Loyalists' Strategium

[Generalripphook]

Griff summed it up perfectly.

[simison]

So, long story short, if the enemy is behind you in a naval action, you're screwed.

[Grifftofer]

Yep. It's even a thing in Andy Chambers' new (less Napoleonic) spaceships game. It's not such a major thing due to the more objective nature of the game, but it's still a consideration.

[Generalripphook]

Giving the huge distances involved it's a lot harder to let a ship behind you however baring damage to your engines.

[bluntblade]

I wouldn't say either are necessarily superior, but they have the potential to become so, and their ethos conflicts with the doctrine of Mars.

[simison]

Giving the huge distances involved it's a lot harder to let a ship behind you however baring damage to your engines.

 

Well, given the current situation, the enemy fleet is nearby to the rear and on the flanks, the 18th is in trouble. 

[simison]

Out of those hundred vessels, nine approached the Dominion from the rear, while another four were coming in on the flanks. "Redirecting void shields power to the rear, dorsal, and ventral zones," Captain Alden announced. Pyrrhicles watched with alarm as the port, starbord, and bow shields were drained of power, until they ceased to exist. He whirled towards the ship captain. Alden spared him an eye. "We need to encourage the enemy to enter into weapon range. This is our best chance. Launching torpedoes at nearest targets."

[bluntblade]

One thought - space is a 3D medium, and the ships have five surfaces with weapons on them. The Wardens' best bet might be to dive or rise.

[Generalripphook]

I mean everything being equal, the turn radius should be the exact same in every single direction.

[simison]

Something I'm going to re-emphasize is that the Harbinger fleet is already mixed in with the Warden fleet, due to those advance elements trying to blockade the 18th. So, diving or rising won't be of any point. 

[simison]

Pyrrhicles wondered if this tactic was truly necessary given the numerous Harbinger ships that were within the Warden fleet due to their earlier manuevering. Yet, those ships, much like the three Wardens ships marooned behind enemy 'lines' at the start of combat, these Harbinger ships were primarily light warships, whose speed allowed them to catch and then infiltrate through the Wardens' fleet formation. One such ship was directly ahead of the Dominion, the Red Dawn, currently harrassing Bolaro's warship. 

 

"Lance batteries at full power, target acquired," Alden said. "Firing." The battleship's most powerful weapons shot were staggered into two waves. The first ray of energy slammed into the Red Dawn's ventral rear with enough force that it twisted on its axis, presenting its broadside to the Dominion. In the thirty seconds between lance volleys, Pyrrhicles noted its void shields had already collapsed. Defenceless, the second lance volley carved the lesser ship into three pieces before explosions shredded it. 

[simison]

Several more light warships joined the Red Dawn as the 18^th purged the Harbinger ship elements within its formation. The Wayward Wind and its sister frigate were riddled with torpedoes reducing both of them to pockmarked wrecks. More explosions shined as the remaining Harbinger destroyers were eliminated. As the last explosion died in the airless void, the 18^th Fleet was cleansed. Than the first wave of Harbinger ships breached their flanks. Below the Dominion, the Chariot of Flame defended itself but couldn't eliminate a third of nine Harbinger vessels overwhelming its position. With missiles striking its starbord, lascannons piercing its port, and plasma cannons burning its ventral, the Chariot's void shields collapsed beneath the unyielding barrage. Defenceless, the Warden warship abandoned its retreat as it changed its course into the trajectory of several Harbinger vessels, a last desperate attempt of a distraction. 

[simison]

It was a noble yet futile gesture. The first wave of Harbinger ships simply avoided the Chariot of Flame as they pressed the attack on the fleet. No solace awaited the Chariot as the second wave of the Harbinger fleet silently advanced on the wounded target. A similar hopeless situation was playing out deeper into the Harbinger lines. The trio of ships that had abandoned their neutrality were utterly surrounded by five times their number. Scans showed two ships' engines were crippled, void shields gone, and a school of boarding pods were anchoring over the length of each ship. 

 

"Message coming in from the War Eagle," Captain Alden announced, glancing at Pyrrhicles. "It's Captain Bolaro."

 

The Lord Protector frowned before reaching for his helmet. "Private channel."

 

Alden gave a wordless affirmation as Pyrrhicles attached his helmet to his armour. Almost immediately, the vox filled with the familiar voice. "Brother, do you hear me?"

 

"Go ahead, Citadel."

 

Tired resignation laced the voice. "The Bearers, the Harbingers mean to take our ship. We already have an entire battalion onboard, making their way to the bridge. Resistance would waste lives, innocent lives. I'm surrendering."

 

Pyrrhicles wanted to snap at Bolaro, to insult him, to call him coward. Instead, he merely replied, "At your discretion, Citadel."

 

There was a pause. "I'm sorry for only too late realizing where my loyalties lie and now I've costed the legion a battleship. Could you please ask the Primarch for forgiveness in my stead?"

 

With a sigh, Pyrrhicles already could imagine Alexandros' answer. "I doubt I will escape this battle. But, if I did, he would undoubtedly forgive you."

 

"...my thanks, Lord Protector." 

 

The vox channel terminated. 

[simison]

The Dominion rocked beneath Pyrrhicles' feet, acutely reminding him of his fear of void battles. He whirled toward Captain Alden. "Report!"

 

"Torpedoes, engine hit. Ship speed is decreasing by 26.3%. Attacker is the Nimbus."

 

Pyrrhicles winced at the news. The Nimbus was the personal flagship of Doras Rho, Master of the Madrigal Defense Fleet. It was a Victory-Class Battleship equal to Pyrrhicles' Dominion of Reason with the benefit of improved lance batteries. Turning back to the displays, Pyrrhicles scanned the data, searching for heavier warships. By this point, a Harbinger screen of light warships was forming around the 18^th, concentrated above and below their positions, whittling away at the outer Warden ships. However, since the 18^th Fleet had to travel as its slowest warship, the Dominion, Harbinger cruisers and and battle cruisers were entering weapon ranges. 

 

In the thirty seconds it took for Pyrrhicles to completely absorb the situation, another five Warden ships succumbed to the onslaught of increasingly more powerful attacks. Outside the view port, a new star bloomed and died in the span of a moment.

 

"Captain Kohli has detonated the Indomitable's reactor," Alden tonelessly announced. "All hands lost."

 

Pyrrhicles gritted his teeth and completed his survey. Currently, the Nimbus was the only Harbinger battleship in weapon range, but that was going to change in a matter of minutes. Pyrrhicles stared at the Dominion's position at the center and rear of the vast arrowhead created by the 18^th. The formation was buckling beneath the attack, but they held, their discipline honoring the Warmaster even now. Looking at the fleet, Pyrrhicles couldn't help but see the Dominion as an anchor, dragging everyone back.

[simison]

He left the displays as he regarded Alden with a somber expression. The captain grimaced. Using what little room to move, Alden glanced at the displays then back at Pyrrhicles. With a mechanical sigh, he said, "Securing a channel to the fleet." After a moment, he finished, "Connection established."

 

"This is Lord Protector Pyrrhicles," he began as his eyes scanned the bridge. Many of the officers and ratings were engrossed in the battle around them as the Harbingers continued their attack against the Dominion. Only a few of them were focused on him. It was a small mercy. "I am ordering the fleet to abandon formation. All ships are to make for Terra at best speed regardless of the situation around them. The highest priority of every Warden is  to warn our Primarch of this betrayal. Nothing else matters." He paused, wondering what he should say next. If he should say anything else. He knew what he wanted to do. He wanted to send a private message to Alexandros. To beg forgiveness for Pyrrhicles' failure to save the fleet, for failing to foresee this debacle, for not being able to do anything more to preserve the Imperium. Most of all, he wanted to say good-bye to his oldest friend. Yet, that would be an act of supreme selfishness, and he would not want that to be his last words to his old friend. 

 

"For whoever reaches the Warmaster, tell him this: the 18^th Expeditionary Fleet fought with courage, discipline, and honour despite an ambush from our greatest foe and achieved its most important victory this day. May the Emperor guide you back to Terra. We are his servants!" With a gesture, the channel ended. 

[simison]

"Your orders, Lord Protector?" Captain Alden inquired. 

 

Pyrrhicles pointed at the Nimbus on the readings. "If we can't retreat, than we attack. I want that ship burning in the void."

 

The augmented Warden nodded before giving out the appropriate orders. The view through the armacrys shifted as the ponderous Dominion began its turn. Pyrrhicles immediately averted his gaze. It would be a noble ending to distract the enemy, but Pyrrhicles ensured that his death would be in the void. He hated the tremor of fear clawing at his heart. He decided to distract himself. Given the fate of the War Eagle, it was possible that the Harbingers would try to board the ship. At which point, there was something far more meaningful he could do than watch his fleet crumble before the enemy. 

 

He activated a vox link to the 900 members of the Order of the Shield aboard the ship.

[simison]

"Torpedoes away!" A crew rating called out as the Dominion came about. The first salvo against the Nimbus flew into the void. It did not go unanswered as the entire Dominion shook from the strength of a lance hit. 

 

Pyrrhicles pushed away the stream of ship announcements as he addressed his brothers. Dividing them into nine separate forces, he began stationing them at critical ship systems. "Citadel Thom, you and your brothers will watch over the reactors. Citadel Iko, the armouries. Citadel Mahaitis, bring your brothers to the bridge, you're with me." His orders given, Pyrrhicles winced as another explosion shook the ship. 

[simison]

General Edward Arlee was rushed through the doors of the governor's mansion. He was not alone as he recognized several other military officers being likewise herded to the Imperial governor. Although his aging body protested so much exertion, Arlee ignored it with honed discipline as befitting a career solider of his service. 

 

For weeks, his Division had drilled, practiced, and prepared as their original deployment orders had been overruled mere days after arriving on Macragge. Their former mission to be sent to the front had been quite ruined by the revelation of a large-scale rebellion within the Imperium. Since Meri-Katan had only been a part of the Imperium for less than a decade, the nuances of this rebellion were lost on Arlee. Regardless of his ignorance, the orders of Master of the Segmentum Agrippa were unbending. All Imperial forces were to remain in system, until he understood the scope of the conflict engulfing the galaxy. 

 

Arlee stepped through a huge set of double-doors that were enameled with gold to find the rest of his fellow officers waiting before the man who ruled a segmentum. Arlee had but a moment to absorb his surrounding when the doors closed behind the last arrival. It was then Arlee realized they were facing towards a large video screen. A man. No, a giant dominated the picture, one of the Imperium's fabled Angels of Death. The giant wore the strange, all-encompassing armour of his kind, the colours marking him as a member of the Halcyon Wardens.

 

"Gentlemen," Agrippa began as he stood ram-straight next to the screen. "Lord Mikhail Chukhay, Legate of the Halcyon Wardens, brings vital intelligence to the Imperium."

 

"I will be brief," Chukhay, his voice impossibly deep. "The Warbringers come for Macragge."

[simison]

Centurion Georgios gazed at the plains outside the city limits. A small force of Lightning Bearers marched toward the city of Iklesia, no doubt eager to claim it in the name of the new Stormlord. It would not be long before the full might of the First Legion would force the Wardens to abandon this city, this world. But today, the inhabitants were under his protection. He turned to his lieutenant, "We'll engage at the city edge, deploy half of the garrison."

 

"Not the whole garrison?"

 

"You never know with the First," the Centurion warned as he summoned his brothers to war.

 

~~~

 

Hachigo could not shake a sense of trepidation as he stared at the city. Denied surprise, speed was the greatest weapon in the Stormlord's arsenal; hence the rapid assaults from the Sphere. This maneuver, though, spoke of hubris. Hachigo's eyes scanned the warriors around him. Captain Yamazaki led the march at the head of 50 Legionaries with Hachigo and his companion Librarian at the head of the column. None of them showed any sign of weariness despite marching overnight from the base of operations. Yamazaki had declared that this force alone would be enough to defeat their former comrades. Intelligence suggested the Halcyon Wardens' garrison was not particularly large, but lacked crucial details of unit composition and potential weapon systems. 

 

The dawn banished the last vestiges of night. 

 

"Battle formation!" Yamazaki ordered.

 

Squads wheeled as they broke from the column to form ranks. Hachigo was reminded again that not one Harbinger carried an anti-armour weapon. The two Librarians took their places next to the support squads. The volkite-wielding Legionaries possessed the greatest of their firepower, and Yamizaki wanted the Librarians to guide them to overturn the Wardens' right flank. Yamazaki marched alongside one of the four tactical squads that would hold the Wardens' attention during Hachigo's flanking manuever. 

 

As the last Legionary fell into place, Yamazaki raised his chainsword. "For the Stormlord! Advance!"

 

~~~

 

"Confirm positions." Georgios waited as the various sergeants replied. Squad Kohli confirmed their presence on the left flank, Squad Grivas held the center, and Fischer's assault squad had finished moving on the right. Georgios glanced around them as they individually affirmed their battle readiness. 

 

"Centurion, Kardamakis reporting."

 

Georgios glanced in the direction of the pilot. "Acknowledged."

 

"Rebels entering weapons range. Requesting permission to engage."

 

"Granted."

 

~~~

[simison]

Kardamakis could not stop the rush of emotions as he studied his targets approaching. Though the Lightning Bearers now wore storm-grey to declare their rebellion, it was but a few weeks ago that the First and the Fifth were the closest of Legions. Even now, his vision enhanced by the Predator's targeting system, he could discern the marks of rank that denoted the squad sergeant and a First Legion captain off of familiarity alone. 

 

"Granted."

 

Gritting his teeth, Kardamakis complied with his Centurion's word. The Predator opened fire.

 

~~~