867.M30.
Aboard the Shadow's Sovereignty, Bridge.
At the hololithic strategic table, Zadkiel asked incredulously.
"My Lord, are you truly entrusting me with command of the void battle?"
He looked around at the others present: the Knight Lord ofShadows of Order's Eight Chapter, and three commanders from other Legions, all far surpassing him in status and prestige.
Luther, the Dark Angels' second-in-command. Gren Vosotho, the Ultramarines' former Legion Master and current First Chapter Master. Akurduana, Second Company Captain of the Emperor's Children.
"I have already decided to adopt your void battle plan," Nareth said, observing Zadkiel. From his fervent grey eyes, he saw ambition and desire.
'Zadkiel, you've been waiting for an opportunity. The first time you got one, your ship was destroyed with all hands.'
'Now, I'm giving you that chance. Prove yourself.'
Zadkiel glanced around once more.
Thierry smiled warmly. Luther looked at him encouragingly.
Vosotho frowned slightly, but still gave him a small nod, the sort of doubt born of Ultramarines' doctrinal rigidity.
Akurduana remained enthusiastic, more interested in challenging powerful enemies.
'With Lord Nareth's command, even commanders from different Legions have accepted it.
'With his support, I can command this great void battle.'
With this thought, Zadkiel hesitated no longer. He knelt on one knee.
"My Lord, I thank You for this opportunity. I will not disappoint You."
Zadkiel immediately stepped into his role. He directed the fleet's transition to realspace, deploying the Feather-Quill Scions
throughout the various Legion fleets.
The Feather-Quill Scions moved through the narrow starship structures like fish in water, conveying Zadkiel's will to every vessel.
Zadkiel reveled in the power of command. The words of the quill flowed from his hand, transforming into runes representing operational processes, then into the fleet's navigational plans.
The Imperium's Northwestern Frontier, Fortress of Resilience.
Ships of black, iron-black, blue, purple, and grey transitioned into realspace.
The commander of the smallest grey contingent was not aboard his own flagship, but on the Shadow's Sovereignty, directing the entire combined fleet.
Zadkiel's methodical command, especially his coordination of the Squats' iron-black fortress ships, whose navigation method differed from the Imperium's, dispelled many of Vosotho's doubts.
But he still questioned whether Zadkiel was up to this major battle.
Vosotho reviewed the combat reports received by the cogitator and spoke a reminder.
"The xenos set a trap at the Fortress of Resilience. They deployed two war-moons."
"Endless drone swarms have severely damaged the Paradigm of Hate. Urian Vendraig was forced to abandon his flagship, overload its plasma reactor, and destroy it."
Nareth's gaze fixed on the war satellite in the void, blazing like a star.
'The Paradigm of Hate was ultimately doomed to destruction. From today, the Legion that possessed the most Gloriana-class battleships now has only two, just half of my Legion's number.
'Hmm, the Paradigm of Hate's destruction is actually a good thing for me.'
'Even if I can "corrode" Vendraig, the Lion, who dislikes Terran-born, wouldn't let him keep the Paradigm of Hate permanently. Now, this wreck is mine.'
Nareth recalled that after the First Rangdan War, the Dark Angels had built a fortress on the remains of the extinguished star, the Paradigm of Hate, and the war-moon.
He wouldn't leave the wreckage at the Fortress of Resilience. Lian Ramilies, who had mastered part of war-moon technology, should be able to tow it away.
The Squat League could even trade stars, but their assistance would come at a price.
Nareth withdrew his gaze and saw Vosotho's grim expression.
"Now they have fewer than forty capital ships left..."
"Even as we speak, another ship's identification signal just vanished."
Zadkiel turned to Vosotho and said confidently.
"We have two objectives."
"Defeat the xenos, especially those evil war-moons."
"Rescue the severely damaged Dark Angels fleet."
Zadkiel's gaze returned to the hololithic table. His grey-limestone gauntlets moved rapidly as he outlined his tactical intent.
"The war satellites' anti-air firepower is reduced to 56.13%. Their drone count is down to 14.8%."
"Two Squat fortress ships can breach their gates."
He tapped three times around the winged angel rune. "The remaining three fortress ships will insert at these three positions, forming an incomplete defensive ring."
"The Dark Angels fleet can utilize the fortress ships' defense, and also emerge through the gaps in the ring to deliver firepower strikes."
Vosotho stared at the hololithic image, running through the deduction using his father's taught way of thinking.
Thirteen seconds later, he exclaimed admiringly.
"The best possible tactic for the current situation."
"Interior lines mean shorter maneuvering distances. They can actively manage power and choose when to emerge through the gaps."
"The xenos fleet can't predict or effectively target them, reducing risk while they continue to fight."
Vosotho glanced again at Lord Nareth. Now he believed that once more, the Lord had placed the right man in command.
Zadkiel swept his arm forcefully, as if writing a line of victorious truth with his quill.
"Execute!"
Nareth watched the hololithic table. Blue and purple fighters launched from their decks.
They did not fight independently as before.
Blue and purple mixed together. The blue runes moved in orderly formation. The purple runes perfectly filled the gaps.
The moment the orderly formation met the red sea, the blue fighters erupted with firepower runes, tearing away entire swaths of red in blocks.
The blue and purple runes swept through the red sea like a blade. The remaining fish-like red remnants vanished rapidly under the purple runes' assault.
The proud Emperor's Children piloted their fighters perfectly, filling in the unexpected contingencies that the Ultramarines' precise calculations couldn't account for.
The established tacit coordination continued to show. The slowing purple ships, engines at full power, snapped up the stragglers that slipped through the blue ships' fire net.
Silent explosions filled the void, tearing through the xenos ships' spikes and flails.
Aboard the black-terracotta battleship, Terra's Glory, Bridge.
Vendraig stared at the green hololithic image. Three ships formed a protective ring around his fleet.
Combined with his Master of Vox's report, he understood the tactical intent of Lord Nareth's fleet.
His fleet was saved. But he saw no hope for the future.
He had failed. He had not proven himself to the Lion.
He had lost the Paradigm of Hate, seventy percent of his fleet, and over half of the four Chapters committed to support the Fortress of Resilience.
Vendraig sighed, almost imperceptibly. His gaze hardened again. He ordered his adjutant.
"Execute according to the received plan."
Abandoning hope of proving himself to his father, Vendraig carefully directed his fleet under the Squat ships' cover. Three days later, they landed on the war satellite's surface.
He led his Eighth Chapter in the assault, but it was not the decisive battle he had imagined.
After meticulously studying the intelligence provided by Shadow's of Order and the battle reports from the four Chapters at the Fortress of Resilience, Vendraig had formulated a suitable tactic.
He ordered the six Companies equipped with heavy vehicles: "3rd Company... Eight Company, deploy a front one hundred kilometers wide."
He ordered the two Companies equipped with hoverbikes: "9th and 10th Companies, harass the xenos' flanks."
"1st and 2nd Companies, follow me."
Vendraig checked the tactical network on his helmet. Once the xenos committed their slave armies, he immediately ordered the attack.
Vendraig led the charge, sword swinging as he plunged into the enemy ranks.
He cleaved a xenos' head with one blow, then let out a venting roar.
His Honor Guard roared in response, advancing swiftly beside their commander.
Vendraig's sword pierced human slaves and their neural collars together, bringing them release.
Like swinging a club, he smashed xenos' heads, meting out death's punishment.
Vendraig strode forward. He found a strange calm in the slaughter, slightly dispelling the gloom pressing on his heart.
Until he saw the bulbous, enormous head. His thoughts stalled.
A xenos commander.
Vendraig locked onto its position. He swung his arm violently, his spinning blade tearing through a xenos Overlord's personal energy shield as he charged the tall, silvery-white figure.
As he advanced, he felt as if layers of netting were closing in.
A hundred meters from the xenos, he faltered.
Fifty meters, his sword arm slowed. An Overlord's claw scored a gash across his power armor.
As his longsword clashed with a crystal greatsword, a pustule erupted on Vendraig's neck.
He rolled to avoid a white lightning bolt. The pustule burst, spraying slime across his armor.
Vendraig ignored the toxin wound. His eyes were fixed only on the xenos commander's curved arm.
He sidestepped a crackling arc and slashed his sword across the xenos.
The xenos swung its crystal greatsword. The blades met in a flash of energy.
In a chain of energy flashes, pustules erupted on Vendraig's forehead, chin, and neck.
Pus seeped into his eyes, burning and stinging, then leaving them sore and dry.
Vendraig's breathing grew heavy. He hunched, then felt a sharp pain in his armpit.
He didn't stop. He lunged suddenly. His blade flashed, severing the xenos' head.
With the Cerabvore slain, the xenos army broke.
As Apothecaries used scalpels to excise the remnants of the pustules and clean his wounds, his adjutant suddenly appeared.
"Lord Nareth has arrived," the adjutant paused for a few seconds before continuing, "and Lord Luther."
Vendraig's still somewhat chaotic thoughts instantly cleared.
"What?"
He rose abruptly and strode out of the camp.
The moment he saw the black-armored, golden-winged giant, before he could speak, Lord Nareth produced a small bottle of green liquid, flashed before him, and dripped it on the tip of his nose.
He felt the remaining pustules vanish within seconds. The toxins were all gone.
Vendraig stared in shock at the small green bottle. The neurotoxins that could poison an Astartes' transhuman body had been neutralized just like that?
As he stood stunned, the Primarch's hand landed on his shoulder. A voice sounded in his mind, calling him familiarly by his given name, not his family name.
"Urian, keep the secret for me and Luther."
Vendraig looked at the approaching Luther. He thought of the opportunity Lord Nareth had given him. He nodded.
Nareth watched Vendraig with a smile.
'Shared secrets will draw us closer.'
'By choosing to keep the secret, you are not far from being "corroded" by me.'
'Zahariel, who once respected the Lion most, also betrayed him by keeping a secret for Luther.'
.....
If you enjoy the story, my p@treon is 30 chapters ahead.
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