The players breached the Exemplary Holy Fist near its mid-section, right in the thick of it. They poured into the battleship and immediately launched an attack, mopping up every enemy in sight.
Facing the players' relentless, blitzkrieg offensive, the disorganized rebels were easy pickings and were swiftly cut down.
"Surrender! I choose to surrender!"
"Let me go, I know I messed up!"
Several enemies dropped to their knees, trying to surrender to the advancing players.
"Those who betray the Emperor get what's coming to them," OneHand roared, going to town on the men with his howling Chainaxe. "No mercy, no forgiveness—only death."
They continued their advance, pushing deeper into the battleship's guts. The rebels quickly caught wind of the invasion and mobilized more armed crewmen to eliminate the invaders. Skirmishes erupted throughout the corridors.
"For the Horde! For the Queen!"
"For the Night Haunter!"
"For Demacia!"
The players shouted a bizarre mix of slogans as they attacked. Everywhere they went, blood and gore flew, and the floor was covered with shattered debris.
Sam stalked the shadows. His weapon of choice was a pair of Power Claws, the edges of which were wreathed in a powerful energy field. The claws were incredibly sharp, slicing through steel and flesh like a breeze. Moving like a phantom, he'd pop up before the enemy even registered his presence, seizing the opportunity to launch a sudden, devastating attack.
This tactic was simple but wildly effective.
A rebel squad mobilized to contain the invasion was ambushed from the rear. Before they could react, Sam had gutted most of them. One rebel soldier tried to take a shot at Sam, but just as his finger tightened on the trigger, Sam materialized right in front of him.
The soldier's face was a mask of terror. The next second, he felt a searing pain in his abdomen. Looking down, he saw the razor-sharp claws had pierced straight through him.
"Traitors go straight to hell," Sam whispered, twisting the claws and instantly ripping open the opponent's belly.
Boom!
A second later, with a gunshot, the soldier's upper body was shattered in a spray of blood. Sam looked up to see Rigby holding a Bolter, casually blowing smoke from the muzzle.
"You owe me one, but don't sweat it, that's just how I roll," Rigby said. "Hold tight while I go thin the herd."
Sam's face, buried inside his helmet, registered silent gratitude—which was instantly replaced by annoyance when Rigby opened his mouth. He simply raised his middle finger. Rigby chuckled, unbothered, and turned his gun to fire at other rebel soldiers.
Reality
"NOOOOOO!"
A high-pitched, pathetic scream echoed through a residential community. Passersby paused, looking curious. Who just got kicked while he's down that hard?
David—known in-game as WrongHammer—sat beside his bed, his face a picture of pure despair. Why was the universe out to get him?
The moment they launched the boarding action, their assault boat had been vaporized by the enemy ship's close-in defense guns. Two full teams—ten players—were blown to smithereens along with the craft. This game was way too harsh.
"Wait, I have experience points! I can use those to speed up the respawn!" David grabbed his helmet like a drowning man clutching at straws and jammed it onto his head.
You can use EXP points to speed up resurrection after 1 hour
The small spark of hope in David's heart was immediately extinguished. It was game over. In an hour, those guys would have mopped up the ship and be celebrating.
"My luck is garbage!"
David switched to his computer and checked the chat groups and forums.
GuillimanRules: "Brother Garry, I bought a book of luck-changing secrets from an old man on the street. It says if I perform a ritual, all my wishes will come true. This time, I'm a lock for a beta slot."
Doraemon is the Omnissiah: "What are you reciting, the Verses of the Primordial Annihilator?"
GuillimanRules: "(Angry) Do you think I've never read online articles? I wasn't born yesterday!"
The Big Bad Wolf: "Is it the kind of luck ritual that requires nine sacrifices, nine blessings, and nine praises?"
GuillimanRules: "..."
WrongHammer wants to use the twisting hammer: "I feel like fate is just actively hating me!!"
LakeLochness: "WrongHammer, aren't you in the Sintila battle? Why are you in the group chat?"
Turtle Soup: "Don't even get me started. We got lit up by anti-aircraft fire the second we tried to board. Two squads were wiped out before they could even draw a knife."
WrongHammer: "I really think we need to change our luck."
GuillimanRules: "Maybe try my ritual?"
WrongHammer: "Nah, I'll stick to buying a set of prayers to the Omnissiah. I only have the Emperor as my sun, unlike you heretics."
GuillimanRules: "-...-"
"Wait, I just realized something. I haven't been able to get a beta test spot for this long... could my ID be cursed?"
*******
Void Battlefield, Interior of the Exemplary Holy Fist
"Quick, drop the hatch!"
"Set a trap first!"
"These guys are straight-up terrifying. We're outmatched!"
The armed crew members slammed various blast doors shut to block the invaders' progress. Crew members who hadn't made it in time frantically banged on the heavy doors, begging their companions to let them through. However, the rebels behind the doors were playing deaf, leaving the stragglers to be slaughtered by the Astartes.
"They're not completely dense. They knew they were outmatched and locked the door," Warmaster commented indifferently, withdrawing his sword from a corpse.
He clenched his fist, and a small projection sprang from his wrist armor, hovering in the air to show the players the internal layout of the Exemplary Holy Fist.
"This is the architectural diagram. Our main objective is the bridge; capturing it seals the deal on seizing the ship."
"But besides the bridge, there are two other must-hit spots: the main reactor and the ammunition depot. We have to prioritize controlling these areas to make sure these clowns don't get desperate and decide to blow the whole thing up with us inside."
"So, we're splitting the difference: three teams to seize the main energy source, the ammunition depot, and the bridge, respectively."
Four areas lit up on the projection: their current location, the main energy core, the ammunition depot, and the bridge.
"Yuji, you take a team for the main energy core."
"Sam, you take a team for the ammunition depot."
"I've pushed the map data package to everyone. Confirm receipt."
Warmaster shut down the projection and shared the data packet. After assigning the combat tasks, Sam seemingly pulled a Melta Bomb out of thin air and slapped it onto the heavy blast door. He led the players back ten paces and took cover.
—Boom!
A shockwave of heat swept through the corridor. The plas-steel glowed dazzling white under the intense heat and dissolved into a pile of steaming residue.
The moment the door was breached, dense beams of fire shot out from behind the opening, like stars twinkling. They hit the players' armor, leaving a trail of scorched pits. The enemy had built temporary fortifications behind the door, setting up Melta Cannons and Lascannons to fire continuously.
The narrow passage instantly became a hellscape of jet beams, filling the air with the acrid smell of disintegrated plasma. The sheer firepower forced the players to temporarily take cover.
"...A new storm is brewing. How can I stand still? I'll travel through time and space just to be with you..." Yuji hummed a song while waving his Force Staff.
Psyker energy surged, manifesting as hazy, glowing Warp fragments that hovered beside him. He pushed his hand forward, and the Warp fragments burst out like a violent storm, tearing graceful arcs in the air. They instantly pierced the skulls of the armed crewmen behind the door, checking them out of the fight for good.
"Go time!" Warmaster strode in beside him, his heavy sword dripping black blood.
He sliced a rebel soldier in half before speaking. "Hey, I think your lyrics are all jacked up."
"How can they be? I've been singing it since I was a kid!" Yuji stretched out a hand, and soldiers in the distance were lifted by an invisible force. Thwack! With a loud bang, the soldier's head exploded.
"The lyrics are: 'I shouldn't stand still, I'll travel through time and space just to be with you...'" Rigby mused for a moment.
"Are you two not busy?" Rigby rolled his eyes so hard he nearly saw his brain when he heard them arguing mid-combat. He fired his Bolter, and with the crack-crack of shells, the heads of several soldiers who dared to peek out were vaporized.
"Who would win in a fight, Ultraman or the Four Chaos Gods?" Sam, moving silently through the shadows, seized the opportunity to rush into a group of soldiers. With a flash of his sharp claws, he effortlessly tore them to pieces.
"I think the Four Gods would take the cake," Yuji said. "They have no physical form, just raw psychic power. They could remotely crush Ultraman's head with a flick of the wrist."
As he finished speaking, Bang! Bang! The heads of two soldiers in the distance exploded.
"That's crazy talk! Noah could wipe the floor with those big demons using just one light skill. Entering the Realm of Chaos would be a walk in the park for him," Warmaster disagreed. He wielded his roaring Chainaxe, arguing and killing as he went.
"Even if you kill them, they resurrect. You kill them a thousand times, and the daemon comes back a thousand and one," Yuji countered.
"You two are too idle. Box office numbers don't lie—whoever makes the most cash is the best," Rigby interrupted their heated debate.
"Rigby's right. Box office numbers don't lie." Warmaster kicked an enemy several meters away, shattering bones and eliciting a howl of pain.
The players talked and killed simultaneously. After successfully punching through the armed crew's next line of defense, they split into three teams and headed for their assigned targets.
The ammunition depot was guarded by rebellious members of the Adeptus Mechanicus. It was protected not only by a large number of inhumanly modified Skitarii but also by over a dozen heavily armored War Servitors equipped with massive-caliber weapons.
Sam used his talent for stealth and assassination, taking out several Magos commanders. The enemy defense immediately went haywire. Then, the rest of the players charged in with bolters and chainswords.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The roar of the Bolters unleashed a torrential downpour of explosives, creating a dense, inescapable barrage. The Servitors and the Skitarii were ripped to shreds. One Skitarius, wielding a Lasrifle, tried to return fire. The moment he poked his head out, he was hit by a Bolt round, and his entire head was obliterated.
+++Enemy detected, calculating course of action+++
+++Confirming target, confirming action+++
Before the Servitor could finish its calculation, it was torn limb from limb by the screaming Chainsword in a player's hand. The floor was splattered with blood and black lubricant, mixed with shards of steel and mangled flesh.
After the dust settled, Sam's squad secured the ammunition depot.
On the other side, Yuji led his players in a furious push toward the main energy core, launching a fierce attack on the rebels guarding it.
"I'm going postal, completely going postal!" Husky (Big Cat vs. Husky), clad in Power Armor, charged headlong into the enemy. He whooped crazily while going to town with his Chainsword.
The other players did the same, bulldozing their way through and leaving no one alive. Wherever they went, the corridors were left with nothing but blood and body parts.
"Feel the power of the Warp," Yuji said, holding down the rear guard. Psyker energy glowed around his body, Warp fragments floating beside him. With just a flick of the wrist, he could accurately snipe and kill the enemy's heavy weapons units.
They killed their way through the enemy's final defenses, leaving corpses everywhere and rivers of blood flowing on the floor. Splattered blood and torn flesh coated the walls. Having successfully secured the main reactor, both teams immediately informed Warmaster that they had completed their objectives, giving him the green light to initiate the bridge capture operation.