Captain Peru sat up straight and nodded.
[It's not wrong to add more small ships for vigilance. Otherwise, by the time the single frigate responsible for outer perimeter patrols completes a large circle to the opposite direction and detects enemy ships, they would already be right under our noses.]
Buzz! — — Buzz! — — Buzz! — —
The sound of a Level One combat alert was always so startling and nerve-wracking.
Everyone couldn't help but frown.
"Horatio, is it time to fight again?"
"Hmm," he replied casually.
[What's the situation now?]
To be safe, he activated the Precognition Shard once again.
But for some reason, this time the shard became distorted.
The information it contained was twisted, and staring directly at the shard gave him a headache.
"Ugh!"
Horatio clutched his forehead, breathing heavily.
[It really is an enemy fleet! God Emperor, those… look like several cruisers?]
Farida was startled by his groan, then looked at him.
"What's wrong? You're sweating a lot on your forehead," Farida offered him a handkerchief.
Horatio braced his arms on the table, carefully reviewing the information he had seen. Although most of the information was blurry and distorted, he still saw something useful.
He immediately connected with the observation bridge, providing the officers inside with key points to note.
"We received a report from the Port Two Turret Command Platform. The platform officer observed through a long-range scope that there were large dark shadows moving in the darkness of the northwest void.
Our unit has further confirmed that the ship type is unknown, but they should be cruiser-class enemy ships," the observation officer on the bridge reported to the Captain.
"Have the nearby destroyers investigate further and report back. What about the south?"
"The southern rift is still normal."
"From the small ships on alert in the south, dispatch one frigate to the northwest. One ship watching there will suffice."
"Yes, Captain."
In the void, the Imperial Navy fleet was busily making tactical adjustments.
Considering that the port side had been in combat for a long time, the Unyielding now turned its starboard side towards the potential enemy ships approaching from the northwest.
Everyone's spirits were highly tense.
Bzzzt! — —
From the warp rift in the northwest void, the figures of malevolent warships emerged in a continuous stream.
"Damn it, we're finally out. These False Emperor worshippers will die by our hands," a bald-headed Khorne Space Marine covered in runes cursed hatefully.
"My Lord, our array has returned to normal. All those error messages with nines have disappeared!" an old Diviner in a black robe, leaning on a scarlet staff, said in a deep, aged voice.
"Invade the False Emperor's ship's vox-caster. I have a warning for these slaves."
"As you command, My Lord."
The'Starfire' (Xīngkōng zhī huǒ) destroyer, the closest to them, kept a close eye on the number and class of enemy ships.
Beep-doo! — —
The external scanner sent out detection waves in a 360-degree radius.
The female Captain swallowed.
"Four enemy small attack ships detected! Four renegades! And… one Slaughter Class cruiser! One Murder Class cruiser! One Dreadnought MK.1 light cruiser that went missing from the Bastion Fleet!"
Before the female Captain could report, the vox-casters of all ships were invaded by a strange transmission.
"Listen well, False Emperor worshippers! Get out of my sight, you are not worthy to fight us. Our prey are the Blood Angels, and we will eliminate you without mercy."
Captain Peru slammed his hand on the throne, shouting back at the opponent: "We will let you barbaric scumbags know that the Imperial Navy never wavers in the path of fulfilling its duty! You will only die in this void today!"
"Hahahahahahaha! Then you all go to hell!"
Terrifying laughter came from the vox-caster, and then it was forcibly restarted by the Tech-Priest inside the ship and received nano-blessings.
"Announce to all warships, we…"
"Respected Unyielding, we are the Gothic'Supreme Mission' Fleet returning from Forge World Worth. We have received the coordinates for assembly. Please assign us combat missions!"
Captain Peru looked towards the south in the void.
"Thank God, it's our fleet."
Those were the new Forge World Worth light cruiser Sisters: one Diligent Class, one Endurance-class, and one Provocation-class Light Cruisers.
The port side was directly facing the support fleet, and Horatio clearly saw the three warships through the external image.
"Release interceptor squadrons!" the flight control bridge of the Provocation-class Light Cruisers issued the combat order for the carrier-based air wing.
As indicator lights flashed and void environment alerts beeped, the hangar bay doors opened from the middle, splitting in half and flipping outwards.
Hangar guides in void suits waved fluorescent signal sticks to guide fighters into their catapult positions.
When all environmental preparations were complete, as the catapult officer made a squatting motion similar to 'Go!', two launch rails instantly burst with lightning, launching the "Void Fighters" at an extremely high initial velocity.
Eight Fury Interceptors flew out from each of the two eight-linked carrier platforms, totaling 16 aircraft.
They only ignited their engines after rushing out 500 meters, the terrifying thrust causing their exhaust flames to be long and thin, almost burning the catapult deck.
"Squadron leaders, attention! Your primary mission is to intercept enemy landing craft and weaken enemy ship weapon turrets."
"Swift Squadron, acknowledged."
"Gale Squadron, acknowledged."
The two squadrons quickly split into two smaller teams in the void, forming the Imperial Navy's iconic 'four-finger combat formation'.
The busy work on the flight deck was not over yet; the Air Force Command Platform issued the readiness order for starhawk bombers.
The Air Force Warrant Officer instructed ground crew to act quickly, and the bustling flight deck was rapidly cleared.
The Manufacturing Tech-Priest directed the Tech-Priests to perform the final preparations for the huge starhawk bombers slowly rising into the hangar bay, using nano-incense and machine soul appeasement rituals.
Not long after, 16 heavy void bombers, fully loaded with various anti-ship weapons, also took off.
While other warships had not yet joined the battle, this new carrier had already made its move.
Horatio observed all these actions. When he saw the Provocation-class Light Cruisers.
Horatio immediately thought of a ship perfectly suited for the role of a light carrier.
That would be this new type of warship, which has only been in service for three hundred years since its introduction, and whose design originated from Forge World Worth, known as the 'Right Hand of Mars'.
Forge World Worth's classic products include the Voss Lightning fighter and the Macaroth main battle tank, making it the Forge World with the deepest cooperation with the Imperial Navy.
This is why Horatio suggested to Admiral George Anson that they could try to equip ships with Macaroth main battle tanks.
As the largest shipbuilding base in the entire Imperium, its complete construction facilities and advanced STC templates from the Dark Age of Technology played an indispensable role in the massive increase in production capacity.
Forge World Worth brought about the greatest breakthrough in Imperial shipbuilding at the end of the 41st millennium.
The Forge Masters overcame the STC template challenge, developing new Voss-class warships that adopted a modular design, were relatively inexpensive to build, and could even be produced in parts by smaller shipyards before being assembled into a complete vessel.
The iconic design of the Voss-class hull is its angular, straight hull, designed for easy modular assembly, and its aesthetically pleasing Skyhawk prow shield.
Currently, the main ship classes in production are the Falchion-class frigates, and the Diligent, Endurance-class, and Provocation-class Light Cruisers Sisters.
The Provocation-class Light Cruisers, as the least numerous and youngest of the three sisters—with the first one launched into space only two hundred years ago—its positioning as a void fighter carrier was not favored by all naval fleets.
However, the Provocation-class's low cost, ease of production, and the manufacturing technique where Abyss Port shipyards produce modules that are then assembled in one factory.
In just five and a half Terran months, an escort carrier measuring 3.8 kilometers long, with fins approximately 0.5 kilometers wide, carrying nearly 70,000 personnel, and capable of simultaneously launching and recovering two void fighter squadrons (i.e., 16 fighters), could be built.
She has two dorsal light lance batteries and 16 void hangar bays on each side.
Her internal hangars also contain numerous void fighters, bombers, assault craft, and double the number of atmospheric fighters and bombers.
As long as there are enough of them, she won't affect the main fleet's and vanguard fleet's combat firepower, can dispatch fighters to support the main fleet's operations, provide air escort, and is so easy to produce that an entire carrier squadron can be easily formed. She is simply amazing, completely the dream ship for carrier enthusiasts.
She is a specialized escort carrier, highly versatile whether incorporated into a grand fleet as a rearguard, used for routine escort, or for pursuing fleeing enemy ships.
Her figure is neither too large nor too small, like a young girl, neither lacking nor thin, just the right size.
Horatio could see the immense tactical value contained in this young carrier.
Recently, it's been the flood season here in Jiangnan, and the roads are so waterlogged that you could sail a boat. Therefore, the update efficiency has decreased, because my home is on the 1st floor!!! The water has come in! Writing a book while soaking in dirty water is a bit abstract.
Alright, I won't say more. I'm going to mop the floor, remove mold, and rescue the thousands of books in my study.