With the help of reconnaissance equipment, Horatio kept a real-time watch on the enemy's movements as he advanced.
Blood Pact Soldiers were guarding this passage. According to the C.A.T. Drone's reconnaissance, this passage was not only the only way for the Grenadier crew to reach the resting area but also a firing corridor for shooting outwards.
There were many freely openable firing ports on the wall, a necessary defensive structure when designing high-risk areas like Grenadier compartments.
But at this moment, the area had been occupied. Several Sailors, who were firing at the invaders, were ambushed and killed by enemy Soldiers rushing into the corridor. Their blood flowed on the ground, continuously draining away through the channels, passing by Horatio.
After a brief exchange of hand signals and the projection of phantoms, the Navy Breachers and Sailors quickly took their positions.
The Navy Soldiers could hear the crude noises and terrifying sounds of tearing flesh ahead, which made them grit their teeth.
But Horatio demanded that they maintain absolute silence, under no circumstances making any revealing noises.
They hugged both sides of the corridor, and Horatio arranged the next course of action for everyone:
One Navy Breacher team would first enter the compartment to begin the clear-out, followed immediately by Sailors quickly taking over the cleared compartment to organize defenses, firing at subsequent incoming enemies, and protecting the backs of the Navy Breachers clearing the room.
The other two small teams would blockade the corridor, slowly advancing along the walls, creating a pincer attack with the two teams inside the room.
Everyone understood the plan through the phantoms marked by the Hand of Command and Horatio's gestures.
The two small teams assigned to assault the compartment quickly got ready.
The 12 Navy Breachers were divided into two groups, with 6 people on each side pressed against the bulkhead.
A Grenadier in riot armor took out breaching explosives from his pouch, affixed them to the center of the retractable hatch, and then folded them open like a plaster.
This was a large breaching explosive used to blow open an entire door and inflict casualties on personnel behind it.
A Shield Guard was ready on the left, followed by two Voidsmen-at-Arms with shotguns, an ax-wielder, an interference Soldier, and a reconnaissance Soldier.
The Grenadier on the other side had already prepared a flashbang.
When everyone was ready, the Grenadier pressed the electronic button.
Bang!!—
The entire thick door instantly caved in, as if punched by a Superman, flying into the room and generating an enormous shockwave, powerful enough to shatter the internal organs of anyone nearby.
Horatio saw through a Servo-skull wandering in the ventilation ducts that a Blood Pact Soldier inside was instantly smashed into a puddle of blood and mud by the flying thick door, sticking to the wall.
A flashbang was instantly thrown and exploded inside.
The Navy Shield Guard raised his heavy shield, mounted his double-barreled heavy shotgun on the firing slot, and began to advance inside.
Bang! Bang! He aimed his gun at the enemy Soldiers running out of the room head-on and pulled the trigger.
The two only met for a moment before the opponent was shattered into pieces by two shotgun blasts, their bits of flesh splattered on the bulkhead covered with Sailor graffiti.
The Voidsmen-at-Arms following closely behind pressed against the large Shield Guard, using their automatic shotguns to fire at other enemy guards in the room.
When all Navy Breachers had entered this Sailor sleeping compartment, the Voidsmen-at-Arms followed, immediately pushing over tables, chairs, and benches inside to serve as cover and barricading the door.
It was as cramped as a Middle Hive slum or a sardine can, with an area only a quarter the size of an officer's single bedroom, yet nearly 90 Sailors lived there.
They worked three shifts, with a maximum capacity of 40 off-duty Sailors resting in hammocks, ten of which were reserved for the sick and wounded.
If the number of sick exceeded ten, they either had to sleep in other compartments or simply add extra floor beds, sleeping on the dirty, smelly deck.
The Navy Breachers advanced directly into the adjacent Sailor sleeping compartment. The air inside was extremely foul and murky, misty, filled with a sickening smell of sweat and suffocating foot odor.
The enemies inside had heard the sounds from outside and were already prepared.
As soon as the Shield Guard stepped in, his shield was hit by dense laser fire.
Clang!
A grenade flew over the top of the shield and was thrown forward.
The Blood Pact Soldiers quickly dodged, but the instantaneous fragmentation grenade still knocked down two people.
They were not dead, but their bodies were riddled with shrapnel, and they lay on the ground moaning and rolling.
The Shield Guard strode forward, firing his shotgun mounted on the firing slot as he advanced.
He reached a spot with doors on both sides, but the room on the right only contained Voidsmen-at-Arms, so the Voidsmen-at-Arms behind him focused on the left hatch, while the Shield Guard kept his shield steady and continued to advance through the main door.
Hiss—
One of the hatches suddenly opened. Although a red arrow mark pointed towards it, the Navy Breachers did not see the marked person.
Clang!
A grenade was unexpectedly thrown out from behind the hatch.
The Grenadier, quick-witted, pounced and grabbed the grenade.
A Blood Pact Soldier inside took the opportunity to lean out and extend his gun barrel.
Bang! The Voidsmen-at-Arms watching the left immediately pulled the trigger. A dense spray of shotgun pellets swept across, half embedded in the wall, and half shattering the extended arm of the Blood Pact Soldier.
The Grenadier also threw the grenade back at this moment.
After an explosion and a flash of light, the Navy Breacher team split into two small teams. The Shield Guard continued forward, while the six people behind him, armed with firearms, advanced towards the compartment on the front left.
Two Voidsmen-at-Arms, one on the left and one on the right, saw the red marks on both sides.
The Grenadier nodded, indicating he was ready for the next flashbang.
Several Soldiers nodded in response, standing by and preparing for the assault.
A flashbang was thrown and detonated, and two Voidsmen-at-Arms, carrying shotguns, strode in.
These well-trained professional Soldiers, without the cover of a shield, did not advance slowly as before but directly stormed in.
After a burst of intense laser fire and rapid shotgun blasts, silence returned to the room.
Horatio constantly monitored the Soldiers' situation. One Voidsmen-at-Arms had only his armor hit and was unharmed. All 5 enemies inside were blasted into bloody, mangled limbs by the shotgun fire.
Suddenly, dense footsteps came from ahead.
Horatio lifted his head. He knew that Blood Pact Soldiers were rushing over, having heard the gunshots.
These brutal Soldiers, covered in blood and wearing eerie iron masks, did not know that their every move was being watched by a young military officer, nor did they know they were stepping into the abyss of death.
The loyal defenders of the ship were waiting for the fish to bite, their firearms eager to deliver punishment to these traitors.
Horatio raised his left hand, holding a Navy revolver, aiming at the increasingly large figures at the intersection.
The Voidsmen-at-Arms beside him mounted their Navy laser rifles on the firing slots of the barricades and mobile breastworks, without a single tremor, waiting for the targets to appear in their holographic sights.
"Kill the Corpse Emperor's lackeys! Don't let them pass!"
The shouts echoed down the corridor.
The Blood Pact Soldiers split into three waves: two waves leaned against the two doors of the compartment, and the other wave pressed against the corridor at the corner.
The corridor's firing positions were arranged in a zigzag pattern, similar to communication trenches in a trench, to prevent explosive shockwaves from causing damage inside.
Additionally, the recessed parts of the walls, which served as firing ports, also contained deployable barricades. These were obstacles similar to chevaux de frise, providing Sailors with a means to construct a defensive line or simple cover in emergencies.
"Why is there no movement?" A Blood Pact Soldier looked at his small leader.
"Charge! Blow them up!"
The traitors began throwing grenades.
After several loud bangs, they walked into the smoke.
Bang! Shotgun blasts instantly tore apart the two who entered the door.
"They're still alive!!"
As the smoke cleared, the Navy Breacher shields, though heavily scraped, remained sturdy, and the Navy Breachers unleashed dense firepower on the enemy.
Rip!
The last Blood Pact Soldier to enter turned his head and saw that the firing port on the wall had been pulled open, and a black shotgun muzzle extended from inside.
The combined frontal and lateral firing tore anyone who dared to step in into an unrecognizable mass of tissue.
While the Navy Breacher team was exchanging fire, in the Sailors' living compartment just a wall away...
The Voidsmen-at-Arms had already taken cover behind obstructions. They had spread out hammocks horizontally beforehand; several layers of tough linen canvas hammocks protected them from shrapnel.
When the Blood Pact Soldiers stormed in with their guns, all that awaited them was an unexpected barrage of dense laser fire.
At the same time, in the adjacent corridor...
Horatio's palm was already sweating, but he still gripped his pistol tightly, motionless.
As the footsteps grew closer, his thumb unlocked the hammer safety.
A hand emerged from behind the corner wall, and a grenade was thrown over.