Warhammer: Hail to the Void Lords!.

Chapter 832 (08.831): 'The Hunter's Game'

The light cruiser HMS Swift Eagle drew an elegant arc in the dark void.

She possessed a speed comparable to that of escort ships and destroyers, and immediately rushed to the rear of the convoy to provide assistance after the alien fell into the trap.

At this moment, the torpedoes fired by the Ducalli raiding ship were also approaching the cargo ship.

The ships in the fleet did their best to maneuver evasively in the limited space, dodging the incoming leech torpedoes.

These void captains are mostly veterans who have spent half their lives serving the human empire and the God-Emperor on the Golden Throne on the Charter routes.

Even if the crew didn't understand the situation, they knew very well that with the hull of their own civilian ship, once hit by the alien torpedo, there would be no room for error in the rest of the voyage.

Once hit by a leech torpedo, although the ship will not suffer immediate fatal damage, the seemingly harmless torpedo will reduce the ship's speed, and what awaits the entire crew will be a fate worse than death—hunting and enslavement.

Therefore, the captains of each ship must do everything in their power to deal with the vicious threat of the Dark Eldar, a challenge unlike any other attack.

Conspicuous, slender, high-energy laser beams swept densely from the close-in weapon systems. The interlacing lights illuminated the black void, and one after another, crimson distress flares shot out from the stern of the cargo ships, slowly rising into the air, illuminating the entire convoy with their ghastly red glow.

boom!boom!
Even though the Charter fleet's crews fought valiantly to strafe and intercept incoming torpedoes, the cargo ships' fire control systems, weaponry, and personnel quality ultimately couldn't match the newer and more well-trained warships. In the close-range attack, several cargo ships were hit.

In addition to the leech torpedoes that significantly reduced the ship's speed, the incoming attack also included the menacing Sickle missiles. They failed to hit the stealthy, retreating Bayonet-class long-range attack ships, and the guidance system ultimately targeted the cargo ship's vulnerable hull and engines.

Flames exploded at the ship's side, easily tearing apart the thin, brittle hull. Some unfortunate crew members were sucked out of the hole, struggling and screaming silently in the cold, dark void before slowly dying.

"Captain, the USS Depuno, USS Anderson, USS Sparrow, and USS Stephen have been attacked by the enemy! Their engines are completely damaged and disabled."

The four ships that were attacked and disabled were carrying civilian economic crops such as water, supplies, and manufactured goods.

They load raw materials mined and excavated from remote frontiers at the port of arrival, send them to industrialized planets, and then return to the port of arrival and other places fully loaded with sought-after industrial goods.

However, in the Imperial Navy's transport principles, the sacrifice of mere goods was the most acceptable, so these ships were often placed at the very end of merchant convoys. They carried few crew members, making evacuation easier if attacked and ultimately crippled.

If we're talking about losses, then the biggest loss would probably be the pockets of the traveling merchants.

Each merchant ship's cargo was roughly equivalent to a loss of one value point—this was the unit of measurement used by wandering merchants when tallying exceptionally large assets.

"..." Horatio remained silent, his gaze icy as he stared at the targets within the encirclement. After several seconds of silence, he issued the order: "Command Center, issue the abandon ship order to the disabled ships. Instruct the chief engineer to activate the ships' self-destruct program upon final abandonment. Regardless of their value to them, we will not leave anything for the aliens."

"Yes, sir. 'Depuno,' 'Anderson,' 'Sparrow,' and 'Stephen,' note: the fleet commander has ordered abandon ship. Evacuate personnel to surrounding vessels immediately. Note: the reactor overload self-destruct sequence must be activated during the final evacuation. Repeat..."

Horatio frowned. Before setting sail, the Admiralty had expected to successfully escort 22 of the 50 ships, fully loaded with military supplies and reinforcements, to the Xuanwei Line.

Now, we have lost 4 ships, but we still have 24 ships to spare.

However, the journey was not even halfway complete. Everything was just beginning.

"We have reached the first firing range! The stern gun crew has locked onto the enemy ship!"

"Portal gun emplacements have locked onto the enemy ship!" "Starboard gun emplacements have locked onto the enemy ship!"

A green light appeared in front of the artillery officer, indicating that all artillery groups were ready.

"All guns! Fire at will!" Horatio took a deep breath, the veins on his forehead bulging with anger accumulated over the days of harassment. His shout of "Fire!" was particularly exhilarating and powerful.

"Hongpao team, fire from front to rear!"

Inside the cannon barrel, a projectile with a diameter of 38 meters lay still until the acceleration coil hummed.

Boom!

The two large cannons on both sides fired sequentially from front to rear at different targets, unleashing an astonishing rate of fire thanks to excellent human-machine coordination. The shells shattered the strange, black stone-like hull, and the terrifying blades extending from the ship's exterior lost their former power.

"Don't stop! Smash it!"

boom!
Another volley of shells struck the three attacking ships, causing their trajectories to sway and their hulls to crumble. The shadows of two of the ships were destroyed, revealing their true forms at close range—their hulls resembled long hairpins, with three distinctly shaped scimitars arranged in a triangular pattern on three sides of their exterior.

Horatio wasn't sure if these blades were actually intended for ramming enemies, but at least visually, they certainly served as a terrifying deterrent. But for the Eldar and their fallen cousins, actually ramming their fragile ships would only hasten their demise.

[Just tear them to pieces...]
The debris floated at the stern of the fleet, scattering into a cloud of dust.

"Several hundred more vile and filthy aliens have died."

"I hope they're completely dead this time and get the hell away from our fleet. I haven't slept for three days because of these bastards."

"Captain, we have compiled a list of the destroyed enemy ships. Here is the detailed combat list. Please take a look." Captain Archie, the lord, walked towards the command throne with a data panel in hand.

Horatio took the preliminary battle report from him. It was certain that at least six raiding ships had been wiped out in this operation, and many more had been damaged and fled.

The void returned to calm, and everything was moving in a positive direction.

Suddenly, Horatio felt a chill run down his spine. An ominous premonition washed over him, as if he were prey being watched.

"Hehe." A strange smile echoed in an unknown corner of the dark void.

"A large number of torpedoes and missiles have been detected heading towards our ship!!! Vampire! Vampire!" Suddenly, a loud shout came from the CIC combat platform, breaking the slightly relaxed combat atmosphere caused by the fruitful results.

"Captain! High energy, turn left!" Horatio stared at the direction of the torpedo launch behind him, where it was like a dark cloud, with no trace of the enemy.

But he was certain that both sides had set a trap for each other in this battle.

A trap where hunters outmaneuver each other and exchange identities.

(End of this chapter)