Regent of Glory
With a final shudder, the Honor of Damless died. Its engines flared and lost power, leaving the vessel drifting is space. The remainder of the fleet pressed on, making full speed for the Tau orbital station whose guns had spilled the first blood of the battle.
Aboard the Regent Lackshimbai, Captain Ragas slammed a fist into the arm of his command throne, the pain a reminder that he was still alive and capable of killing the Emperor's enemies. "Status on the fleet!" The rail thin man demanded, glaring with icy blue eyes at his bridge crew. They moved with admirable efficiency as they carried status reports and munitions updates between the officers and the enlisted. A constant vibration from the primary plasma reactor filled the chamber with an ever-present thrumming.
"The fleet has broken up my lord," came the reply from Flag Lieutenant Verris as he took in information from the primary sensorium screen. "The Blade of Woe and most of the heavy vessels are following our course, escorts making for the station." Suddenly a blaring alert blasted from the sensorium, echoing across the command deck. "My lord, sensors detect eleven, repeat, eleven Tau vessels emerging from the planet's far side moon. Cruiser type, closing fast. Orders?"
Examining the fleet positions on the screen of a servo-skull, Captain Ragas saw that the Tau were on course to cut the Imperial fleet in half, driving them against the guns of the orbital which was already trading blows with the Imperial Navy escorts. "Course all ahead full. Power to main lance and prepare to fire on my command. Void shields focus forward," he barked out a fast stream of orders, and the crew leapt to obey. The Regent angled its prow to face the front rank of gleaming Tau craft.
"Twenty seconds until lance range," officer Bertas called from the ordinance platform. Delicately he twisted dials and altered power levels, praying to the Regent's mighty machine spirits to bring swift targeting and constant power. The hum of plasma resonated through his body as his hands moved almost with a will of their own. Finally the range finder blinked green. "Entering maximum range for prow lance!" He called.
"Fire at will," Captain Ragas ordered, smiling as a lance of pure energy leapt from the Regent's bow, cutting into the port quarter of the foremost Tau vessel. Armor vaporized and compartments decompressed as the awesome wrath of the Emperor speared the Tau cruiser. Flames gushed from the wound like hot blood into space. "Praise the Emperor!"
"Praise the Emperor!" Echoed the crew just as the Tau fleet returned fire. A wave of torpedoes blasted towards the Imperial cruiser.
"Target those torpedoes; hard to port!" Ragas ordered, feeling the strain as his ship executed the tightest turn it could manage. Most of the Tau torpedoes slid past the hull, but four impacted, shaking the ship as void shields crackled and sparked as they repelled the violent detonation.
"Forward void shields intact but weakened my lord. No damage to the hull, but we've lost long range communications" Officer Bertas called out.
"Get us back on course; target the damaged Tau vessel and fire at will," Captain Ragas ordered. "Stay strong old friend," he whispered to the Regent. His ship had never let him down in the three decades he had known her, and Emperor help him he did not intend to start now.
"Main lance recharge cycle complete. Computing targeting telemetry," Bertas signed off. "Lance firing!" He called as once again the Imperial cruiser let lose with a beam of bright white power. By the Emperor's grace the shot hit in nearly the same spot as the first, penetrating deep within the Tau ship's hull and piercing its reactor. The entire ships exploded violently, debris pelting the two ships closest to it. "By the Emperor, that's how we deal with xenos!"
"For the Emperor!" The crew replied.
"More torpedoes incoming!" Bertas warned.
"Hart to starboard and up one quarter," Ragas called out, watching his crew maneuver the ship so as to present as small a target as possible. Point defense batteries filled space with high radiation clouds and kilometer wide explosive bursts. Nearly a third of the torpedoes were shot down, and another third missed their target, but six of the Tau weapons managed to hit their targets. The command deck shook as two of the missiles made it through the Regent's void shields. "Damage report, now!"
"Minor damage to prow armor, hull breach on decks four through seven, emergency bulkheads engaged. Weapons undamaged, thirty seconds until void shield recharge cycle complete," Bertas replied.
"My lord, I recommend we withdraw and link up with the rest of the fleet," Lieutenant Verris advised.
"No," Ragas replied, reading the Tau fleet's continued progress forward. "We're already too close, and the fleet needs time to tighten formation. We're their only chance of getting that time. With the Emperor's grace and a pinch of luck we can cut through their line and get behind that moon. Now, maintain course and fire as she bears!"
"Aye lord, the Emperor protects."
"The Emperor protects," the crew recited, making the sign of the Aquila across their chests.
Kor'el T'sha'tha watched in shock as the Bright Star exploded apart, its debris striking the two Merchant class ships flanking it. The single enemy vessel was still closing fast on his fleet, a small amount of debris trailing like a comet's tail behind it. "Prepare a third torpedo salvo. How is it that one vessel can sustain this amount of punishment and still remain operational?" He asked himself as a third volley of drone guided warheads swept out toward the enemy ship. The orbital station was currently holding its own against the smaller ships of the fleet, but if he could split the fleet in two halves half would fall to him while the rest would be dashed against the station's rail guns.
The Kor'el watched as once again the blocky vessel deployed a cloud of anti-torpedo fire, tearing apart nearly half the Tau weapons, but five of the others impacted, two making it through the vessel's shields and tearing material from the hull. Several small explosions erupted, but the vessel continued on its course without wavering. Another energy lance erupted from the bow, striking the Light of Truth on her bow and tearing into the superstructure. Debris and bodies were sucked into space as the ship began listing badly. "By the Greater Good," he swore as the blocky ship simply continued to close. "Fire again, all weapons!" He refused to show it, but a small pit of fear was building in his stomach.
"Third torpedo salvo incoming!" Lt. Verris called out.
"Secondary weapons target those missiles, lance target the Tau vessel third from the center and fire once we complete evasive maneuvers. Helm, hard right and down one third," Captain Ragas ordered. He heard structural supports groan and metal straining as the ship was forced into a maneuver more suited to a starfighter than a capital ship. "Hold together my friend, just a bit longer. We cannot falter now," he spoke to the Regent, and he heard the groans lessen slightly. Once more the greater number of Tau torpedoes barely missed the light cruiser, but four made it and impacted on weakened void shields. The command chamber shook violently and a power conduit ruptured, spraying metal shrapnel into the bodies of several crew members.
"Hull breaches across decks two, three, six and ten! Port point defense system offline! Void shield generator two is damaged!" Verris called from his station.
"Helm, get us back on course! Fire all weapons the instant you have a lock!" Ragas ordered as he listened to the pain of his ship. He knew she was wounded, but every passing second brought him closer to his goal. The fleet was beginning to regroup, and a fiery explosion consumed a weapon cluster on the orbital station.
"Primary weapon locked on, and firing," Bertas called out as he sent the Emperor's vengeance spearing straight into the centerline of a Tau ship, cutting clean through and out the other side. The ship lost power and went dark but did not explode. "Beginning recharge cycle, thirty seconds until firing!"
"All available power to forward void shield. Prepare for impact of next torpedo volley," the Captain ordered. "Ten seconds from impact all engines to push the ship into a full starboard turn. Don't give the xeno scum a clean shot at out port side."
"Aye sir!" Came the reply from the helmsmen as he took a moment to wipe the sweat from his hands. He gripped the controls with white knuckles and waited for the order. "Hard left helmsman, now!" Came the order. "Understood!" He replied, pushing the control column as hard as he could to the left, feeling the ship's structure vibrate and rattle as it was subjected to pressures it had never been designed to withstand. "Stay strong, mighty spirits of the Regent," he prayed.
Once more torrents of defensive fire filled the space around the lone Imperial vessel, tearing apart the incoming Tau torpedoes, but this time streams of rail gun fire joined them, tracing burning lines across the forward void shields and weakening them enough that three Tau weapon hit in sequence, opening up half the starboard decks to space.
The command deck quaked; support beams falling and crushing officers and men alike. Flames erupted from a power conduit, searing the flesh of a pair of ratings. Thick smoke began filling the air only to be sucked away by the fire suppression system. Captain Ragas, his forehead sliced open by flying shrapnel, wiped a hand across his brow. "Status report!" He bellowed, his pain not concerning him as he looked at the most recent damage inflicted upon his beloved warship. The xenos would pay tenfold whatever they had dealt him.
"Starboard hull severely damage my lord. We have lost all point defense and void shields are down, one minute to full recharge. Lance battery is still online, but power capacitors have been damaged. We will now require two minutes for a full power shot," Lt. Verris responded. "My lord, we-"
"I know," Ragas replied. We've come this far, and with the Emperor as my witness we shall not falter now. If the noble Regent is to meet her end today, we will do it with courage and honor. Helm, set course for the closest Tau vessel, give me ramming speed. If we can blast through her with the lance we'll have a clear shot to the moon, and if not…"
"Understood my lord," Helmsman Terrick replied calmly as he adjusted the ship's course. Since his posting to the Lackshimbai he had always known his end would be an honorable one, as his father had hoped for all his sons. "Course set, impact in two minutes," he called out. "The Emperor protects."
"The Emperor protects," the surviving members of the command crew replied with conviction. The Regent Lackshimbai would do her duty as a vessel of the God-Emperor of Mankind.
"By the A'un!" T'sha'tha exclaimed as the blocky ship weathered another wave of Tau weapons. Trails of debris now spilled it its wake, and one entire side was burning, but still the vessel came on at full speed.
"Kor'el, the enemy vessels has changed course. They are…they are moving straight towards us. A collision course," a Tau manning the sensor station called out.
"They mean to destroy us both. Who are these people?" The Kor'el asked in disbelief.
"Impact in one minute thirty seconds," Helmsman Terrick called out.
"Lance energy level at forty percent," the ordinance officer reported. "I have a lock on our target vessel."
"Wait until we have half power, than target their bridge if you can Bertas," Captain Ragas replied.
"Aye my lord," the ordinance officer replied. Carefully he watched the energy levels for the lance battery rise, willing the machine spirit to hasten its efforts. Then the level hit half charge. "Lance at half power, targeting enemy vessel. Target lock achieved, and firing!" This time the lance beam was noticeably dimmer, but it still speared into the Tau ship with a vengeance, striking just aft of the bridge and burning a hole through multiple decks. "A good hit my lord, but the vessel is still operational. One minute to half lance power."
"In the Emperor's name we do our duty. In the Emperor's name we pray, and in the Emperor's name we will kill the enemies of humanity," Captain Ragas intoned, bowing his head briefly.
"In the Emperor's name," the crew replied as the Tau fleet loomed larger in the forward windows.
"Enemy volley inbound!"
"Full ahead, take us through," Captain Ragas ordered. This close to the enemy ships the prow presented the smallest target profile. "All hands, brace for impact!"
The Tau torpedo salvo hit hard. With no point defenses left a full eight of the Tau weapons impacted. Two were stopped by the void shields, but the rest hit across the forward sections, ripping a massive chunk of armor clean off and sending everyone aboard the Regent to the floor.
Captain Ragas Pulled himself back into his command throne, feeling the break in his arm and the blood soaking down his back from a long gash. "Ship status!?"
"Prow armor gone, decks two through twelve open to space, lance non-operational," Lt. Verris reported. "Main structural points still intact, and engine remain on-line my lord."
Captain Ragas wiped blood out of his eyes and glared at the Tau fleet. The xenos had mauled his ship, but he was still moving and he would make them pay for what they had done this day. "Maintain course helmsman. We will do our duty to the Emperor."
"Aye sir," Terrick replied. "I will make you proud Father," he whispered.
T'sha'tha stared in disbelief as the oncoming vessel absorbed yet another torpedo volley and continued on course to ram his ship. "By the Ethereals, fire again!" He commanded, fighting to keep the fear from his voice. The enemy ship was aflame and looked almost like a fiery demon from the old legends coming to devour his ship and crew. He had to destroy it somehow, but how could he defeat something that absorbed everything he threw at it?
Captain Ragas felt completely calm as he watched the launches from the Tau fleet. This wave would be the final one they could launch before the Regent slammed into their target. . "All hands, prepare for impact. You have all performed your duties as well as anyone could be expected. It has been my honor to serve with you all," he said.
"And we have been honored to serve with you as well my lord," Lt. Verris replied as he saluted his captain.
The Tau weapons impacted, and this time bulkheads collapsed and fuel lines ignited, turning the Regent into a flaming comet, tearing towards its victim. Then the final torpedo hit, breaking through the thick armor of the Regent's midline and collapsing the entire section. Other bulkheads, weakened by repeated strikes, gave way as well, driving meters thick support beams into the volatile plasma reactor. A brief star flared into existence as the Regent Lackshimbai exploded apart. A burning chunk of the bow, still traveling at great speed, slammed into the leading Tau ship, tearing through the engines and sending the ship spinning out of control. The Emperor's instrument of war had done its final task.