"Ah! Ah! My arm!"
The wounded Sailor was dragged away by his clan mates, leaning against the bulkhead behind.
But that was all the help that could be offered; in the chaotic clash of blades, the injured could only try to stop their own bleeding.
The heavy Navy Breachers sent by Horatio to assault the right flank arrived, firing a volley of shotgun blasts that shredded several rushing Blood Pact Soldiers.
Through his bird's-eye view, Horatio saw a Blood Pact Soldier instantly reduced to half a skull, his body riddled with dozens of bullet holes, a sight that was trypophobia-inducing.
Blood continuously flowed down the drainage channels on the deck, and the air was filled with a nauseating mix of blood, engine oil, grime, and foul odors.
Blood Pact Axeman and close-combat Blood Pact Soldiers wielding short knives charged forward, the Axeman swinging his axe to hook the Shield Guard's heavy breaching shield.
The lower part of the long-handled breaching axe hooked the upper edge of the shield, pulling it backward, attempting to tip the shield over.
The power axe blade scraped against the shield steel, producing a harsh, piercing friction sound.
The Shield Guard pulled on the shield with all his might, and another Voidsmen-at-Arms stepped forward to help, both sides engaged in a fierce tug-of-war. The shield was clumsy and massive, making the Sailor's arms ache and feel heavy.
"Shotgun reloaded!" A Voidsmen-at-Arms behind him handed the reloaded shotgun to the Shield Guard, who extended the barrel through the firing port on the shield and pulled the trigger on the enemy hooking his shield.
With a loud bang, a single shotgun blast directly tore the Axeman into several pieces.
Before the Navy Breachers could catch their breath, several breaching axes chopped directly onto the top of the shield, the heavy blows gashing the breaching shield, with bloodied axe blades embedded in the shield, blood continuously flowing down the shield.
Under the heavy chop of the fourth axe, the breaching shield let out a piercing shriek of tearing metal.
The Shield Guard pushed the cracked shield towards the enemy, emptying his magazine and unleashing his ammunition, then was immediately struck in the chest by an axe, falling to the ground with a thud.
Another Shield Guard's shield was hooked and pulled down by an axe during reloading, the enemy stepping on it, forcing him to retreat.
"Kill! Chop them to death!!" A Blood Pact Voidsmen-at-Arms Officer roared, inciting her subordinates to charge.
The Naval Axemen of the second line roared as they charged forward, clashing with their 'peers,' swinging their power axes at each other's heads.
Infighting among peers was always exceptionally bloody and brutal, with no intact bodies left after axe strikes.
A Naval Axeman used a sharp chop to break through an enemy's parry, then swung his axe blade horizontally across the enemy's face.
"Ugh oh!!"
The Blood Pact Axeman let out a scream, his entire lower jaw, along with his helmet, was chopped off, flesh and blood splattering on the wall and slowly dripping down.
A Naval Axeman nearby, in a gap during a clash, chopped an axe onto a Blood Pact Soldier's shoulder, knocking him to his knees. Immediately after, a second axe, like chopping a tree, cut the enemy in half at the waist, crimson intestines spilling out from the ruptured abdominal cavity, Horatio could even see them still wriggling.
The Navy Breachers behind also pulled out their melee weapons and fought with the enemy.
A Naval Voidsmen-at-Arms had a wound stabbed into his back by a bayonet and was stabbed three times in the chest, but with adrenaline surging, he felt no pain, killing two enemy Soldiers consecutively before slowly leaning unsteadily against the wall and sliding down, leaving a bloody drag mark.
The third Navy Breacher team arrived in time, including two Navy Breachers Gunners.
"Get out of the way!" a tall Breakers Gunner shouted, his multi-barreled laser beginning to spew a dazzling laser barrage.
The surging firepower immediately suppressed the enemies in front, killing dozens.
Suddenly, a laser beam shot from a distance, making the Gunner stumble, but it failed to penetrate his heavy armor.
After steadying himself, the multi-barreled laser adjusted its aim and swept directly towards the shooter who had ambushed him, setting him on fire and sending him rolling into a pool of blood.
Grenadiers threw smoke grenades forward, and the Navy Breachers swarmed forward, the arriving Blood Pact Navy Breachers attempting to block with their spiked breaching shields.
A Naval Breaker, seeing this, used the cover of the smoke, disregarding the Laser Gun barrage, and charged forward, directly stabbing with the Chainsword on his hand.
The Chainsword cut through the breaching shield, severing the Blood Pact Shield Guard's hand. Immediately after, he used the plasma torch on his gauntlet to melt another Shield Guard's abdomen and his shield.
He completed his breaching mission, but was also stabbed by a cluster of bayonets thrust from behind the shield, falling into a pool of blood.
Without the cover of shields, the Breakers charged into the enemy ranks with high morale, violently and forcefully tearing apart their formation.
The Voidsmen-at-Arms in the front also gained an advantage in the close-quarters combat, even though the Blood Pact Soldiers' Catrell rifles with bayonets were dozens of centimeters longer than the Navy rifles.
But the Navy clearly had their reasons for specially developing a rifle for their Sailors. These rifles uniformly used sword bayonets with a blade length of 55 centimeters, perfectly suited for various ship compartment terrains when combined with the rifle body length, and if necessary, the sword bayonet could be easily detached and used as a fencing sword for combat.
As the brave Sailors closed the distance, enduring bayonet thrusts, the infantry Laser Guns became difficult to stab with; they were blocked from retreating by those behind them, unable to create distance.
Meanwhile, the sword bayonets mounted on the Sailors' Navy-model rifles at this distance could not only stab but also swing, hack, and parry, like greatswordsmen charging into enemy lines.
A burly Blood Pact Voidsmen-at-Arms Officer who had killed three Sailors stumbled from a flying shotgun pellet. Before he could regain his balance, a Sailor ripped open his abdomen with a sword bayonet, his intestines spilling out from the long, thin bloody wound, and he screamed, falling to his knees.
The Voidsmen-at-Arms stepped forward and thrust, plunging the bayonet into his mouth and through the back of his head.
"Kill! Kill! Kill!"
After cutting off the reinforcements, the Sailors shouted slogans, stepping over a ground littered with corpses and severed limbs, treading through blood, and merging with the Navy Breachers, continuing their advance.
"41, 44, 50… Squads immediately proceed towards compartment KB-710."
The unit on the middle-right successfully opened a breach and advanced as a spearhead. Horatio promptly had the reserve units behind them move forward to fill the positions, covering their right flank.
By this point in the engagement, several twelve-person squads had suffered heavy casualties or were completely wiped out, but the enemy's cost was clearly greater.
Horatio used the Hand of Command to dispatch Navy Breachers to control three main corridors. Other squads dispersed into various compartments, gradually sweeping forward. With the aid of his bird's-eye view ability and advanced reconnaissance drones, the Soldiers incurred only 1/3 of the casualties typically expected for advancing this far.
However, the other two distant routes were not as smooth as the third. Horatio monitored communications in real-time; the firefight was intense, and the casualty ratio remained at about 1:4. Although the cost was high, they still achieved the distance Horatio had planned for their advance.
At the same time, the second batch of over 800 reinforcements had arrived, replenishing the armed forces pushing on three fronts.
The ready-to-go reinforcements boosted the morale of the fighting Sailors, replacing the exhausted Soldiers.
They also brought good news: a third wave of reinforcements was on the way.
Unyielding Bridge Command Deck.
"What is the position of the Avenging Blade battlecruiser?" Captain Peru asked.
He watched the Helmsman's assistant invert the half-hour hourglass hanging on the ship's bell to restart the timer, then pulled the bell rope, corresponding to the current time, striking several clear, pleasant chimes in increasing increments as per regulations.
"Approximately 46 minutes until arrival at the engagement airspace!"
Captain Peru nodded. The Avenging Blade could hardly move any faster. She was, after all, a battlecruiser-sized battle barge, not a strike cruiser.
"When will the nearest Naval search party arrive?"
"They are sailing north from the south, expected to rendezvous in one and a half terra time," the Communications Lieutenant replied.
"How are the vermin within the ship being cleared out now? Report the damage sustained."
"They caused some casualties in the engine room, but failed to damage the engines," the Power Lieutenant reported.
"Fighting in the gun decks is still ongoing, but is not expected to last much longer," the Operations Lieutenant reported.
"Report, enemy ship is attempting to accelerate towards our vessel again to attempt breaching."
"These damned! Increase power! I don't want to take another full round of bugs! Have the gun crews try their best to stop them!"
"Aye, Captain!"
— —
The ship vibrated continuously, and dust constantly fell from Horatio's head, his shoulders already covered in grime.
The two colossal ships were still engaged in fierce combat, their respective Void Shields having recharged three times each.
Horatio, holding a Chainsword in one hand and a Navy Blast Pistol in the other, led the Imperial Guard forward.
To maintain communication, he moved closer to the front line, probably less than a hundred meters from the annihilation line.
He could hear dense footsteps overhead, but he wasn't sure if they were enemy or friendly, only that they were running towards the rear.
Along the way, corpses lay everywhere, and blood flowed freely.
Horatio, who had seen many grand spectacles, frowned at the countless shattered limbs created by the bloody close-quarters combat before him.
Unlike casualties from ranged engagements, the wounds caused by hacking and tearing were horrific, as if one were in a human slaughterhouse from a horror game, devoid of any trace of civilization.
People always believed that Imperial Navy Officers were a group of dignified Gentlemen, and that the crew and Sailors were well-fed, which often drew envy, especially from the Imperial Guard.
Naval Officers and crew indeed presented themselves as such externally, but few outsiders knew how accurately the Imperial Navy's breaching and anti-breaching combat in the cold, dark deep void truly embodied slaughter.
Even the most distinguished and elegant Naval Officer would transform into a terrifying, blood-soaked wolf.
The Navy Breachers guarding Horatio executed and finished off the invaders along the way who were not yet completely dead.
The Navy Breachers Voidsmen-at-Arms Officer pulled the trigger of her Navy Blast Pistol at the faces of the dying enemies, as simple and decisive as crushing an ant.
An Axeman swung a breaching axe into the chest of a Blood Pact Soldier with a broken leg, revealing fractured ribs, some of which pierced his stomach. He let out a scream, blood splattering, some even reaching Horatio's face.
But he paid no mind, his face expressionless, watching several large black rats carrying the invader's severed hand and running into a dark rat hole to gnaw on it.
"Sir, communication received from the port second gun emplacement command platform." A Navy Breacher Void Disruptor handed Horatio the microphone from the back-mounted sound array receiver/disruptor device.
This dual-purpose sound array could both disrupt enemy communication frequencies and enhance Imperial Navy and allied communication signals.
"Horatio, the Macro cannon Officer wants us to load shrapnel shells," Farida reported to Horatio via the sound array. As Horatio's deputy, she monitored bridge commands for him while he was busy directing defenses.
"Understood. The gun emplacement is now entirely under your command. Open fire when you see the enemy ship release its boarding craft swarm."
"Aye, sir."
Seeing that Farida could now independently command the gun emplacement to complete routine tasks, Horatio simply temporarily granted her overall command of the gun emplacement, focusing on the battle before him.
"Sir, we have a situation," a Scout reported.
"Speak."
"C.A.T. Drones have detected an unknown source signal on our flank, unable to identify. It's highly likely enemies have infiltrated from the side or rear decks."
"Prepare for combat. I want their heads twisted off," Horatio said with a grim face.
"Aye, sir!"
Bang! As soon as the Soldiers finished speaking, they heard heavy thudding sounds of axes chopping into the bulkhead around them.