Nothing to see here, valued citizens of the Protectorate, nothing but baseless rumors.
Vessels of the Protectorate United Navies, part4: (The myths and rumors of) The Silent Service
Somewhere close to the border between Protectorate and Imperial space.
"Captain on deck!"
The old man wasted little time as he entered the bridge.
"First Officer, what is the status of the ship and crew?"
"Sir! All essential personnel accounted for, most ship systems are working according to the tech priests. We rode out the storm rather well, all things considered. We lost only a few hundred crew to mutations and insanity."
"So that is the good news. Give me the bad."
"The primary Gellar field generator and its back-up have both taken some damage. Both our Navigator and Astropaths are certain that we are heading into grave peril. To quote them: 'A hungry beast lies in wait to tear into our flesh!' and 'I can feel the swarm biting into the shield! It can not hold!'. Sir, if I may, I would recommend that we drop out of warp so that the tech priest adepts can perform the necessary repairs."
"Hmm. Do we have a time estimate?"
"No sir, the priests would not give me one. We might be stranded in real space for months or longer until we can continue our journey."
There was a moment of contemplative silence before the captain sighed into his beard.
"Better we arrive late rather than never. The Astropaths shall inform our escorts off the plan to drop back into real space."
-
A tear in reality ripped open, allowing the Gilded Gauntlet back into the material world. Five smaller rifts appeared shortly afterwards, apparently only one Cobra class had been lost in the warp storm. Yet there would be little relief to be had.
-
It happened to standard weeks later, just during the watch-shift change.
"Sir, the augurs are showing some weird interferences."
"Anything discernable?"
"Nay, Sir."
"Hm. Keep an eye on it, the tech priests may have to look into it."
"Of c- Sir! An augur ping just hit us, dead ahead! Looks like a sort of augur probe!"
"Comms, a pair of escorts needs to investigate! Helm, get us moving full ahead!"
"Ay Sir!"
"Ay Sir!"
"Augurs have picked up a set of small but strong warp signatures, at 0-3-2 heading!"
"Sir, visual confirmation, three rapidly approaching objects! They are skipping in and out of warp!"
"Incoming torpedoes! Brace for impa-"
Death comes in an instant, too quick for any human mind to grasp its own annihilation.
-
The Gilded Gauntlet was lost. Its escorts could only watch helplessly as the grand cruiser broke apart. The aft section and spine of the ship had been ripped open by a pair of explosions while the majority of the bridge was simply gone. Macro cannon shells were detonating in the magazines and the main reactor experienced catastrophic containment failure.
The escorts did not stick around, fearing for their own safety. Their augurs had not found anything beyond the probe and the torpedoes, no ship could be found by which the weapons had been launched. The Gilded Gauntlet had been lost to enemy action and the whole incident couldn't even be called a battle. It had been an execution.
-
Post-Battle Status Report #902-22; from: Unit-044; to: SSCC;
Detected Imperial force during war-patrol in uninhabited system 103-58A;
Composition of enemy force: one(1) Exorcist class grand cruiser; two(2) Cobra class destroyers; three(3) Sword class frigates;
Confirmed destruction of one(1) Exorcist class grand cruiser;
Three(3) No.24 torpedoes and one(1) No.16 Shrieker-Spotter deployed;
Recovered one(1) No.16 Shrieker-Spotter after enemy forces retreated;
Continuing on war-patrol;
Somewhere on a space dock orbiting a Protectorate world.
"So. Do you think it's real?"
"What?"
"The Silent Service."
"Really? By the Liberator's left ball, that is what you are wondering about? Of course not! The Borgs can build all kinds of crap and invent new stuff, but some super stealth ship that supposedly is so secret not even the majority of the PUN knows about it? I tell you what, you've been spending your time with those gals in pink, what is that bar called again? Hedam…"
"Hedonika."
"That one. I don't know what kinds of powders you put up your nose and how many different girls and guys you spend your time with, not my business. But. Don't start believing what they start telling you about other folks. There's many a sailor who think they can get their drink and love for free if they cook up a good enough story. It's all a load of bull."
"I don't know… A buddy of mine next system over says there are lone Liberty freighters that make the trip to us here, they are always given priority loading and always get loaded with bulk goods like ore and promethium. I had another buddy dig a bit, those freighters always get here a few days late."
"You are seeing frakking ghosts, this is some jumping-at-shadows behavior, dude."
"I'm not, I know what I-"
"Let it rest, I'm really not in the mood for it."
-
A few hours later.
Finally home, the dock worker quickly locked the door and tapped an elaborate series of commands into his personal comm device.
"Agent 7P35 reporting in, current confirmation code is A2D-Baker. We got somebody in Merval's supply docks who's gotten sloppy with their work."
"Intel leak?"
"Negative. Shipping schedules of supplies for SSB-08 are too predictable. A few of the locals are picking up on the irregularities."
"Understood. Keep up the good work, agent. We'll send somebody to kick the layabouts in Merval and straighten them out."
"Confirmed, Agent 7P35 out."
At the edge of a raging space battle between the PUN and Tyranid splinter forces.
"Finally. The filthy mon'keigh do not even suspect our presence! Our plans are proceeding all according to… plan."
"Ugh."
"Don't you dare 'Ugh' me! I will have you skinned, your mouth sewn shut and your genitals transplanted onto your forehead!"
"Whatever. Can you just start rambling off your plan again so your choir of sycophants can swoon over your cunning scheme?"
"You- …fine. We shall let the so-called Liberator's forces exhaust themselves against the Great Devourer! Then we will swoop in and pick apart the remaining survivors, taking them back to Commorragh! Then we will taunt the Liberator, telling him that he can still save his loyal soldiers from endless torment if only he comes to entertain us instead. The bleeding heart could not possibly resist!"
Insert several minutes of lick-spittles heaping endless praise upon their master for his brilliant plan, finally interrupted by the sarcastic slow clapping of the unimpressed naysayer.
"Bravo. A flawless plan, truly. I can not see any reason why it could possibly fail. Except of course the most obvious ones, like the presence of several sensor cruisers on the side of the Cainite forces. Or how the mon'keigh are beating the Devourer's spawn by setting the void between the stars on fire. They won't have exhausted themselves by any stretch of imagination, especially not yours, what little of it you possess. Also-"
A pulse echoes through the Dark Eldar fleet, a wailing and a sweet giggle. Every Drukhari present could feel the tug of the thirst slicing a sliver from their blackened souls.
"What in-"
"Weapon launch detected! Incoming torpedoes! They are targeting our forces!"
"Where did they come from?!"
"Impossible! How could they have possibly detected us?!"
"Evasive action! Breaking silent running!"
"By the dark muses, what are those?!"
Where there had been only the skip signatures and exhaust trails of Borg-made torpedoes, the darkness of space was lit up in an instant by a wall of directed nuclear explosions.
"Why would they-"
A rod four feet in diameter, traveling at 0.3c tore through the command deck. With that, the flagship and the rest of the Drukhari raiding fleet were torn to shreds by hundreds of massive metal darts ripping through their hulls.
-
Post-Battle Status Report #413-96; from: Unit-017; to: SSCC;
Hunter-killer group J-05 reports successful elimination of enemy ambush;
Enemy type: Dark Eldar raiding fleet;
Enemy force was detected through passive sensor analysis; enemy presence was confirmed by use of Emeli's flute;
Enemy force composition: one(1)Dying Sun class battleship; five(5) Fiend Ascendant class cruisers; three(3) Bleak Soul class cruisers; one(1) Flayed Skull class cruiser; two(2) Burning Scale class light cruisers; three(3) Bladed Lotus class light cruisers; four(4) Sigil class destroyers; five(5) Talon Cyriix class frigates; seven(7) Venom Blade class frigates;
Confirmed destruction of entire enemy force;
Total weapon expenditure by J-05: forty one(41) No.95 torpedoes;
J-05 HK-group command requests resupply vessel to replenish expended weapons; awaiting coordinates for rendezvous;