Warhammer: Empire Reboot

"implement."

Agrippina outer edge.

The Red Pirate branch fleet is accelerating.

On the bridge of the Killer-class cruiser "Red Hook," Captain Willock leaned back in the commander's seat, a structure made of skeleton and steel plates. He had once been an Astartes, from a pirate warband that had split off from Huron's command. Time had honed his patience, and also turned his loyalty into a price.

He stared at the star map behind him.

The firelight in the direction of Agrippina was getting farther and farther away.

The navigator beside him whispered:

"Captain, the Anvil's signal has been lost three times. The Steel Warrior may not be able to hold on."

Willock smiled.

“Then let them take the lead. Peturabo’s son loves to prove he’s a better fighter than anyone else.”

A few low laughs came from the bridge.

A veteran of the Red Pirates asked:

"Are we just going to leave like this? There's at least one heavy cruiser wreck over there."

Willock glanced at him.

"The wreckage is deadly, but the information is valuable. Go back and sell the information to Huron, or to any wizard willing to pay. The fact that the Marker can get Dante to endorse him and has turned Agrippina into his own nest shows that he's more troublesome than we anticipated."

He is not cowardly.

The Red Pirates survived the whirlpool not just because of their cannon fire.

Willock knew when to gamble and when to withdraw.

“The Imperial fleet can’t catch up,” the navigator said. “They just surrounded the Iron Warriors, and their fleet is scattered throughout the asteroid belt. Even if we jump now, we’ll have to regroup. We only need to advance for another seven minutes to get into the smuggling route.”

Willock nodded.

"So don't waste time. All frigates, reduce heat sources. Transport ships, shut down external beacons. Lock the boarding slave compartments. If anyone dares to cause trouble, blew the air out."

He paused for a moment, then added another sentence.

"Don't laugh at the Imperial Navy. They're stupidly stable, and stability can sometimes kill."

No sooner had she finished speaking than Bird Diviner screamed.

The navigator suddenly looked up.

"Subspace disturbance! Directly ahead! 20,000 kilometers away!"

Willock sat up straight.

"What size?"

"Multiple fleet signals... formation complete... they've formed a firing line!"

On the bridge screen, reality appeared as if it had been sliced ​​open by a knife.

One after another, ship shadows leaped out from subspace.

Gothic bow, heavy ram, Imperial double-headed eagle, and the insignia of a white tiger and a red dragon.

When the White Tiger, the Crimson Dragon, and six escort ships emerged from subspace, they had already formed a neat battle line. Their cannons were pointed directly at the Red Pirate fleet, the light spear arrays began charging, and the macro cannon ammunition magazines completed their synchronized loading.

They seemed to have been waiting there all along.

The Red Pirate bridge fell into a brief silence.

Then, Willock swore a swear word that even the pirates of the Whirlpool would understand.

"By the stinking asshole of Huron's old severed hand, did these Imperial bastards jump out of my crotch?!"

"Turn! Void Shields, advance! Frigates, block the main ship!"

It's too late.

Bai Zhi's command rang out in the assassin channel.

"First round, break the shield."

A barrage of light spears was fired.

The White Tiger and Crimson Dragon simultaneously unleashed their side-mounted light spears, six beams striking the Red Hook's forward-facing void shield. The two escort ships also joined the firing, their macro shells trailing trails of fire as they slammed into the same shield surface.

The Red Pirates' escort ships attempted to cut across the blocking line.

Fenjiang seized this moment.

"Red Dragon, start the frigate's engine."

The Red Dragon's two plasma cannons turned and pierced the propulsion zone of the port escort ship. The escort ship's stern exploded, it lost balance, and crashed sideways into a slave transport ship.

The captain of the transport ship tried to dodge, but the swarm intelligence predicted the direction in advance.

The second round of heavy artillery fire struck, breaking its bridge tower.

Bai Zhi did not give Hong Gouhao a chance to adjust its angle.

"Second round, continue to press down on the shield. Prepare boarding torpedoes."

Red Hook's Void Shield flickered violently under continuous concentrated fire.

Verlock knew he had encountered an Imperial fleet he had never seen before.

When a traditional imperial navy completes a fleet jump, the first thing it does is to calibrate its position, identify friendly ships, and rearrange its gun lines.

During that period, the Red Pirates could spread out, drop jamming mines, use transport ships to block cannon fire, and even launch a counter-attack with a wave of close-range torpedoes.

However, the fleet in front of us had already completed all its combat maneuvers when it jumped out.

It's like they brought an entire artillery line out of subspace.

"Fight back!" Willock roared. "Don't focus on the main ship, attack the escort ships! Tear open the flanks!"

The red hook signaled the start of fire.

The Killer-class cruiser's firepower was not weak. A salvo from its macro guns targeted the two escort ships on the left side of the White Tiger. The Red Pirate gunners were experienced, and in the first salvo, they forced one of the escort ships' Void Shields to the danger zone.

Bai Zhi immediately dispatched the ship.

The two escort ships leaned back, while the White Tiger pushed forward to take the brunt of the second round of shelling.

At the same time, the Crimson Dragon continued to pick off the Red Pirate frigates.

Fenjiang only plays in three positions.

engine.

Weapon capacitor.

Void Shield Node.

After three rounds, the second Red Pirate frigate lost power to its main guns and could only stand sideways in front of the Red Hook as a broken shield.

"The enemy flagship's void shield has shattered," reported the Starship assassin.

Bai Zhi gave the order:

"Boarding".

The torpedo compartment in the belly of the White Tiger is opened.

The Red Dragon followed closely behind.

A batch of improved boarding torpedoes were launched at point-blank range.

The distance was too close; the Red Pirates' point-defense guns only managed to intercept a portion of the torpedoes. The remaining torpedoes pierced the hull of the Red Hook and the wreckage of the two escort ships like nails.

The portal opened.

The White Tiger Squadron's first wave of boarding.

The shield wall goes in first.

Heavy explosives followed.

The Red Pirates' boarding slaves were driven to the front of the passage.

Many of them were mad slaves modified by the Chaos Potion, their hands welded with chain blades and explosive collars, their bodies covered in scrap metal plates. They were urged to charge by the ship's intercom, hoping to use their numbers to block the advance of the White Tiger Death Squad.

Bai Zhi had anticipated this long ago.

"Red Dragon, Clear Corridor."

The Crimson Dragon assassins entered from another anchor point, their molten lava guns targeting the ventilation pipes and ammunition delivery ducts in the ceiling instead of the crowd. Flames swept across the upper structure, forcing the slaves to scatter to the sides.

The White Tiger Shield Wall was not delayed by the crowds.

They advanced step by step, their shields blocking the width of the passage, their heavy bombs targeting the collar-controlled nodes and the overseers at the rear. The slave horde lost its drive and began to panic. Those few who dared to charge forward were knocked down by the front of the shield wall.

Only then did the veteran Red Pirate make his move.

The first wave of Red Pirates, the Astartes, charged out from the side corridor, using molten metal to blast a section of the passageway, attempting to break through the White Tiger's shield wall. Another team stormed in from below the maintenance shaft, trying to attack the White Tiger's rear gunners.

The Crimson Dragon Squad of Burning River had been waiting for this moment.

Commander Red Dragon personally led his team to press up from the second anchor point, unleashing a barrage of plasma gun fire to first seal off the side corridor, then use chainsaw axes to cut off the maintenance well entrance. The veteran Red Pirates were adept at boarding and chaotic combat, but each of their incursions was pre-marked by swarm intelligence.

Inside the bridge of the Red Hook, Willock's face darkened as he looked at the internal structural diagrams that had turned red.

“They know every single one of our anti-boarding routes.”

The adjutant gritted his teeth and said:

"There might be a mole within the organization."

Willock made a decision immediately.

"Destroy the No. 2 engine room and cut off their main access to the bridge. The bridge personnel should move to the backup command room and prepare to abandon ship."

The adjutant looked at him.

"Abandon ship? Captain, this is a Killer-class cruiser!"

Willock grabbed the adjutant by the collar and nearly lifted him off the deck.

"Has your brain been eaten dry by the maggots in the slave cells?"