Chapter 5
Imperial Shuttle Beta
Commissar Terianis calmly inspected the Storm Troopers as they sat in silence, listening to the drone of the jumper's engines. He had just finished debriefing the crack team of soldiers on the mission, and was visually going over their equipment.
The plan was to dock at two neighboring bays, with the Storm Troopers and Celestians entering the Hulk seperately. They would then meet at an intersection further into the craft, where the passageways should be a bit wider. If needed, they could use the nearby medical facility as a a brief base of command.
They weren't planning on staying long. Only the Emperor knew when the Hulk would slip back into the Warp, taking everything inside of it along for the nightmarish ride.
One of the newer Troopers waved a hand to get his sergeant's attention.
"Sir, why are we taking two shuttles, when everyone could fit into one?"
"Commissar," the veteran replied, "could phrase it better than I could."
It took a moment before Alexi could come up with a suitable response.
"Have you ever read the Litanies of The Emperor's Wrath, Soldier?"
"Yes, sir."
"Have you memorized it?"
"No, sir."
"Do you remember how long it took you?"
"A week, sir."
This turned the heads of some nearby Troopers. Behind their shielded visors, their faces were contorted in surprise.
"Braniac." One of them muttered. "That took me two weeks and two packs of stims to get through."
His neighbor punched him. "Liar. Emperor knows you can't read for s**t."
Even Alexi grinned at that one.
"Anyway," the Commissar started, quelling the chuckles. "The Hymns of Boarding are twice as long as that. And the Celestians are chanting it - all of it - on our way there. From memory."
Silence.
Alexi enjoyed his Storm Troopers. They were highly skilled, and their carapace armor extended their life expectancy greatly. Due to the close-quarters nature of starships, seven of the Troopers were armed with combat shotguns. Another two wielded large flamethrowers, and the sergeant would lead them with a power sword and a hellpistol.
A hellpistol is like a really big laspistol.
"I'm glad they're on our side." The rookie uttered aloud, finally.
"Damn right, soldier. Just remember that they wear the pants in this mission. And the jock straps, too." Their sergeant said sternly, though with an edge of admiration for the beautiful killers of the Emperor.
In silence, the rookie began to wonder if he should cancel his date or not.
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