Warhammer: Hail to the Void Lords!.

Chapter 1010, 08.1009: 'Father and Son'

Four years ago, in the tactical lecture hall of the Fleet Maritime Academy of Sciences.

"No captain should ever challenge an enemy that is larger than himself."

On the podium, a veteran captain with gray hair and a wrinkled face was serving as the lecturer.

He used a cursor stick to tap the red icon representing an Imperial-class battleship on the holographic star map, and spoke to the hundreds of green naval cadets in their uniforms below the stage about a "truth" that should be regarded as the golden rule.

"Unless you want to push the Empire's precious sacred assets, along with the hundreds of thousands of loyal crew members on board, into an abyss."

"Colonel!" A clear voice rang out from among the cadets, and an arm was raised high. "May I ask how my father, High Lord Colonel Thomas Cochrane, managed to cripple a large cruiser while commanding a light cruiser?"

It was student Horatio who stood up, and his question sparked a murmur of discussion throughout the otherwise silent lecture hall.

"I heard that he once achieved such a brilliant victory across ship classes."

"Well..." The lecturer paused, clearly at a loss for words.

He narrowed his eyes, scrutinizing the audacious questioner. "This requires an extremely skilled and well-coordinated crew, a bold and intelligent captain who is almost a genius, and unwavering faith in the God-Emperor until death."

All three are indispensable. Of course, a considerable amount of luck and some... little tricks that shouldn't be easily revealed to outsiders are also needed.

He paused, a hint of surprise in his voice: "You're Thomas Cochrane's son? By the Emperor, it's been so long since I've heard of any other members of that family still alive. I thought... the Cochrane family had died out."

The colonel scrutinized the young man who had rashly raised his hand to speak, a complex emotion flickering in his eyes.

“Yes, Colonel. I heard about such achievements from Brigadier General Edward Perug, but I don’t know the specific details. You are our tactics instructor, so I think you should know more.”

"Hmm..." The elderly senior colonel stroked his gray beard, pondered for a moment, and then sighed, "I never expected that he would still have a child alive, and that the child would become a naval cadet. It seems that all of this is the Emperor's will."

Alright, son, enough of the small talk. From a standard lesson plan perspective, we do not recommend that any captain rashly challenge a warship of greater tonnage or higher class than their own.

"But!" He changed the subject, his eyes gleaming with excitement, "A captain who doesn't think about how to defeat a stronger opponent is definitely not a good captain! This shows that he lacks the Imperial Navy's fearless courage to 'fight any enemy' to the core!"

Without such a group of bold and decisive captains, where would our Gothic Fleet and the entire Gothic Sector be today? And where would you be able to sit peacefully in the classrooms of this Loyalty Academy and study today?

We do not want any cowardly or incompetent naval officers to graduate from the Abridal Loyalty Academy.

However, we also do not want you to be blinded by momentary enthusiasm and the desire for glory, and to rush forward recklessly to your deaths.

Today, since this cadet, um, Sergeant Horatio Cochrane, has spoken about this battle, then as a seasoned captain and a seasoned military historian, let's have a good talk about that classic surprise attack!

The old colonel was eager to tell his story, and could no longer suppress his strong urge to do so.

He turned around and quickly brought up a star map model on the huge holographic blackboard with his finger, adding several warship materials, attempting to replicate the classic battle in which Thomas Cochrane won the position of High Lord Colonel for these future pillars of the Gothic fleet.

"Today, we will learn something beyond the curriculum—'Horizon Raid'."

And, the countermeasures and superb ship handling of Colonel Thomas Cochran after his Horizon Raid failed to inflict fatal damage on the enemy's large cruisers..." The command bridge of the Swift Eagle, now.

Horatio sat quietly on the cold command throne.

His mind was uncontrollably filled with memories of the past, and the brilliant battle fought by his father—the former owner of this warship—that was recorded in naval history.

His eyes were fixed on the deep void ahead, but his gaze was slightly unfocused.

He was focused on forging a deep connection with the soul of this ancient warship. In his ears, he heard faint whispers, not human language, but a pure torrent of information composed of countless combat data and tactical commands.

"High-energy turnaround..."

"Void Shield overload..."

"Hunting...weaknesses...strengths..."

An ancient and powerful will of thought is directly instilling information into his mind through the shipborne aircraft's soul.

Horatio recalled his conversation with Jadvig about the "qualification ritual" for the Knights.

Although the warship's mech spirit is far larger and more intelligent than the knight mech, it does not require its successor to undergo that cruel "qualification ceremony".

But she, like those ancient knight mechs, seems to retain the memories and instincts of every battle she has personally experienced, and she has extremely high requirements for the current pilot.

He witnessed Latti's outstanding achievements.

Xiao Shi, after successfully becoming compatible with the ancient machine spirit of the "Swift Skyhawk," did not completely replace her.

On the contrary, this older and more resilient machine spirit, out of consideration for the son of Kirkren, graciously accepted her and voluntarily put its dominant personality to sleep, allowing Poetry, who had more than two years of experience working with Horatio, to better assist the new captain after fully absorbing her vast sea of ​​combat memories.

Perhaps she is still stuck in the glorious era when the ship was commanded by its predecessor, Thomas Cochrane, and lacks the time to work with Horatio himself.

However, having Xiao Shi, who has two years of collaborative experience, temporarily replace her as the main mechanical soul of this warship is the best way to enable the new captain, who has only been in command for a few years, to maximize the combat effectiveness of the entire ship as quickly as possible.

Perhaps one day, when the next captain sits on this command throne, she will become completely cold and distant, requiring the new captain to spend years or even decades to readjust the temperament and fighting style of the machine spirit.

She probably knew that there might never be another captain as bold and radical as this father and son.

"Power unit, shift speed to one-third overdrive. Helmsman, hard to starboard," Horatio commanded, his voice calm yet firm.

"Captain, are you... are you sure you only need one-third of the speed limit?"

“Yes, I’m sure of it,” Horatio said firmly.

(End of this chapter)