Warhammer 40: Doom

Chapter 199 Declaration of Death
“My lord.” Sophia stood beside the throne, faithfully fulfilling her duty: “The fleet’s communications are now online, and your projection is clearly displayed on every warship.”

Doom nodded and straightened his posture, facing the entire Imperial fleet with the most resolute and dignified image.

Space Wolves, First Legion, First Fleet—

Simultaneously, the majestic figure seated on the throne lit up in the projections of all the bridges.

He was exceptionally handsome, with deep-set eyes and extraordinary personal charisma.

The Space Wolf Fleet... Ruth smiled slightly. His extraordinary brother, in terms of appearance and temperament, was indeed more in line with human aesthetics than himself.

The captains of the First Legion knelt on one knee on their respective bridges, remembering the teachings of the imperial heirs.

The ships of Nur, the people of the Nur constellations, listened to King Norwick's declaration in their final moments.

"Citizens of the Empire, fellow human beings," Doom began slowly, his voice heavy with grief, lacking the expected uplifting tone. "I order you all to die..."

The Primarch's voice, coupled with the heavy atmosphere, struck the hearts of all who heard his voice or saw his image, like a lead weight.

“Death is terrible; it symbolizes the end of everything, the final destination for all life. Your fear of it is not a sign of weakness; no one is unafraid of death.”

The magnetic voice of the progenitor explained the inevitability of death, but unexpectedly relieved the anxiety in the hearts of ordinary people.

As the imperial offspring said, death is the end of everything, and no matter how much you resist it, it will eventually come.

“But I admire you…” Doom’s voice deepened, and he slowly raised his voice, drawing on his knowledge of public speaking: “I admire the courage of every mortal.”

The Great Primarch, his words were utterly truthful, and his eyes shone with reverence:
"You set out from your respective worlds, using courage to challenge the endless and profound void, using the brilliance of courage to illuminate the path forward for humanity, and facing death without fleeing, but instead confronting it with courage!"

Upon hearing this, the mortals proudly puffed out their chests; they were the bravest group of people.

“You don’t have my powerful physique, you don’t have the terracotta armor of the Space Marines, and you don’t even have a piece of clothing to cover your bodies.”

"For all these reasons, the ordinariness of ordinary people seems so mundane and insignificant compared to our extraordinary nature."

“But that’s also where my respect for you comes from!” Doom’s heavy voice suddenly rose, becoming extremely impassioned:
"The most ordinary lives, when faced with terrifying aliens, possess a courage to take up arms that is purer than that of Space Marines or even us!"

Hearing the original body's sermon, the mortals couldn't stop their tears and choked up. Their efforts had been seen and given the highest recognition.

The Space Marines listened quietly, but turned to look at the kneeling mortals; the extraordinary warriors were also pondering the Primarch's words.

The Primarch's words struck them like a thunderbolt.

If I were to discard this armor and lose the power bestowed upon me by the Emperor, would I be more courageous than mortals when facing aliens and the dark depths of space?

"The war has brought the empire to a crossroads, and you have witnessed the threat posed by Randan."

"Now! I'm going to send you to your deaths, to fight the aliens to the death!" Doom roared, making everyone straighten their backs.

"With your deaths, we will secure the Empire's victory; with your deaths, we will defeat the threat of the aliens; with your deaths, we will ensure the peace of the human race!"

"Are you willing?" the Primarch demanded sharply, beating the war drums with his voice as he asked each and every one of them.

Are you willing? Of course I am!

This unspoken sentiment remained buried deep within his heart, and no one had ever inquired about it before.

"willing……"

Deep within the ship, the scantily clad slave laborers uttered faint whispers.

Like a chain reaction of atoms, one after another, the humblest person opened their mouth and uttered the smallest wish.

"I am willing to die for you, willing to sacrifice myself for the Lord of mankind!"

The people at the very bottom of society utter the purest roars; their voices are tiny, yet they eventually converge into a raging tsunami.

"For the Empire! For the Emperor! For the Primarch! For victory!"

The mortal captain stood up, drew his ceremonial command sword, pointed it at the Randan fleet, and roared deafeningly: "With our sacrifice, we will secure the Empire's victory!"

With this, the morale of the troops was at its peak, and their fighting spirit was unparalleled.

Doom roared, "All troops, attack! Annihilate the aliens!"

As if summoned by the same spirit, the warship's engines emitted intense plasma tail flames, and it charged towards the Randan warship without hesitation.

All the warships transformed into blazing swords, eager to drink the enemy's blood. "Wolf cubs, do you hear me?" Ruth's wild roar echoed through the Space Wolf communication channel: "With the blade of sacrifice, slay the Empire's enemies!"

"For the Father! For Ruth! For the Primarch!"

The wolves howled and steered the warship toward the alien. The wolf cubs were secretly competing with each other, determined not to be outdone by mortals.

In the Morse system, the entire human fleet was deployed, signaling the start of the decisive battle.

"Humans, let's put aside the formalities and fight a real battle."

Just then, Ran Dan's challenge arrived across all channels, still as arrogant and disdainful as ever.

"I will smash your brains into the floor and crush them," Ruth replied to Randan, his fleet heading straight for Randan's largest flagship.

“I wouldn’t mind having another dog as a pet either,” the Ran Dan fleet commander retorted, his tone equally assertive.

In the decisive battle, even if you lose the fight, you must not lose your morale. If there is a difference in morale, the battle will be a complete defeat.

The Empire's combined fleet pressed forward relentlessly, colliding with the Randan biological ships and engaging in a fierce battle.

The two sides collided like waves, each wave consisting of dozens of warships, locked in a fierce struggle, neither giving way to the other.

The Empire's fleet was outnumbered, but its high morale, like adrenaline, injected extraordinary power into the fleet.

Their fearless passion caught the Randan fleet off guard, and they were at a disadvantage in the initial confrontation.

"Pay attention to the fleet's posture." Seeing this, Doom's thick eyebrows furrowed as he warned, "Courage is not the same as recklessness."

He kept a close eye on the battle situation, coordinated the deployment of troops on the front lines, and prevented any hot-blooded captains from leaving the team and leading their damaged warships to self-destruct.

The commander's challenge lies in boosting morale while preventing soldiers from becoming overly enthusiastic.

Under his command, the fleet advanced in a sweeping motion, using the stars as its base points, like the second hand on a clock face.

Ruth led the Wolf Fleet to encircle and surround Randan's fleet from the other side of the star.

Light spears, macro cannons, torpedoes, fighter jets. The Human Empire used every weapon imaginable, holding nothing back.

The Royal Majesty and three Glory Queen-class warships advanced side by side, serving as four firepower anchors to sweep away the alien fleet.

The Royal Majesty is the largest in size, equipped with Nur technology, operated by Iron Man himself, and has the most powerful firepower.

Its macro-cannon array can produce projectiles with an initial velocity of up to half the speed of light, far exceeding one-tenth the speed of light of conventional Imperial weapons.

The kinetic energy of a projectile increases with the square of its velocity, and its power increases nonlinearly.

With the warships charging ahead, no alien warship could withstand the bombardment of two macro cannons. She was an unstoppable force, and with each salvo of weapons, several alien warships were inevitably destroyed.

Because of this powerful firepower, the Nur fleet received special attention, with two hundred capital ships leading the fleet to attack from the front.

The continuous bombardment by blue plasma and the impact of heavy biological torpedoes caused the dimensional shield to flash incessantly.

Some small warships, unable to dodge in time, exploded in mid-air, bursting into brilliant flames.

Doum remained calm. He understood that war inevitably involves sacrifices, and that while the Nur ships were advanced, they were not invincible.

What pleased him most was that Nur's teleportation technology was advanced, and the personnel had already been transferred before the warship exploded.

Highly automated warships require very few operators, thus avoiding significant losses of naval personnel.

After this naval battle, these naval novices will become qualified Void veterans.

The Royal Majesty's shields were flashing as it was surrounded by twenty Randan capital ships, serving as its spearhead.

Iron Man Gates' consciousness was directly connected to the warship. His robotic arm controlled the system with inhuman efficiency, calculated the trajectory of Ran Dan's firepower, and dodged with incredibly precise movements.

"Boarding~Boarding~" The blue edge of its disc suddenly turned red, emitting a mechanical alarm: "During the shield flashing interval, the Ran Dan boarding team has entered the shield."

"Heh." Doom gave a forced smile. "Let the Iron Brothers loosen up their muscles. Didn't they say their bodies were about to rust?"

"Your command confirmed. Contacting the Iron Man Brothers." Gates' robotic arm moved with lightning speed, completing the corresponding operation: "Iron Man, attack!"

(End of this chapter)