Warhammer: Hail to the Void Lords!.

Chapter 432 06.0431: "You are Lati, then who is she?"

"Open torpedo silos No. 1 and No. 2!" Horatio stood on the observation platform, holding a dual-channel telescope with a built-in micro-thinker array, looking at the target in the distant void.

The cold wind blowing from the ventilation ducts high up ruffled his black hair and the hem of his dark blue officer's leather coat, making him look like a real captain standing on a U-boat island observing targets during World War II.

"Open torpedo silos No. 1 and No. 2!" Louise, the chief officer of the operations department, repeated loudly, conveying Horatio's order.

The instructions were quickly implemented step by step to the bow torpedo silo.

"Target, enemy cargo ship A, distance 8700 kilometers, speed 9 void knots, phase ZD, phase angle 80!"

"Spread 3 kilometers, fire!"

As the red handle was pressed, two huge and slender training torpedoes rushed out of the silo and flew towards the void target.

"Turn left! Stop!"

"Open torpedo silos number three and four!"

"Target, enemy cargo ship B, distance 7300 kilometers, speed 9 void knots, phase ZD, phase angle 83!"

"Spread 3 kilometers! Fire!"

Whizzing!

Two huge training torpedoes were fired from the two torpedo silos under the bow of the ship.

In a short period of time, four torpedoes rushed towards two different targets.

"Load quickly!" The loading command followed immediately near the launch silo.

"Reload quickly!" When the order reached the torpedo room, the boatswain shouted at the top of his lungs, with sailors running back and forth around.

"Pull! Hey!" With the help of the hydraulic winch, the shirtless sailors gritted their teeth and loaded a hundred-meter-long torpedo into the No. 1 torpedo silo again.

The whole process took 3 minutes in total. They were sweating profusely, their bodies were soaked black with oil and lubricants, and their hair was disheveled. At first glance, they looked like ghosts.

While loading was going on in the front, in a cabin at the rear, hundreds of people were holding towels and mops, rubbing the parts of the torpedoes that had not been coated with lubricant by the automatic oiler. The black, sticky liquid, which looked like resin tar, gradually covered the torpedoes. This was a necessary measure to ensure the normal launch and detonation of the torpedoes.

At the rear end of a compartment is a torpedo maintenance machine that controls the torpedo's rolling forward and sprays lubricating fluid during the process.

The degree of automation on this battleship is already quite high among Imperial ships. Even so, the densely packed and stuffy cabins are still crammed with sailors.

The standard temperature inside the ship is maintained at around 26 degrees, with a first-gear air change rate and a slow turbine speed.

This is an option to keep the ventilation equipment quiet, but it also results in large temperature differences in different parts of the ship.

The hottest place in the cabin below was close to 36 degrees, while the temperature in the observation tower near the top of the command bridge was less than ten degrees.

Down below, bare-chested, roll up your sleeves and work hard.

The officers in charge of lookout duty have to wear dark navy blue leather windbreakers and breathe out white air while performing their lookout duties.

They only feel better when they are close to the light and heat of stars.

Horatio held the stopwatch and silently noted down the times.

30 seconds later.

"Torpedo number one, number two hit!" shouted Archie Cuthbert Collingwood, who was on the lookout.

Another 65 seconds passed.

"Torpedo number three and four hit!"

"Good! All the bullets hit!"

Horatio clapped his hands excitedly.

"All four torpedo silos have been loaded, and the total time for alternating is 11 minutes! An average of three and a half minutes per torpedo tube!"

"The training is over, all the bullets hit the target, well done, crew members, extra food tonight, and half a glass of Grog wine for each person!"

Horatio simply grabbed the intercom, and his voice rang out over the sound array that filled the entire boat.

"Yeah!!" The crew members, sweating and covered in grease and oil, cheered.

On the bridge.

"Please ask the mechanical priest in charge of the Epic to come over. I haven't met him yet. We will be working together for a long time in the future."

As soon as Horatio finished speaking, a gentle and attractive female voice came from behind him.

"I'm right here, Captain."

Horatio turned around and saw a group of Vossite technical priests coming up behind him, led by a female priest, a female priest...who was no stranger to him.

"Laddie?!"

Horatio cried out, and his jaw almost dislocated as he looked at the priestess in front of him, who was wearing the iconic red and yellow vestments of the Voss sect and whose figure was as voluptuous as ever.

"Captain, my name is Lati-EB2A1. I am an engineer stationed in the Gothic Forge World of Voss and also a geneticist. In the days ahead, I will serve as the chief engineering technical priest of the Epic. Please do not confuse me with other individuals."

Comparing the Letty in front of him with the Letty in his memory, Horatio felt a little confused.

"Wait, then this... Lati-EB2A1, what is your relationship with Lati-EB2A2? If I remember correctly, there was a mechanical priest wearing a Martian robe who looked almost exactly like you, except that her last code name was A2."

"I have never heard of it. I have no social relationship with the individual you are talking about, Your Excellency Captain.

Perhaps we used the same version of the standard modulation gene module to cultivate them. Although it is rare, it does exist. As a non-teacher, you will inevitably get confused. "

The female priest showed her familiar smile: "Well, it's our first meeting, Your Excellency Captain."

Horatio quickly adjusted himself, and with an apologetic smile, he told the technical priest next to him that as the captain, he needed some space to talk privately with the female priest.

"Hey, Lati, what are you doing?" He asked in a low voice after no one was around. He was sure that this was definitely the same person!

Without saying a word, she walked straight towards Horatio, raised her right hand, and sent a stream of source power towards his iron hand.

"Ah~ Mr. Horatio, now do you know why I am so calm? Fufufu~"

Lati's voice suddenly became ethereal, as if it sounded directly in his mind.

"How... did you change from the Martian faction to the Voss faction? And how did you even get the position of Chief Engineering Technical Priest of the Epic?" He asked with an embarrassed look, puzzled by what he witnessed.

"Sir, you must respect the privacy of ladies. Those who insist on exploring ladies' secrets are not gentlemen and will not be welcomed by ladies."

She raised a finger and tapped his lips. That mature, beautiful face was so close that it even made the hair on his face itch.

[Yes, this Lati is Pilate, but how did she manage to have two layers of vest? It's so weird!]
At this time, Farida, who was conducting her daily patrol on the battleship, passed by the door. She glanced at the bridge as usual, then turned back and shuddered.

[??? Isn't that...Tech-Priest Lati? What is she doing? Is she in conflict with the captain?!]
The female military supervisor frowned in confusion and walked towards Horatio. She didn't know the differences between the Adeptus Mechanicus and didn't find anything strange, and didn't understand what the different colors of the robes meant.

"Ah la~ It seems that your reproduction partner No. 001 is dissatisfied with you and me being too close. So, sir, please give the ladies some privacy at this time."

Horatio looked at her and raised a half delicate brow. He was now finding it increasingly difficult to understand this mysterious technical priest.

[No, I must investigate her again in the future. She is definitely not as simple as she looks. But why couldn't I really find out where she came from when I applied for the use of star-level military intelligence resources before?]
"Captain, are you having any problems? I saw your expression was very strange when you were talking to this Tech Priest."

Military Supervisor Farida asked kindly, then looked at Lati with a wary look.

"Ah~ Long time no see, daughter of the Hood family." The goddess turned around and said with a smile.

"Hello, Father Ratti, I hope you are not having any problems with the captain."

She stood beside Horatio, raised her slender finger, pointed it in the air, and warned, "As the military supervisor of the Epic, I have the responsibility to maintain the captain's authority and the safety of the warship."

"Of course, I feel very relieved to see you doing your job so diligently."

"Yes, Inspector Hood, Father Ratti and I were just catching up. There's nothing wrong. Don't worry."

The blonde female military supervisor glanced at the two again, and after confirming that nothing was wrong, she nodded and said in a reassuringly confident tone: "If there is any problem, please tell me, Captain, and I will make the problem you are facing no longer a problem."

Horatio saluted her goodbye, and she returned the salute and returned to her own guard area.

"Next, we will head to the Far Eastern Territory of the Empire. Although there are many things about you that make me confused, now that things have come to this, I hope that we can each do our part, ma'am."

"As you wish, Captain." She maintained a dignified and gentle smile, pinched the hem of her holy vestments with her prosthetic limbs, performed a lady's salute, and her slender hands made the gear salute unique to the Mechanicus.

"Please don't forget, my name is, Letty-EB2A1." She hinted to Horatio not to call her by the wrong name in public to avoid unnecessary misunderstandings.

"Of course, Father Latti-EB2A1." Horatio snorted and made a gentlemanly courtesy gesture.

Suddenly, he saw a bald old man among the engineering crew members who were stabilizing the hanging eagle sculpture behind Latti, and he was looking at him with a smile.

When the old man saw the captain looking at him, he quickly waved his hand and greeted him in a slightly vulgar and reserved manner.

Horatio was no stranger to this man. When he was still running the labor gang, this man, known as "Old Man Joe," was the gang's repairman, who had the ability to turn waste into treasure.

However, this old man has no loyalty at all. He will do any job as long as the price is right.

So, after the Labor Gang was on the verge of bankruptcy due to Cochrane's arrest, he did not hesitate and ran away to serve other gangs.

However, this old man never uses his gun to hurt anyone. He only sells his magical skills like those of a greenskin master just to make a living and earn some Gothic coins.

In addition, he never offended anyone easily, so no one was willing to touch him, and thus he survived the fierce gang fights.

He has been working in the port area all his life, only taking odd jobs and not accepting any long-term employment. He charges a fixed price to everyone and does things on a piece-by-piece basis. Even the huge changes in Abyss Port last year did not affect his willingness to take on jobs.

It is said that he did this for his family.

He has a little son who is not doing well for him. He broke the law and was arrested by the Nest City bailiffs. He needs a lot of bail.

But now the Nest City bailiffs are gone, and I don’t know what the situation is at this old man’s home.

"Old Joe, how did you end up on a warship? Oh, and you're a warrant officer? I remember you weren't such a dedicated person."

With the order to disband, there were not many people left on the bridge. Facing an old acquaintance, Horatio did not act like a captain as required by military regulations. Instead, he spoke in a teasing tone.

"Hey, I saw the navy was recruiting, and I thought the offer was quite high, so I signed up to give it a try. I didn't expect that I actually passed the assessment. You know my skills." The wretched old man rubbed his dirty hands covered in engine oil, not caring about the irony implied in the conversation, and laughed.

"Have you ever thought about why the Navy's attack ships offer higher prices to the damage control team? There is no such thing as a free lunch.

I remember it was written in the recruitment regulations that the requirements for the warrant officers of the damage control team included "going through fire and water and daring to sacrifice".

Do you know what damage control means?"

Horatio frowned and looked at the little old man in front of him, looking up and down at the military uniform that was taken out of the warehouse, which had obvious creases and smelled moldy.

The old man put on the uniform without even washing it, and it looked neither fit nor decent. He looked more like a cabin laborer than a warrant officer.

Pulling them out would damage the prestige of the Imperial Navy.

"I...hiss, I can really go there even if I have something to do." The little old man scratched his scalp with short hair, as if he was trying his best to straighten his skinny chest to prove his determination.

"You won't bring your eldest son and youngest son on my warship, will you?"

"Uh……"

"Captain, did he do anything?" The damage control team's immediate superior, the chief officer of the engineering department, Leidos, asked when he saw the captain interviewing a newly promoted warrant officer.

"Ledos, show me the list of the damage control team." Horatio frowned, his eyes still fixed on the sloppy old man in front of him, and extended his right hand to Leidos.

"Yes, Captain." Leidos, who had replaced both his hands with metal prosthetics, didn't understand what was going on, but still saluted Horatio with a metallic military salute, and then handed him the list tucked under his armpit.

(End of this chapter)