The Emperor’s Angel of Death

Although they failed to kill the Patriarch, the Genestealer command chain was thoroughly disrupted due to the loss of most of the Elders and Commanders. While Bahram was concerned about the Patriarch's whereabouts, it was more important to resolve the battlefield first. Thus, he ordered the company to disperse and prioritize attacking the Genestealer armories and command posts.

With this disruption, the Genestealer rebels could no longer maintain their lines. The Planetary Defense Force immediately flooded into the occupied areas like a tide, while the Space Marines had already withdrawn from the battle.

After the Space Marines withdrew, things became much simpler. Although there were still many uninfected people in the war zone, the Governor had issued a death order long ago: everyone in the occupied zone was a traitor, regardless of whether they were infected or not.

More importantly, after various calculations, the Governor discovered something: he had no way to collect enough of the upcoming tithe quota through normal means. The planet's tax was 'miscellaneous' rather than 'manpower,' which meant property in the common sense, especially the various rare metals produced by the planet, which were also the planet's main currency.

To collect enough of the tithe, the Governor could only think of one way—

A massive 'Xenos Purge' movement was about to begin, sweeping through the lower hive and parts of the mid-hive. Hundreds of millions of people would die or become slaves, and their property would be confiscated. Whether they were innocent or not was no longer important.

Bahram was unaware that a terrible and bloody public robbery was about to occur. He focused all his attention on the escaped Patriarch. He realized that the Patriarch's escape was not a sudden act; it was likely that the Patriarch already knew of the Space Marines' arrival, meaning that there were Genestealers or their accomplices in the upper hive.

But the Patriarch had not informed its offspring of this matter, otherwise the rebels would not have been caught off guard. In this case, there was only one possibility.

The Patriarch was going to escape, to leave this world, and it used its offspring as sacrifices to cover its escape!

Bahram immediately ordered an investigation of all recent communication channels. Soon, the Tech-Priests discovered a 'commercial communication' from the lower hive two days ago, communicating with the orbital transport center. Although the other party was using legal channels and the company did exist, there had been no communication in the past decade, which was obviously abnormal.

The content of the communication was even more bizarre, just one sentence: 'The meat is chilled, send it quickly.'

This was a hive city, where would fresh meat come from?

Bahram realized that someone at the orbital center was receiving the Patriarch. He immediately led a team there and retrieved the person who made the docking communication, only to find that they had already disappeared. Fortunately, there was only one ship that had recently departed, a cargo and passenger ship. Moreover, it had been delayed by a day due to the war—in fact, Bahram had long ordered the Governor to prohibit all ships from entering and leaving during the war, but he had obviously overestimated the execution of these people.

Fortunately, this ship had only just departed, and being a civilian ship, its speed was relatively slow. It had not yet made the warp jump and was near the planet of Torson V, another colony in the system, possibly wanting to pick up new passengers or load more cargo.

Bahram directly took the company on a cruiser and rushed towards the other party at the fastest speed. Regardless of the other party's situation, he directly destroyed part of the engines to ensure that they could not escape or approach the space station. Then there was this boarding action—in fact, he could have directly destroyed the entire ship, but there were still hundreds of thousands of passengers on board.

This boarding action had only one goal: to kill the Patriarch and eliminate all Genestealers while minimizing casualties.

"Everyone's launched... the Captain's landing craft is to our right, to the right."

Jacob connected to the observation cameras at the rear and sides of the landing craft, seeing the other nine landing craft also activating their melta torches one after another. This boarding exercise was a full participation event, but considering the danger of the Patriarch, Bahram also personally participated in the operation.

"Entering the ship's hull."

The monotonous voice of the servitor pilot sounded in the speakers, and then the landing craft landed heavily on the metal surface, sliding forward at a certain angle, making a harsh sound. Metal shards, stabilizer fins, and other external components fell off during the process, until it finally stopped.

As Jacob released his safety harness, the other team members did the same.

"Everyone, enter combat status. Remember the formation and discipline of boarding operations. Move cautiously, provide alternating cover, entrust your back to your comrades, and always pay attention to above and below. When turning or passing through ventilation ducts and hatches, maintain at least one person providing fire surveillance."

"Yes!"

The warriors responded, gripping their weapons tightly. Six of them carried bolters, two carried plasma guns, and one carried a melta gun. Everyone had a plasma pistol and a chainsword on their waist.

This was the firepower configuration of a Space Marine Initiate boarding squad.

Jacob also gripped his melta pistol, a reward he received for his outstanding performance in the Maelstrom. Then, he gently tapped the combat shield on his left arm. This shield was a lightweight version of the storm shield. Although its defensive power was not as strong as the storm shield, it was quite suitable for Astartes wearing power armor.

When the landing craft opened the sealed airlock, Jacob was the first to rush out, muzzle pointing forward. Then his team members surged out and immediately formed a combat formation—the initial stage of boarding was often the moment when counter-fire was the most intense.

But obviously, there was none here.

"Captain, second squad has entered."

"Roger, move according to the designated route. You are responsible for the ED storage area. Engage cautiously. Report immediately if you find the Patriarch. Do not engage directly unless absolutely necessary."

"Roger, moving."

Jacob's squad entered from the rear of the ship's midsection, close to the flight deck. He passed through two airlock doors, ignoring the trembling crew members, and arrived at the main corridor in the middle of the ship.

After leaving the narrow flight corridor, the interior of this civilian ship, about the size of a frigate, unfolded before Jacob—the entire ship had about fifty floors. A kilometer away on the starboard side, there was another huge metal gate, which should lead to the carrier's reactor and engine passage. On the left were various vehicle maintenance areas. Giant elevators were distributed on the main track in the center of the ship, connecting many areas. Due to the commotion on the ship, many passengers curiously walked out of their respective areas, watching from the railings on the left and right sides of the main road.

Because the ship had been attacked, alarms were sounding everywhere in the ship, and some areas had lost power. Jacob could see the surprised and terrified expressions on those civilians.

After all, many of them left to escape the war, but the war still caught up with them.

It seemed that in the Imperium, no one could ever truly escape the war. Jacob then said on the squad channel:

"Fire cautiously, avoid friendly fire."