The Emperor's Currency, Humanity's Price
Lin En's voice came through the comms. "Hurry, hurry, get everyone out of that Escort Frigate! Even though it was hit by a torpedo and exploded, everyone inside should still be alive!"
The warship's aircrew, upon receiving the order, were completely bewildered. "Huh?!?"
That can't be...?
Rescue people?
The Escort Frigate was hit directly in the ammunition magazine by a torpedo, and they witnessed the entire ship being blown to pieces.
The explosion sent flames soaring into the sky, illuminating half the heavens, and debris from the ship flew several kilometers away.
Several Crew were even thrown overboard by the shockwave of the explosion, rolling into the void along with their seats, without even an escape pod.
The loader, who was loading shells into the gun barrel, stopped and turned to look towards the bridge.
The gunnery officer sitting at the fire control console also turned his head to look at the captain.
The captain stood by the command platform, his communicator halfway raised, and opened his mouth. "Huh...?"
The adjutant lowered his voice and asked, "Captain? How... how do we salvage this?"
The captain put the communicator back on its base.
After hesitating for a long time, I finally made up my mind!
"Rescue! Lord Lin En says rescue, so we rescue! Torpedo boats, prepare to leave the ship. Hangar ground crew, get the nets and grappling hooks ready. Rescue everything in sight that is damaged from the ship and its crew!"
"But..."
How are we supposed to salvage this? The warship is in pieces, and the people inside are even worse... Can flesh and blood really be harder than steel?
The captain waved his hand. "Stop talking, let's get it done."
If Lord Lin En allowed it, there must be a reason.
Even if Lord Lin En is wrong, it's none of their business; they only need to follow orders.
A commotion broke out in the hangar.
The ground crew, carrying grappling hooks and nets, ran towards the torpedo boat, muttering something under their breath.
No one said it all, but everyone understood the meaning. With the intensity of the explosion, let alone whether anyone could survive it, even if they did, Mortals without the protection of Power Armor would be dead by now if they were thrown into space.
Their trip will most likely only result in them collecting the bodies.
Several ground crew members stuffed body bags into the torpedo boat.
Oh well, at least I can collect the body.
Don't let them drift in the cold space.
Let's try to recover as many as we can.
The torpedo boat exits its cabin.
The small boat, its Engine spitting flames and braving gunfire, approached the wreckage of the Escort Frigate.
The radar screen was full of debris, large and small, tumbling together.
The operator carefully avoided the large pieces of debris and turned on the searchlight to scan the pile of rubble.
They didn't really think those people could survive; they assumed they could only find a few lucky Astartes with relatively tough Power Armor and still breathing among the scattered body parts.
result...
"There's a heat source," the operator said suddenly, somewhat uncertainly. "More than one."
"How many?"
"The radar... the radar screen is densely packed with heat signals, all of which are signs of life."
The people on the torpedo boat fell silent.
Then they saw it.
A Mortals navy man floated beside a twisted piece of deck wreckage.
His standard military uniform was torn to shreds by the explosion, and his face and hands were covered in cuts, but he seemed unaffected, vigorously paddling in space.
He's still alive!!!
Further away, several Space Marines were stuck on a large section of the ship's hull, their Power Armor cratered and their chests exposed, blood seeping through the gaps in the armor.
But they kept moving, using their hands to support themselves as they stood up, kicking away the debris beside them with a powerful leap.
There were even more people in the distance.
There were no bodies.
They are all still alive.
"Oh my god... Help!!! Help!!!!!!"
The ground crew on the torpedo boat began retrieving people from inside, checking each one as they were pulled out.
To live, to still live, to truly live.
They fished faster and faster, their hands trembling more and more, without even opening the body bags.
A ground crew member was shoving a marine engineer, whose sleeve had been blown off and was now only half-up, into the cabin. The engineer was still yelling, "My leg! My leg is stuck in a pipe! I think I'm going to have it amputated!"
The ground crew looked down and saw that his leg was stuck in that section of pipe; they had no idea how it had gotten in.
but...
His leg was completely unharmed.
His pants were blown off, but there wasn't a single scratch on his leg.
The engine room engineer looked down at his legs and paused for a couple of seconds, then exclaimed, "Huh...?"
The ground crew member took two steps back and bumped into the tool rack.
"... How is that possible?"
The torpedo boat returned to port and went back to the warship next to it.
The hatch opened, and the people on board began to disembark.
Everyone waiting in the hangar was dumbfounded.
The Mortals came out first, followed by the Space Marines.
The Power Armor clattered and broke into pieces, but the people were all intact.
Some were still bleeding, but their wounds were visibly closing, and warm golden light shone through their flesh, like an invisible welding torch slowly welding their wounds shut.
A nearby officer opened his mouth for a long time, finally managing to stammer out, "The Emperor..."
They didn't have escape pods; they just flew directly into space.
The gunnery officer glanced in the direction of the torpedo boat, swallowed hard, and said, "The armor on those Space Marines is all torn to shreds."
A was completely smashed, but the person was perfectly fine.
"Look at those Mortals!" the loader beside him said, his voice trembling. "Those Mortals don't even have Power Armor. How could they possibly survive that kind of explosion?"
The clothes on those Mortals were blown off, proving that they weren't lucky enough to escape the blast.
The captain watched all of this in shock.
He was merely following Lord Lin En's orders, never expecting it to actually happen...
The hangar was silent for a few seconds.
Then someone shouted, "Emperor bless us!"
That shout seemed to set everyone in the hangar on a string, and their cries grew louder and louder.
"... It must be the power of the Emperor!"
"The Emperor is watching us!"
"The Emperor!!!"
Finally, the ground crew who came out of the torpedo boat slammed the wrench onto the deck!
None of the names on the body bags were ever used.
Sometimes he also believes in the existence of his faith.
O Supreme Emperor, thank you for your favor and protection.
Thank you for giving us Dreadnought courage.
Thank you for bestowing upon us unparalleled power!!!
The captain didn't move for a long time.
"Captain?" The first officer thought something was wrong and leaned closer to check on the captain.
Suddenly, the captain slammed the communicator on the seat and stood up.
Then the captain grabbed the fleet broadcast system and roared into the microphone:
"Charge!!! Warriors of the Emperor, charge!!!!"
"Everyone on that Escort Frigate is alive! Not a single one is missing!!! The Emperor is watching us, the Emperor's light shines upon each and every one of us!!!!"
There was a moment of deathly silence on the warship.
Then someone shouted from somewhere, and the whole ship erupted in chaos, with shouts from all the ships mingling together in a jumbled mess of different tunes.
The assistant gunner, who had just been handing shells to the ammunition loader, pulled open the breechblock and shoved the huge torpedo inside!
May the Emperor protect us! Fire! Fire at full power! Fire at maximum overload efficiency!
No one will die! Who's afraid of that?!
Today, he's going to go from Emperor one penny to one dollar!!!!
"We are all the Emperor's currency!!!"
"We are the price we pay for the great Emperor leading humanity to a great revival!!!!"