With a heavy impact, the metal of the bulkhead gradually twisted and deformed.
Creak!
After a piercing sound, an axe blade broke through the metal plate, spewing out a heap of curled, silvery-white debris.
Abhorrent shouts came from the breach as Blood Pact Soldiers burst through several fissures, swarming in.
"Skulls for the skull…!!!"
Before the Evil words were finished, Horatio unceremoniously pulled the trigger of his Naval Revolver, silencing the foul mouth forever.
The hammer struck the primer of the bolt round, and a head instantly exploded, splattering blood onto the faces of the invaders behind him.
The weapons positioned by the Guards beside him also began firing at these Blood God minions, and the nearby alert Sailors, guided by the Hand of Command, converged on the point where the battle had erupted.
"Where did these guys come from? Does anyone know what compartment is behind this bulkhead?" Horatio asked the people around him, his brows furrowed.
The Navy Breachers exchanged glances and shook their heads.
Horatio sighed; he didn't blame these Soldiers.
Imperial cruisers were simply too large; it was normal for these Armed Navy Breachers not to know if they weren't born near here. Even if a Tech-Priest who had served for hundreds of years was called over, he could probably only provide a rough guide.
"It looks like… a maintenance tunnel inside, a shortcut to the ammunition bay," a Sailor, holding a short knife and dressed disheveled, said.
"Are you sure, Sailor?" Horatio asked while firing.
"I'm sure. When we used to beat the drums for battle, my brothers and I would sneak through here as a shortcut," the Sailor said, a little afraid, because maintenance tunnels usually weren't allowed for Sailors without permission from a Tech-Priest or shipwright, just like cars aren't allowed to use emergency lanes on a highway.
"Armed Sergeant."
"Present, Sir!" The Voidsmen-at-Arms Officer stepped forward.
The Sailor trembled, afraid the Naval Officer would punish him.
"After this battle, if he's still alive, tell the Sailor Sergeant Major to give him an extra pint of grog."
"Yes, Sir."
"Thank you, Sir! Long live the Sir!!!" The Sailor beamed, cheering with full enthusiasm.
These crewmen living in the void were very pure; their lives were relatively worry-free, and they didn't often go down to the ground. The best reward for them was an extra cup of grog for the day, and they would be happier than receiving anything else.
grog was a classic Sailor's drink that had been passed down from Ancient Terra's 2K era, simple to make: 1 part rum or brandy to 3 parts water.
This ratio not only allowed the grog to last longer for the crewmen but also prevented them from getting too drunk and causing trouble or being unable to respond to emergencies.
Watered-down grog was much better than simply drinking recycled water purified from urine and wastewater.
No matter how much the Tech-Priest explained that recycled water was clean and pure after filtration, the crewmen simply didn't believe it.
They only firmly believed that alcohol could cleanse impurities in the water and that drinking it would be healthier. However, Horatio thought this was more likely just an excuse to drink grog.
After emptying his pistol, Horatio led the Soldiers around him in a charge against the enemy.
A grenade was thrown from the hand of a Voidsmen-at-Arms Grenadier, exploding behind the enemy group, blowing their backs bloody and knocking down those in front.
Horatio even saw one enemy's back blown to smithereens, the person lying on the ground, but the bloody heart exposed from the ruined back was still beating.
"Kill these bastards!" He swung his Holy Blood Chainsword into the crowd, with the Soldiers and Sailors around him swarming in, following his steps.
All sorts of melee weapons swung down on the enemies' heads.
"Kill their Naval Officer!" a Blood Pact Axeman shouted, swinging his breaching axe at Horatio's chest.
"Sir, please get behind us! Everyone maintain the human wall!" The Armed Officer wanted to protect his Naval Officer, shouting to the Navy Breachers around him.
Unexpectedly, Horatio kicked the attacking Blood Pact Axeman, and the Chainsword in his iron hand whistled through the air, striking the heavy and sharp breaching axe. The immense force knocked the axe directly out of his hand.
The tall and robust Blood Pact Axeman, even a head taller than Horatio, was greatly astonished.
He had never expected that this young Naval Officer, who should have been a lamb to the slaughter, would possess such immense strength.
As he was about to draw his combat axe from his waist, in the blink of an eye, Horatio used his Navy Heir short sword, which had an activated decomposition field, to sever his head, which then rolled to the ground.
The Navy Breachers Armed Officer and Breakers guarding him were also stunned.
Naval Officers were usually strategists, not skilled in combat, and required the protection of professional warriors like them.
But this very young Naval Officer before them, not only did he initially wield that massive, bloodletter red Chainsword, obtained from who knows where, but he was also capable of commanding the gun crews and Soldiers, and he was so valiant, even overly so, making their heavy escorts seem quite redundant.
Horatio swung both weapons, cutting and killing; the Holy Blood Chainsword was powerful and forceful, while the Navy Heir short sword with its decomposition field was swift and nimble.
Even with formidable individual combat prowess, he also focused on coordination with his Soldiers.
Horatio was at ease in close combat, skillfully maintaining an appropriate distance from his Soldiers, forming a solid breakwater that pushed back the incoming tide of enemies.
An Armed Soldier's hand was injured, and his short sword fell to the ground. An enemy picked up a one-handed battle axe and swung it at the Soldier.
Horatio was quick, cutting off the arm gripping the hand axe with one swing, and the next second, the Blood Pact Axeman was run through the throat by Horatio's Navy Heir short sword.
"Thank you, Sir." The injured Soldier thanked him repeatedly, retreating to the rear, and another Armed Voidsmen-at-Arms filled his combat position.
"God Emperor, how did it turn into the Sir protecting us Guards?" The Armed Soldier, receiving first aid from his comrade, watched the young Naval Officer's back as he fought in the crowd, muttering to his comrade in astonishment.
"Advance! Kill them all! We will push through the maintenance corridor inside to the ammunition rack!" Horatio shouted, using his Hand of Command to direct the arriving reinforcements to open a new shortcut for attack.
He led the charge, plunging into the breach opened by the enemy. An enemy rushing towards him collided head-on, raising his weapon to stab him.
Horatio punched him in the face with the hilt guard of his sword, shattering his teeth and covering his face in blood.
The enemy Soldier clutched his face and stumbled backward. Horatio mercilessly kicked him.
"Pfft ah! Ah!!" The enemy Soldier was kicked backward, falling over the railing, leaving only a heart-wrenching scream in the bottomless deep well.
"Take this." He handed the Holy Blood Chainsword, which was a bit too long for the maintenance tunnel, to his followers behind him. They struggled to hold the blood-soaked Holy Blood Chainsword together.
Horatio then switched to his Navy Heir short sword with activated decomposition field and his bolt pistol, leading his Soldiers to continue the fight.
The Armed Voidsmen-at-Arms charged in through another breach opened by the enemy. The maintenance tunnel was narrower than the ship's corridors, so the Voidsmen-at-Arms removed their short sword bayonets from their guns before entering, wielding them one-handed.
Their opponents, the Blood Pact Soldiers, found their Astra Militarum standard rifle bayonets useless at this range. But when they took out their dagger bayonets, they were still much shorter than the Navy's sword bayonets. In this disadvantageous situation, they had no choice but to engage the Voidsmen-at-Arms wielding sword bayonets with small daggers.
Sailors from nearby compartments, wielding axes and short swords, followed Horatio's charge. They showed their determination to defend their home, all swarming forward. Enemies along the way were either hacked to death or pushed into the abyss.
Even if the Blood Pact Soldiers killed those rushing at them, the Voidsmen-at-Arms and Sailors behind would step over the bodies of the dead, continuing to charge at them with cold weapons.
The Blood Pact Soldiers who had infiltrated from the ammunition bay began to retreat in panic, anyone slow to run was chopped through the head with an axe, nearing a rout.
"Go back! Anyone who dares to be a coward will be shot dead! Offer courage and skulls to the one true Blood God!!" A renegade Astra Militarum Sergeant blocked the retreating Blood Pact Soldiers and shot two of them in the head.
The Blood Pact Soldiers began to regroup under the bayonets of the disciplinary squad. They knelt in one row and stood in another, raising their Laser Guns at the charging Sailors and Voidsmen-at-Arms.
"Fire!!"
With a volley from the first row, the foremost Voidsmen-at-Arms and Sailors instantly fell, and the Imperial Navy's charge seemed to be weakened.
The Blood Pact Soldiers quickly replaced the power cells in their Laser Guns, which were engraved with blasphemous symbols.
Suddenly, a loud shout made these traitors look up. They saw a blood-soaked young Naval Officer pushing through the hesitant crowd in the enemy ranks.
"For the Imperial Navy! For the Incessant! Charge!" Horatio, wearing a bicorne hat and a Naval Officer's uniform, charged to the very front, firing his bolt revolver with one hand and waving his Navy Heir short sword with a gilded hilt with the other, like a fluttering banner.
Seeing their Naval Officer so brave, unafraid of danger and leading the charge, the crewmen and Voidsmen-at-Arms' shouts and fighting spirit became even more passionate and inspiring.
"Avenge our brothers and Sisters!!" The crewmen shouted, veins bulging on their weapon-wielding arms, as they sprinted forward, disregarding bayonets and laser fire.