Warhammer: Hail to the Void Lords!.

Chapter 640 06.639: "The End of 'Happy Times'"

In the dim command room filled with cold metallic light, indicator lights of various instruments kept flashing, filling the air with tension and oppression.

"Captain, this is the image we captured."

Fasha, wearing a flight jacket, walked through the bridge door, the hard soles of her flight boots tapping the deck quickly. She walked quickly, her hair fluttering slightly with her movements. With a hint of urgency on her face, she handed the photo in her hand to Horatio and said, "Although it is obscured by the shield barrier, from the outline, this seems to be the Guardian-class aerospace carrier that escaped from us in the last naval battle."

Horatio's face became solemn and his eyes focused when he heard this, and he took the photo from her.

He lowered his head slightly, and the monitor on his right hand side began to play relevant video slices of the previous battle, allowing him to conduct comparative analysis.

The golden glass lamp above his head shone brightly, illuminating his furrowed brows and focused expression.

"The shape and size of the ship match, and the inscriptions in the alien language match." He looked back and forth between the photo and the slice, and said, "So it hid here, in this safe haven southwest of the display for repairs."

"It's really a narrow road for enemies to meet. They definitely didn't expect us to dare to chase here." Louise folded her hands in front of her chest, with a slight smile on her face. "We can wait here until it sets sail, and then lead the entire First Attack Squadron to ambush it."

Just as Louise was speaking, Farida also walked over quickly with a piece of information in her hand.

She walked hurriedly, with beads of sweat on her forehead. "Captain, Lina received an urgent message from E-125 and other attack ships."

On the ciphertext slip passed over was a message printed with dried golden ink.

"This is the E-125 attack ship. While ambushing the passenger ship, our ship was attacked by the enemy's escort aircraft carrier. The ship was hit by three bullets and the structure was moderately damaged. Please evacuate immediately."

"This is the E-136 attack ship. We have discovered that the enemy has recently begun to use escort carriers on a large scale, using fleets to cover a larger patrol area. Our ship has been blocked several times when trying to conduct surprise attacks."

"'Top secret information' - our spies in the Tau said that a high-level Ether had called an elemental meeting of the four major clans regarding this crisis. When the Ether arrived and presided over the meeting, the representatives of the four major clans, who had been arguing in front of the building, came out and said that they had reached an unconditional reconciliation, and the previous conflicts were instantly shelved.

The originally boiling public opinion also calmed down with the broadcast of the speech after the meeting. No one knew what happened. Everything was as if the crisis had never happened, and the alien society was back on track again.'

Seeing this news, Horatio was silent.

He stood there quietly, his brows furrowed, his eyes revealing thought and worry.

He had read some information about the five major clans of the Titanium before traveling through time, and knew their origins and division of labor.

The Tau society is ruled by the Ether. This clan, which has the same name as "Light", seems to have a magical property - as long as they are present, all conflicts and disputes of other clans will be washed away by the opinions they express.

It was in this way that the four clans of Fire, Water, Earth and Air of the Tau ended their disputes and united, working together to support the rise of the Tau Empire.

The principle of this phenomenon is unknown but there are many different opinions. Even some Ethers sometimes wonder about the obedience of other clans to themselves.

[I didn't expect that this feature would come in handy at this time.]
Horatio suspected that this might be some invisible mind control ability, he had heard rumors that Aether was some kind of Randan survivor.

But these hypotheses are not important now, an urgent question is put before him.

The chaos caused by the attack ship killing in the core area of ​​the enemy's home world was strangely and efficiently quelled, which was not good news for the Imperial Navy.

Moreover, the Tau seemed to have found a way to deal with the ambush of the attack ships. For the attack ships, the inability to launch an attack was also a strategic failure.

Horatio exhaled dully, he slowly raised his head, with a hint of helplessness in his eyes.

Now he understood why the 13th Primarch, Robert Guilliman, said "Titanium is a problem" after he got up.

Their progress was faster than any other race in the galaxy. Even he had to admit that these young and fledgling blue-blooded aliens were indeed very efficient and resourceful, otherwise they would not have developed to such an extent in just a few hundred years.

I heard that the Tau Empire often formulates a large number of contingency plans to deal with various situations, and the previous actions were very effective. That's because the Bayonet-class attack ship, which can jump through subspace and be invisible, is a brand-new model.

No one could plan for the completely unknown, not even the ether, so they certainly had no plans for an unknown enemy.

When things get out of control, they will be relatively vulnerable. But now they have reacted and even formulated a new plan, and started to use the strategy of escorting aircraft carriers to get things back on track. The First Special Operations Group will no longer be a surprise force.

[The enemy has already inflicted some damage on our side. If they continue like this, it is only a matter of time before we are destroyed or even captured.

In order to ensure the advantages and results that have been achieved, this operation will probably soon come to a victorious end, and may subsequently enter normal combat mode.

We no longer have time to gather all the members of the First Attack Squadron. We must destroy the enemy ships before they are called back. We must not return empty-handed.]
"Louise, I'm afraid we can't wait patiently for the enemy to sail out on their own."

As Horatio spoke, he folded the paper and handed it back to Farida, saying seriously, "The enemy's effective countermeasures came faster than we thought. Every minute we lie dormant is consuming our advantage."

"Captain, how can we strike the enemy flagship anchored in the middle of the starport?"

Louise frowned, pinching her chin with her right hand unconsciously, looking puzzled. "According to reconnaissance, it is heavily defended. The starport itself is an immovable super fortress. Its firepower and damage-bearing capacity far exceed any enemy warship. If we get close to it, we will be torn to pieces."

Horatio took a piece of intelligence packed in a brown paper bag from the table, which contained photos of the star port taken in the past few days.

He gently opened the paper bag, his movements calm and confident.

"This starport has three entrances and exits: northwest, south, and east." Horatio took out a photo of the northwest entrance and pointed at it, saying, "This is the largest entrance to the port. It is heavily defended. There are more than a dozen rail gun turrets in plain sight alone."

In the photos, the artillery batteries looked particularly grim in the dim photos, ready to spew out deadly firepower at any time.

Louise nodded slightly, her expression serious, "So we won't go in from here."

"Yes."

Horatio nodded slightly and pulled out the second set of photos from the photo album. "This is the south entrance, which is the civilian ship channel. It is the second largest entrance and exit after the northwest entrance in terms of throughput. There are patrol ships and search fleets here to check civilian ships entering and leaving, and to inspect epidemic prevention and cargo. There are also many artillery positions. Look at these twin-mounted super-heavy railguns."

He traced his finger over the railgun in the photo. "I'm not planning on going in here either."

Horatio said, shaking his head actively.

Then he pulled out the third set of photos.

"This is the eastern entrance. As you can see, it is very narrow, not even wide enough for an Imperial Navy cruiser to pass through. However, the opening is very deep, allowing for a large number of small ships to enter and exit."

Horatio said, gesturing with his hands to show the shape and size of the entrance.

"After a few days of observation, I guess this is their 'employee passage', and frigates and destroyers are entering and leaving it.

I guess it's like a secret door in a castle. When the starport is under siege, the enemy will send small warships carrying torpedoes from here to cause surprise attacks and damage to the siege fleet, or to escape with important people."

He slowly looked into the eyes of the ministers around him, and with a solemn expression, he said earnestly: "I have a bold and adventurous plan."

"You're going in from here?"

Fideo's eyes suddenly lit up, and the face of this young man, the shortest among all the officers, was full of excitement and excitement. He liked such exciting adventures, and Horatio, the commander who was rough but meticulous, could always satisfy his hobby and get away with it safely.

"Yes, we drive in from here," Horatio said firmly.

"But Captain, I have a question."

Henry Harvey raised his hand and said seriously, "Then how can we get in under the noses of so many frigates and destroyers?"

He pointed at the photo and said, "This is a dedicated passage for small warships. Although there is no special patrol team, this is the patrol entrance and exit of the entire star port. The reason why they don't set up additional defenses here is because there is no need.

Are we really going to go in right under the nose of the 'Shipbuster Buster'?"

(End of this chapter)