Warhammer: Hail to the Void Lords!.

Chapter 1005 08.1004: 'Void Hunting Ground'

As the commander of this temporary fleet, Horatio knew that it was inappropriate to have too many private conversations with his subordinate captains while on high alert.

The navy traditionally places great emphasis on the authority of its commanders. Only by maintaining a calm, decisive, and even slightly ruthless image can one effectively command those unruly "kings of the flying kingdoms."

Therefore, he was happy to entrust the necessary social interactions and the opportunity to build rapport to David Betty von Ravensberg, the fleet liaison officer of the Swift Eagles.

The young ensign, who was serving as the fleet liaison officer, was speaking enthusiastically with the two captains of the Calises.

Horatio observed quietly from the side screen of his command throne.

David Beatty was not just chatting idly. He skillfully wove famous battles from the Gothic Wars and the heroic deeds of their ancestors into the conversation, while avoiding any hint of arrogance or disdain in his words. He subtly strengthened the mutual understanding between them and conveyed tactical instructions in a more acceptable way.

He performed his duties as a fleet liaison officer admirably, and Horatio, in this way, forged the makeshift unit cobbled together from two independent fleets into a usable fighting force.

The fleet is sailing forward in a classic T-formation attack formation, an aggressive and ancient naval formation designed to maximize frontal firepower.

The flagship, "Swift Skyhawk," is positioned at the very front and center of the formation.

Her ship's silhouette was more elongated than that of her escorts, elegant yet deadly.

On her left and right flanks were two Tyrant-class cruisers, the HMS Hermione and the HMS Tricoloro, which were allocated as supplementary combat forces.

These two pure heavy-gun warships, built on the basis of standard cruisers, are the embodiment of ruggedness and power. The hull is covered with a whole row of plasma and live-fire heavy gun emplacements, and the thick armored bow is designed to withstand the most intense bombardment.

The scene resembled two heavily armored, burly bodyguards protecting a skilled yet extremely dangerous young female assassin, perfectly combining the elegant lethality of the "Swift Eagle" with the ruthless destructive power of the escort ship.

At the very front of the entire formation, like a lone wolf separated from its pack, was the destroyer "Starfire".

The Cobra-Widowmaker-class destroyer is advancing at high speed, its powerful sensor array "sniffing" the void, searching for any energy radiation that might reveal the enemy's presence, providing early warning to the entire fleet.

At the very rear of the formation was the light cruiser "Rising Feather". This Provoke-class warship served as the fleet's aerial shield. Beneath its expansive flight deck, the launch bays were fully staffed, with squadrons of Starhawk bombers and Fury interceptors already mounted on the electromagnetic catapults. The pilots awaited the order to launch from their cockpits.

Against the backdrop of the massive planet Minerva, the entire fleet is gliding silently across the planet's twilight line in a state of "silent navigation".

The ship's plasma engines burned with cold, eerie blue flames, and all external navigation lights were turned off.

The massive planetary arc completely concealed their silhouettes, preventing them from being detected by enemies in the predicted direction.

On the sunlit side of the fleet, the faint light from distant stars outlined a ghostly silhouette; while on the other side, it was completely enveloped in absolute darkness formed by the shadows of the planets.

At this moment, inside the bridge of the "Swift Skyhawk," apart from the low hum of the life support system and the occasional soft clicking of the control console, there was no other sound.

Everyone rested and recharged at their posts, waiting for the battle horn to sound.

The entire warship, and indeed the entire fleet, resembled a solemn, mobile cathedral, gathering strength in the silence before the decisive battle.
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"Captain!" A shout mixed with static crackling suddenly broke the silence of the bridge.

David Betty suddenly shouted, breaking the silence. Everyone resting at their posts immediately opened their eyes.

"Urgent report received from attack ship E-99! Their technical priest detected activated whirlwind torpedo radiation! Preliminary reconnaissance indicates the enemy fleet comprises one large cruiser, two cruisers, two light cruisers, and several escort ships and destroyers!"

"What? Are they going to blow up this planet?"

"They also have troops on the ground. Could it be..."

The term 'whirlwind torpedo' was like a boulder thrown into a calm lake, stirring up ripples of discussion among the bridge officers.

[Whirlwind torpedo? Where would a small duchy like Severus get such a weapon?]
Horatio thought that even if they did have one, given Severus's national strength, they could only possess a maximum of one Cyclone torpedo. Eliminating this threat now would likely prevent them from possessing such weapons of mass destruction again to intimidate neighboring powers.

"Operations Department, open the battle situation hologram sent by the E-99 attack ship."

Horatio's grip on the adamantine armrest tightened unconsciously, and a tense, chilling atmosphere filled the air.

Almost as soon as the words were spoken, crimson runes representing the enemy fleet appeared in the air on the main tactical holographic projection platform, marking their formation against the dark background of space, appearing particularly glaring and ominous.

"Enemy formation?" Horatio's voice was loud and calm, instantly cutting through the tense atmosphere.

His brain was already working at high speed, incorporating the new intelligence into his tactical considerations.

"It's a box-shaped formation, Commander! Phase code ZL, currently sailing laterally from left to right!"

"Square box formation..." Horatio's gaze sharpened slightly.

This is a typical defensive formation designed to provide all-around fire coverage, typically used to protect a high-value target within the formation.

"Do they have an aircraft carrier?" he pressed.

This question points directly to the core variable in the battle: the presence of carrier-based aircraft will change the nature of this surprise attack from the perspective of information acquisition.

"Armament unknown, Commander. E-99 is too far away to ascertain the specific armament of the enemy warship. At present, we can only determine the ship's class based on energy signals."

This "unknown" casts a thick fog of war over the impending battle.

An undetected enemy aircraft carrier means that when Horatio's fleet launches a surprise attack, it may face not only a warship-to-ship exchange of fire, but also an endless array of bombers and fighter planes.

However, Horatio was not swayed by the incomplete intelligence; he had already factored in the worst-case scenario into his plan. This was why he urgently recalled the air force from the ground.

He calmly raised his head and quickly and composedly issued a series of orders.

"Telegram to attack ship E-99: The fleet is approaching the target location at high speed from near-Earth orbit at a speed of 10 void knots."

They were ordered to continue observation until the very last moment.

He then gave orders to his fleet.

"Full fleet, increase engine power to cruising speed!" As the order was given, the entire bridge began to tremble slightly, and powerful energy flowed from the reactor to the engines. The steel behemoths began to accelerate, heading towards their hunting grounds.

"Telegram to the 'Rising Feather': Immediately dispatch an interceptor squadron to provide escort and surveillance for the three capital ships at the head of the T-formation!"

This is the final order, the final trigger to start the war machine.

On the distant "Rising Feather," piercing alarms blared across the flight deck.

Anya Fasha led a group of pilots into the ready-to-go void fighters. One after another, the furious interceptors were released from the electromagnetic rails and, under the pilots' control, roared into the cold void like a flock of angry falcons.

[If the enemy intends to destroy this planet with Cyclone torpedoes, they will certainly not kill their military commanders along with them. This means that they will not be launching Cyclone torpedoes while they are hovering in near-Earth orbit to rendezvous with Pompey, which is also their most vulnerable moment.]
Horatio's face was illuminated by the red glow of the enemy fleet on the holographic projection platform, and his eyes were fixed on the holographic red dot.

He staked the fate of millions of his soldiers on this gamble.

(End of this chapter)