power armor is almost like a Space Marine's second skin—able to match his movements swiftly and accurately.
In short, without the black carapace, an Astartes suit normally can't be properly operated.
Human power suits, on the other hand, don't come with anywhere near that level of capability.
And in general, ordinary people are rarely issued power armor in the first place—it isn't cost-effective.
That's not to say human power armor doesn't exist. It's just usually inferior to Astartes plate.
Especially among nobles—most of them won't undergo any kind of bodily modification just to "fit" power armor.
At best, they'll have artisans develop power armor meant for baseline humans, but it still won't compare to what an Astartes wears.
Of course, beyond nobles, the Imperium does have certain "human" forces equipped with power armor.
For example, the Sisters of Battle. They don't need black carapaces implanted under their skin, and yet they're still issued power armor.
The Sisters of Battle are an armed force under the Ecclesiarchy—and the funny part is that the Imperium officially forbids the Imperial Cult from maintaining standing military forces.
This is the Ecclesiarchy slipping through a loophole. Supposedly, after reforms following the Age of Apostasy, an edict was enacted stating the church could not maintain any "men under arms," meant to restrain the church's political power. The church then exploited the wording by forming an all-female military order—sidestepping the restriction outright.
In other words, it was a straight-up word game that forcibly secured them a force like the Sisters of Battle.
So—
Pfft—!
A half-crippled Screamer-Killer, mauled by the Astartes, tried to wheel back toward him—only for Kain to cut it down in his first true close-quarters kill.
His power sword slid through the monster's body like it was butter.
And the reason he dared to fight up close—besides the high-grade weapon—was the power armor he was wearing now.
According to the servo-skull—an eerie skull-shaped drone hovering beside him—the suit had been modified from a Mark X pattern.
It fit his body because he'd previously provided his measurements, hoping to obtain power armor through that contact.
He hadn't expected them to actually deliver a fairly advanced Mark X suit this time.
It wasn't bulky at all. The weight had been reduced to the point that it didn't feel inferior to the powered suit he'd used before—the one from A2. That was thanks to successfully applying a new technology: a special reinforced coating that allowed the armor to be less thick and less heavy.
And the exterior didn't look "retro," either. It had a distinctly more sci-fi feel.
In terms of silhouette, it even resembled the Ignatus-pattern power armor worn by members of the Inquisition, with rounded shield-like contouring and smooth arcs to the plating.
And the material for that special reinforced coating came from the STC he'd traded earlier.
According to the explanation, with this technology, the cost of mechanized armor could be drastically reduced. Where arming one suit used to cost what it cost, now that same expense could equip at least three.
And the coating wasn't just for power armor, either. It could be applied across a wide range of equipment—tanks, aircraft, and more.
So after obtaining the material, they'd rushed to prepare this suit as an "extra reward" on top of the original trade—meant to "make the Great Sage happy," or so the message joked.
Yeah. As if.
In the servo-skull's message, the sender clearly assumed he could deduce their identity, so they didn't bother hiding it.
But there was no way this was only generosity.
A big part of it was obvious: they wanted him to be the test pilot for this armor.
That was why the servo-skull followed him—collecting combat data.
Even with the weight reduction, the servo-skull stated bluntly that if the suit could be driven at full capability, it would be the strongest power armor currently available.
The catch was that he'd need a black carapace implant to fully access all systems.
Since he didn't have the augmentation technique for that, the suit couldn't unleash everything it was capable of.
Still, for him right now, the boost was enormous.
In terms of mobility, it wasn't much worse than A2's suit, and in terms of protection, it wasn't even in the same tier.
"Boom—!"
The Screamer-Killer's corpse detonated again as its bio-plasma destabilized.
The flash from the blast made the surroundings even brighter.
And it was in that burst of light that Kain noticed something ahead—an unnatural patch of pitch-black.
It was wrong.
The light seemed to vanish as it reached that area, as if a black hole were swallowing it whole.
Even stranger, the closer they got to their destination, the fewer Tyranids were coming at them head-on.
"Are you sure you can handle this hive?"
The Salamanders captain suddenly cut in over comms. He was farther ahead and sounded grim—skeptical, like he'd seen something that didn't sit right.
Kain had insisted they keep advancing with him because he claimed he had a way to deal with the hive. That was the only reason they'd fought their way here at his side.
Then the servo-skull projected an image—forwarded from the captain.
Ahead was a bottomless-looking crater, a full five kilometers across.
It looked like it had been created by an orbital strike—some kind of energy weapon.
If it had been kinetic, the destruction wouldn't look like this.
"Yes."
Kain answered without hesitation. He could confirm his parked ship was located at the crater's exact center.
More precisely, hovering over the center.
Based on his analysis, the ship looked higher than before, but the truth was the terrain had been eaten away by the swarm. The ground level here had dropped significantly compared to when he first landed.
At the same time, movement surged all around—no, behind them.
The swarm was closing in.
He even caught sight of larger specimens emerging.
And yet the Tyranids didn't attack.
Instead—
The ground shuddered with an abnormal tremor, and Kain understood their plan.
They were effectively standing on the edge of a cliff, and the Tyranids intended to collapse the lip and send them sliding into the abyss.
Without hesitation, in full view of the Astartes' shocked stares, Kain launched himself toward the massive black void.
As inertia and the suit's auxiliary boost began to fade—just before free fall truly took over—he heard a voice sound inside his mind.
…And he finally let out the breath he'd been holding.
To be honest, he'd been tense as hell that something might go wrong.
But what happened next felt like coming home: the moment you reach your front door, your house's smart system detects you and greets you automatically.
That kind of voice in your head—if this were a cultivation world, or a psychic setting—would feel like someone speaking to you directly by thought.
But this was technology. Some kind of bioelectric signal, brainwave interface, whatever. He didn't understand the mechanism—only that it could speak straight into his head.
So he issued a command through his ear-mounted transmitter, having the message relayed onward.
Oh?
A bio-plasma beam was already screaming straight at him.
Sorry, bug.
You're one step too slow.
(End of Chapter)
[Get +30 Extra Chapters On — P@tr3on "Zaelum"]
[Every 300 Power Stones = 1 Bonus Chapter Drop]
[Thanks for Reading!]