Warhammer: Hail to the Void Lords!.

Chapter 818, 08.817: "A Moment Between Life and Death"

"Ah! Help!"

A piercing scream rang out in the team's makeshift channel, which was being used to replenish the Swift Eagle's water supply, only to be quickly replaced by a grating static noise.

A crew member from the supply ship, who was responsible for activating the water supply valve, was suddenly pulled up by an invisible force next to Old Man Joe's eldest son, and his body flew uncontrollably toward the broken point.

He was like a rag doll carelessly discarded, smashing hard onto the jagged metal cracks, instantly sliced ​​into several pieces by the sharp edges, and scattered into the dark, cold void.

The blood and tissue fluid sublimated rapidly upon contact with the vacuum, while the remaining portion, having lost heat, congealed into a bizarre, deep red-pink ice crystal frozen mass of flesh, which then quickly scattered and dissipated into the endless darkness.

"Oh God-Emperor...may his soul return to the Golden Throne." Old Man Joe's eldest son, now a junior boatswain, instinctively gripped the safety rope tied to him.

The thick fiber rope left deep marks on his body, and for the first time he felt so grateful that he had always strictly followed the ship's safety operating procedures.

Before the words were even finished, another damage control crew member from the Swift Eagle was torn off the deck by the violent suction force and flew into the void.

Just as the man passed by the eldest son, he instinctively reached out and grabbed the safety rope that was stretched taut and almost snapped.

Squeak! Whoosh! Snap!
The rope spun violently against his metal gauntlets, making a teeth-grinding sound, after emitting a terrifying cracking sound like a whip.

He turned around and looked through his helmet visor at the figure he had grabbed, struggling desperately in the void—it was his younger brother.

"Big brother! I'm being sucked away! I can't even stand up in my magnetic boots!" His brother's voice became sharp and distorted with fear and lack of oxygen.

"Thank goodness you were on your safety harness! Hold on! I'll pull you up!" His older brother gritted his teeth, his magnetic boots gripping the deck at maximum power, emitting a buzzing overload sound. "Don't move, I'll pull you back!"

He used all his strength to hold onto the safety rope attached to his younger brother.

The muscular arms, honed by ample nutrition and organized physical training, were now exerting force inch by inch, like a winch.

Ensuring that he wouldn't be dragged into the void, he began laboriously pulling the rope back.

However, the entire connecting corridor was completely severed by the devastating maneuver of the "Light of Babel".

The remaining supplies, equipment, and even personnel who had not been able to evacuate were all thrown into the cold void within the corridor.

Then, an even greater disaster struck.

The massive transport ship, with its stern plasma thrusters resembling a volcano ablaze, spewed towards the broadside of the "Swift Eagle".

"Wow!!! Help me, bro!"

With the sudden separation and violent maneuvering of the two ships, Old Man Qiao's youngest son was like someone strapped to the end of a giant pendulum, violently flung to the right rear by a tremendous centrifugal force. His safety rope was instantly taut, dragging his older brother along with him toward the edge of the break.

"Hey! You two, why aren't you back yet! The door's about to close! Hurry up! Stop dawdling!"

Old Man Joe's voice came through the team channel on the Void Helmet, filled with anxiety.

A figure dressed in the same heavy damage control suit appeared by the door at the end of the broken corridor.

When he saw the perilous situation his two sons were in, he couldn't help but gasp: "Hold on! You two rascals!"

Without the slightest hesitation, he stepped out of his heavy magnetic boots, followed his eldest son's safety rope, and walked step by step into the void, disregarding his own safety.

He wanted to help his eldest son pull his younger son, who had been thrown out, back.

The other damage control team members and the armed sailors who usually played cards with them also noticed the danger. "Give them a hand!" "Help them!" The men immediately sprang into action, securing their safety ropes to the safety buckles on the bulkhead and working together to pull back the rope that held the three lives together.

But at that moment, a dazzling light, strong enough to burn the retina, approached slowly but actually very quickly, blinding everyone.

"Watch out! Plasma exhaust!"
-
On the command bridge.

"Captain! 'Light of Babel' has forcibly disengaged from docking! The corridor has completely collapsed!"

Chief of Engineering Officer Leidos stared at the constantly updating, flashing red warning code on the control panel in front of him, indicating that the starboard docking area of ​​the "Swift Skyhawk" had suffered structural damage.

The structural integrity of the telescopic docking station is less than 5%! The starboard side sustained minor damage to multiple areas of the hull due to the impact!

Leidos abruptly raised his head, looking up at the command throne high above, and shouted at the top of his lungs, "Thirty seconds left! In thirty seconds, the transport ship's plasma exhaust will sweep directly across the mid-deck of my ship's starboard side!!"

"Change the order!" Horatio's voice was cold and calm, tinged with tension but not panic. "High-energy turn, hard to left!"

"Yes! Full to port!" The helmsman's voice echoed through the sonic boom in the bridge.

"Starboard attitude thrusters, high-energy afterburner activation!"

*Pfft!*

The starboard steering thrusters of the light cruiser "Swift Skyhawk" suddenly spewed out three thick, azure-blue streams of plasma.

The two enormous ships, like a pair of startled birds, made high-energy turns in completely different directions.

Just as she was about to be swept away by the scorching tail flames, the Swift Eagle, like a falcon swooping down from the heavens, made an emergency turn and dived at an almost impossible angle towards the lower plane. Every inch of her deck trembled and shuddered under the intense overload.

Inside the cabin, items not secured to their posts slid off one after another, plates and soup bowls from the mess hall table flew everywhere, and the crew members' teeth chattered violently as the ship shook.

"Warning! The tail flame is coming!!!"

"This will burn through our ship's armor and cause a violent fire!"

"No! There are no docking stations nearby where we can carry out repairs! We cannot accept such a loss here!"

"May the God Emperor protect us..."

"May the Spire Bloodline be able to handle this situation; it is truly the most severe test I have ever seen in my service."

The shadow of death loomed over the crew of the Swifthawk, who were exposed outside the fire doors.

They were in a cold, vacuum-like environment, and if they were hit by the scorching plasma, they and their armor would be instantly vaporized.

"Dad, Big Brother, Brothers, don't worry about me, hurry back!!" The youngest son's voice was hoarse as he shouted in the team channel, his voice trembling, but he was prepared for death and faced it with equanimity.

"It's too late!" The eldest son held on tightly to the rope, staring at the increasingly dazzling, sun-like light, his eyes flashing with a dazzling halo.

His helmet visor was switched to maximum light filtering mode, but the intense light still made it difficult for him to open his eyes.

"Whether we can pull you back or not, if that damned tail flame sweeps over, we're all doomed! Now... now we can only rely on the bridge command and the captain's decisions!"

(End of this chapter)