The bombs were called Void Mines. They functioned like naval depth mines, except they operated in space and used short-range teleportation to deploy directly into enemy formations.
Each Void Mine was a crude twenty-meter cube packed with promethium explosives and reinforced detonation cores designed to survive teleportation stress, radiation, and void exposure.
Their construction was simple. Thick metal plating surrounded exposed cables, antenna clusters, and rough sensor arrays assembled for reliability rather than precision.
They looked like giant blocks of scrap, industrial refuse left to drift in the void. The outer hulls were intentionally irregular, breaking up identifiable silhouettes and making them difficult to track on standard auspex returns.
To an untrained eye, they might seem like drifting debris fields until they struck. They were so cheap that they cost less than a standard torpedo and were deployed in large, indiscriminate clusters rather than precise volleys.
Frankly, with how cheap they were, even a 5% hit rate was considered a victory.
Twelve enemy ships, most of them cruisers, were caught in direct overlap impacts with the teleportation mines. Their larger hulls and slower maneuvering made them easier targets than nimble escorts or frigates.
These unlucky vessels ended up catastrophically merged with the Void Mines. Adamantium bulkheads fused together with the mines' crude metal casings. Entire corridors vanished inside solid masses of overlapping steel and armor plating.
Inside the affected ships, crew members caught at the overlap points died instantly. Blood, armor fragments, and shattered machinery blasted through nearby corridors as emergency bulkheads slammed shut across the damaged sections.
Several warp drive chambers were hit directly by the mines. Plasma conduits ruptured. Superheated energy flooded nearby decks, turning entire compartments into burning fields of plasma fire and electrical discharge.
Damage-control teams that rushed to contain the destruction quickly realized the situation was beyond repair. The mines had merged unpredictably with the ships' internal structures. Reactor conduits, support beams, armor plating, and machinery had fused together into immovable masses of twisted metal.
There was no safe method to remove the devices without tearing apart entire sections of the ships.
Scorched handprints marked sections of fused hull plating where trapped crew members had tried to pull themselves free before dying. Limbs, tools, and fragments of machinery protruded from the metal at unnatural angles.
The surviving ships fell into disorder almost immediately.
Some vessels broke formation and attempted emergency withdrawal maneuvers. Others drifted uncontrollably through the fleet after losing propulsion or helm control. A few Chaos captains deliberately rammed rival warbands' ships while old grudges suddenly became more important than the battle itself.
Ships too damaged to move became drifting hazards, forcing nearby vessels to steer around expanding debris fields and burning wreckage.
The fleet collapsed into chaos. Warning klaxons echoed across damaged hulls while overlapping vox traffic filled command channels with conflicting orders, casualty reports, and demands for extraction.
Ten minutes later, the Void Mines detonated, destroying a total of seventeen warships.
The explosions tore through the crippled vessels from the inside out. Hull sections ruptured into expanding clouds of plasma, debris, and molten armor. Nearby escorts were shredded by secondary impacts as fragments of burning wreckage scattered across the battlefield.
On the command deck of the Celestial Engine, officers and crew cheered as the enemy formation disintegrated across the hololithic display.
The Void Mines were unreliable compared to the construct's main weapons batteries, but that unpredictability was part of their appeal. Watching multiple successful overlaps occur in a single deployment felt less like standard warfare and more like beating impossible odds.
"Stop focusing on the void battle," Grey barked, drawing everyone's attention back.
His eyes locked onto the holographic projection marking the Forge World below. "Our primary mission is the surface campaign."
The Celestial Engine continued its orbit around the system's star while steadily accelerating.
Dozens of intricate subsystems compensated for velocity changes and gravitational stress, ensuring that regardless of acceleration or proximity to planetary bodies, the internal atmosphere and gravity remained stable for its inhabitants.
As the Celestial Engine approached Agripinaa, its speed gradually decreased tin preparation for large-scale teleportation deployment for ground forces.
The hololithic displays updated again. New icons spread across the planetary surface, marking teleport coordinates and strategic objectives for each regiment. Manufactorum districts, orbital defense silos, reactor stations, macro-cannon batteries, and power relay hubs lit up across the tactical map.
"Prepare for combat," Grey ordered as he locked the helmet of his Thunderborn power armor into place.
Around the bridge, officers finalized tactical briefings and transmitted deployment orders to their commands. Deep vibrations spread through the deck as the teleportarium systems powered up. The air filled with ozone and the sharp metallic scent of charged energy.
Ten thousands of troops were already assembling inside deployment chambers across the Celestial Engine. Armored vehicles locked into teleport cradles while drones performed final weapon checks on heavy equipment. Entire regiments stood motionless beneath flashing red lumen strips as countdown signals echoed through the staging decks.
….
Meanwhile, the enemy fleet was pulling back.
On the bridge of the Conqueror, Kossolax the Foresworn sat motionless on his throne, staring at the Brass Blood Pool before him.
The sorcerous artifact remained active, its thick surface shifting with distorted images of the surrounding star system. Occasionally, large drops of blood rose from the pool before collapsing back into the liquid. Some spilled over the edge entirely, spreading across the deck like living stains before evaporating into smoke.
It was clear the scrying device was struggling to maintain a stable reading of the new celestial constructs that had appeared in-system.
"Something is interfering with the Blood Pool," a woman in a white uniform said as her flickering holographic form appeared beside the artifact.
Her image distorted constantly, as though the ship's systems struggled to maintain a stable projection. She circled the Blood Pool while examining streams of data visible only to her.
"It's affecting more than the scrying," she continued. "Warp drive performance is degrading as well. The system's gravitational pull has increased several times over. The Mandeville Point is now significantly farther away from us."
Kossolax said nothing. His eyes remained fixed on the shifting images inside the pool.
He was not watching the stellar constructs.
He was watching Agripinaa.
Half of the Foresworn warband remained on the planet, including his Inner Circle. His oldest champions and warleaders, warriors he had kept alive for centuries, were still trapped below.
Though one of his lieutenants, Shalok of the "The Four," had mysteriously disappeared a month earlier, the other three members were confirmed to still be planetside.
As for the mortal crew and allied warbands stranded below, Kossolax did not care.
"We need to leave the system immediately," the woman warned again.
At that moment, the weapon arrays mounted on the two metallic moons began charging once more. Their growing light illuminated the bridge in harsh flashes as energy readings climbed rapidly across tactical displays.
"Aren't you already withdrawing us?" Kossolax asked quietly.
"It would have happened sooner if you had not delayed the order," she replied sharply.
When the celestial constructs first appeared in-system, Kossolax had assumed they were transport platforms with limited armament. He had insisted on maintaining position long enough to recover his ground forces.
He had not made the decision alone. He had asked for her assessment first.
Her conclusion had seemed reasonable at the time. A construct of that scale should have suffered severe power limitations. Even if heavily armed, it should only have been capable of firing a few major volleys before exhausting its reserves.
Besides, most of the fleet belonged to allied warbands and Red Corsair forces rather than the Foresworns directly. Abandoning half the fleet immediately would have shattered what remained of the alliance.
Even she had believed the ground forces of the Foresworns were valuable enough to justify the risk.
Now, for the first time, she looked uncertain.
"How is that thing even functioning?" she muttered while pacing beside the throne. "The energy output makes no sense. I've seen artificial celestial constructs before, but nothing on this scale. It's like they placed an entire star inside that planetoid."
She glanced toward the tactical displays with visible frustration.
"And this interference is blocking accurate scans. I still cannot identify the primary power source."
"…"
"What's the status of the rest of the fleet?" Kossolax suddenly asked.
"Overall fleet losses have reached forty percent," she answered.
"I'm not asking about the whole fleet. I'm asking about the Foresworns' warships."
"I suggest you stick to the overall numbers," she said quietly. "You will not want the specific figures."
Kossolax fell silent again.
Clearly, the plan had failed.
He had poured everything into this campaign, hoping it would allow him to pull the shattered remnants of the World Eaters back together beneath one banner.
When Huron Blackheart agreed to support the campaign in exchange for future assistance capturing the warships of an unknown minor faction, Kossolax had seen hope for the first time in centuries. A chance to restore some fragment of the strength and glory they possessed before the Horus Heresy.
With Red Corsair support, the campaign timeline had accelerated by years. They no longer needed to wait for that topknot bastard to distract the Imperium. Instead, they had moved directly from raiding Forge World Agripinaa to attempting its full conquest.
At the time, the plan had seemed practical.
Agripinaa was already weakened from repeated raids, internal resource strain, and constant military obligations elsewhere in the sector. Intelligence suggested the defending fleet was undermanned and operating below optimal production capacity. Under normal circumstances, the assault should have succeeded.
"Boom∼!!"
While Kossolax was lost in thought, the bridge jolted violently.
"We've taken a direct hit!" the woman reported urgently. "Starboard hull sections compromised!"
Kossolax immediately understood what had happened.
The celestial constructs had fired another barrage. A handful of shots had broken through the retreating fleet and struck the Conqueror directly. Void shields had collapsed. The hull had been breached.
Warning sirens howled across the bridge as damage reports flooded in.
"Decks nineteen through twenty-four vented to space."
"Starboard plasma relays offline."
"Secondary shield generators destroyed."
"Fires spreading toward the lower weapons decks."
Kossolax remained silent as the Conqueror absorbed the damage and continued its retreat.
Finally, the Conqueror reached the Mandeville Point and initiated a Warp jump.
As the warship disappeared into the Immaterium, unnatural shadows moved through its corridors. Whispers echoed behind the bulkheads while unseen claws scraped slowly across the metal walls.
And still, Kossolax remained completely silent.
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