The first sign of danger in orbit was the sudden failure of the communications system, which isolated contact between the different Chapters.
Although Lothar was nominally in charge of the coalition fleet, he did not have the power to directly command the ships of other chapters. When technicians tried to solve the problem of sudden loss of contact, Lothar had been pulled from the darkness to orbit. The approaching threat was a distraction.
A small but powerful fleet, no matter how many troops there were, quickly rushed towards the Paiji Star.
The frigates and destroyers of the patrol were the first to discover the oncoming enemy ships. In the case of poor communication, the destroyers used their navigation lights to communicate basic information, ignited the thrusters and sailed away from the original track. The detection device of the Stone Fortress Also launched, scanning space.
A few minutes later they spotted twelve enemy ships.
Then, under Lothar's instructions, the Eternal Loyal flashed her signal light toward the patrol fleet - lining up to launch torpedoes.
The boat surged forward with astonishing skill and precision, increasing the speed of its attack.
Below decks, orderlies struggled to load launch tubes, while on the bridge, ordnance officers entered course and speed, and target bearings and coordinates for the ship's weapons.
In less than five minutes the ships signaled that they were ready.
When the patrol enters optimal torpedo range, the signal is given: For the Emperor - Fire all torpedoes.
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When the Black Legion's battle group arrived near the Paiji Star, the patrol force was already ready. No less than 15 enemy destroyers and frigates formed three squadrons, forming a standard crescent-shaped formation.
Subsequently, the Black Legion battle group also began to change its formation.
The three capital ships, the Ceaseless Wrath, the Red Glory, and the Immortal Steel, are at the front. The two cruisers, the Divine Corrosion and the Wild Howl, form the rest of the flanks, while another strike cruiser from the Crimson Slayer is at the front. Behind the main line.
At the same time, a bloated battleship bearing the emblem of the Brotherhood of Steel broke away from the formation, started its huge engine, and jumped in the darkness.
Within minutes, the heavily armed assault ship picked up speed, reaching its ultimate speed before the destroyer formation reached its ultimate range.
The Brotherhood of Steel participated in many blockade battles, and their experience in this led them to create a bizarre type of ship called a "siege ship."
This kind of ship was transformed from a cruiser and installed with super-specific engines, allowing it to accelerate to staggering levels in a short period of time. What is even more distinctive is that it is covered with four layers of armor and is very The rare design featured anti-torpedo belts, while its weapons array was deployed under the armor.
The concept of this kind of ship is very simple. It takes damage in exchange for the destruction of its enemy. It never fires before engaging the enemy. After the armor absorbs the first wave of enemy fire, it launches an attack on the enemy at close range.
It actually doesn't mean much in conventional naval battles, but it can work wonders when breaking through a blockade.
With ten minutes to go before the battle began, the patrol suddenly increased its speed, and just as Eingraspeer had predicted, the small boats opened their bow tubes and fired a volley of deadly missiles at the oncoming cruiser. torpedo.
A dozen huge missiles rushed towards the reconnaissance squadron in a huge arc, each one powerful enough to blow a destroyer-sized spacecraft into pieces.
The siege ship rushed over directly.
At the same time, the small warships in the fleet also formed as wide a formation as possible to avoid the incoming torpedoes.
They formed the first discharge net, and the laser cannons sprayed out searing light, piercing the torpedo shell and detonating the huge fuel tank.
The huge explosion flashed angrily in the darkness, the hot gas and debris quickly dissipated in the airless void, and almost half of the torpedoes were destroyed.
The battleship's guns filled the vacuum in front of the boat with a veritable wall of fire, and the lances of light swept in burning arcs ahead of the cruiser, mixing together to create a seething field of vaporized metal and radioactive gases.
Five torpedoes slid through the maelstrom. They traveled through the remaining space to reach their target in less than a second, becoming an even smaller cloud of explosive shells as the small battleship's close-in defense guns opened fire.
But three hit the ship, one of the weapons smashing into the bow of a marauder, and the torpedo's plasma warhead ripped apart the lightly armored destroyers, instantly turning them into expanding clouds of gas and fragments.
As the siege ships sailed through the remnants of intercepted torpedoes, surveyors stared at their telescopes, searching for signs of engines amid the stormy disturbances.
Soon, the range and vector are calculated and transmitted to the torpedo, which feeds the data into a deadly attack.
The patrol fired a second wave of torpedoes, this time focusing on the siege ship because it was too close.
The torpedoes were closing in, but she kept going.
Soon, the warhead crashed into the deck, burning through the armor with clouds of plasma and throwing the molten metal into the void.
But the ship is still moving forward. Further back, the Astral Knight's battleship has broken away from the orbit of the Pain Star and is coming along a long orbit to intercept the enemy, while the boulder is still in place.
Flames exploded across the siege ship's bow and back, the explosions shaking her battered shell, but she kept moving forward.
Realizing that the opponent was incredibly close, the destroyer began to turn into the path of the burning battleship.
At this time, the armor of the siege ship was almost completely destroyed, revealing the ferocious truth of the weapon.
The next moment, she opened fire.
The destroyer's shield disappeared under the torrent of macrocannon shells. In an instant, the hull melted and the reactor exploded.
Although the outer hull was still burning, the ship had broken through the blockade and roared towards the Paiji star.
The rest of the empire's fleet hurriedly rushed to intercept this battleship that seemed like a crazy bull, but it had accelerated to the limit, like a cluster of flaming arrows falling from the night sky, rushing towards the dead planet, and towards any The blocking ships opened fire, debris of various materials tumbling behind it like the wake of a comet.
From the command throne, the commander of the Black Legion fleet watched the planet gradually grow larger in front of the bridge's observation deck.
"Boost."
Aingra Speer looked at the update of the combat situation and issued further orders.
They are now very close to the Paiji Star, but they are about to enter the range of the weapon array of the Stone Fortress. It is difficult to overestimate the power of this space fortress filled with the secrets of the Dark Angels.
As the Infinite Wrath reached maximum acceleration, Iongraspeer felt the rumble of its thrusters echoing across the decks. The battlecruiser and its flanking large cruisers had adopted a wedge formation, taking most of the enemy's firepower. Already concentrated on the siege ships, the other ships gained precious seconds to approach the effective range.
After another minute, Eingraspeer issued a new order.
"Signal the Red Pirate."
