Chapter 915 Knights Arrive
The Starhawks who passed the anti-aircraft barrage launched a salvo, and the trajectories generated by the engines of the nine plasma missiles were directed towards the plundering ship squadron.
The two predator ships turned urgently and retreated, but the third ship responded too slowly and was directly hit by a missile in the middle of the hull.
In the blink of an eye, the gunboat's hull exploded from the inside, and seconds later its main reactor overloaded and exploded.
The Starhawk squadron spread out to avoid the debris cloud produced by the explosion. In the cockpit, the pilot of the squadron leader checked its instruments and found that his bomb and fuel loads were less than 50%.
Bombers like the Starhawk have only limited self-sustainability, and without the support of a mothership, they will soon be unable to protect the fleet from incoming enemy fleets.
"Coordinates 1-4-14 direction!"
The communicator buzzed, and the navigator on the Starhawk reported to the captain that there was another wave of enemy ships transporting from News of a raid on the other side of the fleet.
The leader conveyed the order to the rest of the squadron, and then turned his diving fighter in the direction of action.
“Throne!”
The leader cursed silently.
"Where did the Reliable Loyal Servant die?
"The third squadron reported that we only have 5 fighters left and all loads have been cleared. "
"Number 19 reports that the payload of the aircraft is 0, and our engines are now running solely on waste heat and prayer. "
"No. 31 reports that the aircraft only has a minimum load and 5% fuel reserves left. It needs support. An enemy ship is about to arrive at our position. ”
The wing commander listened to the reports from his squadron leaders and various fighter planes, ignored the red warning runes that kept flashing on his own aircraft's fuel monitoring panel, and opened the communication channel.
"On the 31st, our fuel is just enough to reach you. I will join you in launching a joint attack and..."
At this time, the communication link was interrupted, because A stronger communication signal connected to the channel.
"Astral Knights Chapter to the entire Imperial Navy, hold on, we will be responsible for dealing with the remaining enemies here."
"Slaanesh's Naizi! This is a fucking What!”
The commander of the Chaos Plunder Fleet looked blankly at what appeared in the monitor.
A huge battle barge, with six frigates surrounding it, the eagle emblem and double swords logo on it are so dazzling.
The combat principles of the Chaos Plunder Fleet are like scavenging wolves. They only attack the weak, but can only flee in confusion in front of any more powerful predators.
"Retreat! Retreat immediately!"
Under the attack of the sudden appearance of the powerful Astartes battleship formation, the Chaos plundering fleet was defeated. After losing five battleships, it hurriedly retreated Heading towards the edge of the asteroid belt, they happened to hit the Reliable Servant, which was turning around and returning to the convoy. Three more ships were sunk, including their flagship.
All surviving Starhawks returned safely to the ship, and the two straggler transport ships also returned safely to the fleet under the protection of four Fury-class interceptor squadrons.
Captain Neo, who almost made a big mistake, almost shed tears when he learned that the fleet was saved by the Astartes Chapter. Then he invited the commanders of the Chapter, four of the Astral Knights. Company commander Brother Lothar came to his flagship and had a friendly meeting with the other party.
After learning that the fourth company of the Astral Knights had received a request for help and came to support the battle in the Pandora galaxy, Neo invited the opponent's fleet to go to Gaiya with him, and brought the Astral Knights to where they arrived. Word spread to the makeshift naval base.
Many people can't help but sigh that more than a year after the Battle of Pandora began, the first Astartes Chapter finally appeared.
But they don’t know that the real main force of the Astral Knights is still dormant at the edge of the galaxy, quietly waiting for the development of the battle situation - "The attitude control thruster is activated, the barge is approaching, and is about to enter Port.”
Listening to the report in the communicator, Lothar, standing on the command deck, felt the vibrations produced when the warship approached the orbital berth and the barges merged.
Looking towards the berth through the observation port, he could see the familiar shape of a Galaxy-class transport parked in the star port. Even if the two were about 5 kilometers apart -
This ship The Galaxy-class transport known as the Death Charge looks enormous, with work and supply ships gliding through the spires of its superstructure like worker bees feeding and caring for a bloated queen.
The Galaxy class is a support ship in the interstellar fleet, used to transport the Astra Militarum regiments from one system to another, although the Galaxy class itself is not a true battleship , but it often assists in planetary landing operations as part of a battle fleet.
A Galaxy-class transport ship is no less than a battleship in size. Its internal space is enough to accommodate 4 complete Astra Militarum legions and all their heavy weapons and equipment. It is also one of the few non-Titan transport ships that can carry Titans. It can almost be said that The most versatile transport aircraft in the empire.
However, since the Age of Apostasy, the manufacturing method of the Galaxy class has been lost, so no new Galaxy class has been manufactured. The Death Charge has been in service for more than six thousand years and can be called an antique.
In addition, Lothar also saw a long list of docks and orbital defense platforms. Gaia is now the home port of the Pandora battle group. The navy has built huge defense facilities at all costs to allow it to It looks like a long necklace of pearls strung around the world.
“Strange.”
Suddenly, Lothar frowned slightly and counted how many ports were occupied by ships.
It stands to reason that there should be more ships, and there are not many combat ships visible, they are basically transport ships.
Where is the main force of the Pandora battle group?
“Signal from the Reliable Servant.”
Below the command deck, a communications officer spoke loudly.
"Connected."
"Dear Captain Lothar, the fleet commander has just led the main force of the battle group to perform a mission. I'm afraid we have to wait."
Hearing Captain Neo's words, Lothar was in command He paced back and forth on the deck twice, and then said:
"Captain Neo, could you please tell me what mission General Orson Kalansworth is going to perform?"
The communicator was silent for a long time.
"Sorry, this is confidential."
"With all due respect, I just feel it's a bit of a coincidence. Why did the fleet commander happen to go out to perform a mission as soon as the transport fleet was in trouble?"
There was still no answer on the other end of the communicator.
Losa realized that she had guessed correctly and sighed.
“I should have guessed earlier that how could a seasoned commander like you make the decision to sacrifice the elder and protect the younger. This was all General Orson Kalansworth’s plan from the beginning, right? He He planned to find the main gathering place of the Black Legion fleet, launch a surprise attack, and have a decisive battle with the opponent once and for all. The transport fleet was just a bait, just to deceive those plundering ships. As long as one or two of those heretical warships were severely damaged, he could follow them to find the Black Legion. The main force of the legion can at least find a stronghold."
After a long time, Captain Neo's bitter voice came from the other end of the communicator.
(End of this chapter)