V2 Chapter 73: I Need to See Slaydo
On the command deck of the Resolute, Admiral Caspar Villent was still standing before the strategic holo-projection.
He had received word that the Inquisitorial black cruiser had launched a boarding action against the enemy flagship. It was not a tactic he was familiar with from standard naval doctrine, and not one he would have approved without hesitation under other circumstances. But from the moment the Silent Verdict had shared its intent, Villent had understood there was no better option remaining in Ashek II's orbital engagement.
Nearly half an hour had passed since he ordered the third escort squadron and both Defiant-class light cruisers to press forward and absorb the enemy's main capital ship fire, buying the Silent Verdict its entry window.
The third escort squadron was nearly gone.
On the tactical projection, the Imperial markers representing that formation had been reduced to a handful of flickering points. One had lost all power. Another was falling back on a slow heading, the majority of its hull status indicators showing critical damage.
"Enemy Murder-class is adjusting its prow bearing," the adjutant reported quickly. "Slaughter-class has broken from the light cruiser engagement and is re-entering the primary engagement zone."
Villent kept his eyes on the projection. "They're preparing a third broadside salvo."
"Yes, Admiral."
The bridge officers said nothing.
All of them understood what that meant.
The Resolute's void shields had been pressed to their danger threshold. Both Defiant-class light cruisers had taken significant damage. Orbital platform four was running hot, and platform seven's lance arrays had just completed a high-intensity firing sequence that left them unable to sustain the same output for some time.
If the enemy completed a third coordinated broadside, the Ashek II orbital defence line might simply cease to exist.
Villent was preparing his next order when something registered as wrong.
The enemy's escort formation was scattering.
The ships were moving as though they had received several contradictory orders simultaneously. Two escort vessels had manoeuvred into each other's firing lines. A contaminated transport had failed to turn in time and very nearly crossed the path of a raider behind it.
Villent's eyes sharpened. "Magnify the enemy flagship."
The tactical projection zoomed in.
The Styx-class heavy cruiser was still firing. Its macro-cannon arrays were still discharging, its lance arrays still held at charge. But the fire was no longer unified. The precise coordinated rhythm of its broadside salvoes had been broken.
Some of the gun crews had fired ahead of schedule. Others had delayed by several seconds.
The carrier wing was circling on the port outer approach. The fighter craft had received no new attack orders and had not been recalled to the flight deck. Several bomber flights had lost their assigned headings in the confusion.
"Enemy ground counter-offensive channel?" Villent asked.
The vox officer responded immediately. "Only static repeating on the channel, Admiral. The synchronisation signal from the enemy ground landing forces is degrading."
A brief silence fell over the bridge.
Villent looked at the heavy cruiser.
Then he saw it. An intense flare erupted from the Styx-class's rear port quarter. The explosion discharged outward from that section of hull, fire and debris tearing through an entire section of outer armour plate. Even at this distance, the observation port on the bridge's flank showed a brief red point of light.
The augury officer's voice followed an instant later. "High-energy reading from the enemy flagship's port aft section. Energy index climbing."
Then the adjutant. "Admiral. Port void shields on the Styx-class have failed completely. Void shields on other facings are still intermittent but cannot stabilise for a full recharge cycle."
A second vox officer looked up. "Enemy ground command channel is out of control. Multiple landing zones reporting confusion. They are requesting orders from superiors and receiving nothing."
Villent's expression changed.
The decapitation had worked. The enemy's command structure was gone.
The flagship's primary vox, fleet coordination, and ground counter-offensive relay node had all been severed by the boarding element.
"All ships, redistribute fire." Villent said immediately. "Resolute, port macro-cannon arrays ready. Both Defiant-class, press forward. Orbital platform seven, put everything you can still produce into the void."
The adjutant transmitted the orders.
Villent raised one hand and pointed at the gap in the Styx-class heavy cruiser's port void coverage on the projection.
"All lances. Strike there."
"Aye, Admiral!"
The Resolute's hull began its slow heading change. The bridge deck vibrated slightly under the engine response. The macro-cannon arrays reported full load, and the lance arrays completed their final alignment.
The two Defiant-class light cruisers pressed in from the flank, using their remaining torpedoes and macro-cannons to hold the enemy escort vessels in place. Orbital platform seven relit its lance arrays through an overheating warning.
Then Imperial fire landed simultaneously.
Lance beams drove through the Styx-class's failed port void shields and tore open the outer armour. Macro-cannon shells followed immediately, punching into the exposed hangar deck and weapons deck behind.
The heavy cruiser attempted to turn. The response was visibly sluggish. Its engines were not fully answering helm commands, and the bridge was producing no coordinated evasion order.
The second lance salvo drove through the port hangar.
Internal ammunition and carrier fuel began to cook off in a chain.
Enormous fire discharged from the ship's belly. Significant debris was thrown into the void. The Styx-class's main hull spine showed a clear fracture. Its propulsion became erratic and the whole vessel began drifting off its original heading.
The macro-cannons were still firing in scattered bursts. Several lance arrays attempted to recharge. But that was already only the reflex of residual systems. No command. No coordination. No movement.
Above Ashek II's high orbital approach, the Chaos heavy cruiser had become a burning wreck.
"Enemy flagship disabled!" the augury officer announced.
Someone on the bridge produced a suppressed sound of relief. It was quickly drawn back under by the officers around them.
Villent did not order a pursuit.
The remaining Chaos warships were already scattering in evident disorder. Several escort vessels had remained behind to fire covering torpedo salvoes, and a significant number of armed transports had simply been abandoned near the orbital approach. The Slaughter-class cruiser had made one attempt at a counter-charge, then turned away when it resolved that the Styx-class was no longer responding.
The adjutant looked at him. "Admiral. Do we pursue?"
"No." Villent said. "We have won Ashek II. We have not won the entire counter-offensive."
He looked at the Imperial fleet projection covered in red damage indicators. "The third escort squadron is nearly gone, the light cruisers are damaged, and the orbital platforms are running hot. Pursuing now means leaving the defence platform coverage range."
The adjutant nodded. "Understood."
"Clear the remaining landing craft and organise rescue operations. Have the surface garrison confirm the status of all enemy landing zones." Villent said. "And transmit our thanks to the Silent Verdict."
Before his vox officers could transmit, the communication from the Inquisitorial black cruiser arrived first.
"Silent Verdict requesting docking access to the Resolute. Lord Inquisitor Heinz Werner and Colonel-Commissar Duvette Erdmann will come aboard in person for a meeting."
Villent was quiet for a moment.
Then he said: "Docking approved."
---
Shortly afterward, an Inquisitorial landing craft entered the Resolute's docking bay.
Villent went personally to receive them.
The bay still carried the tightness of a ship that had just come through something difficult. Damage control teams were dealing with a ruptured fuel line at the far end of the deck, and injured crew were being moved past on stretchers. But when the black landing craft's hatch opened, every person in the bay came to attention by instinct.
Lord Inquisitor Heinz appeared in the hatchway first.
His black coat carried the Inquisitorial seal at the hem, Storm Troopers and aides behind him. But Villent noticed almost immediately that the person walking at the actual front was not Heinz.
It was a young Colonel-Commissar.
Duvette Erdmann.
Something briefly registered in Villent's eyes.
A Lord Inquisitor had chosen to walk half a step behind a Militarum commissar.
Villent drew his reaction back and rendered both of them a crisp, formal naval salute.
"Admiral Caspar Villent, presenting his respects to the Lord Inquisitor and to Colonel-Commissar Duvette." He said. "The Ashek II orbital defence line holding was the direct result of your timely support."
Duvette gave a brief nod.
"The thanks can wait, Admiral." He said. "Your fleet held the enemy in place. Without that, we had no entry window."
Villent looked at him.
Heinz stood at his side without interrupting.
Duvette continued. "I need to transmit a black-seal priority communication through your command link to the expedition's supreme command."
"I need to see Marshal Slaydo." Duvette said. "If you do not have his current position, transmit on my behalf to his forward staff through the astropathic relay."
Villent's expression became marginally more guarded.
The Marshal's location was not routine intelligence. Even with Duvette having just held Ashek II, even with a Lord Inquisitor standing at his shoulder, the request carried weight.
Heinz spoke for the first time. "This is not solely his request. It is the Inquisition's request as well."
Villent looked at the Lord Inquisitor.
The tone was not forceful, but it did not leave much space for a refusal.
Villent was silent for a moment. Then he nodded.
"I will connect you to the expedition's supreme command link." He said. "Whether Marshal Slaydo responds is not within my authority to compel."
"That is sufficient." Duvette said.
Villent turned and indicated to the adjutant that the communications arrangement should be made.
Duvette looked toward the bridge beyond the docking bay, then toward the observation port at the far end of the bay, where the burning hulk of the Styx-class heavy cruiser was still visible in the distance.
He was running the timeline in his mind. Ashek II's counter-offensive had been stopped, but this was only one episode in Nadzybar's broader push. The battle that would decide the Sabbat Crusade's early course had not arrived yet.
It was coming. Now that he was back, he would not allow Nadzybar's counter-offensive to drag on any longer than it had to. Balhaut needed to be finished quickly. There were other plans waiting after it.