V2 Chapter 131: Your Objective: Take Them Alive
"Who?!"
General Delavere's roar broke across his command bridge.
"Who gave the order to fire first?!"
Every officer and staff member on the bridge looked down. The communications officer's hands were still frozen on the console. The tactical staff stared at the ground engagement record that had come back to the flagship, their colour gone.
The footage of Gantine First Noble Soldiery executing the Tanith liaison personnel had reached the flagship. Colonel Frentz had not received any explicit authorisation from Delavere, and had already pushed the entire situation to the edge of no return.
Heldane stood beside the hololithic strategic map, his long face set in something dark.
He did not speak immediately. He looked at the engagement markers lighting up on the western high ground of the surface warzone. The Gantine assault wave was pushing toward the Tanith three-regiment position, and the fire line had already spread across the canyon's outer perimeter.
"It would appear to be the Gantine First Noble Soldiery acting on their own assessment." Heldane said. "No formal order came from the flagship."
Delavere spun to face him.
The next instant, he swept the data-plates, metal command ruler, and recorder from the tactical table and sent them across the floor.
"Their own assessment?"
His face had gone dark red, his voice barely containing the fury behind it.
"Do they have any idea what they have done? They have handed Duvette everything he needs."
Delavere had never been afraid of a fight.
He had come to Menazoid Epsilon carrying the Warmaster's redeployment order, with the explicit purpose of assuming control of the warzone. If necessary, he could use force to push Duvette out of the ruins area.
But what he had needed was the advantage. A lawful basis. Duvette crossing the line first.
That was no longer the situation.
The first shot on the ground had come from the Gantine noble soldiery, and what they had killed was a formal liaison team flying the Imperial identification banner with an open vox channel. Once that record reached Duvette, Villent, Juno, and Werner, Delavere would be dragged into an investigation he could not manage regardless of whether he won the battle.
Worse, his forces did not hold the numerical advantage.
Villent's fleet had already deployed in Menazoid Epsilon's low orbit. Duvette's ground forces had already secured the ruins entrance.
Delavere's plan had been to use a forced ground insertion to create a fait accompli on the planet surface. Frentz had turned that into a public assault on loyal Imperial forces.
"Signal all vessels." Delavere said through clenched teeth. "Combat intercept posture. No captain opens fire without authorisation. Every fire control lock must be confirmed through the flagship. As long as they—"
He had not finished speaking.
The augury officer on the bridge's far side jerked his head up.
"The Spear of Triumph is opening a full broadside!"
Delavere went still.
On the hololithic star chart, a light cruiser within the fleet formation lit up with fire control markers. Tens of thousands of kilometres away, lance weapon tracks appeared from the direction of Villent's fleet.
The first lance salvo crossed low orbit and struck toward the Resolute's position.
A moment of dead silence.
Then Delavere's roar came back louder than before.
"Who authorised that firing?!"
The communications officer barely had the nerve to look up.
"Admiral. The Spear of Triumph's captain reports that the enemy lance arrays were charging and their macro-cannon batteries were coming around. He assessed that Villent's fleet was about to engage the flagship, and acted under the intercept protocol."
"The intercept protocol?"
Delavere's fist came down on the command lectern's edge.
"Fool. I wanted them intercepted. Who in the hell told him to open fire first?"
Nobody on the bridge responded.
Everyone understood what that salvo meant.
The ground had already slipped out of control. Now the orbital situation had followed. Duvette held the record of Gantine soldiers killing a Tanith liaison team, and now he also held evidence of Delavere's fleet striking the Resolute first.
Heldane spoke then.
"Admiral."
His voice was cold and flat, cutting through the disorder on the bridge.
"It no longer makes a difference."
Delavere looked at him sharply.
Heldane continued. "The other side has already moved to combat posture. Villent will not treat that salvo as a misunderstanding. Duvette will not let the opening pass."
He paused, his gaze going to the hololithic star chart.
"If you attempt to explain now, you only give them more time. The battle has started. Take the initiative back."
Delavere did not answer immediately.
He stood at the tactical table, his chest rising and falling. Several seconds passed. The fury on his face was pushed down by force, and the judgement of a fleet admiral came back into his eyes.
"All vessels, full engagement."
His voice settled into something lower.
"Transports continue the insertion. Escort vessels protect the landing corridors. Light cruisers suppress Villent's flanks. The flagship advances. Do not let them close the distance."
The orders went out.
The bridge came back to life. Officers returned to their stations. Macro-cannon arrays began recalibration. Lance mounts moved into the next charging cycle. Torpedo bays awaited flagship authorisation.
Heldane said nothing more.
His long face looked darker under the hololithic light. Something shifted in his expression for a moment, then closed again as though it had never appeared.
The situation was moving in the direction he had anticipated.
He had never directly controlled Frentz or the light cruiser captain. That approach was too crude, and left marks too easy to trace.
He had simply left a very shallow psychic seed in each of them.
Frentz already hated Gaunt. The seed only needed to sharpen that hatred slightly, to make it harder for him to stop when he saw a Tanith identification signal.
The light cruiser captain was already under the pressure of a high-alert intercept protocol. The seed only needed to make him read "enemy charging" as "enemy about to engage the flagship."
They had done the rest themselves.
Heldane looked at the engagement markers spreading across the hololithic map. There was nothing like remorse in his eyes.
To obtain the Men of Iron STC, every sacrifice was acceptable.
He had to push this war forward with his own hand.
Only that way would he have any chance of taking the object in the chaos.
The Resolute's command bridge was shaking.
The impact of the first lance salvo against the void shields had not fully faded, and the alarm tones were still sounding above the bridge. Admiral Villent stood before the strategic projector and gave orders with precise calm.
"Third escort formation, deploy to the left flank."
"Light cruisers maintain broadside fire, do not chase the transports."
"All vessels increase void shield power. Macro-cannon batteries wait for the broadside window."
The naval officers responded quickly.
Villent looked at Delavere's fleet formation, his expression considerably calmer than it had been. The other side had opened fire. Explanations and waiting had both stopped meaning anything.
Duvette stood at his side and watched the flagship marker on the star chart.
Delavere's flagship was moving forward. Three light cruisers flanked it on both sides. The transport vessels were still putting forces down to the surface.
"We cannot fight this as an attrition engagement." Duvette said.
Villent did not turn.
"I know."
His fingers moved across the star chart and enlarged the void shield readings for Delavere's flagship.
"Duvette and Heldane won't stop until we capture them. As long as they are on the flagship directing operations, every formation below will keep following orders."
"So close the distance." Duvette said. "Punch holes in the local shielding and board."
Villent glanced at him.
"You always make the most dangerous option sound simple."
"Because it usually works."
Villent made a short, dismissive sound, then gave the orders.
"All fleet units adjust heading and press toward Delavere's flagship. Request the Silent Verdict's support: assign it and two light cruisers to suppress the flank shield sectors. The Resolute's main batteries wait for the broadside firing order."
He paused.
"Boarding torpedoes and assault craft to ready status."
The orders went to the fleet.
The Resolute began changing heading, its vast hull turning slowly in low orbit. Macro-cannon arrays adjusted their angles one by one. Lance mounts began charging. The boarding decks deep within the ship opened.
Duvette turned and walked to the tactical communications station at the bridge's rear.
Anderson's voice was already on the channel.
"Second Assault Infantry Regiment assembled and ready."
Deep within the Resolute, ranks of veterans were forming up on the boarding deck. Carapace armour locked. Meltaguns, bolt weapons, frag charges, and breaching explosives were confirmed in sequence.
The Black Shield squad and Storm Trooper elements stood at the front of the formation.
Every one of them understood they were about to be sent into the interior of an Imperial warship, and that the people they would face had sworn the same oaths to the same Emperor.
But the orders had been given.
Duvette had originally intended to take these people into the underground ruins to deal with the STC, which had been exposed to Chaos corruption. First he had to resolve what was directly above him.
As long as Delavere and Heldane remained on that flagship directing the engagement, the ruins entrance on the surface would never be secure.
"Three thousand veteran soldiers as the total boarding reserve." Evan reported from nearby. "First wave consists of the Second Assault Infantry Regiment's elite companies, the Storm Trooper elements, and naval boarding troops. Subsequent waves to follow once interior landing points are established."
Duvette gave a nod.
"Patch me through to the boarding deck."
The communications screen came up.
Anderson's face appeared at the centre of the display. His helmet was already sealed. The thunder hammer was racked behind him. Several Second Assault Infantry Regiment officers stood at his sides.
"Commissar." Anderson said.
Duvette looked at all of them through the screen.
King of War was ready to activate.
He could feel the skill extending outward along the command chain. The soldiers on the boarding deck stood fractionally straighter. Their breathing steadied. The hesitation in their eyes was pressed down and out.
This was not simply courage.
It was the will of an entire force being reforged into a single heavy blow.
Duvette spoke.
"The objective is straightforward."
Everyone looked at him.
"We are not going in there to kill loyal Imperial naval personnel. We are not going in there to destroy the flagship. Our task is to paralyse the enemy command structure and take every senior officer behind this mutiny alive."
He paused.
"General Delavere must be taken alive."
"Inquisitor Heldane must be taken alive."
Anderson gave a nod.
"If they resist?"
"Break their arms and their spines and leave them able to spit." Duvette said. "Do not let them die."
He looked at the three thousand veterans on the other side of the screen.
"From this moment, everyone who fires on you is an armed obstacle standing between you and the execution of Imperial law. Show them what soldiers of the Astra Militarum are actually capable of."
The sound of safety catches being released came from the boarding deck, followed by the veterans' answer in unison.
"Yes, sir."
Duvette cut the channel.
At the front of the bridge, the augury officer reported again.
"Delavere flagship's flank void shield power is dropping."
Villent raised his hand.
"All vessels, prepare to fire."
Duvette looked at the star chart.
Delavere and Heldane were on that flagship.
For this civil war to end, they had to be pulled from their command positions first.
They seemed to think that without Astartes support, Duvette had nothing that could reach them through their heavy void shields and armour plating. That was unfortunate for them. What they were facing was considerably more dangerous than Astartes.
Duvette said nothing. He watched the countdown and held the expression that had become his standard on a bridge: cold, still, giving nothing away.
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