Warhammer: Hail to the Void Lords!.

Chapter 913 (08.912): 'The Valkyrie's Ride'

On the command bridge of the Swift Eagle, Horatio quietly watched the war-torn planet projected on the tactical screen.

The planet's surface is almost entirely covered by cold steel, with countless man-made metal structures supporting mountains of cargo to prevent their immense weight from crushing the continental plates and causing them to fall apart.

He gathered the officers who remained on the bridge to make final arrangements for orbital support.

The first batch of Hell Soldier reconnaissance teams has quietly descended to the ground.

Each team consists of two to three people who do not participate in any combat other than self-defense, in order to minimize the risk of exposure.

Using gravity parachutes, they silently descended to the designated high ground and deployed portable ground-based bird-detecting radar, providing valuable battlefield vision and intelligence support for the main force that followed.

"Signal transmission is normal, and ground situation is being transmitted," the armed forces department reported.

"According to real-time intelligence transmitted back by the Hell Vanguard advance reconnaissance team, this warehouse world stores a large amount of strategic materials for the Ministry of Military Affairs."

This means we cannot use indiscriminate, carpet-bombing orbital bombardment; otherwise, the detonated ammunition depots and nuclear weapons would send all our soldiers and Astronauts to their deaths.

Horatio supported the holographic sand table, the cables on his adamantite prosthetic arm connected to the cold, metallic machine.

With the enhancement of the 'War Sandbox', all the officers present seemed to be able to see the lifelike battlefield scenes through the eyes of the Hell Scout Reconnaissance Detachment.

This is of unparalleled help to naval commanders hundreds of kilometers away in orbit.

“Without a doubt, Commander, our primary support will come from Imperial Naval Air Force aircraft,” Colonel Sterling said.

“Sir, I believe that orbital precision strikes can also be implemented, provided there is a precision target transmission link sent by Hellfire Troopers,” a lieutenant from the operations department suggested. “Precision strikes can be divided into live-fire kinetic energy strikes and orbital light lance strikes. The power of the light lance is adjustable, and it is generally more effective. But live-fire strikes are undoubtedly more devastating to the killing of a group of personnel.”

"The engineering and weaponry departments might try extracting the high-explosive core from the double-charge warhead and replacing it with nerve gas, or... promethium incendiary agent." Ledos said coldly, supporting himself with his metal prosthetic arm and watching the brutal battle on the ground where the Imperial army was being overwhelmed.

Horatio nodded and gestured to the clerk beside him to present a five-meter-long parchment scroll.

Then, the clerk's wax-coated prosthetic arm precisely scooped a spoonful of thick, scalding hot, deep red wax from a golden crucible and placed it on the long parchment in front of him.

Horatio raised his finger and pressed the Supreme Lord's Ring, a symbol of unparalleled power, heavily onto the sealing wax of the Orbital Firepower Authorization Document.

laugh--

The scalding sealing wax met the cold refined gold, hissing as it solidified into an unshakeable mark representing death and destruction.

"I approve all feasible reinforcement plans."

Horatio's voice sealed the deal. He told the officers, "I authorize you to use all orbital reinforcement routes except those that won't blow up friendly forces. All of them."

he emphasized.

"As you command, sir!"
-
One after another, landing craft, like fireflies flying out of the mothership, detached from the mothership hidden in the darkness of the void.

The Swift Skyhawk and Rising Feather dispatched all of their Averus landing craft, escorted by a formation of Valkyrie transport planes and Fury interceptors.

The "Night Witches" of the 588th and 587th Bombardment Groups stood quietly on their respective airfields, awaiting orders. The presence of the Hell Vanguard allowed the Gothic Fleet to break free from the traditionally cumbersome process of dispatching fleet liaison officers for targeted air strikes.

Now, every Hellsoldier is a mobile air support controller, their walkie-talkies allowing direct access to the Imperial Naval Air Force's dispatch channels. Once a target's location is pinpointed, they can unleash devastating precision fury.

"This is Delta-1. We have landed on the bell tower at the top of the church. Ground monitoring avian radar is deployed." A Hellsoldier picked up the microphone from his teammate's back and calmly reported.

Beside him, the Hellsoldier carrying a walkie-talkie was wearing a heavy assault-type power armor.

On the shoulder of this behemoth is a massive 'Starlight' dual-purpose missile launcher—the missile launched by this weapon can split into three fin-stabilized armor-piercing warheads, like steel needles, just before hitting the target. This can threaten aerial targets and also deliver a fatal blow to the enemy's heavy armor from a high vantage point.

An old yet advanced design, with a pure British style. It is well-suited for Hellslingers to launch dispersed and controlled deadly attacks on armored targets on land or in the confined space of a ship.

After setting up the radar, the third Hell Soldier quickly set up a bolt-action sniper rifle on a high vantage point.

He closely monitored the chaotic battle below through his sniper scope.

call out!
With a silenced gunshot, a green-skinned vehicle, which had been swaggering atop a yellow "killing can" and wildly firing a twin-mounted dreadnought, was accurately shot in the head. Its stray bullets had just posed a threat to the clock tower.

"The first one." A hot shell casing was ejected from the ejection port and landed on the ancient tiled floor of the clock tower with a crisp sound.

"Delta-1, this is Skyhawk Squadron. We are about to clear the landing craft. Please mark the attack initiation zone, disengagement route, and landing craft landing zone. Contact the team closest to the landing zone to secure it."

"Received, Skyhawk One. Prepare to receive the Ninth Line briefing."

Attack starting point: KM553, heading 355, distance 10 nautical miles, altitude 13 feet, coordinates N42.13.76, E042.03037, laser code 0911. Our forces are 900 meters to the east; please take evasive action. After bombing, disengage northeast. Please notify us when you are ready to receive the notes.

While he was giving his report, on the ground, another three-person team that had emerged from the rubble was quickly setting up landing point guidance devices on an open area.

These are four modified servo skulls. After taking off, they illuminated a clear landing area on the rubble-strewn ground by emitting guiding lasers from the four corners.

"The landing zone coordinates have been identified and sent."

"Skyhawk One has received a briefing from the ninth line; landing site confirmed. The 'Averus' landing craft is about to arrive. Skyhawk Squadron is preparing to receive notes."

"Drop all bombs and carry out a straight-line bombardment. Target all enemy armored units along the route with rockets, and authorize them to attack at any time."

"Attack initiation point reached, electro-optical camera confirms target. Strike commences." The female pilot on the other end of the walkie-talkie spoke calmly and seriously.

Whoosh! — Bang!

From the distant horizon came a deep, resounding roar that seemed to shake the very soul.

That's the sonic boom produced when a fighter jet flying at supersonic speeds suddenly decelerates to the supersonic threshold and the sound barrier surrounds it.

Fire is coming from the sky.

(End of this chapter)