Warhammer: Hail to the Void Lords!.

Chapter 588 06.0587: "Shark and Gray Claw"

"So, which side is the traitor?" Louise's fingers unconsciously stroked the edges of the data tablet, and her deep purple pupils reflected the dancing firing points in the holographic star map.

She stated the most likely guess, after all, major battles between loyalists and rebels and civil wars among traitors were commonplace.

However, there is a small chance that the Space Marines who have not rebelled will engage in civil war for some reason. The most dangerous of these are the Dark Angels. They will force the Imperial Navy who are unfortunate enough to encounter them to choose sides - which is often a fatal question.

"One of their ships is a battle barge, and the other is an old battleship, both of which are old models from the Great Crusade. Neither of them has the evil decorations of the Chaos Traitors, and they are relatively clean and simple."

"That's strange. The last time loyalist Space Marines fought each other in historical records was during the Badab War ninety years ago." Archie pinched his chin and looked at the two Space Marine warships on the console that were engaged in a fierce battle not far away. "And they are both old ships of outdated design."

Horatio was familiar with the Space Marine Civil War that Archie mentioned, a tragedy caused by various blunders and poor handling.

据帝国官方统计，战争持续时间为901.M41至912.M41，全面战争直到904.M41才爆发。

The end result made the Badab War one of the worst rebellions in recent imperial history.

Although the war was named after the planet Capitol, the battle actually took place in several sectors of Imperial space, namely the Maelstrom Zone.

This war resulted in 4 complete Space Marine Chapters breaking away and rebelling against the Imperium, and caused the Hurons to fall into Chaos, becoming the infamous 'Hurons the Black', while the rebellious Space Marine Chapters also formed another major problem for the Imperium - the Red Corsair Warband.

"This is not a battle that can be speculated by common sense. We need to get closer to see the situation."

"Captain, according to the reconnaissance aircraft, three small patrol teams emitting 283mm waves from directions 196, 161, and 3 are approaching due to being attracted by the crossfire!"

"There are wolves in front and tigers behind. We must take action immediately to see what is going on ahead. Navigation Department, plan the shortest physical route. Power Department, open the shadow field when we are 800 kilometers close to the target. We will dive and observe closely."

"As you command, sir!"

The stern of the Epic immediately gushed out afterburners and sailed towards the battlefield in the distance where fire could be heard from time to time - that was the flames from the bombardment cannons on the spine of the Space Marines, bursting out eye-catching golden fire in the dark universe.
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"Let's see what's going on." Horatio came to the observation platform in person. He stood in front of the telescope with the highest magnification, looking at the two huge void objects that were circling each other and shooting at each other in the air like fighting tigers.

After careful optical observation and identification.

The scars on one of the battle barges were clearly visible under the optical enhancement. The silver-gray armor was covered with scars and dents, as if it had been repeatedly bitten by the fangs of a deep-sea monster and repeatedly repaired by the skilled hands of the technical sergeant.

Since they always kept their warships in the dark away from the sunlight, like unexpected hunters, cunning and good at using darkness, Horatio observed for a long time before vaguely piecing together the appearance of their chapter emblem by intercepting fragments.

——It looks like a shark swinging its tail.

[Tail-swinging... shark?] Horatio bit his lower lip. He might not be able to remember every Space Marine Chapter, but when it comes to who used the shark as the Chapter emblem, there is only one answer!
Man-eating shark group!
This was a loyal regiment, but that made him feel nervous.

Because, the Carcharodon Warband is now at the end of the 41st millennium, and their whereabouts and political attitudes are extremely unclear.

Even the Ministry of the Interior is not sure whether they have defected or rebelled to Chaos - after helping several Imperial planets in the Ultramarine to resist alien invasion, they looted the planets and caused a large number of people to disappear through kidnapping.

The Imperial Navy also lists it as an extremely dangerous neutral faction, and any warships encountering this force should remain on high alert to avoid any threats.

But Horatio knew that the Carcharodon were exercising their power to support their own continuation - the blood tax and the ash tax.

As a warband sent to the border of the Empire, they have the power to obtain resources to survive on their own. When there is no further solution, this power is used by the desperate Carcharodon Warband to obtain supplies and new blood from the Empire to bypass bureaucracy and political struggles.

[Who is the one who started the war with them...]
Horatio turned his telescope and pointed it at the other side of the battle.

The hull was copper-colored with gray-black edges, and it looked better maintained than the Great Shark's warship, but only to a limited extent.

There was dirt hanging on the edge of the battleship, and some non-fatal bullet holes had not been repaired or sheet metaled, and the heat sink armor was bumpy, as if it had always adhered to the principle of "no maintenance unless necessary".

The chapter emblem on it is four symmetrical, inverted crescents with a medium-sized circle in the middle.

This rare chapter pattern made Horatio hesitate, and the herald officer did not find a similar icon in the registered coat of arms.

[Who are they? Why are they fighting with the Carcharodon Group...]
As Horatio hesitated, Brother Korchagin appeared behind him.

"They are the outcasts..." "What?" Horatio asked, turning his head curiously.

"This chapter is called the 'Asheen Claws'. They are border guards who were banished to a remote star region by Gene-Father Corax... At least that was their mission in the past, but it doesn't matter. You just need to know that they are now a renegade chapter, Captain." Brother Korchagin's tone was heavy, and his words clearly contained a secret, the secret of the Raven Guard.

At the same time, Horatio also noticed that he did not use the word 'traitors' to describe them.

But through the name "Ashe Claws", the time traveler quickly knew what was going on.

The Empire divides Space Marine Chapters into three categories based on their political attitudes:
There are loyalists who are loyal to the Empire of Man, rebels who turn against Chaos, and traitors who are neither loyal to the Empire nor to Chaos.

The Ash Claws are a rebellious band that refuses to obey anyone and survives with difficulty in a remote border area.

They were the 18th Chapter of the Raven Guard Legion, composed of Raven Guard of Terran descent.

Before Corax's return, the 19th Legion was composed of slavers, who had a serious influence on the Legion's character. These Terran-born Raven Guard were diametrically opposed to Corax's ideas.

With neither side getting along, in 002.M31, most of the Terran veterans followed the plan of Warmaster Horus and died in the Battle of Gate 42.

Following the battle, Corax gathered together most of the surviving veterans of the XIX Legion, as well as those prisoners who had been released if they did not fit his vision for the Legion.

He formed these men into an expeditionary fleet and sent them to guard the borders of the Ghoul Stars.

It is known that these people are composed of approximately 4000 survivors of the Gray Claws, including Shadow Captain Kalvus from the Star of Redemption.

The fleet sent out by the Lord of Dark Ravens consisted of 13 battleships and 20 escort ships.

Many members of the Ash Claws were angry at the Primarch's disregard for their lives and history of service.

Warriors who resented being exiled and not fighting on the battlefield with other legions were given the honors they deserved.

Like the rest of the nomadic marauding fleets, Corax never recalled these Legions even after the outbreak of the Horus Heresy.

Despite this, the Gray Claws decided to make a comeback of their own accord.

They raided the Nostramo sector, plundering its munitions, STC templates and construction matrices, but did not occupy the sector in the name of the Emperor or the Traitor.

Later, the Claws of Ash sacked Tenebo, a satellite fortress of the Night Lords' ruined homeworld of Nostramo, and annihilated the Night Lords there, becoming a thorn in the side of the Night Lords warband.

During the Battle of Desperation, Lord Gearing of the Grey Claws intervened in a battle planned by Chapter Master Arceas Odinathus of the Ultramarines, defeating the Night Lords' fleet and plundering the Ultramarines' armory.

After the start of the Horus Heresy, the culture of the Grey and Black Shields quickly revived, with the orphans of war refusing to pledge allegiance to either the Imperial Loyalists or the traitorous Warmaster, and serving only their own causes.

These Ash Claws firmly believe that Corax is dead, and they will never come back without the Primarch personally issuing an edict for them to return.
In 800s.M41, the Crimson Claws aided the Carcharodon in their fight against the Genestealer cult on Piety V.

Interestingly, the Carcharodon Chapter, which is loyal to the Empire, treats mortal servants extremely cruelly, just as bloody and violent as the World Eaters. On the contrary, the Ash Claws, as a renegade Chapter, inherit the tolerance and kindness of the Raven Guard towards the mortals in the Chapter.

Although both chapters are descendants of the Raven Guard, the Carcharodon Chapter is far from being as pure both materially and spiritually due to a shortage of gene-seed and other reasons.

Now, for unknown reasons, the flagships of the two chapters, which had always loved and hated each other, started fighting right under their noses.

"These may be the two warbands reported in the eyewitness report. I compared many features and it looks like they are them."

Thei swiped the photo information on the datapad in his hand, compared it with Horatio's observation screenshots and said, "I didn't expect to encounter these two forces because the star sea is so vast, but I didn't expect to encounter them after all. Captain, we should fulfill the duties entrusted to us by the Inquisition and find out the situation."

"I will, but only after ensuring the safety of the Epic. Besides, the alien fleet is coming."

Mediating between two battleship-sized void monsters, out of caution and safety considerations, Horatio ordered the Epic to remain hidden, but use medium and short wave communications to call the warships of the Carcharodon Regiment.

After a while, an Astartes of huge size, wearing an old Terminator power armor with thick blood stains on the armor surface, appeared in front of the screen.

(End of this chapter)