Strong Enough

Three warships headed for their destination: the Manros system, beyond the edge of the Maelstrom.

Tyrant's Gate was not far from the edge of the Maelstrom.

The Maelstrom was a Warp Rift, a place where the Warp and realspace overlapped and blurred together. It was perilous in the extreme, and the closer one got to its center, the more dangerous it became. Thus, unless Chaos Space Marines were particularly devoted to Chaos, they generally avoided venturing into the Maelstrom's heart.

Upon reaching their destination, the three warships scanned the system, and the relevant information appeared on the command deck.

"There's an Imperial world in the system."

"The Botulism Gang's warships are preparing to attack it."

"The strategic briefing sent by the Red Corsairs says Huron lured the Botulism Gang into raiding that Imperial world, creating an opportunity for us to launch a surprise attack."

Carly reported the information.

A day earlier, Lu Jin had promoted her to head of the strategy room. She was no longer a servant.

"So... we're preparing to attack?" Vengar stood beside the holographic projection and cast Lu Jin a questioning glance.

He acted like a lackey, a born servant, but Lu Jin knew the man was playing dumb.

Vengar was ambitious. He didn't even take Huron seriously.

He was powerful and skilled in battle, and he was also a capable commander, adept at both ground and naval warfare. How could someone like that be as cowardly as he seemed?

"Kao." Lu Jin turned around. "Work out a strategic plan with the battle-brothers."

The Fierce Angels immediately gathered around and began discussing tactics.

Vengar smiled. In an instant, he worked out a detailed, comprehensive plan. As he listened to the Fierce Angels talk, his brows furrowed slightly with impatience, though he didn't dare let it show outright.

Compared with Lu Jin, the Fierce Angels were experts at strategic planning.

But compared with Vengar, they were amateurs. They only knew how to make plans from a warrior's perspective and lacked a sense of the bigger picture.

"Your discussion makes sense," Vengar interrupted. Even though he didn't want to offend Lu Jin, his tone still carried unmistakable contempt. "But... how about this? My men and I will lead the assault. We'll board them directly and capture their ship."

Vengar then explained how important ships were in the Maelstrom, and how neither side had much ammunition aboard. Even with a three-to-one advantage, they couldn't be sure the enemy wouldn't escape.

Finally, he laid out his specific plan for the boarding action.

When he finished, Vengar looked at Lu Jin with a restrained expression. "Chapter Master, do you approve of my proposal?"

Lu Jin nodded.

Vengar immediately looked down at the holographic projection and issued orders to his subordinates. "We'll lead the assault. The Fierce Angels are too few in number. Do your best to keep them from taking casualties."

That last part was meant entirely for the others to hear.

The operation began.

The warships flanking the Ragefang launched fighters, Boarding Torpedoes, and various other weapons and vehicles designed to support boarding actions at the Botulism Gang's warship ahead.

Vengar unleashed his talents like an artist performing a piece of music.

One order after another left his lips, and each detail of his plan was carried out.

Before the enemy could put up an effective defense, a swift, precise, and ruthless strike crippled the Botulism Gang warship's engines, leaving it unable to move.

But at that point, Vengar and his men slowed down.

"How did the enemy manage to stop you?"

"There are only three hundred of them in all, spread across the entire ship to intercept our boarding parties at various points. How did they manage to hold you back?"

"Even the Third and Fourth Companies have been stopped?"

"Virus weapons?"

Vengar spoke with his subordinates over the comms, then slammed a hand against the holographic display and swore.

Lu Jin realized that Vengar and his men were just putting on a show. Their aim was to get the Fierce Angels into the fight, where they could tackle the most difficult section of the enemy ship.

Sure enough, Vengar immediately pointed to the enemy warship on the holographic display. A device at the stern had been marked.

It was the Void Shield generator.

"If we can disable the Void Shield, our warship's weapons can target the parts of the ship where most of the enemy are concentrated. Then we can wipe them out and capture this vessel."

"As for the ship... since your Fierce Angels don't have many crewmen either, I suggest we sell it to the Black Heart King and split the proceeds."

"But first, the Fierce Angels will need to reinforce the elite strike force I sent in."

As Vengar spoke, Kao and Lu Jin exchanged glances. They both saw through his ploy.

But Kao thought this might be a good chance for the new Chapter Master to strengthen his bond with the battle-brothers. From the time Lu Jin had still been a Mortal until now, he had trained alongside many people, but he had never fought shoulder to shoulder with them.

"I'll take my battle-brothers with me." Lu Jin stepped closer to Vengar. "We'll protect my crew. If any of them die, you know what will happen."

"Let me fight alongside you," Vengar said. "Trust me. I give you my life as a guarantee: however many people are aboard when we leave, that same number will be aboard when we return."

Lu Jin thought it over, then looked at Vengar's mouth.

Vengar, nicknamed the Apostate, had two fangs—the mark of the Sons of Sanguinius.

Sanguinius was the Primarch of the Blood Angels. His angelic sons had a genetic defect called the Black Rage, which they needed to suppress by drinking blood.

Lu Jin nodded.

The crew immediately brought over Lu Jin's armor.

The Fierce Angels wore armor Huron had sent them earlier, painted in the Fierce Angels' red-and-blue colors. But because of Lu Jin's unusual physique, his Power Armor had to be made personally by Amanius, Forge Master of the Red Corsairs.

As the crew armored Lu Jin, Vengar saw that he had no Black Carapace. His Power Armor had no place to connect to one, either.

As for how Lu Jin operated the heavy Power Armor, that was thanks to a bit of ingenuity from Amanius—and a bit of brute force.

Aboard the Botulism Gang warship.

The route to the Void Shield generator was a straight, spacious passageway, one kilometer long.

Unlike the narrow corridors of an ordinary warship, this passageway was broad enough to accommodate heavy weapons. Even tanks and aircraft could support the defenders from within it.

When Lu Jin arrived at the rear of the attackers' position in a Transport Aircraft, bullets were flying and shells were roaring. The fighting was fierce.

A boarding action had somehow turned into a trench battle.

Both sides had established positions in the passageway and deployed heavy weapons and armored vehicles as the battle for control grew more intense.

As Lu Jin and sixteen Fierce Angels disembarked from the Transport Aircraft and surveyed the front from behind their own lines, several more Transport Aircraft "spat out" the Mortal troops.

"Do you still think I deliberately forced you to get involved?" Vengar stood in front of Lu Jin. "Look around. Do you still think that?"

Kao asked, "Why are you so determined to fight over this passageway? Can't the Boarding Torpedoes punch through somewhere else?"

Vengar answered Kao, "They can't. The section of the warship containing the Void Shield generator has been heavily reinforced, so we have to fight our way through."

Then he turned to Lu Jin. "I don't know where your hostility toward me comes from... and I didn't expect one of my subordinates to offend you over a Mortal. But unlike the Black Heart King, at least I didn't throw you into an Arena and force you to send a hundred unarmed people into battle, did I?"

Lu Jin stared coldly at Vengar, his gaze even icier than when he looked at Huron.

The Apostate didn't know that Lu Jin's hostility came neither from the past nor the present, but from the future. Lu Jin knew exactly what kind of person Vengar was—and what he was worth.

"For Space Marines, there's no disagreement that fighting side by side can't resolve." Vengar turned to face the fighting ahead. "Come on. Let's fight together."

Before he had even finished speaking, Lu Jin had already led the Fierce Angels around him.

Xenos sneered at the people fighting and tossed Vengar a parting remark. "If they like talking nonsense as much as you do, that's why they're losing."

The seventeen of them, including Lu Jin, went to the front of the line and faced the enemy's fire.

Shells occasionally struck around them.

Shrapnel and incoming bullets were blocked by the Fierce Angels' sacred Sceptre. The Sceptre, mounted on the Mechanical Arm over Lu Jin's shoulder, projected a psychic barrier.

The white barrier shielded all seventeen of them.

Even after Ninos's death, his psychic power continued to protect the Chapter's members.

The Fierce Angels exchanged glances, and a battle plan took shape between them.

Everyone except Lu Jin had fought together for a long time. A single glance was enough for them to understand one another's intentions.

Still, given Lu Jin's presence, they discussed the plan over the comms.

The plan, in short, was for the Fierce Angels to spearhead the attack, break through the defensive line, and open the way.

Lu Jin held the most central role in the plan. He was to do what he was best at—the role he would have filled if he had joined the Fierce Angels and Ninos had survived.

The Chapter's records called this role the "Breaker of Formations."

A gunship swooped down and opened fire on the seventeen of them.

Xenos drew the bolt pistol at his hip and fired, the jump pack on his back roaring to life.

After bolt rounds pierced the gunship's cockpit and blew apart the Mortal pilot from the Botulism Gang, Xenos surged into the cockpit with the aid of his jump pack. He took control of the gunship, pulled it up, and turned its guns on the enemy positions, strafing their heavy weapons.

Lu Jin and the others strode forward, gradually quickening their pace until they were running at full speed.

A Venom Tank took aim at them.

Xenos leaped from the cockpit and landed on the tank. With casual ease, he pulled out an explosive and tossed it onto the hatch. He turned around and used the back of his Power Armor to shield himself from the shrapnel and flames, then jumped through the blasted-open hatch.

Xenos captured the tank and swung its turret around, destroying another tank that had been advancing slowly and aiming at the battle-brothers.

Xenos was undoubtedly a versatile combat talent.

He had been so inept at business that he'd been cheated down to the clothes on his back. But on the battlefield, he was in his element and fearsome.

Under Vengar's watch, the Fierce Angels charged into the enemy positions.

Each of them was the equal of a whole combat squad. With all the gear they carried, they could adapt to any situation. As they stormed the enemy's firing positions, they seemed to pass through without meeting any resistance.

Lu Jin was even more fearsome.

He charged toward a makeshift bunker, swinging his Power Hammer as he sprinted to smash aside obstacles like the wreckage of armored vehicles. He stormed into the bunker and swung his Chainaxe, turning four Botulism warriors into chunks in an instant.

Only then did Vengar understand why Lu Jin wielded two heavy weapons at once.

Lu Jin burst out of the bunker. The Fierce Angels rushed in from every direction and joined him in wiping out the dozens of Botulism warriors who had tried to stop them. Then they spread out again.

From their way of fighting, Vengar could tell they were tightly united. Trying to turn even one of them against the others would be a pipe dream.

They were powerful, too. Their Chapter had once numbered over a thousand, but only seventeen remained... That proved they hadn't survived through luck. They were simply strong enough.