Light in our hearts!

The bridge of the battleship Dominus Terra | Grand Admiral Hannah Shepherd

Well, here we are; radar shows the enemy fleet in a distant orbit of the Forge World. According to the report from the surface, the landing force is almost wiped out, and the ground operation will soon be over. Our task, on the other hand, is just beginning. Commander Mares, the defence squadron commander, should already be out of the asteroid belt and blocking the catapult. No keno must escape from here.

But still, where did that promotion come from? I was a squadron commander in the Far Reaches only a week ago. Now, I am leading a squadron into battle on almost the most powerful ship! Grand Admiral... only a Master could give that, but why me? Well, I'll worry about that after the fighting, but we must discuss the battle plan in the meantime.

Two hours later

And here it is, the decisive moment, just minutes before the battle begins. The fleet is moving at full speed towards the enemy, and the distance separating the ships is already measured in five digits and decreasing...

- Assistant, invite the esteemed Grand Adept to the bridge," the tall man with the clipboard in his hands nodded and disappeared behind the door. A few minutes later, he returned in company with a large figure wrapped in a scarlet robe. Everyone, including the grand Admiral, bowed as soon as he reached the bridge. There were rumours that the Grand Adept of Dominus Terra had been alive for two thousand years and had caught the coming of the Emperor God when he was a child. He has been serving on that huge ship ever since.

- I hear you, Admiral. - His voice, too, expressed reverence for the Admiral.

- Greetings, Grand; I would like to ask for the Emperor's blessing for our warriors and the mercy of the Spirits of the machine and the ship to be at our side in battle.

- So be it, I will go to the Heart and sing songs of strength with my brothers, that the power of the Emperor may grant the Spirit of the ship power for the speedy battle. And with us... He is always with us, as long as you and my Heartbeat! - At these words, waving his cloak, the adept left the bridge and headed for the reactor. His words encouraged the crew, and all doubt flickered from their faces-for; if the Emperor was with us, then the children of Terra know no defeat.

POV Bridge of the Durian Dreadnought

- Sir, the enemy fleet is about to enter the kill zone. There is new information on the enemy fleet; the computer is highlighting several ships, the nature of which needs to be clarified. Minimal weaponry and a square hull. There is an assumption that they are transports, but the scanner shows a minimal crew of living beings! - The already more or less calmed down aide began to analyze the enemy fleet. - We have sent a signal to send reinforcements, and I have already had time to talk to the primarch. We've been given orders that if we can't win the fight, we'll retreat to the other side of the relay; they're already preparing defence lines there. I hope it comes to something other than a retreat.

- Sir! Something's happening to those strange ships; their hulls are opening up, and they're releasing the MLAs, sir. Is a ship that big for multiple MLAs? Nonsense! That's a waste of resources! - One of the engineers turned to me. At that moment, something flickered on his screen. When he came back, he poked around for a long time until, in a shaky voice, he gave out. - Oh, spirits! Fixing up to five thousand objects! Classification - MLA! Coming at us in a big cloud, what's your order, Admiral?!

- Fire at the maximum range! You must take it. - and hundreds of cannons hit the blackness of space where the death cloud came from.

End of POV.

- The unloading of Astro-bots is 97.75% complete. - Reported in a monotone voice, the ship's adept. Through the observation windows, thousands of flames shot out of the carriers and swarmed toward the enemy. Eh, as always! Mechanicus always draw first blood. But that's the Emperor's will; some may be left for us. - Drawing fire from the enemy, some casualties among the bots, the approximate time of contact - a minute. - And flowed that hard minute, which I kept looking at the hologram of the battle.

And so the cloud reached the enemy ships; the path behind it is filled with debris, but the power of the Swarm has not diminished. In an instant, the bots, with their fire, sawed through several small ships and began circling the rest. The enemy's guns fired in different directions. They very often hit, but two other bots stood up in place of the destroyed bot. Here one of the streams of bots collided with the enemy's transport, and the latter flew apart in a second to let the rest of the stream through. And the enemy's small ships were destroyed almost instantly before they had time to leave.

But if the keno thought the drones were their enemy, they were wrong; at that moment, the larger ships came into position, and the guns created in the forges of Mars sent streams of energy into the enemy.

Virtually meeting almost no resistance, the small Xeno ships melted and exploded. But unfortunately, not unanswered. Amidst the beams of energy, a huge bolt, fired by the largest enemy ship, flew toward the Imperial fleet. The frigate in its path could not deflect it with its shield, and it exploded in a fan of debris.

- The great ships are the only thing they have against us, and most likely, only the battleships can destroy them. Otherwise, too many of the Emperor's warriors would be killed! - Navigator, lay in a course for one of the enemy battleships, and turn to the port side! - The figure in the helmet nodded, and in a second, the ship shuddered, sharply changing course.

- Archi-Cannonier, all portside guns to the left ninety degrees! - the man on one of the screens ran off to give orders.

- Helper, tell Grand that the time has come.

...

The ancient reactor is the Heart of the ship. Brought back from the depths of time by the Machine Lord, the Spirit had been asleep for a thousand years. And nothing seemed to disturb its tranquillity. But then the first sounds shook the ancient walls. The figures in scarlet robes surrounded the Heart and sang ancient songs. Thousands of voices joined together in a single burst. They reverberated against the walls, carrying the ship, causing the ancient entities to awaken and, hearing the call of the Supreme, to enter into battle. But none of them were secondary as long as the ship itself slept. But here, the power of the song was supported, and groups from other ships also joined in a single chorus so that the power of the song increased manifold. The ancient words were folded into a beautiful song, understandable only to the chosen ones, and soon it could penetrate through the veil of sleep of the powerful Spirit and awaken it. A thunderous roar shook the ship, millions of watts of energy rushing through all systems. The Emperor's power was so immense that the ship began to shine like a star, storing energy in its great guns. The power of the will was so great that the spirits of enemy ships were failing and were failing. And amid this riot of energy and ecstasy of the servants of the machines, a quiet voice rang out.

- Fire.

Thousands of terawatts surged into space, overcame the distance and entered the fragile metal of the keno in the blink of an eye. From the outside, it looked as if a star had been born, but a few minutes later, there was only one, a gleaming giant of gold, left in the place of the two ships. The other two battleships immediately opened fire on it, but the energy left in their shields easily deflected the shots.

- Astropath put me through to Battleship Gladius. - The adept in the red cloak with the symbol of Adeptus Astropathicus began to adjust his equipment. Soon a hologram of the young captain appeared before the Admiral, who slammed his fist into his chest as he appeared.

- Commander Oris, the time has come. The Emperor has granted us his power for battle! I authorize the use of the molecular destructor(1). - At these words, the commander passed out.

...

Another Imperial battleship began to accumulate energy and began to glow. All the energy went into the monstrous cannon attached to the ship's bow. As the amount of energy peaked, blue lightning struck one of the two remaining battleships at the speed of light, and it began to crumble and rust before their eyes. It was the final blow to the Spirit of the Xeno, and the last dreadnought sped toward the relay. The mad Admiral simply yelled at his subordinates to speed up, but they were met by another of those demons' huge ships on the way to the relay, ramming them. The airwaves were awash with ominous chants in a strange language that combined power and fury. And the last thing the Admiral saw before the collision was the corpse of the patrol commander suspended in front of the ram...