Tales of the Battlegroup Asgardia

by Reaper VF6

A collection of battles that a small section of the Battlefleet Gothic fought during the 12th Black Crusade, One-shot story

Tales of the Battlegroup: Divine Asgardia

As the shadow of the Despoiler fleet's grow in the Gothic Sector, the forces of the Imperium of Man under the command of Lord Admiral Cornelius Von Ravensburg are hard-pressed to stem the tide of chaos incursion. The Twelfth Black Crusade has been unleashed on the Emperor Servants. With the whole sector embroiled in combat Ravesnburg's ships are fighting a desperate holding action, as he marshals his forces to turn back the foul invaders.

In addition to the threat of Chaos, the sector's ork warbands along with groups of eldar plague the shipping lanes diverting and destroying the scarce and necessary war materials from the front lines. What follows is an account of the ships and officers from the one of the many battlegroup's that make up Battlefleet Gothic in the Segmentum Obscuras section of the galaxy.

The Battlegroup is the Divine Asgardia based in the Dracaris VI System. It is led by Lord Admiral Tiberius Hoeth. He flies his flag from the Mars class battlecruiser Pride of Caledor until the Praetorian an Emperor Class battleship can break through the Port Maw blockage. In addition to his flagship his battlegroup is unique because of the large amounts of capital ships allocated to it; one battleship, four battlecruisers, and eight cruisers. These ships will be the ones fighting and dying on the frontlines of the Gothic War.

The backbone of the Battlegroup is made up of its four battlecruisers; the Pride of Caledor a Mars, Loremaster Teclis another Mars, Imperator an Armageddon, and the Lord Tyrion another Armageddon. Their captains are experienced officers of decades of service; Lord Hoeth is the battlegroup commander, Capt. Marcus Tyranus is the master of the Pride of Caledor, Capt. Nickoli Petrovich commands the Loremaster Teclis, the Imperator is helmed by Capt. Don Arminius, and the Lord Tyrion iscaptained by Capt. Ponce de Leon. These officers all have one foot on the steps of the Golden Throne and with that comes the responsibility to fight and die for the Imperium and the Emperor of Man.

Since their home planet is in a small less populated part of the Gothic Sector, the initial Chaos incursions were nonexistent. It gave the crews and captains of the two Mars class battlecruisers a chance for more training including simulated combat. This was before the taint of Chaos invaded the region and before Capt. Petrovich took command of the ill-preforming Loremaster.

013 M41. Martius 18.

After completing pre-deployment maintenance and flight checks at the space docks in the Dracaris VI System, The Pride of Caledor and the Loremaster Teclis traveled a few light-years away for a simulated battle. After a gentleman's agreement not to use the nova cannon until a hundred units distant, the action was a closer ranged affair than usual. The Loremaster maneuvered to the left of the Pride at the beginning of the battle. The Pride of Caledor tried to increased speed but the crew rusty after the long refit did not carry out the all ahead full order in a timely manner, thus the Pride of Caledor traveled its normal battle speed toward the Loremaster.

The Loremaster continued to head in a leftward direction, releasing a wing of bombers as she closed to eighty units distant. The Pride of Caledor fired its nova cannon and once again it proved that its gunners had an uncanny mastery of the weapon, for the Loremaster lost its shields and bridge was destroyed. The Caledor than launched its fighters and bombers as she closed the distance. The Loremaster managed to score a major hit on the Caledor's hull inflicting a breach. The Caledor fired its nova cannon at the bombers by missed. It turned its lance turrets upon the unshielded Loremaster but the targeting was off and the laser fire diffused against the hull.

The Loremaster's next round of shooting only inflict minor damage to the hull while the Pride wiped out his opponents bombers and scored major hit to his opponents ship's engines. The Drake Bomber squadron finished off the Loremaster as the battle came to a close. Once again the Pride of Caledor has proven itself well in the excise while the Loremaster's crewis in need of more training or discipline or both. Hopefully they will perform better in combat against a real foe than in this latest training battle.

After the ships replenished their supplies, they went on a patrol of the nearby planets and warp nexus points. Control over these systems and regions are the key to control movement of ships and resources in the whole sub-sector. It was here that the first skirmish with Chaos occurred. It was a scouting force from a larger Chaos Battlegroup that is still closing on the region from the Warp.

013 M41. Martius 25.

Two of the battlecruisers that are a part of the Divine Asgardia Battlegroup had their first combat trial fresh out of dock. The two ships were the Pride of Caledor and the Loremaster Teclis. They encountered two Chaos's heavy cruisers, a Styx class carrier and a Hades class gunship. The enemy disengaged after inflicting crippling damage to the Loremaster Teclis destroying its shields and smashing its bridge. The former captain of the ship died of his wounds and Capt. Petrovich was given command. The Pride of Caledor was moderately damage requiring time in space dock to patch up the holes that the Styx bombers inflicted.

Despite the fearful pounding, the two Mars class Battlecruisers inflicted more damage to their foes. The Hades was reduced to a cripple; set a fire, bridge destroyed, and the port (left) side weapons and shields were knocked out. The Styx was also reduced to a cripple with its port (left) side flight decks demolished and its engines damaged. With Hades feeling the wrath of the bombers of the Battlecruisers and Styx took a beating from the squadron's combined lance fire as the Chaos ships moved into close range to negate the nova cannon of the Loremaster and Pride of Caledor. The enemy shaken by the uncanny accuracy of our nova cannon fire fled after our ships made one round of close range firing and bomber strikes.

Hoping to gain the services of the Tyrant class Legacy of Aenarion and the Gothic class Drachenfels soon unless more shipyard delays occur. These two ships along with the Pride of Caledor will complete a section of one of the cruisers squadrons. The Tyrant class Dominus Arcem and Gothic class Aquila are still in deep overhaul status and won't be joining the Loremaster in the foreseeable future, thus the other cruiser squadron will be incomplete for the time being.

That was part of the rain that preceded the storm as the forces of chaos spread like a plague throughout the Gothic Sector. Imperial ships everywhere were forced to fight for their lives or run from the danger of destruction. The yards over Darcaris are commanded to get the rest of the Asgardia Battlegroup battle ready as soon as possible or face the wrath of the Lord Admiral. As the yard workers increase their efforts, Lord Hoeth sends what ships he has another patrol. Unfortunately the Pride of Caledor and Lord Hoeth are needed to quell an uprising on a nearby hive world and cannot accompany the fleet into the void.

013 M41. Martius 28.

With the Pride of Caledor assisting the 774th Cadian Guard Regiment in fighting the forces of Chaos on the hive world of Maker. This has left the Loremaster Teclis and newly prepared ship Legacy of Aenarion and the mighty Drachenfels to patrol an important system, Delphi XV. It is a system where several warp-lanes meet and ships use it as a shelter to recharge their drives.

The patrol started out as routine until two chaos cruiser slipped in, a Styx class cruiser that records suggest was the Hellhawk and a Hades class that was called Ravage. They were intent on raiding the system killing all of Emperor's followers in the area. They surprised the Imperial squadron and in the opening round fired a merciless barrage at the Loremaster Teclis. Instead of bracing Capt. Petrovich felt that his ship could take the punishment in order to retaliate with divine fury. The Drachenfels headed straight at the Hellhawk and the Legacy of Aenarion went after the Ravage.

Both ships inflicting minor damage to their foes on their approach run. The Teclis was rocked by so much fire that its engine rooms were gutted and the ship immobilized and vulnerable. The Legacy and Drachenfels took the next round of chaos fire as their shields were peppered with furious plasma fire and lance beams. The Teclis managed to launch its fighters and bombers as well as scoring a devastating hit on the Hellhawk with its nova cannon. The Emperor must have aided the gunners for the well placed shot was a miracle. The first wave of chaos aircraft was destroyed by our fury squadron Firestorm. The other ships fired their torpedoes at the chaos ships. As both side's trade plasma blasts and macro-cannon shells the chaos ships are slowly worn down. The Hellhawk took a combined strike from the Drachenfels torpedoes and the Conflagration bomber squadron from the Loremaster. The Legacy of Aenarion managed to get behind the Ravage and destroyed the heretic with a hail of weapons fire and a wave of torpedoes. The Hellhawk was killed by the combined fire of the crippled Loremaster and the deadly accurate lance fire of the Drachenfels. With the chaos threat neutralized the two Imperial cruisers give thanks to the Emperor and started to escort the damaged battlecruiser home.

013 M41. Martius 28.

Before getting the weaken battlecruiser home the Imperial ships were again blindsided by those accursed warp worshipers. This time the enemy consisting of the same makeup one Hades, the Wanton Fury, and a Styx, the Unholy Believer, appeared close to the Drachenfels, Legacy of Aenarion, and the damaged Loremaster Teclis. The enemy ships opened fire at the weakened Loremaster and opened her up to the vacuum of space. She died fighting a hopeless battle.

Despite the wounds that were dealt to her the Loremaster managed to launch its fighter wings and get a few critical hits upon her foes. Set ablaze by the heretical plasma guns and macro-cannons the Loremaster drifted through space her crew spilling out of the many hull breaches. While the Loremaster was getting ripped apart, the Legacy of Aenarion closed quickly upon the Wanton Fury hitting it with torpedoes and weapons battery fire weakening it slightly. The Unholy Believer however was ravaged by the few attack craft that the Loremaster managed to launch and the deadly accurate fire of the Drachenfels lance batteries and its fearsome torpedoes.

At the end of the battle the Unholy Believer was destroyed by a final lance salvo from the Drachenfels, its master Capt. Ramas gave thanks to the Emperor for allowing his ship to gain revenge. The Wanton Fury managed to slip away as the Imperial vessels secured the hulk of the Loremaster for recovery. The Pride of Caledor is en-route as fast as its ancient drives can push its massive bulk through the warp.

013 M41, Aperio

The Drachenfels, Pride of Caledor, and the Legacy of Aenarion managed to secure the hulk of the Loremaster Teclis and get her back to the safety of the Dracaris VI space docks. The dockyard set about repairing the battlecruiser as a top priority. The acting captain of the Loremaster (Capt. Petrovich was wounded in the previous battle and was receiving medical aid on the Drachenfels) had the good sense to die with his ship and save the still living servants of the Emperor the trouble of removing him from command. Hopeful a new crew and the return of Capt. Petrovich is just what this ship needs to be able to perform to the best of her abilities.

As the Loremaster is brought back into service, the battlegroup around Dracaris VI is growing. The original four cruisers are joined by another Gothic Class the Aquila, another Tyrant Class the Dominus Arcem. The next wave of ships to join, the famed Dictator Class vessel and her captain a close friend of Capt. Ramas, Capt. Leoten Semper of the Lord Solar Macharius. she escorted the Armageddon Class battlecruiser Imperator to the Battlegroup.

The next members of the battle group finally arrived in system after weeks of delay. The dam warp storms and increased chaos presences in the region has had the ships running all over the place fighting in small skirmishes and raids over planets, moons, and in the depths of space. The Blademaster and Drakemaster Dauntless class light cruisers finally transitioned into the system in the early days of the month Maria. Before this happened a large portion of the battlegroup's strength was used to escort a convoy of six transports through a known patch of space where the Eldar haunt.

013 M41. Aperio 27.

The battlecruisers Pride of Caledor and Loremaster Teclis along with the Dominus Arcem, Legacy of Aenarion, and the Lord Solar Macharius met with their convoy on the edge of the rock garden, a stretch of space strewn with nebulae, dust clouds, asteroids, and radiation bursts. Recognizing the weaknesses of the lance armed Gothic's and Armageddon when put against the Eldar Holofields, they were left behind by Lord Hoeth who is flying his flag from the Pride of Caledor. He choose to commit all of his carrier type vessels in order to maintain a strong CAP around the fleet given that advance technology that pervades the Eldar attack craft and torpedoes means that defensive turrets cannot be relied upon to stop them.

The convoy transitioned into a region of space so turbulent and energized that warp travel is unstable. The fleet forms around the transports with Capt. Semper and the Macharius in the van, flanked on either side are the Tyrants, both ships are armed with nova cannons instead of torpedoes. Taking up the rear are the two battlecruiser, so they can take advantage of their long range weapons. The carriers then released all of their ready fighter squadrons. The fighters moved to cover the various ships of the convoy as they moved into hostile space.

After a short amount of travel several Eldar torpedoes and attack craft were detected as they moved into attack range. The fighters peeled off to deal with these threats. Before the fighters reached their targets, however, the big guns of the fleet opened up on the pesky craft and filled space with explosive shells and balls of plasma. This combined fire however only killed a few craft because of the enemy's size and agility. It was up to the fighters to remove the enemy threats. They did so with swift purpose in a swirling melee of laser cannon fire and missile streaks. They dealt with our foes promptly and returned to the carriers to rearm. The fleet progressed through the treacherous space as more Elder fighters and torpedoes were discovered. Our depleted fighter wings and massed fire from the capital ships however managed to stave off this attack with no damage.

The next to threat to emerge against our convoy was an Eldar Void Stalker Battleship, the Thenlui Sethai2. The captains of the Imperial ships were both frightened and eager to claim such a prize. The fleet pressed on as the Eldar battleship slowly closed the distance between the two fleets.

The Pride of Caledor, Loremaster Teclis, Legacy of Aenarion, and Dominus Arcem kept up a steady Nova Cannon barrage on the Thenlui Sethai. They managed to disrupt its movements and cause light damage. Throughout this long range sniping the fighters of the battlegroup dealt with numerous Eldar ordnance strikes. They did not left a single torpedo or bomber through. The Void Stalker finally got within range and only managed to inflict glancing blows on the Legacy of Aenarion and the Dominus Arcem before succumbing to the shear might and power of the Imperial Fleet. The Pride of Caledor as the flag ship of the Battlegroup maneuvered to deliver the Coup de Grace on the crippled burning vessel. With its demise the convoy got through with no losses and the fleet received a commendation form Lord Adm. Ravensburg.

013 M41. Aperio 30.

The next convoy run was a greater challenge, the battlegroup needed to escort a pair of convoys. Hoeth sent the light cruisers, the gothic class cruisers, and the Imperator under the overall command Capt. Don Arminius. His convoy was headed through a section of the region where Orks were known to prowl. Hoeth knows that the lances on those ships will make short work of Ork's heavily armored ships. Meanwhile the rest of the battlegroup commanded by Lord Hoeth himself will again try to push a convoy through Eldar infested space.

The convoy was traveling through the warp when Capt. Arminius detected the telltale sensor returns of several Ork ships. This hunting party consisted of a pair of Kill Koozers, a single Terror Koozer, and a large formation of escorts. Capt. Arminius ordered the two light cruisers the Drakemaster and Blademaster to close in on the merchants ships and provide close protection. With that he advances the Imperator along with the Aquila Capt. William Von Spee ship and the Drachenfels commanded by Capt. Ramas. The three imperial ships fire their torpedoes at the approaching escort squadron hoping to intercept some and break up the Ork charge. The Orks rush their escorts forward while the heavier ships proceed slowly, Capt. Arminius notes that this warboss is smarter than the average Ork. The Terror ship launches its fighta-bommerz to escort the attacking escorts. Our sensor screens light up as the Orks push their engines to full power.

Before the Imperial convoy are at least twelve Onslaughts and four Savage gunships charging forward. The imperial ships continue their stately advance, keeping a steady barrage of torpedoes heading toward the Orks. As the two sides get closer, the Imperator's lances flash twice and the beams cut an Onslaught in two. This caused the ships around it to take shrapnel hits as the Onslaught's reactor explode in a flash of white nuclear fire. The Orks in their mad lust to attack the merchant ships outpaced their fighter escort and this left them open to the tidal wave of torpedoes about to hit them.

The Orks scattered as the Torpedoes reach their formation, however some were to slow or unable to leave the path of the thirty meter long missiles. As a large portion of the escorts were destroyed by a combination of torpedo, lance, and weapons battery fire, the three large ork ships increase power and begin to rapidly close the distance. The escorts managed to inflict light damage on the three cruiser as they closed into weapons range. Capt. Arminius continues to close on the larger threats and pours forth a volley of fire at the ork single-ships wiping them out in a storm of plasma. The two gothic's follow the Imperator lead firing as they pass the ork onslaughts and savage. Their lance fire destroys another four escorts and the depleted swarm now had to deal with the two Dauntless light cruisers.

The escorts and light cruiser fill the intervening space with fire and fury as the cruisers are rocked by fire and the escorts die one by one. A handful of ork ships however live long enough to cripple both cruisers and kill a pair of transport ships before the weaken lance beams punched clean through their hulls. With the first wave defeated the two cripples limp after their larger cousins.

After firing a final torpedo salvo the three Imperial ships start to turn broadside to the larger ork ships. The Imperator locks on to the Terror Kroozer and fires its weapons batteries first, the side of the ship erupts in a blue-white flash as plasma bolt after bolt is launched toward the ork ship. Its shields flare as it tries to cope with the blistering amount of fire pouring in. Its shields glow brightly and shatter allowing for the lances to shear large sections off the hull. Several of the beams struck deep inside the ork ship causing the internal bulkheads to collapse causing more damage. As well as wrecking the engine room and further crippling the ship. Also Capt. Arminius's gunners scored a direct hit on the enemy bridge destroying it.

The two Kill ships replied with a withering salvo of heavy slugs. The barrage ended abruptly as the enemy guns malfunctioned. The crippled Terror Kroozer also launched more aircraft to deal with the closing torpedo salvoes. The next volley of fire was a combined barrage from the Aquila and Drachenfels along with a brief firing from the Imperator. The macro-cannon shells from the Imperator knocked down the Terror Kroozer shields and inflicting a major hull breach. This left it vulnerable to the heavy lance salvo sent its way by the two gothics. The ship was set ablaze by the high powered energy beams, it was destroyed and exploded in a ball of fire. The next ship to die was the Kill Kroozer to the guns and lances of Capt. Arminius's ship.

The remaining Kill Kroozer opened fire with all of its forward weapons and forced the Aquila to brace for impact or risk destruction. After what seemed an eternity of punishment the Kill Kroozer's guns fell silent as the orks struggled to reload their heavy cannons. This gave the rest of the fleet enough time to mass their fire against the ork ship and destroying her wrap core in a hail of fire. The convoy continued to its destination while the two crippled light cruisers limped back to the Darcaris shipyards for repair.

013 M41. Aperio 27.

The battlecruisers Pride of Caledor and Loremaster Teclis along with the Dominus Arcem, Legacy of Aenarion, and the Lord Solar Macharius met with their convoy on the edge of the rock garden, a stretch of space strewn with nebulae, dust clouds, asteroids, and radiation bursts. Hoeth again choose to commit all of his carrier type vessels in order to maintain a strong CAP around the fleet given that advance technology pervades the Eldar attack craft and torpedoes means that defensive turrets cannot be relied upon to stop them.

The convoy transitioned into a region of gas so turbulent and energized that warp travel is unstable. The fleet forms around the transports with Capt. Semper in the Macharius in the van, flanked on either side are the Tyrants, with both of the ships armed with nova cannons instead of torpedoes. Taking up the rear are the two battlecruiser so they can take advantage of their long range weapons. The carriers then released all of their ready fighter squadrons. The fighters moved to cover the various ships of the convoy as they moved into hostile space.

After a short amount of travel several Eldar torpedoes and attack craft were detected as they moved into attack range. The fighters peeled off to deal with these threats. Before the fighters reached their targets the big guns of the fleet opened up the pesky craft and filled space with explosive shells and balls of plasma. This combined fire however only killed a few craft because of the enemy's size and agility. It was up to the fighters to remove the enemy threats. They did so with swift purpose in a swirling melee of cannon fire and missile streaks. They dealt with our foes promptly and returned to the carriers to rearm. The fleet progressed through the treacherous space more elder fighters and torpedoes when discovered. Our depleted fighter wings and massed fire from the capital ship however staved off this attack with no damage.

The next to threat to emerge against our convoy was an Eldar Void Stalker Battleship, the Senuli Urithair3 as well as an Eclipse, Lord Hoeth did not notice another threat lurking closer to his ships yet. The captains of the Imperial ships were both frightened and eager to claim such a prizes. The fleet pressed on as the Eldar warships slowly closed the distance between the two fleets.

The Pride of Caledor, Loremaster Teclis, Legacy of Aenarion, and Dominus Arcem kept up a steady Nova Cannon barrage on the Eldar ships. The mass-reactive shells were subjected to targeting problems because of the holofield effects but managed to disrupt movements and cause light damage on the Eldar raiders. Throughout this long range sniping, the fighters and guns of the battlegroup dealt with numerous Eldar ordnance strikes. They did not left a single torpedo or bomber through. Another Eldar ship, a Shadow classcruiser appeared on the battlelgroups sensors only thirty units away from the transports, the Lord Solar Macharius, the Pride of Caledor and the Dominus Arcem. The Shadow inflicted near crippling damage to the Pride andminor damage to the Arcem. The nearby warships replied with such fury that the Shadow did not have a chance to brace for impact before succumbing to the shear might and power of the Imperial Fleet. The Pride of Caledor gave the Coup De Grace to the burning Shadow.

As the Shadow went down in flames, the Senuli Urithair closed the distance and exploited a gap in the escorting forces and killed two transports. As the Senuli Urithair tried to flee it ran afoul of the Dominus Arcem and was obliterated in a hail of fire. The Eclipse launched aircraft to support the rapidly dwindling Eldar forces and watched as a full volley of nova cannon shells tore through their formations. After trying to pick apart the imperial ships with its prow pulsar lance it fled the battle space after taking withering fire from the Pride of Caledor and the other capital ships. The weaken convoy got through with no father loses.

013 M41. Maia 1-10

The battlegroup has been run to the breaking point, constant escort and patrol duty through Eldar and Ork infested space. It culminated in two flush and kill missions, one against the Orks and one against the Eldar. Lord Hoeth deployed and accompanied his flag ship, the Pride of Caledor, as well as the Lord Solar Macharius with Capt. Leoten Semper in command and the Dominus Arcem with Capt. Tyler Quintus in command against the Eldar. The Lord Solar baited the Eldar group out of their bolt hole in an asteroid field into the waiting guns of the rest of the small task group. As the Eldar ships took the bait and emerged from the rock field. The Macharius moved at battle speed away from the pointy eared fools. Lord Hoeth smiles as he watches Capt. Semper draw his foes toward his ship and the Arcem. At his command the ships accelerate into the battle. Capt. Semper reports that the Eldar consists of an Eclipse, the same ship that fled from the earlier convoy battle, and two Shadow cruisers. Hoeth has his ship and the Macharius released fighter aircraft to screen the cruisers from the Eldar bombers and torpedoes. As the Eldar advance the Macharius maneuvers to reverse course and get into the fight. The Arcem and the Caledor open fire with their nova cannon. They maintain a steady barrage of the mass reactive shells. They managed to damage one of the Shadows and create explosion filled region of space. As the two groups exchange long range torpedo and bomber strikes, no damage is inflicted.

The two Imperial ships move into gun range and pour forth a torrent of fire into the damaged Shadow killing it in a blaze of plasma and macro-cannon shells. The other Shadow tried to strike back but its holofields were damaged by the weapons batteries of the Arcem followed up by the hammer blows of a close in barrage from the Caledor. As she finished the ship with pin-point lance blasted that opened the Eldar's hull to the vacuum of space.

The Macharius by this point got turned around and was heading back into the fight as fast as her ancient reactors can push her three kilometer length. The remaining Eldar ship, the Eclipse decided to run as she dodges an opening volley of nova cannon shells and a brace of lance beams. Though the mission was to totally clear out the Eldar presence in this area was a failure, however, with two confirmed dead Shadows and the Eclipse on the run High Command can be assured that for the next few months this region will be relatively safe from harassment and attack.

013 M41. Maia 1-10

The battlegroup has been run to the breaking point, constant escort and patrol duty through Eldar and Ork infested space. It culminated in a second flush and kill mission against the Orks in the region. Lord Hoeth deployed, the Loremaster Teclis with Capt. Nickoli Petrovich, the Imperator under Capt. Don Arminius as well as the Drachenfels with Capt. Ramas in command and the Aquila with Capt. William Von Spee in command, along with the two light cruisers.

The battlegroup jumped in an asteroid filled system and begin careful scanning of the region. It did not take long for the energy signatures of the roks to be discovered heading toward them. Petrovich and Arminius opened fire with their long range weapons. Torpedoes trailed the flaming nova cannon streaks as the roks charged into this maelstrom of steel. A handful of the roks were turned into debris clouds as they slowly closed into weapons range.

Since the roks move at a snail's pace Petrovich manage to get the ships in a line ahead formation Crossing the T of the approaching orks. As the fighters duel in a no man land filled with fiery energy bolts and streams of lance fire, a few ork aircraft got into weapons range of the Aquila. The orks were killed by the point defense weapons but with slight damage inflicted to the gothic's flanks.

The roks and the imperial ships open fire at the same time and the results were impressive. The amount of energy blacked out sensor screens and cause servitors to collapse from the strain. Ignoring the dead and dying around them, the imperial captains turn their ships as a unit and position their ships in a line abreast in the middle of the Ork rok field. The firing intensified as every weapon on both sides are brought to bear. The cruisers are being grinded down as rok after rok explode. Boarding actions break out on every human ship. Eventually the guns stop as the last orks are driven off the imperial ships, Petrovich takes stock of the damage done. The Blademaster is near death and the Aquila and Drakemaster are crippled, the two battlecruisers are just above the crippled status as well as the Drachenfels. For all of the carnage several groups of roks were destroyed drawing an even greater prize out of hiding, a space hulk.

Capt. Petrovich orders every ship capable to load their torpedo tubes with virus bombs and form wedge centered on the Loremaster Teclis. The three remaining cruisers compiled and follow their commodore's lead as they charge the Space Hulk. Shielding was focused to the front and every fighter capable of flying was launched as a thick screen. The Space Hulk opens with its many heavy guns and torpedoes. The imperial ships continue to fly straight into the jaws of death. The oversized fighter squadrons clear a path to the hulk at great cost, only a third of the planes will be docking at the conclusion of the battle.

The command was given to launch the torpedoes, as one the ships fired a mass of eighteen missile in a close spread. Moments later the Aquila was reduced to a hulk as the orks overwhelmed her weaken shields and damaged hull. The two Dauntlessness quickly followed the Aquila's example as they tried to tow the Gothic out of the line of fire. The torpedoes however run straight and all of them hit the hulk. The virus bombs quickly killing everything living inside. The thermal pulse flares and the hulks explodes as it suffers a series of titanic detonations as the different magazines and reactors reach critical levels.

The mission was to totally clear out the Ork presence in this area was a major success do to the destruction of the space hulk and several roks. Despite the high cost of material and lives the destroyed ships are repairable and salvage operations are quickly begun on the three hulked cruisers. High Command can be assured that for the next few months this region will be relatively safe from harassment and attack.

013 M41. Maia 21

High Command has something far more rewarding than convoy escort and Eldar hunting for our next operation. They have received reports that a Chaos Battlegroup is in the region and causing all kinds of problems as well as sowing fear and death as it passes through. The whole Battlegroup is ordered to RV and then precede to find the heretics and wipe them out. The battle order from High Command is spelled out with just one word: Exterminatus. We were to fight the enemy to utter annihilation of their force or our own. With this order the fleet prepares to fight their true enemies, the forces of Chaos and their depraved followers.

The fleet at Lord Hoeth's command formed up in a tight diamond for the trip through the warp and toward their foe. Every able ship was deployed. As the fleet emerge from the warp they formed up in line abreast with the torpedo armed ships ahead of the two Mars class ships. The two light cruisers positioned themselves on the right flank to help counter the agility of the pair of Slaughter class Cruisers opposite the Imperial lines. The Chaos fleet contains three heavy Cruisers; a Styx and two Acherons. These were supported by a pair of Devastation class cruisers, two Carnage class cruisers, and a single Murder class cruiser along with a pair of Idolater class frigates.

This battle, if we are victorious Lord Hoeth thinks to himself will make my battlegroup famous in the annals of Battlefleet Gothic. He then orders the fleet to open fire, the torpedo tubes belch out tongues of flame as each ship launches six thirty meter long torpedoes apiece. The Pride of Caledor and Loremaster Teclis open up with a twin nova cannon shot at one of the Carnages. It is crippled as one of the massive shells plows into its hull. With the torpedoes racing in the Imperial fleet heads toward their foe. The Chaos ship response with fury as fire fills the void between the closing ships, one by one the torpedoes are knocked from space. They continue to close the gap between the two fleets peppering the Imperial ships with light fire. The Imperial ships release another volley of torpedoes and release fighter aircraft. Hoeth moved the fleet closer and after a round of firing the enemy flag ship the Styx named Horrific was crippled. The rest of the Chaos fleet took minor damage.

The Warmaster of Chaos then moved even closer and opened fire. Luckily for the Imperial ships their crews were not as disciplined and confusion reigned as a result they inflicted little damage. With the ship now muzzle to muzzle Hoeth commands on the fleet wide channel to lock to their targets and show the Chaos thralls how servants of the Emperor fight. The effect was devastating as the two Slaughters were reduced to hulks by the combined fire of the Drachenfels, Pride of Caledor, Dominus Arcem, and the Imperator. Also the Horrific was killed by a weakened Dauntless light cruiser squadron. The other Carnage was also crippled by the fleet's firepower.

With the Chaos Warmaster's right and center destroyed the fighting shifts to the left wing as the Aquila cut off was hit by the firepower of the two Devastation's and one of the Archons. It's Captain, Von Spee griping the rails of the command pulpit as his ship is rumbling, quaking, and exploding as the three chaos cruisers mercilessly pour point blank fire into her hull orders his ship to ram the Devastation in front of his battered cruiser. He manages to weaken the enemy ship and slip away in the confusion. The other Devastation was killed and drifted through the battle space burning. She detonated in a flash as the fires reached her reactor and caused a fatal overload. The revenge of the traitors was swift, the Drachenfels and the Pride of Caledor reduced to hulks with the smallest trickle of power running through their veins. Lord Hoeth transferred command to the Imperator and reluctantly leaves the fight as the Acheron tries to finish off the crippled flag ship.

With the Imperial fleet is battered but not broken they move to surround the left wing of the Chaos Fleet killing the remaining ships of the center and right. The Chaos Warmaster was aboard the Styx as she was turned into dust and fire, it was up to the surviving Chaos Lords to rally their fleet and fight. Whatever they tried to do failed as the remaining Archon on the right wing left the battle with the only remaining Idolater. The only ships left on the left after the Imperial fleet finished reaping their tally is a crippled Devastation, the victim of the Aquila's ramming and an untouched Archon. This Archon moved toward the jump point on the other side of the system, leaving the Devastation to its fate.

As the crippled Devastation tries to flee it is killed by the Lord Solar Macharius. Capt. Semper's ship killed this Devastation and assisted with the earlier killing its sister. As the final rounds are blasted into its twisted hull, it gives way as a torrent of flame leaps up. The warp reactor exploded showering the immediate area with deadly energy beams and shrapnel from the death throes of the heretic cruiser.

The remaining ships move throughout the system slowly and methodically killing every life boat and stray aircraft that does not have Imperial recognition codes. Exterminatus means totally annihilation, the orders from High Command make this scourging necessary. Lord Hoeth uses this time to repair his damaged flag ship and the two Gothic cruisers to ensure that they can survive the warp trip back to their home in the Dracaris VI System. With the killing over, the ships from up around the cripples and headed back home, battered but victorious.

With their sector secure for the time being, Lord Hoeth leads his fleet toward the heart of the Gothic Sector as soon as he resupplies his newly arrived battleship. Once this leviathan of the void is ready, he is prepared to drive his battlegroup into the Eye of Terror if it is required to defeat the threat of Chaos in the Gothic Sector. The captains, crews, and ships of the Divine Asgardia Battlegroup of Battlefleet Gothic in the Segmentum Obscurus head into the fire of the guns and jaws of death to serve the Divine Emperor, Ruler of the Imperium Mankind. Good Hunting Battlefleet Gothic.