Warhammer: Hail to the Void Lords!.

Chapter 858, 08.857: "Level One Combat Readiness!"

"Battle alert! Battle alert! All personnel, enter Level 1 combat readiness! All personnel, enter Level 1 combat readiness!"

The piercing alarms blared on every ship in the fleet. From the magnificent officers' lounge on the flagship, which resembled a mobile cathedral, to the dirty, cramped corners of the lowest cargo hold, reeking of engine oil and sweat, the cold, electronic voice of the Level 1 combat readiness order echoed relentlessly in every compartment and every corridor.

The entire fleet, this steel behemoth that had been sleeping in the void, was now fully awakened.

Every corridor instantly became busy and orderly, with countless crew members scrambling up from their beds like a disturbed swarm of ants and nimbly jumping down from the hammocks hanging on the bulkheads.

As they ran through the narrow passages, they donned their uniforms and equipment with an almost instinctive, practiced skill, as they rushed toward their posts.

From the lowest-ranking crew members who could never leave their work area in their entire lives, to the gunners operating the macro guns in the gun turrets, and to the officers on the command deck overlooking countless streams of data, although the amount of information that people of different ranks could access was vastly different, everyone clearly knew that a battle for survival that would determine life or death had already begun.

"Close-in weapon system, fire!"

The broadside guns of the light cruiser HMS Swift Eagle responded immediately.

Starting with light cruisers, the Imperial Navy's warships strictly followed the design template of "standardized cruisers".

This classic approach laid the foundation for the design language of the Imperial Navy's warships, characterized by their plowshare-shaped bows, layered transverse gun emplacements, and Gothic cathedral-style bridges.

It also stipulates the ironclad rule that each macro gun group must have a close-in weapon turret on top, and that there must be at least two gun groups around the bridge that can form crossfire, with two more installed in the engine area.

Therefore, the Dreadnought-class light cruisers, with as many as ten light heavy guns on one side, became the warships with the strongest close-in defense firepower in the formation, highlighting the significance of ships of this class as the core of the fleet and killers of small ships as capital ships.

"Lock the target!"

"Free fire!"

Pfft! —

A barrage of fire, composed of countless tracer rounds and high-explosive warheads, lashed out like burning iron whips at the Raptor fighters that were frantically pursuing Skyhawk-1.

The other escort ships surrounding the "Swift Skyhawk" also opened fire alongside the flagship, weaving an insurmountable barrage of death in the void.

"It's friendly fire!" Veronica screamed in the cockpit.

Countless blinding laser beams swept across the glass canopy above their heads, while every now and then, ominous purple energy beams from the enemy would graz the fuselage of Skyhawk-1, each one creating a heart-pounding energy ripple.

All they could do was pray that the naval officers and soldiers would improve their accuracy through daily training, so that they could take down the enemy instead of taking themselves down with them.

Thump! More than ten beams of amethyst light shot from behind and grazed the wings.

Fasha caught a glimpse out of the corner of his eye that, after a violent tremor, the wing status indicator light had instantly changed from lemon yellow, representing minor damage, to orange, representing severe damage.

After another violent tremor, the orange hue turned into a precarious blood red.

"The wings are destroyed! Miss Inquisitor, please put on your Void Protection Suit immediately, we are preparing to abandon the aircraft!" Fasha shouted to the Inquisitor in the back seat as she struggled to control the increasingly uncontrollable fighter jet, which was like a runaway horse.

At this moment, They was completely focused on maneuvering the remote-controlled turret below the nose of her aircraft, unleashing a barrage of vengeful fire upon the pursuing enemy planes. "Die, Ducari scum! I'll rip your tendons out one by one and make them into my hair ties!"

In the frenzy of battle fueled by a surge of adrenaline, They paid no heed to Farshall's advice, simply pressing the fire button firmly on her hand.

"Madam Judge!"

“I can hear you, Captain Fasha! I believe in your flying skills!” Tey’s voice carried a hint of maniacal laughter.

At Fasha's signal, Veronica immediately took the orange emergency kit containing the emergency protective suit from the emergency mounting point and handed it down forcefully.

boom!
A raptor that had been biting the tail too aggressively was accurately hit by the turret controlled by They. It flew out of control, leaving a trail of purplish-red flames as it flew further and further away from below Skyhawk-1.

The Ducari pilot ejected from the cockpit at the last moment, but was immediately blasted into a rapidly frozen, twisted mass of flesh by Thei's relentless laser cannon.

"Enemy planes at five o'clock!" Tei warned Captain Fasha, while quickly turning the turret and firing at the enemy planes flanking from the side.

Fasha immediately performed a perfect barrel roll and turned slightly.

However, the fuel supply lines for the vectoring rudder boosters on the damaged wing began to experience intermittent power supply problems, resulting in a fatal sluggishness in the aircraft's maneuverability.

At this critical moment, three small dots, shining with hope, shot out like lightning from the aircraft deck beneath the Swifthawk.

"Friendly missiles!" Veronica shouted excitedly as she watched the three green dots approaching at an alarming speed on the radar dot matrix.

Skyhawk-1 immediately launched a large number of infrared decoy flares, while simultaneously making a sharp turn towards the nine o'clock position to clear the attack trajectory for friendly missiles.

More than a dozen "Hunter" type tracking missiles roared in, like bloodthirsty hounds that had been released, accurately hitting the enemy aircraft that were still relentlessly pursuing them, or exploding in mid-air next to them, tearing them apart with countless high-speed fragments.

Those who managed to escape were lashed by the dense barrage of fire from the close-in weapon system in the blink of an eye, turning into brilliant but fleeting bursts of fireworks in the void, briefly illuminating this cold darkness.

Seeing that the situation was not good, the remaining enemy aircraft abandoned the pursuit and withdrew from the air defense range of the "Swift Skyhawk".

"Sorry to keep you waiting, Commander," the pilot of Skyhawk III communicated via encrypted channel. "Should we use a tractor beam to tow you back?"

“No, this ship is still navigable.” Fasha’s voice remained calm. “I must return to the ship immediately and safely escort the Inquisitor back. The enemy’s main fleet is approaching at high speed. The Inquisitor must return to the bridge and discuss countermeasures with the captain.”

"I'm afraid... it's too late."

Seated in the turret, Tei, who had been staring at the void behind the fighter jet, spoke in a terrifyingly calm tone.

Faxia had a bad feeling.

She immediately pulled up the rearview camera footage, and on the screen, which was covered in static, a strange, rapidly expanding purple light was clearly reflected...

(End of this chapter)