Phase Shift

"Captain! There's Chaos corruption aboard the Tyrant!"

Through the combat suit's communicator, Norris immediately relayed the situation to Gao Yi.

Hearing Norris's words, Gao Yi tensed up.

"Chaos? What kind of Chaos corruption?"

"I don't know... I'm only sensing a malevolent Warp presence!"

"Understood. Stick to your original mission plan!"

"Roger that!"

With his orders received, Norris re-entered stealth and headed toward the Bridge.

Gao Yi stood up, and Ian, noticing the movement, looked at him curiously.

"Captain Gao Yi, has something happened?"

"Inquisitor, perhaps you can no longer stand idly by in this battle."

"Why?"

"My soldier tells me there's Chaos corruption aboard the Tyrant. It seems this is no longer a simple fight between Rogue Traders."

"Chaos corruption? Can you be certain?"

"I wouldn't joke about this! Inquisitor Ian, are you ready to join the fight?"

"If... this is true, I won't stand by!"

Satisfied with the answer, Gao Yi returned to the Bridge's holographic display.

The once-stalemated fleet battle had shifted the moment the Tyrant's engines were destroyed.

Though still outnumbered, the enemy frigates dared not approach the Golden Ram. The gap in firepower and tonnage was too vast.

Meanwhile, the Sword Rain and Vanguard, though also frigates, held the advantage in their tier thanks to the Forge Workshop's modifications and superior ship equipment.

"Would a Rogue Trader Dynasty that has touched Warp knowledge, perhaps even been fully corrupted, be so easily defeated?

Even if they summon a powerful daemon aboard the ship, I can destroy it along with the vessel!"

"A greater daemon? Even it probably couldn't withstand a direct macro-cannon barrage, right?"

Yet Gao Yi couldn't shake a bad feeling.

Meanwhile, aboard the Golden Ram, on a deck breached by a boarding pod.

The ground was littered with the corpses of the enemy boarding party, including two destroyed Combat Servitors.

These bodies hadn't been cleared yet, when a servitor, supposedly dead, eerily powered back on.

Staggering, it dragged itself to a Thinker near the hatch.

The moment it touched the Thinker, a piece of Corrupted Code entered the machine.

Having fulfilled its mission, it finally lost power.

The two groups led by Forge Fiends began to split at the corridor. One headed toward the engine deck to deal with Damon's Rangers, while the other moved in Norris's direction.

Norris had already donned his tactical visor. As the Warp energy grew denser, the ceiling lights began to flicker.

"Past the Forge Workshop elevator, then up to the Bridge!" Tracing the route in his mind, Norris suddenly stopped.

If before the Warp energy had permeated the environment, now he felt a tangible mass of Warp corruption approaching him.

The malice from the Warp sent chills down Norris's spine.

Heavy footsteps echoed from the corner.

Norris stood still, not making a single sound.

Surrounded by dozens of corrupted tech-priests, the Forge Fiend emerged from the turn.

"What... what kind of monster is this?!"

Norris's heart raced. Though his mind had been filled with combat techniques, his willpower remained unchanged.

The terrifying sight of the Forge Fiend made Norris swallow hard.

But that faintest sound caught the Forge Fiend's attention.

It turned its head toward Norris's position, its massive frame, nearly filling the entire corridor, began moving toward him.

The corrupted tech-priests sensed the Fiend's anomaly, staring warily ahead, yet the empty corridor held no living creature.

As the Forge Fiend drew closer, Norris's mind raced.

He was invisible, but only visually. His body still occupied physical space.

If the enemy advanced in their dense formation, a collision was almost inevitable.

"Flee... or fight?"

Norris gripped his C-20A tightly.

After a fierce internal struggle, he still chose to fight.

"The captain's mission must be completed!"

He slowly raised the C-20A in his hand and switched to Locking Rounds.

As Norris pulled the trigger, the round hit the Forge Fiend's massive body without a doubt.

Whether you were possessed by a demon or forged by Warp Evil technology, as long as you were still a machine, you couldn't escape the game's effects.

A Locking Round dealt little damage but was highly insulting. The bullet didn't penetrate the Forge Fiend's sturdy armor, but it enraged the target. Yet when the Forge Fiend tried to lay down suppressive fire across the corridor ahead, it found its body frozen stiff as if completely rusted, unable to move an inch.

The Corrupted Tech-priests saw sparks flickering across the Forge Fiend's body and knew an unknown enemy had appeared.

They raised their Arc Weapons and Phosphor Weapons, firing wildly down the corridor, leaving no corner untouched.

Norris activated the Phase Shift Device on his chest.

Before the weapons could hit him, he vanished from his spot.

To the Tech-priests' eyes, they only saw a sudden flash but no figure at all.

At the same moment as the flash, the C-20A in Norris's hand opened fire. A dense volley of Armor-piercing Rounds tore through the Tech-priests' bodies. Unfortunately, these guys were heavily modified, so while the shots didn't kill them, they did stagger their firing.

Norris recalled the combat techniques stored in his mind. He channeled psionic energy into the Psionic Glaive in his hand, and a ghostly blue light enveloped the blade.

The psionic power combined with the Monomolecular Blade's sharpness easily sliced through the Tech-priests' bodies.

The dual boost from psionics and the Combat Suit multiplied Norris's speed several times over.

These corrupted Tech-priests didn't even know who their enemy was before half of them were cut down.

The Forge Fiend finally broke free from the Locking Round's control.

The blasphemous soul within it erupted with uncontrollable fury.

The barrels of the Stygian Autocannon began to spin. The Forge Fiend, now indiscriminate, unleashed a terrifying hail of fire over the Tech-priests' position.

But no matter how fierce your firepower, you still had to land a hit.

During the time the Forge Fiend couldn't move, the Phase Shift Device's cooldown had finished. Norris blinked again, this time appearing directly on the Forge Fiend's back. Through a gap in its armor, he spotted the furnace powering the beast. Without hesitation, he plunged the Psionic Glaive down.

As the furnace was destroyed, the Forge Fiend's body crashed to the ground, once again becoming lifeless machinery.