---Ten Minutes Later---
The ongoing naval battle was a one-sided slaughter. A joint force of thirty Holfort and Principality ships, several of which were on fire, was being toyed with by five Holy Kingdom vessels. They had an overwhelming numerical advantage, but it did nothing to help overcome the enemy’s shielding. Cannons and spells were no better than spitwads to them. While our allies could not scratch them, the same could not be said for the enemy.
Equipped with several laser and plasma cannon batteries, the five ships took potshots at the panicking targets. They were not taking this fight seriously. Neither nation had the firepower to breach their defense… or so they thought.
“Luxion, what is the status of my party?” I toggled controls from conventional to the replica Imperial Command Chair. “Are they ready to mobilize?”
The Imperial Command Chair was more than a mere seat; it was a neural interface designed to link a captain directly with the ship’s Machine Spirit. In Imperial lore, a Machine Spirit was the temperamental, quasi-sentient consciousness living within advanced technology. Through this chair, a commander could commune with that mechanical soul, controlling weapons, propulsion, and shields at the speed of thought.
This airship, however, possessed no Machine Spirit, as it was not built by the Adeptus Mechanicus. To replicate that direct connection, Luxion bypassed the spiritual elements and installed a brain-computer interface instead. This system would feed raw tactical data and telemetry directly into the mind of whoever sat in the chair. A normal human brain would short-circuit under such an immense cognitive load, but for me, it would not cause any issues.
Luxion checked the camera feeds. <Yes, they are waiting by the bulkhead door that leads to the deck.>
As I settled into the chair, its biometric sensors verified my identity and linked my consciousness directly to the ship. A dull headache flared behind my eyes. The sudden flood of data pushed my nervous system, but it was within expectations. Within a few moments, the pressure in my skull receded.
The first thing I did was bring the weapon systems online. As they came alive, my eyes flew open in shock. “Holy crap! I thought most of the weapon batteries along the hull were just there for decoration. When I told you to outfit the ship with the best equipment you had, I didn’t mean turn it into a full-fledged warship.”
On top of equipping the ship with a Void Shield, Luxion had built in various weapons I knew from both my previous lives. At the bow, he installed a Nova Cannon that retracted into the ship’s prow. Along the sides and at the stern, Godsbane Lances, Hecutor Plasma Macrocannons, and torpedo pods were positioned to cover all approach vectors. This was by far the most powerful vessel in the skies of our world.
“I’m curious, how did you squeeze all of this onto a nine-hundred-foot ship? You miniaturized them, but the power draw should be astronomical. Also, where did you get the schematics to begin with?”
<When you arrived in this star system ten thousand years ago, I analyzed your equipment in great detail. Since then, I’ve spent my idle time understanding the technology and vastly improving upon it. Given your countrymen could appear anytime, can you blame me for being cautious?>
“I don’t fault you for thinking ahead. In your place, I would have done the same thing. The more data you have on a potential threat, the easier it becomes to deal with.”
After confirming all systems were operational, I plunged into the disorganized Holfort fleet and lowered the Nova Cannon. When my allies noticed my House’s crest on the bow, their faces lit up with excitement and relief.
One sailor grabbed his captain, shaking the old man like a rag doll. “Lord Aremu is here! We are going to make it.”
“I know. Stop shaking me, fool!” His commander broke free. He took a few steps back for good measure. “All hands, prepare to abandon ship. We won’t stay airborne much longer.”
His ship had sustained heavy damage at the battle’s onset. Their powder room had taken a direct hit, blasting an enormous hole in the port side. The explosion had also damaged the propulsion engines and fractured the Levitation stone. For the past few minutes, the stone’s magical power had become unstable, pointing to imminent failure.
While they made their escape, the Holy Kingdom took notice of my ship. Unfamiliar with its design, they believed it would fall just as easily as the others had. When their attacks vanished into purple flashes of light, their smugness vanished.
‘Ha! It’s going to take a hell of a lot more than that to breach my Void Shield.’
Unlike standard barriers that absorb or deflect incoming attacks, a Void Shield operates on a different principle. The moment the enemy fire touches the outer boundary, the projection emitters tear open localized rifts in space, shunting the incoming attacks into the Warp. Attacks simply cease to exist in our dimension.
I activated the ship’s internal intercom system. “Brace yourselves, ladies. The ship is going to shake a bit here in a second.”
“Roger!”
The Nova Cannon began building a charge. When it reached twenty percent, a warning alarm sounded. A system message appeared in my mind.
<Warning: Atmospheric conditions detected. Lower energy output to safe levels.>
‘Crap! In my excitement, I forgot the Nova Cannon was designed for void combat only. If I fire it without compensating for the atmosphere, a cascading nuclear atmospheric detonation would occur.’
I dialed back the energy output to the minimum. The computer calculated that the plasma warhead would only hit Mach 20, well below the danger threshold.
With the weapon calibrated, I took aim at the lead enemy ship. Once we were past the last of our allies, it discharged.
Kaboom!
A brilliant flash shot out of the cannon, generating a devastating pressure wave as the minibus-sized round exited. The target ship did not register its doom; the warhead punched straight through its bow, exiting the stern in a microsecond. The round continued into the center of the formation before detonating into a blinding miniature sun. This release of energy overloaded the adjacent vessels’ shielding, forcing them offline.
The survivors, blinded by the miniature sun, fumbled about.
“Sound the re—”
Crunch!
A second later, the pressure wave slammed into the formation. The sheer kinetic force spared no one; the crews of all five vessels, both on deck and below, disintegrated into a fine red mist. The ships themselves collapsed inward, compressed by the atmospheric displacement to a fraction of their original size. These mangled metallic hulls plummeted toward the ocean, while the crimson mist drifted down at a slow, ghostly pace.
“Hot damn! It does not feel the same as the full-sized one, but it still gets the blood pumping.” An exhilarating sensation shot up my spine.
<If I had a heart, I would agree with you. Shall I prepare the rescue bots for deployment?> Luxion appeared in front of me, his lens fixed on my face.
I nodded. With the threat eliminated, our objective now was to rescue our allies before their ships fell out of the sky. As I swung us around, a calm presence intruded into my mind.
“This battle has not concluded. More threats still linger close by.”
I stopped the ship mid-turn. Malcador’s intense training had turned my mind into Fort Knox. No one could gain entry without my permission. Yet someone, though I was not sure who, bypassed my protections and connected to my mind. They vanished before I could counter or trace them.
I checked the sensor array again, confirming that no enemy vessels were in the area. ‘Was the voice a hallucination? No, that is not it. I must be missing something.’
If the Holy Kingdom had access to weapon technology from the Imperium of Man, it stood to reason they might have other technology as well.
“Luxion, are your satellites still having issues locking onto our coordinates?”
<Hmm… yes. All five enemy vessels were destroyed, but the interference persists. This area has been scanned many times before without issue. Is something else causing it?>
Certain now something was amiss between the two anomalies, I closed my eyes to investigate. I channeled the Force with my potent Psyker energies, extending my consciousness outward. Aside from the presence of my allies, a hidden cluster of minds flared in my awareness. Several thousand feet away, tucked behind a small, barren rock, a few hundred Holy Kingdom soldiers were praying we would leave soon.
I opened my eyes and turned my focus toward the island. Neither my eyes nor the sensor array noticed anything amiss. “It appears we need to reevaluate our threat assessment of the Holy Kingdom.”
With the island as my marker, I positioned the ship for a starboard side bombardment. As the weapon batteries zeroed in, Luxion scanned the area again.
<Are you certain that there is something there?>
I nodded. Weapons hot, I commanded them to fire. They replied with gleeful roars, unleashing streams of dazzling lights.
Boom! Thrum! Boom!
A few thousand feet away, Holfort and Principality soldiers watched the light show with mixed emotions. Many of the younger Kingdom soldiers cheered with unbridled joy, viciously mocking the nearby Principality forces. The youth on their side responded with equal ferocity, turning their ire and disdain on Leon.
“We are clinging on for dear life, and he is showboating for his countrymen. Screw you, asshole!” One soldier stood up in his wobbling dinghy, both hands out, and extended middle fingers. “You were supposed to be better than your wretched peers. I guess it was just a big lie.”
Several of his counterparts on the Holfort shot to their feet, hurling curses at him. Lord Aremus was a national hero. They refused to let anyone badmouth him.
As the youth tore into each other, the older generations looked on with disappointment. They had once been full of bravado like them, but the years had stripped it all away. This ancient conflict taught them all one thing: life is a fragile thing. Countless brothers and sisters-in-arms had given their lives in a meaningless war. The ceasefire gave them hope the cycle would finally end, but now they were not sure.
‘Why… Why are you doing this? All of us, Her Majesty included, believed in you.’ The captain of a sunk Principality ship hung his head. ‘My granddaughter is about to graduate from the Military Academy. I hoped she would avoid this nightmare and live a normal life. Now it looks like she—‘
Crack! Grind! Crunch!
Everyone fell silent as the island crumbled away. In the seconds that followed…
Boom! Kaboom! Clang! Shriek!
Its hiding spot destroyed, the cloaked vessel was helpless to resist. Exo-lances vaporized entire sections, while macrocannon and railgun munitions turned the hull into a colander. Critical systems started failing almost immediately.
Kapow!
Before their eyes, a two thousand foot ship flickered and sputtered into existence from nowhere. Soldiers recoiled in disbelief and fear.
KA-BOOM!
Secondary explosions knocked out additional systems, making the ship list to port side.
“He… He wasn’t trying to make fools of us. There was another Holy Kingdom ship hiding right under our noses.” The disgruntled soldier stumbled backward, nearly falling out of the dinghy. “Since when has the Holy Kingdom been able to make its ships invisible?”
Several sailors grabbed the man, yanking him back to safety.
“There could be even more of those ships nearby!” A Kingdom soldier scanned the sky in a panic. “We are exposed out here!”
The Principality captain watched as Lord Aremus’s ship turned toward them. As it raced to render aid, he could see several people on deck ready to pull them aboard.
“If your Lord Aremus is performing a rescue operation now, there are no more threats nearby. Just hang tight and be ready to climb aboard his ship.” He gave the young man a genuine smile.
‘In the end, it’s I who still needs to change more. Haha!’
Captains from both factions agreed with him. Right now, their highest priority was surviving to share what they had seen with the higher-ups. If more ships like that were out there, they had to come up with a way to find them.
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