The Bizarre Adventures of Cloud Hammer

"Have we shaken off the Imperial Navy?"

Captain Vincent of the Eyeless Winged Serpent asked his deputy in shock.

"No trace of the Imperial Navy has been found. We've lost them, for now."

Vincent finally breathed a sigh of relief. When he was chased by the Imperial Navy and had to flee into the warp, he began to review the events of his life.

Vincent's background was so extraordinary compared to the sailors and slaves on the ship. Born in the Storm Star Region's hive world of Atis, as the second son of the planetary governor, he should have lived a life of luxury and debauchery, but life always undergoes unexpected changes at some point in time.

Twenty years ago, Vincent's father, the planetary governor of Attis, passed away. According to his will, the next planetary governor would be the eldest son, Vincent's eldest brother.

I believe everyone has guessed the next plot. As the second son, Vincent was dissatisfied with this decision. With the instigation of one of his close aides, Vincent decided to launch a rebellion and seize the position of planetary governor from his brother.

The result is obvious. If Vincent had succeeded, he would not have become a space pirate who had to hang his head on his belt and was in constant fear.

Compared to other nobles, Vincent at least had some ability and was not a good-for-nothing, but he was much worse than his elder brother. Vincent's rebellion was suppressed in a short time, and most of the nobles who followed him in the rebellion were eliminated. Perhaps because of blood ties, Vincent's elder brother did not arrest him immediately, but let him escape from Aitis with the remaining defeated troops on a retired Flamestorm-class frigate.

After escaping from Etis like a stray dog, Vincent relied on the Firestorm-class frigate in his hand to join a pirate fleet in the star zone and made a living by looting passing merchant ships. Perhaps because of revenge, Vincent's main target was Etis' merchant ships. In this way, he spent the past twenty years in a daze.

About half a month ago, the Imperial Navy in the star zone launched a large-scale extermination operation against pirates, and the pirate fleet where Vincent was located was one of the targets.

The pirate fleet is called a fleet, but in fact it is just a group of rabble. Why are most of the pirate ships small ships? Of course, they are trying to escape. Facing the powerful Imperial Navy, the pirate fleet has no strength and courage to fight back. They all scatter like birds and beasts. Those who are lucky can escape, and those who are unlucky will become space junk. The Imperial Navy will not reason with pirates who infringe on imperial property.

Vincent's ship was almost forced into a dead end while being pursued by the Imperial Navy. He had no choice but to navigate the warp to escape. Navigating the warp without a navigator is likely to get lost in the warp, but fortunately, Vincent had several illegal psykers under his command. With the help of these psykers, Vincent's ship could make short jumps in the warp. After several consecutive short jumps, Vincent finally got rid of the pursuit of the Imperial Navy.

After escaping from the pursuit, new problems followed. During the escape, the Eyeless Winged Serpent suffered considerable damage due to the fire of the Imperial Navy, but it was not enough to stall in space, and this was not the main problem.

As pirates, it is naturally impossible to replenish the supplies on the ship through formal means. They either rob or buy from others in the pirate port. For example, even the slaves on Vincent's ship were basically robbed from other ships.

Because of the encirclement by the Imperial Navy, Vincent had very few supplies and fuel on board when he was escaping, at least not enough for them to reach another civilized world. To make matters worse, some of the people he had captured and used as slaves rioted during his escape. When he was suppressing the riot and sailing in the subspace, another group of sailors and slaves went crazy, and he had no choice but to execute them as well.

The Eyeless Winged Serpent is now short of people, supplies, and fuel. In short, it lacks everything it should have. But the question is how are they going to get replenishment in this uninhabited deep space?

While Vincent was thinking, one of his men reported:

"Captain, we spotted a merchant ship not far away."

"A merchant ship? In a place like this?"

Vincent was puzzled. In order to avoid the Imperial Navy, they must have avoided the main shipping routes when they jumped out of the subspace. How could merchant ships come from such an uninhabited area?

"There are merchant ships in a place like this? Are you kidding me?"

"Really not, Captain, take a look for yourself."

The subordinate pointed out of the porthole. There was no need for a scan with the auspex. There really was a stationary merchant ship within the visible range. The integrity of the hull did not look like that of a wrecked ship, and the engine was still running.

"It really exists?" Vincent's doubt turned into confusion. How could a merchant ship stop at such a place far away from the shipping route?

Could it be a bait of the Imperial Navy?

Such a coincidence made Vincent suspicious. He asked the first mate again, "Is there really no trace of the Imperial Navy nearby?"

"No, we've scanned it many times, and there's no place nearby for the Imperial Navy to hide," the first mate replied.

The joy of escaping a desperate situation surged in Vincent's heart, and he couldn't help but say:

"That's truly the Emperor's blessing. With this piece of meat, we can move to another sector." He then asked, "Have you observed void shields and ship-borne weapons?"

"No weapons were found, and no void shields were observed. She was completely defenseless."

"Alright! Get close to that ship. We need to take everything on it, whether it's people or supplies!"

"Do we need to observe it further? What if..." Dali suggested.

"No need. Who do you think I am? Pull the boat over!" Vincent had forgotten how miserable he was being chased like a dog by the Imperial Navy. He now just wanted to regain his confidence on a 'merchant ship'.

"By the way, send a message and ask the people on that ship to surrender voluntarily, so that we don't have to waste any more time."

As they approached, the messenger sent a message but received no reply.

"It has been sent, but there is no response from the other party."

"Want to play dead? Let's get ready brothers, we are going to vent our anger!" Vincent laughed wildly, he wanted to vent the frustration he had been feeling for a while.

The boarding torpedo was launched and crashed into the "merchant ship", and nearly a thousand pirates entered the interior of the merchant ship.

Only then did Apu and the others react. They really didn't expect to be boarded by a pirate ship that suddenly appeared.

"Why would they just charge in? Where's the void shield?"

Apoo was puzzled. Gloria had only disguised herself as a merchant ship, but that didn't mean she was actually a merchant ship. The Emperor's Dream's void shield alone was strong enough to kill all the pirates. (Referring to the deflection into the subspace)

"I forgot to open it." Gloria said embarrassedly.

"Is it okay if you forgot to open it? Gloria, did you do it on purpose or was it an accident?"

"I really didn't mean to do that. I didn't expect them to board the ship directly?" Gloria didn't expect these pirates to be so barbaric that they chose to board the ship less than a minute after sending the message.

Xianyu patted Apu on the shoulder and told him not to worry about it. "Forget it, forget it. It's already happened. Why don't you think about what to do now?"

The pirates in Warhammer 40k are not good people. They will not let you go just because you beg for mercy, so everyone has only one choice.

Apu: "Is the only option left to do is to fight?"

Xianyu: "What else? Do we have to scare them back?"

In fact, it is possible. As long as they, the Astartes, appear, the pirates will immediately lose their will to fight, and the pirate ships will turn around and run away when they learn of the presence of the Astartes. But do they really want to do this?

This is an opportunity, an opportunity for the six people to adapt to the Warhammer 40k universe. In this universe where chaos is the norm, they cannot avoid experiencing battles. Instead of encountering enemies such as greenskins, bean sprouts, and chaos for the first time, it is better to use this group of pirate scum to adapt.

And Gloria didn't want a bunch of pirates running around in her body.

"But we don't have any weapons on us?"

Brother Ou spread out his hands. None of the pirates had any weapons except for a set of power armor. He couldn't let them kill all the pirates with their fists.

"You can teleport to the armory first. There is all the equipment you need there," said Gloria.

Luochen: "All equipment?"

"I can make any equipment for you, as long as it's in your memory."

Gloria can use her own energy to provide all the equipment for everyone, and the cost of making these equipment is just a drizzle for her.

"Boltguns, melta, plasma, and so on?"

"Yes, there is no limit on bullets."

"What about the Terminator and the Stand Shield?"

"Yes, if it breaks, I can replace it for you."

"And the vehicles..."

"We have everything. If you feel overwhelmed, we can even provide you with fearlessness."

Gloria is never stingy with her partners. She will give weapons and vehicles to everyone as long as they need them, and the quality will definitely be the best.

"Gold! Why are you still afraid? Let's go, brothers, and join those pirates." Upon hearing about these equipments, Apu, Ou Ge, and Luo Chen became excited.

Gloria teleported everyone to the armory. The dazzling array of equipment made everyone dizzy, and that was not all. Whatever equipment they needed, Gloria would immediately deliver it to them.

"Hey, look at the decorations and carvings, they are at least fine-crafted." Appu said, picking up a grenade launcher. It looked almost the same as the fine-crafted and relic-level weapons in Star Warrior 2.

"Look, Lapu, these are the incendiary and gravity guns!" Brother Ou held a gun in each hand and showed them to Apu. These were quite rare weapons in the Warhammer 40k era. In some war groups, they were placed as holy objects and relics and would only be taken out and used at critical moments.

"The Terminator is here!" Luochen shouted from a platform inside.

In the transparent display cabinet next to the platform, various Terminator armors such as Iron Cavalry, Hades, and Indomitable are displayed inside.

The Terminator Power Armor, officially known as Tactical Dreadnought Armor, is an advanced power armor specially optimized for close-quarters melee combat. It values output far more than the flexibility of the armor, and with its adamantium skeleton and thick ceramite armor, a Space Marine wearing Terminator armor is equivalent to a human tank. Equipped with equipment adapted to the Terminator's heavy firepower, it can make a Space Marine the most terrifying killing weapon.

As a powerful armor suitable for a variety of occasions, the Terminator is generally used in 40k for street fighting, boarding, decapitation, advancement and other high-risk tasks that ordinary Space Marines cannot complete. However, in the 40k era when the number of Terminator armor is already quite scarce compared to 30k, the Terminator armor is generally not deployed easily. Only the Chapter Master, Company Commander, Honor Guard and the best warriors in the Chapter are qualified to wear the Terminator armor.

In Warhammer 40k, the three types of Terminators, Iron Knight, Hades, and Indomitable, are the most well-known Terminator armors. In the 40k era, the Indomitable was the most common Terminator armor, but it also had the worst overall performance among the three famous Terminator armors. It had no built-in shield generator and could only rely on its own armor to resist firepower. Although it could enhance defense through external shield generators such as the Iron Halo, other Terminators, except for the Chapter Master and Company Commander, rarely could they be equipped with the Iron Halo.

The Iron Cavalry Terminator was a Terminator manufactured during the Great Crusade of 30k. There were very few of them during the Great Crusade. It has the best defensive performance among the three types of Terminator armor. Coupled with the shield generator, the Iron Cavalry Terminator is a walking fortress. However, its powerful defensive performance also affects its mobility, making it more difficult for it to react immediately when facing enemy firepower. It is precisely because of this defect that the Iron Cavalry type gradually withdrew from the front line. By the 40k era, the Iron Cavalry type was already quite rare, and only a few regiments could own it. It basically existed as a holy relic.

The Hades-Type Terminator Armor is arguably the best Terminator Armor available to Space Marines in Warhammer 40k. It can provide its wearer with greater flexibility and endurance than the Indomitable, while maintaining the same level of protection as the Indomitable (or even better). As long as a shield generator is added, the Hades-Type is the perfect Terminator. However, the price of such perfection is high, as the extremely high cost of production and maintenance has led to very limited production. Production stopped after the Heresy, and by the 40k era, the Hades-Type in the Empire was essentially extinct. Each existing set of Hades-Type Terminators is a relic-level treasure.

In addition to these three most famous terminators, there are also old MK series terminators, Iron Hands' Gorgon-type terminators, and Grey Knights' Aegis-type terminators in the display cabinet.

These precious weapons and armors, which are rare or even non-existent in ordinary warbands, are consumables that Apu and his men can choose at will. If those poorer warbands saw this, they would surely drool.

With the body of an Astarte and the powerful equipment she picked at random, those mortal pirates were just ants that could be easily crushed to death in front of everyone. Even so, Apu was still a little worried.

"Can we really do it?" Apu was not worried about whether they could defeat the pirates, but whether they could remain calm after killing the enemy.

A day ago, the six of them were still ordinary people in the 3k era. They might be able to cook animals like chicken, duck, and fish, but killing people was still too far away for them.

"Believe in yourself, you are all qualified warriors." Gloria encouraged everyone, "This is also something you must face in this universe."

Gloria did not simply transform the bodies of Apu and others into Space Marines. She created them based on the templates of the best Space Marines from each legion. The combat knowledge, skills and other things that a Space Marine should have had had been perfectly engraved in their bodies. She also retained the characteristics of different legions and repaired their defects.

It can be said that except for their untempered minds, they are the most perfect and powerful Astartes warriors in terms of hardware.

"Gloria is right. We will have to face these things sooner or later." Xianyu said.

"We have to fight anyway, so why not start with the easy ones?" Er Yu echoed.

"Don't think about it for now. Brother Ou and Luochen, come and help me pick out the equipment. Which equipment is useful?" Awei shouted from the side. He didn't know how to match his equipment.

"Don't worry, wait until I change the Terminator."

"Oh, should I choose the Iron Cavalry or the Underworld?"

Luochen and Ou Ge both started changing into Terminator armor.

Seeing that everyone seemed quite relaxed, Apu also put aside his worries:

"Okay, then let's just rush and be done with it."

“Sprint, charge!”

(I personally think he is the most handsome Terminator)

(The most expensive, but also the best)

(Don’t ask for so much for mass-produced goods)

Chapter 6 Astartes, attack!

From the moment the pirate boarding team stepped into the merchant ship, they were all shocked by the noble luxury inside. Everyone wondered, is this really the interior of a merchant ship? Why does it look nothing like the outside?

When Vincent saw the images transmitted back by the boarding team, he almost slipped off his chair.

"Is this a merchant ship?"

Vincent stared at the screen blankly. As the son of a governor, he was far more knowledgeable than the average pirate. Even so, even the palace of the planetary governor in his memory looked so ordinary in front of this ship.

"Captain? Captain?"

It was only after his deputy reminded him that Vincent realized his own misstep. He adjusted his mindset and gave the order again:

"Change of plans, repeat! Change of plans!"

Vincent's original plan was to destroy the merchant ship after stealing people and resources, but the value of this ship was beyond his imagination. The gold, silver and jewelry used for decoration alone were priceless. This was just the corridor. What kind of rare treasures would be hidden inside this "merchant ship"?

Vincent calculated that as long as he could capture the ship and sell it in a civilized world, even if it was sold at a low price, it would still bring in an inestimable fortune. Then he could retire from the underworld, change his appearance, and resume his former extravagant aristocratic life.

Who would want to live in fear as a pirate when they can be a noble?

"Continue exploring to find the cargo hold of this ship. If you encounter anyone, capture them immediately. If they try to escape, kill them without mercy!"

Under Vincent's order, the pirate boarding teams scattered on different decks began to explore different areas.

After more than ten minutes, Vincent didn't receive any response from the boarding team, which made him lose patience. He asked:

"What's wrong with you guys? You haven't caught anyone in such a long time? Are you secretly taking the treasure?"

"Captain... Captain, it's not that we can't catch anyone, but we really haven't encountered even one person."

"How is that possible! There must be at least tens of thousands of crew members on a ship like this. How is it possible that we don't even encounter one person?"

As a Firestorm-class frigate, the Eyeless Winged Serpent requires a crew of approximately 1.6 to fully utilize its combat capabilities. Even with a reduced crew, it would still require at least 1.8. This merchant ship, slightly smaller than the Eyeless Winged Serpent, would still require at least tens of thousands of people to operate. (The Sword-class has a range of km, while the Firestorm-class has a range of km; the Firestorm is a variant of the Sword-class.)

"I really haven't encountered any, and it seems we haven't left this area yet. This ship seems... a little strange. The interior space is much larger than it looks."

"Stop making so many excuses and speed up!"

"As ordered!"

----

In the armory, Apu stood on the platform. The mechanical arms and servitors surrounding him were helping him put on the Iron Cavalry Terminator armor. To be on the safe side, all six of them wore the Terminator armor.