Warhammer: Hail to the Void Lords!.

Chapter 592 06.0591: "We are approaching the deadliest hunter"

"Captain, the reconnaissance aircraft has visually detected the last patrol fleet coming to support us.

The flagship is a 'Guardian' that is a specialized aircraft carrier. They are launching carrier-based aircraft to attack the exposed Vicious Claw from a very long distance. "Harvey reported.

The hydraulic system of the captain's chair made a slight hissing sound. Horatio leaned forward slightly to pay attention. The eagle emblem embedded in his collar collided with the ceramic steel breastplate with a crisp sound.

"How far is my ship?" he asked, tapping the adamantium armrest of the command throne with his iron hand.

"About three thousand kilometers."

"Get closer and have the Nikol release the Thunderhawk to cover the Vicious Claw. At the same time, our ship will send out the Fury interceptor, commanded by Fasha, to provide support."

"Captain, the first order may not be necessary."

Louise took off the telescope and pointed at the fireflies flying side by side in the sky and said, "The Man-Eating Shark's Combat Thunderhawk Squadron has taken off and is heading to the direction of the Vicious Claw."
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"We have found the target warship and are attacking it! Dish # Tower Squadron, accompany my fleet to attack the enemy's close defense system and cover Manta's air strike." The Air caste pilot said into the communication channel.

"I have received it, Dish # Wind Squadron, the surrounding airspace is safe, and we are... Zizi! Correction! The airspace is not safe! The airspace is not safe! Ah!!!"

The Air Caste pilot turned his head sharply and saw a silver-gray Thunderhawk gunship with mottled paint rushing out from the shadow of the meteorite.

He instinctively pulled the joystick, and the cockpit was immediately filled with overload alarms - the twenty-ton Tau Barracuda fighter made a metallic whine in the inertial restraint, and the wings threw out large balls of condensate during the extreme turn.

This high-G maneuver made the pilot feel dizzy and he was still unable to catch his breath.

Twelve Thunder Eagles were seen swooping down from a higher plane. Their bodies were painted with the emblem of a cone-headed fish, and they looked very ferocious.

Even the underside of the nose is painted with the sharp teeth of this carnivorous fish, and just from the appearance one can feel an extremely powerful sense of oppression sweeping over.

The sharks' Thunderhawks were like a group of sharks hunting in the deep sea, forming a death wedge that brutally tore apart the Tau fleet and repeatedly attacked the Tau Barracuda fleet.

Their vehicles were covered in bullet holes and claw marks, but that did not prevent their powerful machine guns from tearing enemy planes apart.

When a certain Barracuda fighter tried to retaliate with its ion cannon, the Astartes pilot actually controlled the Thunderhawk to charge head-on, and the landing support column under the fuselage directly tore apart the opponent's fragile vector nozzle. A perfect aerial scalpel.

These flying sharks are extremely experienced. In the Carcharodon Regiment, which already lacks vehicles, only the most elite sergeant brothers are qualified to fly the precious Thunderhawk fighters.

Their reactions are far sharper than those of ordinary drivers. For them, as long as they seize the shooting window, they will definitely hit the target. Even if the gun lines overlap at that moment, they can still deliver a fatal blow quickly.

For the Tau pilots who had such a hard time dealing with veterans like Fashar, the Astartes' Thunderhawk fleet was simply a dimensional strike.

"I can never catch up with their reaction speed! Damn it! How can these big iron lumps be so flexible!"

"I've been bitten! Requesting support! Requesting support!"

"Hold on! I'm coming...Ah! Bang! Sizzle, sizzle..."

"This... is simply a massacre! Captain, what should we do?!"

In the face of the extremely fast-hunting sharks, the already slow-moving barracudas were unable to withstand the explosions. Points of fire flickered in the void, and then quickly died out.

Even though the tactical drone bees under the wings automatically turned and aimed at the Thunder Eagle to shoot, the light ion firepower was like a tickle to the Thunder Eagle that was not afraid of even the collision with the boarding jump.

The automatic close-in firepower on the Vicious Claw has been fully activated and ready, and the laser cannon is aimed at the airspace filled with fierce fighting, spewing out red fury.

A small number of Manta attack ships swooped in from the other side, ready to drop bombs, and arrived at the attack route.

Just as they began to dive, four faster and more agile interceptors moved into the interception route from opposite positions.

"Skyhawk Squadron joins the battle!"

At the moment when Manta dived, Fasha bit his lower lip and maintained extremely high concentration to capture the enemy's dive maneuver.

Four Furies locked onto the Manta gunship attack ship and fired missiles.

Bang bang bang!
Three armor-piercing missiles pierced the void with their tails. Manta's intelligent defense system immediately retaliated, and the close-in ion cannon blew up two of them in mid-air, but the third missile that penetrated the smoke was guided by the laser beam of weapon operator Veronica and accurately drilled into the cooling fins of the gunboat.

In the smoke from the missile explosion, Fasha saw the red outline behind the smoke marked by Horatio's commanding hand. She aimed at the position behind the smoke and pressed the firing button of the laser cannon.

Bright and clear!
A rapid series of laser cannon short points.

boom!
Boom!
After several explosions, flying metal fragments splashed onto the hull of the warship around the cockpit, making a terrifying sound.

A burst of laser fire turned the damaged Manta gunship into a spinning top.

Fasha watched the burning ball of metal as it was thrown across the water, brushing past the observation window of the Skyhawk One and slamming heavily into the spine of the Vicious Claw. The flames that exploded turned her pupils golden red.

Flying metal fragments scraped against the spine armor plate of the Abomination-class battleship with a sharp scream. On a twisted wing wreckage, half of the charred body of a Tau pilot could be seen, his melted four-fingered palm still tightly grasping the joystick.

"We can't launch a new round of bombing! Retreat! Let the mothership send more air superiority aircraft! Victory and defeat are common in the military, and we will win back next time!" Seeing that the cover failed, the captain of the Barracuda attack team issued a retreat order, hoping for the next attack after regrouping.
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"Measure relative position."

"According to the latest detection results, the enemy aircraft carrier detachment's final course is 196, with a speed of 6 void knots, and is 2672 kilometers away from our ship's relative position."

Detection officer Harvey drew a fluorescent track on the holographic star map with his hand. "Our ship is heading towards the interception route of the last relative position. The speed is 8 void knots. The shadow field is activated normally."

In the holographic projection, the blue light spot representing the Epic was advancing along the planned route, and the air cloud fluctuations around the ship flickered like the light-emitting organs of deep-sea fish.

"Captain, the enemy aircraft carrier has hidden in the gas cloud. Should we launch a divination detector to find out the enemy's location?" suggested the first captain.

"No, Archie. We will know their position soon." Horatio narrowed his eyes, not missing a single move in the void, "Maintain the interception route and get as close to the opponent's last position as possible. In any case, we cannot actively expose ourselves."

after a while……

"The predicted distance is 780 kilometers! But we still haven't detected any enemy movement in the gas cloud!"

"Captain, what should we do? If we don't activate active detection, the enemy will probably detect us at this distance."

"Hold on, Archie. Wait a moment." Horatio frowned. As a captain, he certainly knew that this was the most dangerous moment.

The distance is less than 800 kilometers, and the Epic will not be able to escape as long as the opponent sends bombers to launch an air attack.

No matter what era, what submarines fear most is always the attack from carrier-based aircraft.

This is a far more terrifying opponent than frigates and destroyers.

No matter how many attack aircraft the nine Gatling-type close-in defense guns on one side of the Epic could sweep down, they would always have the opportunity to drop bombs on their own hull with their greater maneuverability - and the Epic did not have that much tolerance for bombs.

"What are we waiting for, Captain?" Archie was a little curious, because although Horatio's face became more and more serious, he was still not panicked.

"Soon, I guess," he said.

"Captain!" Louise's slightly hoarse voice sounded: "Enemy returning aircraft group spotted!"

On the holographic star map, seven faint red fluorescent lights were moving along spiral tracks towards the depths of the gas cloud, like wild bees returning to their nests.

"Louise! Track their course!" Horatio punched the armrest and smiled confidently, "They will show me the location of the enemy ships."

"So that's how it is. We can infer the location of the enemy's mothership through the returning carrier-based aircraft." Archie nodded in sudden enlightenment, "This way, we can find the target while avoiding exposing our position by turning on active detection, and then deliver a fatal blow!"

"That's right. I've asked Fasha to keep an eye on the enemy's Manta attack ship and intercept it. Once the bomber is destroyed, there's no need for the remaining escort fighters to stay there, so they will definitely return for supplies and prepare to escort the next round of larger-scale air strikes."

"Captain! Look there!" David Beatty's voice was even more excited. He pointed excitedly and nervously at the 345-degree direction in the distance and said, "The plane's fluorescence has disappeared! There seems to be the outline of a large battleship over there!"

It was no wonder that he was so excited. After all, this was the biggest prey that the Epic had ever single-handedly targeted: in the surging nebula, the outline of a certain giant was gradually becoming clearer along with the trajectory of the returning fleet, and the gravity engine of the aircraft carrier was stirring up turbulence in the gas cloud.

At this moment, the shadow field of the Epic began to fluctuate, like a predator that smelled blood and could no longer suppress its murderous intent.

As the torpedoes were loaded and preheated under orders, Horatio's pupils reflected the increasingly clear bow of the enemy aircraft carrier - there was a glorious emblem painted in unique Tau script: 'Fortune favors the brave.'

This is about to become their most ironic epitaph.

(End of this chapter)