The Sacred Will battlecruiser continued to advance.
Chaos reigned on board, an unorganized and undisciplined free-for-all.
Vice Admiral Hood had never witnessed a mutiny so loose and disorderly, completely haphazard.
These mutineers seemed to act with a hive mind, suddenly opening fire on their comrades.
A second before, they had been diligently performing their duties, without any prior communication or subtle movements indicative of a mutiny.
Everything was too strange.
Rather than a mutiny, Vice Admiral Alexander Hood preferred to imagine it as a Chaos corruption.
The Commander's Throne had overriden and taken over the entire battlecruiser's command hub.
He used neural plugs to suppress all equipment on the colossal void vessel that could potentially be utilized by the rebels, doing his utmost to maintain the battlecruiser's normal operation.
Just as the Vice Admiral was overwhelmed, he saw a dense swarm of fiery exhaust trails flash past from ahead.
[Shark Assault Boat...!
"Hold them off! Reinforcements have arrived!" he ordered the General's Guard and the Voidsmen-at-Arms bearing 'Military Police' insignia.
The Unyielding's Naval Lieutenant would be responsible for the boarding plan of the Sacred Will; Horatio had his own duties.
He leaned between the two Blood Angels pilots, looking through the bulletproof windshield at the massive retribution-class battlecruiser.
Farida also followed, and seeing the explosions inside the battlecruiser occasionally damage the hull, her heart ached.
Horatio held her hand; his palm was warm, warming Farida's cold, stiff fingers.
"We're going to the bridge docking station; theoretically, it's still under the control of the Military Police and the General's Guard."
The Thunderhawk Gunship lowered its speed, began to turn, and headed towards the docking station.
Upon seeing a bright red Thunderhawk Gunship bearing the Blood Angels insignia approaching, the fully armed troops guarding the docking station opened the docking gate.
The Thunderhawk Gunship drifted sideways into the innermost position, executed a perfect reverse thrust to align its hull, and slowly landed.
Then several Shark Assault Boats also rushed in, until the docking station was completely filled.
Horatio led Farida out of the Thunderhawk Gunship, feeling awestruck by the massive main structure of the retribution-class battlecruiser's bridge.
Now he needed to find an officer to take him and Farida to Vice Admiral Hood.
"Quick! Go! Go! Go! Soldiers!"
Led by a Lieutenant Military Supervisor acting as an inspector and a Naval Lieutenant, hundreds of Sailors who had landed there charged down the gangplank with their guns raised.
"How many rebels are there?" the Lieutenant Military Supervisor asked a Naval Lieutenant.
"I'd guess tens of thousands... almost seventy percent of the armed forces," the Lieutenant swallowed, his voice trembling.
"Seventy percent??? God Emperor." The Naval Lieutenant complained with a troubled expression, then led his subordinates to support the CIC (Combat Information Center), which had devolved into a literal brawl, to suppress the rebels.
Unless other intercepting fleets arrived quickly to join the operation, the armed forces sent by the Unyielding could only prolong the Sacred Will's control, but its fall was still only a matter of time.
To allow the subsequent Shark Assault Boats to enter, the officers at this bridge docking station organized as many personnel as possible to clear a path for the Shark Assault Boats, even using forklifts to push docked assault boats out of the battlecruiser to make room for other boats.
"Sir." Horatio ran towards the Lieutenant with Farida: "We are special officers from the Unyielding, with a secret matter to discuss with Vice Admiral Hood."
"I know." Although this officer didn't recognize Horatio, he had seen the Fleet Commander's daughter.
"Follow me. But be careful, there's active gunfire ahead!"
"We will protect you." The tall Roman Roland and several Astartes veterans walked up to Horatio, speaking solemnly.
"Thank you, Roman Roland."
The Roman Roland nodded.
The Astartes immediately split into two groups; one headed towards the engine room according to their predetermined objective to shut down the engines.
The other team escorted Horatio and Farida to the command bridge.
"Do you have any idea about these rebellious troops?" Horatio asked the officer as they walked.
"No! They just suddenly, inexplicably, opened fire on those nearby. The First Officer first killed the Captain, then died with the Lieutenant Military Supervisor."
"First Officer?!" Horatio frowned deeply.
Farida was stunned, murmuring in disbelief: "Impossible... That First Officer has been with my father for over ten years! How could he..."
"We can't understand it either, Miss Hood! Everything was too sudden!"
"Where did the Sacred Will's armed forces go after supporting the Church of the Celestial Woman?" Horatio immediately continued to ask.
He remembered that tens of thousands of armed forces from the Sacred Will had been sent by Vice Admiral Hood to support the Church of the Celestial Woman.
If seventy percent of the battlecruiser's forces participated in the mutiny, could it be due to Khorne corruption from the Church of the Celestial Woman?
But it didn't seem like it. Not to mention that these troops would be re-sanctified and blessed before boarding the battlecruiser.
These mutineers also hadn't painted themselves or dyed their armor red.
They just initiated the mutiny without any identification of friend or foe.
Horatio felt a chilling realization.
"Sorry, I don't know. At that time, I was in the Void Chart Room planning the navigation for this expedition," the overwhelmed officer shook his head.
"Thank you for the information, Captain." Horatio nodded; it seemed this Navigation Captain indeed only knew that much.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
As Horatio rushed towards the Combat Information Center, the dense sound of laser fire was Incessant.
First he heard the sound, then he saw lasers flying everywhere like rain.
People constantly got shot and fell, being dragged to safety by their comrades.
The Naval Armed Forces' armor was good; their laser weapons could only wound each other, causing them to lose combat capability.
The Navy Breachers' weapons were the deadly killers.
But terrifyingly, both sides had Navy Breachers fighting each other.
Horatio and Farida held pistols and a military power sword, with several Astartes leading the way.
He stood in front of Farida.
These brave Blood Angels fired upon any Naval Armed Forces without 'Military Police' insignia, mercilessly tearing them apart with bolter rounds.
To them, every living thing before them had only two labels: loyalty or death.
Most of the Naval Armed Forces' weapons couldn't harm them at all, but... not all.
A sudden harpoon shot towards the Blood Angels; the operator's head was shattered by an Astartes after he pulled the trigger.
Roman Roland perceived the danger from the whistling sound of the wind, pushed a battle-brother aside, and then bare-handedly caught the naval harpoon launched at them.
Beep beep beep!
Before the urgent hum turned into an explosion, Roman Roland, with quick reflexes, threw the about-to-explode harpoon towards the mutineers.
Boom!
Flying shrapnel knocked down many people, clearing a path.
The explosion damaged the electrical circuits in the bulkhead, and the bright incandescent lights went out.
"Quick, now." Horatio pulled Farida and sprinted.
They ran on the deck's red carpet, stained with blood, advancing into the deepest darkness.