It was suppossed to be a fast and save flight. How should the forces of malign have detected the small convoy? It was nothing with a bis signature in there. Just an old light cruiser ST NENOYA and a handfull of escort ships.
Deckhand Flanio got hit over the head by Monturi, this Station Officer, with whom he already had serverd for 7 years.
What do you mean you stupid sucker! We talk warpshit here. If they wanna get us, theyll find us.
Monturi spat in to the round of the upper gallery munitions lift crew #32 and Fredag, a convicted murderer, obese simpleton and also of the crew, kicked in.
You truly stupid! You heard of alien we carry. Everyone knoes thats what warp looks. Emperor protects!
There was a murmured answer of consent and piety by most of the 50+ member of the guncrew.
Then the alarm went off. it was the unnerving sound of the geller field alarm. A violent drop out of the warp would have to follow. And did. Everyone of the upper gallery munitions lift crew #32 had already braced himself to something. As ST. NENOYA dropped out of the ether a wave of reality hit the ship from prow to engine. It popped rivets, opened cooling line and crewmans bloddvessels. By the Emperors miracle no one was killed and the ships cogitators reported 82% efficiency. More the 85% had never been protocolled in the last 2000 years of the ships history. The ship was considered top tier of the battlefleet ultima.
Right after the geller alarm with its wailing felled of the shriking encounter warning went of and seconds later the bell of ALL BATTLESTATIONS!
Get Ready Lads! We need to bring the ammo to the gun! Monturi raised his shockrod. All 50 man got instantly busy. Monturi was no a bad leader, at least he did not consort to unfriendly random violence. You just did not want to be made an example.
The ships engines lighted up big-time.
For a moment the compensators fluctuated and everybody was tumbled over. The crew on the lift could hold on to the chain that worked the lift since the motor had failed to lift the warheads from the munitions store from the bowls of the ship. This has happend 30 years ago.
Only Ludwig had be working in the crew then. They had reported the failure, one of the ships techpriests showed up, took note on an old data slate of his and disappeared. Never to be seen again. He said, he will order a spare to be build. But it would take time.
The old deck officer then conceived this contraption which worked fine. Just that half the crewmember had to work the chain before they could push the cart with the 100inch shell up two levels to the upper gallery close defence guns.
The disadvantage was, that the two guns, which were never the fastest from the start, were now cursed with such a slow rate of fire that the crew had to aim carefully with every defense shot instead of “pumping lead” into the air.
Right now the gun were loaded, the sweat dried and the crew waited for the rules of engagement. 40 Minutes of noises from the aft of the ship passed. Still burning the engines at full.
“We trying to outrun enemy, right Chief?” one of the Hands asked.
Monturi nodded. The ship shook more and more.
The waiting was taking a toll on the guncrew. This was so unnerving. The ship shook. There were new vibrations from the enginarium and the crew tumbled. One of the great shells also fell from the munitions cart. Being larger then a man, it quished one of them with ease while it was rolling down through the transport tunnel. The other were able to jump away from it.
With dread the crew saw it was already primed. A necessity to speed the rate of fire while the elevator was broken it spelled the end for the crew and the entire defence emplacement in a big red ball of fire….