The Bizarre Adventure of the Warhammer Guard

The thick alloy door was blasted directly into the command room from the outside, hitting an unfortunate federal soldier.

Then the bomb trap installed at the gate was triggered, and a huge fireball appeared at the entrance, producing thick black smoke that obscured everyone's view.

Then, a dazzling golden light pierced the darkness, and Elpis entered the command room. His golden armor was free of any scratches or dust.

Elpis looked around. There were only a handful of people in the entire command room, all of whom were ship operators.

"Where's that old fox Duke?" As the black smoke dissipated, Renault walked to the center of the command room, followed closely by elite soldiers who quickly took control of all the ship's crew.

"The...General has left." One of the operators answered tremblingly, his hands raised above his head.

"That old guy," Renault said, removing his mask and looking at the command center, which was now under control, "he escaped pretty quickly."

Leon walked into the command room, patted his breastplate to brush off the iron filings and glass shards clinging to it, and looked around with curiosity. Unlike the ships of the Human Empire, the style and layout here were very different.

The cramped command center contained only a single operational conference table in the center, seemingly capable of holographic imaging. Two large doors on either side led to other compartments.

At the bow, there are several evenly distributed pieces of tempered glass, through which you can see the earthen-yellow Ma Sara.

Next to it were two rows of LCD screens embedded together, with various buttons arranged below them; that must be the command center for controlling the ship.

"Machine Soul," Elpis commanded, "Take control of the entire warship."

Elpis went to the bow, took out a small core terminal from his armor, removed the connecting wires, and plugged them directly into the interface of the warship's control console.

The next moment, the screen, which had been scrolling with information, went completely black. Then, countless strings of "0"s and "1"s filled the entire screen. Immediately afterward, the screen changed again, and the Imperial double-headed eagle logo appeared on all the screens.

"Sir, we are at your service at any time," a mechanical voice came from the broadcast system in the command center.

As the royal guard of the Lord of Mankind, Elpis can use many strange and unusual technologies from the palace armory. These are not technologies commonly used in the Empire, and are even powerful equipment that the Cult of Mechanics envies.

The machine spirit mounted on that core terminal, under normal circumstances, could rival the systems on an Imperial cruiser. Not to mention, the "warship" beneath his feet was merely small and technologically backward.

"Close all hatches on the warship and shut down all weapon systems." Elpis looked at the screen and continued, "Find their general."

"Searching..."

"Key personnel not detected. However, several escape pods located at the bow were detected to have been activated thirty minutes ago. It is determined that key enemy personnel have escaped the warship."

None of the federal pilots present offered any resistance. They were gathered in a corner of the command room and calmly accepted their fate of defeat and capture.

As a federal soldier, especially a skilled worker like a driver, they are not doing it for any mission or glory, but simply for a job and for that meager salary.

Therefore, for them, survival is the most important thing.

"Enemy communication request detected. Do you want to connect?" the mechanical voice of the machine spirit sounded again.

"Connected."

The next moment, General Duke's face appeared on the communication screen. He had a sharply defined face, prominent brow bones, short gray hair, and sharp eyes.

Although he tried his best to conceal it and project the dignity of a federal general, his disheveled state and anger were revealed in his eyes.

"You traitors!" General Duke gritted his teeth. "I will remember this humiliation."

"Treason, collusion with foreign powers, and the invasion of Mar-Sala by alien insects—I will inform the Federation of these deeds. Just you wait!"

"Old man," Renault said flippantly, toying with the weapon in his hand, "you're quite adept at spreading rumors and twisting the truth. But what happens to us is none of your concern; you should worry about yourself first. Losing Noral II is a huge deal; your position is in jeopardy."

"Hmph, I don't need your concern." General Duke snorted coldly, then hung up the communication.

On the planet's orbit, the other three Federation Leviathan-class strategic ships slowly deviated from the planet's orbit, changing their original formation of escorting Norard II and departing in three different directions.

Immediately afterwards, their dark blue trails of smoke rapidly expanded, creating ripples in the bow area, tearing a rift in the center, and causing the ship to vibrate violently.

The next moment, the three warships changed from solid to ethereal and then disappeared completely. The tear that had been opened quickly healed and returned to normal.

Seeing General Duke escape, Elpis did not continue the pursuit. After all, the current mission was not to capture or kill General Duke, but to focus on the people of Mar-Sala.

He directly ordered everyone to quickly take over the entire Norard II. With the help of the machine spirits and the spread of news that General Duke had abandoned ship, everyone quickly seized control of the entire strategic cruiser. The other Federation soldiers on the warship also obeyed Elpis's orders.

Dozens of transport planes on the warship quickly took off to the surface to pick up the other soldiers and supplies still stationed at the Deadwater Base.

Meanwhile, other colonies on the planet were also notified through the communication system that they should wait a while longer before they could all be picked up and evacuated from Mar-Sala.

According to Elpis's estimate, the Norad II has a maximum passenger capacity of just over six thousand people, so it is impossible for this warship alone to evacuate all the people on the planet. They can only wait for the Sons of Korhal.

It turns out that before the boarding battle, Rugal had discussed with everyone and decided to accept Mengsk's aid and join the Sons of Korhal.

Rugal believed that even if he did not betray the Federation, General Duke would definitely file a complaint with the Federation later and make things difficult for him.

Moreover, sending these civilians to the Sons of Korhal's territory is better than letting them become victims of Federation experiments on this planet. This is also the last thing I, as Commander Mar-Sala, can do.

Elpis agreed to this approach for two reasons.

First, neither Rugal nor Raynor are very familiar with the surrounding star system, and he cannot yet trust the recently surrendered Federation navigators. Therefore, he cannot simply dump civilians on a deserted planet or in an enemy stronghold.

Secondly, their objective was not to reclaim lost territory or establish a second base of operations.

While he could indeed quickly conquer a world and provide a home for these civilians, Elpis thought. He wasn't on a grand expedition, but rather to gather resources and supplies from this universe to find a way out for humanity in the Warhammer universe.

That's it.