novelraw Chapter 42: Danger
Chapter 42: Danger
Morinit was the first to enter the central control cabin, but a corridor came to a dead end before another blast door. The defenders had successfully sealed off the passageway.
Siren alarms blared incessantly from all directions. An unlucky worker, dragging his overalls, stumbled out of a side door only to be casually split in half by Morinit's serrated battle axe.
"Blow it open,"
Morinit commanded. Soon after, a World Eater warrior shoved his way to the front and began to rig a set of mag-lock fusion disintegrators.
Then, he paused to assess the obstacle.
"A fortress-style blast door, a local Adeptus Mechanicus product? Or imported from elsewhere. The primary lock clamps are on both sides of the central pin bolt, here and here."
"Go prattle on to the Warp,"
Morinit barked loudly.
"Blow it open!"
The World Eater shrugged, clamped a pair of disintegrators onto the points he had just indicated, and stepped aside."Step back,"
he said, activating the detonator connected by wires to his right arm's power armor.
In an instant, the directional disintegrators shuddered as their molecular nuclear fuel melted down, ignited with a low thud.
The melta charge instantly incinerated, boring straight into the heavy door, burning two molten holes through the adamantium plating.
The entire ball of flame shuddered, and a faint cracking sound could clearly be heard where the two doors were sealed together.
"You!"
Morinit pointed at another warrior. The largest member of the warband used his shoulders to shove a path through his brothers, grunted, smashed his fists into the shattered sections of the door, and began to pull.
Accompanied by a low, scraping sound of friction, the World Eater strained his muscles and lowered his head, while the ancient, patched-together servos of his Power Armor supplemented his already formidable strength.
After shoving with his shoulder for a second, the automatic hinges gave way.
As the locks melted into slag, the heavy doors gave way and opened.
Behind them lay massive cogitator banks and power coils, while terrified defenders merely watched.
"Kill them all,"
Morinit ordered, and the warband slaughtered their way into the generator room.
While they hacked and slashed the screaming mortals, Morinit strode toward the central cluster of power coils, cooling valves, and cog blocks.
That was the main generator for the orbital station's central control room. Static electricity throbbed in the air around its core, and electric arcs washed over Morinit's armor in flashes of warm currents. Then, he pulled out a grenade.
BOOM——————!
The lights in the central control room went out. It took three and a half seconds for the emergency cables laid across the floor to activate.
By then, the slaughter had already begun.
With a sudden crackle and a disturbance in the air, five forms suddenly stood in a circle within the shallow pit where the central cogitator computers were housed. They were massive warriors clad in thick, crimson-plated armor.
As the backup lighting came online, they opened fire.
Station Master Sola collapsed behind a row of cogitators, covering his ears with his hands as the deafening roar of bolt rounds filled the room.
A part of his brain understood that the nexus's power system had been destroyed, and they were facing a ferocious attack.
But aside from that, his mind was filled with nothing but pure, blind panic.
The cogitator banks shuddered and threw off sparks under the bolter volley. He saw two auspex operators drop on his right, their torsos blown open. One of them was the young soldier who had come to see him during the briefing in the intelligence room earlier.
Sola fumbled for his pistol, trying to draw it from his holster.
"Sir!"
The chief auspex operator wailed, but just as he tried to scramble to the Station Master's cover, a bolt round tore off his right arm.
The limb vanished in a spray of blood and splintered bone, spinning him half around. His scream lasted nearly a second before another shot struck his head, obliterating the left side of his face. His mutilated corpse crumpled to the floor.
"God-Emperor above!"
Sola stammered, struggling to thumb off the safety of his pistol.
Suddenly, everything fell deathly quiet.
Everything except Sola himself; his heart was pounding violently.
A pool of blood oozing from the chief auspex operator's remains stained his knees red, but he held back and didn't dare to move.
Heavy footsteps shook the deck, accompanied by the whirring hum and grinding of Power Armor.
"Who are you?"
A stuttering voice echoed out. Sola recognized it as the Deputy Station Master.
Then, accompanied by a crushing sound, the unfortunate man began to scream, a sound that lasted for a very long time.
Subsequently, the footsteps grew heavier.
Finally, a shadow fell over the Station Master, who was clutching his head tightly. Shivering, he looked up, blinking rapidly due to the blood and sweat running into his eyes.
He tried to raise his hands, but the pistol felt as heavy as a mountain, and it clattered heavily to the floor.
A giant stood before him, clad in Power Armor draped with skulls and flayed skin. Its helmet was shaped like an animalistic snout with short fangs, flanked by upward-sweeping crest wings—a crown worn only by the warriors of the Blood God.
The giant's visors shot forth a dark, hateful crimson glare, and the massive brass brand adorning its colossal chest plate wasn't obscured by the gore; instead, it gleamed even brighter.
"No, no, no..."
When it seized him with a massive, spiked gauntlet, General Sola finally remembered how to scream.
But he didn't even last a second.
"Fuck, fuck, fuck! Omnissiah above, why did I have to run into this nightmare!"
Hiding inside his own operations room, Loken cursed up a storm while constantly operating various instruments.
According to the intelligence relayed from all directions, the central systems should have already fallen, and the enemy was cutting off the power supply to the various compartments and sectors. Fortunately, Loken still had emergency power and didn't need to worry about that for the time being.
But the problem was, due to the fall of the nexus, he had now lost his means of communicating with the surface. He could only broadcast an SOS signal on shortwave frequencies, hoping some passing patrol fleet would receive it—though the chances of that were naturally slim.
It wasn't that he hadn't considered slipping away, but to run meant he had to head to the starport, and it was obvious that the enemy's objective was exactly that.
After analyzing the situation once over, Loken still felt it was safer to stay in his nest. This place was shielded by thick metal, possessed an independent signal transmitter and backup power supply, and was also connected to the orbital station's auxiliary control systems.
He was the one who had issued the order to seal all passageways and corridors, just to buy time.
"Whatever, let's get the frigate out of here first."
Refusing to let the enemy get their way easily, Loken began transmitting a message to the frigate, ordering it to activate its engines immediately and depart the starport.
But even that required time.
Loken tried his best to maintain the orbital station's operations. After all, the enemy only numbered a handful, while the orbital station still had over twenty thousand guards, even if they couldn't gather together at the moment.
He was charting routes, mobilizing as many guards as possible to act as a defensive force against the traitors.
A three-dimensional holographic projection of the orbital station floated before him. Every blast gate and every compartment was under his surveillance.
Suddenly, a freezing sensation washed over him.
Loken sharply whirled around, only to see the tightly sealed doors.
"What's the meaning of—"
Boom!
Suddenly, a massive crash rang out from the heavy doors, as if something was slamming against it.
"Fuck!!!"
Loken was so scared he nearly lost control of his bladder.
Those accursed monsters had discovered something was hindering them, and they had come looking for him!