Warhammer: Hail to the Void Lords!.

Chapter 1013 08.1012: 'A Trapped Beast's Struggle'

Meanwhile, inside the command cathedral of the 'Duke's Pride', General Pompey, his face pale from the violent maneuvers, roared at the captain, "What the hell are you doing! Throwing left one minute and right the next! You're practically shaking my brain to its core!"

"Please calm down, General." The traitorous captain remained seated calmly on the command throne of the warship in the lower plane. "This is a necessary means to counter the enemy ships."

"Countermeasures? What countermeasures? It's still right behind us! What exactly have you countermeasured?!" Pompey's anger was completely ignited by his answer and the unchangeable situation, and his voice rose another level.

"Please allow me to explain, General." The captain waved his hand, and a tactical holographic projection appeared between the two, clearly displaying the energy consumption data.

Ship: HMS Duke's Pride (Large Cruiser) - Maneuver Type: High-Energy Turn 90° - Estimated Energy Consumption: 21%
Ship: 'Swift Skyhawk' light cruiser – Maneuvering type: High-energy 180° turn and full-speed sailing – Estimated energy consumption: 33%
"This is a very simple math problem," the traitor captain said in a humble but arrogant tone. "We are making a 90-degree high-energy turn, while our opponent, in order to catch up with us and not be locked on by our guns, would have to turn at least 180 degrees, while also having afterburners in the engine room and sailing at full speed."

So, which one will burn out the combustion chamber first?

General Pompey sat back down, stared at the data for a moment, and then suddenly realized: "You want to... drain their reserves of energy, so that in the constant pursuit, they lose the ability to turn around and launch torpedoes at us one last time."

“Indeed, General. Moreover, once they have to wait for the combustion gauges to return to full from 0, they will become semi-fixed targets for the thirty-two macro guns on one side of my ship.”

With their tonnage and armor, they'd be reduced to dust in the void after just ten salvos. Our main guns, on the other hand, can complete ten salvos in less than two-thirds of a standard Terra time (about 40 minutes). The captain added coldly, "We'll soon have utterly destroyed this audacious usurper, sending him and his crew to hell!"

"Very good, very good!" Pompey finally smiled. "Destroy them! When we return to Severus, His Majesty the Emperor will surely reward us handsomely!"

“Yes, sir.” The traitorous captain revealed a cold smile. “He won’t live much longer.”

Just as they were preparing to repeat their old tricks and find the next best opportunity to counterattack, suddenly, something unusual happened outside the porthole.

A thick, silvery-gray fog appeared out of nowhere and spread at an astonishing speed.

"What's going on? The oracles aren't working! I can't see that guy anymore!" Pompey shouted in panic.

The alarm system on the bridge instantly changed from a shrill whistle reporting damaged shields to a more piercing alarm about sensor failure.

All the enemy and friend identification symbols on the main tactical projection turned into a snowflake-like noise.

"This is... a jamming smoke?" The traitorous captain's expression changed for the first time. He recognized this type of cover and attack device, a must-have for Imperial Navy escort ships and light cruisers.

The interference of a third party completely destroyed his composure and confidence, replacing it with a look of bewildered surprise and anger.

The situation has changed again.

He had assumed his opponent would completely replicate Thomas Cochrane's tactics, and he was prepared to retaliate.

But I didn't expect the other party to make a change so quickly.

If he continues to retaliate according to the original plan, then he is probably the one who is repeating the same old tricks and is inflexible.

The two plumes of smoke intersected in opposite directions, perfectly concealing the releaser's whereabouts.

Clearly, another ship had unknowingly joined the fray.

The rebels were unable to determine which ship had entered the battlefield before the anti-detection nano-smoke dissipated.

"Whatever! We are an invincible large cruiser! No matter what comes, all gun crews, open fire! Blow them to pieces!" The captain of 'Duke's Pride' waved his hand and gave a fierce order.

But there's no doubt that two ships are currently releasing smoke screens and circling the Duke's Pride, and they don't know which one is that damned light cruiser.

On the 'Sword of Akali', Acting Captain Archie Cuthbert Collingwood bit his lower lip, rapidly assessing the course and the situation in his mind.

"I'm sorry, Horatio, I can't help you take down this big guy. All I can do is cover your movements."

“You’ve come just in time, Archie. So, we’ll circle it around in two boats to confuse it. Watch out! The enemy is firing!”

Bang bang bang!
Of the more than sixty light guns on both sides of the 'Duke's Pride', these turrets didn't care about the order of firing; as soon as they were loaded, they fired wildly at both ends of the smoke-filled area.

Shells whistled through the smoke. Seven or eight hit the Void Shield of the Swift Eagle in quick succession, instantly overloading the warship's shield generator. Horatio heard a deep, resonant whistle from the ship's horn.

Immediately afterwards, several more shells hit the side of the 'Swift Skyhawk' directly. The hit area flashed red on the tactical projection, and the nearest damage control station immediately dispatched damage control personnel to carry out emergency damage control.

The Swift Eagle also retaliated by using its broadside and ridge-mounted cannons. Once both sides' cannons were loaded, they opened fire and slammed the other ship's hull.

At the same time, four more shells struck the Void Shield of the 'Akali Sword', overloading its shield by 25%.

The other shells flew straight out, indiscriminately attacking all the ships on the battlefield that were unfortunately caught in their trajectory.

“It seems the descendants of Spiel have pushed these traitors to their limits.” Captain Pierre Martin of the Hermione looked at the smoke in the distance and sneered, “He’s even started firing indiscriminately.”

"Full speed ahead! We absolutely cannot be hit! A single salvo from those thirty-odd light cannons on one side is enough to turn us into a pile of floating rubble!" Archie shouted to the power department.

"Come on, let me see what else you've got up your sleeve," the rebel captain said through gritted teeth.

By this time, the smoke in the gas tanks had been completely consumed. Just as the smoke was about to dissipate, he gambled and gave another order, causing the warship to suddenly turn.

At that moment, time stood still. The enormous, bloated body swept across the void, its immense kinetic energy scattering all remaining smoke and dust.

"I've got you!" The rebel captain grinned smugly, spotting a familiar plowshare-shaped bow on the side. "Die!"

All the light macro guns immediately began aiming.

What he didn't know was that the captain of the Swift Eagle could see directly through the smoke from a bird's-eye view and observe the relative positions of the three fleets.

After a while, the captain of the Duke's Pride noticed something was wrong.

When did light cruisers have such wide command bridges?
Only then did he realize that what he was facing directly on his side was not that annoying light cruiser, but the Tyrant-class cruiser 'Tricolor Crown'!
The captain of the 'Tricolor Crown' was chasing the fleeing Dominator-class cruiser that had caught fire, but ended up running into the smoke.

To avoid accidentally colliding with friendly forces, he chose to activate the reverse booster for an emergency stop.

Unexpectedly, when the smoke cleared, his ship's bow was facing the more than thirty dark cannons of the rebel flagship.

Pompey stared in surprise at the front of the 'Duke's Pride'.

It was a slender escort ship with two equally dark torpedo tubes facing their command bridge.

The light cruiser was not in the view of the bridge.

If it's not in sight, then the only possible location is...

"Got you." Horatio stared intently at the plasma engine on the holographic projection, which was spewing out dazzling orange-blue flames.

"Launch torpedoes! Destroy his engines!" Horatio slammed his command throne and shouted into the command center.

"Launch torpedoes! Let his broadside be filled with our big steel rods!" the captain of the 'Tricolor Crown' shouted at the same time.

"Launch torpedoes! Attack their bridge!" Archie pointed at the enemy bridge and gave the order.

Below the 'Sword of Akali', the two attack ships that had been lurking like ghosts with their shadow fields activated simultaneously fired half of the torpedoes from their frontal launch cells, leaving the other half for a second round of supplementary fire.

"You won't succeed!"

Duke's Pride immediately opened fire, simultaneously unleashing all its afterburning reserves to charge forward, desperately trying to evade the overwhelming barrage of torpedoes.

The massive void fortress hurtled toward the Sword of Akali, the immense pressure almost suffocating Archie. He had to halt the torpedo launch and immediately maneuver at full speed to evade it.

Other Severus rebel ships nearby also sprang into action, especially the two well-maintained Dreadnought MK.I light cruisers, who joined the escort for the flagship, launching attacks on the 'Tricolor Crown' and making a forced boarding maneuver.

All the separatists knew that the Empire would not let them go, and now all they could do was fight to the death!
(End of this chapter)