3rd POV – The Ork Fleet
The void outside burned green with Ork weapon fire. Dozens of kill-kroozers and ramming hulks swarmed around the war-moon, their crude armor patched with stolen Imperial plating and the bones of conquered ships.
The Ember Vow's bridge was alive with motion. Servo-skulls darted overhead. Vox traffic barked orders and warnings.
"Shields at 92%," Eristan reported from the augur pit. "Ork boarding ships attempting to close. Multiple signatures on all vectors."
Shawn stood at the forward command platform, eyes locked on the war-moon's core. His Haki reached outward like a net — not physically touching, but feeling every hostile intent within range.
"Target their drives and weapons first," Shawn ordered. "Cripple the moon before it gets close to the planet."
3rd POV – Boarding Action
While the Ember Vow's main batteries roared, Shawn's strike teams deployed. Vulkar, Tahak, Basur, and a kill-squad of Salamanders crashed into the flank of a ramming hulk in boarding torpedoes reinforced with Haki.
The moment they broke through the hull, Armament Haki flared across their armor. Bolters roared in short, brutal bursts. Vulkar's hammer broke through bulkheads as easily as Ork skulls. Tahak moved like smoke, Observation Haki predicting each swing before it came. Basur simply smashed his way through, every strike shaking the deck.
They weren't just killing — they were tearing through the ship's heart, leaving it crippled before moving on to the next target.
Shawn Newman POV – Spirit Projection in Space Combat
I stepped into the teleporter chamber. The Ork kroozer ahead had heavy armor, but I didn't need to breach it physically.
Liquid Haki streamed from my arms, forming into a massive spear — a weapon built to pierce through reality itself. I focused, pouring every ounce of Armament and Conqueror's into the tip.
The spear shot from my hands, smashing through the void like a comet. It punched through the kroozer's prow, blew out the reactor, and the ship erupted in a chain of explosions that lit the void.
The crew on the bridge fell silent for a heartbeat. Then Eristan's voice broke in:
"Confirmed kill."
3rd POV – Across the Crusade
Other fleets under Shawn's banner were reporting in.
Brother-Captain Serkan led Raven Guard in a lightning strike on a Mek shipyard, killing the Mekboy mid-project and leaving half-finished warships to drift dead in space.
Chaplain Vorn boarded an Ork battle fortress, his Conqueror's Haki freezing entire mobs before his burning crozius smashed them apart.
Gaius of the Carcharodons simply butchered his way through a fleet of escorts, his brutality so extreme the Orks tried to disengage.
Each front reported heavy kills — but also losses. Shawn read each name personally.
3rd POV – The War-Moon's Last Stand
The war-moon turned, its engines flaring. Massive gun decks lit up with green light as the Ork fortress fired every battery it had left. Whole chunks of the Ember Vow's shields flared and died.
"Bring us in close," Shawn said.
Valen stepped up beside him, Haki flaring over psychic wards. "You're thinking of boarding it yourself."
"I'm thinking of ending this before it ends the planet," Shawn replied.
3rd POV – The Final Push
Shawn, Valen, and a squad of Grey Knights teleported directly into the war-moon's main gun deck.
The Orks turned in surprise — and froze. Shawn's Conqueror's Haki hit them like a physical shockwave. Dozens collapsed on the spot. The rest were too slow to stop Valen, whose psychic storm tore through the survivors.
Shawn's Spirit Projection formed into a colossal executioner's blade. He drove it straight into the weapon's primary breach, Haki flooding into the metal and shattering it from the inside out.
The war-moon convulsed, its power grid collapsing.
3rd POV – Victory
From orbit, the Ember Vow and allied ships poured fire into the moon's spine. Internal detonations lit the void as the whole construct broke apart, spilling debris into the cold black.
The planet below was safe — for now.
Shawn stood on the ruined gun deck, the glow of fires reflecting off his armor. He looked to Valen. "This is just one. There are thousands more."
Valen smirked. "Then we burn them all."