Warhammer: In the Name of Ashes

Chapter 424 Black and Red, Planning in the Shadows ([-]) Flames of War
"Okay, gentlemen, tell me, how many swords do you have and why do you serve the Emperor?"

Passing through the busy contract captain Yulia, Liseta nodded her head and greeted her.

She went straight to the top of the battleship and sat on the throne before speaking to the generals on the opposite side of the joint battle screen.

The screens opposite the throne were lined up, and six video signals from various warships were connected in real time.And the one ranked first among the generals was none other than Savillian, the head of the Exorcist Chapter, who was granted command of the fleet by Liseta.

In the joint combat state of the Astartes, the ownership of its command authority has always had its own set of rules that are not written in words.But no matter how complicated this rule is, it cannot escape its cold and violent nature.

Well, there is also the status of the chapter and the prestige of the commander himself.

But the latter two are rarely established in the Astartes. After all, these "people who walk in the starry sky" travel all over the territory of the empire all year round, and even the information of their own battle groups will not be obtained in time.

There are people who can make other chapters fear in terms of prestige, but looking at the entire history of the empire, such people can be said to be rare, if not rare.

Of course, this time will not be an exception, so Savillian, as the most closely related to the Inquisition among the many battle groups, also happens to be the one who has invested the most troops among the many Astartes battle groups who came to obey orders.

His command was established almost without controversy, especially after the Dark Templars made it clear that they would not participate in the war.

"795 swords will obey your orders." Savillian replied, several Astartes officers were silent, just waiting for the order of the judge.

And behind this precious number representing the blood and sweat of countless worlds of the empire, there are 5 companies of the Exorcist Chapter, and a company of the Dark Hunter and Emperor's Spear that joined the Inquisition camp later.

Oh, and one special Chapter that was last to arrive before the war began - the Blood Ravens.

The three strike cruisers and five battle barges were the warships they came on, and together with the two large cruisers Heart of Wrath and Doom temporarily dispatched by the Imperial Navy, Liseta had all the strength in her hands.

This is where her confidence lies, because the space wolves who are good at fighting may not lack swords, but their bad relationship with the empire will make them lack the most expensive industrial products such as battleships.

The relationship between the Mechanicus and Fenris is not close, and the sons of Russ have been fighting for thousands of years, and the battleships of the Legion era are in a state of continuous wear and tear, but they cannot be replenished.

Despite the best efforts of the Iron Priests (the exclusive title for Wolves' technical sergeants), the lack of mineral veins in Fenris itself and the equally lacking manpower in the hands of the technical sergeants have allowed them to make even the most powerful ship in thousands of years of casting attempts. The embarrassing "Lunar Cruiser" cannot be cast either.

So the smaller assault ships became the last choice of the Space Wolves, and their tactics were also further away from the legion model of the year due to the degradation of this main battle equipment.

The intelligence in Liseta's hands showed that the strength of the Space Wolves assembled on Baellog 9 had already surpassed the number of a chapter of the "Sacred Code", but she was not shaken by this threat at all.

The source of this strategic determination lies in this:
In the context of the Space Wolves needing to cover the departure of the Jameolo Navy, they themselves lose a wide range of strategic depth.

And their strategic mission of staying in Barlogo further magnified their huge disadvantage in warships in naval battles.

The number of wolves seems to be large, but there are only two cruisers available, and hundreds of assault ships seem to be numerous, but they must survive the long firefighting distance between the fleets before they can be counted.

But is this possible?The answer is of course no.

The enemies that the Space Wolves face this time are neither space pirates without military discipline, nor chaotic servants who have lost their minds.They are the same elite Astartes as the wolves, and they are the embodiment of the ultimate force of the empire who also inherit the blood of the Primarch.

Will the Astartes who are familiar with naval battles give up their strengths to let the desperate Space Wolves have a chance to get close?

The thinly armored assault ship can't even withstand the heavy cruiser's secondary guns, so how can it survive the artillery fire of an entire star-level fleet?

Unless they can kill her here and use a sneak attack to reverse the outcome of the entire battle.But the reason why the troops of the Black Templars are here is precisely for this reason. Although their Marshal Field is neutral, he will never sit back and watch Liseta's death.

Three strike cruisers, more than 800 elite Astartes.

This force, which is enough to wipe out the defense of the galaxy in a short period of time, neither participated in the active attack on the space wolves, nor appeared in any previous publicity.

Just like the livery on their warships representing Dark Revenge, the Black Templar's fleet quietly surrounded Lisetta's flagship, waiting in silent silence for the possible assassination of the Space Wolves.

This is also Liseta's plot. The Black Templars are unwilling to participate in the Inquisition's war against the Space Wolves, but because of their relationship with the Xenopathic Order, they cannot sit back and watch Liseta's death.

So under the arrangement of the latter, they passively became Lisetta's amulets, and also became the last link to make up for the loopholes in the whole plan.

So no luck, no hope.Ten deaths and no life, this is a carefully planned massacre.

The Space Wolves of course knew how little victory was for them, but what they didn't know was that the reality was far worse than their worst predictions.

Lisetta has no personal grievances with these Astartes, and even from a personal point of view, because of the similar home star environment, she has a deep cultural identity with these warriors from the ice field.

Unfortunately, she doesn't have the power to choose.

She herself is just an exquisite chess piece placed in the center of the stage after arranging all the plots of the big drama, the huge force that traverses the empire, the Tribunal.

If she is replaced, there will be another "Liseta" here, killing her to escape this crisis, and the Tribunal will continue to prepare for the next counterattack.

The result will not change, and since the ending is already doomed, why can't it be her who appears here?

She has her own request, and there are people in the trial court who are willing to help her realize this "little wish".

Now that the curtain has opened, all that remains is for her to "go on stage" to perform according to the steps.

"The whole ship sets sail and initiates communication with the Space Wolves."

Savillian's gaze turned from the holographic projection that had been reset to zero, and then met his captain's gaze.

Decades of cooperation have allowed this mortal to have a tacit understanding with his lord, and under his command, the Exorcist's strike cruiser began to move forward slowly.

The launch of the flagship is the signal for the start of the war. The entire large fleet launched a crescent-like formation on the outermost periphery of Balgoro, and then, under the background of the energy storage of the bow Nova Cannons of many battleships, moved towards the hundreds of weapon stations. The Space Wolves crushed.

z...z...

The clear code communication sent to Barlogo was connected, and the bearded face of Hoffman, the current wolf master of Sea Wolf Dalian, appeared on the screen.

"One last warning, Space Wolves of Fenris. Lay down your arms and exit the system immediately! Your disobedience will be forgiven, and your allegiance will be restored to the Empire!"

Without any politeness, Savillian looked across the screen with an indifferent gaze, and issued an ultimatum to them in the name of the Imperial Tribunal.

Hoffman, who had already returned to the frontal battlefield on the assault ship, sneered at this. The man in bronze armor and holding a giant ax looked through Savillian and the emblem of the Inquisition hanging behind him, and finally fell on the star. The asteroid group on the map.

A hoarse voice, like a stone being sharpened, spit out from his mouth under his white fangs:
"Son of Russ, never know what it is to retreat."

The illusion of peace was completely shattered with this statement, and the Astartes of the two camps also completely lost the idea of ​​keeping their hands.

After the communication was officially cut off, the fleet launched the attack first, and the space wolves on the outskirts of the Barlogo system also began to resist.

In the first hour of the war, Barlogo's galaxy defense system became the first victims of the war.

On the orbits of the two outermost planets, dozens of weapon platforms silently collapsed and exploded under the shooting of the Nova Cannon, dyeing the first bloody color of this war.

The strike cruisers with the heads of sirens and wolves leading the assault ships tried to shoot at each other while approaching from the flank of the Inquisition fleet.However, Savillian and the other Astartes battlegroups had clearly responded, and several large cruisers under his command had focused on them from the very beginning.

Dozens of assault ships were destroyed in just half an hour, but their behavior of covering the main flagship still could not allow the flagship of the Space Wolves to complete the charge.

The latter turned their rudders to the interior of the system after a failed attempt to break out, but the Inquisition fleet, under Savillian's command, was in no hurry to pursue.

Instead, they shoot forward at a steady pace, eliminating all threats within the range of the fleet's firepower.

Flashes of light lit up on the muzzles of the cruiser's nova cannons and light spears, corresponding to the fact that weapon platforms turned into dust in the universe.

The strike cruiser of the Space Wolves couldn't bear the pressure, and retreated towards the back of the planet in embarrassment.

The frigates and battle barges of the Inquisition were deployed horizontally on the two wings of the array. They used their macro cannons to engage in fierce firefights with a dozen assault ships hidden in the weapon stations and the backside of the planet, and then destroyed the latter one after another on the way of the charge.

"The flanking fleet requests instructions." Savillian's contracted captain asked him for instructions. There were enough assault ships that lost power after the two wings were hit, and the commander of the flanks needed him to decide how to deal with these warships.

How to deal with it?Savillian was also caught in a tangle.

According to the battle situation at this time, the best way to deal with it is to order the escort fleet to completely destroy it with torpedoes;
But in this way, the surviving space wolves on the assault ships would have no way out.

"Destroy their engines and wait for the trial after the war." Savillian thought for a while, but in the end he couldn't make up his mind.

In the eyes of Savillian, the essence of this war is the internal struggle of the empire after all. In line with the idea of ​​preserving power for the empire, he still wants to keep the lives of these space wolves.

But he still doesn't have a deep enough understanding of the bloodiness of the wild wolves. His kindness at this time is destined not to be appreciated by the wild wolves, but to lay the groundwork for the price to be paid later.

In the second hour of the war, the Grand Fleet had cleared all the outer defenses of the Barlogo system, the space wolf fleet had withdrawn to the core planets, and several outer planets had been abandoned by them.

Sporadic firefights still took place on the fringes of the two fleets, while the main force of the Inquisition's fleet was already deployed within the galaxy.

The black ships of the Tribunal in the rear also kept up with the pace of the main fleet, and under the escort of three black templar battleships, one large and two small, slowly stepped past the location where the war first broke out.

Grand Inquisitor Lisetta is almost sure that the victory of this war is already in her hands.

"My lord, there is a communication request from the Astropathic Deck." The commander below the throne shouted to Lisetta, and the latter only raised her head as a response to her subordinate's reminder.

"You can't ignore them." The contracted captain Yulia reminded again worriedly that the discipline of the trial court is extremely strict. This kind of deliberate neglect of the superior's contact will definitely cause Lisetta and all her subordinates to be severely punished afterwards. accused.

"Okay, access is allowed." Grand Inquisitor Liseta rubbed her hand on the bolter at her waist, and replied without raising her head.

She didn't even need to wait for the signal to be connected to know the content of Calvin's communication, and how to passively resist similar orders had already been formed in her mind.

But this time the communication was different from the previous ones. Not only did the orders from the Unremitting Jihad resound on her warships, but all the warships participating in the battle ahead also received this clear-coded telegram using the "password" of interstellar access.

"This is the Imperial Tribunal, Judge Calvin, the supreme lord of the Holy Hammer Order.

I repeat, this is Calvin, the Supreme Lord Inquisitor of the Imperial Inquisition Order of the Hammer Order.

In the name of the Emperor, and in the name of the Inquisition, I order you to stop all offensive actions immediately, pending further processing! "

The entire Inquisition's fleet was slightly stagnated at this moment, and the Space Wolves also smelled something different.

The former commanders stopped their work one after another and looked at the Grand Inquisitor sitting behind. They were waiting for Lisetta's order. After all, the latter was the owner of the highest order of command on the scene.

The wolf lord Hoffman on the latter's battleship narrowed his eyes, and the canine teeth in his mouth bit his lip without feeling it.

He is not interested in the entanglements within the Tribunal, and the time to counterattack is coming. If he gives up because of the enemy's retreat, how will he face those brothers who have already died?
"Objection! According to the first principle of the court's emergency management regulations, I have absolute autonomy to deal with any matter when there is no higher authority present! Please understand!"

After a brief silence, Liseta's reply resounded across the starry sky as a plain code message.

And this kind of behavior is tantamount to saying to all the personnel who participated in the war: she alone bears the responsibility for all actions, and what they have to do now is very simple, that is, to carry out her will!

Pa, press the communication ball on the neck again to end the communication, Liseta looked forward with cold eyes.She rejected the gray knight behind her who wanted to persuade her with spiritual power, and then ordered to her contracted captain:

"Ask Savillian how long it will take him, regardless of casualties."

　Update, make up yesterday's.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)