Chapter 658 Doomsday Storm: A Necessary Evil
The majestic starship is slowly gliding out of the dock of the star port. On its huge hull, huge macro cannons are passing straight through the suspended space of the dock, cutting off an entire row of starlight. Projected onto the dock deck.
Captain Cole was standing on the bridge, with his hands behind his back, looking at the starport space stations passing outside the bridge. Their tall structures were arranged together like a strange three-dimensional cube. More The ship was moored among them, and the complex array of weapons was shining distantly under the light of the stars.
Cole walked to the armrest and looked down, "Reporting the situation, I need to know the situation of this battleship.".
"The fuel supply has also been filled, and the ignition element has been put into the cabin." The crew sitting below responded loudly to their captain. Cole raised his head and looked at the space outside the window of the bridge in front of him, "Protection situation? Report ”
"The void shield has been recharged and can currently meet 60% of the consumption requirements. However, the outer armor is still severely damaged. The Mechanic Priest recommends returning to Macragge for formal repairs and prayers."
This agricultural world may provide fuel, food supplies, and a safe haven for the Martian-class battlecruisers, but it cannot truly serve it except back to the sector capital, where the Emperor's great ship To truly recover.
But the current situation is still satisfactory to the captain. After all, in the previous space battle, he almost thought that they could not get out. Cole closed his eyes, and the situation at that time appeared in front of his eyes. He still remembers that The giant ship, the Annihilation, covered in squirming flesh and blood, pierced into the Imperial Navy's fleet like an activated chain saw, turning the place into steel.
The giant Chaos ship penetrated the Empire's battle lines. The Imperial Navy fought bravely but was overwhelmed by the larger Nurgle fleet. Those brainless idiots, although their tactical literacy was poor, had a skill that was enough to defeat them. The disadvantage makes up for the advantage of the past, which is the huge number.
Without any tactics, they only need to gather the fleet and then rush forward to defeat most of the imperial defense lines. This is the advantage of Chaos. They have long been integrated with the subspace, even if they are destroyed in the physical universe. They can be destroyed and come back quickly. As long as Chaos is not stupid enough to divide its forces, it will be difficult for the empire to confront them head-on.
But fortunately, even if they were Nurgle demons, they still had the same problem of extremely poor discipline, which allowed Cole and the others to escape.
"Check the decontamination of the bow area again. I want it to be spotless. All potential contamination caused by previous ramming tactics must not be brought back to Macragge."
Cole ordered loudly, and the avian commander below him turned around. His lower body had been installed on a disc, and it rotated very quickly between the terminal instruments surrounding him. He quickly turned around a screen. Switched to that area.
The avian chief looked at it and quickly clicked on the screen with his finger. "The area has been basically purified, but the biological readings show that there are still signal reactions between the staggered layers of some decks, but it is not sure whether it is Nurgle spores." Residuals, or residual passengers from other times of the voyage.”
"Whatever it is, whether it's something from Nurgle or some other stowaway that has snuck into the lower decks, send a team of soldiers with Mechanicus men to clear them out with flamethrowers."
"Let me go, Captain, now we need the power of faith more, don't we?" A voice came from behind Cole. The captain turned his head and looked at the monk who was walking towards him. He was wearing a simple and even a little... A worn-out Anglican robe and some yellowed priest's chain hung in front of his neck.
"Father Mathieu.", "Hello, Captain, may the Emperor continue to bless you, as well as the entire battleship and all the people of the Empire.", "I believe that he will look after your grand ideas and kindness. Yours, Father." "Then I will be particularly honored, praise my Lord."
Mathieu made an eagle gesture on his chest, and Cole responded with the same gesture. The two faced each other and bowed, and then the priest formally walked to Cole.
"Thank you for your contribution, Father. Without your prayers and blessings, this ship would have been engulfed by spores." Cole nodded to the priest. Some sailors even called him a living saint, but he smiled and shook his head. He shook his head and humbly made a prayer gesture on his forehead, "This is the power of the Emperor. I am just the carrier of his great thoughts and power, and the messenger of his truth. Everything is like the Emperor." wish.”
"As the Emperor wishes." Cole nodded in response, and the priest smiled at him, then spoke in Gothic and tapped Cole's shoulder lightly, "May his light guide you forever, Captain's brother. "
Cole's Gothic was not bad, but he still didn't understand what he meant. It was probably some religious term, but it didn't matter. The captain turned around and looked under the bridge, "Get ready to leave the port. Countdown to jump.”
"Captain, how are those confused lambs?" the priest held his hands in front of him and asked standing next to Cole. The captain glanced at him and then activated the communication terminal in front of him, "Star Port Dispatcher, Refugee Already settled?"
"Yes, Captain, we have arranged for them to go to the ground in batches, where the local government has prepared water, food, and temporary shelters. They will be fine." A dispatching voice came from the communication terminal, and there was a sound in the background. There was a rowdy crowd, and it looked like they were really good.
"May the Emperor bless you, kind sir.", "May he bless you too, Father... Wait, it seems.", "What?" Cole asked, and the dispatcher's voice whimpered in surprise, and then There was an echo of the reception signal in the system, "It seems that other ships are jumping."
"Chaos?" Cole asked alertly, and the dispatch officer's negative voice came, "No, it's a signal from the empire, but they are so fast."
quick? Cole thought in surprise. He raised his head and soon saw those portals leaping across the universe. They suddenly appeared, as if they were roughly cut open with a utility knife on a beautiful painting, with flickering lights in them. Just a moment after the light appeared, battleships jumped out one after another.
Cole watched the leading battleship stand up in surprise. He frowned and looked at its black and red bow, "Inquisition?", "What? Judgment..."
Before the dispatcher finished asking, the words suddenly stopped. Cole and the priest glanced at the communication audio that went out instantly. Then the communication interface quickly appeared again, but this time, there was a person in the empire suspended there. Represents the symbol of fear, the letter i.
"Infinite Frontier, this is the Tribunal Fleet. Answer immediately." A voice sounded in the communication channel. Cole stepped forward, pressed the receive button and spoke, "This is Infinite Frontier. I am Cole. Captain, what are you doing here? This is not a war zone."
"This has nothing to do with you. Stop the ship immediately and undergo inspection. If you continue to move forward..." Before the voice finished speaking, fire flashed out of the window next to it, and a silent explosion in the vacuum tore apart a civilian ship that had sailed off the track. , it may have been sent to directly contact the liaison ship of the Inquisition fleet due to signal interruption.
Cole looked at the explosion, and then suddenly turned his head to look at the Inquisition fleet in the distance, "This is Captain Cole! Ceasefire, repeat, ceasefire! This is just a communication failure!"
"Cole, for the sake of both you and me being old Marines and employees of the Tribunal, get out of here immediately." The previous voice was replaced by another voice. He said hoarsely, with a distortion in his voice. arc echo, but after Cole listened for a moment, he suddenly found the part of this sound among many chaotic memories.
"Yularen? Are you still alive? Damn it, what are you doing?" Cole asked in surprise, and the other party immediately responded, making the sound waves on the communication channel jump violently, "This has nothing to do with you, the ship Commander, take your ship out of low-Earth orbit immediately to avoid accidental damage.”
"accidental injury?" The priest frowned, and Cole also frowned. After a moment of silence, he understood. He pressed the dialogue button, "Who gave the order? A certain inquisitor, or...", " Your and my co-boss.”
Cole fell silent. After a moment, he nodded and stood up. He looked at the helmsman without thinking, "Leave the port immediately and go to the open space."
The helmsman turned the rudder, and the Infinite Frontier quickly began to turn and sail out of the port. The Tribunal fleet outside the port behind him was gradually approaching, but the entire dock was dead silent. There was no counterattack or resistance, nothing. No, just like a deer shot by a hunter lying on the ground, waiting for death.
"Captain Cole, they are here.", "There are people infected with the Nurgle plague on this planet.", "How do you know?" the priest asked, and Cole switched to the announcement channel without looking. Short, yet emotionally intense communications came in.
"This is Mank No. 1. We have found Nurgle believers among the refugees. They seem to be spreading the plague... We have sent people there to ask for support, call, and ask for support..."
The last words were replaced by the rustle of interfering electronic music, and the entire channel became dead silent. Cole turned and walked towards the exit of the bridge. The priest behind him looked at the planet and made sad movements in his chest. Out of the Aquila Rite, "May the Emperor save your souls."
He believed it, good, of course he would believe it, but Cole knew that although he didn't know what happened, he knew who gave the order.
"Activate Geller's position, set a course to Macragge, and prepare the entire ship to jump." Cole said with his hands behind his back, while the priest on the side made a prayer gesture devoutly, "There is no need to be full of regrets, Captain, just like the Emperor The emperor said that this is a necessary evil leading to the kingdom of truth."
"As you say, Father."
Cole also wanted to ask, could the Emperor's Paradise really hold so many souls? People always say may your soul return to the throne, maybe the angels Astartes will.
But what about ordinary people? So many souls, so many souls in need of guidance, the Empire always said that the Emperor would value his currency, but these people, are they worthy of the Emperor's attention? If not, where do they belong?
Cole thought of a possibility, but he did not dare to say it. That terrible possibility, if it was true, then the establishment of the state religion and even the entire empire were just lies.
Cole, the captain of the Infinite Frontier, looked at the tens of billions of souls and thought alone, is he going to become a heretic? It seemed that he and Vito had been together for long enough.