The suffering Astra Militarum

The Black Templars who had been about to leave had stayed to watch when Iax pulled Sean back.

Now, seeing the light of an explosion visible even from the surface, they instantly understood why Iax had shown them the battle in space, and what he had meant by a little help.

Sien's thoughts were in turmoil.

"You said you would provide a little help, but I never expected you to provide it like this."

Faced with the terrifying power of such a weapon, Sean had unconsciously adopted a respectful tone.

He sounded nothing like the man who had kept calling Iax an Ancient Construct just moments before.

Iax was very satisfied with their reactions and pointed at the other three Iron Warriors ships in the Holographic Projection.

"This is only the beginning. Let's put an end to this chaos."

His mechanical finger then moved gently through the hologram, selecting the other three ships one by one.

The enormous gun emplacement nearby began charging again, and dazzling, pale light once more shot from the surface into space.

The second Cruiser erupted into a blazing fireball after the beam pierced its Void Shield.

The renegade Battleship leading the formation was the first to change course.

In just a few dozen seconds, the fleet had lost two Cruisers. Losing the Victory-class Battleship as well would make the losses truly unbearable.

Besides, the Boarding Action parties had already been deployed. All that remained was to see whether they could seize the Imperium's Oberon-class Battleship from within.

Unless they tried to destroy their opponent, a lone Victory-class Battleship and Tempest-class Frigate could no longer remain within its firing range.

If a single salvo from the Oberon hit, the Tempest-class Frigate's Void Shield would last only a few seconds before the ship exploded into a fireball like the two Tyrant-class Cruisers.

Watching the two ships try to withdraw rapidly from the battlefield, Iax reluctantly fired the Shatterer Cannon before it had finished charging.

A pale beam only a third as thick as the previous ones surged hastily from the muzzle.

"Warning. Incoming high-energy beam weapon. Emergency evasive action."

With assistance from its Chaos machine spirit, the Victory-class Battleship rolled sharply to evade.

After piercing the Void Shield below, the beam swept across the ship at an angle, clipping the bottom eighth of its hull.

A chain of fireballs instantly erupted along the underside of the Victory-class Battleship.

As the hull ruptured, the vacuum killed large numbers of ordinary Rebels. Even many renegade Iron Warriors were hurled out through the breaches by the sudden decompression.

To limit its losses, the Battleship did not stop. Instead, it accelerated toward a more distant position.

The many Lightning Strike Fighters still locked in dogfights received orders and began withdrawing. Many had already lost their carriers, so their only chance of landing was to catch up with the retreating Battleship and frigate.

All returning fighters also received an additional order: on their way back, they were to head to the area just struck and recover as many of the Iron Warriors thrown into space as possible.

As Astartes, even if they were cast into space unprepared, they would most likely enter a state of suspended animation.

Moreover, they were currently in combat, and almost all the Astartes were wearing Power Armour.

Some might not have put on their helmets yet, but as long as they were brought back aboard, the Chapter's Apothecaries would soon restore them to normal.

At least among the many renegade Legions, the Iron Warriors still upheld the brotherhood of a Space Marine Chapter. They would not readily abandon any of their battle-brothers.

The two enormous explosions and the enemy ships rapidly withdrawing left the Captain aboard the Imperial Battleship dumbfounded.

"Did you see that? What was that strange beam weapon? Such astonishing power! Just two shots destroyed two Cruisers, and even the third damaged the Victory-class Battleship they plundered from us. Praise the Emperor!"

While everyone on the Bridge was elated, the alarms echoing throughout the ship never stopped.

The external threat had subsided for the moment, but the threat within could not be ignored.

The enemy ships had deployed large numbers of boarding craft and Boarding Torpedoes. Although light defensive fire and Fury Interceptors had destroyed some during their approach, far more enemies had successfully boarded than expected.

These boarders included not only Space Marines from the Iron Warriors, but also large numbers of mortal rebel troops and some heavy weapons.

If the Astra Militarum and Astartes aboard the Battleship could not deal with the invaders, the Captain would have to consider ordering the Battleship's power core to overload, destroying the entire vessel.

After all, a Battleship falling into Rebels' hands would cause far more harm than one destroyed in battle.

The Battleship had a total complement of 155,000, including nearly a hundred thousand Imperial Navy combat personnel.

But none of that posed a problem for the invaders.

After all, the ship's internal layout was restrictive. They did not have to face attacks from a hundred thousand Astra Militarum soldiers at once.

Reports from the various engagements put the enemy force aboard the warship at thirty Astartes and roughly six hundred Rebels.

Their objective was clear. The thirty Iron Warriors Astartes formed the vanguard, advancing rapidly toward the Bridge. The remaining Rebels followed close behind, occupying narrow junctions to hold off pursuit.

Once the Bridge fell, the Iron Warriors would take control of the entire ship and race into the Great Rift.

The power of the warp would swiftly corrupt the ship's machine spirit. By then, trying to regain control and steer the ship out of the warp would be little more than a fool's dream.

"Servitor G19237, contact Commander Sean immediately and ask for his location. We need help, now!"

The Captain's shout echoed throughout the Bridge.

The Astra Militarum were almost helpless against the rapidly advancing Astartes.

These traitorous angels of the Emperor still possessed their demigod bodies and thick Power Armour.

Their incredible speed, unerring accuracy with every bolt round, and heavy defences that were almost impossible to penetrate were a nightmare for ordinary Astra Militarum soldiers.

Almost any ordinary human who entered their sight would instantly be blasted into a heap of shredded meat.

Corridor after corridor and junction after junction became a bloody hell.

But there was no other way. The Astra Militarum commander could only spend lives to buy time while rushing heavy weapons into position farther back.

As their commander, he had fought beside these demigods more than once. He knew very well the strength of the Astartes' demigod bodies.

Stopping them required enough firepower to slow their terrifying advance.

Under normal circumstances, heavy weapons would never be stationed in these places where they had no business being. All of this would take time.