Seraphs of the Emperor’s Judgment

Chapter 149: Shield Wall

It didn't take long for the boarding torpedo to leave behind a messy trail of smashed fighters, trailers, and various supplies.

Soshyan hesitated for a moment over whether to manually activate the deceleration rockets.

Normally, this system was used to maintain cabin stability and reduce impact during a collision.

However, Soshyan found that the intense friction resulting from the boarding torpedo's 'intimate contact' with the warship's interior was enough to bring the vessel to a halt.

The warriors in the torpedo cabin could feel the explosions of a damaged lander echoing up from the deck below.

Through a surviving camera, Soshyan saw that fuel leaking from a ruptured tank had caught fire, blanketing the chaotic flight deck in black smoke.

Alarms blared, summoning greenskins from other areas for support.

The greenskin mechanics who had been overturned by the preceding shockwave had already begun scrambling back to their feet. They grabbed their shattered tools, their blood painting the floor and their hooded uniforms.

These greenskins appeared to be incredibly tenacious.

"Prepare to open the hatch."With a press of Soshyan's finger, a heavy crash sounded as the pressure valves released.

Simultaneously, the shock-absorbing harnesses strapping everyone in unlocked, allowing the warriors to quickly disembark.

Aside from Lothar, everyone participated in this operation, even the Techmarine.

While the launch bay was littered with damaged fighters and the corpses of mechanics and Gretchin, armored greenskin anti-boarding troops appeared from behind the blast doors.

They ran while forcing large-caliber rounds into their chambers.

To fend off the invaders, the greenskins converged towards the boarding site, unleashing a hail of bullets from all manner of firearms to batter the torpedo's hull and the currently opening hatch.

"I'll go first."

Soshyan was the first to leap out of the hatch. Accompanied by the hiss of subatomic conversion, he raised his hand and pulled the trigger of his long-charging plasma pistol.

Instantly, an energy sphere resembling a blue sun flew across the flight deck, leaving a scorching trail in its wake.

Its impact was devastating. The plasma sphere tore through the panicked greenskin mechanics, reducing them to bloody mush.

Those who were too close had their garments set ablaze by the intense heat, making their screams all the more enduring.

"Purge the enemy. Advance rapidly."

"Understood."

The warriors responded, leaping out of the hatch one after another, their silver-grey tabards fluttering in the wind generated by their descent.

As soon as the Space Marines touched the ground, they threw themselves into combat to push back the greenskins' offensive.

During this process, Soshyan's plasma pistol rapidly fired one plasma sphere after another.

They streaked across the deck with unerring precision, reducing the armor-clad greenskins into piles of meat.

However, after the tenth shot, Soshyan had to holster it back onto his thigh—the consequences of an overheated plasma weapon were ruinous, and he had no intention of becoming a foolish casualty.

He had to admit, the carrying capacity of the greenskin warship was truly extraordinary. In just a brief moment, a massive horde of defenders had amassed on the flight deck, attempting to obliterate the boarding enemies.

They roared maddeningly while holding their triggers in a death grip, firing blindly in any direction where an enemy might be—many of their kin died to friendly fire in this manner, but it undoubtedly formed an unbroken storm of lead.

"Shields!"

Soshyan commanded over the comms. Subsequently, twenty warriors stepped forward, bringing their boarding shields together. The edges locked tightly, forming a seamless wall of plasteel.

The boarding shield was a massive bulwark constructed from ceramite and plasteel, resembling a larger version of a combat shield. Some variants even housed an integrated miniature force field generator.

During the Great Crusade era, Space Marines commonly employed these shields for boarding actions or siege operations. These unwieldy bulwarks were a favorite of assault forces, typically wielded by Legion siege squads.

Certain elite legion elements would also employ this gear, such as the Ultramarines' Invictarus Suzerains.

A boarding shield appeared to be an encumbering iteration of a combat shield. Although its efficacy was far inferior to the later-developed storm shields, its sheer mass alone was entirely sufficient to protect the user from direct hits of enemy fire.

During the Horus Heresy, combat shields and boarding shields were further refined to provide enhanced protection in close-quarters engagements.

For this reason, even long after storm shields entered service, boarding shields remained a crucial component in legion arsenals.

Following the Second Founding, driven by shifts in Chapter structures, dedicated large-scale boarding detachments faded into history, replaced by Terminator companies. The more versatile storm shield usurped its position, causing the boarding shield to vanish from the armories of most Chapters. Only a few prominent First Founding Chapters and those with a longer lineage still retained this series of wargear, though they were rarely deployed.

When Space Marines utilized boarding shields, it was typically during the initial breach of an enemy vessel, employing them to weather the torrential firepower of the opposing forces to facilitate the entry of subsequent boarding troops.

During siege operations, for instance, when making an initial rush into static hostile defenses, boarding shields were also at the forefront.

In order to ensure the smooth execution of this operation, Soshyan specifically requisitioned this batch of boarding shields from the armory. Moreover, with the presence of Sol, a Great Crusade-era veteran within the Chapter, the warriors were incredibly fortunate to learn how to expertly employ the boarding shields and master their associated tactical maneuvers.

As early as a week ago, the Chapter had foresightedly conducted training regarding the use of boarding shields.

This improvised wall of steel possessed unyielding firepower, stringent discipline, and inexorable fighting spirit.

Attacks continuously pelted the surface of the shield wall, yet failed to budge it in the slightest. Soshyan switched his optical vision to observe the situation ahead, spotting large throngs of greenskins still surging from the various airlocks.

Despite suffering a sudden assault, the greenskins still maintained a formidable counterattack force.

Soshyan glanced to his left; beside him, Sol was firing towards the front.

As if sensing the gaze, he paused and looked at Soshyan.

"We must move."

He immediately voiced the exact thought Soshyan had.

The enemy's current firepower was insufficient to eradicate them, but it was capable of pinning them down.

If they remained stationary, the greenskins would gradually wear them down before deploying heavy weaponry to shatter the shield wall—it was inevitable.

Were Soshyan in their opponents' shoes, he would have done the exact same thing.

"Logris, locate the power distribution hub in this area."

Soshyan turned to the Techmarine, who promptly nodded, straightened his waist, and scanned his surroundings.

"Let me see... The far wall. According to normal energy supply systems, they must route power to certain non-critical sectors... It seems there's a heat signature over there."

Soshyan didn't press him, as he knew only Logris possessed sufficient understanding of the various systems here.

After roughly confirming the position, Logris raised his weapon—a custom-built pulse rifle that, upon striking a target, generated a powerful electron surge capable of overloading most servers.

He aligned his optic with the scope and unleashed a continuous barrage of rounds.

The projectiles tore through the approaching greenskins before accurately striking a seemingly unremarkable piece of equipment.

In the next second, the power distribution hub emitted a brilliant flash of light and sparks as it overloaded.

Due to the sudden loss of power, the heavy blast doors subsequently slammed shut, crushing a pile of greenskins while also partitioning the forward area of the flight deck.

Meanwhile, the overhead bulkhead collapsed with a resounding boom, obstructing the mechanics and Gretchin hurrying to reinforce from the armory deck.

Accompanied by a series of flickers, the high-power illumination lights also extinguished completely, plunging the colossal flight deck into a dim, smoke-filled expanse. The only remaining light came from the sparse starlight filtering from the outside.

Soshyan could feel the impact of landing gears touching down on the launch bay deck and the heavy, rapid footsteps of reinforcements rushing through the darkness. The muzzle flashes of discharging firearms illuminated the terrifying silhouettes of those hideous faces.

These greenskins were certainly stubborn enough, still desperately attempting to repel the invaders.