A fully armed thug was bullying a weak woman—
and then suddenly, a bear burst out of the bushes beside him and slapped him across the face.
That was the exact situation the Long Night of Solace was in right now.
For the Covenant, the sudden appearance of this gigantic warship was completely outside all expectations.
Both the Covenant and the UNSC used faster-than-light slipspace travel—although the Covenant's version was more accurate and had greater range.
But slipspace travel always created detectable shockwaves.
So, whether Covenant or UNSC, anyone approaching a target would produce spatial distortions, giving the other side warning.
But the Inquisition used the Webway, inherited from the Old Ones.
This method of traversing the Warp was more advanced, more concealed, more convenient.
Not only that—the Long Night of Solace was a command and support carrier.
Meaning it did not possess overwhelming firepower of its own.
Compared to the Glory Queen—covered head to toe in lances and macro cannons—the Long Night of Solace was more like a slow-moving whale: huge in size, but ultimately harmless.
And indeed—
Lances fired in unison.
Screaming plasma beams tore straight through the Covenant shield.
The protective barriers Covenant ships were so proud of shattered instantly under just one salvo.
Before the Covenant could even react, countless massive shells roared from the macro cannons, blowing apart the entire side hull of the Long Night of Solace.
All of this happened in the blink of an eye.
From afar, all anyone could see were streaks of green light erupting from the Glory Queen, striking the Covenant supercarrier.
The next moment, the previously smooth, seamless hull ruptured—
one entire third of the ship's side was blasted away, like a toy model smashed in with a fist.
And it wasn't over.
The Glory Queen's side thrusters ignited.
Under immense power, the warship slowly rotated, bringing its bow to face the burning Long Night of Solace.
At the same time, Duanmu Huai gave a cold, decisive order:
"Fire the main gun."
"——————————————!!!"
The terrifying might of the BFG-10000 erupted once more.
A blinding, colossal plasma beam shot from the Glory Queen's prow-mounted main cannon, shrieking across the void—
and split the Covenant supercarrier cleanly in half.
The two burning halves of the massive ship fell downward, swallowed by flames, plummeting toward the planet below.
"My God… what did I just see??"
Not far away, UNSC pilots in their fighters were speechless.
Just moments ago, they had steeled themselves to board the supercarrier under cover of UNSC support ships, planning to destroy it from the inside.
But in the blink of an eye—
that unbeatable Covenant warship had been reduced to rubble.
"What's happening, Noble Team?!"
The voice of Commander Holland crackled through their comms.
"What did you see?! What's going on?"
"I… I don't even know how to describe it, sir…"
One pilot swallowed hard.
"A… a massive warship suddenly appeared…
It destroyed the Covenant supercarrier…
That giant monster—
it's completely gone!
I can't believe my eyes!!"
"What? Is it UNSC Navy reinforcements?"
"I don't think so, sir… this warship looks like nothing we've ever seen…"
He didn't finish speaking before the control center cut in.
"Gamma Station Control here—
We're detecting multiple signals!
Large-scale Covenant activity on the orbital defense grid!!"
And sure enough—
in the distance, one Covenant ship after another flickered into existence.
Dozens of warships formed into battle lines, surging toward the entity that had destroyed the Long Night of Solace.
"Just you lot?
And you think you can fight me?"
Duanmu Huai narrowed his eyes.
"All ships form up! Prepare to engage!"
In the next instant, six Lunar-class cruisers and missile destroyers emerged from the Webway, assembling beside his flagship.
"Target: Covenant fleet!
Exterminate them all—leave none alive!
Astra Militarum, prepare boarding torpedoes!
Board their primary warships!"
Then he turned to MIA.
"Find their flagship.
I'm boarding personally.
I'm going to kill whatever alien bastard is commanding them."
"Yes, master~~♡"
Thus began the battle between the Inquisition and the Covenant.
There was no probing fire.
Both sides formed ranks immediately and unleashed full bombardments.
But the Covenant quickly realized something was very wrong—
They had assumed this was some hidden UNSC trump card.
But the moment they exchanged fire, they discovered:
this fleet was nothing like human fleets.
Enemy firepower was overwhelming.
Their defenses were impenetrable.
Covenant ships couldn't even break their shields—
not even with plasma torpedoes.
Meanwhile—
their own shields popped like paper before the incoming lance fire.
Every macro cannon salvo turned another ship into debris.
In mere moments, of the sixty-ship Covenant fleet, nearly one-third was destroyed or crippled.
"Unyielding Life has lost contact!"
"Penance destroyed!"
"Reverence critically damaged—unsalvageable!"
"Devotion destroyed!"
"How is this possible?!"
Fleet Commander Vadamee slammed a fist into his chair in fury.
He resembled a bipedal reptile—one of the Covenant's ruling species, the Elites.
"They only have twelve ships!
Six of them are small!
Why can't you break through?!"
"S-sorry, Commander!
Our attacks can't penetrate their shields.
Those shields are unlike anything we know…"
"REPORT!!
Unwavering Purity is being boarded!!"
"Boarded?!"
Vadamee froze in disbelief.
"What do you mean boarded?!
How did humans board a Covenant warship?!"
"I—I'm not sure, Commander!
They fired something like torpedoes at us—but they weren't torpedoes!
After piercing our defenses they embedded into the hull—
but they didn't explode!
Instead—inside them… were enemy soldiers—
and… they're not humans!!"
"Not humans??"
Vadamee stared.
"What do you mean not humans?!"
"They—they are—"
"BOOM!!!"
Before the report finished, an explosion shattered the transmission.
Then Vadamee heard frantic weapon fire—Covenant weapons firing rapidly.
Clearly, the ship's captain was fighting something inside the command center.
But within two minutes, the sounds ended abruptly—
followed by a dying scream—
and then silence.
This is bad.
Vadamee finally realized the situation was dire.
If this was a UNSC secret force, that would be one thing.
But this clearly wasn't human at all.
Had another alien empire entered the star system?
Joined the war?
If so—everything had changed.
As he pondered this, a bright flash crossed his vision—
one of his escort ships exploded into cosmic dust.
Vadamee made his decision.
"All ships, regroup! Prepare to retreat—NOW!!"
His fleet had no hope of victory.
That colossus was too big, too strong.
Every one of its broadsides unleashed storms of explosions.
Combined with its escort ships, the Covenant fleet couldn't even fight back.
If the Long Night of Solace were still alive, they might match it.
But with it gone, nothing remained that could challenge the behemoth.
If they didn't retreat now, they would never get another chance.
Vadamee looked again—
And what he saw chilled him to the bone.
That monstrous warship—
was slowly disappearing, like a submarine sinking underwater—
vanishing silently into the void.
What?!
Does it also have cloaking?!?
"Lock onto the enemy flagship!
Find its position!"
"We can't! No signals detected!"
"That's impossible!!!
A ship that big cannot simply vanish! Keep searching!!"
"Yes sir—
Found it!!
Enemy flagship located!"
"Where?!"
"Behind us————————!!!"
"BOOOOOOOOM!!!!"
Before the shout ended, a colossal impact slammed into the rear of Vadamee's ship.
He was thrown from his chair, smashing hard into the command console.
Red emergency lights and alarms blared all around him.
"Engines down!"
"Thrusters offline!"
Vadamee staggered up, blood dripping down his forehead.
"Commander! The flagship is disabled—we must evacuate!"
"Where is the enemy?!"
"This…"
Vadamee shoved the subordinate aside and stared at the screen.
The massive alien ship was circling them like a predator.
Escort ships fired desperately, but not even one beam pierced its shields.
Every time its broadside flashed, another Covenant warship died.
"It's using me as bait…"
Vadamee clenched his fists in humiliation.
His flagship wasn't spared earlier out of luck—
the enemy deliberately crippled it so he couldn't flee, forcing other ships to stay and defend him against this nightmare.
"Order all ships to retreat immediately!
Their firepower is overwhelming, but they are few in number.
If we run now, we can still escape!"
If they stayed, they would be annihilated.
But then Vadamee saw something—
The gigantic warship drifted to his side—
and something shot out from its hull, flying toward his flagship!
"Brace for impact!!"
He grabbed a chair.
A violent crash shook the entire bridge.
Several Covenant officers were flung into walls, knocked unconscious.
When Vadamee looked up—
He saw a massive oval-shaped metallic cylinder lodged between his hull and shield.
A dud warhead?
Before he could process it—
The front of the cylinder split open.
A towering figure in black power armor stepped out, a massive warhammer in hand.
"...So that's what it is…"
Vadamee finally understood why his officer said they weren't humans.
This thing was taller than any human—
and the moment he saw it, an instinctual fear seized him.
But—
"DO NOT UNDERESTIMATE ME!"
Roaring, Vadamee ignited his energy sword, stood up, and glared at the massive shadow before him.
"The Covenant…
will never yield!!"
(End of chapter)