Warhammer: In the Name of the Emperor

Cole looked down at the Rogue Trader fleet outside the window. They were all approaching. The remaining ships were also moored around the Infinite Frontier. The Mechanicus comprehensive maintenance ship carried by the Mars-class battle cruiser had been released from the belly. The mechanical ship The pride of exploration and research and development of the teaching is repairing the damaged parts of those armed merchant ships.

The long mechanical arm extending from the exploration ship is welding and cutting rapidly. A piece of armor on the side of the corridor that has been completely unusable due to an internal explosion has been removed. The armor plate that fell off the ship is floating feebly. In the vacuum, it was slowly pushed away and floated into the universe.

It may float as space junk for many years, and eventually it may hit a sun or crash on a certain planet. If you are lucky, it may be raised as a treasure by the inhabitants of some backward and primitive wild world.

After all, in those worlds, these armors from the imperial shipyards are not very common. Use them to make a few swords and axes, and you can definitely fight with those who still use stones, wooden sticks or high-end scrap metal. Now that he has become a tycoon in the world, those barbarians might even give those weapons some ridiculous names.

Cole is sometimes curious as to why the empire maintains so many wild worlds. They are almost unable to provide any effective resources. The feudal world can still produce a few knight families or contribute some food, but the only resources in the wild world are Manpower, but even so, those who are brave and fierce, and can't even understand Low Gothic barbarians can't obey the army's command. They are almost all a group of problem soldiers.

But okay, this may not be what Cole should care about. He is just a captain. Leave these unfathomable and profound issues that determine the great future of the empire to the high lord or others who should worry about these. Go ahead and take care of it.

Cole's eyes reviewed the maintenance status of the armed merchant ships. It seemed that the work of the mechanical priests was progressing smoothly. Now most of the holes and severely damaged armor have been effectively replaced. Although it is difficult to use it as real armor, But you can't expect too much from the armor coming out of the ship's foundry on the Infinite Frontier, can you?

But in any case, it is probably no problem to let these unlucky people sail to the next world with an Imperial starport and garrison. Probably, if the Emperor bless it, although Cole does not know, these stolen Astra Militarum equipment Can the guy who fell to the ground be "blessed by the Emperor"?

"Don't move, you're under arrest." A guy behind him said in a low voice, trying to sound like a serious judge from the Ministry of Justice. The round muzzle of a gun in his hand was staring at the back of Cole's head. The thing made the captain's head sink a little lower.

"Vito, if anyone needs to be arrested, they are on the opposite side. You can go over the trestle and detain them." Cole said helplessly, but the person behind him laughed and removed the muzzle of the gun. Vito walked up to Cole carrying the laser gun, and together they looked at the fleet outside from behind the large floor-to-ceiling windows.

The red maintenance ship was igniting a welding fire in its superstructure. The dazzling light shone on their faces, and also illuminated the shiny, brand-new Imperial Skyhawk logo on one side of the dark green laser gun, underneath. There is also this line of identification code.

"Aren't you going to shoot these guys? It seems that they stole the newly manufactured, brand-new, and unworn Astra Militarum equipment, and then sent the equipment to the Astra Militarum. I don't think so. Too optimistic."

"Yes, that's right, it's probably some junk goods, old antiques that have been lying in the warehouse for who knows how many years, and they are used to replenish the equipment that disappeared in the shipping list. Oh, I hope the Emperor will bless the big heads with those guns, When you aim at the enemy and pull the trigger, you won’t blow yourself up first.”

Vito said while carrying the laser gun, and Cole glanced at him, and then looked at the Mayflower, which was closest to the Infinite Frontier. The bridge of the armed merchant ship could be observed at a glance. Cole was sure, Those shameful businessmen are there now, and Vito can kill them at any time if he wants.

"We have obtained our equipment and seized our things. Are you really going to let them go just like that?" Cole said slightly confused, even reproachfully. His tone was so well disguised that you couldn't tell from the surface at all. I realized that he was blaming you. A standard and qualified imperial noble needs to learn the art of language.

But Vito knew, he could hear it, he and Cole had been getting along for many years, and he knew when he was openly teasing him and sometimes when he was teasing him implicitly.

"What's the use of shooting them? The greedy star port manager of the Forge World will definitely sell them to the next businessman. If you make money, there will be idiots who take risks. And there are idiots like this in the entire empire. I can guarantee that There’s a lot more.”

Huh, what else do you expect from the imperial bureaucracy? Greedy governors, corrupt officials and those who don't care about the lives of frontline soldiers are always sitting in the office approving documents and bragging in pamphlets to the point where the officials of the Ministry of Military Affairs prefer the shiny Imperial Sky Eagle coins.

People like this who have never been on the battlefield have never seen the bloody battles and what they have to face directly against the Astra Militarum. Those guys who are terrifying enemies will never understand that they secretly sell these weapons in exchange for their own glory. Wealth and honor, the final result may be that Chaos comes and sacrifices your blood, or the Tyranids swarm cuts you into pieces and eats you, or the Greenskin rushes up and chops you into pieces, and ultimately loses both life and wealth.

But this is not something that Vito, and Cole can solve, at least not here. Believe me, many problems in the empire cannot be solved by simply shooting a few people. Even if you kill all the nobles on the entire planet, this huge empire will not be able to solve it. There will always be someone to fill their ecological niche.

"I can understand what you are saying, but it makes me uncomfortable to let these bastards leave. We have to at least make them pay something." Cole frowned and said a little annoyed. As the captain of the Imperial Navy, he couldn't tolerate it. This kind of betrayal was tolerated, and Vito certainly knew this. He smiled evilly and tapped himself on the shoulder with his laser gun.

"Well, how should I put it? We let them go here, but when they go to the next imperial world, they may be invited by the local legal department to have tea, learn about their situation, and then let them go in the name of the emperor. Pay a small price."

Shoot? Torture? Or will he be thrown into a judgment world to do hard labor for life? Well, in short, the legal department has many tricks, and there will always be a method that suits you.

Cole raised his eyebrows slightly and looked at Vito. Only then did he realize that Vito was holding a data board in his hand. He shook the board and smiled, "I just said that I would not execute them. I keep my promise, but I didn’t say that I would not ask the Astropath to report their questions and list to the legal department of this system according to the law.”

Vito chuckled and handed the data plate in his hand to Cole. The latter also took it and looked at the data information. He looked at the list on it. Indeed, there was enough equipment for two regiments.

"Two standard Astral Legion light and heavy weapons, and a battalion of armored vehicles and tanks. This purchase is bigger than I thought. I guess when the Ministry of Justice sees this information, the reaction will be bigger than I thought. ”

Cole said, sliding the data information on it, "And you took all these down, I guess you have other uses, right?" "Of course, instead of letting these things go to a feudal world to strengthen the locals and hurt each other, Instead of having them serve the Emperor for the same purpose they were created for."

"Besides, it's impossible to send these weapons and equipment back to the Astra Militarum, so we'll just accept them." Vito said with his hands on his hips. He looked at the armed merchant ships outside, imagining what those guys would be like when the time came. The expression, I bet it was interesting, the expression of surprise.

Cole was also amused by Vito, which was quite in line with his style. According to his habit, he probably added a lot of detail to the message. Then he very considerately stamped the seal of the Tribunal at the end and instructed the Legal Department. Work hard, ha, these unlucky guys have suffered a lot.

But Cole's smile soon stopped. His smile gradually weakened and eventually disappeared completely. He frowned as he looked at the navigation data on it, "The intensity of the subspace storm is greater than I imagined. Emperor My God, they are so lucky to be able to open it.”

In front of Cole, there were data records of the merchant fleet passing through the subspace channel outside Macragge. The storm could no longer be described as strong. It was simply a sea of ​​death. No ship could escape from it alive. Sailing through it, and what's worse is that the death zone is blocking the only route to Terra.

"Based on the data and intensity, it is estimated that the scope of the storm should have affected the entire Eastern Galaxy, and all navigation will be blocked. The fleets still in the subspace can only pray for the emperor's blessing. Can they be like these three lucky guys? Same thing, it jumped out at the end.”

Vito looked at the dark Milky Way outside the window, his eyes looking at the dimmed starlight. Those stars seemed to be covered with a veil and disappeared into the dark night.

Cole thought hard about the solution. He wouldn't say anything. Let's just give up and return to Macragge. No one would blame us or anything. He knew they had to go to Terra. The Emperor was in trouble and they had to rush. Go to the throne world, no matter what is in front of you.

The captain came up with several methods based on his rich sailing experience and experience. He tapped the star map on the data board in his hand, "If we want to avoid these storms, we can only jump through short-distance subspace and destroy the cover after the storm." Jump out in front of the shield, then jump in after charging, and progress in this cycle, but the speed will be very slow, very slow.”

"Is there any option B?" Vito asked. Cole sighed and put down the data pad, stroking his hair.

"Detour, the southern part of Ultramar is close to the Large Magellanic Wormhole in the Storm Galaxy. Generally speaking, you can rely on your own star mass to stabilize the wormhole jump point and connect it to the Columbus Wormhole at the other end, allowing the fleet to have a stable It is a transmission route that will not be disturbed by subspace, so it is also one of the most important strategic points of the Imperial Navy. "

"What are the shortcomings? There is no perfect plan, Cole." Vito said calmly. Cole sighed deeply, shrugged slightly and pointed to the depths of the distant galaxy.

"To get to the Great Magellan, we have to take a detour around the entire southern part of the Extreme Star Field before we can reach the Great Magellan. It would take tens of thousands of light years. The voyage would take a very long time and may last one or two years. And now There is also subspace interference, which is even more unpredictable. "

You wouldn't want to say that you were going to rescue Terra, but when you arrived, Terra had fallen for eighty years, and you just jumped out, right? Although the Imperial Navy was always late, it was not good to be so late at this juncture, when the Emperor had already been reduced to powder.

"Do you still have option C?" Vito turned to look at Cole and asked, who shook his head and sighed in distress, "No, damn it, we have to find a way."

"In that case, let's use my plan C." Vito said and handed the laser gun to Cole. After taking the laser gun, the latter looked at Vito in confusion. He had already turned around and left. Walked away.

"What plan? What plan C? What are you going to do?" Cole shouted to Vito's back, who waved his hand and walked towards the far end.

"Get help."