Far above the tortured planet of Medusa, in the relative peace of deep space, the war still held sway.
The bridge of the Imperial Armageddon class Battle cruiser pious shook as another explosion ripped through the ship.
Captain Morganus, grizzled veteran of many battles, pulled himself to his feet using his command throne.
The main lighting had gone out, and was replaced by the blood light of the secondary systems. A number of the servitors hard wired into the command consoles slumped destroyed, some small electrical fires crackled from the damaged machinery.
"Damage report!" Morganus barked.
A junior officer peered over the shoulder of one of the remaining servitors.
"We've taken extensive damage on our starboard side. Starboard lances destroyed. Starboard batteries have taken 50 damage. Engineering reports that we've lost starboard manoeuvring thrusters and the shields have been overloaded."
Morganus grimaced at the news. His ship was badly damaged, and unprotected. Another volley and the cruiser would fall apart.
His hatred rose as he watched the crude outline of the Kill Cruiser sweep past his stricken vessel.
The Orks had attacked without warning. The Pious' escorts had been obliterated piecemeal by small Ork attack craft that swept round the asteroid field and attacked from the rear. Although the Imperial escorts were wiped out, they died heroically, blunting the attack and letting the Pious annihilate the Ork escorts as they made their suicidal attack runs.
Then the Kill Cruiser and a Terror ship followed in, and hammered the Pious into submission.
Morganus' rage now knew no bounds. He would not let his proud ship be destroyed by a rabble of greenskins.
"All speed ahead!" He roared "Ram them!"
The crew looked at him for a moment, but turned back to their posts with renewed determination, sharing their captain's will to destroy the foul xenos.
The fractured frame of the Pious groaned in protest as the ancient engines fired up to their maximum. The leviathan of the stars roared after the Ork ship, fire and vapour billowing from the starboard side making it appear as though an angel of vengeance was bearing down on the enemy.
"You might want to hold onto something" The captain growled through gritted teeth, as the Kill Cruiser loomed large in the view ports.
The impact was titanic. The armoured prow of the Pious bit deep into the enemy ship's midsection, tearing masses of armour, gunz and assorted metal from the Ork ship, which spiralled away in a cloud of debris.
Despite the horrendous damage, the Ork vessel powered away, tearing itself from the pious, removing a large chunk of the prow as it did so.
Captain Morganus was devastated. His last ditch attempt to do as much damage as he could had failed. Now the two Ork cruisers were circling like wolves around a crippled animal. The one remaining lance on the pious fired again and again, but couldn't penetrate the enemy ship's shields long enough to do any lasting damage.
Suddenly, a console bleeped loudly, indicating that more ships had been detected.
The battered ensign gave the report.
"Ships dropping out of warp in close proximity. 11 Unidentified ships, with an escort of… A Despoiler class battleship, two desolators and numerous pre heresy pattern cruisers."
Captain Morganus seemed to sag in his command throne. He knew full well that such a force was easily going to sweep the Ork forces and his own away, and cause significant damage to the Imperial forces in the Medusa system.
"Emperor save our souls." He muttered.
"Sir! The IFF shows that they're broadcasting a valid friendly ID signal!" The ensign cried.
The Culverinian fleet moved into action with commendable speed. The long ranged weapon batteries of the Desolator took out the shields of the Kill Cruiser, and the Despoiler class carrier moved in on a direct course, firing its horrifying massed lances forward.
The titanic lasers ripped into the Ork ship with ease, carving huge pieces of wreckage. With internal explosions torturing its frame, the Kill Cruiser fell apart, disintegrating in a series of shattering explosions.
Seeing the destruction of its companion, the remaining Terror ship turned to flee, but a pair of Capital ships, Repulsive grand cruisers, gave chase.
The battle grey vessels slowly closed with the Ork ship, and simultaneously launched torpedoes at the retreating ship.
Slamming into the rear of the ship, the massed torpedo barrage completely destroyed the engines and rear of the Terror ship in a pattern of colossal fireballs as the plasma warheads detonated.
Left drifting and on fire, the Ork cruiser was helpless as the pair of grand cruisers pulled alongside and opened fire.
The thunderous barrage covered the entire ship with flames, and the crude Ork construction disintegrated a cloud of debris.
On the bridge of the Pious the command crew had watched the scene in awe.
"The lead ship is hailing us"
"Put them through" Morganus ordered, and the veiwscreen lit up, showing an officer in dark red carapace armour and grey fatigues. He looked only about 30, but already had the steely expression of one who has seen entire worlds burn, often from the surface.
"This is Colonel Varus speaking on behalf of Battlefleet Culverinia. Your ship appears to be heavily damaged, do you require assistance?"
"We would be grateful if you could tow us back to what's left of the orbital docks. Our manoeuvring thrusters were heavily damaged in that engagement, and we can't turn easily." Morganus replied "I must say your fleet's actions were most impressive. Battlefleet Culverinia, you say?"
"We hail from the western halo. I doubt anyone out here would have heard of us, but we're pretty much the only military force in our entire sector." Varus said.
"Well, it's good to have you on our side" Morganus complimented.
Colonel Varus stared out of one of the large windows of the command deck, watching a cruiser link up with the Pious to tow it to safety.
A squadron of starfighters swept past, a group from the Despoiler's vast hangar bays.
Swarm was an apt, if somewhat crude name for this ship Varus thought.
He sighed, knowing that within a matter of days he would have to lead his men into a hellish warzone, and that many of them wouldn't be coming back.
He looked across the swarm's command deck, watching the various fleet officers scurrying from station to station. Unlike the dark gloomy interior of other Imperial warships, the Swarm had bright functional spaces, and all the wires and such were hidden behind panels.
The servitors had also been replaced by logic engines the local forge world had developed.
"You seem troubled."
Varus looked around, and saw the person who asked the question was Field Marshal Liverchester. This man was just on the wrong side of fifty, but still strong and built like a tank. Liverchester truly was a grizzled veteran, and sported a long scar across his face almost as proudly as the various medals festooning his chest.
The field marshal was posted as a political officer, to fill the gap left by a commissar, due to the immense distances between the Schola Progenium and Culverinia.
However, because Liverchester had fought in the army for most of his professional career, it was doubtful if he could summarily execute officers on the battlefield.
"I'm going to be shuttling over to the transport ship soon, and I wonder sometimes why we have to send so many young men and women to their deaths on worlds so distant." Varus explained.
"That's heresy, you know" warned Liverchester, but his heart wasn't in it.
"Who really cares? All I want to know is what piece of emperor forsaken rock we're going to have to fight over. I would like to know where we're being sent to die, you know." Varus replied bitterly.
"Look at yourself! You know that you're the best commander we've got out here, and the men know that too. You're not going to get them all killed! I'm ordering you to get as many people back home as you can, and you're not going to do that by moping around feeling sorry for yourself!" Liverchester thundered.
Varus looked as though he'd just been slapped, and jerked out of his reverie.
"Thanks, friend. I don't know what happened there, I just…."
"Look, everyone needs help sometimes."
Varus nodded and walked off of the bridge.