Chapter 188: Bringing Ruin to Kholor
"Mother of mercy... this is going to be the death of me. A non-standard jump engine is just not stable enough."
The bridge of the Stellar Pioneer shook continuously as it warped into the system. Looking at the various alarms and damage reports popping up on the holographic projection, Lucan was speechless. Sparks flew on the engine deck of the Stellar Pioneer, and piercing sirens wailed. Transplanted parts just didn't have the same optimization.
The retrofitted jump engine, warping a warship as massive as the Stellar Pioneer, had clearly exceeded its original design limits. StarCraft warships were much smaller in scale compared to those of Warhammer.
"My Lord! The jump engine is severely overloaded! There are multiple fires on the engine deck!"
Fortunately, the ship's SCVs compensated for this disadvantage. If it's broken, then I'll just fix it! The large number of SCVs within the Stellar Pioneer all sprang into action, rushing to various parts of the warship.
"Chapter Master Gabriel! Hierarch Artanis is fighting the enemy and they need help! Your Strike Cruisers are faster; break through to Craftworld Kholor directly. The Dynasty will help you deal with these Eldar warships!"
At this moment, the warships of Craftworld Kholor had already left their docks and were heading toward the human fleet. Compared to the heavy, sturdy warships of humanity, the Eldar ships were exceptionally graceful. The Eldar did not use physical weapons like macro-cannons. They used more advanced and powerful lasers and lances to inflict devastating strikes on the enemy. Rows of solar sails absorbed the energy of the star, giving these Eldar warships greater speed. The holo-fields carried by the warships would simultaneously create several constantly moving phantom images.
The targeting systems of the Imperial augurs found it difficult to lock onto these warships. And on the augur displays, the number of Eldar warships had multiplied several times over, making it impossible to confirm which was the real ship.
Squadrons of Eldar attack craft also began to launch, heading toward the nearest Blood Raven company. The Eldar also realized that the Blood Ravens wanted to board them directly; the human Astartes wanted to do what they did best.
Gabriel watched the approaching Eldar fighters and calmly issued his commands.
"Warp engine offline. Conventional plasma engines engaged. Divert all power to engines and void shields! Techmarines, soothe the machine spirit!"
At that moment, a Techmarine of the Chapter slapped a Purity Seal from the Cult of the Holy Machine onto the engine of the Battle Barge. The next second, the engine data on the cogitator skyrocketed, even exceeding the original design limits.
"An incredible creation. Is this the so-called miracle of the Cult of the Holy Machine?!"
The Blood Ravens' warship burst forth with a speed that did not belong to it, and its void shields could now absorb more damage.
"Maintain course! Initiate targeting protocols! Adjust void shield power to maximum! Prepare to receive enemy fire! Xenos, face the Emperor's wrath!"
Gabriel delegated command of the warship to others, while he himself, carrying his massive warhammer, headed for the hangar.
In the hangar of the Blood Ravens' Battle Barge, the Chaplains were leading the battle-brothers in a pre-battle prayer. A Chaplain wearing a skull-faced helmet strode before the battle-brothers, a cherub fluttering by his side. The Blood Ravens, about to depart, were kneeling on one knee. They chanted the Emperor's name, asking for His strength. Their hearts filled with battle-lust, they silently recited a prayer for the death they were about to bring to the xenos.
"Brothers," the Chaplain intoned, "tell me, as the blade in the Emperor's hand, what are you?"
"Death!"
"What will you cry out as you tear apart those xenos?"
"Death!"
"What will you bring to those filthy xenos?"
"Death!"
"We are the hammer in the Emperor's hand! We are the blade in the Emperor's hand! We will bring the Emperor's wrath to these ignorant xenos! Advance in the name of the Emperor!"
"For the Emperor!"
The neat and deafening chorus of prayers echoed endlessly.
After the prayer, the members of the Blood Ravens Chapter had already formed into kill-teams, entering their respective drop pods and Thunderhawks. Gabriel and the Chapter's Librarians stood together.
The Blood Ravens' warships were the first to encounter the Eldar. Countless lances slammed into their void shields. The Eldar's Darkstar fighters and Eagle bombers also continuously attacked the warships. The SCVs provided by Lucan quickly repaired the damage. The Eldar's Bright Lances and Starcannons constantly tried to break through the void shield defenses and disable the Blood Ravens' ships. The numerous point-defense systems on the Battle Barges began to return fire, but they did not get entangled for long. The Blood Ravens knew their tactical objective.
And the Dynasty's fleet was already approaching the Eldar warships. Squadrons of Viking fighters flew out from the hangars of the Stellar Pioneer and other warships. The cloaking fields retrofitted onto them allowed this surprise force to inflict a large number of casualties on the Eldar fighters in the first exchange. Living metal also allowed them to withstand more damage.
The Vikings and the Eldar warships became entangled in the void. Fireballs continuously bloomed in the darkness, each one representing the complete annihilation of several human or Eldar lives. Trading one human life for one Eldar was a worthwhile exchange no matter where you were, and the same was true for Lucan. The Viking squadrons were using their numerical advantage to contain the faster Eldar fighters.
"Master of Ordnance, lock onto the enemy warship!"
The targeting systems of a conventional Imperial warship might have difficulty locking onto an Eldar vessel, but the Golden Age system on the Stellar Pioneer was clearly more advanced. An Eldar Shadowhunter-class frigate was successfully locked. This fast-moving warship would fire a shot and run, clearly thinking that the human warship could not lock onto it.
When the main cannon on the Stellar Pioneer fired its dazzling lance, the Eldar warship, attempting to evade with its holo-field and maneuverability, was instantly enveloped by the energy beam. The Eldar within could not understand why their holo-field had had no effect at all. After one shot, the Stellar Pioneer's main cannon also began to cool down. The first Eldar warship in this war had been destroyed.
The threat the Stellar Pioneer posed to the Eldar warships forced them to shift their target and head toward it. This drew fire away from the Blood Ravens. The Dynasty's large number of escort fleets also moved to intercept them.
Farseer Elara looked at the report, her expression growing more and more grim. She was not worried about the enemy warships; the Craftworld itself was an incredibly powerful warship. What she feared most was that, according to the report, Artanis had already led a large number of Templar deep into the Craftworld, heading for the Infinity Circuit. The Infinity Circuit was the most secret place in the entire Craftworld; she couldn't understand how Artanis had found the way!
Although no one was guiding them, the Infinity Circuit was essentially the wraithbone skeleton of the entire Craftworld. It not only protected souls but also provided endless energy to the Craftworld. Artanis, with his sensitivity to psychic energy and his application of the Khala network, was following the path of the Infinity Circuit directly to its location.
The importance of the Infinity Circuit forced her to abandon her command of the frontal war and immediately rush to its location.
As Elara had just left the council chamber, countless drop pods descended from the sky, withstanding the point-defense fire to reach the Craftworld. The Battle Barges destroyed the point-defense systems that tried to stop the drop pods, but some were still unavoidably destroyed. But more drop pods successfully arrived. They smashed through the crystal canopy of the Craftworld and then crashed heavily onto the ground.
As the doors of the drop pods opened, the Blood Ravens, clad in blood-red power armor, brought destruction to Kholor.
The Blood Ravens, having carved out a defensive position, began to set up teleport homers. The Librarians who had landed first also began to provide coordinates for teleportation. Heaven knew where the Blood Ravens had "acquired" this teleport homer from the Dark Age of Technology. It was more reliable than the ones used by modern Imperial Chapters and could teleport more troops.
At this moment, Gabriel and the Blood Ravens' Terminator squads were already waiting in the teleportarium. As the teleportation device activated, Gabriel and the Chapter's Terminators all vanished from the warship. The next second, the entire Terminator squad had arrived on Kholor.
Thunderhawks then transported more Astartes, including the Blood Ravens' Dreadnoughts. Faced with a war against an entire Craftworld, the Blood Ravens chose to awaken these sleeping heroes of the Chapter.
The addition of an entire Chapter of Astartes made the Craftworld Eldar feel overwhelmed for a time. Boltguns continuously reaped the lives of these xenos, and squads with clear objectives began to strike and destroy important facilities within the Craftworld.
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