Chapter 100 The End of the Era: Destruction

No matter which camp a ship belongs to, there are three positions on board that are absolutely indispensable, namely the captain, the helmsman and the maintenance worker.

The captain is responsible for letting everyone know where to drive the ship without sinking, the helmsman is responsible for ensuring that it can be driven smoothly without sinking, and the maintenance worker is responsible for ensuring that the ship will not sink halfway when the helmsman leads everyone there.

I can't say who is the most important among them, but for Vito, the most interesting one is the helmsman, especially the helmsman of a large ship, such as the Infinite Frontier.

Vito stood at the helm and looked at the rudder with interest. The big rudder was rotating under the swing of its operator. Ironically, whether it was the beginning of human civilization just entering the starry sea, or the golden age when it reached its peak, and now in this fucking dark galaxy, human ships of all sizes have the design of rudders.

Whether it is the cutting-edge technology of the Golden Age or the "retro-style warships" of the Empire, they all have rudders. The only difference is that they look different, but Vito prefers this "retro" style, which makes him feel like he's back in the past.

The helmsman, who is quite old and mature, holds the rudder. He looks at the energy field display in front of him to determine the route. The old helmsman is named Howard Kent. The old Kent in a navy blue uniform has dark skin, and his forehead is covered with wrinkles as he grows older.

But don't underestimate old Kent. Vito dares to say that Kent is definitely one of the best helmsmen in the galaxy, and he even thinks he can remove one of them.

Every time Vito's crazy plan, such as taking the entire ship head-on into the green-skinned garbage fleet, is completed by relying on Kent's superb skills. Cole gives orders, and Kent is responsible for everyone to stay alive as much as possible before or after the task is completed.

"Have you ever sailed a boat? Judge." Kent asked, and Vito shrugged and leaned against the skull-carved wall behind him. A huge black skull was carved on the wall, and the Imperial Sky Eagle logo was branded on its forehead.

"I sailed a boat a long time ago. A long, long time ago." Vito closed his eyes and said, he could almost smell the sea water, the warm sea breeze blowing on his face, the seagulls chirping in his ears, the waves hitting the hull, and the sails above his head were also pulled by the sea breeze.

The songs of the sailors, the smell of rum and the ever-present smell of sweat, ha, now it seems to be close at hand, as if it was just happening.

Vito doesn't remember a lot of things, many, many things have become vague memories, so much so that he himself doesn't believe that they are what he has experienced, but there are still many memories that he can't forget.

For example, the first time he crossed the ocean, crossed the violent storm, and landed on the land of the new world on the other side of the ocean. Ah, everything was still so clear. He still remembered the rain forest of Barbados, the Amazon River and the towering Andes Mountains.

"What about you, Kent? What kind of ship have you driven before?" Vito asked with a smile and opened his eyes. Kent smiled with his wrinkled face, "Many, many, I have driven gunboats, armed cargo ships, transport ships, destroyers, cruisers and now this chick."

Kent said while caressing his rudder. He sighed and seemed to recall many past events. Vito looked at the helmsman with his arms and smiled, "I remember you are from a sailing family, right?"

"Yes, Son of the Void, at least that's what people on the ground call me." Kent said with a smile, the rudder in his hand rotated slightly, keeping the warship's track on the course marked by the astropath.

"I was born on a battleship, I live on a battleship, and I've been on a ship all my life." Kent said, adjusting the position of the display screen with one finger to make it look more comfortable.

"You are familiar with battleships, every one of them." Vito said, Kent nodded and held the rudder again with both hands, his fingers slightly opened and closed and then tightened the rudder again, "The battleship is part of my life, Inquisitor, it is my home, and it is also the place where I was born and raised."

"I like the starry sea, and I am most comfortable only when I sail." "Of course, every time you dock, you feel very awkward, as if that ghost place can eat you." Vito smiled jokingly, and Kent also smiled.

As the two talked, the display screen turned red, and the jump beacon appeared in front of them. Vito's face was illuminated by the red light. The entire bridge environment, which was just relaxed and comfortable, suddenly became irritable. Everyone started to work immediately, and the tapping sound of the mechanical keyboard and the cold echo of the servitor filled the bridge.

"We have arrived at the jump point of the Cadia system and are calculating the gravitational force of the Mandeville point." The Avion, who was wearing a mechanical eye mask and whose entire face had been transformed by the Mechanicus, said that his mechanical fingers began to tap on the keyboard, and a large string of data appeared on the screen in an instant.

The crew members around him also began to get busy. They performed calculations and preparations in an orderly manner. The sacred creations of the God of All Machines cooperated closely with them as if they were part of them.

Vito looked at the Avion, a man who looked almost the same as a priest. His mechanical fingers tapped the mechanical keyboard at a high speed, and the data flow quickly completed the calculation and operation.

"The data preset has been completed, Captain, and we can return to the physical universe." The Avion said, and Cole appeared on the platform above Vito's head. He held the handrail and looked at the helmsman below.

"Helmsman, take us back to the physical universe." "As you command, Captain."

Kent said as he turned the rudder of the ship. He pulled down a lever on his hand, and then pulled down the other side. The silent soulless servitors around him began to whisper one by one, and half of their bodies were embedded and fused. The flesh and blood parts in the mechanical equipment kept mumbling some sentences at high speed.

Of course, it was so fast that Vito couldn't understand it, but I don't think anyone could understand it, except for the crazy ones from the Mechanicus. After all, they usually talk like this from time to time, especially when communicating among priests. Nothing he said was human.

"Open the armor plate, we need to restore sight." Cole ordered, and soon the bridge member sitting in the front operating position of Vito pressed the switch, and the warning red light flashed next to the curved floor-to-ceiling window in front of him. , the armor layer covering the glass also began to open quickly.

Vito leaned against the wall and looked at what was about to appear outside. Damn!

Kent immediately turned the rudder to the right and turned sharply. He suddenly pressed the side thrust button of the engine. The vector nozzle installed at the tail of the battleship sprayed full power to the right, causing the giant ship to translate and turn in the void to avoid the wreckage in front of him.

Vito almost fell to the ground. When he finally stood up, he raised his head. Like Cole, he stared at the tragic scene outside with wide eyes. It was a battlefield, a grave, the silent grave of the giant void ships.

Kent's right full rudder saved the entire crew once. Although many people probably fell badly, if they had just hit the oncoming shipwreck, everyone would probably be even worse.

The Infinite Frontier sailed past the broken wreckage of a giant ship. To be precise, she was driving on a galactic battlefield. The battle here had ended, leaving behind a large area of ​​wreckage and broken corpses of the battleship.

Vito walked to the armrest. He frowned and looked at the warships sliding past him outside the bridge window. Destroyers, cruisers, battle cruisers and armed barges were filled with the wreckage of large and small warships and fighter jets. area.

Not all of them belonged to the empire. Among the wreckage with the Aquila symbol, there were also some warships marked with the blasphemous hexagram. They were Chaos warships, to be precise, they were wrecks.

There was a tragic sea battle here. It was obvious that both sides suffered heavy losses here, but who won in the end? No one knows this question, at least for now.

Cole opened the holographic screen in front of him, and a scan result appeared in front of him, "These ships are all from the Cadia sector fleet, and the number of battle losses is the Emperor's."

Vito raised his head and glanced at Cole, then lowered his head and looked at the group of wreckage. The deck of the battleship was blasted through and exploded, the armor plate was torn and collapsed, and the buildings on the hull were also shattered and collapsed to varying degrees.

Some battleships even suffered explosions and were blown apart from the middle part. Countless wreckage was scattered between the head and tail, just like a giant whose body had been torn off.

There were so many wreckage, these floating broken warships kept sliding past the surroundings, like circles of asteroid belts.

"Vito!"

Vito was about to say something when he was interrupted by Lilith.

Lilith suddenly jumped up from the captain's throne and left her comfortable little nest filled with cushions and cushions. She rushed to the armrest beside Cole and looked down with the thing in her hand.

Vito looked into her eyes and understood something immediately. He cursed and looked at Cole, "Cole! Take cover immediately! An enemy is approaching!"

Vito's shout made Cole stunned for a moment, but the captain immediately began to give orders. He slammed on the armrest and roared loudly, "Helmsman, sink! Let us go deep into the wreck area and let the reverse thrust engine Warm up and standby, shut down all weapon systems and shields on the entire ship!"

"Stand still, Inquisitor." Kent said as he turned the rudder, and the entire giant ship began to sail downwards. The warship quickly dived into the depths of the sunken area.

The wreckage of battleships rushed in front of them, but Kent could nimbly avoid the broken objects. Vito grabbed an armrest and looked at the wreckage that kept sliding past his eyes, and the firelight from the appropriate nozzles continued to illuminate it. Looking at the silent battleships around them.

Kent suddenly pulled one of the countless levers, and the engine in the building on the lower edge of the battleship immediately spurted out fire. The powerful propulsion of the plasma jet caused the battleship to suddenly stop, almost completely stopping among the wreckage of the sunken ship. .

"Chief Controller! Turn off all power! Extinguish the engines! Hurry!" Cole continued to roar. The Chief Controller on the left side of the helmsman immediately began to press the buttons one after another. The red display lights lit up one by one, and the bridge almost instantly Shrouded in darkness.

All the lights went out and all the screens went silent, but soon the starlight outside the window rushed toward the bridge and dimly lit up.

"Everyone, get off your hands!" Cole shouted, and immediately, all the operators on the bridge lifted their hands from the keyboard or operator.

Cole raised his head and looked at the upper part of the bridge glass. Vito, Kent, and everyone looked at the top of the battleship.

The background of the Milky Way began to turn blood red, and soon the alluring red light engulfed the entire Milky Way. The light came from battleships, each one spitting out scarlet flames.

Vito looked at the fleets passing above the wreckage of the shipwreck. Everyone opened their eyes wide and closed their breaths tightly. They all looked at the blasphemous fleet passing by, the fleet of the emperor's great enemy.

This is an unprecedented Chaos Fleet, an unprecedented fleet of destruction. The warships pull out long scarlet beams at the end. Each warship is decorated with blasphemous objects. The once magnificent Gothic architecture has become a symbol of Khorne's destruction.

A giant ship is surrounded by hundreds of large and small ships, just like a pack of wolves surrounding and surrounding their leader. The entire hunting group is sailing through the starry sky, through the starry sky stained red with blood.

Cole looked up at the fleet above his head, looking up at those dark death warships. Fortunately, they did not discover his ship. The Infinite Frontier entered a silent state before appearing in the detection range.

Their long red tail flames stretched a long distance, leaving a striking trace belt in the galaxy, and the light belt was sailing and extending in one direction.

Cole knew where they were going without the star map. They only had one place to go.

"Cadia." Vito said silently.