From Titan Corporation to the Empire of Man

Chapter 688 "This ship now belongs to the Human Empire."

Boom!Boom!
The bulkhead of Sector C groaned in pain under the magnetic boots of the Ironclad Terminator.

Six steel colossi stepped out of the assault ship, each step leaving a clear dent in the alloy deck.

"The beacon has been deployed."

The oldest veteran of the man-eating sharks reports over the communication channel, exuding a cold, mechanical quality.

Then, the power claw on his left arm unfolded with a "click," but the plasma field did not.

Behind him, a fist-sized holographic beacon hovered in mid-air, projecting a dark blue coordinate grid.

Thump, thump!

Just then, hurried footsteps came from the end of the corridor.

Nearly a hundred fully armed UED Marines formed a defensive formation at the corner, their power armor gleaming matte in the dim light.

The leading commander had just raised his arm—

"open"

*Thud!* *Thud thud!*
The deafening roar of the 1.0-calcium explosive projectile tearing through the air instantly drowned out all other sounds.

The veteran sharks fired simultaneously from their right arms, their parallel-mounted bolters spitting out tongues of death.

The first salvo blast instantly turned the upper bodies of more than ten Marines in the front row into a bloody mist, their reinforced armor easily torn apart like paper.

If it were the Flame Lizards or the Astartes of the Lamenters Chapter, they might first launch a deterrent attack, giving these "mortal" soldiers a chance to surrender.

They would use non-lethal weapons to stun their targets, or precisely strike their limbs to incapacitate them.

After all, with the Empire's biotechnology, any injury can be healed as long as there is still a breath left.

There was even an unwritten "rule" in each legion that warriors favored by the emperor, and even "mortals," could be resurrected.

But man-eating sharks don't care about any of that.

This is why Athena sent veteran shark warriors to assist the investigation department.

Clang—Clang—!
The second volley of explosive rounds engulfed the remaining Marines in a deadly hail of bullets.

A bolt-action shell struck the commander directly in the head, and his expensive high-end helmet shattered like an eggshell, its contents scattering radially onto the bulkhead behind him.

Buzz~—Sizzle—!
A soldier who had narrowly escaped the first round of fire had just raised his plasma gun when he was sliced ​​in half at the waist by a power claw, his internal organs and mechanical parts scattered all over the ground.

"Proceed."

The veteran gave a brief order, and the six Terminators marched forward with overwhelming force, crushing everything in their path.

They didn't bother looking for cover or activating their shields; the UED's bullets only left shallow dents when they hit the Terminator armor.

A Marine, still mortally wounded, struggled to raise his pistol, the bullets grazing the veteran's breastplate and sending sparks flying.

The man-eating sharks didn't even stop.

Puff-!
The veteran casually raised his power claw and swept the dying enemy aside like trash.

The soldier's body slammed against the bulkhead, making a sickening cracking sound.

Buzz~—Buzz—!
The alarm lights in Zone C flashed wildly, turning the bloody battlefield a crimson red.

The few surviving Marines began to flee, but were quickly felled by precise pinpoint fire.

The man-eating sharks walked along the corridor paved with blood and flesh, and the spent shell casings from their bolters clattered and fell into the pools of blood.

"Transmission signal locked." The veteran checked the tactical interface. "Squads two through four are about to arrive."

As if to confirm his words, area C suddenly trembled violently.

The distant bulkhead rippled in the distorted space, and then—

Swish—swish—!!

Accompanied by a dazzling blue light, the second to fourth teams of veteran man-eating sharks also appeared directly inside the UED flagship.

At the same time, the flagship's broadcast system suddenly sounded an alert:

"Attention all units! Intrusion signals detected simultaneously in areas B and D! Repeat, multiple areas have been intruded upon!"

This is part of the Man-Eating Shark Plan; the real "killing" only began when the UED's defenses were weakened.

The veteran in the lead activated the power claw's energy field, and blue-white arcs of electricity danced between the blades.

"Clear the passage," he ordered curtly. "Make way for the guys from the investigation department."

The six Terminators strode forward once more, their heavy footsteps echoing through the corridor like a death knell, while more veteran shark warriors were about to join this bloody feast.

The surveillance cameras in Sector C recorded everything and transmitted the live footage back to the bridge.

This is exactly the effect they wanted.

Fear is the most effective weapon to demoralize the enemy.

Inside the hatch of the Thunder Raid, Leon's nano combat suit shimmered with a mercury-like sheen, and the optical camouflage system perfectly blended his figure into the environment.

He raised his left hand and made a tactical gesture. Chris and Mike behind him immediately understood and led the special operations team to disperse into a standard assault formation.

"Stealth mode activated." A mechanical female voice confirmed through the communicator, "All surveillance systems have been blocked."

Lyon could feel the microcurrents inside the nanosuit stimulating his muscle fibers, and his genetically enhanced body was functioning at its best.

This equipment, whose value is comparable to, or even greater than, the Terminator armor, allows them to withstand the near-suicidal maneuvers of the Thunder Raiders, just like the Astartes.

Those operations that would be fatal to ordinary people are nothing more than commonplace in the face of their modified physiques and the amplification provided by nanosuits.

With silent steps, the special operations team swiftly traversed the blood-soaked corridor of Sector C.

Lyon's helmet screen displayed the optimal route, bypassing the area where firefights were taking place and heading straight for the bridge.

Around a corner, three UED marines were nervously setting up heavy firing positions with their backs to them.

Lyon held up three fingers and then made a throat-slitting gesture.

Three extremely faint pulse gun shots rang out almost simultaneously, and the Marines fell to the ground one after another.

The special operations team moved past their bodies like ghosts and continued their advance.

On the other hand, the bridge was in complete chaos.

The old general's withered fingers gripped the edge of the tactical holographic console tightly. On the monitoring screen, the man-eating shark terminators were sweeping through the defensive positions in various areas with overwhelming force.

As soon as a heavily armored automatic turret opened fire, it was torn in two by a power claw, and the soldier operating it was blasted to pieces by explosive projectiles.

"This is impossible!"

The general's voice was so hoarse that it was almost inaudible.

He watched as a well-equipped rapid response team was slaughtered by six man-eating sharks in less than ten seconds.

Those steel colossi didn't even bother to dodge the attacks, letting plasma and armor-piercing rounds hit their armor, then annihilating the rebels like flies being swatted.

"General! Sector B has fallen!" The communications officer's voice trembled noticeably. "Sector D requests reinforcements!"

"All reserves have been deployed!" the tactical officer cried out in despair. "Our individual weapons are completely ineffective against them!" The officers on the bridge continued to operate efficiently—

The navigator calculated possible warp paths, the weapons officer attempted to activate the ship's defense systems, and the engineers desperately maintained the stability of the power core.

But everyone knew that the flagship was slowly falling apart.

The old general's cloudy eyes swept across the holographic tactical map, where more and more red dots were marked.

The man-eating sharks spread like a plague inside the ship, breaching every defensive point at an astonishing speed.

"General, what should we do?" the adjutant asked in a low voice, his voice already filled with a desire to survive.

"."

The old man remained silent for a moment.

The key badge on his chest gleamed under the light; it was the last resort to activate the fleet's self-destruct program. But when he looked at the scene of UED soldiers being slaughtered on the monitor screen, his withered fingers ultimately did not press the button.

"Activate the seventh emergency protocol." The general finally spoke, his voice weary and aged. "All non-essential personnel must evacuate immediately."

He turned to the four elite guards beside him: "Escort me to the escape pod area."

This order struck the hearts of everyone on the bridge like a heavy hammer.

The seventh emergency protocol meant abandoning the flagship, and the general's subtext was all too clear—he was going to escape.

"Yes, sir." The adjutant swallowed hard and began to relay the orders.

Four fully armed guards immediately surrounded them, wearing the latest power armor and carrying heavy plasma rifles.

One of them quickly operated the individual soldier system and displayed the optimal route to the nearest escape pod on the helmet screen.

"You are in command of the bridge." After saying his last words to his adjutant, the general strode towards the emergency exit, surrounded by guards.

With the general gone, the atmosphere on the bridge became even more oppressive.

Some began to sob quietly, while others numbly continued with their work, not because they still held onto hope, but because their military instincts prevented them from abandoning their duties.

In the shadows unseen by them, Lyon's special forces team had already quietly approached.

The nanosuits' stealth system allowed them to pass through security doors like ghosts, leaving them only two hundred meters from the core area of ​​the bridge.

Mike sent a message over the encrypted channel: "Target detected, moving toward Sector E."

Leon, Chris, and the others knew that their prey had begun to flee, but the hunt was only just beginning.
Soon after, the general, escorted by four guards, was about to pass through the last gate and enter the escape area, but—

Boom——!
The alloy gate leading to the escape area was destroyed by the explosion, and the shockwave, carrying metal fragments, raged through the corridor.

The old general was thrown to the ground by the blast wave, his uniform covered in dust and oil stains, and the key badge that symbolized power cracked with a thin line upon impact.

"Enemy attack! Guard the surrounding area!"

The general roared, his wrinkled hands trembling as he reached for the pistol at his waist.

Despite the injuries sustained in the explosion due to his advanced age, his instincts honed over years of military service immediately made him realize that this was no ordinary attack.

The four elite guards reacted just as quickly, instantly forming a defensive formation to protect the general in the center, their heavy plasma rifles spitting out deadly blue-white orbs of light.

The high-temperature plasma melted out shocking holes in the bulkheads on both sides of the corridor, and the lighting system exploded in the energy turbulence, with sparks raining down.

"Full-band scan! Initiate imaging!"

The guard captain roared, his helmet goggles constantly switching observation modes.

They all knew that the UED headquarters and the capital had been infiltrated by "invisible" agents, but at this moment, all the detection systems showed that the corridor was empty.

Aside from the damage they themselves caused.

"Keep firing! Cover all angles!"

The general huddled within the protective circle formed by the guards, his cloudy eyes constantly scanning the seemingly empty corridor, and his intuition was frantically alarming him, a chilling feeling of being targeted by a venomous snake rising up his spine.

soon;

"Reload!" the guard captain ordered.

And, just as the two guards were changing the battery in the plasma weapon—

"Hey, guys, put down your guns."

Mike's voice suddenly came from the center of the guard circle, with a playful and relaxed tone.

? ? ! !
The four guards were horrified to discover that the general they were desperately protecting was being held hostage by five indistinct figures.

Mike's dagger was pressed against the general's carotid artery, while Leon and the other three special forces soldiers had their pulse guns aimed at the backs of the four guards.

"This is impossible."

The guard captain's hand froze in mid-air; his tactical helmet had just shown that the area was empty.

Lyon's visor unfolded, revealing his eyes: "UED's detection technology is at least decades behind ours."

His voice was calm. "Now, put the weapon on the ground and kick it over."

The general's Adam's apple bobbed laboriously beneath the dagger: "Who...who are you?"

“Human Empire Investigation Department, Special Operations Team.” Chris’s voice came from behind the guards, his nanosuit deactivated. “I suggest you cooperate, General. Our orders are to keep as many as possible alive.”

Cold sweat trickled down the captain's temples beneath his helmet.

He noticed that more than a dozen special forces soldiers, who had suddenly reappeared on both sides of the corridor, had emerged from their concealment and were all locked onto them with their weapons.

What's even more terrifying is that these people move without making a sound, just like real ghosts.

"Don't worry about me!" the general suddenly struggled to his feet. "Activate the self-destruct sequence! We can't let them get the flagship!"

"Hey"

Mike sighed, and with a light swipe of his nano-dagger, the general's key badge fell to the ground.

“Old man, your act is outdated.” He caught the falling badge and twirled it between his fingers. “This thing is just a toy to us.”

With a soft click, Chris had already removed the energy cartridge from the guard captain's weapon.

"You guys got lucky." Chris said, patting the other man's shoulder armor. "Our investigation department was in charge of the operation today. If it were the man-eating sharks, those giants..."

Before he finished speaking, the implication sent chills down the spines of the guards.

Thump, thump!

At that moment, a series of heavy footsteps came from afar, accompanied by the hum of the power armor's servo system.

After dealing with resistance in other areas, the man-eating sharks are heading this way.

Lyon glanced at the timer—only 5 minutes and 43 seconds had passed since the raid began.

When the colossal figures of the Man-Eating Shark Terminators appeared at the end of the corridor, the special operations team had already reactivated the stealth system. The four disarmed guards stood frozen in place, staring at the blood-soaked steel behemoths, experiencing for the first time the true meaning of despair.

"All key areas have been cleared." The veteran shark's voice echoed in the corridor. "This ship now belongs to the human empire."

(End of this chapter)