Lord Commander Coned Castivtin of the 1st Shadow Corp Brigade stands on the bridge of his flagship, the Shadow of Ruin. He watches as the Leveller of Hope and the Death's Might start to move out, widening their formation as the fleet bursts from Warp into the Calibanis Sector. The sensors immediately scan and render the battle sphere, dropping Coned into a full immersion sphere within his armor, allowing him to feel as if he were walking through space instead of standing on a bridge. Instead of speaking, he sends his orders directly to the machine spirit and into the minds of the bridge crew eliminating the delay between order and execution completely. He can also communicate mentally with his brother's captains onboard the other ships and with his brothers on the ground after deployment.
The Tyranids have complete control of the orbital space around Calibanis-III and have set up a defense ring further out. Coned takes in the position of each of their vessels and immediately starts issuing commands. The first engagement of the Shadow Corp begins as the Dread Fleet tears into the Hive Fleet like sharks ripping into a school of fish. Not even the Tyranids are ready for the violence and power unleashed on them. The Hivemind reels from shock as bioships are eviscerated and broken with contemptuous ease. None of its attacks or counterstrategies work as the Shard ships spear into the heart of their formation. Their only mission is to get into drop beam range of the besieged planet. Nothing can stop them from this objective, even being outnumbered a hundred to one. By the time it is achieved, those odds are more like forty to one.
"All ships drop forces in designated deployment zones," orders Coned, "When complete, we wipe these bugs from existence. In the name of Mankind and Lord Eversight, not one of them will escape alive. Bring them dread!"
The Shadow Corp deploys to Calibanis-III with dread in their wake.