The flagship of the Seventh Chapter, the Void Hunter, a relic-class warship.
Sanchez's commun-bead emitted a low hum. When he pressed it, the voice of Navigator Melanie Visscher came through, elegant yet weary.
"Reaper Lord," she said softly, "we have reached the anchor point. We can now transition to the real-space coordinates of the Atium system, awaiting your permission."
"Permission granted. Begin the warp translation," the Reaper Lord ordered, then strode toward the Simulus Chamber.
The Primarch had entrusted him with three relic-class warships, making the Seventh Chapter the only one to command more than a single relic vessel.
His flagship, the Void Hunter, had become the pride of his fleet since their return to greater Imperium. To Sanchez, this honor surpassed even Howard Fender's command of a Gloriana-class battleship.
He had hoped to prove himself at Osiris, to be worthy of that honor, but by the time his fleet arrived, the void war was already won.
Still, the delay had granted him time, time for the ancient ship, thousands of years old, to undergo a true metamorphosis with new technology.
"Reaper Lord, allow me to assist," said Gabriel, the Marshall of Ordnance. "With my support, you can fully exploit the range advantage of all four ships."
Gabriel had modeled his reforms after the Iron Hands, creating heavy fire support companies across the legions, the last of which was on Catachan.
After completing his duties there, two new relic-class ships had arrived from Nocturne.
Gabriel had overseen their retrofitting, Punisher-class reactors and all, then accompanied them to Osiris, where he continued modifying what was once the Legion's flagship.
Sanchez hesitated for a moment, realizing this aid would not diminish his glory, and he would need the Marshall of Ordnance to achieve the perfect hunt.
"Then welcome to the hunt, Marshall of Ordnance."
Together, they crossed the ancient deck of the command bridge and entered the Simulus Chamber, the size of an entire midship deck.
Runes glowed upon the data alcoves lining the walls. Officers and the ship's captain were already at their stations.
Sanchez and Gabriel sat in cable-wrapped thrones; blue light flickered from the machinery as neural connectors from their spines linked into the digital sea.
Their minds dove into the Augur System, analyzing the fleet's incoming data from every direction. At their feet, their gyrinx purred and curled into rest.
Fire Deck, Artillery Chief Jacob Gordon.
His face was blank, his skin pale, his feet warped into hoof-like shapes.
Jacob smiled faintly, immersed in the flood of data from his implants.
'How wonderful, no more tiresome communication with the "outsiders."'
House Gordon were Children of the Void, a lineage that had lived aboard the ancient warship since before the birth of the Imperium itself.
They were traditional and stubborn, resisting all change, but Jacob welcomed the new age wholeheartedly. Now part of the Simulus Chambers, he no longer struggled to communicate with foreign officers.
He knew every cannon, every etched mark on its ancient metal, yet like his forebears, he had always been unable to truly understand others, nor they him.
Every conversation had been exhausting, each order a struggle to comprehend or convey. He had feared replacement.
Until now.
As an extension of the Chamber's data "limbs," he no longer needed words or thought, only intent. The torrent of information made the Reaper Lord's tactical design perfectly clear.
Their target: an enemy cruiser, designation A-1, the flagship of the opposing fleet.
To reach and strike a relic-class ship, the foe would need to advance aggressively, bringing themselves into Jacob's firing range.
He called his cannons his dancing partners. Each volley was a dance, far more beautiful than any dull social performance among outsiders.
Jacob issued his commands through the neural link:
'Batteries One through Four, lock onto Rune D. Fire.'
Within a heartbeat, his order rippled down through the network to the gunnery chiefs, the outermost extensions of the Sanctum's control web.
He felt a rush of satisfaction as four "partners" fired in perfect rhythm.
'Flawless choreography, one heartbeat, one rhythm.'
To achieve such precision, synchronized strikes at over 100,000 kilometers, once depended on luck. Now it was routine.
Jacob was entranced by the beauty of it.
'The officers on the bridge could never appreciate such art,' he thought. They had never cared for the split-second rhythms of void warfare.
But things had changed. The Chamber's computing power had elevated even seconds into the realm of tactical significance.
He prepared his after-action feedback report, still lost in his wonder.
While the Void Hunter hunted its prey, the Throne of Shadow's Sovereignty travelled from the Warp into the Atium system.
Nareth stood before the hololithic display projected by Arsen, his eyes scanning first the four relic-class ships.
On the tactical grid, a square plane aligned vertically to the system's orbital ring, each relic-class vessel occupied a quadrant's center.
Their cannons rained a storm of fire upon the heretic lord's fleet.
The enemy, desperate to close the range, advanced at full speed, their formation unraveling due to differing thrust velocities.
The relic-class ships destroyed escort craft in mid-charge, then shifted position in formation, sliding perpendicularly through space, an elegant tactical sidestep.
The enemy lost all focus, forced to redirect and once again meet the combined fury of all four vessels.
"The Reaper Lord has perfectly exploited their range advantage," Arsena murmured in awe.
"Not a single ship lost, the void war is won."
"Then let us begin our work," Nareth replied, eyes turning toward the system's inner planets. "Activate the Auger Matrix to maximum output. Scan all planetary bodies."
Moments later, the Sensorium Adept reported:
"My lord, the Atium system contains five planets. Worlds I, III, and IV are habitable, life signs detected."
Nareth pondered briefly, then issued orders:
"Have the Honor Guard and the Lucifer Blacks, alongside the Vostroyan 1st Auxilia, strike Planet I."
"The Seventh Chapter and Catachan Auxilia, Planet III."
"And the Eleventh Chapter with Vostroyan 2nd and 11th Auxilia, Planet IV."
After giving his commands, Nareth's consciousness extended outward, reaching the W-36 Armory Deck, sending a psychic pulse to Maria Kournikova.
"Assassins, deploy. Target: Atium I, Fortress V."
Previously held back due to the unexpected Psybrid mind-network discovery, the assassins would now join the Legion's war.
"By your will, my lord," Maria replied in thought.
"Assassins, move out."
Her blue eyes gleamed with cold resolve as she led her unit toward the Shadow-Class Stormbird.
Through research into the ancient data left by Ethnarch Cardinal Tang the Legion's techmarines had developed this new model, a faster, stealth-capable variant equipped with quantum-field repulsors.
Its name: Shadow-Class.
After the orbital bombardment ceased, three of these black, heavy assault transports descended toward Atium I, gliding like spectral birds through the void, unseen by any scan or augur, landing silently in the valley outside Fortress V.
.....
If you enjoy the story, my p@treon is 30 chapters ahead.
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