Chapter 991 - 990: That's Not a Lance, It's...

Aboard the Shadow's Sovereignty, Captain Diana Pauline's comm-bead buzzed.

Arsena's voice came through. "Captain, Lord Nareth has authorized the attack on the rebel battleships in orbit."

"Understood." Diana replied, opening the fleet's command channel.

"Shadows of Order, officers."

"The Warmaster has betrayed the Imperium. We will have the honor of delivering their first punishment, making them pay for their treachery."

Diana called up the latest scan results from the augur arrays on her console.

The Shadow of Order's fleet, centered on the two Gloriana-class battleships, the Shadow's Sovereignty and the Fourth Chapter's flagship, the Death's Bloom, deployed in a crescent formation.

She stared at the glowing red data runes. Fifteen enemy destroyers, in a standard crescent formation, were racing towards them.

"Their destroyers are trying to slow us down, buying time for the heavy transports."

"The Seventh Chapter's relic-class battleships will take them out."

"The Reapers are on the move, Captain Diana." Sanchez, Chapter Master of the Seventh, replied.

Four ships accelerated, shooting out like arrows.

Lances lanced from the ancient relic-class ships, blazing arcs across the void.

The deadly crossfire struck two destroyers. Vaporized metal flared, merging into a huge fireball.

A torpedo, fired in haste, shot through the two swirling masses, racing towards the black fleet.

The explosion flickered in the dark void. Plasma streams blossomed like fireworks, but touched no ship.

The surviving destroyers' engines burned bright, weaving through the expanding gas clouds, attacking the black battleships.

The burning destroyer fragments, clinging to their void shields, interfered with their augur scans.

The surveyors searched through the storm for signs of the Shadows of Order's engines.

In the radioactive haze, hot spots flickered, then expanded like stars.

The surveyors on the Thermae excitedly calculated range and vector, feeding the data to the torpedoes.

A void-ship's torpedoes have a longer range than lances and macro-batteries, making them the most likely attack method to hit the enemy.

The Son of Horus on the bridge gave the cold order.

"Attack!"

"My lord, that's not an enemy ship, it's a lance beam."

"Impossible!" the Son of Horus shouted.

They had braved the explosion debris to disrupt the enemy's fire.

"My lord... that's not a lance..."

"Its physical form is a beam, but it's not pure energy. Its aetheric readings..."

The voice cut off. A blazing, multicolored light seared the Son of Horus's vision.

His eyes narrowed, his retinal sensors automatically adjusting.

Yet the unnatural light did not dim. It flashed past the cogitator banks, passing through the hull without bending or obstruction.

The light grew in the Son of Horus's eyes, then swallowed him.

His body and soul were torn apart. The ancient aetheric cannons, mounted beneath the prows of the relic-class ships, fired beams of blazing light, tearing through the energy.

The beams sliced through void shields, punching into the Dagger's hull, detonating the ship in an instant.

Ship after ship exploded. Aetheric energy and fire merged, a sun rising over the Tanagra system.

The Audacious's primary reactor blazed. Flames lashed against its void shield, hurling it from the storm.

It fired a desperate torpedo, slamming into the Void Hunter's void shield.

Four beams struck the destroyer simultaneously, converging on its plasma chamber.

Countless beams of light shot from the hull, tearing it into ten thousand pieces.

Sanchez, in wearing the wolf helm of Russ, his Great Wolf pelt cloak, the Krakensmaw at his waist, spoke over the comm channel.

"Captain Diana, the path to Diamat is open."

"A swift hunt." Diana praised, glancing at her screen. The fleet's line was now less than three hundred and eighty thousand kilometers from Diamat.

"All ships, accelerate."

As the Shadow's Sovereignty pushed to maximum acceleration, Diana felt the rumble of the drives through the deck.

She studied the enemy: four capital ships were their main force. The updated augur scans had identified them as the Leo and Fornax, both Avenger-class grand cruisers, the Punisher and Avenger, both Retribution-class battleships.

Flanking them were two squadrons of four cruisers each.

Their weapon arrays were lasers and lances. There were no torpedo-armed vessels among them.

"The cruisers are trying to intercept us. Their goal isn't to fight. They're buying time for the transports to break orbit."

Astartes battleships are designed to force through a planet's orbital defenses to deploy landing forces. They are more heavily armored than typical ships of their class.

"Wedge formation. Use our numerical and firepower advantage."

Diana switched to the Shadow's Sovereignty's fleet channel. "Turn to new heading 5-2-9. Target Leo. Torpedo attack."

The crescent formation rapidly dissolved, reforming into four battle groups.

At the tip of the wedge was the Shadow's Sovereignty. It turned slowly to port.

The massive Gloriana-class battleship launched a flexible torpedo attack, surprising the smaller cruisers.

A swarm of torpedoes shot from their tubes, slamming into the Leo.

"Multiple hits."

"Confirmed. Impact on enemy hull designation codes: 13, 14, 17..."

"The Leo is listing 5.8 degrees to starboard. Lance fire deflected 65.2%. Brace for impact."

The Leo's prow blazed, a searing beam sweeping across the void, striking the Shadow's Sovereignty's shields.

Diana watched the scrolling runes and reports. [Starboard void shield at 96.47%.]

[Auto-recharging. Rising to 97.18%.]

[...]

In the tug-of-war between the rising and falling numbers, a swarm of torpedoes continuously hammered the Leo.

Her starboard macro-batteries, now calibrated, joined the attack.

A torrent of fire hammered the enemy ship. A huge explosion rippled across the Leo's decks.

A swarm of torpedoes drilled into the breached hull, igniting the plasma chamber.

The flames of escaping plasma, like firecrackers, raced through the Avenger-class grand cruiser.

Diana averted her gaze, taking in the entire battlefield.

Two beams of light shot from the Death's Bloom's prow.

The blazing beams pierced the blazing, listing Fornax. Lances followed, tearing into the breached hull, punching through the Avenger-class cruiser.

She watched the explosions bloom, opening a comm channel to Arsena.

"Arsena, the void battle is decided."

....

If you enjoy the story, my p@treon is 30 chapters ahead.

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