Seraphs of the Emperor’s Judgment

Chapter 148: Boarding Action

Such a sacrifice filled Soshyan with respect, so he made a decision.

"Are you serious, Chapter Master Soshyan?"

He could hear Vice Admiral Yarrow's shock through the muddled white noise.

Soshyan diverted a portion of his attention to the nearby tactical panel and found that two more Runes marking Transport ships had vanished before his eyes.

Strictly speaking, Vice Admiral Yarrow's strategy was actually very effective; the Greenskin fleet bled more with each passing round.

But this was not enough.

For Soshyan, for those who had sacrificed, and for those currently being sacrificed, it was not enough.

"My information is accurate."

His voice traversed the void through the damaged signal.

"You need to open up a corridor of firepower for us."Soshyan paused for a moment, and a wave of white noise filled the gap.

He nodded, as if the other party could see him.

"We will board the enemy's flagship after getting close."

For a moment, an uncomfortable, gloomy silence filled the command throne. Blinding electrical light flashed across Soshyan's face—it was numbers and tactical codes demonstrating the battle situation on a charcoal-black screen.

His face was cold and expressionless, but the sparks contained in his eyes could be felt even by the Servants across extreme distances.

After a brief silence, a voice broke through the noise.

"Copy that. May all go as the Emperor wills, Chapter Master Soshyan."

Soon, the Battle Brothers who had just experienced combat gathered once again under the Chapter Master's orders. However, this time their gathering location was no longer the flight deck, but rather the torpedo bay.

Swarms of Servants surrounded them, making final pre-war preparations for them.

Tech-Priest Loken shuttled through the crowd, muttering calibrations in Binary language.

Beside Soshyan, Chaplain Yazdan had his helmet forward, pressing it against his Scepter. Parchments covered in oaths were affixed to the handle of the Scepter; he knew the Chaplain was silently reciting his oaths once again inside his helmet at this moment.

He suddenly felt a surge of pride. They had just brushed past death, yet now they were rushing toward death once again, and not a single person balked, showed fear, or hesitated.

Soshyan's order to launch an assault on the Greenskins' flagship actually surprised Sol—he had thought Soshyan would lack the courage to press forward relentlessly due to the heavy responsibilities on his shoulders.

This mission might be the Astral Knights' last, but that didn't matter; this was the nature of war.

All Astral Knights knew that the price of victory was often death.

The Emperor created them, and they embraced death.

"60-second countdown, Chapter Master."

A voice entered Soshyan's ears. Soshyan realized it was the voice of Lothar, who was commanding the warship in his stead. The man's voice sounded somewhat dejected.

This was expected.

But someone had to control the Starfire, and no one was better at ship maneuvering than Lothar.

In the void, the Starfire's slender hull skimmed across the hellish void battlefield, with 24 Cruisers covering its flanks as it thrust straight into the heart of the battlefield.

The target was right ahead, in the center of the Greenskin fleet.

And ahead, various accompanying warships were also converging on their flagship.

Nova Cannons roared, Lance Weapons flashed, and Torpedoes shuttled back and forth, each seeking their targets.

This time, Vice Admiral Yarrow was no longer sparing with the forces at his disposal.

They all knew the value of fighting fiercely and making sacrifices. If they could inflict enough damage and throw the Greenskin fleet into chaos, then the Starfire and the boarding troops would be able to exploit their weak point and strike—that was the true killing blow.

The devastating forces waiting inside the Landing Torpedoes and Teleportariums would tear apart that colossal iron beast, which was pieced together from the wreckage of Imperial warships, from the inside.

Casting away lives so lightly was truly incomparably cruel, but it presented a chance of success.

Because from the tactics and coordination of this Greenskin fleet, one could tell they were entirely different from the previous Greenskins—they were clearly adept at naval battles.

If they continued fighting, even if the transport fleet were annihilated, it would be difficult to severely heavily damage the enemy.

At this point, the arrow was already on the bowstring.

"30-second countdown!"

The voice rang out again. Soshyan blinked to confirm and opened the dedicated vox-channel shared with the other warriors.

"Brothers."

The warriors in the compartment stopped their movements, and the launch bays and compartments of various departments also quieted down.

He hadn't considered what to say beforehand. His entire life was war; since he left his mother's embrace, every moment of his life had been spent in training and war, using his bloody hands to maintain the Imperium's continued existence.

Soshyan was not an eloquent person, but the fact that his subordinates were about to follow him into a life-and-death battle made Soshyan's emotions surge.

"We are fighting a war. It is not a war of conquest, nor is it a war we initiated. It is rather a war where we must spill our hot blood for our oaths and for the Imperium. We may never see the end of this war, but if our fierce fighting can bring the war's end sooner, if our sacrifices can make the enemy pay a hundredfold price, then future history will forever remember us!"

He paused. He could feel the static charge on his skin beginning to increase, the machinery roaring, and the luminous arcs on the platform beginning to flash. Tal fastened his brass-colored helmet and closed his eyes.

"Astral Knights! As Astartes, we have embarked upon a path of hardship and dedication. As your Chapter Master, I have asked much of you, and I frequently make these demands...

But never have those words been truer than they are right now!"

As he spoke these words, Soshyan felt as if he had returned to that place, the place where he was supposed to die.

"These filthy Xenos are slaughtering our heroic warriors. We could reap the fruits of victory after leaving the entire area littered with corpses, but I believe those fruits would be incomparably bitter! We are the Emperor's sharp swords; we have sworn to sever the enemy's heads. Our duty is to protect humanity. If victory must be bought with fresh blood, then let it be ours!"

Amidst the roar of machinery, the entire compartment trembled.

"For the Emperor!"

"For the Emperor!"

The warriors let out a unified, furious roar.

"Attack!!"

The machine spirit of the Boarding Torpedo confirmed the command and responded, sliding out of the torpedo tube at extreme speed.

When it detached from the hull, it quickly left the Starfire behind.

While gliding silently, the roaring sound emitted by the ancient rocket engine permeated through the reinforced substructure of the Torpedo, through the hatch, through the personnel compartment, and straight into Soshyan's heart.

He could imagine how intense the battlefield around them was. If a single lucky shot hit the Torpedo, the Astral Knights would thoroughly become history.

But they were very lucky. After gliding for several minutes, the signal light indicating proximity to the target flashed.

"Prepare to cope with high-speed docking and impact."

Soshyan calmly informed the surrounding warriors of the situation. He could hear the securing frames and safety harnesses creaking as they tightened, and he also felt the vibration and shaking when the nose of the Torpedo made contact with the armored outer shell of the enemy warship.

The Boarding Torpedo forcibly tore open a path into the belly of the enemy warship, exactly like a bullet shooting into flesh and breaking bone.

The sturdy, high-speed Torpedo smashed open the support struts, overturning all equipment it encountered to the ground.

They had chosen the relatively fragile flight deck as their breakthrough point. As the Torpedo penetrated deeper, many structural supports were ripped down, smashing into the track carts below loaded with equipment, weapons, and ammunition.

The Gretchin scurried around everywhere clutching their heads, while the Mechanics stared at the sudden arrival of the Torpedo in bewilderment.

Soshyan felt powerful forces tearing at his genetically modified body, a sensation that was highly unpleasant.

As the Torpedo roared across the flight deck like thunder, leaving a mess in its wake, the hydraulic systems in the power armor worn by the Space Marines also underwent the ultimate test.

Every warrior possessed a superhuman physique, tough and thick muscles, and highly adaptable Black Carapaces; it was precisely these that absorbed the massive forces that would be enough to tear a normal human to shreds.