mesbooks Chapter 293 Big Fish
Chapter 293 Big Fish
two hours later
After some twists and turns, Howard and his party finally boarded the vehicle arranged for them by the Governor - a Skyhawk shuttle.
This was not the first time Howard had ridden in a similar vehicle. When he was first captured by the Blood Angels, he had also ridden in a Thunderhawk transport plane.
However, compared with the Thunderhawk transport aircraft specially used for war, the Skyhawk shuttle is far inferior to the Thunderhawk transport aircraft in size, armor, firepower and power, but it has an advantage that the Thunderhawk transport aircraft does not have.
That's comfort.
Thunderhawk transport aircraft are generally used to transport Space Marines and heavy firepower for landing strikes, so the efficiency of space utilization is extremely high, and there is not even a chair in the entire cockpit.
But the Skyhawk transport aircraft, which mainly serves the imperial nobles, is different. In addition to having a better basic cockpit configuration than the Thunderhawk transport aircraft, the owner of the Skyhawk transport aircraft can also modify it according to his own preferences.
For example, the transport plane that Esrick arranged for Howard was equipped with sound insulation in addition to the necessary seats and cushions, and there was even a small refrigerator in the cockpit for storing alcohol.
If the interior space was not so limited that it could not accommodate deeper modifications, Howard had no doubt that these powerful people would move their entire bedrooms in.
However, perhaps due to considerations of overall strength, neither the previous Thunderhawk transport aircraft nor the Skyhawk transport aircraft in front of it had windows installed outside the cab.
"Come in." Standing in front of the open hatch of the Skyhawk shuttle, Jasmine made an inviting gesture to Howard, her posture very much like a tour guide or shopping guide.
Howard didn't rush in, but asked, "Where's the Governor? Isn't he with us?"
The reason Howard didn't ask the Mechanical Sage was because after yesterday's meeting, the Mechanical Sage's body fell into hibernation again, just like when the chip was repaired before.
Because his consciousness had been uploaded to another body that was sent to the Crimson Sword along with the servitor, and began to lead the preparations before the awakening of this Moon-class cruiser.
"The Governor has already boarded the Crimson Sword in the first batch of spaceships. You are now on the final batch," Jasmine answered Howard's question. "If you have any requests or instructions, please tell me directly."
It seems that Jasmine's role in this incident is really that of a tour guide or shopping guide.
So Howard didn't ask any more questions. He was the first to get on the Skyhawk shuttle, followed by May, who sat next to Howard.
Then came the nun. After boarding the shuttle, the nun wanted to sit on the same side as Howard. However, as soon as she sat down, Howard could clearly feel that the shuttle was tilting slightly.
Compared to the Thunderhawk transport aircraft that can transport Astartes and tanks, the cabin of a Skyhawk shuttle can only accommodate seven people.
The Battle Sister, with the power armor she was wearing, probably weighed as much as three or four people.
The nun had no choice but to sit opposite Howard.
Finally, Jasmine also boarded the shuttle and sat in the same row with Mei.
The hatch closed, and with a vibration that was much lighter than when the Thunderhawk transport plane was started, the Skyhawk shuttle left its parking space.
At this time, on the edge of the Blackwater Fortress, human artillery positions launched another salvo to suppress the orcs in the buffer zone. Anti-aircraft guns formed a tight firepower network around the Skyhawk shuttle, repelling all orc aircraft that came up with bad intentions.
These green-skinned orcs who were born for war don't care whether it is a military or civilian transport plane. They will pursue and destroy all movable objects that are not orcs. It was because of this negligence that the transport plane the governor was riding in was shot down by the orcs five years ago.
No one spoke during the flight. Howard stood straight, but this was not because of his good manners, but because his clothes were pressing against his back.
The nun sitting opposite was sitting upright with her eyes closed, as if she was meditating, while Mei and Jasmine were also sitting upright.
Ever since he put on this dress, Howard felt that nothing was going right.
About half an hour passed like this, and the vibration was felt again, and the Skyhawk shuttle drove into the docking bay of the Crimson Sword.
It’s a pity that the shuttles he took both times had no windows, so Howard couldn’t directly appreciate the size of the spacecraft.
In space, the construction of spacecraft does not have to consider gravity and displacement, or even material strength and power, so these ships are getting bigger and bigger.
Although the Moon-class cruiser is one of the most common naval warships in the Empire, its length is still ten times that of the largest aircraft carrier built by humans, and its volume is tens of thousands of times that of real-world ships.
As soon as the hatch opened, Howard felt his eardrum swell, which meant that the air pressure inside the spacecraft was lower than normal, which was not a good sign.
This feeling became more obvious after getting off the spaceship. Everything around me looked old and dilapidated.
There was a large area of water on the ground, the pipes above head were broken, and a tangled mess of wires were leaking out of the pipes. Some were even smoking, and the outer rubber layer had melted and dripped down.
They should be at the spacecraft's built-in helipad, but the lighting on the helipad was extremely dim at this time. Howard could not see a single indicator light, nor did he see any staff, but there were many armed guards stationed there.
Wait? Armed guards?
If Howard remembered correctly, according to the Governor's introduction, this Moon-class cruiser had all its systems shut down and parked in synchronous orbit shortly after his parents arrived on this planet. The Governor himself was not even born at that time.
In other words, this spaceship has been abandoned for at least thirty-four years. Why are there so many armed personnel standing guard on a spaceship that has been abandoned for such a long time?
As if to confirm Howard's concerns, there were faint gunshots and explosions in the distance, and ominous vibrations from the deck beneath his feet.
"What's with that gunshot?" Howard was shocked and asked Jasmine beside him.
"Please don't worry. When the Crimson Sword was shut down, some slave families were unwilling to evacuate to the surface. Now, the Governor is negotiating with the leaders of these families to regain control of the Crimson Sword." Jasmine replied calmly.
"Perhaps some leaders of slave labor families were dissatisfied with the conditions set by the Governor, so they rebelled. However, everything is under our control. Please rest assured that we will protect your safety at all costs."
The slave labor family is a family-like collective composed of slave laborers working and living on the spacecraft.
Although we have entered the era of interstellar colonization, due to the rebellion of AI in the past, humans are very cautious about the use of automated machinery, which has resulted in work that could have been done with automated machinery now requiring manpower to complete.
And it requires a lot of manpower.
For example, if a spaceship's main gun needed to be reloaded, thousands of slave workers would have to pull the huge shells like the boatmen of the past and endure the toxic and hot gases to fill the barrel.
Most of these slaves are made up of losers selected by the navy or even the Space Marines, and some are born directly on the spacecraft. They have all undergone more or less mechanical transformation, becoming more able to endure high-intensity and harsh working conditions, and become consumables on the Empire's spacecraft, dedicating their short lives to the Empire, and then dying on the spacecraft, and their bodies enter the cycle.
As generations of slave workers changed, some knowledge and secrets about spacecraft that only they knew were also passed down.
For example, these slaves know where the secret passages and loopholes on a spaceship are, better than the spaceship's designers.
A spaceship can be without a governor or generals, but it cannot lose the slaves who maintain the underlying operations.
For these slave workers, the spaceship is not just a tool of war for the Empire, but also their home... even the source of their territory and power.
No one will voluntarily give up power.
Although life on the spaceship is harsh, they can still be slave kings. Once they leave the spaceship, they are useless.
But what surprised Howard was not this, but the fact that they had lived in an environment where the power system, life support system and even the air circulation system were all shut down for decades, and they still had the ability to negotiate and fight back?
Just as Howard was thinking about this, gunshots suddenly rang out around him, and the armed guards were knocked down one after another. This was not because these armed guards were useless, but because the enemy's appearance was too unexpected.
Those unidentified people with worn and ragged clothes and skinny bodies, who looked like neither human nor ghost, rushed out from the shadows in the corners, jumped out of the electrical conduits, and even seemed to grow directly from the ground, and launched an attack on the armed guards.
When Howard just got off the spaceship, he saw a seemingly deserted and quiet scene, but he didn't expect that there might be several people hiding in an inconspicuous corner.
What when the walls of the ship start speaking Terran?
With these elusive attacks, these unidentified armed men soon took control of the entire apron.
After taking control of the situation, a man who was smaller than the surrounding slaves but significantly better equipped than the other armed personnel stood at the edge of the highest shelf. He looked down at Howard and the others, his tone filled with joy and joking:
"Wow wow wow wow! Looks like we caught a big fish."
Howard was not frightened by the sudden change. He leaned over to Jasmine and asked in a low voice:
"Ms. Jasmine, is this what you call having the situation under general control?"