Seraphs of the Emperor’s Judgment

Chapter 33: Armament

However, this bout, which in principle should have been training, had turned into a bloody gladiatorial contest.

But it didn't stop, because Soshyan remained silent from beginning to end.

"Hiss..."

Farzad's head wobbled, and his previously glittering eyes gradually grew dull.

Before he could recover his senses, Armin brought him to his knees, stumbling and dizzy, with a storm of furious punches.

Instantly, a wave of sound filled with approval, shouts, and loud laughter resounded throughout the entire training room.

These sounds scraped along the railings, reflecting off the roof, causing the entire compartment to vibrate with echoes. The recruits had all their blood boiling due to this fierce battle.

This cacophony was truly so loud that it completely blurred the panicked footsteps of the surrounding Serfs.

Armin was still attacking. Before Soshyan walked over and separated them, he delivered another bone-shattering uppercut to his opponent.

His style was completely diametric to Farzad's. He wouldn't toy with his opponent, but rather completely beat them down when the opportunity arose. This was what Soshyan hoped to see.If it were in actual combat, the relatively weaker Armin would actually be able to survive longer than Farzad.

"Enough."

Soshyan growled softly, pulling Armin off the staggering, dizzy Farzad and tossing him to the other end of the room.

Even without wearing power armor, Soshyan was far stronger than any of them, let alone the fact that he was currently wearing it.

"This is weapons training, not a street brawl!"

By the time Armin struggled back to his feet, Soshyan had already lifted Farzad up against the wall, silencing the previously shouting recruits one by one.

At this moment, Armin felt pain all over his body. Blood dripped from his busted forehead, drawing a hot, stinging trail.

He felt as if he had exhausted all his strength. His body was aching and battered, as if severely wounded, but it felt fantastic.

On the other side, Farzad had regained some consciousness, although his head was still drooping and his eyes hazy.

"This is too stupid!"

Soshyan was still roaring.

"Do you rookies want me to beat the stupidity out of you! Your performance leaves me extremely dissatisfied! If this were on the battlefield, you would die very quickly! And die in absolute disgrace!"

"Chapter Master, we will intensify our training."

The one who spoke was the third squad leader, Ustad. Compared to the first two squad leaders, he appeared slightly more mediocre. The sole reason Soshyan picked him was that he had entered service 10 years earlier than the vast majority of the recruits.

"I... I can still fight."

Saying so, Farzad leaned against the wall like a drunkard and spoke sluggishly.

Armin, on the other hand, smiled and limped toward his opponent. After looking at the two of them, Soshyan smacked the wall heavily.

"Get yourselves cleaned up! Next time I want to see a more mature duel, so you must train hard!"

With that, Soshyan strode out of the training room, leaving this mess to the three squad leaders, departing on his own.

Before Farzad could fall to the ground again, Armin grabbed him and roughly hoisted him up.

"Just like I said, fast enough to deal with you."

Looking at the face before him, equally covered in blood, Farzad's vision was finally no longer blurry. The blood welling from his wounds had long since coagulated and turned black.

Even though he was very reluctant, he had to admit that he had indeed lost—lost to his own carelessness and arrogance.

He would remember this lesson.

"Just this once, my brother."

Farzad labored to pull his mouth into a grin, revealing a row of blood-soaked teeth,

"Never again."

Armin similarly let out a deep, hearty rumble of delighted laughter. Subsequently, the two warriors locked right fists, their bruised fingers gripping tightly together.

Bleeding wasn't a bad thing. The resentment of being driven from their Monastery-Fortress and homeworld had been constantly suppressed in their hearts. A hearty, thorough fight could release this pressure.

Perhaps in the future they would still be rivals, but in the intersection of sweat and blood, they also experienced that invaluable brotherhood. After all, they held the Chapter's future in their hands.

Upon hearing the laughter in the training room, Soshyan secretly breathed a sigh of relief. At least things had developed positively.

Leaving the training room, Soshyan arrived at the temporary armory set up on the upper decks. The servitors at the door successively made way for him as he approached.

When the heavy blast doors opened, what greeted Soshyan's eyes was a row of polished, gleaming bolters on the weapon racks. These were all previously stocked in the fortress armory, with another portion being the weapons of the warriors who fell in the World Engine campaign; this portion of weapons was currently undergoing inspection and maintenance.

Higher up behind the weapon racks were racks for storing power armor. A considerable portion of these were damaged and worn—these were also recovered suits of power armor that needed to be repaired and reassembled.

And all this fell upon the shoulders of Liko Rogelis alone.

Soshyan walked through the weapon racks to the deeper part of the armory. There, a red figure was circling around a behemoth. The servo-arm on his back sporadically flashed with electric sparks, tapping and prodding various spots on that behemoth.

Seemingly sensing someone approaching, that figure straightened up and turned his head.

"Chapter Master, you've arrived."

"How is it."

Soshyan pointed at that big guy and asked in a heavy tone.

That was a suit of Terminator armor, Tartaros-pattern. It was exactly the one worn by Forlo previously. The Ultramarines had found it in the ruins. Even though it was already battered beyond recognition, they still handed it over to Soshyan, along with the wreckage of another three suits of Terminator armor.

Liko Rogelis glanced back, and then his servo-arm tapped the Terminator's abdomen, right leg, and left chest once each.

"Although the damage is severe, the crucial servo-motors haven't been destroyed. This is the only thing worth rejoicing over. Furthermore, the field generator is also intact."

Soshyan could see that at the points he touched, the armor plates were all newly attached.

"I replaced a portion of the metallic fiber muscles, as well as a small amount of the transmission. These were all scavenged from the other three suits. Their servo-systems were all subjected to catastrophic damage and no longer hold much repair value... at least, beyond my current abilities to repair."

Saying this, Liko Rogelis sighed.

"I hope my crude craftsmanship hasn't angered its machine spirit."

"You've already done very well."

Soshyan stepped forward, looking at this Terminator which showed obvious traces of repair, and once again recalled that sacrificed warrior.

"Chapter Master, do you want to try it out? It's ready to be used now."

Rogelis said, pressing a button off to the side. The Terminator's optics immediately flickered, followed by the hum of the servo-motors activating.

"No, I am not worthy of piloting it yet."

Soshyan shook his head. This wasn't him being modest. It was that Terminator armor wasn't like power armor, where one could move freely in it simply by having the Black Carapace implanted and putting it on.

In reality, if one wanted to wear Terminator armor, they first had to undergo specialized training, otherwise even moving would be a problem.

Soshyan hadn't received training related to Terminators, so he wouldn't try it. This was, after all, the Chapter's sole remaining suit of Terminator armor.