A Good Day Ends After Boarding

"Tch. Cowardly xenos."

Lucius heard Aqua's order, sheathed his Duelist Sword, and began retreating slowly, facing the sealed circular crystal.

Tavitz, providing cover from the side, also moved toward the blasted crystal gate. Only Kasgar remained rooted in place, as if lost in thought.

"Time to go, Kasgar!"

"If we don't leave now, we really won't make it!"

Aqua called out again, her tone carrying a rare note of urgency.

To be honest, Kasgar was reluctant.

But he couldn't quite say why.

He only knew that, according to the established timeline, one year after this overwhelming victory, the Terra War Council would dispatch an Expeditionary Fleet of Ultramarines through the warp gate to investigate. On the far side of that gate, in the northern reaches of the galaxy, they would discover the xenos' homeworld.

In that region far north of the Dalinite Nebula, the Ultramarines would bring the Emperor's wrath to the aliens.

They would carry out the extermination of the Crystalline Aliens flawlessly.

But not long after, the Dalit Warp Gate would gradually cease to function, and the secrets buried within it might be lost forever in the dust of the stars.

These Crystalline Aliens likely held the key to unlocking the warp gate's mysteries!

Kasgar had to find a way to take a prisoner.

That was why, even with victory firmly in hand, he insisted on boarding one of the remote xenos warships.

But his first boarding attempt didn't seem to go well.

Faced with the xenos' tactic of retreating into their crystal shells, even their own Sword Saint of the Emperor's Children, Aqua, was helpless.

Though Kasgar was unwilling, he had no other option.

Beyond the transparent hull, the Dalit Warp Gate, glowing with a faint light, grew larger and closer with every passing moment.

The rest of the Tactical Squad had already retreated to the gate, ready to leave with him at any moment.

Was he really going to give up just like that?

For some reason, Kasgar lowered his head and looked at his own palm, covered in golden-red flowing cracks.

"Wait! Let me try one more time!"

A premonition, rising from nowhere, drove him to sprint toward the central sphere.

He didn't know why, but a wild guess had suddenly taken root in his mind.

"Damn it, you two go first!"

Seeing this, Aqua signaled the others to leave and shot toward Kasgar at an incredible speed.

Almost there!

Almost there!

Kasgar, racing toward the sphere, stretched out his right hand, covered in cracks beneath his damaged armor.

Slap!

He pressed his palm against the sphere.

Nothing happened.

The sphere remained curled up, unchanged by Kasgar's slap.

His reckless gamble seemed to yield no reward.

Behind him came Aqua's furious roar.

"Kasgar! What the hell are you trying to do?!"

"There's no time—"

Hmm—?

At that moment, the spherical Crystalline Alien let out a hum completely different from before.

As its crystals shifted, its core was exposed directly before Kasgar's eyes.

It was as if it were staring at him in disbelief.

"Don't attack yet!"

Kasgar waved his hand behind him, signaling them to hold, while extending his cracked right hand in front of the alien's core, letting it examine him closely.

Though he couldn't explain why, his subconscious had driven him to this action.

And in that instant, he sensed the alien's thoughts.

It was an emotion filled with confusion, joy, and excitement, tinged with disbelief, transmitted into Kasgar's mind.

Like a long-lost pet recognizing its owner once more.

Not only that, but Kasgar even felt he could command and control it.

The Crystalline Alien's core lay completely exposed, its crystals spreading and rotating around it, as if performing a dance unique to its kind.

"You can control him?"

Aqua breathed a sigh of relief, the tension on her face instantly easing.

"Then tell him to stop quickly—we're about to pass through the portal!"

Seeing the portal right ahead, Aqua was still a bit anxious.

"No can do!"

"I can't control it! It's still moving forward!"

"Is that so?"

Aqua's briefly improved expression darkened, her other hand already reaching for the saber beneath the yellow silk.

"Haha, just kidding."

Kasgar gave a shameless, sheepish laugh.

The next second, the warship came to an abrupt halt right before the portal.

Aqua: "..."

There was no denying it—Kasgar always managed to bring surprises.

Whether it was his swordsmanship talent and command ability, or even at the critical moment when the final boarding action was about to fail, he could always resolve the crisis in ways ordinary people couldn't understand.

But sometimes, she really wanted to punch him.

"...You. Go back and do extra drills."

After several deep breaths, Aqua chose to hold off on losing her temper.

"Is he down yet?! That Kasgar!"

"No! Several squads that entered the warship have all withdrawn—only they're left!"

"Damn it!"

"Reporting to the Commander, the Xenos Warship has stopped advancing and is descending toward the surface of Silent Star!"

"Commander Kasgar has succeeded—they've captured this Xenos Warship!"

Whoosh—

Hearing this unmistakable victory, accompanied by the applause around him, the Fleet Commander finally collapsed weakly into the command chair at the center of the bridge.

Crew members on the cruiser's bridge continued their busy pace: even with a major victory won, battlefield cleanup was still an extremely tedious task.

But that didn't matter anymore.

At least, when tallying the data, it wouldn't make his heart race so fast.

Though he had no idea why Kasgar insisted on capturing a Xenos construct that should have been directly destroyed.

He shook his head, sobered up a bit, and stood up again.

There was still more to do.

"I declare the void battle against the Crystalline Aliens concluded, ending in our army's overwhelming victory."

Amid the applause, the Fleet Commander continued.

A great victory.

But it was the most nerve-wracking great victory of his service career.

"Our forces destroyed eight enemy small-class warships and captured one small-class warship, at nearly zero losses."

"Tally the casualties and losses, and send the battle report to Lord Horus via the Astropath."

Dalinite Nebula.

Vengeful Spirit, Strategy Room.

The Primarch Horus stood before the massive window of the Vengeful Spirit, gazing at the wreckage in the distant star sea.

He had just returned from a brutal cleansing campaign against the aliens, and his armor still bore traces of blood and grime.

As the invincible Shepherd of Wolves, these were naturally all left by the enemy.

Aside from a few aliens willing to submit, the vast majority of humanity's foes had been annihilated in this battle by Horus and the absolute force of the Lunar Wolves and the 63rd Expeditionary Fleet.

Their cleansing of the aliens in the Dalinite Nebula was proceeding smoothly.

Only a few remnant forces were still putting up resistance.

Thud, thud.

Just as Horus was enjoying a moment of post-battle tranquility, the footsteps of a giant who bore some resemblance to him broke the silence of the strategy room.

He was easy to recognize.

Because of the hair tied into a topknot.

And the pointed head.

"Ezekiel, what encouraging news do you bring?"

Company Commander of the Lunar Wolves, member of the Council of Four Kings, Ezekiel Abaddon.

"The Astropath has sent a message."

"Our rear base is under siege by a large Xenos Fleet—the situation is extremely critical."

He said in a deep voice.