Thirteen
"The Emperor is master of the galaxy, but the captain is master of his ship."
-popular Imperial Navy saying
Hamilcar was unsure how to act in the presence of the Astartes sergeant, like most Guardsmen he had gone his entire military career without ever seeing one of the Emperor's Angels of Death. Until now that is. He found the entire experience unsettling.
he had followed the giant armoured warrior to one of the secure briefing rooms deep within the rockrete bowels of the fortress. Not a single word had been uttered during the entire time as the stoic Silver Knight offered no conversation and Hamilcar thought better of breaking the silence.
When they finally arrived at their destination the Astartes, who seemed to fill the room all by himself, activated a hololith and an image of Corduba once again sprang to life before Hamilcar.
'What is your opinion on the current military situation?' Peleus demanded of Hamilcar.
'My lord.' Hamilcar began. 'The locals have put a brave resistance, as is befitting of soldi-'
'I want your honest opinion.' The Astartes growled. 'Please, start again.'
'Do I have permission to speak freely then, my lord?' Hamilcar asked, uneasy at the prospect of sharing his exact thoughts.
'That goes without saying.' Was the gruff reply, followed by a hiss of air as Peleus removed his helmet. 'And do not call me lord. I am not your master and you are not my servant, we are both warriors of the Emperor and that makes us equals.'
Hamilcar nodded, a look of sincere respect on his face. 'In that case I can tell you that what I know is not good. The local military has all but collapsed and taking into account what I have witnessed of their officers I am quite frankly surprised we are conducting a war of resistance instead of a liberation. I dread to think of the level of competence at which the System Defence Fleet operates that a full scale invasion was not only unopposed in high orbit but that their High Command was completely unaware of it until the first towns were razed.' The Qart-Hadashtim colonel hesitated, unsure if he should continue.
'Do not hold back on my account.' Peleus said.
'On my world any officers of this calibre would have been hurled into the Sacred Fire.' He thought of captain Valéria and the genuine concern she felt over how this war was being handled, as well as the motherly affection she had shown to the poor orphaned girl. 'Though perhaps all not all are deserving of such a fate."
'Your words ring true, Hamilcar son of Zakarbaal.' The Silver Knight nodded. 'You appear to be a man of honour so I will not do you dishonour by speaking untruths. The situation is indeed grave, by the estimates of our savants hundreds of thousands of Imperial citizens have already lost their lives with millions more displaced. What is more concerning is that this sector is under the protection of the Silver Knights Third Company as it is part of the Andromeda Cluster and not even we detected a fleet large enough for the scale of this invasion. Our foe is both savage and cunning. And that is a dangerous combination indeed.'
…
From his position in high orbit over Corduba captain Abbas Ibn Aslam, commanding officer of the Imperial Navy Grand Cruiser Light of Vengeance, could be forgiven for forgetting there was a war raging on the surface of the planet below.
His small flotilla that provided an escort for the fat troop ships had seen no signs of any enemy vessels whatsoever, even after his intelligence officers poured over the data extracted from the SDF boats they could not find a single reference to any activity that seemed out of the ordinary.
Abass' sharp features were cast in a nervous look. Something was not right and that kept gnawing at his mind. He was of a cautious mindset, officers in command of Imperial Navy vessels who threw caution to the wind tended not to live long after all. He liked to see all the facts neatly laid out before so the situation could be analysed and a strategy could be formulated.
His unease was made worse when a Strike Cruiser of the Adeptus Astartes translated from the warp and sent its superhuman warriors to the surface of Corduba. He knew from experience that the Astartes did not go to war lightly.
'Check the SDF data again.' He told his first officer, a woman called Teja.
The working relation between the two officers was not yet what it ought to be as Teja was only recently promoted after her unfortunate predecessor was stabbed to death while trying the novel approach of using diplomacy to resolve a mutiny. The reluctantly promoted Teja was then instructed to end the mutiny within an 'acceptable timeframe'. She accomplished this by having the ringleaders thrown out of the nearest airlock.
'With respect, sir.' Teja said, a weary look appearing on her delicate face. 'We have checked that data four times already.'
'Then check it a fifth time.' Abass snapped and turned his back on her, his attention once again fixed on the blue and green orb of Corduba.
Teja knew better than to argue with her superior so she merely saluted , while resisting the urge to make a face, and made ready pass his command on to the intelligence officers serving on the Light of Vengeance. Again.
She paused when she heard the words every Naval soldier from Lord Admiral to lowly ensign dreaded to hear.
'Enemy contacts incoming!'
'On screen, now!' Captain Abass snarled.
The vast tactical display in the middle of the bridge flared into life with abstract symbols with dotted lines trailing behind them inching closer to the runes which designated the troop ships.
'What am I looking at?' Abass yelled as he took his place on his command throne and he saw the same scene in miniature on his private tactical monitor.
'According to the cogitators their frames match torpedoes.' The ordnance master called out. 'Closing fast on the Trapani and the Erice. Estimated time of impact is four and a half minutes.'
'Hail those ships at once!' Abass ordered, knowing the transports lacked the warning apparatus of more sophisticated ships of the line. 'And order the flotilla and the SDF boats in defensive pattern gamma!'
'Hailing, aye!' The vox master called out.
Abass's display was split in three parts as the tactical display ceded ground to the grainy images of the captains of the two transport ships.
'What is going on?' The captain of the Erice, a woman of whom Abass had never learned the name, demanded. The captain of the Trappani opened his mouth but no sound emerged, no doubt due to some sort of mechanical failure. Transport ships were notoriously low on the maintenance list of the Navy.
'No time.' Abass said, his face tense. 'Take up positions behind the corvettes Nineveh and Sigulda.'
The two transport ships signalled their acknowledgements.
After several tense minutes of watching the flotilla assume their formation Abass saw the SDF vessels were not taking their place in the formation he had ordered. He was enraged to see them pulling away from their positions.
'What the in the name of the Emperor am I seeing here?' He growled.
'Message from the SDF admiral, sir.' His vox master replied. 'He is pulling his forces back to defensive positions around the moon of Corduba.'
'Tell that cretin we will win this without him then!' Abass said and hammered his fist on the arm rest of his command throne. 'And tell him I will pay his command ship a visit along with commissar Otto.'
'Sending message, aye!' The vox master acknowledged.
Abbas now turned to his ordnance master who was monitoring the trajectory of the torpedoes as well as the speed of the transport ships. The grim shake of the man's head was all the confirmation the captain needed about the unshielded transports' chances of survival.
'The Emperor protects.' He said.
A few moments later the runes representing the Trapani and the Erice disappeared from his display.
…
Unbeknownst to the Imperials their fleet was being watched with predatory intent the moment it had translated from the hellish dimension that was the warp.
Contrary to what some of the Corduban clergy were claming the lycans had not just appeared out of thin air to punish the people of Corduba for their sins.
By good fortune their vessels had slipped into the system when heavy solar flares scrambled the long range sensors of Corduba that were designed to warn of any fleet movements of a size that would herald an invasion.
The vhoi-hesh'tar in command of the lycan vessels, what humans would call an admiral, managed to skilfully mask his fleet in the solar radiation as they disgorged their warriors on the regions that were sparsely populated. The ground forces were dropped with sufficient ammunition for a protracted war but with limited food. They would hunt and kill their meat or they would go hungry, as was the way of their people.
The sudden arrival of a human fleet in the system as well as the single silver and golden craft was cause for alarm and forced him to abandon his subterfuge.
The gifts his ancestors had wrenched from the vessels of the knife-ears were activated, shrouding his ships in a cloak of secrecy as they drifted into place to spring his trap.
He licked his lips when the first torpedoes and the ships of the newly arrived fleet formed up into a defensive formation, presenting their broadsides to where they assumed the enemy was. The other fleet however did exactly what the lycan commander expected it to do and fell back, it's commander having no stomach for a fight.
A retreat that would lead them straight into the waiting jaws of his ships.
…
Abass clenched the armrests of his command throne in a white-knuckled grip as he saw the silent explosions that marked the deaths of the Trapani and the Erice, along with the thousands of crew members who served on them.
'I want to know where those torpedoes originated from.' Abass growled.
He turned to Teja before the vox unit on the bridge sparked into life with the frantic voice of the SDF admiral.
'… request assista… heavy fir… massive losses..!'
'What are you saying, man!' Abass snapped at his vox caster, showing utter disregard for the Corduban's rank.
More static was his reply until he the voice of the admiral, now screaming hysterically, came crackling through.
'…. oarding parties..! They're on the bridge! THEY'RE ON THE BRIDGE!"
This was followed by the sounds of gunfire intermingled with animal snarls, human screams and the sickening sound of blade and claw tearing through human flesh.
'S-sir, look.' First officer Teja said white faced and turned the captain's attention to the faraway sight of the SDF fleet being torn to pieces by alien vessels. Explosions lit up the orbit of Corduba's moon as the armour of the SDF boats succumbed to the repeated broadsides of the lycan ships. Some vessels were being spared the punishing barrages and captain Abass was under no illusion that their crews were fighting for their lives in a doomed attempt to repel the xeno boarders.
'Your orders?' Teja asked, as every face on the bridge turned to him for guidance.
For the first time in his life captain Abass Ibn Aslam did not know what to do or what to say.
He was there for immensely relieved when the vox sprang into life again, this time it was a deep voice that filled the entire bridge of the Light Vengeance.
'All Imperial vessels, this is acting captain Amhar of the Strike Cruiser Ilafn Dialgar of the Silver Knights Chapter, I am assuming command of this fleet.'
