Rapid drumbeats echoed through the compartments.
Thousands of waiting Voidsmen-at-Arms departed from nearby barracks, reaching the Macro cannon emplacements via internal rail trains, taking their positions, and lining up neatly on various platforms.
They were the armed infantry of Imperial Navy warships. Fully trained in the use of Laser Guns, their primary duty was to prevent enemy boarding and suppress any uprisings among the numerous indentured laborers on Imperial Navy vessels.
These armed forces Soldiers were not only capable of defensive combat but were also extensively trained in anti-boarding operations and could serve as escorts for Naval Officers.
To this end, they were equipped not only with Laser Guns but also with concussion grenades, Laser Pistols, shotguns, and ballistic armor; some robust Soldiers even used heavier rotary cannons, providing extremely fierce firepower.
Promethium flamers were only used when boarding enemy ships; the Imperial Navy strictly prohibited the use of any open-flame weapons within their own ships to prevent the ignition of flammable gases in enclosed compartments, which could lead to the destruction of the entire vessel.
From the moment these void Soldiers boarded, they were destined to be a part of the warship. They entered the ship's lifeblood in solemn rituals, drinking perfumed machine oil, allowing the ship's essence to flow in their veins.
Upon enlistment, they swore loyalty not only to their superiors but also to the warship they served.
Their lives were simple and unburdened by the widespread moral ambiguities within the Imperium. They would go to any lengths to protect the valuable assets of the Imperial Navy.
At a single command from Horatio, their commanding Naval Officer, all of them would offer their hearts to carry out his orders.
The armed Sergeant inspected the lined-up Voidsmen-at-Arms, loudly reciting prayers to boost morale.
The specialized boarding teams, the Breakers, had already set up defenses, blocking key通道 intersections, standing ready for battle.
The armored command platform where Horatio and Farida were located was fortified with defensive lines and mounted with twin-linked Heavy Bolters firing Navy Blast Pistols.
"Report, sir! Armed forces assembled, we are ready!" an armed officer reported to Horatio at the command platform.
Horatio nodded: "May you all fulfill your duties, eliminate evil completely! Take no prisoners!"
"Understood!" the armed officer responded spiritedly.
Sailors began clearing the area, removing anything that could be used as cover by the enemy, and ballistic breastworks were dragged into position by indentured laborers.
The crew had practiced this procedure hundreds of times through drills and live combat, so their actions were swift.
Horatio knew very well that this anti-boarding operation was completely different from the one against pirates.
Compared to this, the previous Q ship battle was just a minor skirmish, but today's battle would be a true, large-scale conflict.
[If only Louise were here.] Horatio thought, he really missed Louise's reliable and commanding presence when leading the armed forces.
"Midshipman Hood. No matter what happens behind us, do not leave the command platform, do your job," he said earnestly.
"Yes!" the young female Naval Officer responded confidently with full vigor.
Seeing Farida's enthusiasm, Horatio nodded reassuringly.
He activated the Hand of Command in advance.
As a Midshipman, he had the authority to command and direct all armed forces within his assigned combat zone, and to conscript Sailors for battle, and even mobilize indentured laborers.
However, the latter two required him to use that key to open the armory door. This was a decision not made unless absolutely necessary.
But fortunately, as a standard battlecruiser, the Unyielding had a considerable number of armed forces on board.
Unlike the battle at the Church of the Celestial Woman, this time the Imperial Army was at an advantage, and it was a direct confrontation between armies.
He immediately began micro-managing with psychic projections. He positioned the boarding teams and Voidsmen-at-Arms in suitable locations, occupying every advantageous firing point, and establishing key defenses at various critical points.
Although the Sailors initially found his projections a bit strange, after Horatio explained it away as a creation of the Adeptus Mechanicus, they immediately followed the Naval Officer's psychic projections, setting up breastworks and heavy weapons, and hiding behind cover, ready to face the enemy.
At the same time, Horatio also discovered a situation he hadn't noticed before—the current basic Hand of Command could only be effective within a 200-meter radius centered on him. Beyond this distance, his orders could only be relayed through sound arrays and Warrant Officer's speaking tubes.
Inside the Unyielding's Naval Officer Medical Bay.
Roman Roland suddenly sat up, taking a deep breath.
He felt as if he had experienced an extremely terrifying nightmare, everything so ethereal, like a dream and an illusion.
Coming back to his senses, he found his surroundings pitch black, unable to see anything.
"What's going on…" he murmured to himself.
"Brother Roman Roland, please rest well, do not move." He heard a voice; the speaker was wearing an Astartes helmet, and the voice clearly came from a communication grille, with a characteristic electromagnetic sound.
"Brother, what happened to me…?" He looked towards the source of the sound.
In the darkness, the outline of the other person faintly appeared.
"Your eyes are blind… but strangely, you seem to have escaped the Black Rage. However, the Apothecary and Chaplain are not here, so I cannot be certain. Do not move for now; wait until we return to the Avenging Blade for a full examination."
"Then where are we now?"
"On the Imperial Navy battlecruiser Unyielding. Our Avenging Blade is behind us; the Unyielding is currently engaging the enemy vessel, and those Blood God minions are preparing to board."
"Those damned bloodthirsty traitors aren't all dead yet?" Roman Roland gnashed his teeth, saying angrily: "I want to join the battle."
"Brother! You can't see anything right now!"
"No! I can see." Roman Roland ignored his Battle Brother's dissuasion and insisted on getting up from the medical bed.
"Brother…"
Although his surroundings were dim, he was certain he could see a fiery outline.
Through his keen senses, he gradually constructed the layout of the entire medical bay in his mind.
"Where is my power armor?" He stood up, feeling only his black carapace, and asked his Battle Brother.
"Here." A Medical Sister nearby said: "But the helmet is completely shattered."
"It's alright, do you have any cloth strips, Sister?" he requested.
The Medical Sister looked at the blind Blood Angels and, feeling pity, tore a long strip from her white rose-patterned black robe and handed it to him.
Roman Roland covered his eyes with the black robe strip, tying it behind his head.
Covering his eyes directly was a blooming Sacred Rose.
"If you insist, Brother. Then put on your power armor by yourself first."
His Battle Brother, seeing his resolute determination, tried to stop him in another way.
Roman Roland said nothing, picked up the ceramite and plasteel armor, and began to put it on independently, and indeed, he eventually donned his power armor.
The Battle Sisters helped him adjust some of the armor's details.
"Brother, I am ready to kill the enemy," Roman Roland said with a solemn and serious tone.
The veteran, wearing a golden MKVI Corvus pattern helmet, slowly sighed and picked up Roman Roland's Chainsword from nearby, handing it to him.
"For the Blood of Sanguinius." He solemnly spoke the Chapter's motto.
"For the Blood of Sanguinius!" Roman Roland gripped his Chainsword tightly, his voice filled with burning rage towards the enemy, answering angrily.
He had already sworn to his Gene-father that today he would kill all these Blood God lackeys who dared to cause trouble on St. Giles Festival.
Succeed or die trying!
Fully armored, majestic and burly Blood Angels strode through the warship's corridors, and the mortals lining the path, whether crew or Naval Officers, all stopped and respectfully saluted the Emperor's death angels.
The Blood Angels would join the anti-boarding operation to fight the incoming enemies of the Imperium. Among them were many traitor Space Marines who had betrayed the Imperium.
These renegade Astartes who had abandoned the Emperor's Holy Will would be their primary opponents.
In the void.
The Murder-class Cruiser sped like a dart hurled at the Unyielding.
The Unyielding immediately prepared to turn and create distance.
But the Murder-class Cruiser that had fallen into the embrace of the Blood God was not powered solely by promethium fuel.
Her engines were already partially animated, her fuel tanks and reactors fused into one, transforming into a fierce and terrifying bloodthirsty monster with scarlet eyes.
Within, sorcerers, through unholy rituals, added 'Juice of Slaughter'—a concoction brewed from mortal flesh and blood, agonizing suffering, and profound despair—into its fanged maw, which had mutated from a promethium port.
Under the roar of the Warp beast, it furiously charged towards the Unyielding, and even with her speed at maximum, the closure rate continued to decrease.
"Enemy vessel is about to charge! Distance approximately 400 kilometers!"
"Tell the Tech-Priest to push harder!" Captain Peru sat up and shouted: "At least don't let her ram us!"
The Naval Officers were in a frantic rush, and the Adeptus Mechanicus Tech-Priest in the plasma engine room began the ritual to awaken the machine soul.
Through incense and binary prayers, they implored the machine soul of the plasma engine to unleash even more surging speed.
After a series of efforts, the machine soul responded.
Promethium surged like a tide into the afterburners, and the ethereal blue flames from the engine's stern grew long and thick.
The Unyielding deftly avoided the charging, tyrannical evil ship with an elegant turning arc, veering to its port side, while the ship's cannons continuously poured fire onto the crimson warship.
Suddenly, countless boarding pods ejected from one side of the Murder-class Cruiser.
These boarding pods were ancient, their Skyhawk insignia pried off and replaced with unholy Blood God markings.
They swarmed like a hungry plague of locusts, overwhelming the Unyielding's port side.
All point-defense emplacements on the Unyielding's port side that could fire spewed flames. The maximum rotary point-defense cannons, controlled by the advanced thinker array, intercepted at a rate beyond human reaction.
Small-caliber Laser Cannons were operated by the crew of the point-defense gun groups, used to intercept approaching boarding pods.
Heavy Bolter rounds, point-defense shells, and lasers intertwined into an impenetrable rain of fire; thousands of gun barrels on one side unleashed an overwhelming barrage, and brilliant sparks continuously erupted in the void.
Farida saw this beautiful yet terrifying scene through the firing port viewport in front of her.
But they were too fast, and before long, the first wave of boarding pods slammed into the Unyielding's hull.
Melta tore through the armor plates at weak points, and the grating sound of metal was like the mad laughter of demons; Farida could clearly see the bulkheads of the deep-layer gun emplacements beginning to crack and collapse.
Bang!
The first boarding pod drilled its way in; its front had gruesome fangs, like the teeth of a sandworm.
The armor became twisted and deformed from the impact, making the fangs look even more ferocious and terrifying.
Soon, one boarding pod after another crashed in, their numbers so dense, like the'Starry Sky' faction, enough to give anyone with trypophobia goosebumps.
When the ramps opened, and the Evil Cultists serving the Blood God surged out of the boarding pods like a tide.
"Fire!"
At Horatio's command, the armed forces immediately pulled their triggers, unleashing a rain of fire upon the incoming enemies.
Yesterday, many readers, after understanding the situation, showed loyal follow-up reading to the Documentary Court, thank you very much!!!
I earnestly request all readers to continue not hoarding chapters and to keep following the updates, so that this book can receive intelligent promotion from the platform.
To thank all readers for their support, I plan to update three chapters a day next month, or three chapters every two days.