Chapter 57
Battle of Sluis Van
Chaos Cometh
Sorry bout deleting those other two chapters, but I was having serious second thoughts about introducing another faction into the story. So I deleted that part and decided to continue on with the finale of the episode. So here is my official apology, hope you guys enjoy it!
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The screeches of daemons and warp apparitions resounded throughout the Planet Killers unnaturally built hull, adding their eerie chorus to the groans of the Chaos flagships superstructure. The walls of the vast chambers and long corridors seemed to pulse like the insides of some massive creature, as if they were all veins connected to a beating heart in the flagships centre. To Abaddon the Despoiler, Warmaster and gods chosen of the forces of Chaos, the screams of the warp apparitions and of the groans of the ships hull were all like a symphony of beautiful music to his ears. His bridge crew of traitor serfs all sat at their stations, a mass of cables attached to the backs of their heads as they conversed with the Planet Killer directly, working at a speed which would drive the regular serfs of the corpse emperor insane.
"All ships report ready, my lord" one of the serfs mumbled.
Abaddon watched from his throne of skulls as the ten thousand warships of his armada moved into positions. Massive battleships and battlecruisers surrounded his flagship, acting in a way like small frigates and destroyers would protect a cruiser. Battlecruisers, heavy cruisers, battle carriers and cruisers were spread across an area of space of over five thousand kilometres. Small squadrons of escort vessels each surrounded a capital ship from three to nine vessels. Small packs of Iconoclast destroyers and Infidel raiders skittered around the perimeter, scanners and eyes peeled for any surprise attack.
"Is the first wave ready?"
"Yes my lord"
"Then order them to advance" Abaddon ordered sharply, he knew that this was his final chance to remedy the situation. Sluis Van must fall or the armada was finished.
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Sluis Van
An hour later
"They are within range"
"Long range turbolances fire" Grand Admiral Antilles ordered. He sat forward in his command throne and watched as the new hybrid weapon systems opened fire upon the advances Chaos war fleet, peppering the leading vessel with long lances of gold light. A split second later and the rest of the fleet opened up with their own long range turbolance batteries.
"Launch fighters from carrier squadrons one, two and three" he ordered to his communications officer.
A few moments later and the first waves of fighters, bombers and gunships launched from the starfighter carriers. A horde of X-wings, A-wings, V-wings, K-wings and Y-wings joined the Imperial Thunderbolts and Marauders as they slipped past the still bombarding capital-ships and began making attack runs on the Chaos warships. At the head of the swarm was Rogue squadron, the most elite starfighter squadron in the Alliance starfighter corps, under the command of Commander Gavin Darklighter. They were followed by the equally famous 181st Imperial Fighter Group, a cluster of six starfighter squadrons, making a grand total of seventy two Tie Interceptors, Sentinels and Defenders. Spread out across a hundred kilometres of space were twenty similar sized starfighter groups. Each one made of a combination of Alliance, Hapan, Remnant and Imperial starfighter squadrons. Darklighter looked at the mass of TIE fighters following his squadron of X-wings and shook his head, remembering a time when the Rogues fought against the 181st. His reverie was cut short as they came up towards the first line of Chaos ships, a shell of frigates and gunships surrounding the vanguard fleets four cruisers and two battlecruisers.
The frigates opened fire with point laser cannons and lance batteries, forcing the approaching starfighter wings to execute evasive manoeuvres. Several TIE fighters of the 181st turned into bright blooms as light as they were hit by the escort's weapons fire.
"Alright everyone" Gavin said into the com "Bombers set runs on the frigates, fighters and interceptors deal with the fighters"
He received a mass of clicks in response and brought his X-wing into a barrel roll, diving towards a Chaos frigate, his squadron easily keeping up with him. The frigate opened fire with point defence batteries, spewing thin lances of laser fire and tracer rounds from rail guns, the escort's two squadrons of Switdeaths already moving to engage the 181st.
"Prep proton torpedoes for launch" Gavin ordered and immediately started hitting the activation switches, he continued to perform evasive turns and rolls as he approached the frigate and when he was within fifty meters he gave the order. The squadron released their proton torpedoes, appearing as orbs of red light as they collided with the traitor vessels heavily armoured hull. A dozen flashes of blinding light christened their contact with the picket. Explosions replaced the bright light, causing the frigate to visibly shake. A series of secondary explosions broke the vessel apart.
"Nicely done Rogues" Gavin whooped "Now onto the next one"
Across the skirmishes commander Derek Sullivan, leader of the Imperial navies own elite squadrons. A group of a hundred Thunderbolts known as the Avenger Wing, made of the most veteran pilots of the Warmasters crusade who survived no less than a hundred engagements with the enemies of the Emperor. Sullivan was the best of the hundred, surviving a hundred and twenty five skirmishes and racking up over two hundred enemy kills. He brought his Thunderbolt into a sharp barrel roll, bringing it up behind an enemy Switdeath and after a few moments of jinking and junking pulled the trigger. The twin laser cannons located on the nose of his fighter spilled tracer rounds of crimson lasfire, catching the Switdeath in its canopy. It exploded a few moments later, bits and pieces of metal clashing with the small starfighters void shields.
He brought his fighter into a dive towards an enemy gunship, jinking and junking to escape its six laser cannons. He locked on and fired a flurry of missiles. His two wing mates released their own salvo of missiles. He then banked away as the missiles struck the gunship, erupting its left side in a series of explosions which tore the small picket apart. Grinning from ear to ear he turned his small fighter right, taking her away from the dying gunship and towards the relative safety of open space, ordering his squadron to reform at that location and plunge back into the fight. Once he reached the sector he looked to his right and the grin was instantly removed from his face.
The main body of Chaos warships had arrived, a massive wall of black shadows which blocked out the stars behind them. The commander imagined the millions of weapon batteries preparing to open fire, the millions of traitors, mutants and Chaos space marines waiting to land on the planet behind him and begin their ground war. At the head of the armada was the massive behemoth known as the Planet Killer. The terrible leviathan who was the deciding factor in all the major skirmishes between the Chaos armada and the allied forces of the Coalition, the super battleship which even now was preparing its planet annihilating Armageddon gun for a first shot against the lumbering capital-ships and equally massive space stations defending the mid-rim world of Sluiss Van.
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"I read over three thousand enemy vessels surrounding the sector capital Warmaster" one of the serfs reported "Surrounding five hundred defence platforms and seven space stations. Enemy fighter wings are harassing the vanguard fleet, casualties heavy"
"Then launch our new pets" Abaddon replied with a smug smirk, it had taken some time but they had finally salvaged the technology of the xeno Ssi Ruuvi, creating several working models of their soul extraction machines. As a mass of black shadows detached from the hull of his flagship and took to the space ways he found himself grinning.
The coalition wouldn't now what hit them.
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"We have new contacts incoming from the main Chaos armada"
Commander Sullivan looked at the location of the main fleet, seeing massive black clouds of fighters being released from the enemy warships. He couldn't believe it. Instead of being released from the hangers like normal craft these fighters were launching from across the hulls of a handful of the first wave, looking like the cruisers and battlecruisers were shedding a layer of their hull armour. The new fighters, numbering in their thousands dived into the battle. Alliance and Imperium fighters alike were overwhelmed by the sudden increase in numbers. Fighter after fighter fell and exploded in bright blooms of orange flame. Panicked voices shouted over the com systems, only to be silenced one by one when their fighters exploded.
"They're everywhere"
"To your left red two, to your left"
"They don't have cockpits"
"What about the pilot?"
"Don't see one"
"What is going on?"
"Rogue leader to all flights" Gavin Darklighters voice erupted through the panicked com "fall back to the fleet, all fighter groups fall back!!!"
"You heard him gentlemen" Sullivan said to his squadron "Initiate a full withdrawal"
As one his squadron began executing sharp turns towards the defensive fleets around Sluis Van, but not before he saw one of his own get hit in the wing by a hail of lasfire and spin out of control into the depths of space.
"What in the name of the God-Emperor are those things!?"
"I don't know Kagg" Sullivan replied to his wing mate "I don't know"
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"I want a screen of the skirmish" Wedge Antilles ordered briskly from his command throne "I want a visual of one of the new fighters"
"Yes Grand Admiral"
A holographic image shimmered to life, showing a small crescent shaped starfighter. Its lightly armoured form smaller than any other he had ever seen, having a wingspan of about four meters and a body which was only two meters from the tips of its wings, which were curved inward to its warp drive engines which glowed an eerie crimson at the stern. Small lascannons adorned its nose and the ends of its wings, numbering probably six in total with three bulges of missile launchers, two under its wings and another on the fuselage, each one looking like they could hold probably three missiles each. He noticed the lack of a cockpit, or anything else which could house a pilot.
"Ssi Ruuvi drones" he growled, a chill crawling up his spine as he said those words like a curse "Those bastards have harnessed the Ssi Ruuvi's technology!"
He had fought similar fighters before; they were unmanned, powered instead by the spirit of a person the Ssi Ruuk captured. That person then had their souls sucked from their bodies and implanted in machines from as small as a starfighter to as big as a city. It was a perverse technology, making the Ssi Ruuk enemies of the entire galaxy. The very name of their race was turned into a curse because of the technology they used, and the forces of Chaos had it.
"Killing those fighters would be an act of mercy" mumbled a member of his bridge crew, his communications officer.
"That it would son" Antilles replied "Get me the Warmaster, explain what those fighters are…make it quick"
"Aye sir"
"Order all first contact fighter wings to pull back" he added.
The main force of Chaos warships had come into range of the defensive forces main batteries by now and Antilles already saw the Imperium fleet open fire upon the advancing demons with lance and turbolance batteries. Quickly he ordered his half to do the same and before long full salvoes of turbolaser and turbolance fire joined with the Imperium's own.
A long lance of orange fire shot out of the Chaos ship formations, piercing through a section of the front line, entire fleet squadrons where either destroyed or scattered within its line of fire. It hit the six kilometre long sphere of the targeting space station with a blinding flash, ripping its entire structure apart. A shockwave of raw power flared up in every direction from the doomed space station, throwing small fighters into out of control spins, some crashing into each other or the capital-ships they were defending, which were also being pushed back by the ruinous wave of power. Wedge gritted his teeth as the Planet Killer surged forward slightly ahead of the armada. Its long range lance batteries firing a devastating barrage of death and destruction upon the scattered and confused Coalition fleet. Ship after ship fell to the destructive barrage, annihilating escort and capital-ship alike.
Another defence platform exploded in a bright bloom of orange fire. An Imperial III star destroyer began spinning out of control, trailing fire and debris from several direct lance battery hits. An Imperium Exorcist-class cruiser's entire frontal section went up in flames and smoke. The Grand Admiral fell into his command chair and looked helplessly out at the destruction wrought by one blast from the Armageddon gun, one blast. No vessel in either navy could stand up to the Planet Killer, well, not to his knowledge. He slumped into his throne, and nodded his consent to the communications officer, who began issuing secondary protocols. The fleet was to initiate a tactical withdrawal behind the planetary shields. Perhaps they could give them a few hours. As the fleet began withdrawing by squadron he looked at his wrist chrono. The Hapans would be here within ten hours, and the united fleet of Imperium, Alliance, Remnant and Chiss would be arriving within twenty nine hours. They needed to hold off the Chaos armada and survive long enough for them to arrive. If not then the reinforcements would be jumping into an entirely hostile war zone, and get slaughtered.
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Imperial Battle-group
Twenty nine hours from Sluiss Van
It was the largest crusade seen in this galaxy thus far, freshly arrived from the Terra/Denon wormhole and now flying through the space ways towards Sluiss Van. At the centre of the crusade was the Retribution-class battleship Imperial Titan, commanded by Admiral Northland. Three thousand ships of the line were stretched out over an area of a thousand kilometres, each one positioning themselves within their assigned fleet squadrons. The multi coloured hulls of Adeptus Astartes strike cruisers and fast attack frigates located among the thousands of battle scarred cruisers and escorts, their colours and emblems showing their chapter proudly. Standing out from the rest however was the flagship of the Adeptus Astartes, the strike cruiser Emperor Eternal, from the infamous Black Templar legion. Other frigates and strike vessels, representing other chapters were forming up flawlessly around her, their markings identifying them as from the Imperial Fists, Salamanders, Blood Angels,\among others.
Admiral Northland sat slouched on his command throne, his mind alert as the warp stretched out before him. Unlike the eighteen hundred vessels which made up the advanced guard they didn't have the time or the resources to install hyperdrive engines, it had to be done the old fashioned way, by traversing the warp. At the moment he was more worried about daemon infestations than of the battle which was to come. Every few hours he would check with the astropaths and shielding officers, making sure that the Gellar fields were firmly in place and they were still on course. No daemon infestation had ever been reported since he had been raised to the rank of admiral, but he knew that it could happen at any given moment.
"Admiral"
Northland brought himself out of his trance by the voice of Captain Hull from the Black Templars, highest ranking member of the astartes contingent and commander of the Emperor Eternal. Standing next to the captain was Sergeant Pierce of the Crimson Fists, second in command and commander of the chapter's ship, a Gladius-class frigate known as the Crimson Blade. Standing to the captains left was General Damien Theo, commanding officer of the Imperial Guard regiments, Cardinal Basik of the ecclestriarch and Inquisitor Munculus of the Inquisition.
"Sorry Captain, my mind was elsewhere. Please continue"
"The Hapans will be ahead of us by nineteen hours and the rest of the Alliance will be behind us by two hours" he continued "The thousand plus ships that the Consortium have sent should be enough to hold Chaos off until we and the Alliance arrive…there will be one major obstacle"
"The Planet Killer" Northland stated flatly
Hull nodded "It must be taken out of the picture if we are to have a chance to win this battle. I propose we send in as many fighter wings as we can and take out her engines and main weapon emplacements. Then land boarding parties of Space Marines and Imperial Guard, along with crack teams of Stormtroopers, Alliance Marines, ARC troopers and Jedi"
"That ship is an abomination of the warp" Basik shouted in disbelief "And you wish to capture it, this is heresy, this is madness-" the cardinal was silenced by a murderous glare from the much larger Space Marine.
"That ship cannot be destroyed from the exterior" Hull growled "We land boarding parties, fight our way to key positions and plant explosives. Destroy it from the inside"
"It is a costly endeavour captain" Northland said "And I doubt the Jedi will be able to amount the sufficient number of their force-psychers to the specs that you need"
"The Jedi are amassing with the Remnants forces admiral" Pierce said "Did you not hear. Apparently a powerful Jedi warlord known as Anakin Skywalker has been seemingly brought back from the dead, along with thousands of his own force kin"
"Brought back from the dead" Basik said in astonishment "You cannot be serious, that is impossible, it must be a hoax"
"Hoax or not he has three Eclipse star dreadnoughts armed with superlasers" Hull returned hotly "This could be the edge we need to take on the Planet Killer. Three planet destroying weapons against one"
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"Order all carrier squadrons to launch fighters immediately" Lord Admiral Frostman ordered briskly before returning his gaze to the battle. Hordes of drones plunged into the coalition fleet, assaulting the shields of the bigger vessels with missile and lasfire, causing the deflector shields to flash blue under the onslaught. Tracer rounds and lines of weapons fire escaped the warships, targeting the swarms as they encompassed entire sections of the fleet. Blooms of orange fire and debris were everywhere, signalling that a drone had met its demise and the soul trapped within it was free.
Masses of starfighters escaped the hangers of any vessel big enough to carry them and met the drones head on, their meeting christened by volleys of lasfire and even more explosions. All the while the Chaos armada continued to approach them, swarms of normal Switdeaths and Doomfires being released from their hangers and hurrying to join the fight.
"Point defences concentrate on those drones" he ordered "Main weapon batteries keep firing upon the approaching fleet. Don't let up no matter what!"
"The Eternal Empire has lost her shields sir"
"Order them to fall back to the reserve line" Frostman shouted before turning to his ordnance officer "Mister Jameson, prepare the starboard lance batteries for a salvo on that cruiser" he pointed towards an approaching Slaughter cruiser "Wait for my orders"
"Yes sir" Jameson replied and began relaying the order to the gunnery crews.
"Mister Falice" he said, turning to his shielding officer "I want as much power as you can on our starboard shields"
"Yes sir"
"Helmsman Vermount" he continued "Hard to port!"
"Aye sir" the helmsman replied and pulled on the large levers in front of him, turning the ship to port so that her starboard weapons batteries were facing the front of the approaching enemy cruiser.
Not yet, not yet, not yet…now!!!
"Now mister Jameson"
"All starboard batteries open fire" Jameson ordered briskly. There was a moment of silence, and then the main batteries opened up in all their terrible glory. A blinding barrage of orange light escaped the twenty main starboard lance batteries, out of the twenty blasts only five found their mark. The first three smashed against the void shields, overloading them and allowing the last two too hit the front, causing several explosions strong enough to level entire cities. The cruiser's frontal section was blown to pieces but it continued to move forward, its main batteries un-phased by the destruction wrought to its front.
"Hit them again" Frostman growled and watched as the lance batteries released yet another salvo upon the cruiser, which was even now turning to bring its broadside to bear. It fired, releasing a steady salvo of deadly dark lance beams towards the Crimson Ladies heavily armoured hull.
"Brace for impact" Captain Lythia, his second in command shouted before grabbing the arms of his own command chair. Several lances struck the bow void shields, causing near blinding flashes of sapphire as the beams hit off the shields. The entire battlecruiser shook violently as the full force of the lance beams took their toll.
"Shields have been halved!"
"Decks two, ten and nineteen are open to space. Emergency portals are being shut!"
"Lance batteries?" Frostman growled.
"Reloaded and ready on your orders sir" Jameson replied, blood pouring from a deep cut on the left side of his face.
"Aim, fire"
The starboard lance batteries of the massive battlecruiser opened fire in unison, pouring lances of superheated energy shells towards the enemy ship. Ten of the twenty struck the portside of the cruiser, tearing through the thick armour. One of the lances landed a successful hit on its warp core, causing it to detonate, taking the rest of the warship with it. A cheer emanated from the bridge crew but was quickly silenced by the Lord Admirals harsh voice. He starred outside of the bridge viewports, seeing a pierced hole of burning wrecks and debris through the main defence line. The Planet Killer was moving through it, its weapon batteries swatting escorts and capital ships out of the sky.
"Bring us about helm" Frostman shouted "Gather as many ships as you can. We must stop them from reaching orbit!!"
"Aye sir"
"Where in the name of the emperor is the Warmaster!?"
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With a grunt of pain Visnik opened his eyes and reached up for something to support himself. He dragged himself into a sitting position and leaned against a railing, waiting a few moments for his vision to return. The last salvo of dark lance fire had struck and overwhelmed the void shields of his battleship, peppering the portside and burning the armoured layers away. The shock of the attack had left his bridge in utter Chaos, several consoles had exploded in hails of sparks, either killing or wounding several members of his crew.
He was helped to his feet by Captain Hallias, second in command of the Infinitas Imperialus "Are you alright sir?"
Visnik waved the man off and dragged himself back towards his command throne, falling into the worn leather and beginning to hit runes on the arm. Several holograms appeared around him showing damage reports from across the battleship.
"Damage report!" he roared.
"Several sections of the portside hull have been burned through. Decks three, four, six, eight, ten, twelve and eighteen are open to space. Main lance batteries two, five and seven are out of commission, Shields on our portside are down to twenty percent" the captain replied, his voice and gesture grim.
"Close off the sections open to space" Visnik began "Divert all nonessential power to the port shields"
"Warmaster, the enemy battleship is coming around"
Visnik glared out of the main viewports at the Despoiler battleship responsible for causing the damage to his ship, the enemy capital ship had come up right beside them and released a full barrage of dark lance fire from their fifty something main lance batteries. At such a close range the void shields had been overwhelmed within the first few strikes.
"Ordnance" he shouted angrily "Situation with starboard main batteries?"
"Loaded and ready Warmaster"
"Wait for my signal" Visnik spat and sat back in his command throne, his eyes watching and waiting as the enemy battleship continued its turn. Bringing its portside guns to bear on his battleship, ready to finish them off once and for all, he waited as it approached his position.
"It's right on us!" Hallias all but screamed.
"Fire" Visnik said boomingly, his eyes hardened in menace. As one the main lance batteries of the Imperialus opened up in all their terrible glory, the force of the release causing the battleship to rock sharply from the discharge. The beams crashed into the enemy battleship before she could return fire. Piercing through the void shields and hull armour, massive flashes and explosions hammered the portside of the Despoiler, burning straight though its thick hull armour and opening entire sections up to space, one of the lances of superheated energy hit the command tower, causing it to explode, taking the enemy commander and his bridge crew with it. When the battered Imperial flagship and the enemy battleship passed by each other the Despoiler was a burning hulk in space, secondary explosions covering its hull from stem to stern like a blanket of crimson fire and a final, resounding explosion finished the enemy capital ship as its warp core detonated. Visnik hid a smile, that was for his ship and the countless men and women who died in that cowardly attack. He watched as a group of Chaos cruisers fell upon his position and quickly ordered his ordnance officer to reload the main lance batteries.
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"My lord" one of the serfs called in the usual deadpan voice "We are within range of the planet now sir…but there seems to be a planetary shield surrounding it, until it is destroyed orbital bombardment will be impossible"
"What about landing troops?" the Warmaster growled.
"The shield is only designed to stop weapons fire" the serf answered "Troop transports and drop pods can still reach the surface"
The Warmaster watched the dancing lights of weapons fire and explosions from his skull throne, grinning at the destruction that his armada was unleashing. If this was how his reign as the gods chosen was to end then he would destroy as many of his enemies as he could. He stood up from his skull throne, the daemon sword Drauch'nyun held proudly in his gauntlets. He looked down at his sword, then at the rocky world below and grinned maniacally.
"Launch drop pods, release troop transports. Let this world burn!" the Warmaster ordered, not even sparring a second glance at the planet where the fate of his crusade would be decided "Order all main guns to open fire on the planetary shield, frontal lances only, have all others annihilate any enemy ships that even dare getting close"
On the portside of the monolithic Planet Killer several hundred exterior portals opened up to the darkness of space, allowing drop pods to roar out like missiles and drop like stones down to the planets atmosphere. Their forms suddenly encompassed with fire as they rushed through the atmosphere and into the upper troposphere. As the ground rapidly came up to meet them the pods activated their thrusters, slowing their descent enough so that they weren't crushed when they hit the ground. They hit, causing craters in otherwise strong concrete, even crashing through buildings of transparisteel. The outer walls of the pods fell open and shock squads of Chaos space marines, Chaos dreadnoughts and predator tanks poured out into the cityscape, firing with bolter, flamethrower and rocket launcher into the buildings surrounding them, cutting down bewildered soldiers with ease. They had landed in the middle of a rallying point.
Meanwhile in orbit around the planet the warp born flagship of the forces of Chaos aimed all of her frontal lance and plasma batteries upon the brown orb before them and opened fire. Hundreds of long beams of light, superheated and powerful enough to crack the crust of a world smashed into the planetary shields defending the planet, christened by orange flashes and blueish flickering as the deflector shield became visible. Around the super battleship the fight for Sluis Van was far from over, the defensive line may have been broken but the coalition forces had one last trick up their sleeves. A trick which could slow down or possibly stop other Chaos capital ships from reaching orbit. All they needed was the arrival of the Hapans. If they came in time.