Warhammer: Hail to the Void Lords!.

Chapter 419 06.0418: "The Fate of the Indefatigable"

'We came from the Feo'Taun Plateau and embraced this vast galactic universe.'

In the void, a long, wide ship was moving slowly.

A blue-skinned humanoid with a scepter in his hand looked out of the rounded porthole at the empty Milky Way filled with colorful nebulae in the distance.

Outside the window, countless long, sci-fi-looking warships passed by.

'Under the guidance of the Greater Good, we have emerged from the Dark Ages of war and have become one under the majesty of the Ether.'

'The collective needs of the Tau Empire override all individuals. This supreme concept, this bright truth, should be spread to every planet inhabited by intelligent creatures in the galaxy, and all civilizations should unite under the belief in the Greater Good!'

'However...there are always ignorant and stubborn civilizations that resist the enlightenment of wisdom and do not understand the value of peace.'

'They rejected our teachings, called us aliens, and savagely murdered our ambassadors.'

'But, as Ether once said, [those who are short-sighted are not at fault], we will eventually tame them and make them understand that the Greater Good is the only way.'

'For the Greater Good, for the Tau Empire!'

In the more distant void, countless debris were floating around.

'impossible……'

'how so……'

'what is that? ’

A golden cross staff fell from four strange blue fingers.

'Our Greater Good...'

'No!!!'

The blue-skinned humanoid turned his head to look at the projection table in the command room that had been shattered by the torpedo.

At the edge of the reconnaissance range, in the blurry void of air clouds and asteroid belts, an unidentified slender ship was lurking quietly.

As a flash of dark cloud and lightning surged from the ship's body, the ship disappeared into the gas cloud again, as if it had never appeared.
-
"The Indefatigable can't hold on any longer. Our ship needs to enter the dry dock for an overhaul, sir." On the bridge, the captain of the oil and gas engineering department, with a scarf on his uniform, reported to Brigadier General Peru.

"Report current route."

"We are not far from the Forge World Gothic and can dock at the Forge World Gothic Star." The officer of the Navigation Department reported.

"It seems that this is the only way." Horatio said to Brigadier General Peru.

"Send a return message to the navigation tower, inform the entire fleet, and prepare to leave the subspace!"

In the calm deep void, there suddenly appeared a flash of lightning and thunder that tore the real universe apart, accompanied by a shock that swept through everyone's spirit like a banshee's scream. The Indefatigable and the fleet it led finally got rid of the black and purple claws behind them and returned to the physical universe from the chaotic and dark sky.

Because the chosen return location was not the permanent Mandeville Point, the Empire did not build a beacon there.

Soon, other ships were also washed out from the turbulent ocean of the warp space, and the scattered formation at this time could hardly be called an expedition fleet.

"Come to think of it, it's been a while since I last visited the Forge World of Gothic." After slightly reorganizing the formation, the fleet sailed normally for a while using plasma engines. When it arrived near its destination, Commodore Peru looked at the reddish-brown steel planet in front of him and muttered to himself.

Horatio looked out the porthole at the steel planet that had obviously undergone planetary-level environmental transformation, and examined it curiously. That was the legendary Gothic Planet.

It is also the origin of the name of the Gothic Sector, the second capital of the sector, an industrially extremely developed forging world under the jurisdiction of the Voss Forging World known as the 'Right Hand of Mars'. The sages and priests in it are all members of the Voss faction.

But it's all the same to the Imperial Navy, because the Imperial Navy maintains good relations with both Voss and Mars.

All Loyalist Forge Worlds are open to the Imperial Navy without any conditions.

However, different forge worlds also bring some unexpected rules and regulations that affect the Imperial Navy.

Forge World Gothic, Near Earth Shipyard Dry Dock, Passenger Platform.

"What? Mars doesn't plan to send the Light Lance to Goth to install on the Indefatigable?"

"Excuse me, Commodore," the Martian craftsman on board replied to Commodore Peru, wearing a red vestment with white gears printed on it:
"The lance cannon assigned to the Indefatigable is a Martian technical secret. This confidential technology has not yet been authorized for production and installation in the Forge World of Voss. According to Article wlpf-7749 of the MW Agreement, Mars cannot send the lance cannon to the Forge World of Goth for installation."

"But the Indefatigable is in urgent need of major repairs and is still a long way from Abyssal Port. We can't just repair the hull in the Forge World Gothic and then wait until we return to Abyssal Port to reinstall the lance cannon. This roundabout way of repairing the ship separately will at least keep the Indefatigable in the dock for a dozen more years!"

"We understand your concerns, but the orders of the Martian Forge-General cannot be violated, and the sacred agreement between the various branches within the Mechanicus must also be observed." The Artificer Sage replied in a stiff electronic voice without emotion.

Just as Brigadier General Peru was having a headache about this, another group of priests from the Mechanicus came over.

The vestments of these people were different from those of the priests of the Martian Order, half yellow and half red, and looked very colorful. "Nice to meet you, Brigadier General Edward Perroux." The hunchbacked old man in the lead was holding a well-made axe of all machines, followed by a group of priests and fully armed crusaders, the latter holding beautiful yet terrifying laser rifles.

Horatio heard that this live ammunition rifle would fire radium ammunition with lethal radiation, and the radiation storm it created could easily kill a person.

Of course, this weapon that is completely soaked in radium will also cause long-term pain to the user, even for a Skitarii soldier whose body has undergone 80% mechanical replacement. Its abnormally unstable nature will eventually kill any user.

When he thought of this, Horatio really wanted to take a step back.

But in order to maintain the dignity of an Imperial Navy officer, he could only grit his teeth, put on a frank and calm look, and watch these threats approach him.

"I remember you are..." Brigadier General Peru saluted politely, and then searched his mind for the old man who seemed to have met him once.

"Lucas lIllIllI, the Gothic Forge Sage of Voss."

The old man spoke the first half of the name in High Gothic and the second half was decoded and spoken back using a barcode decoder.

This strange operation would not work for Horatio.

"Ah, yes, that's right. Nice to meet you, Sage Lucas."

"Admiral Venuska Kataria of the Gothic Fleet and Captain Lord Elphinstone also happened to visit recently."

"Really? That's really a coincidence. Where are the Lord Admiral and the Colonel now?" Brigadier General Peru was very surprised. It was such a coincidence that he met his colleagues and superiors at the temporary stop on the way back from the expedition.

"You two are here to inspect the latest war artifacts produced on this planet. Of course, let's first discuss the repair of the Indefatigable."

Amid the subtle hum of the electrical servers, the old man turned his head to look at the scarred voidship parked in low-Earth orbit. Horatio also looked at the Indefatigable, as if he could hear her groaning in pain.

"Fellow believer of Voss, this battleship sailed into the starry sky within the steel ring of the Crimson Star, and the Crimson Star is also responsible for its subsequent maintenance and repairs."

The sage from Mars activated the emotion simulation module, adding a tone of dissatisfaction to the mechanical and rigid electronic sound.

On his wrist exposed outside his robes, the fluorescent light of the source power circuit was faintly visible. Obviously, in addition to the simple audio signal, a binary language with more intense words and richer data had already burst out.

"Of course I know, but this is the orbit of the Forge World Gothic. Since you are unwilling to take over the necessary rituals for her, the Voss Forge Order will assume the responsibility for repairing the Indefatigable."

The old man waved his hand nonchalantly, as if swatting an invisible fly. Horatio moved his nose and vaguely sensed some kind of burnt smell coming from the motionless Martian sage.

"Since you are so confident, then do it yourself. I hope you will not weaken this awesome creation of the God of All Machines."

The Martian Sage finally withdrew from the stalemate and left the platform with the rest of the engineers without looking back.

Brigadier General Peru frowned. Although the Imperial Navy had agreements with various Forge World Orders, these branches of the Mechanicus often got along incompatiblely due to internal conflicts that were unclear to outsiders.

This means that although there are many Forge Worlds that the Imperial Navy can theoretically dock at, if one specifically considers which order usually maintains the ship, the range of options for finding a suitable dry dock will be greatly reduced.

"Now that things have come to this, we will be fully responsible for the overhaul of the Indefatigable. Please give us your guidance, Commodore." The pale and wrinkled skin next to the old man's ventilator twitched twice, and he seemed to curl up the corners of his mouth, and spoke to Peru in a flat tone.

"What is your repair plan? How big a repair would you like to make? The Indefatigable has been maintained by the Martian Order since its founding."

"Mr. Peru must be familiar with the Overlord-class battlecruiser."

"Of course, the 'Pure Flame' that perished along with the Blackstone Fortress under the command of Captain Abridar was a Overlord-class battlecruiser. Everyone in the Gothic Fleet knows this."

"The Forge World Gothic has new macro cannons that are better than those on Mars, as well as cutting-edge light spear cannons. If you are interested, we hope to try a completely new reconstruction plan for the Indefatigable."

The old man turned sideways, with two technical priests standing behind him. Two fat baby cherubim were holding a large parchment that was half a person's height, which they slowly unfolded in front of everyone.

The painting shows a warship that Horatio has never seen before, but feels familiar to him.

It has the iconic large Skyhawk bow of the Voss-class battleship, with majestic cannons on both sides and the Voss MK.3 light spear cannon of the same model as the Tenacity-class on the backbone.

[Hiss, isn't this Voss's version of the Overlord-class battlecruiser?]
Horatio thought again, the Overlord-class battlecruiser was a genuine Martian product.

Only Sepra-Mundi in the Obscure Sector can produce Overlord-class battlecruisers.

But this battleship is not perfect and has many shortcomings.

“We learned from the structure of the Overlord-class battlecruiser through certain means and discovered many technical shortcomings that could not be overcome due to the technological limitations at the time.

Now that the new STC template technology has matured, we can reset the Indefatigable's power system and transform her into a perfect 'Void Overlord' without any flaws."

The little flesh left on the old man's face raised the corners of his mouth in a stereotypical way.

"And this new type of battlecruiser, we call her the Imperial Power class battlecruiser, a powerful and awe-inspiring battlecruiser."

(End of this chapter)