"Every man shall die for the Emperor, and not live for himself!"
The telex slave screamed, drowning out the messy footsteps of soldiers running through the narrow corridor of the troop ship towards the launch pad. with officers shouting orders.
"Kill the heretics, kill the aliens, prepare for war!"
The wall-mounted servitors are a constant reminder of duty in a pre-recorded loop, while Hayes carries the heavy 's backpack lurched along with the others.
After the battle in the Lamptan system, the Abu Bakari 310th Infantry Regiment took a half-month rest. This period was also their rare leisure time, and some new recruits were also added to the regiment. Hayes was finally called "Sir" for the first time.
However, he was not the kind of person who would act like a veteran, although this did make him quite happy, diluting a lot of the sadness caused by the deaths of Fitz and Jung.
But for the soldiers of the empire, stability seems to always be temporary. They soon came to a strange place again and had to face the same strange enemy. Until three hours ago, they had become Company Commander Hatshet blasted everyone from their bunks with a whistle and told them to prepare for planetary drop.
"Be alert, be brutal, be strong!"
The screams of the telex slaves grew louder, harsh echoes from the speakers mounted on the metal walls and ceilings around them bounce back.
“Only faith in the Emperor is your shield and armor!”
The servitors were loud, but Hayes didn't hear a word he said, and he and the rest of his company were herded like sheep through the dropship's labyrinth of corridors, now and then passing Navy crew members who paused from their duties , cheering them on, replacing their initial sarcastic laughter with words of semi-encouragement.
Considering that their former passengers might soon encounter combat, the normal antipathy between the Marines and Guardsmen suddenly seemed to give way to mutual respect.
"You have nothing in return but the Emperor's satisfaction!"
"You know no truth except what the Emperor's servants tell you!"
"Loyalty There is no room for questions in your mind. Doubt is a mean cancer whose symptoms are cowardice and fear. To be strong against it, there should be only three things in your mind: obedience, responsibility and devotion."
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Emerging from the tight, cramped corridor, Hayes followed Hashet into the large-looking assault craft.
It was a giant rectangular airship, steam rising from the hydraulics of the platform it supported, and tech-priests scurrying around it like sentient ants aiding a fallen giant. , Hayes watched as the priests extended fuel lines from concave spouts on the far wall of the launch bay to the assault craft's engines, while others anointed the lander's surface, burned incense, performed blessings, or used instruments with Various sacred calibration instruments make final adjustments to the lander.
The assault craft kept humming the whole time, its restless engines vibrating against the metal floor of the launch pad, and Hayes and the others stood staring at it uncertainly, like wary travelers The reader was unsure whether to risk waking a sleeping beast.
To be honest, he has always been afraid of these half-human, half-machine priests, even more so than the political commissar, because he once "curiously" saw these priests turning a living person into a machine servant when he was helping workers in a factory. process.
That nightmare tortured him for a full year, and after that he would stay as far away from these red-robed priests as possible.
"Move, you idiots!"
Hashet shouted, the volume of the incessant communication machine slave broadcasts around them had been weakened by the empty space of the launch pad enough for them to finally hear the new company commander command.
"I know you rubes haven't seen an assault craft before, but don't make a fuss." In fact, most people haven't: they mostly travel in more fragile transport ships, which Only the more "elite" Astra Militarum are eligible to use the sturdy assault craft.
There is no doubt that their regiment’s previous surprise attack on the ordnance factory allowed them to get rid of the label of cannon fodder to a certain extent.
This kind of atmospheric assault craft is very similar to the shark assault craft used by the Navy to jump gangs, but it is much larger, with a length of nearly four hundred meters.
As Hayes rushed with the others towards the assault craft, he found himself in awe at the approach to such a massive vehicle, which looked like it could hold at least a thousand men, not to mention tanks and artillery. .
Soon, the hatch on the front of the assault craft opened up, the main assault ramp stretched toward them like the tongue of some incredible metal beast, and Hayes and the others ran up the ramp and into the assault craft itself The cavernous and dimly lit interior revealed a grim-looking crew member waiting to point them to a nearby staircase.
The procession then quickly made its way up the stairwell to the top floor, where the deck was lined with rows of seats and aisles.
“Find a seat and fasten your seat belt.”
Their battalion commander also appeared. The man still looked disheveled.
"I want you to sit together in squad, platoon and company order. Anyone who is not in his seat and ready to be airborne in two minutes will find himself a puddle on the bulkhead."
Hurrying to the designated seat, Hayes quickly sat down, carefully tied the buckles of the seat impact protection device around his waist, shoulders and chest, then tightened them to fit him, and Making sure the safety on his laser gun was set to "Safe," he held the gun upright and inserted it first into the shallow recess of the weapons rack at the front of the seat, then clipped the barrel lock to hold the gun in place.
Then, he reached out and patted Winter, a recruit who had just arrived in the company and was added to their machine gun squad.
By the way, Hayes has become the squad leader now, but he still follows Hachet most of the time, so in fact Hachet is still in charge of the squad.
"Hey, check the gun."
Hearing Hayes' reminder, the pale boy nodded quickly, and then carefully checked the laser gun on his hand.
It can be seen from his slightly trembling fingers that he is very nervous because this is his first time on the battlefield.
In fact, Winter served for almost the same time as Hayes, but he was very lucky. The troops assigned to him had been performing security missions near the Grief Galaxy for a long time, and almost no enemies appeared there.
However, his good luck came to an end recently. His regiment was disbanded, and the soldiers were replenished to those units on the front line that suffered greater personnel losses. Therefore, Winter came to the Abu Bakari 310th Infantry Regiment. , he had never really been on the battlefield before.
Winter was born in a farmer's family, with two sisters and one brother. If nothing happens, he will be a farmer in the future. He will find a wife, raise his daughter, cultivate the land, and give half of each season's harvest to the government. The grain station, just as he had done throughout the lifetimes of generations of ancestors, would eventually die around the age of fifty and be buried near his home, the body returning to the fertile soil and the soul to the throne room.
Then this is what Winter thought of his future when he was seventeen years old.
Everything changes when he receives news that he has been drafted into the Imperial Army.