Warhammer: Empire Reboot

Lawson looked at him like he was an idiot: "I oversee nearly 10 Imperial planets on the dark side of the Empire, and I'm responsible for trillions of people. I have to deal with more variables every day than you've seen in three thousand years. You think I'm not responsible? Your so-called responsibilities are nothing but an excuse for laziness."

Taiwa replied stiffly, "We are the Emperor's closest guards, responsible only for absolute security."

Lawson laughed: "Really? You're so responsible, you must be protecting the Emperor very well, right?"

Taiwa's breathing became heavy, and the chains on his wrists creaked.

"you……"

"Shut up!"

Losen lost interest in continuing the conversation with this stubborn man and turned to give instructions to Er Gou beside him.

“Take him to the barracks and let him be a sparring partner for the brothers.”

"let's go."

Er Gou beckoned two guards behind him to come over and escort the four men toward the barracks.

He walked along, clicking his tongue and shaking his head.

"You bunch of bastards, haven't you gotten a beating in a long time?"

Combat Sequence Second Training Camp.

The training camp was built in the middle of Saint Harbor's main hive, covering an area roughly equivalent to a medium-sized arena.

Approximately three thousand combat personnel are stationed in the camp year-round.

But this number changes every day.

Every few hours, a group of people would be teleported away through the stasis field to carry out missions on a planet in the dark side of the Empire that was being reclaimed.

Meanwhile, another group of people were withdrawing from the battlefield, their power armor still stained with blood and scorch marks that they hadn't had time to wipe off.

They went into the camp to rest and change their equipment, and then waited for the next deployment.

This is a mobile military transit station.

A perpetually breathing transit hub, connected in real-time to the battlefields of nearly 100,000 planets on the dark side of the Empire.

They go wherever there is an emergency.

There are eight more military camp vigilant stars like this.

The four imperial guards were led by Er Gou to the main gate of the camp.

Er Gou set rules for them:

"We won't give you power armor, but you can pick any weapon you want. The weapon racks in the camp have everything from chain swords to power hammers. You can choose your opponents; point at whoever catches your eye. If you win, we'll let you go. If you don't..."

He gestured towards the depths of the camp.

"The toilets are over there. In a camp of three thousand people, you can estimate the amount of cleaning required each day. You can only eat after you've cleaned the toilets."

Taiva was only wearing the inner lining of his power armor, and his metal chains had been unlocked.

Three Imperial Guards stood behind him, also wearing only their undershirts.

Even without armor, the Imperial Guard remains one of the Empire's most dangerous melee units.

This is the source of Taiwa's confidence in his three-thousand-year military career.

The Imperial Guard's combat effectiveness never depended on equipment; equipment was merely an amplifier.

The genetic templates designed by the Emperor himself endowed every member of the Custodian Army with basic physical qualities far exceeding those of the Astartes, surpassing the Space Marines in every aspect.

The Imperial Guard's combat training begins the moment they are selected and continues for life, without interruption.

Their close-combat skills encompassed all known fighting systems of the Empire, and on this basis, they developed unique killing techniques exclusive to the Imperial Guard.

Even without armor, a Tevar standing bare-handed in front of a standard Astartes can still finish the fight within three moves.

This is Taiwa's confidence, and it's also a fact.

When he was arrested before, Taiwa believed it was because Er Gou and his gang had a large and powerful force.

In addition, they were Lawson's personal guards, who were already among the elite of the elite.

Let them fight against ordinary soldiers in the military camp?

There was absolutely no suspense.

"Just give me a longsword," Taiwa said casually.

Er Gou pulled a standard Imperial longsword from the weapon rack and tossed it to him.

A regular adamantite alloy, without the power field enchantment, is just a three-foot-long metal strip.

Taiwa took the sword, weighed it in his hand, and tested its feel.

He surveyed the active combat formations within the camp.

He chose a combat suicide soldier who had just been teleported back from the stasis field.

The man's power armor was still stained with fresh orc blood, and there was a deep gash on his left shoulder armor, carved by a machete. He had just returned from the front lines on some planet, still carrying the warmth of battle.

The battle formation looks almost identical to the standard Astartes.

Standing at just over two meters tall with a robust physique, if you only looked at his appearance, you would mistake him for an ordinary Space Marine company member.

Perhaps a bit stronger than the average company member.

But for the Imperial Guards, it wouldn't be much better.

"You're the one, come here!"

Taiwa pointed the tip of his sword at the assassin who had just returned.

"Fight me, and I'll beat you down in three rounds."

The assassin removed his power armor.

This surprised Taiva slightly.

He assumed his opponent would fight him while wearing armor.

Fighting without armor suggests that the opponent also considers it a fair contest, or that the opponent doesn't see the power armor as a key variable in the duel.

That's interesting!

The warriors under Lawson's command were just as reckless as he was.

He's here today to teach them how to be good people.

The assassin took a similar adamantite longsword from the weapon rack.

The two men faced off in an open area in the center of the camp.

Taiwa made the first move.

The very first move demonstrated the skill of the Imperial Guards.

The opening move was a standard Emperor's Spear thrust, so fast that the tip of the sword left a white trail of air in its wake.

The design concept of this move is to complete a fatal puncture with the shortest distance, the fastest speed, and the most precise angle.

The Imperial Guard's combat instructors taught this move in Terra's training grounds for ten thousand years.

Data shows that 97% of Astartes react best to this move by either blocking or dodging.

The reactions of the combat suicide soldiers are not in that 97%.

He turned to the side, and the tip of Taiva's sword grazed his ribs. Almost instantly, his sword slashed upwards from below, following a trajectory that Taiva had never seen in the three-thousand-year combat database.

It was too fast; the sword's edge grazed Taiva's forearm and pierced straight for his throat.

Taiwa took half a step back.

He was slightly surprised; the angle, force, and timing of that sword strike left him no time to adjust his parry.

There shouldn't be such a skilled fighter in the military camp. Did he pick a fighting champion?

He rallied his spirits and gave it his all.

The second round is faster.

Taiwa adjusted his strategy and began using the Imperial Guard's unique Emperor's Embrace combo.

The opening move is a feint to draw the opponent's attention, followed by alternating slashes with both hands to compress the opponent's space to maneuver, and finally, the moment the opponent is forced into a corner, a piercing strike ends the fight.

This combo has never failed against Astartes.

The combat assassin on the opposite side withstood the feint attack, caught the first slash, and dodged the second one by sidestepping.

Then, the assassin's sword swung upwards from a low angle, almost touching the ground, the tip of the sword precisely slicing through the knuckles of the hand holding the sword in Taiwa's hand.

Taiwa's sword slipped from his hand uncontrollably.

The sword struck the tendon between the second and third joints of the finger.

That position is the only zero point of force transmission in the human grip structure.

Taiwa caught the falling sword with his left hand, while his right hand fingers were still bleeding.

The other man's sword was already pressed against his throat.

"I lost!" Tawar admitted defeat frankly.

The assassin sheathed his sword and took a step back.

Tawar looked at the wound on his right hand.

The incision was shallow and did not damage the bone; the Imperial Guard's healing ability would stop the bleeding within minutes.

But the location of the wound made him uncomfortable.

Taiwa silently walked to the weapon rack and swapped a sword for a new one with his left hand.

"You try, one more!"

He pointed to a combat soldier on the other side of the camp, refusing to believe that everyone in the military camp was such a skilled fighter.

The second match ended quickly.

Then came the third game, the fourth game...

In a very short period of time, Tawar changed four opponents.