Age of Darkness

‘Fool,’ said Delerax, smiling at the weapons officer. ‘A rudimentary mistake. One should turn into a torpedo attack, protecting the engines. A novice, no doubt.’

Blue and purple lightning flickered as the remaining warheads, several hundred of them, slammed into the strike cruiser’s shields. The vessel was engulfed by a blaze of detonations, so bright it appeared on the main display like a nova being born. More explosions followed as the shields overloaded and the remaining warheads struck the cruiser’s armoured hull. Plasma billowed from a ruptured engine duct.

A moment later the mini-screen vanished as the warhead launchers detonated.

‘Sca

‘Signal the flotilla, close in for the kill,’ replied Delerax.

‘Receiving transmission from Legion command,’ declared a communications aide. ‘Strapped with a priority subsignal.’

‘On speakers,’ replied Delerax, not moving his eyes from the screen.

The bridge hissed with static and a series of coded beeps and buzzes sounded before a bass voice broke across the noise. Delerax’s attention was immediately fixed on the message, all other considerations forgotten as he recognised the voice of Angron, the World Eaters primarch.

‘The treacherous sons of Corax continue to elude that lumbering engineer, Perturabo. The Warmaster has seen fit to give me free hand at the hunt and I will bring down the scum of Deliverance within days. All ships are to return to orbit to conduct the search. To me, my savage hounds! We shall let loose our fury upon the Raven Guard and wipe them from history. Obey with immediate effect.’

‘Shall we break away?’ asked Kordassis.

‘No,’ replied Delerax. He looked at the strike cruiser limping towards the asteroid field followed by a trail of expanding plasma: a predator seeing its prey wounded and ready for the kill. ‘Let the others chase the Raven Guard back and forth across the mountains. A few more hours will make no difference. I have a Salamander to slay.’

BRANNE FROWNED AND looked at the sca

‘A large residual trace of plasma and radiation, plus scattered debris clouds,’ said the Raven Guard commander.

‘A space battle?’ asked the praefector.

‘A large one,’ replied Bra

‘What do you mean?’ asked Valerius.

Bra

‘Yes, commander,’ replied the chief officer. ‘Within standard parameters, all sensor returns are showing the same across the fleet.’

‘What do you mean by “too large”?’ said Valerius.

‘Dozens of destroyed ships,’ said Bra

‘Imperial Army vessels turned by the Warmaster, perhaps,’ suggested the officer. ‘Oh, and were they not renamed the Sons of Horus?’

The praefector toyed with the red sash across his chest, a symbol of his family’s nobility. It showed signs of wear from Valerius’s constant fidgeting during the long warp jump from Deliverance to Isstvan. The praefector’s nervousness was understandable, though it irritated Bra

‘Even so, it would indicate almost total destruction of the involved fleet,’ said Bra

‘How do we proceed?’ asked Valerius.

Bra

‘Activate sensor dampening protocols,’ said the commander. ‘Rig reflex shields for silent approach. We’ll come in across the star to mask our signature. I don’t want to be seen.’

‘What about my vessels?’ asked Valerius. ‘We don’t have that capability.’

‘Get them to run as quiet as possible,’ said Bra

‘Quiet ru

‘Late for what?’ rasped Bra

FIVE DAYS CLOSER to Isstvan V, where the majority of the fighting appeared to have taken place, Bra

‘Send it through to my personal comm,’ said Bra

‘Commander Bra

‘Negative,’ snapped Bra

‘My apologies, commander,’ said Valerius. ‘However, a narrow-beam signal would be very hard to detect. Perhaps those on the Iron Hands ship can tell us what happened here.’

‘Negative,’ Bra

‘But what if they need our help?’ said Valerius.

‘We can’t trust them,’ said Bra

‘I don’t understand, commander,’ said the praefector. ‘We can’t trust the Iron Hands?’

‘My technicians have been analysing the readings from the battles,’ Bra

Static filled the room as Valerius absorbed this revelation. Eventually the officer spoke again, his voice a barely-heard whisper in the hiss.

‘But if that is true, what of the Raven Guard?’ he said.

‘Your dreams may have had something to them after all, Marcus,’ said Bra

‘So now we set full speed?’

‘No, not yet.’ Bra

THREE DAYS OUT from orbit of Isstvan V, Bra

Bra