Warhammer : Machinist and The Exile

Chapter 26

- Moon Tear Station, Briefing Chamber

A new hololitic display flared to life inside the briefing chamber.

The vast command hall dimmed, its central dais illuminated as lines of tactical data streamed down the projected void map. Red icons clustered over a blinking sector marker labeled Karthorn Debris Expanse.

General Lee, chief of intelligence operations, stepped forward, voice sharp and level.

"Lord Machinist, priority fleet update from Steel Cordon fleet. Steel Cordon Primaris Battlegroup has engaged the returning Red Corsairs near Karthorn. Full naval conflict underway. Transmission attached."

The projection shimmered, stabilizing into the face of Admiral Alaric Voorn aboard the Daggerfall's Oath, Steel Condor's flagship Gloriana-class battleship. Behind him, the bridge crew moved like clockwork serene amid crisis.

"Lord Machinist," Voorn intoned with respect. "Enemy fleet engaged. Red Corsairs battle-barge Gore Reaver, two strike cruisers, ten escorts. First contact resulted in the destruction of three enemy frigates. Enemy formation breaking — but attempting warp-jump vectors toward Blackstone Fortress."

"Casualties?" Nusa asked, his voice tight.

"None, my lord. Our energy shields remain at full integrity. Enemy projectile and lance weaponry proving ineffective against Machinist shielding matrix. Fielding nova torpedoes and lance batteries at prescribed saturation levels. Pursuit initiated. Request orders."

Nusa's eyes narrowed, the room falling silent.

"Annihilate them. And pursue Gore Reaver. Let nothing reach the Blackstone unchallenged."

"Understood. Daggerfall's Oath out."

The feed cut, leaving only the flickering tactical display — icons shifting as Machinist destroyers closed the net.

- Karthorn Debris Expanse

The void was ablaze.

Lance batteries hammered in disciplined volleys from Machinist cruisers. The Iron Marrow, a Machinist heavy cruiser, unleashed a beam of searing plasma energy, tearing an escort apart as its shields failed. Debris scattered in all directions, shattering ancient derelicts drifting in the expanse.

Enemy return fire was sporadic — the Red Corsairs' battlefleet had not expected this kind of resistance. Macro shells and plasma torpedoes splashed harmlessly against Machinist deflector shields, leaving only flickering impact ripples across the protective barriers.

"CIWS batteries engage boarding interceptors," a vox-officer reported aboard Iron Marrow.

Flickering blue tracers streaked through the void as the Close-In Weapon System emplacements — CIWS — lit up. Dozens of Chaos boarding craft, modified Storm Ravens and boarding torpedoes, screamed toward the Machinist line.

The CIWS grid answered.

Twin-linked rotary railcannons spewed high-velocity projectiles into the oncoming craft, the sheer volume of fire and projectile velocity turning the space between fleets into a blizzard of tungsten slugs and flaming bursts.

One Chaos boarding Raven exploded mid-flight, its debris vaporized before reaching Machinist hulls. A boarding torpedo was caught mid-approach by twin railgun cannons and burst apart in a silent shockwave.

Within seconds, the CIWS network had obliterated the entire boarding wave.

Aboard the Daggerfall's Oath, Admiral Voorn remained stone-faced.

"Status of the enemy flagship?"

"Gore Reaver repositioning, attempting to cover its fleet's retreat vector. Traitor vessels moving toward the Blackstone perimeter."

"Pursue. Weapons free. I want their hulls reduced to cinders."

Nova torpedoes launched from silos deep within the Machinist battleships, massive warheads trailing brilliant green contrails as they closed in on the remaining enemy cruisers. Impact detonations tore entire hull sections apart, one Red Corsair cruiser cleaved in half as its plasma core ignited.

"Another enemy escort down!"

"Traitor strike cruiser Damnation's Maw crippled, requesting target solution!"

"Finish it."

Lance arrays aboard the Daggerfall's Oath realigned, firing synchronized beams that speared through the Damnation's Maw. The Chaos cruiser's armor bulged and cracked, imploding moments later as its reactor detonated. The debris field expanded rapidly, trailing wreckage in all directions.

On the bridge of the Gore Reaver, the Chaos Captain snarled, blood matting his lips.

"They were never supposed to be here," he spat, clawed fingers digging into the command throne. "Get us to the Blackstone! Now!"

The last vox-link to his crippled fleet crackled as another Machinist lance beam tore through the void.

"This isn't a battle — it's an execution," his vox-officer whispered before a nova torpedo gutted the nearby cruiser.

Even as the last surviving Red Corsair ships vanished into the warp, the battle's outcome was clear: Exiled dominance in the void.

In the distance, the great void structure stirred.

Blackstone Fortress, a leviathan of ancint space station, shuddered as its defense systems came alive. Void shields the size of cities flared into being.

A ripple of cold dread passed through the Machinist crews.

"Warp energy surging across void lanes, sir!" called Iron Marrow's auspex chief. "Localized spatial distortion intensifying, gravitic anomalies destabilizing formation coherence! Blackstone Fortress defense batteries activating amidst storm resonance!"

Voorn's jaw clenched.

"Stabilize formation vectors. Adjust grav-lattice compensators to Maelstrom variance pattern Delta-Seven. No Imperial fleet could hold cohesion in this hell — but we will."

From Moon Tear Station, Nusa's voice cut through the storm like cold iron.

"Let them come."

- Moon Tear Station, briefing chamber

Back in the chamber, Lord Machinist Nusa rose from his command chair, gaze sweeping over the officers.

"Confirm battle assessment."

General Lee stepped forward.

"Steel Cordon primaris battlefleet operational losses: none. All Exiled ships remain at combat effectiveness. Enemy fleet decimated, seven confirmed vessel kills, remainder retreated to Blackstone Fortress vector."

Nusa nodded slowly.

A fresh holo-icon blinked as the First Wave's formation locked position outside Blackstone's perimeter, ready for final assault vectors.

"Now," Nusa murmured, "the real void war begins."

Admiral Voorn's voice returned over the command vox.

"Blackstone defense perimeter engaged. Enemy fortification shields rising. Awaiting breach orders."

Nusa straightened.

"Machinist to all forces: prepare for Blackstone Fortress Assault Doctrine Omega. This war's outcome is written here."

A cold silence followed, every officer in the briefing chamber understands the weight of those words. The plan is in motion.