Warhammer: Hail to the Void Lords!.

Chapter 848, 08.847: 『Three Directions**

As the "Skyhawk One" was ready for catapult launch on the flight deck, Horatio's fingers tapped unconsciously and irregularly on the cold armrest of the command throne.

Every slight touch seemed to be the rhythm of his inner anxiety.

His thoughts unfolded like a star map as he reviewed the encrypted information and voyage intelligence about the entire fleet that he had received from his uncle, Admiral Samuel Hood, before his departure.

Task Force RX-0375 departed from the same star system a week later than Task Force RX-0371, which he commanded. Its main mission was to transport goods from a certain merchant dynasty, bringing food and agricultural products to the ten massive hive worlds on the distant planet Calissis.

Judging from the timeline, it is indeed possible that it was them.

After all, in the unpredictable subspace, it is not impossible for the travel time to be brought forward or delayed by a week.

But what is the real situation?

Is it really a friendly escort fleet that arrived near us at such a coincidental time?
If not... then what else could this enormous creature that suddenly appeared in the void be?
Horatio couldn't help but think of a terrible, almost unthinkable conjecture.

The thought was like a cold electric current, instantly coursing through his entire body, making the hairs on the back of his head stand on end.

On the brightly lit flight deck below, air traffic controllers waved their batons, which emitted a striking green light, tracing precise arcs.

The catapult runway has been cleared, and the streamlined fuselage of the Skyhawk-1 has steadily mounted the electromagnetic rail, ready for launch.

“Little Fasha, seriously, if that thing really is an enemy warship, what should we do?” Veronica asked Anya Fasha beside her, her words muffled as she chewed on a hard, dry pilot nutrition bar.

“Run.” Fasha’s answer was crisp and decisive, without the slightest hesitation. “Generally speaking, a ‘Fury’ interceptor is much easier to outrun than a destroyer.”

Her slender fingers, clad in black leather gloves, flicked a series of switches on the control panel, their high-gothic runes flashing. The fighter jet's engine emitted a low hum deep within the fuselage, beginning to warm up.

"Thank you both for your hard work." Tey stood smiling between the two pilots in the cockpit, her voice as melodious as a silver bell, "You've come with me to take this enormous risk."

“It is our honor to serve the court, Miss Judge.”

Fasha's red lips curved into a confident smile, as if she were about to face not a void filled with unknown dangers, but a thrilling hunt.

"Please return to your seats and settle in. We're about to take off. My flying style is... rather aggressive, so please excuse me."

“I’m really looking forward to it.” Tey’s eyes sparkled with excitement. “Mr. Horatio praised your boldness and enthusiasm to me, and I can’t wait to see it for myself.”

“You will, Miss Judge.”

"Skyhawk One, ready for takeoff."

The engine roared suddenly higher, and the exhaust flame changed from a deep blue to a dazzling gold.

call out! ——

Like an arrow released from a bow, Skyhawk 1 shot out swiftly from the flight deck beneath the light cruiser HMS Swift Skyhawk and instantly disappeared into the endless darkness.

The terrifying acceleration during takeoff almost pinned the three people firmly to their semi-enclosed seats, making it difficult to even breathe.

"Wow~" Tei let out a coquettish cry that was a mixture of excitement and a hint of deliberate performance.

"Hold on tight, Miss Judge, we're about to make a sharp turn."

As soon as Fasha finished speaking, he abruptly twisted the control stick. The fighter jet's vectoring nozzles and rudders deflected simultaneously, and Skyhawk-1 streaked across the side of the Swift Skyhawk like a burning meteor, drawing a graceful arc.

Horatio sat on his command throne, watching silently through the huge glass porthole as the small shooting star streaked across his face and then vanished completely into the deep, boundless void.

"I will pray for the Lady Inquisitor and the brave pilots," Sister Arabella, who was in charge of preaching on the side of the bridge, said softly, carrying a shrine of holy relics on her back.

Her gentle and warm voice brought a touch of sacred comfort to the cold bridge.

"May the God-King bless us all."

Horatio offered a brief and devout prayer. Then he turned to the communications officer and gave his orders.

A shortwave communication, encrypted by a new type of cipher machine and personally encrypted by a psionicist, pierced the fleet's long silence and shot towards the teetering "Akali Sword" scimitar-class escort ship: "This is the fleet flagship. 'Akali Sword,' you are about to leave the fire protection radius of the capital ships. Please return to port immediately."

At the top of the Star Language Tower, the eyes of Chief Star Language Speaker Melon radiated a golden light that mortals could not look directly at.

The immense psionic energy, flowing through the nerve plug implanted in the back of her head, was continuously injected into the thick cables connecting the command bridge, transforming into the unique and unbreakable energy source of that new type of encrypted communication machine.

Horatio chose to break the communication silence at this time because the Sword of Akali's current trajectory on the tactical star map appeared shaky, like a drunken man slowly drifting away from the convoy's protection.

The Dark Eldar have a deep-seated fear of Slaanesh, and they are constantly on the verge of having their souls devoured by that Pleasure Lord. Therefore, the Dukkari, unlike their cousins ​​on the Ark, have forbidden all psionic technology.

Although these cunning pirates could still intercept and crack regular interstellar communications through certain technical means, at this moment, the new cipher machine, operated by experienced intelligence officers of the Gothic Fleet and encrypted by psionicists themselves, finally demonstrated its power.

This kind of astronomical encryption, which is highly related to the subspace, would require Dukari, with his extremely advanced technology, to risk being directly targeted by Slaanesh and to expend tremendous effort to decipher.

This was Horatio's most crucial trump card, left behind by his long-term order to maintain communication silence.

Buzz—Buzz—Beep—

After a burst of noisy electrical noise was filtered out by the communications department, a vague but familiar voice finally came through the loudspeaker.

“This is the ‘Sword of Akali’… I am the acting captain, Archie Cuthbert Collingwood. I… have just successfully taken command of the warship.”

"Acting Captain Collingwood," Horatio asked calmly, "what's the situation on your ship?"

"The firefight is still ongoing. The Ministry of Justice and our armed forces are conducting a final assault on the alien's boarding pod."

"Why not just blow it up?"

Horatio watched the intermittent closed-circuit television feed transmitted from the Sword of Akali to the flagship.

The weapon that pierced the hull of the "Sword of Akali" was a boarding capsule that resembled a giant cockroach egg case and emitted an ominous blackish-purple light.

The Imperial Navy's boarding squads and the Ministry of Justice's assault teams formed a formidable assault formation in the corridor.

At the forefront were shield guards wielding huge boarding shields, followed by assault troops and support personnel providing fire cover.

They had just blasted open a corner of the egg case and were trying to advance inward, but were immediately met with fierce and overwhelming firepower from within.

The crimson laser beams, the torrential rain of shotgun shells, and the poison crystal bullets that shimmered with an eerie green light intertwined to form a deadly fire net, making this battle, a fight to the death, exceptionally bloody.

The bodies of both sides that had fallen had filled the entrance that had been blown open.

The subsequent assault troops could only step over the warm corpses of their predecessors, and after throwing a few flashbangs, they resolutely launched another organized, reckless attack.

“We…we’ve destroyed the power system of the boarding pod.” Archie’s voice was tinged with weariness and helplessness. “But…the aliens have kidnapped our crew members as hostages.”

Some of them are senior crew members in important departments such as the engine room and weapons control department.

If they are lost, the 'Sword of Akali' will be significantly less efficient in both navigation and combat.

"You are the acting captain, so this is your discretion."

However, we don't have much time left for you. We received a distress signal from Task Force RX-0375, but we are currently unable to verify their identity.

"Understood. We will try to rejoin the formation as soon as possible. However—+communication jamming+—the helmsman and his apprentices have all been killed in action, and most of the officers on the bridge have also perished. Our command system... is almost paralyzed. I am selecting suitable men from the clan crew on board to fill the vacant positions.—+weak communication signal+—Please give us another twenty minutes."

[Twenty minutes...]
"I will send other warships to tow your ship. May the Emperor bless you, Acting Captain Collingwood."

(End of this chapter)