Conwater was delighted. What he had thought would be trouble had turned into a windfall. A blessing in disguise-unfortunately, the universe of 40k had no such proverb.
"The landing ship has docked successfully. No resistance encountered. Everything is proceeding smoothly."
The report from the front pleased Conwater even more. Since he could capture a Lunar-class Cruiser, he would have to give some thought to its former owner.
Conwater stopped following the boarding operation and ordered his servants to prepare a shuttle. He intended to go to the space station and personally welcome Captain Pex. If necessary, he could offer some money... as long as Captain Pex turned a blind eye and the Imperial Navy recorded the Glory Knight as a combat loss.
"Have the steward prepare more Throne Gelt. Definitely not the Imperial Coins we issue ourselves. And jewels... I'm going to meet a very important guest," Conwater instructed Ordinary before leaving.
The human soldiers emerging from the landing ship were reasonably well trained. They advanced slowly, covering one another. The warship's pitch-black passageways weighed heavily on their minds, as though countless unseen dangers lurked in the darkness.
"A Lunar-class has tens of thousands of crew at full complement, doesn't it? The Astra Militarum aboard are lavishly equipped too, with every kind of heavy equipment. Supposedly, they even have Leman Russ Tanks. How could a few boarding Orks defeat them?"
Perhaps the thudding of boots against the deck was too oppressive. One of the grunts tried to ease the atmosphere by saying something.
"Exactly. Even tens of thousands of Orks would take more than three days and nights to kill. Maybe the Astra Militarum aboard this warship were just rubbish, nowhere near as elite as our defense force," another grunt chimed in.
"Stay alert and cut the chatter!" the sergeant leading them snapped.
The sergeant grew increasingly uneasy. The damage along their route made it clear that fierce fighting had erupted inside the warship. Blood coated the walls, and explosions had torn steel apart.
But... how could such fierce fighting leave no bodies in sight? Whether Ork or human, at least some chunks of blasted flesh should have been easy to find.
The squad continued forward and rounded a corner. Several white flashlight beams illuminated the end of the corridor, disturbing a monster hunched over its meal. It turned its head, hissed at the squad, and fled into the shadows.
None of the soldiers managed to pull their triggers in time. They could only watch the monster vanish before their eyes. The Local Defense Force might have been well trained and well equipped, but they had desperately little experience fighting humanity's enemies-these terrifying xenos.
The sergeant led his men to the spot where the monster had been feeding. It was a slaughterhouse. Judging by the mangled scraps of flesh and broken equipment, the victims appeared to have been a group of routed Astra Militarum soldiers.
"Sir... what was that... I've never seen anything like it..." a young-faced recruit asked, trembling.
The sergeant crouched to inspect the scene without speaking. He transmitted what he saw to the rear through his recorder. After a long while, he said slowly, "The intelligence was wrong. There aren't just Orks here. There are Tyranids too. Together, they killed everyone aboard."
Gunshots, explosions, and the sounds of flesh being torn apart rose one after another over the shared comms channel. Terror instantly spread through the entire squad.
"Pull yourselves together! Prepare for combat!" The sergeant raised his gun and flicked off the safety. "For the Emperor."
Cheng Mingrui gave the boyz under him a furious tongue-lashing. "Who told you to start fightin'! I said wait! Wait till more humies come aboard, then attack!"
"Boss Slick... it weren't us. Our boyz were all hidin' nice and proper. It was those Tyranids. They attacked the humies first. I reckon they might've been hungry," said the boy-a boss himself-who stood only two heads shorter than Cheng Mingrui, sounding aggrieved.
"Ah, forget it. I knew you lot couldn't be trusted. Get the guns firin' first! Take out the humies' little ships, then full power to the engines! Charge their big ship!" With the situation changed, Cheng Mingrui could only improvise and issue new orders.
The enormous macro-cannons under Ork control let out an earth-shaking roar. Only a handful remained-most had been destroyed in the earlier battle-but they were enough to deal with human destroyers at such close range.
Close range, a surprise attack, and shells packed with what the Orks considered an appropriate explosive yield proved decisive. Both destroyers took direct hits to their core sections and exploded into fireworks in space.
The Glory Knight's remaining engines spat long columns of flame. With their output pushed to the limit, the warship almost reached the speed it had been capable of with all its engines intact.
The sudden turn of events caught everyone off guard. The humans' sole remaining cruiser immediately began to turn. Fortunately, concerns about gravitational effects had kept the two cruisers from drawing too close. Otherwise, there really would have been no time to react.
Charging at full speed, the Glory Knight managed only to shear off two of the Human Cruiser's engines with its prow ram before the two warships swept past each other.
Cheng Mingrui judged that the Glory Knight's current firepower was insufficient to sink the Human Cruiser. If the fight dragged on, defeat was the only possible outcome.
He therefore ordered the engine room to keep feeding power into the engines so the Glory Knight could move faster. His destination was Planet 4 of the Euronia System, the nearest planet to them-a relatively barren, rocky world.
He also wanted to head for Planet 3 of the Euronia System, the human colony world, where conditions were better suited to the Orks' growth and reproduction. But the Glory Knight's condition would not permit it. If they traveled that far, the Human Cruiser would very likely catch them from behind and sink them.
Before the shocking upheaval in space, Planetary Governor Conwater had been waiting quietly in a reception room aboard the Euronia System's space station for Captain Pex to arrive.
Tradition required all rescued personnel to undergo a full-body examination. Many xenos could infiltrate and invade the Imperium, so security demanded exceptional care and caution.
"How dare you treat a noble of high birth, a senior officer of the Imperial Navy, like this!" Pex roared angrily at the station's screening personnel when they told him what was required. The two guards behind him looked equally furious.
"Stripping naked for an examination in full view of everyone is an insult! I will never accept it!"
The screening personnel were embarrassed as well. The routine examination had to be carried out, but they did not dare offend this Imperial noble.
"Prepare a separate screening procedure and a private room for our honored guest. Euronia may be a small, remote place, but I am a noble too, and I understand etiquette. We must not give the esteemed Lampaster Family cause to consider us rude or offensive."
Conwater delivered his instructions remotely through a nearby communicator. This was another of his tactics: first assert his authority, then offer conciliation, laying the groundwork for the negotiations to come.
Before you continue