Crisis

Quan Tiehua looked at the damaged locator beacon and finally reported the situation to the other team members in the communication channel with a sigh.

"Attention everyone, I've encountered Chaos daemons. The threat has been cleared, but the transmission beacon is damaged."

Meanwhile, Leonster and the other battle-brothers who were leisurely pursuing the fleeing Chaos heretics ahead, and were still fighting, all silently prepared themselves.

Leonster heard the news without any reaction. This was a common predicament for Astartes on missions.

But for the powerful them, there was nothing to fear.

At worst, they would inherit the glory of returning their souls to the Golden Throne.

"Loyalty."

Leonster had just reached an intersection. He could easily track the escape route of the Chaos heretics.

But... clearly, these Chaos heretics wouldn't just be running away.

At the other end of a broken bridge at the end of a long corridor, several Chaos heretics pushed a Hellhammer-pattern laser cannon into position.

Several mortal traitors quickly connected additional battery packs.

In the magnified view on the screen, more and more fleeing Chaos heretics appeared.

They took cover in other surrounding compartments.

Sssshhh--

The moment Leonster's figure appeared at the intersection, before he could even raise his bolter, a terrifying laser attack struck his Plasteel armor.

As an Astartes, Leonster was also the captain of the boarding squad.

His overall capabilities were formidable.

Take his reaction speed, for example.

This allowed Leonster to narrowly survive the attack.

However, blood seeped from the gaps near the joints of his Plasteel armor, indicating his condition.

The laser cannon not only injured Leonster but also vaporized the Chaos heretics who were still in the line of fire.

Flashbang smoke grenades bounced off the hull, and thick smoke instantly obscured the corridor, blinding the Hellhammer-pattern laser cannon.

The moment the smoke appeared, the Astartes squad with boarding shields and Leonster quickly blocked the passage.

The other team members deployed not far from the corridors on both sides of the intersection.

Bang bang bang bang bang bang--

Terrifying bolter fire poured out, instantly shredding the enemies who had taken cover in the adjacent compartments and were trying to ambush them in the smoke.

Leonster, however, raised his fully charged plasma pistol and fired in the general direction he had just memorized.

Like a comet, the plasma projectile, trailing fire, struck the Hellhammer-pattern laser cannon, eliminating the heavy weapon.

Quan Tiehua aimed at a pre-placed grenade in the combat corridor outside the compartment.

The chaotic footsteps he sensed through his Leman's Ears grew clearer.

He could even hear the sounds of bolter fire.

He held a bolter in his right hand and used his combat blade as a brace in his left.

The makeshift cover, built from debris and enemy corpses, effectively concealed the Astartes' towering figures under the dim lighting unique to shipboard combat.

The panicked heretics, holding dilapidated weapons, instantly appeared around the corner, exposed to Quan Tiehua's sight.

But he didn't rush to fire.

He waited quietly, his heavy breathing within his helmet slowly subsiding.

The heretics, who were almost out of the corridor, clearly noticed something was wrong with the compartment. Before they could fully raise their weapons, a precise bolter round pierced through the obstructing bodies and struck the trap already set at the corner.

Boom.

Instantly, terrifying explosions erupted sequentially throughout the corridor, flames spewing from every exit like a roaring fire dragon.

In just a moment, more than half of the reinforcing heretics were annihilated.

Quan Tiehua slowly stood up, picked up the bolter pistol at his waist, and gripped his combat dagger in his other hand. His heavy magnetic boots stepped onto the slightly sticky deck of the ship.

Bang bang bang.

The bolter pistol fired rapidly, followed by the swift swing of the combat dagger within seconds.

At the same time, the other brothers began to advance steadily, eliminating the remaining Chaos heretics.

The battle on the bridge was swift. Although they had lost one locator beacon, their countless combat experiences against Chaos enemies meant they would never rely on just one piece of critical equipment.

However, the Warp's chaotic energy caused the locator beacon's signal to be severely unstable.

But on the Blood Angels ship, Chapter Master Affos could no longer afford to worry about that. On the planet below, the planetary governor had sent them no less than ten distress calls within a few Terran minutes.

This planet, being the one the Rogue Trader had the most trade contact with, was clearly heavily corrupted.

But thankfully, the people in the hive cities above still held firm to their faith in the Emperor and were fighting desperately.

However, for them, the most probable outcome was still dying under their own people's guns, their hearts full of noble faith in the Emperor.

With the final message from the Astropath, Chapter Master Affos knew there was no more time to delay.

Their reinforcements would take a full half of a Terran month to arrive.

Who knew what their situation would be by then?

But it was also unlucky; they were the closest available relief force to this sector.

"Launch the boarding torpedoes."

As the order was given, the launch bay doors slowly opened, and boarding torpedoes began launching one after another, heading straight for the enemy Chaos battleship.

Even among the few remaining assault craft of the Blood Angels Chapter, some veteran warriors clad in Indomitus Pattern Terminator Armour were ready and waiting.

With more and more landing zones secured, the Astartes of the Blood Angels Chapter began to swarm into the ship, capturing key positions.

Boarding shields led the way, serving as makeshift cover. The Indomitus Pattern Terminator Armour behind them followed closely, providing fire support and a degree of cover for the Astartes behind them with their powerful firepower, armor, and deflector fields.

The entire Chaos vessel was captured in just half a Terran hour.

Except for some xenos lurking in the lower decks, virtually every part of the ship was cleared in an instant.

Some squads, after completing their assigned missions, even moved to reinforce the bridge.

But when the squads arrived to support the bridge, they found the situation had changed drastically.

Noise Marines had even appeared among the enemy forces.

And not just on this ship, but even on the planet below, the corrupted Emperor's Children had appeared.

Individually, these corrupted Emperor's Children were even more powerful than ordinary loyal Astartes.

Their appearance, coupled with the corrupted, twisted, and fallen mortal followers, delivered the fiercest blows to the loyalist positions on the planet.

For a time, the front line became precarious.