novelraw Chapter 3: These Death Guard brothers are honest and kind people too.
Chapter 3: These Death Guard brothers are honest and kind people too.
click!
Almost instinctively, Sun Qian immediately drew his explosive pistol from his waist and loaded it.
At the same time, the Death Guard soldier in front of him, as if he had eyes in the back of his head, immediately drew his explosive pistol and turned around—
boom! !
However, the battle in Astartes could be decided by a difference of only nanoseconds. Sun Qian, who took the initiative, pulled the trigger without hesitation. The explosive bullet accurately hit the opponent's explosive gun and caused a small explosion.
But when Sun Qian turned the gun to aim at the other man's head, he hesitated.
If the other party isn't one of Gruulg's subordinates, then what is their stance?
With a quick thought, Sun Qian moved the crosshair to the opponent's arm and fired again.
However, this brief moment of hesitation changed the course of the battle.
The Death Guard soldier threw away his damaged bomb gun and immediately drew a combat dagger from behind him.
Bang! !
With a flash of light, the explosive bomb was struck in mid-air and bounced away.
What a fast sword! What a precise sword!
Sun Qian was amazed; such a thing as a sword blocking a bullet was extremely rare even in Astartes.
But at the same time, taking advantage of the opponent's momentary lapse in motion, he pulled the trigger again.
As the saying goes, a gun is fast from seven paces away, and accurate and fast within seven paces.
Whoosh!
Unexpectedly, the other party then swung his other hand, and another flash of light deflected the bullet away.
He's a dual-wielder?!
Before him stood the Death Guard, wielding a combat dagger in each hand, charging straight toward Sun Qian with a desperate momentum.
Sun Qian's heart sank. It seemed he couldn't afford to hold back this time; he had to fight with all his might.
But the next sentence he heard made Sun Qian's mind go completely blank.
"I, Liu Bei, have no other special skills, but my swordsmanship is among the best in the world!"
In just one second, the battle was decided.
First, he struck Sun Qian's explosive gun with his sword, slicing off half of its barrel.
At the same time, another sword swung fiercely towards Sun Qian's neck...
And with precise upward thrust less than 5 centimeters from his carotid artery, he knocked Sun Qian's helmet off.
"You spared my life just now because you couldn't bear to kill me. But you must confess to all your treacherous acts of colluding with Gruulg to murder your comrades..."
"Liu Bei?"
Sun Qian instinctively called out softly, which made the other person's voice come to an abrupt halt.
Although a sharp blade was still held to Sun Qian's neck, another short sword fell to the ground with a clang.
The Death Guard then removed his helmet with slightly trembling hands.
What came into Sun Qian's view was a slightly haggard, ordinary middle-aged Asian face—
However, his ears were noticeably larger than normal, with his earlobes almost reaching the neck brace.
She stared intently at Sun Qian, tears welling up in her incredulous eyes.
"Kung-Yu? Is it really you?"
But a few seconds later, a look of struggle and difficulty appeared in his eyes.
"But why would Mr. Sun collude with that traitor Gruulge...?"
"Uncle, you misunderstand! That was just a feint. I came here to report to Company Commander Gallo!"
Sun Qian seized the opportunity and spoke in a firm and resounding tone.
"Horus has rebelled!"
-
A dozen minutes later.
"You mean, not only that bastard Gruulger, but even Primarch... Warmaster Horus, betrayed us?"
On the bridge of the USS Eisenstein, Nathaniel Garro stared intently at Sun Qian with a suspicious and wary gaze, his expression shifting between light and shadow.
As he scrutinized Sun Qian with utmost seriousness, as if trying to find any signs of a lie, Sun Qian was also secretly observing this combat company commander of the Death Guard.
You can see that this tough veteran has a thin face and his skin is somewhat pale due to the recent recovery from serious injuries. The most striking thing is his right leg - which has been replaced by an exquisitely crafted brass prosthesis from the thigh up.
However, this is also the best proof of the other party's identity.
It seems that, just like the original plot that Sun Qian knew, Garo was seriously injured and on the verge of death in a battle related to the Istvan III mutiny. Fortunately, he was saved by an old Chinese medicine doctor who happened to be passing by. It was because of this that Motalian felt at ease placing him on the Eisenstein.
However, what happened next seemed to be quite different from what Sun Qian had expected.
Sun Qian glanced around the bridge. The ordinary crew members looked at each other with worried expressions after hearing Sun Qian's report, but they did not show too much excitement or surprise.
Moreover, it seems that Garo did not intend to hide this from these mortal auxiliary troops, which means that they had already been on the same side as Garo.
It was obvious that Company Commander Gallo had already taken control of the Eisenstein.
According to the original plot that Sun Qian knew, the outnumbered and weak Garo should have taken advantage of Gruulg's loading of the virus bomb to detonate it and eliminate Gruulg and his traitorous Astartes squad.
However, the conflict with Gruulg has been brought forward significantly, and the reason for this difference is...
"Xuande, what do you think of his words?"
Garo turned to look at the Astartes warrior beside him, his words revealing his undisguised trust in him.
Liu Bei didn't even glance at Sun Qian, as if he didn't know him at all. He simply lowered his head, pondered for a moment, and then spoke loudly.
"Whether what this person said is true or false is not important. The key point is that since he also knows about the virus bomb plan, it proves that what we were worried about before is true. There are countless people colluding with Gruulg among the hundreds of ships in orbit. We can no longer trust our former comrades."
It can be heard that Liu Bei's way of speaking is somewhat classical and vernacular, which shows that his experience in the 30K era has influenced his speaking style, but he still retains some of the style of the ancients.
At this point, Liu Bei looked out the porthole with a sorrowful gaze. He could see that the flames of war on the surface of Istvan III were already approaching the planetary capital, Chanting City. This war, which involved 11 Astartes, was rapidly drawing to a close with a one-sided situation.
However, the few people here all knew that this might be the prelude to another one-sided massacre.
"But it's not just the hundreds of millions of loyal soldiers below who are in grave danger, but also the countless billions of lives in the Milky Way. I urge the company commander to make a decision as soon as possible!"
Liu Bei clasped his hands in front of his chest, and every word he spoke was sincere and heartfelt.
Company Commander Gallo clenched his fist, and after a moment, he almost squeezed out the words through clenched teeth.
"Then we'll land immediately to warn our brothers on the ground..."
"Company Commander!"
Liu Bei gave a sharp shout, and Jia Luo pursed his lips and remained silent.
In truth, it's clear to everyone that the loyalist Astartes on the ground are beyond saving. When Horus sent them to land in the orbital drop pods that could not be returned, their hopeless fate was already sealed.
The USS Eisenstein was, after all, just a frigate. Even disregarding the issue of it becoming a target for the entire expeditionary force, how many loyal soldiers could they possibly take with them?
Now that things have come to this, there's only one thing they can do.
"All personnel, listen up! Calculate the route to Terra and move this ship slowly to the end of the fleet. If anyone asks, say there has been an engine malfunction."
Gallo's orders clearly defined the Eisenstein's next mission—
They must inform Terra of the Horus Rebellion!