Warhammer: In the Name of Ashes

"The target is ahead! The energy curve is increasing! Five standard times!"

In the Eye of True Sight hall, the main navigator sitting in the center of the huge mechanical life support array spoke under the gaze of the surrounding servitors and gray knights.

He slowly stretched out his pale and withered hand and pulled the crown off his forehead with his fingertips without moisture;

When the communication between the blood-soaked third eye and the subspace was forcibly interrupted by physical means, the great psyker, whose time was running out, finally relaxed and slumped down on the back of the seat. .

"Leave it to you...respected monk." He said in the life support cabin.

Simultaneously with this sigh, the battleship's control system began to shift from subspace engines to plasma engines.

In the main command hall several hundred meters away, the chief craftsman expressed respect to this reliable colleague with the most sincere blessing of the Adeptus Mechanicus:

"May the God of Machine be with you."

Then he gave the order to his subordinates who had been waiting in the engine room for a long time:

"In accordance with the sacred power agreement, you are authorized to perform the sacred machine soul restart ceremony.

Licensing - Chief Craftsman Sanji Singh. "

"Praise to the God of All Opportunities!"

A group of mechanical priests and technicians shouted in the engine room, and then rang the sacred bell equipped on every battleship.

Boom!

Ring the bell once and inject the lubricating oil! Push the lever to activate the piston and pump!

Amidst the cheers of the Mekhan believers, the voices of the hymn choir also echoed across the bridge.

On the huge porthole in front, the thick armor was slowly pulled up.

The treacherous subspace is showing its final ugliness to the humans on the battleship with its surging energy clouds.

Boom!

Ring the bell twice to activate the gears that drive the source of power! Press the button to start the engine, ignite the turbine and breathe life into it!

The dark void was split open by the sharp bow of the ship, and the transparent space was lifted up by fine gold and steel like waves.

The void subspace and the curtain of reality were stirred, and then cut through by a more clearly pointed force!

Boom!

Ring the bell three times to praise the God of all opportunities!

Amid the roar of the plasma engine, fiery tail flames ejected from the rear of the battleship;

Correspondingly, the last boost of the subspace engine before it went out ripped open an oval-shaped portal from the curtain of the real universe.

So in the eyes of the imperial soldiers, Goth, the core capital galaxy of the Gothic sector, finally appeared in front of them after a long absence.

"Ready to fight!"

The captain of the Imperial Navy ordered the team on the command deck that the latest information was already available in the direction of the auspicious array.

Sand...sand...sand...

The shaking and distorted picture on the holographic projector, together with the noise caused by enemy interference after the entire ship was connected to the auspicious array, made everyone on the entire battleship frown;

As the power of the plasma engine increases rapidly, the auspicious array, which continues to gain energy, is taking back the ability to sense from the enemy's hands.

"Situational awareness complete!!!"

The sound from the direction of the auspicious array attracted the attention of the captain and Calvin at the same time.

In the center of the main command hall below the throne, the holographic projection that had been shaking and flickering finally returned to normal operation.

Fralis is located on the edge of the defense zone of the Gothic star system where Gothic Sector is located. It is the location of the closest one of the six black stone fortresses to the Gothic mainland.

It is not only one of the homeports of the Imperial Navy, but also the most powerful protective barrier in the entire sector.

Now, a large alien fleet is using their strange crescent-shaped warships to attack Goth's galaxy defenses.

The empire's fleet has a huge number, but it is powerless against the warships of this alien civilization.

Blackstone Fortress, this huge black star, uses the huge array of weapons on it to threaten those alien fleets, preventing them from posing a direct threat to the sector capital unscrupulously;

It is this fortress that resists the green energy shots of the alien warships with its weird building materials, and also restricts the range of activities of these warships with its dense physical ammunition.

But this obviously won't last long.

Because as the warships of the Imperial Navy continue to be destroyed, the warships of those alien civilizations have aimed their firepower at the Blackstone Fortress itself.

Although its material is strong enough to withstand direct fire from battleships, this solid nature does not include those subsequent man-made weapon platforms.

Calvin could even see that some small crescent moons were being released concentratedly under the large battleships.

The moment these tiny but dense crescent moons gained independence, they began to move towards the main body of the Blackstone Fortress.

"They're going to take it away!"

This is Calvin's instinctive intuition, and his memory of that time journey tells him that once these things are returned to their original owners, the entire Gothic galaxy will no longer be able to resist the invasion of these aliens!

So, is this the culprit that caused the Gothic Sector to fall into silence?

It turns out that the Empire's first enemy under this starry sky was not the Chaos forces led by Abaddon and Mortarion, but these alien civilizations that Calvin had dealt with in the Storm Star Territory?

So what is their purpose?

Calvin seemed to have thought of something, and subconsciously turned his gaze to the huge obsidian fortress.

Judging from what he saw during that time journey, the power of that fortress in human hands may not be as powerful as one ten thousandth of these alien civilizations!

so! Are they here for this too?

Or are they just executing their own established strategies, and Blackstone Fortress just happened to appear on their path to accomplish their tactical goals?

Calvin is still thinking, because what this represents are two completely different situations!

"Signal switching successful! Locking Zhuyuan!

The target's subspace detection device works! Interference is occurring! "

"Suppress their signals! Lock in their engine signatures!"

Navy Captain Cobb gave orders to the auspicious array while casting glances at the strategy team on the other side;

The latter had already marked the dispersing Chaos fleet on the holographic projection sand table in front of him;

And for these hostile fleets that were in chaos due to being attacked from both sides, several combat plans were clearly set up for captains to refer to.

"Forward! At all costs! Stop those battleships from landing!"

Calvin's words interrupted Brigadier General Cobb's plan. He looked above his head in surprise. At this time, Calvin had already stood up and exerted pressure on him with a silent gesture.

"I...I have a better plan..."

Cobb murmured to himself, but the authority of the original body was unquestionable, and he could already feel the increasingly unkind eyes of his colleagues around him.

In Calvin's mind, while his evaluation of Cobb also dropped again, he remembered Vasilev's words to him before departure.

"Maybe you are not satisfied with the fight between us, but I swear, at least this time, our deprivation of Vice Admiral Cobb and his fleet command is absolutely out of loyalty and responsibility to the empire."

"Oh? How can you see it?" Calvin asked.

"Lieutenant General Cobb...comes from a naval family." Vasilev said slowly while pondering.

"However, I don't know if you are curious, why with his background and age, he still succumbs to a convoy fleet responsible for patrolling the waterway?"

"Why?" Calvin's curiosity was also aroused by Vasilev, but he was also wary of the other party, and deliberately judged how much of what the other party was about to say was truly "public."

"Because of his commanding style..." Vasilev took a long breath, and then said helplessly:

"There is no doubt about this general's talent, but his and his family's desire to preserve themselves is stronger than their talent!"

"Please note that this is a serious accusation." Calvin frowned, because this was already a euphemistic accusation against Cobb and even the Georgil family behind him.

And his heart sank slightly, because if this kind of unkind accusation did not have corresponding facts, it would be impossible for it to appear in the mouth of a high-ranking general like Vasilev.

"Well, that's true, although I shouldn't criticize my colleagues.

So I will give you a specific list, and you can follow the battle records on these lists to find the corresponding facts on your own. "

Vasilev left, but left Calvin with a problem.

From his own point of view, he was unwilling to re-affiliate the fleets that followed him to the order of the Imperial Navy;

But if even half of what Vasilev said is true, then Cobb is really not suitable to serve as the chief officer of any fleet in the coming battle.

"Do you need me to repeat it again?" Calvin's voice sounded on the bridge.

At this moment, Cobu was already sweating profusely and did not dare to hesitate any longer.

He believed that after being in the fleet and witnessing a complete set of imperial fleet-level naval battle command procedures, the original body had the ability to leave him alone and command the fleet independently;

And the crew members under his command would not refuse to tie him up and then cheer for an Emperor's Son to take command in person!

"Yes! Sir! As you wish!"

The captain answered quickly, and then explained to Calvin and the Gray Knights behind him:

"My plan is to sneak towards the Blackstone Fortress with the help of the asteroid belt that is captured by the gravity of the galaxy and is about to arrive..."

"No! There's no time!" Calvin raised the corners of his mouth in a dangerous arc, and while interrupting Cobb's struggle for the second time, he gave him a direct order:

“And my order is to launch an attack in the direction of Blackstone Fortress at all costs!

And create an environment for the upcoming landing operation of my direct troops! "

"...Yes! As you wish!"

Cobb's body stiffened for a moment, and then suddenly became rickets.

He gestured to the surrounding command team members to convey the Primarch's orders to the entire fleet.

In the center of the galaxy in the distance, the auspicious device of the empire's fleet apparently also received the signal of this new fleet;

The unfamiliar fleets marked as the Imperial Navy and the Tribunal on these automatic identification codes gave these exhausted Imperial soldiers who were unable to save the war situation once again see the hope of completing their mission!

"Cooperate with them! Cooperate with them at all costs!"

The admiral of the fleet quickly gave the order, because his military literacy allowed him to instantly know the fleet's intentions;

The fleet that is sailing towards the fortress with all its strength is obviously planning to use all its strength to destroy the opponent's attempt to occupy the Blackstone Fortress!

"You can attack now!"

Calvin said to Cobb who was waiting under the throne, and turned his head to face Gorgon behind him.

The latter nodded slightly, then raised his hand to signal to the surrounding Gray Knights, conveying the original order's orders to the lower levels.

Calvin "looked" at the Gray Knights who had already been prepared in the will of the Legion. The moment the order arrived, they stood up uniformly from their respective cabins.

He paused for a moment, and after mentally estimating the time it would take for these Gray Knights to arrive on the deck, he said to the surprised Lieutenant General Cobb:

"Inform your people to open the deck permissions for landing craft and landing torpedoes. Within two quarters of an hour at the latest, we can cooperate with your bombers to start the attack!"

"Your will!" The captain was stunned for a moment. This is...even the attack plan has been arranged for him?

The bombers set off first, using small but flexible units to intensively launch the first wave of torpedo attacks on the enemy ships!

Then there's the battleship's main gun attack!

Then, while the fleet withstands the enemy's counterattack, it begins the formal landing battle after arriving at the scheduled delivery location!

But when did these Gray Knights receive the order?

He didn't even see basic mobilization procedures on these Astartes!

However, this question no longer requires the original body to answer it personally, because in just a few seconds when Cobb fell into a daze, the screen on the exclusive seat in front of him already showed gray people marching from various positions to the attack deck. knight!

They are marching! They are intimidating!

They were using their outrageously efficient actions to show him the expertise of these Emperor Angels!

"The Emperor's blessing!"

A naval patrol with close-defense weapons stepped aside to the side of the battleship's corridor when they saw these angels from a distance;

And this group of giants wearing silver armor also walked in front of these mortals in silence with neat and heavy footsteps.

Bang... Bang... Bang... Bang...

The clash of steel boots against the deck resounded simultaneously in all the passages leading to the attack deck;

And all this, from Cobb's overall perspective, shows the iron will of this group of Astartes, from receiving the order to rushing to the battlefield, without even needing a buffer time.

"You...stay!" Calvin looked at Sulla's position and deliberately ordered him in a voice that mortals could hear.

The latter was momentarily slow when receiving the order;

But after he looked at Calvin and received reaffirmation from the other party, Sura did not refute, but instead, together with the team members behind him, slammed the tail blade of the halberd on the ground to show compliance with the order.

There was only the first half of what the original body said, but both Sulla and the devolved Cobu clearly knew the second half of what he didn't say:

"Watch him (Cobb) for me!"

renew! Two in one, you can do it. By the way, Happy New Year everyone!