Warhammer: Hail to the Void Lords!.

Chapter 1007, 08.1006: 'Horizon Raid'

The flagship of the Severus fleet, the "Pride of the Duke".

"General!"

When Aurelian Pompeii Severus, looking somewhat weary, stepped onto the bridge, the Severus soldiers and centurions who had been waiting in formation immediately straightened up and gave him a uniform military salute.

A suppressed fervor permeated the air as these officers and soldiers, who had not been deployed to the ground battle, maintained an absolute and unwavering trust in General Severus XIII Pompey.

Pompey merely raised his hand wearily as a greeting, but did not utter a single word.

Anyone with a discerning eye could see that this general, who had just been humiliated and retreated from the ground battlefield, was not in good condition.

He went straight to the holographic tactical platform in the center of the command bridge, where the staff officers were gathered, discussing enthusiastically how to deal with the huge spoils of war before them—Minerva, one of the largest supply depots of the Astronautical Army, which they had besieged.

Upon seeing Pompey, they all straightened up and made way for him to take the central position.

A staff officer said obsequiously, “General, we have preheated all the Cyclone torpedoes as you requested. With just your order, we can completely destroy this planet, and any plans by the Astronautical Army to intrude into our great territory will be severely thwarted.”

"If we can't get these supplies, then let them and those traitorous lackeys of the High Lords vanish into nothingness." Pompey's voice was hoarse and cold. He walked to the tactical platform and looked down at the slowly rotating planetary projection.

"Clerk," he commanded without turning his head, "write a propaganda report immediately. Say that we have achieved a decisive and outstanding victory in the ground campaign, and that just as we were about to achieve complete victory and the High Lords' lackeys were making a hasty retreat, the despicable Imperial Navy, in order to prevent us from obtaining the planet's precious resources, has brazenly launched an extermination order against the planet."

Their commander ordered the deployment of whirlwind torpedoes, burning the entire planet into a lifeless glass sphere.

"General, you are wise. In this way, all our casualties on the ground can be pinned on those traitors, the High Lord."

"This way, the dead can be classified as 'missing,' and the compensation payments can be significantly reduced. The gold saved will be enough to sustain our resistance for a longer period of time."

The staff officers behind him whispered amongst themselves, their faces revealing knowing, cruel smiles.

"Once all the captured supplies on the ground have been recovered, immediately deploy the Cyclone Torpedoes and then leave this damned place."

"Yes, General."

Pompey turned and looked out through the massive armored window of the bridge. The sharp halo of the terminator swept slowly across the sky as the planet rotated, and a blinding ray of light shone through the reinforced glass window onto his face. He couldn't help but slightly raise his hand to shield his eyes.

“The sun is rising…” he murmured to himself, his voice carrying a morbid poetic quality, “What a beautiful sunrise. Oh, you ants on the ground, blinded by those parasites who occupy positions without doing any work, enjoy this last sunrise to the fullest.”

Because soon, this planet will fall into eternal silence.

The light, like the giant hand of a god, swept across the planet's land, dispelling the darkness on the surface and illuminating the Severus fleet that was silently suspended in orbit.

Just then, an officer on watch on the "Prince of the Duke" noticed something unusual.

At an even lower orbit, almost touching the edge of the atmosphere, a few eerie blue engine flashes streaked by like will-o'-the-wisps.

Several void warships, forming a deadly attack formation, silently emerged from the dark side of the planet!

They perfectly took advantage of the moment when dawn and dusk were about to break, suddenly plunging from the darkness into the light. Because they were so close to the ground, the ship's harbingers were filtered out by the massive amount of noise reflected from the ground; and concealed in the darkness, they maintained perfect silence, hiding the exhaust plumes from their engines at the stern as much as possible. So much so that no one noticed this ghostly fleet that had closed to within 750 kilometers of them until the observers in the watchtower caught a glimpse of those contrails with the naked eye!
Among that fleet, two warships had silver-gray bows and dark dark green hulls.

To their left and right were two even larger cruisers, with sea-blue bows and pure white hulls.

All indications suggest that this is a mixed fleet from the Imperial Navy.

They came on strong with ill intentions and have already entered an irreversible charge!

beep!beep!beep!
The piercing battle alarm instantly resounded throughout the entire Severus fleet.

"The Highlord's lackeys' fleet is attacking! General, please take the command throne!" The captain of the "Duke's Pride" strode up to Pompey, raised his right hand high, and gave their general a flawless salute, a hint of contempt on his face. "Don't worry. We have a perfect 'T' formation advantage, and our firepower is far superior to theirs! I guarantee they will pay a heavy price on their charge!"

He was still wearing the standard uniform of an Imperial Navy captain, but the eagle and helm insignia representing loyalty and honor on his chest had long been brutally removed.

Instead, it features the Roman numeral "XIII" and a silver medal symbolizing the head of Septimius Severus XIII.

Whether he was forced to obey or did so voluntarily, it cannot change the fact that he had long since colluded with the enemies of the empire.

Eliminating these traitors was Horatio's sacred mission as the Supreme Lord Captain of the Imperial Navy.

Severus's warships fired a salvo first.

The cannon fired, creating a booming sound like war drums at the top of the planet's thin atmosphere, as if it were a muffled thunder from ancient times.

Shells rained down on the charging Imperial fleet. The large cruiser alone fired an astonishing 32 shells in a single salvo!
On the bridge of the Swift Eagle, Horatio saw a shell the size of a house smash straight into the Void Shield in front of the command bridge.

The Void Shield intercepted this terrifying attack, sparking a dazzling display of fire.

At this point, because they were positioned at the bottom of the "T" formation, Horatio's fleet only had a small number of cannons located on the back of the ships that could fire.

The two cruisers from the Calicus fleet were not even equipped with any stern-mounted weapons.

Therefore, only Horatio's light cruiser HMS Swift Eagle, with its two light large guns on its stern, was putting up a negligible counterattack.

For cruisers and large cruisers whose tonnage far exceeds theirs, the firepower of just two light macro guns is negligible, even insignificant.

This feeble counterattack quickly transformed the Severus fleet's initial tension into a mocking scorn.

On the flagship's bridge, a burst of laughter even erupted. The Severan rebels on board mocked the self-proclaimed powerful Imperial Navy, who could only muster such pitiful firepower to counter their devastating barrage.

Horatio's jaw clenched tightly, making a "clunking" sound.

"Report! We have reached close artillery range!"

"Now!" Horatio's eyes sharpened. "Launch the torpedoes!"

(End of this chapter)