bookrandom Chapter 177 "The Mysterious Imperial Navy"
Chapter 177 "The Mysterious Imperial Navy"
Since the galaxy was torn apart by the Great Rift, the Empire has been divided into the light and the dark. The Nakmonde Corridor has become the only passage between the light and the dark of the Empire. Countless merchant ships and Imperial warships pass through here.
Because of the constant flow of merchant ships passing through, this place has also attracted many unfriendly forces, and various pirates appear here to attack merchant ships.
Regent Guilliman of the Empire attaches great importance to this place, and many Space Marine chapters and elite forces of the Astronaut Corps are stationed on planets within the Nakmonde Corridor.
As a rapid reaction force, they are constantly on guard against "pirates" and "evil forces." Although they are protecting them, the Nakmonde Corridor is so large that there are still many areas that cannot be adequately protected.
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A merchant ship is silently sailing through space; their destination is "Warning Star".
"We're safe once we're inside the warning star's defense perimeter!" the first mate told the old captain.
The old captain was still intently watching the green screen in front of him, the radar scanning the surrounding void again and again, thankfully there were no enemies around.
"It's always good to be careful!" the old captain said.
Suddenly, the old captain's expression changed because he saw a red dot on the screen rapidly approaching their merchant ship.
As a veteran captain with decades of sailing experience, he only needs one glance to know that only warships can travel at such speeds.
"Quickly activate the Void Shield and prepare to fire! Enemies are approaching!" the old captain shouted anxiously.
All the sailors tensed up, and the entire ship sprang into action. The Void Shield was activated, and the cannons on the merchant ship were ready.
The attacking vessel was a black battle barge, which rapidly approached the merchant ship, showing no fear of the cannons on board.
"Fire!" the old captain commanded.
A dozen or so small automatic cannons on the merchant ship began bombarding the battle barge.
However, the battle barge was also protected by the Void Shield, and the small automatic cannons could not cause any damage to it.
When the black battle barges came close enough, the macro cannons on board opened fire.
With a loud "boom," the merchant ship's void shield was shattered.
Countless space capsules were launched toward the merchant ship.
The missile launchers on the merchant ship kept firing small missiles. A few unlucky capsules were hit and turned into fireworks in the air, but most of the capsules broke through the fire blockade and landed on the merchant ship.
After the hatch of the spacecraft opened, the pirates swarmed out. Some of these pirates were equipped with laser weapons, while others were equipped with automatic firearms, rifles, and submachine guns. Most of them were wearing black armor.
Although the pirates successfully boarded the ship, the merchant ship was not without the power to fight back, as hundreds of mercenaries on board were ready.
"Fire!" Under the mercenary captain's command, the mercenaries opened fire on the pirates.
The two sides engaged in fierce combat, with bullets, lasers, and grenades flying everywhere in the ship's cabin.
At first, the black pirates lost some men, but they quickly turned the tide, suppressing the mercenaries with heavy Gatling guns.
The black pirates opened fire as they rapidly approached the mercenaries.
These pirates knew very well that mercenaries were most afraid of close combat; they were only after money and didn't want to lose their lives here.
Under the overwhelming firepower of the black pirates, the mercenaries could only retreat continuously.
"Surrender or die!" the pirate leader roared.
The pirate leader was very tall and wielded a laser gun. But that wasn't all; behind him followed a giant, a heavily armored Oglin, who was nearly three meters tall. In his left hand, he carried a huge iron rod, and in his right hand, he carried a tearing gun.
As the mercenaries suffered heavy casualties, the mercenary captain knew that there was no point in continuing to resist.
"Cease fire! We surrender, don't kill us!" The mercenary captain raised his weapon.
The pirate leader laughed loudly and said: We only want money, not your lives.
The mercenaries laid down their weapons and were taken into custody by the pirates.
Although the battle was short, more than a hundred mercenaries had already been killed or wounded. If they did not surrender, the black pirates would have killed them all.
The old captain and first mate were dragged out by the pirates and brought before the pirate leader.
The pirate leader glanced at the old captain and sneered: "So you're the captain?"
The old captain nodded and said: That is me.
"This ship now belongs to us Black Pirates!" the pirate leader announced loudly.
The other pirates cheered.
The old captain lowered his head in dejection.
Just as the pirates were getting excited, another unexpected event occurred.
A Thunderhawk gunboat roared in and stopped on the merchant ship.
A space capsule landed.
"Damn it, prepare for battle, brothers, it's the Imperial Navy!" the pirate leader cursed.
The pirate leader clearly didn't take this Thunderhawk gunboat seriously. Besides, it only dropped one capsule, and the capsule's space was limited, so it couldn't carry too many Imperial Navy personnel, maybe ten at most? He had more than 700 men under his command, plus reinforcements on the battle barge, totaling no less than two thousand. What was he afraid of?
However, he would soon regret it.
The fiery red space capsule landed heavily on the deck of the merchant ship.
After the hatch opened, five people rushed out.
After the capsule landed on the ship, the pirates aimed their weapons at the hatch and opened fire the instant it opened, without needing any orders from their pirate leader.
Five figures flew out of the space capsule; they did indeed fly out, their power backpacks continuously spewing out blue flames.
Five Imperial Navy soldiers quickly took to the air to evade the pirates' concentrated fire, unleashing a barrage of fire from their bolt-action rifles.
The five Imperial Navy soldiers who suddenly appeared were extremely accurate marksmen; they were all sharpshooters, taking down pirates with a single shot.
They flew erratically through the air, making it impossible for the pirates to target them; their only fate was to be slaughtered.
After several minutes of fierce fighting, the pirate leader saw that the situation was not good, and his men were falling down in droves like leeks being harvested.
He rushed towards an airdrop pod, hoping to use it to escape.
An imperial navy descended from the sky and intercepted the pirate leader.
The pirate leader roared, "Get here!"
Then he raised his laser gun and fired it. The Imperial Navy quickly dodged and then kicked the pirate leader in the chest.
"Ah!" The pirate leader screamed as he was kicked and sent flying, then landed heavily on the deck, unable to move.
"Roar!" Oglin roared and charged forward, raising his tearing gun and firing a shot at the Imperial Navy officer. The Imperial Navy officer was prepared and had already dodged when Oglin fired.