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Suddenly light filled the shaft as doors opened above Zaul fired i up past Boreas to explode three levels above his head Soed fell past hinored the inter fro his balance as he cla of bullets
One level down from the open doorhich was also the floor on which the bridge was located, Boreas stopped and glanced down Hephaestus was just a cou­ple of metres below hinalled for therenade from his belt With his free hand, he pri pin and lobbed the grenade up It arced slighdy towards the open door and exploded innoisily off his arrunt, he pulled himself up a couple ging into thehimself up, he pulled out his crozius and looked around Four dismembered bodies littered the hallway he found hiroup of uns, who staggered back, terrified
’External address No mercy, no respite, no retreat!’ Boreas bellowed, his exterior speakers turning his battle-cry into a deafening roar that stunned the traitors even more
He was on the the jaw fro Hephaestus sprinted past hih thethe arm off another They broke and fled, but couldn’t outrun the Space Marines as they bounded forith long, powered strides, hacking the a trail of stea blood and cau­terised flesh
’Exit point secured,’ barked Boreas ’Reform at my posi­tion’
As he waited for Nestor, Zaul and Thuain Five and a halfthe auspex and activated it, pointing it in the direction of the bridge The flickering screen was alnals
’Full charge, close assault,’ he announced when the others were all present ’Covering fire Zaul and Thu and readied their weapons for the final push Hephaestus jabbed the but­ton to open the chamber’s portal
’For the Lion!’ cried Boreas, launching hie
The passageas deserted and Boreas halted just a few steps down, momentarily puzzled It stretched ahead for twenty ht in front of hie, a heavily armoured portal with hydraulic bars dropped into place He checked the auspex again; it still read over­whelnals He thuave a plaintive electronic whine and the display faded
’Brother-chaplain, I ae,’ Hephaestus announced ’They are ja our scanners’
Boreas hooked the auspex back onto his belt and looked back at the others
’They have taken refuge inside the bridge itself,’ he said, advancing cautiously along the corridor, the others fol­lowing him ’Impossible to kno uarded’
’We do not have breaching equiph the portal,’ Hephaestus told them
’Are there any other access points?’ Boreas asked as they reached the hallway It too was e lens set into the wall above the door and shot it with his bolt pistol, sending sparks cascading down onto his armour
’There are several weak points in the bulkhead itself,’ Hephaestus replied, his head turning left and right as he surveyed the wall
’Aught,’ Boreas muttered and his con­structed vision faded to a wireframe schematic He could see the wall, the banks ofout as red blobs a lines There were at least three dozen waiting inside, probably more, many of them clus­tered around the doorway He saw the outline of Hephaestusforward as he indicated a section of the bulkhead that was thinner than the rest ’Cease aug­mentation,’ Boreas told his arht returned
’If we use the rest of our h here,’ the Techh oudine into the ht of the doorway He marked six points to indicate where to attach the es and set to work, de-activating their timers so that they would only explode by reathered in a se point, readying their frag grenades
’Zaul, Daht Hephaes­tus and Nestor next in to cover forward Thumiel folloith renades with three-second fuse’
Dahdy crouched behind hiator-Chaplain gave a small nod With a hiss and then a loud crack, the h the metal bulkhead in an instant Dah the weakened wall and clattered into the bridge, his bolt pistol firing Zaul followed quickly, bolter held in one hand, co sounded over the comm-link as Nestor and Hephaestus followed up, their pistols spewing fire Boreas charged in next and rounded to the left towards the door, Thu
There were twenty or so officers and crewuns, stub pis­tols and shotguns They were turning in reaction to the attack but Boreas opened fire first The first bolt tore into the face of a man with a red bandana, a moment before his head was vapourised The second round ripped into the butt of a shotgun and flung the man back as his firearm exploded in his hands
Boreas launched hi, his crozius held above his head Flares of light reflected off the glea surfaces of control panels and displays as his con­version field burst into life as shotgun rounds, las-bolts and bullets pelted into hiht knee and stumbled A lucky shot had pierced the bendiu but the pain passed in an instant as his arlands to kick into action Thus showering around hirunt, Boreas pushed hi his crozius in two hands The first swing threw a e to land heavily in a crash of splintering dials and exploding wires His next blow crushed the chest of an officer in a long blue coat decorated with gold braiding He slu fros Another man had drawn his sword and chopped wildly at Boreas’s head The blade crashed off his helo of his crozius with his right hand and as the next attack swung in, he warded it aith his ar his strength, the blade buckled and twisted between Boreas’s fingers until it snapped He ra his body to fall to the floor drenched in arterial blood
Only three men were left alive and they thren their weapons and raised their hands above their heads Zaul fired into the chest of the first, ripping apart his spine and internal organs Boreas grabbed the head of the next in his hand and snapped his neck, tossing the body aside with ease The thirddown his cheeks, his white trousers stained as he soiled hiibbered some unholy prayer before Boreas’s booted foot crashed into the back of his head, sta his life out on the hard deck
’Damas, Nestor, secure entry point,’ the Chaplain barked, turning fro breach in the bulkhead ’Hephaestus, locate and shut down artificial gravity and life support systee was theirs