The Emperor’s Angel of Death

Chapter 3092: A Giant Cannon Piercing the Stars

"Luko, I heard that Edolon, that dog, is causing trouble in the Naison System?"

Hearing Talos's inquiry, Luko withdrew his gaze from the panel, then nodded. Soshian had instructed that Talos would be in command in his absence, and everyone knew that the Lord Commander trusted him the most.

"Yes, along with Typhus, Lucius, and others."

"Heh, quite the lineup."

Kasati, standing beside them, couldn't help but gasp.

"Naison is alright? A single ship repelled them?"

"No, there was also the Avista, and the system's defense systems played a role, but…"

Talos blinked. Soshian had told him about the attack on Naison, but it seemed some details were missing.

"But what?"

"Edolon and Typhus had already landed a team on Naison IV's orbital satellite, but for some reason, they were defeated."

"Hmm?"

Talos stroked his chin, suddenly thinking of something, a mysterious smile appearing on his face, while Kasati frowned beside him.

"That doesn't sound right, does it? Naison IV had at most a few recruits and some officers at the time. Relying on mortal troops? In the narrow terrain of orbital space, they probably wouldn't be useful. Did those people arrive?"

Luko didn't know who Kasati was referring to, and shook his head.

"There were no reinforcements at the time."

But Talos said:

"Alright, no need to guess, it's already over anyway."

Kasati looked at Talos.

"You know, don't you?"

"I said, no need to guess, it's not what you think."

"You're starting to speak in riddles too."

"Not riddles, it's just that you don't need to waste your energy, this matter has nothing to do with you."

Talos walked to the tactical display.

"Ah, the bugs are still numerous. See that group over there? Shall we give them a shot?"

Luko looked at his panel, and after a moment, nodded.

"Those few motherships are close together, adjust the angle…"

As he spoke, he began sending messages to Malakin, and quickly received a response. Immediately, the entire fleet began to shift formation. At the same time, the Tyranid bio-ships, clustered together like an ugly school of fish, rushed towards the Imperial fleet threatening the planet's orbit, with several enormous Hive Ships at their core.

As the ships moved into their respective positions, the aquila emblem on the prow of the Randal slowly folded its wings back, revealing the dark, gaping cannon muzzle.

As the scorching flash of plasma appeared, both Talos and Kasati walked forward to the observation window, seemingly wanting to observe its power up close.

The next second, a deep tremor spread through the ship, followed by a beam of searing light surrounded by plasma arcs.

It was like an arrow shot from the void by a god, piercing through the "drifting" Tyranid swarm at an extreme speed, leaving only destruction in its wake. Immediately, the first Hive Ship was struck, and half a second later, the beam pierced through the other side of its body, tearing the entire body apart with immense energy. Then, it accurately struck the head of the second Hive Ship, directly vaporizing the chitinous armor, flesh, and organ tissues beneath, which were strong enough to withstand the main guns of a battleship.

As the energy finally dissipated in the distant void, the third Hive Ship, having lost its caudal fin, uncontrollably collided with a nearby Tyranid Harpy, tumbling away from the planet, surrounded by a death zone formed from shattered tissue.

"Good heavens! What a powerful shot!"

Even Talos, who was usually unfazed, couldn't help but cheer for the power of this shot. Kasati also gasped, marveling in amazement.

"This shot, even the Gloriana might not be able to withstand it. How utterly useless were the Word Bearers and Lorgar to have fought so pathetically with three of these behemoths?"

"The Abyss-class originally didn't have such main guns, and of course, the Word Bearers were truly useless."

It wasn't just Talos who was amazed; everyone observing was shocked by this shot.

"Is that the Abyss-class, the most powerful warship built during the Great Heresy…"

On the bridge of the Mother of Tears, Malakin watched the scene of a single shot piercing through three Hive Ships, his face expressionless, but his eyes filled with some worry.

"Soshian, brother, what exactly are you hiding? Have you… gone too far?"

But he quickly shook off those gloomy thoughts, after all, there was still a severe war to face.

Although the addition of the Abyss-class provided a boost, the stark contrast in strength between humanity and the Tyranids remained unchanged. The death of a few Hive Ships was not even a small wound to the Tyranids gathered in the system.

Afterward, Malakin formulated new combat strategies. Although the Randal had overwhelming performance advantages in the fleet, Luko still respected Malakin's position as fleet commander, after all, this was Soshian's arrangement. Thus, the Imperial Allied Fleet began to change its tactics, using a unique trident strategy, where a portion of the ships divided into two groups, stretching the thickness and width of the Tyranid swarm, exposing the slower Hive Ships among them, and then the Randal would use its powerful firepower to pick them off one by one. After completing this, the fleet would contract, and disengage, not giving the Tyranids a chance to surround them.

This tactic, focused on hunting Hive Ships, couldn't efficiently reduce the number of Tyranid bio-ships, but it could disrupt their command chain. Once the number of Hive Ships at the front lines was too low, the vast number of smaller ships would become chaotic and even out of control, which, on the other hand, would slow down the Tyranid attack.

Malakin knew very well that it was impossible to overturn the battle situation with just one Abyss-class. Their goal was still to delay until Soshian completed his mission and returned, at which point they could truly decide whether to fight or leave.

While the humans were fiercely fighting the Tyranids, the participating Eternal Court was not idle either. Although they did not formally contact the Imperium at Soshian's request, they still used their conspicuous presence to attract most of the Tyranid creatures. However, whenever the Tyranid creatures formed a large encirclement, the War Palace would lead the fleet away at an extremely high speed, and then reappear on the other side of the system—this "dog-leading" tactic was something the Eldar were very good at, especially against humans, Orks, or Tyranids, who were slower and less maneuverable.

And the Tyranids were also very persistent, the soul light emitted by a large number of Eldar attracted them like bait, relentlessly pursuing them, thus invisibly restraining most of the Tyranids within the system.

During this process, the Eternal Court's fleet also attempted to capture some small Tyranid bio-ships. Although the operation was dangerous, it did yield results. The Drukhari would study the Tyranid bio-ships' gestalt command network, looking for weaknesses, in the hope of finding ways to restrain or even control them in the future.

However, it was not Veronika who was commanding the War Palace at this time, because she had returned to the Court at Soshian's repeated request, appointing the Handmaiden Ruvea Glynta as her proxy before leaving.

Although Ruvea Glynta had not held such an important position before, she demonstrated extraordinary command talent, and the decision to capture Tyranid bio-ships also came from her.

Just as the battle in the void and on the planets continued to intensify, a Hearthkyn fleet appeared at the edge of the system and sent an important message…

Soshian is back!