Chapter 8: The Journey.
Leman Russ was enjoying himself with wine, women, and song on his ship. His men likewise were enjoying themselves. After several millennia of chasing down traitors to make up for not being with the Emperor at the final battle, he was finally back with his men for the Wolf Time. All around him his Wolf Brothers danced with the chapter's serf women and the Orders Hospitaller: Order of the Cleansing Water detachment of Adeptus Sororitas that he arranged to have assigned to his personal Battlebarge. Only one fair maiden was left as he had arranged before hand with his men. As he approached her, she looked up.
"Oh, you."
"I would be honored if you join me Sister Madeline." Russ said with his hand out to assist her from her seat.
"Very well." She replied as she took his hand. Though tall for a woman at 6'3", which she had to be just to carry the equipment she wore on campaign, she was still dwarfed by Leman Russ. Looking up at the Primarch, she nodded her assent. With that they joined the dance. "May I ask how long we will be in Warp?"
"4 months warp time, 4 years real time, my dear." Russ replied with his trademark Wolfish grin.
"Can we afford to be out of touch that long?" Madeline asked.
"Sure we can, not much can happen in the time we spend here. Distress signals take at least a month to be heard on average from at least 13lys due to all the background noise in the Warp and depending on the skills and strength of the Astropath."
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"Admiral Odd-Ball, we picked up Prowler 123-78's distress signal 159lys away from here. They say they are experiencing engine trouble.
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"Once a distress beacon is sent, it takes a few months for relief to arrive and then it must travel from its translation point which can be far as 1 AU to 7 AU from the Planet depending on the skills of the Navigator and how far they are jumping from. Then you have to launch fighters and Gunboats as they can't jump with you."
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"Admiral, we can be there in 20 minutes."
"Very well, helm, set course and engage hyperspace engines. CAG, launch our compliment of ARC-170 fighters and the Gunboats so they may jump with us."
"Yes sir."
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"Because of these problems, ambushes are extremely hard to pull off."
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"Admiral, we have arrived in Synchronous Orbit over the Planet. Commander Donovan's wing is approaching the Prowler with the rescue bird… That's odd; we should be hearing them now."
"Guardia actual, this is Donovan, I'm not picking up life signs."
"Gravity Alerts. I picking up distortions, shit! 50 Vessels just jumped in."
"Radiological Alarm, Antimatter Warheads inbound, brace for impact!"
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"But, when an ambush does occur, especially in orbit, there is no escaping for the most part."
"Hasn't anyone ever succeeded in escaping an Ambush?"
"Not to my knowledge."
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Engagement time 00:53 seconds
V-Wings fully launched within twenty seconds of the barrage were in full scale dogfights with Necron Doom Raiders and Jackals all over the Guardia.
"Bravo Wing cover the portside, the point defense batteries took a beating there. Donovan, take your wing and knock out that ship in grid 7-8-2. All others you are free to engage." CAG shouted out.
Admiral Odd-Ball took even more action. "Helm, bring us to bear on the lead ship. Bow torpedo tubes stand by for salvo fire. Fire!" The 4 torpedoes, each rated at 2 petatons, tore apart the Necron Tombship they were fired at.
The Necron Lord on the surviving Tombship immediately ordered retaliatory strikes with all weapons at the Necrons' disposal as the Guardia and its fighters attempted to run the gauntlet out of the trap.
"Increase our shield strength to maximum and burn out the engines. Nav override the safeties to the nav computer so we can jump out of here."
"Aye Sir."
"CAG, recall the V-Wings, combat landings."
"Aye Sir."
"Nav computer over ridden."
"Last of the V-Wings aboard."
"Jump."
The Guardia with its surviving escorts disappeared, barely avoiding getting hit by the Necrons' most powerful weapons. Once more the Necrons were thwarted and next time the gloves would come off.
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When the celebration was over, Leman Russ saw Sister Madeline off to her Order's quarters among the Apothecaries. Once he saw her off, he headed towards his room to sleep. Soon, the Imperium will have its victory over Chaos. But, it always paid to get a good night sleep before engaging in battle.
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Admiral Odd-Ball looked grimly at the after action report. Portside point defense batteries were smashed beyond repair. The paint job was completely gone. 123 V-Wings about a quarter of his total fighter compliment had been destroyed along with 5 Skipray Blastboats. A total of 367 crewman dead, and 48 wounded. Altogether, a depressing night.
