by Gav Thorpe
‘Send word to Sergeant Seraphiel,’ the Grand Master announced, seeing that one of the ships docked at Port Imperial was showing a spike in its energy signature. ‘Have the Penitent Warrior increase separation. I want to be sure that we catch these scum between us.’
Pichon signalled an affirmative and passed on the order, before returning to his customary position a few metres from the Grand Master. They continued to wait, alert for any sign that the enemy knew their doom approached.
‘Have all torpedoes readied, full spread,’ Sammael commanded. ‘Increase thrust to full battle speed. Signal the alert.’
Moments later the warning klaxon sounded across the bridge. The volume of communication increased rapidly as reports were relayed from station to station, while the buzz and grind of metriculators and babble of servitors intensified as scanner readings were correlated and firing solutions calculated.
Amongst the hum of voices a low tone sounded from the sensor array terminals. Sammael knew its meaning immediately, but waited for Pichon to receive confirmation and pass on the report.
‘Active scan detected from the enemy base, Grand Master,’ said the deck officer. ‘Also picking up magnified energy output from Mongrel and Rat One. No sign yet of Rat Two responding.’
‘They see us,’ replied Sammael. ‘The scum are preparing to bolt. Launch torpedoes, four salvos, arc four-sixteen, declination thirty. If they try to power directly out-system they will run into the torpedo spread.’
‘As you command, Grand Master,’ said Pichon, bowing before repeating Sammael’s instructions to the torpedo officers.
‘Are you still confident that our prey will use the frigate, brother?’ Sammael asked Harahel. The Librarian nodded. ‘Good, then we can afford to destroy the smaller vessels and concentrate on crippling Mongrel.’
‘It is with hope rather than expectation that we should proceed, brother,’ said the Epistolary. ‘It is rumour alone that we chase.’
‘Rumour and shadow have ever been the spoor we follow.’ Sammael paused as the weapons technicians announced the launch of the first salvo. On the main screen, four immense torpedoes powered away from the prow of the Implacable Justice, the blaze of their engines swiftly dimming to pinpricks of light against the backdrop of stars. ‘The next few hours will shed light on the matter.’
What would happen next depended upon the actions of the pirate ships. The Dark Angels strike cruisers could easily outpace the smaller vessels in a straight pursuit, given that the enemy would take some time for their plasma reactors to come to full power while the Space Marine ships were already at combat velocity. Sammael had aimed successive torpedo spreads not at the enemy star fort, but on a trajectory that cut off an avenue of escape for the docked ships. They would have to dare the torpedoes to take the most direct route away from their berths, and more likely would come about, heading to port across the bows of the approaching attackers.
Sammael hoped that the renegades would be foolish enough to remain for battle, and was confident that the two strike cruisers had sufficient strength to quickly best their opponents. More likely the pirates would attempt to break away, heading for the outer reaches of the system so that they could escape into the warp.
Lacking torpedoes, the Penitent Warrior was on a curving course ahead and to port of the Implacable Justice. Sergeant Seraphiel and his bridge officers were under orders to contain any escaping ship, acting as an outrider to force the enemy back into the path of the Ravenwing strike cruiser. Caught between the two Space Marine vessels, the pirate ships would be crippled and rendered irrelevant, to be boarded and cleared once the raid on the star fort had been complete.
Throughout, Sammael had emphasised the need for swift and decisive action. Their main purpose in coming to the system was to sweep for evidence of the Fallen, and to capture any that were present, rather than engage in a lengthy battle with their foes. Three phases of battle would see the deed done. The opening phase had started and once the threat of the starships had been neutralised the second phase – the attack on Port Imperial itself – could begin. The third and possibly most dangerous phase was the extraction of the Dark Angels from the space station.
Sammael was full of energy, but resisted the urge to pace the bridge. He had to remain calm and capable of reasoned thought, weighing his decisions carefully rather than acting on instinct alone. A space battle was not the sudden cut and thrust of a Ravenwing assault, but a more measured, almost balletic process. The distances were vast and the time required to correct a mistake could well leave a gap for his enemies to escape their punishment. It would be at least another hour until the Implacable Justice was in effective range with its gun batteries, but that hour would require all of his poise and attention.
No Escape
The vessel designated Rat Two had not properly loosed its berthing locks as it tried to pull away from the Port Imperial docks. Gantries tore apart, leaving twisted metal scrap and hunks of broken plascrete in the wake of the ship. Several bodies were hurled from the star fort’s quay by decompression, the spinning corpses rapidly freezing in the void amidst a plume of ejecting gases. The ship commander was too hasty to escape from his moorings to adhere to safety protocols and as Rat Two’s plasma engine fired up white heat bathed the superstructure of the harbour wharf jutting from the station, melting a welt along the side of the docking spar.
Rat Two slowly gathered speed, but was already far behind Mongrel and Rat One. There being little honour amongst pirates, the dawdling vessel had been abandoned as the frigate and its destroyer-sized escort made a bid to escape. Rather than attempt to catch up with its departing companions, Rat Two powered ahead, veering to starboard to avoid the onrushing wave of torpedoes launched by the Implacable Justice.
Concerned that the opposing flotilla was splitting, Sammael held a brief discussion with Sergeant Seraphiel and the two of them agreed to divide their attack. While the Penitent Warrior continued on its intercept course towards Mongrel and Rat One, the Implacable Justice altered its heading to pursue Rat Two. Without knowing whether one of the Fallen was aboard one of the ships, it was imperative that none were allowed to escape and the ship carrying the Fifth Company would have to contend with the frigate and destroyer alone; a match in which it would not be outclassed.
Sammael briefly considered another torpedo salvo, but decided against such a course of action. Rat Two was only a few hundred metres long, less than a quarter of the size of the Implacable Justice. Each torpedo from the strike cruiser contained several dozen warheads of which only three or four would need to hit to utterly obliterate the fleeing pirate craft. It was Sammael’s task to capture the Fallen so that they could be taken for interrogation and the chance of repentance; the risk of a torpedo strike killing the Grand Master’s prey was too great.
Instead, the Ravenwing vessel would have to close the range and cripple Rat Two with its guns. This would be a more time-consuming course of action, giving those left aboard the station more time to prepare their defence, but it could not be avoided. Under Sammael’s command the Implacable Justice moved to full-speed, describing a long arc until it was directly behind Rat Two.
Having moved into the stern chase, it was only a matter of time until the strike cruiser overhauled the enemy ship and brought it into range.
The gap between the Implacable Justice and the Penitent Warrior was widening every minute, and they were now separated by a large swath of space. Sergeant Seraphiel and his ship could not expect any assistance from their fellow Dark Angels and would take on Mongrel and Rat One by themselves.
To the good fortune of the Fifth Company’s interim commander the renegades decided that they were better placed to remain close to each other rather than breaking away and heading in different directions. Watching the scanner blips of the two ships on the main display of the bridge, Sammael remarked on this to Harahel.
‘Surely they cannot be contempla
ting an attack?’ said the Grand Master.
‘If one of those we hunt is aboard Mongrel, perhaps overconfidence might be expected,’ replied Harahel. ‘More likely, neither wishes to be the one to draw the strike of the Penitent Warrior, for surely if they divide their course one of them will be overwhelmed while the other escapes. They are too afraid to part ways lest they are the one that becomes the subject of pursuit.’
‘A fair assessment brother,’ said Sammael. ‘I see that each ship has made bearing alterations and the other has swiftly followed to keep station. Their selfishness dooms them both.’
‘It is the old story of the two squires and the varglion,’ said Harahel. ‘One does not need to outrun the varglion, only the other squire.’
Sammael laughed. It was a story he had not heard since leaving the Scout Company, and to be reminded of it after so long lightened his mood.
‘I always thought it would be better for the two squires to face the varglion together,’ said the Grand Master.
‘I believe that the moral of the tale is that it is better to sacrifice one’s self to allow a brother to live,’ said Harahel. He nodded towards the huge display screen. ‘I also believe that Penitent Warrior is about to demonstrate why your course of action would be brave but pointless.’
Sammael checked the chronometer and range readings. Rat Two was still accelerating hard and Implacable Justice would not be within weapons range for fifteen minutes.
‘Main display, Penitent Warrior, maximum magnification.’ The Grand Master folded his arms and watched as the image moved away from the glow of Rat Two’s plasma wash and centred on the Dark Angels strike cruiser. Superimposed over the star-filled screen were three glowing reticules, one in red highlighting the position of the Penitent Warrior and a pair of white circles around the pirates. Sammael glanced at Harahel as he watched their intersecting courses. ‘Let us hope that Sergeant Seraphiel understands the importance of taking the ships intact.’
‘He understands well his role, brother,’ said Harahel. ‘He will temper fury with finesse.’
For the next few minutes the two ships ahead of the Penitent Warrior engaged in several drastic changes of heading, perhaps fearing another torpedo attack. They cut to starboard and inclined sharply down through the system plane, and then broke to port and rose up in the hopes of making their course too unpredictable. As the Penitent Warrior possessed no torpedo tubes, the only result of this manoeuvring was to allow the strike cruiser to gain even more quickly on the evading ships.
‘Though clumsily executed, their attempts at evasion are not without some strategy,’ said Harahel. ‘I think that our pirates have had experience against the Imperial Navy. It may indicate the presence of a superior military mind...’
‘No, I disagree, brother,’ replied Sammael. ‘If their commander had received training in fleet tactics they would not waste time with their torturous convolutions, but instead make all power perpendicular to the Penitent Warrior’s angle of attack. And if they had experience of the Imperial Navy, they have never encountered anything larger than a Sword-class frigate.’
‘Why do you assume that, brother?’
‘They are turning to fight,’ said Sammael, pointing at the screen. The white circles were slowly coming about, turning to a heading directly towards the oncoming strike cruiser. ‘If they had fought a light cruiser before, they would know that they are outgunned and certainly in a position of weakness to attempt a head-on attack.’
Sammael saw desperation, even panic, in the tactics of the foe. Having twisted and turned every way they could the commanders now threw caution to the wind and confronted their attacker directly. Mongrel and Rat One were keeping close together, arrowing directly for the Penitent Warrior. Sammael did not know what weapon systems the pirates possessed, but if they hoped to overload the void shields and penetrate the metres-thick hull of a strike cruiser the captains were about to be sorely disappointed.
A range scale counted down between the reticules on the screen and then flashed red to confirm the enemy had come into firing range of the Dark Angels ship. From a dorsal turret atop the spine of Mongrel a lance battery opened fire, sending the beam of a laser towards the Penitent Warrior. The blue streak slashed across the heavens for several seconds, missing the strike cruiser by a wide margin. Its capacitors drained, the lance beam disappeared. The Penitent Warrior was not yet in range with its weapons and was forced to endure another lance beam before it could bring its guns to bear. This time the pirates’ fire was more accurate, the beam of high energy causing the strike cruiser’s void shields to activate. Warp energy flared in a purple and green corona around the Penitent Warrior as the enemy’s lance ran from the starboard bow to the port stern. As the searing energy of the beam dissipated, the strike cruiser was left undamaged, the energy of the attack absorbed by the void shield.
Thirty seconds later, the Dark Angels were in range to respond.
Tracking Mongrel as the strike cruiser closed on the pirates, the turret housing Penitent Warrior’s bombardment cannon turned, sophisticated sensor arrays locking on to the frigate’s position and course while inorganic cogitators calculated the firing trajectory required. The bombardment cannon was mostly used in orbital support – bringing devastation from afar as they had at Hadria Praetoris – but it was no less effective against enemy ships. Additional stabiliser engines flared into life to keep the strike cruiser on course as the bombardment cannon opened fire, a plume of igniting gas ejecting from the barrel of the immense gun. For several minutes the cannon unleashed shells the size of gunships, filling the vacuum around Mongrel with hurtling ordnance.
Three of the shots struck the incoming frigate, two amidships and one to the stern. The void shield generators flared into life for the first, shunting the energy of the shell’s impact into the warp, but the second and third hits scored directly against the ship’s hull. Velocity alone was enough for the shells to punch through metres-thick armour, and time-delayed fuses ignited inside the frigate, activating the plasma cores of the bombardment shells to rip out building-sized chunks of superstructure. Hundreds of crew were incinerated in a moment; dozens more pulped by the blast wave and shredded by explosive decompression. Plasma and debris blossomed from the wounds, heeling the ship over to port, the expulsion of energy forcing Mongrel from its original heading.
The lance turret on the frigate responded, but its beam weaved harmlessly back and forth above the strike cruiser, its targeting sent awry by the bombardment cannon hits. Rat One and Mongrel parted slightly as the frigate headed to starboard of the Penitent Warrior and the destroyer was on course to pass down the port side. Armoured shields slid back from the gun decks of the Dark Angels vessel, revealing battery after battery of missile launchers, plasma drivers and macro-cannons.
Rat One’s own meagre batteries started firing early, sending a barrage of laser and shell fire towards the strike cruiser. Most of the storm missed, but as the Penitent Warrior’s broadside came to bear the strike cruiser’s void shields lit up once more, saturated with the welter of fire erupting from the small enemy vessel.
Fire and laser beams erupted along the hull of the Penitent Warrior, moving from bow to stern on both the port and starboard sides as the strike cruiser passed between the two approaching ships. For several minutes the weight of fire fell upon the Dark Angels’ foes, by which time the strike cruiser was already turning sharply to starboard to come around behind Mongrel.
The missiles and shells hit the two vessels with dozens of direct impacts. Rat One’s dorsal buttresses disintegrated under the weight of fire, the spine of the ship breaking so that a fifty-metre-long portion of decks tore away from the hull. Mongrel, already breached by the bombardment cannon, was wracked by internal explosions as the storm of fire breached weapons batteries and magazines. Fortified gun turrets turned to dust and debris as they were blown apart from within and crew dorms were swept through with white-
hot shrapnel and plasma.
Both ships were badly damaged, trailing wreckage in their wake. The engines of Rat One were faltering, the plasma flare growing dim due to severed energy lines. Mongrel powered on as best as the crew could manage, turning away from Rat One, leaving their fellow renegades to their fate.
With the frigate still mobile, the Penitent Warrior swung around, bringing the starboard broadside against Mongrel’s engines. The gunnery crews were ordered to fire as they each came to bear, a half-volley of laser and plasma that slammed into the unshielded engines of the frigate. Armour and fuel couplings were breached with secondary plasma detonations, and finally the huge exhaust nozzles of the ship grew dark and the frigate was left drifting without power.
While the Penitent Warrior had been occupied with its foes, the Implacable Justice was overhauling Rat Two. The strike cruiser’s bombardment cannon fired several ranging shots at the aft sections of the destroyer, the shells screaming past the fleeing ship. The gunners adjusted their targeting matrices and through Pichon informed Sammael that they were locked on and ready to fire when the strike cruiser came into optimum range.
With the fight between the Penitent Warrior and the pirates all but finished, Sammael ordered the main display to focus on Rat Two. The ship looked to be some kind of heavily modified short-range cargo hauler. She was wide in the beam, at least four hundred metres from port to starboard, and perhaps only two hundred metres high. Three-quarters of a kilometre long, most of the ship was taken up with cargo holds and engines, with just a small crew space and bridge along the dorsal decks. Two freight bays had been converted into gun mountings, an array of asymmetric laser batteries and energy relays clumsily protruding from poorly armoured turrets and gantries.
