"Can we consider Waveroad secure?" the PDF commander-in-chief, Jasper, asked. The meeting was attended by the generals, Minerva, the acting governor, the inquisitor, and the princeps and admiral by hololith, as well as assorted aides and hangers-on.
"Not entirely," Minerva said. "There may be remaining enemy forces in the warehouse district, and the dockyards are currently being cleansed of taint. However, it appears the main enemy force used the daemonic attack as a distraction to evacuate."
"So we have them on the run?" Grimald asked hopefully.
"We convinced them to break off their attack," Solon replied. "And we'll soon have their sympathizers out of the southern hives entirely. Retaking the north will be much more difficult. We'll have to take Seasgate with our own ocean assault, and that depends on defeating the enemy fleet at sea."
"Can't you deploy at Salving?" Jasper asked. "They're still holding out, after all."
"There are supply issues," Brant replied. "We can't support the PDF forces as well as our own by air, especially without proper unloading facilities, although we can sustain some reinforcements. We'll deploy a relief force, but can't expect to stage a breakout. We'd need Skytree to do that. Going by sea, we can spend time stockpiling before the offensive, then transport it all by ship."
Grimald nodded in understanding. "Yes, the ports handle ninety-five percent of the intercontinental trade by mass. Well, normally. Only the perishables and urgent orders travel by aerospace transport. How many tons of supplies per day do you need transported?" Brant told him. "Oh, that's easily within capacity. And of course, the maglevs can sustain that rate."
"Speaking of maglevs," Brant said, "We need to cut the northern ones to keep the enemy from resupplying just as easily as we can."
"I must officially protest," Princeps Krane said. "They are works of the Omnissiah's bounty, and extremely difficult to replace. You're talking aerial bombardment, yes? It could take a century to rebuild one of the intermediate stations."
"My techmarine raised the same point," Minerva said. "She recommends an Astartes raid to remove the most critical components, allowing them to be returned after the war. I'm considering the feasibility of such a strike. Alternatively, we could bombard the rails, but she informs me that the rails themselves are no more difficult to repair than an ordinary railway and would quickly be brought back online."
"I have to protest permanently disabling them as well!" Grimald said hotly. "We're entirely dependent on them for food transportation from the spaceports! You'd condemn billions to starvation!"
"The enemy is likely to cut them as they retreat," Solon pointed out. "We'd merely be accelerating the process."
"I will not walk in a campaign that so disrespects the Omnissiah's gifts," Princeps Krane said firmly. "The Astartes alternative must be pursued."
Brant's face darkened. "You'd rather leave his gifts in the hand of the Archenemy? To be toyed with by daemons and witches?"
"A sin does not-"
"Enough!" Malachi snapped. "Captain Minerva, is disabling the maglevs a military necessity?"
"Yes," Minerva replied. "Possibly not at Seasgate, but if we're to pursue a campaign across a continent we cannot allow the enemy unlimited ability to redeploy their forces." Solon, Brant, and Jasper nodded.
"And a strike by your forces to disable them would be possible?"
"That I'm uncertain of," Minerva admitted. "There are enough stations that they can't plausibly fortify them all, but it would take only one of their sorcerers in the right place to stop us. We'd also have to take Thunderhawks into contested airspace."
"We can provide a sufficient escort," Gerax said. "They can't have that much of an air wing left, after the space engagement. Those sorcerers, though…"
"Are limited in number," Malachi pointed out. "And we know one time when they'll be occupied with a ritual: generating the storm to engage our fleet."
"That would mean we'd have to do it during the naval engagement," Minerva pointed out. "It would take a substantial portion of our aerospace assets away from the zone of battle." It would also prevent her from boarding the enemy ships, but that would be difficult to accomplish regardless and she hadn't been planning to make the attempt.
"How severe a storm are we talking about, anyways?" Gerax asked. "We may be unable to provide air support in any event."
"According to Medea, our possible victory will require air support, so it won't be sufficient to completely prevent aerial operations," Minerva replied. Medea had only said the first half of that, but Minerva was used to inferring facts from outcomes. "It will, however, be drastic enough there is a realistic possibility of defeat."
"It will hamper their own operations just as badly, though," Jasper pointed out.
"Not necessarily," Malachi said. "Psychic storms can display a malevolent, focused hostility. It may gust against our craft at the worst possible moment, while moderating in strength around theirs."
o - o -O - o – o
"They're going to come by sea," Althrax said. "Kaltharax confirms it."
"Will they be prepared for the storm, my lord?" general Edith, formerly of the Astor PDF, asked.
"Considering that it's the move we're definitely going to make, regardless of their exact disposition, and they also have a seer, I think we can assume they will be," Althrax growled. "But there's only so much they can do about it. Regardless, we need to be prepared for a defeat at sea."
"I do not believe we can hold Seasgate," Thoth said. "The shore batteries were sabotaged by the Imperials as they retreated. They'll be able to land under the shield easily enough."
"I concur, my lord," Ulthrak said cautiously. "We can fight a delaying action there, but cannot expect to prevail entirely. With the shield up, we cannot employ our heavy artillery within the city, and with it down they can use their ship guns."
"Agreed," Althrax said. "We'll use the other hives as strongpoints. We can assume we'll lose the mag-levs, so I want supplies laid in at all of them. We'll harass their advance across the wastes, then settle in for a siege at each."
"What of Salving?" Thoth asked. "We still haven't penetrated the main wall."
"We would need a much larger concentration of heavy guns to overload the shield, my lord," Ulthrak replied. "A major push at the mag-lev gate might be successful, but would require most of our armor and we would sustain heavy casualties. My previous estimates if they are not reinforced stand, but I believe we can assume the imperials will undertake some form of relief expedition."
"It's not a likely location for the librarium, my lord," Edith pointed out. "The first mines on-site were established in M35. We could abandon the siege."
"Which would let them break out and threaten our rear, including Delving," Althrax replied. "But you are correct that we don't need to take it. Leave the forces in place, and stock up supplies. Have the siege works been constructed properly?"
"I inspected them myself before departing for Waveroad," Ulthrak assured him. "The siegemasters have been performing to standards. Including the circumvallation on the main firebases." The outward-facing fortifications, intended to repel a relief force, were one of the more commonly-neglected siege operations. "They're following the Warsmith's training."
"They'd better, considering what it cost," Althrax said. Securing the Iron Warrior's aid in setting up a training program had required a considerable outlay of thrall-sorcerers and bound daemons, as well as the inevitable attrition among trainees from his temper. "That will keep the defenders bottled up, then. Unfortunately, we can't count on the enemy not knowing what they're doing in their own sieges. Not this time."
o - o -O - o – o
"We'll use the Kriegers as our main siege element," Brant said. "Which means not committing them at Seasgate."
"Which," Solon noted, "means someone else has to take the initial landing. Casualties will inevitably be high. I'm not sure which of the regiments will hold together, commissars or not. We may have to rely on the Astartes to lead in the assault."
Minerva frowned at that. "It is not an ideal tactical situation for us. We would be vulnerable to emplaced anti-tank weaponry. Perhaps the Titans can create a breach?"
"The oceanic terrain is not suitable for us," Princeps Krane replied. "We will need a beachhead secured to deploy."
"Very well," Minerva replied. "Which regiment will accompany us?"
"The 133rd Astor drop troops," Solon said. "Given the difficulty of deploying heavy equipment until after we take the docks, they're probably most suitable."
"Doesn't this call for heavy infantry units?" Jasper asked.
"We didn't have any suitable to deploy," Solon replied. "Logistics reasons." By which he meant Munitorium regulations.
"All of that assumes we win the naval engagement," Brant said. "That will be up to you and Admiral Gerax."
o - o -O - o – o
"We will have an advantage in a battle-line engagement," Edith said, "but not by a very large margin. We only have four more dreadnoughts than the imperials, and an even smaller edge in screening forces."
"Why do you have so large a fleet in the first place?" Althrax asked.
"My lord?"
"I might have expected it if each hive was on an island, but you're split across two large continents," Althrax said. "It's highly abnormal to have even a single oceanic dreadnought, much less thirty-four."
"I never really thought about it," Edith confessed. "We've always had a fleet. It's a major source of income to the dockyard guilds and their legislators won't hear of reducing it."
"Ah," Althrax said. "Of course, we won't be facing a pure battle-line engagement, with the enemy aerospace advantage. The replacement crews have been doing their air defense training?"
"Yes, my lord, but they won't have time to have gotten up to standard. It's only been four months since we secured the fleet. We will be reliant on the storm for any real protection."
o - o -O - o – o
Five days later, the command staff was once again meeting, though with the conspicuous absence of Minerva, to watch the naval battle develop on a holithic mapping table. In truth, Solon could barely read the thing; he'd never commanded an oceanic engagement. He could pick out the ship identifiers, but the markings for wind and wave conditions were meaningless to him. He was determined to get through the engagement without asking any stupid questions, which probably meant any questions.
From what he could tell, the dreadnoughts were deployed in a single line, while the light ships were thrown out in a broad screen, intended to locate the enemy and keep the enemy light ships away from the main line. They'd settled on the formation even before Gerax warned that they weren't going to be able to rely on aerial scouting. One question he'd rejected asking was why they all seemed so concerned about fighting the lighter craft with the heavy ships.
The Imperial aerospace assets were circling in low orbit, hundreds of miles above the raging storm. A handful of surviving PDF fighters and bombers had joined the Navy strike craft, the PDF craft armed with oceanic torpedoes that Minerva said would be more effective weapons than the standard bombs. Apparently, she had prior experience with oceanic warfare.
"The wind is already hitting force ten," Grimald said anxiously. "You're sure we won't lose ships to the storm itself?"
"They've got plenty of reserve buoyancy to compensate for battle damage," Jasper said absently, his gaze focused on the table. "Once they do take damage, they'll sink a lot faster than they might otherwise."
"The storm will get worse," Malachi noted. "They're investing quite a lot of energy into it."
"Wanderer reporting contact," one of the staff said. "Unknown hostile." A red icon blinked into existence near the front of the fleet. "Now engaging."
"Venture is taking fire. No identification."
"Order Wanderer to cease fire!" Jasper snapped. "They're firing on Venture!"
Now that was something Solon had plenty of experience with; troops keyed up by the anticipation of combat firing on friendly forces, or perhaps phantoms of their imagination. It seemed some things did transfer between land and sea.
"Wanderer has torpedoes in the water," the staffer reported urgently. "Venture is evading… Venture reports torpedo impact."
Jasper cursed viciously. "No one fires unless they're sure of a target!" he snarled. "I want everyone to understand that!"
"Venture reports flooding. The captain is issuing a mayday."
Grimald shook his head. "There's no way to do a sea rescue in these conditions."
"They're on their own," Jasper agreed grimly.
Several minutes passed, with reports from Venture that Solon gathered were increasingly dire, before another contact report. "Expeditionary has a hard contact. Identified as Explorer." A red icon blinked into existence, this time with data. "They're engaging."
"I'll signal the Astartes to launch," Gerax said.
More contacts blinked into being on the table, engaging Expeditionary's squadron of destroyers. Solon read a light cruiser in the data. The main dreadnought column, behind the flagship Fearless, swung towards the engagement.
"Winds now at force twelve," one of the staffers said. "Still increasing."
"We're getting interference," said another. "The storm is disrupting our link to the fleet."
"The effect will get worse," Malachi said. "Even ship-to-ship communication will suffer."
"We need a target before the bombers can descend," Gerax said. "They have to find the enemy capital ships before we lose link entirely."
o - o -O - o – o
The Fearless smashed through an oncoming wave, water sweeping across her abandoned upper deck. Violet lighting lashed the skies above, providing the only illumination beneath the jet-black clouds. The wind keened against sealed hatches, screaming like damned souls.
Fearless, though, was unbowed by the elements. She was not one of the improvised, ramshackle constructions that passed for warships in so many oceanic engagements in the Imperium, not a pressed merchant ship with a gun battery hastily welded atop. She was built as a dreadnought from the keel up, to the demands of an STC pattern that had fought in oceans where such storms were commonplace.
Her crew was less resilient.
"Captain, we should turn back!" lieutenant Brook shouted. "We've never seen a storm like this!"
"Like hell!" Captain Alison snapped back. "The enemy is out there, and I didn't spend six months sitting in port to pass up a chance at them!"
"We're facing witchcraft!" Brooke protested.
"And we have the Emperor with us!" the captain replied. "Control yourself or I'll have you ejected from the bridge!"
"We can't-"
"Master at arms!" Alison snapped. "Remove her!"
"Aye-Aye ma'am!" the bulky chief replied.
Alison, in truth, wasn't much more confident than any of the rest of the crew. The flickering purple through the bridge windows unnerved her, and it was true that the waves never rose so high on any of their previous voyages.
It was also true that they were bearing towards a battle with an enemy that outmatched them, depending on air cover that might not be coming. She'd never been in a battle before, excepting the flight from Seasgate, and she wasn't looking forward to her first as much as she pretended. But she wasn't going to fail the Emperor, not when he'd sent his angels of death to their aid.
"Do we have Expeditionary on auspex yet?" she asked, more calmly than she felt. She still had to raise her voice to be heard over the storm.
"I don't know," the master of detection said. "We're getting auspex ghosts. I can't be certain of anything more than ten kilometers out." Which would normally be within visual range, but not in this storm.
"Helm, get us to their last reported location. Communications, get an update on their position." Another wave washed over the deck outside.
"We're getting a hard return," the master of detection reported minutes later. "Destroyer match. It's Expeditionary. Nine point seven kilometers, bearing 270."
"They're engaging a hostile destroyer seventy-five hundred meters away at bearing 40," communication reported.
Alison grinned exultantly. That wasn't the same as a direct contact, but this was a scenario they'd drilled for, in case of a damaged auspex. "Gunnery! Fire on those coordinates!"
"Aye-Aye ma'am!"
Three turrets, carrying a pair of massive cannons each, rotated and aimed to track on the relayed target, angling over the immense plasma blastgun that provided the ship's heavy close-in punch. Cogitators and sensors realigned the targeting to compensate for the detected wind and fired at a precisely chosen moment in the ship's roll. The roar of the cannon drowned out even the thunder.
"Expeditionary advises correcting seventy meters towards bearing 220," communications reported.
"Correct and fire for effect!"