The Emperor’s Angel of Death

"Commander, not counting the losses of the Forge World, our chapter alone lost 17 ships in this battle, including the battlecruisers Blue Ice and Thunder, the Gothic-class cruiser Longbow, and the battle barge Remembrance suffered severe damage to a quarter of its hull. The Tyrant-class cruiser Greatsword has a massive two-kilometer-long tear on its port side, with over a third of its energy and weapon systems disabled. The remaining ships also sustained various damages, both major and minor."

On the bridge of the captured Necron tomb ship, Sotha Nul listened to the report from Fourth Company Captain Ahasrah of the White Templars. The once-dark bridge was now as bright as day, thanks to various high-powered lamps. Tech-Priests occupied many areas of the bridge, surrounded by makeshift equipment and cogitators, resembling an archaeological site and making the tomb ship strangely busy.

The Magi of Uran Huda and Ek沃利亚 flocked to the ship upon hearing of the capture of an enemy flagship, including those hiding in the remaining orbital facilities, and even Forge Master Prezemisław. Sotha Nul generously allowed them to board, only asking them not to touch anything on the ship for now.

However, the Tech-Priests were puzzled by something. Logically, a warship of this size should have been teeming with activity, with crew, servants, and guards bustling through the compartments. Yet, when they arrived, the tomb ship was completely empty, and even the Canoptek Scarabs responsible for repairs were nowhere to be found.

They cautiously inquired about what had happened at the end. Sotha Nul was blunt, telling the Mechanicus that although the Space Marines had captured the enemy ship after a "fierce battle," they couldn't prevent the enemy from escaping. The ship had a wormhole device that allowed the enemy to quickly teleport to other warships. As for the Necron constructs, they had fallen into slumber under the "instructions" issued by Sotha Nul using the flayer virus. He told the Mechanicus that, considering the danger of "xenos artifacts," he didn't plan to hand them over to the Forge World and would decide how to destroy them.

His allowing the Mechanicus to board and tinker was, in itself, a gesture of "consolation"—they could forget about getting anything from the ship, but they could still scan the hull structure and conduct some data research.

Sitting on the xenos throne, Sotha Nul listened to the report while reviewing the data slate in his hands, his brow furrowed.

The losses were indeed beyond his expectations. It could be said that the White Templars' accumulated fleet had been almost wiped out in one battle, with over half the ships needing to return to the shipyards for major repairs, and the others needing to spend some time in the docks.

In other words, the White Templars, a large chapter, would only have small frigates available for deployment in the near future.

This made Sotha Nul a bit embarrassed, as what started as a "team-building exercise" to get everyone better acquainted and increase cohesion had turned into a major accident.

With a soft sigh, he put the data slate aside and looked at the Fourth Company Captain.

"The White Templars have indeed suffered significant ship losses this time. I will allocate ships later."

Although Sotha Nul always said the legion was one, the two chapters still operated separately. He couldn't favor one side and squander the White Templars' forces while only focusing on strengthening the Star Knights.

Fortunately, the battle had yielded considerable rewards. Although Prezemisław had subtly expressed his hope that Sotha Nul would "respect" the Forge World's ownership of the Necron tomb, Sotha Nul didn't intend to hand over everything from the Necron tomb to them. The legion had paid a heavy price to help them solve such a huge problem and needed a return.

Sotha Nul planned to trade the Necron spoils from this battle, including various technological devices from the tomb world, treasures from the Lychguard dynasty, and the wreckage of some Necron ships in space, with the Forge World for the warships that the White Templars urgently needed.

Ahasrah nodded after hearing this.

"Being able to achieve such a glorious victory under the leadership of the commander makes this price insignificant, but... but it was too dangerous for you to enter the enemy ship alone. If anything had happened, I wouldn't be able to explain it to the other brothers in the chapter. Please, if you ever need to board an enemy ship in the future, be sure to bring guards. The warriors are also eager to witness your heroic deeds."

Sotha Nul's sudden solo trip to the Necron flagship had indeed startled Ahasrah. Initially, when Sotha Nul left the bridge, he thought Sotha Nul was going to prepare weapons. He had even gathered the company members in the landing area, ready to have the warriors board the enemy ship with Sotha Nul.

But he didn't receive any news from Sotha Nul for a long time, and it wasn't until the battle was almost over that he learned the commander was already on the enemy ship.

As for how Sotha Nul got there, he still didn't understand, but he personally guessed that he might have used teleportation.

But in any case, this matter was extremely dangerous, and it could also easily give the warriors the wrong impression—that their commander didn't trust them.

However, he put this very subtly.

Sotha Nul understood. He also knew afterward that his actions had been a bit too abrupt. The Fourth Company warriors were definitely waiting to board the ship with him, but he had quietly gone to find the Harlequins for teleportation without saying a word.

This matter was not a big deal, but it was not a small one either. After all, the Astartes had good memories, and if it wasn't explained clearly, the Fourth Company warriors would always remember this.

"I understand. Actually, the main reason this time was... uh, the teleportation method was more difficult and couldn't bring more people, but the warriors also did a great job. They deserve the credit for this victory."

Hearing Sotha Nul say this, Ahasrah nodded.

"Understood. The warriors just hope to be able to fight alongside the commander, but as long as we can win, everyone is happy—"

Saying that, he paused for a moment, then scanned the bridge filled with various xenos decorations and equipment, as well as the busy Tech-Priests, and glanced at Amnak, who was sitting on a pile of metal heads playing with a huge phase scythe. After hesitating for a few seconds, he said softly:

"Commander, what do you plan to do with this... prize?"

Sotha Nul smiled slightly.

"Fourth Company Captain, what do you think should be done with it?"

"Uh... it's all up to the commander."

"Let's chat. There are no outsiders here, and there's nothing else to do right now."

"I guess you plan to make use of it? But this thing is too conspicuous, unlike those weapons and equipment. Once it appears, it's easy to be exposed. After all, it's a... xenos warship, which may cause huge trouble."