"For the Imperial Navy! For the Unyielding! Charge!"
Hundreds of people converged into a tide, shouting passionate slogans, surging forward like a roaring tsunami, heedless of casualties.
Facing the frenzied, battle-crazed Void Children, who charged head-on with slight mutations, long fingers, and completely black pupils, some Blood Pact Soldiers began to grow nervous, their hands trembling as they tried to load power cells, unable to align them with the slots.
Sailors at the forefront unleashed a storm of projectiles with shotguns and hand cannons; massive iron slugs tore through the air with a powerful gust, and a hail of vengeful iron slammed into the battle formation of the Blood Pact.
"Ah!! Ooh!"
Many Blood Pact Soldiers were torn apart by large shotgun blasts, not even half a face remaining, their bones adorned with shattered flesh and blood, filling the inspection channel's drainage troughs and flowing into the abyss like mountain springs after a rain.
The Blood Pact's battle line was shattered, and a renegade Astra Militarum Voidsmen-at-Arms Officer drew her blade, shoving her Soldiers, urging them to rise and fight the charging Sailors.
Horatio stabbed a Blood Pact Soldier blocking his path, and the renegade Voidsmen-at-Arms Officer's blade swung at him. Horatio immediately retracted his sword to parry, using the reinforced part of the blade near the hilt to block the incoming sharp sword.
The sharp blades clashed, producing a clear, melodious metallic hum.
In terms of rank, an Astra Militarum Voidsmen-at-Arms Officer, unlike a Naval Officer, would not have the authority to be issued a Power Sword, so the blade in her hand could only be the dress sword of an officer she had killed.
This renegade Voidsmen-at-Arms Officer's moves were swift and her blade ruthless; an ordinary Sailor would have already been cut down or wounded by her.
But Horatio was a Childer of Loyalty Naval Officer from a prestigious military academy; he had shed too much sweat in his swordsmanship classes, mastering every move of his fencing instructor, and by the end of the course, he had no equal, even personally defeating his instructor.
He flexibly rotated his wrist, his dress sword darting forward like a swimming dragon.
Facing the young officer's dazzling and swift attacks, the renegade Voidsmen-at-Arms Officer was drenched in sweat, retreating repeatedly, with several bloody cuts already on her body, the burning pain forcing her movements to slow.
"Do you think holding a sword makes you an officer? You'll never have enough courage or skill to wield it." Horatio sneered contemptuously:
"You are merely a filthy snot-worm groveling before a false god, a terrified, weak coward, a self-satisfied carrion maggot feasting on wounds. Do you think you can exchange the blood of warriors for your master's protection? Don't dream, all you'll get is judgment in life and torment in death!"
Horatio's sword and his curses attacked the renegade Imperial Guard Voidsmen-at-Arms Officer simultaneously, making her sword slow and chaotic, her heart terrified and enraged.
The renegade Voidsmen-at-Arms Officer gritted her teeth, veins bulging on her face. Her sword swings became increasingly wild and disordered.
"Bullshit, you noble brat who lies in a cozy nest, wearing a dog's skin because of your whore mother's womb! Today, I'll chop off your head for a skull-trophy and cut out your tongue to soak in wine!!"
Her fierce, malevolent gaze seemed to want to tear Horatio to pieces; she abandoned her defense, roaring, and attacked Horatio recklessly.
Horatio raised the corner of his lips in satisfaction, his sharp eyes fixed on his opponent's every move, waiting for the moment he was certain she had no chance to retract her sword and parry.
He seized this fatal opening, stepping forward, his splendid gilded dress sword piercing straight upward from below, like a dragon emerging from the sea, precisely and without deviation.
The swift blade passed through the inner side of the Voidsmen-at-Arms Officer's arm as she swung at Horatio, her eyes widening in disbelief at his speed and accuracy.
Pfft!!—
The sharp sword pierced the renegade Voidsmen-at-Arms Officer's lower jaw, penetrating the skull of this officer-killing traitor, the blood-stained blade emerging from the top of her head.
Horatio, with a stern face, pulled his sword from the traitor's skull, then shoved the body into the abyss, where it shattered upon impact, falling into a water purification pool.
There, he would be dissolved by acid and filtered by purification devices, ultimately becoming purified water for the crew to quench their thirst, sustaining the lives of Imperial Navy Soldiers.
"Hoorah!" Seeing the young officer cleanly dispatch the Blood Pact Soldiers' commander with a single sword stroke, the Sailors cheered with immense excitement.
"Attack! Kill all these traitors, no prisoners!!" Horatio shouted, leading his Soldiers to continue the charge.
Faced with the fierce and terrifying assault, the Blood Pact Soldiers completely collapsed; they could not withstand the Imperial Navy Sailors and Sailors charging like mud trucks, abandoning their promises and oaths to the false god, and began to break and flee.
The Sailors, wielding sharp weapons, pursued relentlessly, outstripping the Voidsmen-at-Arms, carrying severed enemy heads in their hands, running and letting out savage war cries, like fierce, hunting wolves.
They might indeed be uneducated, of low quality, their rough and ugly appearance tattooed with clan totems, their behavior barbaric and crude, and even their language was a 'shipboard dialect' that Horatio barely understood.
But their combat spirit and determination to defend their void home allowed the Imperial Navy to hold on to their valuable assets.
These massive warships could not be defended solely by Voidsmen-at-Arms, who only accounted for 20% of the total personnel, unless the Sailors were willing to obey the officers' orders and jointly resist the enemy.
Suddenly, Horatio heard a rustling sound from an extended platform.
He held his sword and looked towards the source of the sound.
"Sir… Sir." An Adeptus Mechanicus Acolyte in a red cog-robe stood up, raising his hands.
Horatio breathed a sigh of relief, moving his pistol away from him. It seemed he had encountered the Blood Pact Army attack while performing maintenance and had hidden.
It was also then that Horatio received a faint, urgent cry for help.
"Officer! The storage deck outside the ordnance bay is about to fall! Requesting support…"
The communication ended with only static.
Horatio did not want to engage in a firefight within the dangerous ordnance bay; a single scorching laser blast could very likely destroy the entire port side of the warship.
"Do you know the fastest way to the storage deck outside the ordnance bay?" Horatio asked, looking at the long inspection channel: "You wouldn't have to run this far to repair a crane, would you?"
"Yes… there is one. But it's very narrow, only enough for a few people to pass quickly. If it's this many people…" The Acolyte looked at the surging crowd of Sailors running forward, then continued:
"Then you might as well continue forward with your men; further ahead, you can enter through the ammunition train passage."
"Where is that place you mentioned, only enough for a few people to pass quickly?"
"Right over here." The Acolyte stood up trembling and led the way.
At Horatio's request, the Acolyte quickly explained the routes of the inspection channel to his superior.
Horatio carefully considered the situation, constructing a three-dimensional deck model in his mind, and conducted a comprehensive and secure analysis based on intelligence feedback from C.A.T. Drones and Servo-skull route reconnaissance.
Finally, he made the tactical decision to personally lead a strike team through the narrow corridor to the storage deck to reinforce the defenders, while the main force would proceed to the ordnance bay for defensive consolidation as originally planned.
After confirming that this was safer, Horatio quickly issued an order to a Sailor Sergeant Major, who was a clan leader, for him to lead the main force in the designated direction, passing through the ammunition train passage entrance.
Immediately after, Horatio assembled two Breakers boarding teams, including his Guards, and two Voidsmen-at-Arms teams, taking these 48 well-trained Soldiers on a shortcut to reinforce the storage deck.
The Acolyte, urged by Horatio, jogged along, opening the access control device with a string of binary code.
"What type of compartment is inside?"
"A narrow corridor and the Sailors' living and rest quarters. I heard gunfire inside earlier, so I didn't dare go in when the enemy arrived."
Horatio gestured for his Soldiers to prepare for battle, then quickly walked forward, one hand holding his sword and the other a Bolt Revolver, pressing against the wall, observing for movement.
He had intended to use a Precognition Shard once, but then thought it would be too much of a waste to use it so early. He couldn't possibly waste a valuable opportunity with a Precognition Shard every time he scouted, could he?
[By the way, can a Servo-skull help me expand my vision?] A thought suddenly popped into his mind.
As a man of action, he immediately put his idea into practice.
"Scout and Jammer, release your C.A.T. Drones and Servo-skulls to scout the situation ahead."
"Yes, Officer!"
The tech-Soldiers, following Horatio's command, began operating the mechanical devices made of wetware, mechanical structures, and even human skulls, sending them forward for reconnaissance.
The C.A.T. Drone was half-tracked; it could squeeze into narrow spaces and then hide in ventilation shafts, observing enemy movements.
And the Servo-skull was even more convenient; it had a built-in grav-suspension unit, allowing it to float and patrol in the air like a drone.
When the images from both devices were fed back to the display operation devices on the tech-Soldiers' arms, the darkness of the war fog was also dispelled in Horatio's Hand of Command's bird's-eye view, revealing what their eyes saw.
[Excellent, drones can play a significant role in expanding the Hand of Command's vision.] Horatio felt a surge of satisfaction, meaning his ability, combined with drones, could enhance combat effectiveness by several levels!
"Officer, enemy detected, 21 inside, and more outside. Those guys are attacking the remaining defenders," the scout reported.
"I know." Horatio saw the enemy's positions even more clearly and accurately with the Hand of Command's bird's-eye view.
The scout looked at the officer before him in surprise.
[He didn't even look at the display, how did he know how many enemies there were?]
Horatio signaled with hand gestures for everyone to remain silent and follow him cautiously.
He wanted to launch a surprise close-quarters indoor assault, leading his men to eliminate these enemies without taking any casualties.