Warhammer: Hail to the Void Lords!.

Chapter 854, 08.853: 'SOS Signal'

“By the Divine Emperor… these are…” Fasha’s voice carried a hint of barely suppressed horror in the communication channel.

Her gaze pierced through the reinforced glass canopy of Skyhawk-1, gazing at the tranquil yet magnificent void around her.

Countless enormous, amethyst-like objects floated silently, their sharply defined surfaces refracting the light of distant stars, radiating a mesmerizing, dazzling yet ominous glow.

However, as the fighter jets slowly approached, the false beauty began to peel away, revealing the chilling truth hidden beneath—it was not a naturally formed crystal at all, but a series of ferocious warships belonging to the Dark Eldar, almost merging with the void under the distortion and concealment of the shadow force field!

"Captain Anya Fasha, immediately plan an escape route." Thee's voice rang out quietly in Fasha's ear like a ghost.

She had somehow moved her face close to Fasha's profile, her bright eyes calmly observing the perilous airspace outside the fighter jet.

"We will release a full-band reconnaissance pulse at the center of the enemy fleet, and then immediately retreat."

“Miss Inquisitor, if we conduct active radar detection within the enemy fleet, we will be immediately exposed!” Veronica’s voice rose with tension. “While we’re still drifting here like an insignificant void meteorite, perhaps we should…”

“Captain Veronica, we must return to the warship safely before the formal engagement,” They interrupted her, his tone calm but unquestionable.

"Huh? Why?" Veronica's big eyes, which always sparkled with a sly light, were now filled with pure confusion.

"Because if we send any form of communication to the flagship now, the aliens can immediately pinpoint our exact location through the signal source."

They already know that a reconnaissance unit has infiltrated their area, so if we want to bring this crucial intelligence back, we must return to the warship ourselves.

"Okay, okay, I know..." Veronica took a deep breath, forcing herself to calm down. "So... what exactly do we do?"

Thee's gaze swept over the "purple crystals" lurking in the shadows—those twisted, corrupt-looking dark Eldar warships. She calmly said, "We'll find a way to get into the very center of their formation and then activate the scan."

This allows us to gather as much information as possible about the surrounding enemy positions and also use their densely packed hulls as cover to disrupt the enemy's ability to lock onto us.

Because we were blending into the center of the fleet, even if we released a reconnaissance pulse, the aliens wouldn't be able to pinpoint our small interceptor from the countless energy echoes in an instant.

“It seems you have a good understanding of Captain Cochran’s ‘wolfpack’ tactics, Miss They.” Anya Farshade’s lips curled into an approving smile.

This tactic was Horatio and his Epic's favorite and most frequently used tactic during the Second Damocles Bay Expedition—to gather as much intelligence as possible by boldly infiltrating the center of the enemy convoy, while simultaneously interfering with the enemy escort ships' identification and detection.

By the time the enemy finally pinpointed his location, Horatio and his "Epic" had already fled and were directing the attack ships lurking nearby to launch a deadly attack.

"But...we don't know if the enemy has carrier-based aircraft."

"What if they send fighter jets to intercept us..." Veronica nervously slurped up another mouthful of juice from her water bag, trying to suppress her fear with the sweetness.

“There aren’t that many ‘what ifs,’ Veronica,” Fasha’s voice was firm. “If the enemy sends out fighter jets, we have to run faster.”

I believe that the engine of the 'Skyhawk One' is superior to any other vehicle of its class.

After all, it's the 'Fury' interceptor; there aren't many opponents in the entire universe that can outrun it.

“Yes, you’re right, little Fasha.” Veronica took a deep breath, gripped the armrests tightly, and her eyes hardened.

"Skyhawk One" began to accelerate slowly, like a withered leaf blown by the wind, silently heading towards the center of the "purple crystal" cluster.

Its speed was perfectly controlled by Fasha, enough to keep up with the Dark Eldar warships that were stealthily moving at about eight knots to maintain their shadow field, without leaving a long and clear engine exhaust trail that would reveal its position.

The 40-meter-long Fury looked larger than a Poisonblade tank when parked on the planet's surface, but compared to the Voidships that were several kilometers long, it was just a tiny, insignificant speck of dust, yet it had all the necessary internal organs.

"We have reached our designated position and are maintaining relative stillness with the enemy ships." Fasha's voice was extremely low, as if afraid of disturbing the behemoths.

"Captain Veronica, activate the avian detector." "Yes, ma'am!"

Once Veronica enters combat mode, she seems to instantly transform into a different person.

The girl who had just been driven by survival instincts and seemed somewhat timid had disappeared, replaced by a capable and decisive Imperial Naval Air Pilot.

Beep beep!

With a crisp electronic sound, an invisible detection wave, centered on Tianying-1, spread out instantly like an invisible ripple.

All targets within a 500-kilometer radius were clearly detected, marked, and analyzed by this pulse. Thee's hands moved like a blur on the data panel, rapidly recording the dense red dots that burst onto the spherical oracle screen and the constantly updating list of analysis data next to them.

At that very moment, Horatio suddenly opened his eyes on the command throne of the flagship "Swift Eagle".

In his virtual sandbox command perspective, countless ferocious enemy ship outlines suddenly appeared in the previously empty void that had been scanned by the bird divination instrument.

Although they still maintained the camouflage of the shadow force field, the Bird Radar, by capturing the echoes of psionic energy, had reconstructed their complete hull outlines and projected 3D images of these stealthy targets directly onto the sand table in front of Horatio in a form that transcended conventional technology.

The enemy fleet was completely exposed before him, while the enemy remained unaware of this.

"Operations Department, record this." With his eyes closed, as if reciting a document he knew by heart, he gave the order in a cold and clear voice: "One battleship-class Black Ark, three light cruiser-class slave ships, and... well, twelve destroyer-sized raiding ships."

"Captain, are you sure?" asked the newly appointed Chief of Operations, Henry Harvey, while rapidly recording enemy information on the data panel, sounding puzzled.

Their tactical screens remained completely silent, with no enemy activity displayed.

He had no idea where the captain had obtained this terrifyingly precise data.

"Confirmed. Bearing 384.637. Proceed with combat deployment immediately." Horatio's voice left no room for argument. "Navigator, report our distance to the next Mandeville point."

"30,000 kilometers, Your Excellency! Just a little longer and we'll be there! We can begin our subspace jump soon!"

"What's the fastest it can take?"

"At the fleet's current escort speed, it will take approximately two standard Terra hours," the navigation department in charge of physical space travel reported.

"It's too late." Horatio quickly rejected the plan. "The enemy only needs half an hour to catch up with and completely destroy us! Communications Department, immediately connect to the Star Tower and establish closed-circuit communication!"

"Closed-circuit communication is established and is being transferred!" The communications officer replied quickly, his fingers flying across the display console.

A moment later, a clear and ethereal girl's voice rang out from the bridge: "Captain, this is Melon. How can I help you?"

In the holographic image, Chief Star Speaker Melon still leans on her disproportionately long star-speaking staff, wearing a flawless white gauze dress, quietly watching the man on the throne who decides the fate of millions.

"Transmitting wide-area interstellar communication".

"What is the content?"

Horatio took a deep breath and, with an incredibly solemn and resolute tone, recited the command that might plunge them into the abyss, or it might be their only salvation:
"We are Task Force RX-0371, escorting vital military supplies to the Calysis Sector's Revolving Line."

We have been ambushed by the main fleet of the Dark Eldar aliens. Our strength is far inferior to theirs, and we are outnumbered.

I, Horatio Cochran, heir of Admiral Spyr, Supreme Commander of the Gothic Fleet, by the divine authority bestowed upon me in the name of the Emperor, representing the Imperial Navy with full authority, call upon all Imperial warships still navigating in this airspace. Our position is 396.643. Requesting immediate support!

(End of this chapter)