Warhammer: Hail to the Void Lords!.

Chapter 637 06.636: "Masterpiece of Attack"

The keys of the new psychic cipher machine made a series of rapid clicking sounds as the intelligence officer tapped them rapidly, like the dense drum beats before an attack.

"This is the E-123 attack ship, I am the captain, Lieutenant Commander Reinhard Hardegen. We have discovered an alien passenger ship across the star zone, and have entered an attack readiness posture. Requesting approval for the attack."

The young Major Reinhardt stood upright on the command bridge, his meticulously combed, sleek back hair gleaming with a decent and cold luster under the light in the cabin.

At this moment, he was squinting his eyes and staring at a slowly moving Titanium passenger ship through the side mirror.

On the hull of this passenger ship, the words "Sai'Kropis" were engraved in the Tau language.

Its overall shape appears to be a variation of a merchant-class transport ship, but the numerous densely distributed portholes clearly indicate its identity as a passenger ship.

At this time, the "Sai'kropis" was carrying about 160,000 Tau civilians, who were looking forward to traveling to another home world.

Inside the cruise ship, it was bustling and lively.

In the spacious and comfortable space, drone bees fly lightly, presenting tourists with a variety of fruit juice drinks and delicious meals with fragrant aroma.

These blue-blooded aliens have never experienced the baptism of war since they were born.

They have long lived in a stable and peaceful home world that has not been affected by war for hundreds of years, and are engaged in technical positions such as logistics, scientific research, and production.

At this moment, they are immersed in the joy of heading to a new world, their eyes full of longing for new wonders, new environment and new life.

"Attack request approved, permission to attack - Horatio Cochrane."

Upon hearing this, Captain Reinhard turned his head and decisively ordered the first mate beside him: "Torpedoes, fire at both ends. We will take the honor of sowing the first seed of fear."

The purpose of this operation is to spread terror, so the attack ships do not need to kill the warships instantly, but to achieve maximum casualties on enemy personnel.

By causing heavy damage, the enemy was forced to abandon ship, making most of the people victims and only a few survive.

The best way to spread terror is for these survivors to tell their stories of escaping death after being rescued.

After all, the dead cannot speak of their horrors, and there are too few survivors to easily be controlled by the Ethers.

Only with more frequent attacks and leaving more survivors can public opinion explode like a flood.

Unlike the solemn and dignified bridge, the lower torpedo room was a bustling and noisy scene, with the metallic sounds of running machinery and the shouts of laborers intertwined, mixed in with the foremen's shouts.

"Fire at the alien!"

The technical priest had a solemn expression on his face, and his metal prosthetic limbs were flying up and down as he input the ignition code through the console.

There was peace on the Titanium passenger ship.

"Kan#Feng, we are not far from our destination. In addition, the scout discovered a small object approaching quickly and is heading towards our ship." The first mate of the Qi clan walked up to the captain with a cup of hot drink and reported. His tone was comfortable, as if he was enjoying the comfort of the voyage.

"It should be a small spaceship of the Nicasar people. These companions always like to explore the starry sky alone and help us discover some planets or worlds suitable for colonization." The captain looked calm and not suspicious.

After all, this place is too far away from the front line. What's more, the Tau Empire has just won a great victory, and those hostile forces are hiding in some port to lick their wounds. The people coming here definitely cannot be human creations.

Therefore, no one on the ship took the approaching flying object seriously.

Until a deafening explosion sounded throughout the ship like thunder.

Immediately afterwards, another explosion caused the ship to tremble violently.

Two torpedoes exploded at the bow and stern of the passenger ship respectively. In an instant, the ship, which was full of laughter, yearning and hope just now, instantly turned into a hell like a melting pot.

The passengers in the affected area were instantly burned to death and carbonized by the high temperature of tens of thousands of degrees, and then they were crushed by the shock wave carrying the metal wreckage, leaving no trace of their bodies.

Before a more tragic fate befell them, their bodies had already turned black and carbonized, and on their frozen and distorted faces, one could only vaguely see the extreme fear and pain they felt before death.

"Oh no! It's an enemy attack!" Faced with the blatant destruction, the stunned Tau captain on the bridge of the passenger ship had to admit the cruel reality even if he was blind.

"Immediately notify the passengers to gather in the middle cabin! Quick!" He made a hasty decision. The fire caused by the torpedo was like a hideous demon, and it quickly spread to other cabins.

Many Tau died of suffocation or poisoning. The severely burned and dying blue-bloods crawled in pain on the scorching deck.

Their skin and flesh that touched the deck were burnt white and even underwent changes similar to the Maillard reaction.

The ship was instantly in chaos, and the blue-blooded people scrambled to flee towards the middle of the ship.

Behind them, their compatriots were on fire everywhere, wailing miserably. Because it happened so suddenly, many people were unprepared, and the crowd quickly turned into a stampede.

The Tau people in the corridor had formed a small slope and were in chaos.

"Don't push me!"

"The person in front has fallen down, help him up!"

"People at the back, stop pushing! Don't move forward...ah!"

The blue-blooded aliens that fell and were crushed underneath screamed in despair.

But the people at the back were still unaware of what was happening in the front, and driven by the approaching flames, more and more passengers pushed forward.

The trampling became more and more serious, and finally blocked the entire central passage. Countless hands stretched out from the crowd, struggling desperately at first, but gradually became quiet and stiff.

It turns out that even blue-blooded people will show eggplant purple suffocation symptoms on their faces when they are squeezed to the point of lack of oxygen.

The ceiling began to collapse under the scorching heat, and those who were blocked and unable to move forward could only watch the flaming debris falling from the sky and hitting the crowd.

Every time a piece of debris falls, it will create a hot "hole" in the sea of ​​people, followed by the sizzling sound of barbecue.

The people around were also burned by the high temperature emitted by the fragments.

The most terrified people were those who had the falling debris in front of them. They were pushed by the people behind them and watched the red-hot fragments and the carbonized bodies of their compatriots getting closer and closer to them.

"Ah!!!! Stop! It's hot!"

The people behind still didn't understand what was going on and just pushed forward mechanically.

They were horrified to find that the people in front of them were burned to death on the red-hot debris, and soon, the disaster would befall them.

Those who wanted to turn around or squeeze to the sides were pushed back in despair by the crowd, simply because the crowd was too dense and it was impossible to squeeze in.

After a series of failed attempts at self-rescue, the person who was pushed towards the red-burning debris by the crowd soon became another piece of charcoal.

Many people fell into despair and began to write suicide notes using wearable electronic devices while crying.

This purgatory-like scene was captured on camera by some members of the Tu clan using their equipment.

In the last moments of their lives, they transmitted these tragic images to their families, hoping that their families would know what had happened to them, rather than just disappearing and evaporating from the face of the earth.

The passenger ship's bridge urgently sent a distress signal, which was quickly captured by the E-123 Type IX attack ship.

Captain Reinhardt looked at his "masterpiece" with satisfaction, a cold light flashing in his eyes, his plan had succeeded.

He watched the escape pods being launched from the passenger ship one by one, then turned to the first mate and said, "Very good, they have sent out a distress signal. Do not attack those escape pods. Let the survivors take back the news of the attack and let everyone know we are here."

"Yes, the Navigation Department has already determined the next interception target. This airspace should be a key passenger route with many passenger ships." The first mate reported.

"Sehr gut! (Low Gothic: Very good), Sehr gut!" Captain Reinhardt, who came from a nearby planet of Krieg and whose language was affected, took a cup of Reka coffee from the servant and admired the cruel masterpiece of E-123.

"For the next passenger ship, we will use our naval guns to make holes in the side, allowing the aliens to witness our attack with their own eyes, and let the images of our killing spread to every street and alley in the Tau world." The corners of his mouth curled up in a cruel arc.

Upon hearing this, the first mate laughed grimly: "As you wish, Captain, we will spread terror throughout the entire starry sea and make ourselves the terrifying god of death in the bedtime stories of the alien cubs."

(End of this chapter)