Warhammer: Hail to the Void Lords!.

Chapter 599 06.0598: "The key is trust"

"Captain, we're almost there!" The communications officer's fingers slid quickly across the flickering holographic panel, his distorted reflection flickering on the screen filled with static interference.

After a long voyage and screening, those who obeyed the captain in the E-110 attack ship have tied their hair into the ancient Visa style of the Tau Empire.

They also bear many other traces of the imitation of the Tau Empire.

The faint sound of metal colliding could be heard from the bottom cabin. The officers and crew who refused to defect were chained to the condenser pipes, their nails scratching bloody marks on the leaking bulkheads. Only half a gel ration was thrown in from the airlock every day, and the grilles were covered with moldy food crumbs.

The reason why these people were spared was the intention of the commander of the Tau Empire, and it was also the consistent practice of the Tau Empire.

They were planning to use the prisoners as bargaining chips with the Imperial military commanders - in certain emergency situations, Imperial commanders who could not get reinforcements would negotiate with the Tau Empire to exchange prisoners.

As prisoners, the soldiers are usually determined and refuse to surrender to the Tau Empire. Unless the Military Supervisor wants to be shot down by everyone, they usually actively participate in such activities. Commissar Kane is one of the people recognized by the Tau Empire as trustworthy.

For pragmatic commanders, when their side suffers heavy losses, everything can be negotiated as long as the troops can be replenished.

Usually, one Tau soldier could be exchanged for 10 captured Imperial soldiers, while officers were at a different price, often low-level captains of the Tau Empire were exchanged at a ratio of 1:3 for the same level.

The Imperial Navy, which generally holds a liberal spirit, is even more active in exchanging prisoners of war and captured warships. For them, exchanging insignificant alien lives for the unfortunate captured God-Emperor warriors or even warships is a very cost-effective deal.

However, although all this is an open secret and has even been carried out in broad daylight, it is not appropriate to publicize it.

"Finally, we have finally reached the assembly point, our allies are almost here, and we are about to reach the end of this odyssey!" The traitor captain wiped his forehead with the back of his hand wrapped in a hemostatic bandage, and the scabbed wound was torn again during the action, and dark red blood dripped onto the skull relief of the tactical panel. The difficult situation made his emotions always unstable, and the physical violence against his wives, concubines, subordinates and equipment made the wounds on his hands never heal completely, and he also suffered some new wounds.

The corridors of the E-110 attack ship were filled with the pungent smell of synthetic alcohol, and the traitors hugged and cried, celebrating for having survived the hardships and dangers along the way.

But when they were crying with joy, they did not know that the hunter in the void, like a shark smelling blood in the deep sea, had quietly swam around them.

"Captain! The Sharks' Thunderhawk gunship detected a suspicious mark!"

"What's suspicious about that?"

"Their auspex found that there was a signal source moving at a speed of 8 void knots next to an asteroid belt, pushing the asteroid away, but the pilot of the Thunder Eagle failed to see any trace of warships."

Horatio frowned at the news.

"That's right. It's normal that they can't see it. 8 Void Knots is the maximum speed of the E-type attack ship in stealth mode. Transmit the coordinates over! Navigation Department, plan the interception route!" His iron finger knuckles tapped on the edge of the alloy-cast star map.

"As you command, Captain!"

After Horatio obtained the interception parameters, he marked the coordinated combat positions for the Nicol and the Vicious Claw on the coordinated combat void sand table. The engine nozzles of the three warships turned at the same time, and the void dust condensed into spider web-like light bands in the ion flow.

They maintained radio silence throughout the process and quietly approached the target.

It is said that before a shark attacks, the prey will always feel that the sea is particularly quiet at this time because other animals have fled. They will rush to the prey from the darkness without warning, and then open their bloody mouths to tear the prey into pieces.
-
after a while.

Zizi! Ji! Six Guardian-class cruisers and eight Envoy-class cruisers warped into the real universe from the torn open controllable Mandeville Point.

"Ha! It's our allies! They're here to pick us up!" Looking at the golden Titanium Empire warship that jumped out less than 1000 kilometers away, the Shoggoth clapped his hands excitedly, "Get ready to welcome our allies! Take out all the good stuff we have left! Oh, and of course, this~"

The scarred forefinger of the Shoggoth stroked the vellum scroll containing the intelligence, and in the dent of his fist there was still the broken powder of a certain wife's pearl earring.

Horatio's Combined Raid Squadron.

"The enemy target has been accurately identified! Confirmed! 6 Guardian-class cruisers, 8 Envoy-class cruisers! They just appeared from Mandeville Point and have not yet formed a formation, nor have they had time to release the destroyers on the gravity grappling hooks!" Louise reported the intelligence she observed through the telescope one by one.

"This is the battle plan!" Horatio stood in front of the spherical holographic battle sand table and looked at the fluorescent dots. He said, "Before the enemy can form a team, we will turn the Epic sideways."

"Come sideways?" David Betty was a little confused. "How can you fire torpedoes when you're turning sideways?"

"Idiot! You have to know that the torpedoes on our ship are not the kind that can only shoot in a straight line!" Harvey punched David Beatty on the head. "As long as the torpedo has a guidance head and the distance is right, the torpedo can turn and fly towards the target after being fired. We can have six torpedoes to fire at the same time!"

"Henry Harvey is right. If it is the previous Helios torpedo, we can only use the bow to fire four torpedoes at once. From previous combat experience, the probability of four torpedoes being intercepted is high unless we keep a very close distance to the enemy ship.

But the current situation is obviously not enough for us to get too close, so we naturally have long-range tactics for long-range attacks."

Horatio raised his finger and pulled out the data of the Lati modified Helios guided torpedo. "Any known torpedo has a rotation speed of 2.5 degrees per second. Therefore, in theory, we are about 700 kilometers away from the enemy fleet. We can launch all the torpedoes in the front and rear tubes horizontally. During the flight of the torpedoes, they can also turn on their own and eventually fly towards the target."

David Betty suddenly realized, "This is equivalent to firing six torpedoes in one round! It is equivalent to the number of torpedoes that a Moon-class cruiser can fire in one round!"

"Yes, 700 kilometers, the short-burn thrusters only give them 3 minutes to react.

In order to avoid such a large number of torpedoes that are crossing and converging from front to back and with different trajectories, the enemy will definitely be thrown into disarray and make emergency evasive maneuvers and disperse from the dense formation.

At this time, the Nicol and the Vicious Claw can rush to the enemy fleet from the designated positions marked for them on the void sand table and start killing them. "Horatio marked the tactical attack line.

"If such a large number of cruisers and light cruisers were to engage in a head-on battle, even if the two battleship-class ships were to win, they would suffer heavy losses. But if we take advantage of the ambush and rush into the enemy fleet, their heavy Seeker missiles would be unable to lock onto the Nicol and the Vicious Claw to avoid accidental damage."

Louise, the director of the Operations Department, pulled up the firepower parameters of the class of ships to which the Vicious Claw and Nicol belonged. In close combat, the terrifying caliber bombardment guns and the large number of 48 old-style giant cannons are much more powerful than the sporadic railguns on the Tau Empire warships. "Then the Tau cruisers and light cruisers will definitely not be able to compete with the ship-borne firepower alone."

"Creating chaos and close-range raids, combined with the Space Marines' boarding tactics, are our key. The successful implementation of this strategic plan depends on the trust and tacit understanding between our three warships, as well as the proficiency of all of us."

Horatio pointed out the most crucial point in this operation - trust.

If any unpleasant friction occurs between the Carcharodon and the Ember Claws during the operation, a super melee involving five armies (the Imperial Navy's 'Epic', the Carcharodon 'Nichol', the Ember Claws' 'Vicious Claw', the Tau Fleet, and the rebel ship 'Red October') is probably inevitable.

Not to mention whether the mission can be completed, it is probably a question whether the Epic can escape unscathed.

[I hope these two funny guys can distinguish the priorities at the critical moment.]
Horatio swallowed hard. Compared to the threat of the Tau warships, what he feared most now was that these two funny chapters would fight against each other in front of the great enemy.

(End of this chapter)