Warhammer: In the Name of Ashes

"Okay officers and gentlemen, tell me, how many swords do you have in the service of the Emperor?"

Passing through the busy contract captain Yulia, Lisetta nodded to greet her.

She walked straight to the highest point of the battleship and sat on the throne before speaking to the generals on the opposite side of the joint operations screen.

The screens opposite the throne were lined up, and six video signals from various battleships were connected in real time. The first among the generals was none other than Xavilian, the exorcist chapter leader who was given command of the fleet by Lisetta.

In a joint combat situation, the Astartes have always had their own set of rules regarding the ownership of their command authority, which are not written in words. But no matter how complicated this rule is, it cannot escape its cold and violent nature.

Well, there is also the status of the war group and the personal reputation of the commander.

But the latter two are rarely established among the Astartes. After all, these "people who walk in the stars" travel throughout the empire's territory all year round, and even information about their own battle groups cannot be obtained in time.

It is not impossible that there are people who can awe other chapters in terms of reputation, but throughout the history of the empire, although such people cannot be said to be rare, they can be said to be very few.

Of course, this time will not be an exception, so among the many warbands, Xavilian has the closest relationship with the Inquisition, and it also happens to be the one that invests the most troops among the many Astartes warbands that come to take orders.

His command was established with little controversy, especially after the Dark Templars made it clear that they would not participate in the war.

"795 swords will obey your orders." Xavilian replied, and several Astartes officers remained silent, just waiting for the Inquisitor's orders.

And behind this precious number, which represents the blood and sweat of countless worlds in the empire, there are five companies of the Exorcist Chapter, as well as a company of Dark Hunters and Emperor's Spears who later joined the Inquisition camp.

Oh, and there is also a special war group that arrived last before the war began - the Blood Ravens.

Three strike cruisers and five battle barges were the warships they came on, and together with the two large cruisers temporarily mobilized by the Imperial Navy, the Heart of Anger and the Doom, Lisetta had all the power in her hands.

This is where her confidence lies, because the Space Wolves who are good at fighting may not lack swords, but their poor relationship with the Empire will make them most short of expensive industrial products such as battleships.

The relationship between the Adeptus Mechanicus and Fenris is not close, and during the thousands of years of continuous warfare, the warships of the Legion era of the Sons of Russ themselves are in a state of constant wear and tear, but cannot be replenished.

Despite the best efforts of the Iron Priests (the exclusive title of the Wolf regiment's technical sergeants), Fenris's own lack of mineral veins and the equally scarce manpower in the hands of the technical sergeants still allowed them to fail to even build a final ship in thousands of years of forging attempts. The embarrassment of the "Moon-class cruiser" cannot be cast.

As a result, smaller assault ships have become the last resort for the Space Wolves. With the degradation of main battle equipment, their tactics have become increasingly far away from the legion model of the past.

The intelligence in Lisetta's hands showed that the strength of the Space Wolves assembled on Ballogo 9 had long exceeded the number of a Codex Chapter, but she was not shaken by this threat at all.

The source of this strategic determination lies in this:

In the context of needing to cover the departure of Gian Moro's navy, the Space Wolves themselves lost a large range of strategic depth.

And their strategic mission of being trapped in Barlog further amplified their huge disadvantage in terms of warships in naval battles.

The number of wolves seems to be large, but only two cruisers are available. Hundreds of assault ships seem to be numerous, but they have to survive the long distance between fleets before they can be counted.

But is this possible? The answer is of course no.

The enemy the Space Wolves faced this time was neither space pirates without military discipline nor servants of Chaos who had lost their minds. They are the same elite Astartes as the Wolves. They also inherit the blood of the Primarch and embody the ultimate strength of the Empire.

Will the Astartes, who are familiar with naval warfare, give up their strengths to allow the desperate Space Wolves a chance to get close?

The thinly armored assault ship couldn't even withstand the secondary battery of the heavy cruiser, so how could it possibly survive the artillery fire of an entire sector-level fleet?

Unless they can kill her here and use a sneak attack to change the outcome of the entire battle. But the purpose of the Black Templar troops here is precisely for this. Although their Marshal Field has a neutral attitude, he will never sit back and watch Lisetta's death.

Three strike cruisers, more than 800 elite Astartes.

This force, which is enough to defeat the galaxy's defenses in a short period of time, has neither participated in the active attack on the Space Wolves, nor has it appeared in any previous publicity.

Just like the paint on their battleships representing dark revenge, the Black Templar fleet quietly surrounded Lisetta's flagship, waiting in silent silence for the possible assassination of the Space Wolves.

This is also Lisetta's plan. The Black Templars are unwilling to participate in the Inquisition's war against the Space Wolves, but they cannot sit idly by and watch Lisetta's death because of their relationship with the Foreign Order.

So under the latter's arrangement, they passively became Lisetta's talismans, and also became the last link to plug the loopholes in the entire plan.

So no luck, no hope. Ten deaths but no life, this is a carefully planned massacre.

The Space Wolves certainly knew how slim victory was for them, but what they didn't know was that the reality was far worse than their worst expectations.

Lisetta has no personal grudges against these Astartes. Even from a personal perspective, she has a deep cultural identity with these warriors from the ice field because of the similar home planet environment.

But unfortunately she doesn't have the power to choose.

She herself is just an exquisite chess piece placed in the center of the stage after the Tribunal, a huge force across the empire, has arranged all the plots of this drama.

If she is replaced, another "Lisetta" will appear here. Kill her to escape this crisis, and the Tribunal will continue to prepare the next counterattack.

The outcome will not change, and since the ending is already determined, why can't it be her who appears here?

She has her own requirements, and there are people in the Tribunal who are willing to help her realize this "little wish."

Now that the curtain has been raised, all that's left is for her to follow the steps and "go on stage" to perform.

"The entire ship sets sail and initiates contact with the Space Wolves."

Xavilian's eyes turned from the holographic projection that had returned to zero, and then met his captain's eyes.

Decades of cooperation have given this mortal a good understanding of his monarch, and at his command the Exorcist's strike cruisers began to slowly move forward.

The launch of the flagship was the signal for the war to begin. The entire fleet formed a crescent-like formation at the outermost edge of Balgoro. Then, against the background of the charging of the nova cannons on the bows of many battleships, it moved toward the center of hundreds of weapon stations. The Space Wolves pressed on.

This is... this is...

The clear communication sent to Barlog was connected, and the bearded face of Hoffman, the current wolf master of Sea Wolf Dalian, appeared on the screen.

"Last warning, Space Wolves of Fenris. Lay down your weapons and exit this system immediately! Your rebellion will be forgiven, and your loyalty will be readmitted to the Empire!"

Without any courtesy, Xavilian looked across the screen with an indifferent gaze and issued an ultimatum to them in the name of the Imperial Tribunal.

Hoffman, who had returned to the front battlefield on the assault ship, sneered at this. The man wearing heavy bronze armor and holding a giant ax looked past Xavilian and the emblem of the Tribunal hanging high behind him, and finally landed on the star. On the asteroid group in the picture.

A hoarse voice as sharp as stone came out from under his white fangs:

"The children of Russ never knew what to do with retreat."

The illusion of peace was completely shattered with this declaration, and the Astartes from both camps had no idea of ​​holding back.

After the communication was officially cut off, the fleet launched the attack first, and the Space Wolves outside the Ballog system also began to resist.

In the first hour of the war, Ballog's system defense system became the first victims of the war.

In the orbits of the two outermost planets, dozens of weapon platforms silently collapsed and exploded under the firing of the Nova Cannon, adding the first bloody touch to this war.

The strike cruiser painted with the heads of a sea monster and a wolf led an assault fleet, trying to approach from the flank of the Inquisition fleet while firing at each other. However, Xavilian and the other Astartes Chapters had obviously already responded, and several of his large cruisers had focused their attention on them from the beginning.

Dozens of assault ships were destroyed in just half an hour, but their actions of covering the main flagship still failed to allow the Space Wolves' flagship to complete the charge.

The latter turned the ship's rudder towards the interior of the system after a failed attempt to break out, but the Inquisition's fleet under the command of Xavilian did not rush to pursue it.

Instead, they fired at a steady pace, clearing all threats within the fleet's fire range.

Flashes of light lit up again and again on the muzzles of the cruiser's Nova Cannon and Light Spear, and correspondingly, weapons platforms turned into dust in the universe.

The Space Wolves' strike cruisers could not withstand the pressure and retreated toward the back of the planet.

The frigates and battle barges of the Tribunal spread out horizontally on both wings of the array. They used macro cannons to engage in fierce exchanges of fire with a dozen assault ships hidden in the weapons stations and on the back of the planet, and then destroyed the latter one after another on the way to the charge.

"The flanking fleet requests instructions." Xavilian's contracted captain asked him for instructions. There were enough assault ships that lost power after being hit on both wings. The flanking commander needed him to decide how to deal with these warships.

How to deal with it? Savillian was also in a dilemma.

If the battle situation at this time is based on, then the best way to deal with it is to order the escort fleet to completely destroy it with torpedoes;

But as a result, the surviving Space Wolves on the assault ship would have no way of survival.

"Destroy their engines and wait for the post-war trial." Savillian thought for a while, but in the end he couldn't make up his mind.

In Xavilian's eyes, the essence of this war is ultimately an internal struggle within the empire. In order to preserve power for the empire, he still wants to keep these Space Wolves alive.

But he still didn't have a deep enough understanding of the bloody nature of the wild wolves. His soft-heartedness at this time was destined not to be thanked by the wild wolves, but would instead pave the way for the price he would pay later.

In the second hour of the war, the Grand Fleet had cleared all the outer defenses of the Barlogo system. The Space Wolves' fleet had withdrawn to the core planets, and several outer planets had been abandoned by them.

Sporadic exchanges of fire still occurred on the edges of the two fleets, while the main force of the Inquisition's fleet was already deployed inside the system.

The black ships of the Tribunal at the rear also kept up with the pace of the main fleet. Under the escort of three black temple warships, one large, two small, and three small, they slowly walked past the location where the war first broke out.

Grand Inquisitor Lisetta can almost confirm that victory in this war is already in her hands.

"Sir, there is a communication request from the Astropath deck." The command staff below the throne shouted to Lisetta, who only raised her head in response to the reminder from her subordinates.

"You cannot ignore them." Contract Captain Yulia worriedly reminded again that the discipline of the Tribunal is extremely strict. This kind of deliberate neglect of contact from superiors will definitely cause Lisetta and all her subordinates to be severely punished afterwards. accusation.

"Okay, access granted." Grand Inquisitor Lisetta rubbed her hand on the bolter at her waist and replied without raising her head.

She didn't even need to wait for signal access to know the content of Calvin's communication, and how to passively resist similar orders had already been formed in her mind.

But this time the communication was different from before. The order from the Relentless Jihad not only resounded on her battleships, but also all the battleships participating in the battle ahead also received this clear message using the "secret language" of the star region.

“This is the Imperial Inquisition, Inquisitor Calvin, the Supreme Lord of the Order of the Hammer.

To repeat, this is Inquisitor Calvin, High Lord of the Order of the Hammer of the Imperial Inquisition.

In the name of the Emperor and the Inquisition, I order your troops to immediately cease all attacks and await further processing! "

The entire Inquisition fleet stagnated slightly at this moment, and the Space Wolves also smelled something different.

The commanders of the former stopped what they were doing and looked at the Grand Inquisitor sitting behind them. They were waiting for Lisetta's order. After all, the latter was the owner of the highest command sequence at the scene.

Wolfman, the wolf master on the latter's battleship, narrowed his eyes, and the canine teeth in his mouth bit his lips without feeling anything.

He is not interested in the disputes within the Tribunal. The time to counterattack is coming. If he gives up because of the enemy's retreat, how will he face those brothers who have sacrificed their lives?

"Objection! According to the first principle of the Tribunal's emergency response regulations, I have absolute autonomy to handle any matter when no higher authority is present! Please understand!"

After a brief silence, Lisetta's reply also echoed across the starry sky as a clear message.

And this kind of behavior is nothing more than saying to all those participating in the war: she alone bears the responsibility for all actions, and what they have to do now is very simple, that is, execute her will!

Bang, press the communication ball around her neck again to end the communication, Lisetta looked forward with cold eyes. She used her psychic powers to reject the Gray Knight behind her who wanted to admonish her, and then ordered to her contracted captain:

"Ask Savillian how long he will last, regardless of casualties."

Update, make up for yesterday's.