Eighteen hours later, the rest period ended.
Low Earth orbit over Mar Sara had transformed into an ocean of steel.
A joint fleet of over two hundred warships had assembled here, its sheer scale forcing nearby planetary shields to temporarily adjust frequencies in order to "accommodate" the incoming iron tide.
The Black Templar fleet formed a solemn formation. Over ninety black-and-white vessels stood aligned like chess pieces on a board. At their core, the massive Pilgrim-class battleship loomed like a giant blade in motion, each turret flickering with red lights, awaiting orders.
The Salamanders' Third Company fleet maintained their signature wedge-shaped array.
The flagship Unyielding Flame spewed a trail of ghostly blue plasma, forming the tip of a spearhead alongside four battlecruisers. Twelve escort frigates roamed the periphery, their point-defense arrays undergoing final calibration, emitting synchronized mechanical hums as their barrels spun.
The Weepers' warships carried the unique "melancholic" aesthetic of their chapter. Their flagship, Wing of Sorrow, had been fully restored and gleamed anew. Five specially modified medical ships held position at the rear of the formation.
The Flesh Sharks' fleet, as expected, exuded an unruly wildness. The flagship of the Third Assault Platoon, Abyssal Hunter, bore a massive shark skull on its prow.
The cruiser's armor was riddled with "rough" welding marks—battlefield repairs hastily applied, each scar a testament to its brutal history.
Amid this steel jungle, the Hyperion seemed "dainty" by comparison. This warship, "only" about a kilometer long, deftly weaved between the colossal vessels.
Yet all eyes were drawn to the gargantuan vessel at the very front of the fleet—flagship of the Athena-led Inquisition Division:
The Nerva.
This twelve-kilometer-long Emperor-class battleship defied conventional design. The entire warship resembled a flying Greek temple.
Massive Doric columns encircled the bridge, each engraved with intricate reliefs.
The prow wasn't a ramming spike, but rather a hundred-meter-tall golden statue of Athena herself, whose spearhead constantly emitted arcs of energy.
The Nerva's engine array rumbled silently in the vacuum of space. Its unique warp drive generated blue energy vortices that spiraled around the hull.
As the main thrusters ramped up to critical levels, space ahead began to twist and tear open—a warp corridor over a hundred kilometers wide began to take shape.
"All fleets, proceed into warp according to assigned sequence."
Athena's voice rang out across the quantum communication network, reaching every vessel.
Her hard-light projection simultaneously appeared on every bridge's command console. Her golden armor gleamed with divine brilliance under the glow of warp energy.
The Black Templars moved first. The Pilgrim-class vessel led the fleet slowly into the corridor.
As the massive hull crossed the spatial threshold, countless arcs of energy scattered like starlight in the void.
Next came the combined fleet of the Salamanders and Weepers.
The Unyielding Flame's plasma drive blazed brightly, the battlecruisers maintaining flawless spacing as they entered the corridor.
The Flesh Sharks' fleet lived up to its name—charging into the passage with feral momentum.
Last came the Nerva itself.
Just before the temple-ship entered warp, the golden statue of Athena at its prow burst into dazzling light. A subtle wave swept across the fleet, bestowing temporary psychic shielding upon each vessel.
As the massive ship vanished into the corridor, the warp gate slowly began to close.
The Hyperion chose a different path.
At the last moment, its slipspace engine erupted in a blue-white "bubble," engulfing the entire ship before it vanished from realspace—erased like a mark rubbed off a page.
Only faint traces of residual energy indicated it had ever existed here.
As the last ship's engines disappeared into the warp corridor, Mar Sara's orbit returned to stillness.
Sixteen orbital stations began recalibrating their shield protocols, and planetary defense systems reverted to standard alert status.
Only the faint, glowing spatial folds remained, proof that a fleet capable of changing the course of war had gathered here—and departed just as swiftly.
Within the warp corridor carved by the Nerva, cobalt-blue energy rippled like liquid crystal, flowing around the fleet.
These semi-transparent spatial folds twisted and shifted constantly—unfolding into geometric fractals or tightening into spiral vortices.
Over two hundred warships traveled through this non-Euclidean space. Their hulls reflected shades of blue and violet, resembling a swarm of metal leviathans swimming through a deep ocean.
Inside the Nerva's bridge, a perfect replica of a Greek temple interior had been constructed.
Twelve Corinthian columns supported a star-painted dome. Each column was inlaid with gems from Tyrella that changed color with the ambient energy flow.
The central command console was shaped like an altar, displaying a floating holographic star chart.
The air was laced with the subtle scent of olive wood incense, blending with the warship's mechanical undertones.
Athena stood before the console, her armored skirts swaying gently with the warp currents.
She tapped the altar with one finger, pulling up the fleet's full formation diagram.
To her right stood Sigismund's hard-light projection, like a black statue. His servo armor operated silently, almost eerily so.
To her left, Malakin Phoros read a datapad with grace. His winged adornments cast a scattered blue glow.
Tyberos, helmeted in his shark-tooth helm, faced the tactical display. His breath, exhaled through a grille, condensed into tiny ice crystals in the frigid environment.
Across the table stood Gaozan, encrypted datastreams flowing across his tactical visor.
Also present via projection were Commander Jim Raynor of the Rangers and Leon S. Kennedy from the Department of Investigation.
"Based on the latest data retrieved from Typhon…"
Leon's report broke the bridge's silence. "Cross-referencing negotiations with Tychus Findlay and intel from the Mobius Foundation, our first destination aligns with the location of the final artifact fragment."
He focused on the holographic star map and zoomed in on the target: the wreckage of a colossal warship.
As the projection enlarged, more details became visible.
The derelict was over twenty kilometers long. Its design clearly wasn't human—more akin to the Protoss, likely a Xel'naga relic.
A massive breach pierced the ship's midsection, likely from a direct energy weapon.
Several key zones were marked in red, the most prominent being the central vault.
"Tal'darim," Leon pointed to red markers around the wreck. "Intel confirms a heavy Tal'darim presence defending this zone."
The image shifted to a tactical profile of the Tal'darim. Their iconic energy armor shone ominously in the dark.
Upon seeing this, Athena's Spear of Victory glowed faintly. The tip hovered over a Tal'darim image.
"Their fanatical bravado," she said coldly, with Olympus' chill in her voice, "is of no concern."
The spear slid across the display, switching the image to energy readings from the artifact. "This is what matters."
Jim Raynor interrupted: "The problem's the ship itself."
He pulled up more scans. "According to Tychus's blueprints, it's like a powder keg in a tin can."
The internal scan revealed unstable plasma conduits throughout. Some areas had dangerously high radiation levels, and the Tal'darim had installed multiple rift fields within.
Sigismund finally spoke:
"The Black Templars will purge the corridors and cut off enemy retreat routes."
He leaned forward slightly. "We need precise breach coordinates."
"Already calculated," Gaozan interjected. His visor shared a data stream to the main screen. "Recommend infiltration via breach site #7."
A winding green path appeared on the map, avoiding most hazards. "Only four hundred meters from the main vault."
"Heh…"
Tyberos's shark-tooth helm emitted a low, raspy chuckle.
"We Flesh Sharks will go in head-on."
He mimed a rending motion with his chainsaw claws. "Time for these alien bastards to see what we're made of."
Malakin Phoros shook his head slightly. "I'm more concerned about the artifact's condition."
He displayed the fourth fragment's energy waveform. "These readings show the final fragment has more energy than the first four combined."
Athena's eyes swept over the assembled commanders. Her spear flared, projecting a massive dragon crest on the bridge floor. It silenced all further debate.
"Proceed according to plan. For the Emperor. End this quickly."
"Yes, my lady."
As the short meeting ended,
The warp corridor's blue glow seemed to flicker.
The Nerva's engines roared louder, like a holy chorus reaching its climax. Every warship's weapon system completed warmup. Crimson targeting lasers streaked through the void.
Soon—
The legendary derelict, like a dead space whale, drifted in the shadows.
Its twenty-kilometer hull was riddled with age, impact craters, and scorched scars. A few Tal'darim structures glowed dimly—like bioluminescent fungi clinging to a corpse.
Most striking were the massive ring structures encircling the hull—
Several rings over five kilometers in diameter still rotated slowly, etched with runes of an unknown civilization.
At certain angles, they triggered eerie ripples in the vacuum.
Several compartments shielded by green barriers resembled miniature pyramids. Inside, humanoid figures could be glimpsed—perhaps prisoners intentionally kept by the Tal'darim.
Then, suddenly—space thousands of kilometers from the derelict tore open.
A warp rift over a hundred kilometers wide yawned like the eye of a god. From the swirling blue void, the Pilgrim-class warship of the Black Templars emerged first.
Its massive form crushed several floating wrecks. Its black-and-white armor glinted grimly under starlight.
Next came the Salamanders' Unyielding Flame, its plasma trail curving elegantly.
The Weepers and Flesh Sharks scattered like loosed arrows, instantly fanning out into tactical formation.
Inside the Nerva's bridge:
"Lifeform scan complete," a technician's voice rang out. "Large numbers of Tal'darim signatures detected within the wreck—plus… unknown biologicals similar to Tal'darim, but distinct."
The hologram suddenly marked over a hundred yellow indicators, clustered mostly inside the pyramid chambers.
A relatively subtle blue flash followed—the Hyperion completed its slip-jump at the fleet's flank.
The retrofitted ship gracefully dodged a spinning chunk of debris. Jim Raynor's face appeared on the comm screen, half-joking:
"Reporting in, folks—your friendly little scrapheap's arrived."
The Tal'darim responded instantly.
Dozens of crimson motherships rose from cracks in the derelict's hull, their jagged prows pulsing with lethal energy.
More vessels surged from behind the ring structures like disturbed hornets. All weapons powered up in unison, forming a deadly lattice of light.
"Target locked."
Sigismund's voice rang out like steel on steel.
At his command, the Pilgrim-class warship's lower armor panels opened. Twelve massive hexagonal pylons were launched.
Each over a kilometer long, these pillars arranged themselves into perfect formation, glowing with ancient Forerunner glyphs.
Just as the Tal'darim motherships fired their first salvo of crimson plasma at the human fleet's shields, the pylon matrix erupted with searing white light.
Ri~SHHHHHHH—!!!
A torrent of energy, over a hundred kilometers wide, swept across the void. Where it passed, the Tal'darim ships disintegrated like mist in sunlight.
Seven motherships were vaporized instantly, not even debris left behind. The rest fared little better—explosions wove a red web of death across the vacuum.
With that single strike, the Tal'darim space forces lost more than half their strength.
The survivors fled toward the rear of the derelict's ring structures.
But they quickly realized the Imperium fleet had sealed all escape routes—
Flesh Shark cruisers blocked the path to the asteroid belt. Black Templar strike ships locked down the surrounding void. Salamander and Weeper warships severed access to the derelict itself.
At that moment, Athena's image appeared on every ship's main screen. She raised her Spear of Victory, pointing toward the derelict's core, and raised her voice:
"All ground forces, take note! Primary objective: secure the artifact vault! Secondary objective: investigate the entities within the green-shielded chambers!"
With that, her spear erupted with golden light.
"For the Emperor! For the Imperium!"
At her command, tens of thousands of drop pods howled out from the fleet—metal rain descending upon the derelict's hull.
Their thrusters traced endless blue arcs across the void, weaving a deadly ballet with the Tal'darim's desperate flak fire.
(End of Chapter)
[Get +20 Extra Chapters On — P@tr3on "Mutter"]
[Every 100 Power Stones = 1 Bonus Chapter Drop]
[Thanks for Reading!]