16Storm Heralds Reading List
Book1 Maledicti Venator, Serrati Stellas, Tenebris Resurget, Finis Fide, In Tergum Cultro, Omni Honore, Carpe Posterum, Vacuus Cymba, Noctem Oritur
Book2 Umbram Ignis, Ancra Mortis, Fame Cimex, Crux Lapis, Saeva Abyssi
Book3 Captum Ante, Venenum Filios, Locum Ignotum, Domus Discordia
Book4 Cincere Tempestas, Ignis in Vacui
Ignis in Vacui: Chapter 1
Extract from Imperial Crusades of the new Age: Vol I.
The century following of creation of the Cicatrix Maledictum and the infamous Noctis Aeterna were a time of woe and grief. Countless threats emerged from the darkness between stars and the number of worlds lost remains unknown to this day, while the multitudes of the dead is beyond counting. The sheer number of calamities assailing mankind was on a scale not seen since the Horus Heresy and yet even in this darkest of times there was a glimmer of hope. A few desperate heroes who stood against the rising darkness and refused to yield.
Most Historitors focus upon the mighty armada that was the Indomitus Crusade, which was certainly the vastest in scope and by far the most successful, yet it is not the whole story. Across the galaxy wars raged, every Imperial army, fleet and Astartes Chapter engaged in a plethora of wars. These include the Aquila Crusade, the Revilers spearhead and the ill-fated Charon Crusade. Sometimes the return of the Astronomican allowed a modicum of wider coordination but most often the defenders of the Imperium fought on in blindness, unaware of the significance of their actions in a wider galaxy or even if they were winning.
History tends to paint the picture that the Indomitus Crusade was the single action that turned the tide, but in truth the galaxy would have been long since lost without these array of lesser conflicts. Many of which would have implications and consequences that would not become apparent until many years afterwards.
She had been expecting the jolt but its sheer intensity took her by surprise, throwing her to one side with jarring force as the gravity shifted. She sprawled in her command chair as the deck shook around her but she could do nothing but cling on for dear life. The bulkheads quaked and the hull rumbled as she hung on and waited for the gravity to stabilise.
After what seemed like an eternity the rattling ceased and the thunder faded, freeing her to sit up and take stock. She was a stern looking woman, with a lean face and grey hair that was tied up in a bun, her frame was slight but hard and her vision hid steel. Thanks to vagaries of Warp Travel and subtle juvenat work, her age was indeterminate but she certainly had said goodbye to her youth long ago. Her attire was plain and grey, a tunic and trousers with hard boots but her throat was adorned with the golden pins of command. Her name was Janna Horroway and she was the Captain of the Bonaventure.
Horroway drew herself up in her command chair and looked around the bridge. She was elevated on a short pedestal, for clearer vision of the various stations as opposed to any sense of entitlement. Everywhere she looked her crew were diligently tending to their stations, set in wide rings around her position so she could see everything at a glance. High above were ancient dedications and inscriptions, so aged that they had faded into illegibility. The crew were showing signs of strain but they were not afraid, they were focused and ready, alert and confident. The Bonaventure had a long history of lucky escapes and her Captain's attitude was steady and certain. None doubted that they would win through once again.
Horrorway drew in a breath and called, "Damage report!"
From the foot of her pedestal her Number One turned to face her. He had blue skin and eyes without pupils, his frame was slight and his face was slit by a vertical gash instead of a nose. His skin was hard and his jaw firm, but there was a universe of hidden pain in his eyes. His name was Kor' D'ras G'resh and he was calling out calmly, "Rear shields failed. Moderate damage to lower decks but no loss of power, they clipped us but not hard."
"Hard enough," Horroway spat through gritted teeth, "Those Ork junkheaps are right in our rear, they can hammer us with impunity."
The Number One asked, "Should we come about?"
"Belay that Mr D'ras," Horroway commanded, "Where are our support ships?"
By her right side there was a flare of purest light that condensed into the form of a beautiful young woman in a form-fitting catsuit. Data flowed over her skin like she was standing under a waterfall. This was merely an affectation of course, as was her gender, her true-self was a series of Binaric codes and self-writing algorithms in the data-looms of the Bonaventure's massive cogitator cores, but for the convenience of the crew she had chosen this interface and she answered to the name Numeta.
Numeta's avatar was still for a micro-second and then her face sprang into life and she called, "Orks are pressing in on all sides, our support ships are heavily engaged. Borlac Gun-Brigs are trading blows with that Rok and the Orreti Arsenal ship is falling back, trying to reload ordnance."
Horroway accepted this and called, "What of the Scythians?"
Numeta replied smoothly, "The Sloops are dancing with a squadron of Brute ramships, they have to keep them off the Borlac or the Greenskins will tear those Gun-Brigs apart."
"Show me," commanded Horroway.
After a moment a large Hololithic display flared into being over their heads and the officers peered upwards. Within the swirling image was the icon of the Bonaventure, shining blue while all around her swam a variety of icons, blazing red dots representing ramshackle Orks and blue for friendly vessels, all dancing around densely packed asteroids. There were the blunt-nosed blocks of the Gun-Brigs, over there the clustered pods of the Arsenal ship and along the periphery the recurved wings of the tiny sloops, spitting Meson-beam fire at a gaggle of Ork escorts. Black icons represented dead Ork vessels, of which there were a lot, but there were still plenty to present a serious threat. The Bonaventure was being pursued by a trio of escorts, not enough to kill her outright but it was only a matter of time until they wore her down.
Horroway looked into the display and her mind ran with calculations, her long experience telling her that the battle was hanging in the balance. She instantly saw that her forces were fully committed, pulling her escorts away to clear the Bonaventure's rear could lose them the fight. But there was one option left open to her. Horroway spent a second running vectors in her mind and then called, "Signal the Scythians, tell them to keep harassing the ram ships. Then call the Orreti; tell them I need a heavy-drone strike."
The crew hastened to obey but Numeta screwed up her face like a child denied a candy and whined, "The Orreti signal they are struggling to keep the Fighta-bombers at bay, they intend to disengage."
Horroway fought down an urge to snap but resolved to have a word with Numeta later; sometimes her avatar's behavioural responses fell wide of the mark. Horroway steeled her spine and barked, "Tell them to hold position or their Matriarchs will hear of their cowardice and reject their eggs from the spawning pits. If they wish their gene-lines to continue then they will prepare a torpedo-drone strike at our position."
That brought gasps from around the bridge but the crew were too disciplined to waver and kept to their duties. Yet D'ras steeped closer, wringing his three-fingered hands together and whispered, "Captain, is this wise?"
Horroway eyed her Number One warily, he boasted the experience of one born to the void but his eyes hid a terrible horror. Here was someone who had seen the madness of the Warp first-hand and was still scarred by it. Horroway trusted his competence but unless he could find his steel he would never rise to command a ship of his own. Horroway leaned in and replied, "Be brave of heart, we are both star-born. The void holds nothing we have not overcome before."
"For the Greater Good," D'ras whispered, invoking old philosophies but then the Bonaventure rocked again and Numeta called, "Glancing hits to the rear! Armour held but they almost hit the main drives, if we lose thrust…"
Horroway cut her off saying, "Where are the Orreti?"
Numeta clarified, "Holding ready off the ventral axis, torpedo-drones ready."
Horroway could see that herself but it did the crew good to hear it. She called out, "Fire on my mark, Mr Robar I will require maximum thrust."
"Aye, aye Captain," called Robar, the Chief Engineer, a stocky human male with a husky accent, "Reactors are purring like Caronoids, we're ready."
Horroway looked up into the Hololith, waiting for the vectors to be just right and then commanded, "Wait for it, wait for it… Now!"
Instantly several things happened, the waiting Arsenal ship birthed a dozen fast-moving drones, headed right at the Bonaventure. Yet at the same moment the ship leapt into motion, accelerating with a speed and grace most ships her size could not match. The Bonaventure was a sleek Astro-clipper of the Callisto-class but her engines had been enhanced in strange ways. She had the mass of a Battlecruiser but the straight line speed of a light Cruiser. It was no idle boast to say that the Bonaventure was the fastest ship in the fleet.
The Orks were taken by complete surprise and fell behind as the Bonaventure leapt ahead and they were still reeling in confusion when the drone-strike flew into the space where the ship had been. These drones were no mindless projectiles, but smart weapons with sophisticated guidance systems. The Orks barely had time to react, spraying out a desultory burst of turret fire, before the drones slammed into their hulls and blew them apart with brilliant balls of plasma.
Cheers erupted over the bridge as the icons disappeared from the Hololith but Holloway didn't join them. The sudden acceleration had changed all the vectors of the battle and now the Captain was hurriedly calculating new plots. Even as she thought words spilled out of her mouth, "We're on a course for that Rok, helm bring us two points to starboard and reduce thrust to three-quarters speed. Signal the Borlac to ready a barrage but hold until we can catch the Greenskins in a cross-fire. Mr Krang, ready broadside guns and power up the Meson-beamers, hold the Ceti-Disrupter in reserve."
From the tactical station a large, scaly being with a long snout and heavy muscles stood slightly straighter. His snout made a guttural snarl but a small implant in his throat called out, "Permission to add the prow guns?"
Horroway nodded in affirmation, the prow guns were paltry things, barely enough to trouble an escort but at close range every shot counted. The Captain glanced at the sensor readings and beheld the Rok, it was a truly ugly sight, all lumpy stone and jagged protuberances. Guns and engines and guns and armour and more guns stuck out seemingly at random and she was astonished that it could move at all, let alone fight. As always the old enemy would seem pathetic were it not for the fact that the blasted thing did move and it could most assuredly fight.
Horroway leaned back in her chair and said, "Numeta, run a structural analysis on that slag-heap. Find something critical to aim for."
Numeta froze for a moment as the data streams following over her sped up, a sign her Binaric-self was working furiously. After a moment the avatar came back to life saying, "There's an errant power surge running through it like an axis, a direct hit from the Meson-beams could well set off a chain reaction."
"Feed that into the targeting and coordinate our fire with the Borlac," Horroway ordered as the Hololith icons crawled together, the distance shrinking before her eyes. She could see the Rok turning, drawn by the prospect of a worthy kill. The Ork's heavy Gunz were numerous and powerful, in a slogging match they would surely win, but the Bonaventure was quick and precise with a vicious punch of her own. Plus she was not fighting alone, for trailing the Rok were a pair of Gun-Brigs, heavy brawlers in their own right.
Suddenly sparks of energy lit up the front of the Rok as the Gunz let fly. The crew gasped but Horroway called out, "Primitive savages fired too soon, they should have waited until we were closer. At this range all they will do is tickle our shields!"
Sure enough the Bonaventure rocked with impacts but the range was too great she was angled abeam. She slipped through without a single shell touching her hull and hove into range of her own guns. Horroway waited as eternal seconds dragged by and then they were 'crossing the T' and she called, "Fire guns!"
Instantly the Bonaventure's flank lit up as rows of Macro-plasma weapons discharged. A barrage of firepower struck the Rok dead on, soaking the void shields to maximum. Simultaneously the Gun-Brigs let loose, flinging an astonishing torrent of Atomonic shells right into the Ork's rear. The Gun-Brigs were brutal craft, with short-ranged weapons but at close ranges their prow guns put an Ork ship to shame. The Rok quivered under the barrage and then the shields blew out.
Instantly Horroway called, "Fire Meson-Beamers!"
In response two twin beams of light shot out of the Bonaventure's flank. They struck the Rok dead-on, boring into its exposed hide with surgical skill. Horroway held her breath in anticipation, waiting for some vast explosion to fill the Hololith but the seconds crawled by with nothing happening. Just as she was about to despair Numeta cried, "Reading internal explosions and power level dropping sharply, I think we took out whatever passes for their reactors. Confirmed: they're dead in the void!"
The bridge crew erupted into cheers as the Rok drifted into a powerless tumble. Voices raised in elation as the crew felt the rush of surviving another brush with death unscathed. Horroway let the cheers ring on for a few moments then called, "Alright that's enough, back to your posts. We need to polish off the stragglers and make sure there are no more surprises waiting."
As the crew resumed their work the Captain turned to Numeta and said, "Prepare a Hyperlight message for the High Senate. Tell them that it's safe to send in the mining vessels: this asteroid belt now belongs to the Diasporex!"
