Warhammer: Hail to the Void Lords!.

Chapter 433 06.0432: "Is the Imperial Navy some kind of gang base?"

Horatio quickly glanced at the list, and sure enough, both of Old Man Joe's sons were on the list, ordinary crew members in the damage control team.

He sighed, "Okay, old man Qiao, it's fine if you come to the Imperial Navy to make money, but why did you bring your two sons here? Do you think the Imperial Navy is your cafeteria?"

"Captain, please understand. These two little brats have learned some skills from me. An old man like me can't bribe your examiner. This is really not taking your salary for nothing!"

Seeing that the captain looked unhappy, Old Man Joe straightened his back and tried his best to stand up straight, making himself look more like an imperial soldier, and his voice was not as cheerful as before.

"Captain, do you want to fire these three people?" Leidos asked in an impartial and unmoved manner. He had seen many such old foxes.

"Hey! Hey! Sir, no, Captain, we are serious. We really don't want to be paid for nothing. We will really go if there is any need."

"Old man Qiao, you are on a warship, especially ours is a new type of attack ship, it does not have a void shield and is mainly used to fight behind enemy lines.

The quality of the damage control team is our lifeline and we must not take it lightly."

Horatio turned the page in the notebook in his hand and looked at the scoring items of the damage control drill. The fifth damage control team where the family of three was located was marked as "qualified".

There is probably no problem with the technique, but the psychological quality is worth pondering.

"There is no such thing as a drill in wartime. Are you ready to let your two sons rush to their deaths?" Horatio stared into his eyes and asked back.

The skinny old man pursed his cracked lips, then straightened his chest and raised his head and said, "Yes! Sir, please rest assured that I have made up my mind to board the warship! I will never be as afraid of death as before."

Horatio looked at his youngest son's name and opened the corresponding information list.

"This man has a minor criminal record for theft." He handed the dataslate to Leidos.

"I cannot tolerate criminals on my warship."

"Captain!" The old man kowtowed to Horatio three times, banging his head, and taking advantage of the two men's unpreparedness, he suddenly knelt on the ground.

“You know that there were many gangs in Hong Kong back then, and they jointly monopolized the food prices in the white market.

The little bastard must have been starving to death, that’s why he stole the bread!
After all, it was my fault that I didn't have the ability. I worked so hard during that period but couldn't earn enough money for food. Don't blame him, blame me!

Captain, please have mercy on us. If we and the eldest brother go out to sea, we can leave the second brother alone at Zhongxiachao's house. With his criminal record, it will be hard for him to find a legitimate job. He will really starve to death!"

The old man kowtowed three times and begged.

This action attracted the attention and whispers of the engineering crew members working nearby.

"Dad." A middle-aged man and a young man hurried over from under the bridge.

They didn't know what was going on and thought that Old Man Qiao had made a mistake, so the two of them knelt on the ground and kowtowed together.

"Get up. The person in front of you is the captain of the Imperial Navy. You are on the bridge of an Imperial battleship. What do you think the warship is?!" Horatio shouted in a shocked voice.

The three men were frightened by his stern tone. The two sons helped Old Man Qiao and stood up tremblingly.

"God Emperor! Mind your manners?!"

Leidos shouted, "This is not a dirty gangster stronghold! We are His Holy Navy!"

"Yes! Yes... I'm sorry, Captain, we won't do it again." Old man Joe trembled.

Horatio frowned and looked at the young man who was obviously younger. He was short and thin, with a spiky Mohawk. Compared with his brother, he was as thin as a little monkey and looked to be only fourteen or fifteen years old.

It was obvious that he had suffered from a considerable period of malnutrition during his growing up years.

The spiked accessories with a Shamatte style that did not comply with the uniform regulations made him look less like a navy sailor and more like a gang thug commonly seen in the Lower Nest.

But without a ferocious look, it would look very funny.

"Is he really an adult?" Horatio turned his head to look at Leidos and confirmed.

"Uh... Captain, when he registered, he filled in his age as 18. But we cannot rule out the possibility that the Imperial Navy recruiting officer turned a blind eye to this matter in order to meet the recruitment quota."

"Remove him from the crew!"

"Captain! We promise to discipline him well and lead him onto the right path!

If he were left alone to mess around in Abyss Port, his life would be ruined!
This kid won't survive long in the middle and lower nests! We took him aboard the warship in the hope of giving him a chance to walk the right path and learn from these good people!"

Seeing that the old man in his fifties and his eldest son were about to kneel down again, Horatio waved his hand to stop them.

"Let him accompany the ship as a 'boat boy' and find some odd jobs. Also, clean up his appearance for me." Listening to old man Joe's wailing, Horatio sighed in his heart.

"Yes, Captain!" Leidos saluted and immediately began to execute the captain's orders in the damage control team roster.

"The number of crew members is strictly limited. If he takes up a position, we will have one less qualified crew member. But he can be a non-rostered boat boy on board, doing small jobs in the engineering department, such as drilling and cleaning ventilation pipes."

Horatio slowed down his tone slightly and explained to Old Man Joe.

He had no intention of making things difficult for these poor people, as they just wanted to have a full meal.

But out of responsibility to his own warship, as the captain he had to do his job impartially, and this compromise was a good one at the moment.

"Thank you, Captain. Our family will remember your kindness and serve the Imperial Navy faithfully for generations to come!"

The emotions of the father and son went up and down like a roller coaster. Finally, they caught their breath and bowed repeatedly to express their gratitude.

"I hope you'll keep your word, old man Qiao. The Imperial Navy has strict military laws. I will severely punish any violation of rules and regulations.

You must always remember that you are on a warship of the Imperial Navy, serving as a warrant officer in the Imperial Navy Damage Control Team. You must serve the Imperial Navy and be responsible for the Epic, even if it costs you your life.

Because, behind the duties of the damage control team are the lives of hundreds and thousands of more crew members. You must go through fire and water without hesitation in the most dangerous moments!

Even the slightest slackness during wartime could lead to the destruction of the entire ship!"

"Of course! We must abide by the rules and regulations! Captain! We must abide by the discipline! We must be responsible for the Epic! We will go through fire and water without hesitation!

I won't let you down even if I risk my life!"

"Disband and go to work. Don't waste the opportunity I gave you."

The old man, the young man and the boy all straightened their backs, saluted the young captain, and at Leidos's signal, continued to work on hanging the statue of the Sky Eagle.

Horatio stood for a moment, observing their work carefully.

Because Old Man Qiao’s youngest son is short, he was able to get into many places that were inconvenient for adults to get into during the installation process, and his hands and feet were quite dexterous.

After the father and his two sons returned, many people greeted them with a smile and asked curiously about what happened. It seemed that this family got along well with the crew members.

Everyone liked to tease the youngest son's spiky Mohawk, and although he seemed unhappy, he did not conflict with the crew.

[Maybe it'll come in handy for servicing those hidden gaps in your pipes.]
Horatio thought for a moment, then left the bridge.
-
In the dark and cruel 41st millennium of the galaxy, wars never stop.

Abyss Port, the naval base of the Gothic Fleet.

After a week of material and personnel preparation and three weeks of intensive training, the Gothic Fleet participating in the Second Damocles Gulf has been fully assembled.

This is a huge expeditionary fleet, far larger than the Far Star Expeditionary Strike Group.

It consists of 3 battleships, 4 battlecruisers, 6 cruisers, 15 light cruisers, and fifty or sixty escort ships and destroyers.

So many warships will be divided into three squadrons according to the vanguard fleet, main fleet and rear fleet.

The fleet commander was Vice Admiral Samuel Hood.

As Vice Admiral of the White Flag Navy, he had the authority to command the main fleet.

The commander of the rear guard fleet was the newly promoted blue flag rear admiral, Rear Admiral Edward Peru.

The First Hunting Squadron, where Horatio was, belonged to the Vanguard Fleet.

Each attack squadron has a dock ship, which is responsible for transporting the attack ships to the war zone for deployment and providing logistical supplies. It is captained by a naval lieutenant colonel.

In addition, there was a light cruiser accompanying the escort.

Colonel Lord Elphinstone, who is affiliated with the Fleet Intelligence Command, serves as the captain of the escort light cruiser and provides military-level intelligence support to the attack squadron so that Horatio can better decide on tactics and strategy.

The lord colonel and lieutenant colonel of the attack squadron were not Horatio's superiors in command. Although they had higher military ranks, they only had the right to assist and provide staff advice on the operations of the attack squadron.

Specific commands are issued by the squadron leader who is on the front line, avoiding the situation of "fountain commander".

This was also the order of General John Jervis of the Wolf Pack Faction - let the front-line officers and soldiers command the front-line battle situation.

"According to the planned route, the main fleet will arrive at Macragge first.

There, Master Calgar, the commander of the Ultramarines, and Lord Cato Sicarius, the second captain, will hold strategic consultations with the Gothic Expeditionary Fleet to decide on follow-up arrangements. The Vanguard Fleet will directly reach the worlds near the front line of the 500 Worlds, where they will be resupplied and then go directly into battle. "

Colonel Lord Elphinstone stood on the strategic star map and said to Horatio, "The wolves go first."

"Where will my squadron arrive?" Horatio asked, looking at the star map.

"Here." The captain pointed to a heavenly world: "We will resupply in Zhendan and then immediately join the battle."

(End of this chapter)