Warhammer: Black Emperor

Chapter 444 Swordtail Interceptor Wins Air Superiority

After Nimrod refused to allow the battle to begin, Gadinar sent a series of peace talks, the "Shadow of Order" fleet dispersed, and the Sixth Chapter was ordered to launch attacks on the other ten worlds.

Of the hundreds of billions of people in Gardinal, the majority live at the head of Gardinal.

The other ten worlds combined still lag behind the Cardinal in many aspects, including population and industry.

Nimrod is located at Space Station One, where the Star Ring monitors the entire head of the Gardinar, gathering all data in a level of detail exceeding the full-power scan of the Ramirez-class Starfortress and the fleet.

He looked at the main screen, at the cold, iron-gray planet below.

Ninglu knew without looking at the screen that the main component of this planet's surface was granite.

This is what attracted the early remnants of Gadinal to choose this planet, the third nearest star, to establish their colony.

He then looked at the composite images of the planet captured by numerous monitoring and sensing systems.

Fortresses and industrial buildings were built among the uneven mountains and folds on the surface of the sphere, and every tiny crack in the head of the Gadinal was filled with layers of houses.

Like most industrial worlds in the Empire, the Head of Gadinar has no liquid oceans or natural clouds, nor any other landscapes that have not been altered by human will.

The orbital elevator connects to the planet's artificial crust, but its continuous operation for over four thousand years has been stopped.

Seeing that none of the rail elevators had been damaged, Nimrod guessed what the High Lords would do next and gave orders to Arsena Dunn.

The High Lords already know he controls the Ring, but they haven't taken any action. They must be planning to launch an aerial war to regain control of the Ring.

"Order all fighter jets to be deployed. Compared to the void ships, the Gadinar people have a massive number of fighter jets."

"Although the Gardiner has a large number of aircraft, not all of them can operate in a vacuum environment. Targeted strikes can give them an advantage."

After receiving the order, the silver-haired Primarch servant reasoned as follows:

"They are trying to buy time through air combat."

Ning Lu nodded slightly. "Therefore, after gaining air superiority, you will begin your infiltration operations."

Ninglu then looked at the other video screens to get a sense of the situation around Gardiner.

Three damaged satellites were designed to be detonated under the command of the High Lord.

The remains formed a slightly scattering asteroid belt in the orbit of the Gardiner, concealing the scattered orbital dry docks, heavy industrial plants, and material collectors within.

The High Lords of Gadinar were attempting to preserve the orbital facilities or at least buy time in this manner.

Combat alarms sounded on flight deck after flight deck, and the roaring and vibrating sounds of engines converged, like thunder brewing.

Technicians moved among the Stormbird gunboats, working intensively on final preparations.

The swordtail interceptor has a more precise fuel supply system, requiring both promethium-based fuel that flies in the atmosphere and anaerobic chemical ions that fly in the void, and these two must never be mixed.

The swordtail interceptor formation was the first to fly out in groups from the black fleet, as it was one of the earliest aircraft used by the Astartes Legion.

It has an ancient lineage and can be used in both the light atmosphere and space.

The original design required pilots with mechanical modifications to fly the swordtail, as ordinary pilots could not withstand the stress of flight.

However, after the "Great Expedition" began, and these aircraft were extensively modified and equipped on the Astartes, their superhuman physiques were fully capable of piloting these high-speed, light aircraft without any additional modifications.

Nelson sat in the cockpit, his spine connected to the Swordtail interceptor via an intercom.

Current surged along the magnetic sling behind the launch pad, and the magnetic coils flashed yellow light.

A loud bang echoed through the air. Nie Ersen gripped his restraint helmet tightly and realized that as the magnetic poles reversed, the magnetic force was also rapidly shifting.

The reaction force slammed into the tail of the aircraft, and the sudden acceleration squeezed Nelson between the force and his own weight, ejecting him from the flight deck along the launch pad. His hands gripped the control stick, his gauntlets opened the throttle, and the wings vibrated violently.

One after another, sword-tailed interceptors were launched into the void and formed formations in the air.

The black, shadowy formation of orders collided with the Gadinal fighter jet that took off into the air.

The rotating missile launcher on the belly of the swordtail interceptor roared out and hit the enemy aircraft. At the same time, Nelson forcefully pulled the control stick to the right.

The highly agile swordtail interceptor makes a sharp turn to evade, releasing forward momentum as it turns.

Compared to the Shuttle and Stormbird, the Swordtail Interceptor's performance is incredibly high.

Its turning speed and touch response are outstanding. It moves so lightly in the air as if it were in a vacuum, and in a vacuum, it would be described as silky smooth.

A dense barrage of bullets fired by dozens of enemy planes grazed the tops of the aircraft.

However, this extreme exploitation of performance also put pressure on Nelson's modified superhuman body.

The swaying center of gravity indicated that Nelson was about to tumble in the opposite direction and crash into another group of aircraft, so he manually turned on the throttle.

At the same time, he released the rudder pedal with his power boot, and the interceptor returned to his control, plunging into the brass-colored industrial exhaust atmosphere, tumbling and weaving among enemy aircraft.

The sword-tailed interceptor was too complex. It was very light but lacked power, and its design was not well adapted to a propulsion system that could operate in various atmospheric conditions.

Nelson's fighter jet, just as it crashed into the atmosphere above the Gardiner, found that it had to switch to promethium fuel propulsion.

He quickly switched positions, then gripped the control sticks with both hands, as if he were holding a model airplane, and weaved through the enemy planes.

The sword-tail interceptor has a set of twin rapid-fire laser cannons on each side of its fuselage, firing a series of bright beams.

As the Gardiner fighter jet crashed into the atmosphere, its speed dropped rapidly due to atmospheric resistance, and its fuel was consumed at an alarming rate.

After quickly achieving twelve kills like shooting at a target, Nelson chose to climb rapidly while surrounded, where the density of enemy aircraft in the airspace above was relatively low.

Nelson immediately switched to the ion propulsion system and flew out of the tawny clouds.

Nelson piloted his plane, constantly shuttling back and forth in the atmosphere and the void.

Combat requires a lot of tedious and precise maneuvers, but Nelson is capable of handling such frequent operations.

The performance of the Swordtail interceptor was fully utilized, while the Gardiner's fighters were unable to switch smoothly in the void.

The Gardiner fighter jet, rushing into the void from the brownish-yellow atmosphere, lost control due to inertia, its speed increased dramatically, and its fuel was consumed rapidly.

After several attempts, Nelson grasped the pattern of the Gardiner fighter jet, and the aiming reticle of the attack system firmly locked onto the enemy aircraft.

Nelson sensed the soaring fighting spirit of the machine spirit. In the shared leap, he swung his hands up and down, shooting down enemy planes that were trying to dodge at high speed.

The fuel, during its repeated switching, sends out an alarm faster than the ammunition.

Nelson was forced to turn back. He looked at the battlefield left behind, gripped the control stick tightly, and thought to himself with resentment.

[It is said that the Mechanics Cult is researching an advanced high-speed suborbital multi-role fighter jet capable of interception operations from suborbital to high altitudes. I really hope they can equip themselves with this new fighter jet soon.]
After replenishing fuel and ammunition, Nelson couldn't wait to return to the battlefield.

Relying on combat stimulants, Nelson completed over a thousand combat flights, and "Shadow of Order" gained control of the air combat.

The strategy of luring the Gardiner fighter into the void and utilizing the capabilities of the swordtail interceptor came into play.

Stormbirds and other aircraft took off into the atmosphere, replacing Swordtail interceptors as the main force in air combat.

(End of this chapter)