The void was on fire.
The Righteous Wrath , its ancient plasma reactors cycling inefficiently, bled a micro-flare of drive wash. It lasted less than a second. But in the empyrean-saturated void, it was a lit match in a powder keg. battlefleet gothic armada pdf
Lord Admiral Caspian heard the news in the strategium of the Dominus Bellorum , his Emperor-class Battleship. The astropathic choir’s message was a fractured scream of static and terror. “...Furia-class... emergence... Gellar Field collapse... Port Maw demands immediate reinforcement. The Archenemy has come to Scarus...” The system of Periphery was lost. Not to Orks, nor to the insidious tendrils of Hive Fleet Kraken, but to the Despoiler himself. Abaddon’s 12th Black Crusade had pried open the Cadian Gate, and a splinter fleet, led by the ancient and corrupted Despoiler-class Battleship Blade of Antwyr , was carving a path toward the vital shipyards of Port Maw. The void was on fire
The Dominus Bellorum ’s immense broadsides spoke. Six macro-cannon shells, each the size of a hab-block, slammed into the Blade ’s bow. For a moment, its corrupted shields flickered. The Righteous Wrath added its own lance batteries—twin beams of focused sun-fire that stabbed into the wound. But in the empyrean-saturated void, it was a
Caspian’s own fleet was a shadow of its former glory. The Battle of the Gath Rim had cost him three cruisers. What remained were his flagship, two Lunar-class cruisers ( Valiant and Stalwart ), a squadron of three Sword-class frigates, and the Righteous Wrath —a battered, venerable Gothic-class cruiser whose crew was rumored to still whisper prayers to the God-Emperor through bleeding lips.
The plan was heresy incarnate. He would not fight Abaddon’s flagship. He would drown it in a star.
“My Lord,” Vance said, his voice tight. “The Righteous Wrath is requesting fire support. They are overrun. Captain Sulla reports… the boarders are using the crew’s own bones as ramming spikes.”