- The Maelstrom, Blackstone Fortress Perimeter -
The void is now burning with traitor ship's carcasses.
The raging warp storm did nothing to hold back the advancing exile forces.
Emerging from the warp in precision sequence, the full might of Steel Cordon fleets translated into realspace one by one.
Each emergence marked by a bloom of coruscating light and shockwave ripples tearing through the starless dark.
A storm of voidships, over 300 warships strong, gathered in a vast, disciplined encirclement. The heart of the formation, the Gloriana-class battleship Daggerfall's Oath, led the armada like a war king striding with his host.
Inside the flagship's command deck, Admiral Alaric Voorn stood tall, void-lit panels reflecting off his bronze-chased command gorget.
"All battlegroups, converge on me. Wedge and picket formations, hold fast to Assault Doctrine Omega. Lock vector around the Blackstone's perimeter."
The vox-net came alive, a crisp chain of confirmations:
[Copy that, Daggerfall' oath. 4d steel cordon cohort moving to flank vector 03.]
[2nd steel cordon cohort translating now — weapons primed.]
[Acknowledged, Daggerfall's Oath. Forming hammerhead spread.]
[1st iron cohort in position and ready to sent boots to the ground.]
Ship after ship broke into formation, spreading out like metallic predator hunting its prey.
Light cruisers formed vanguard skirmish lines, heavy destroyers thickened the flanks, while lances of battleships drew closer in disciplined silence.
The Blackstone Fortress loomed ahead.
- Cyberwarfare Cruiser, Omega Parallax -
Cyberwarfare ship, a dedicated ship for an electronic warfare. Hack and counter hack specialist ships.
[Initiating penetration protocol.] The AI's voice was cold, clinical, yet tinged with disgust.
[Parsing fortress data constructs… Lord Captain, this code is abhorrent. A septic mess. Commencing system infiltration.]
"Cut through it," Captain Voryn replied calmly.
[Compliance. Initiating systemic override… target priority: central noosphere spine. Multiple backdoors located. Processing…]
The AI chainlink across the cyberwarfare group works in tandem to penetrate the blackstone fortress defenses.
Within minutes, the Blackstone's internal data-web protection buckled under the unrelenting digital assault.
-Daggerfall's Oath, Command Bridge
[Omega Parallax to Daggerfall's oath — cyber infiltration complete. Fortress internal systems compromised. Standing by for command authority. We hold their life now.]
Admiral Voorn's jaw tightened.
He could sever the Fortress's energy feed, depriving the occupant of its much needed energy and oxygen to survive.
Making the fortress open for clean annihilation.
Just a single order.
"Requesting authorization to cut their power grid, Lord Machinist. Fortress systems are ours. We can gut them right now."
[Denied. Maintain direct assault. I want field testing data of fleet battle and ground troops performance. Continue the assault.]
His master voice came through with icy resolve.
The admiral knows that he is watching the operation with full attention.
Voorn didn't argue.
"All commands the assault pattern. Weapons free. Incremental pressure. Test that abomination's barrier. Prepare for breach-on-command."
As the Machinist fleet closed in, every traitor warship docked or stationed around the Blackstone Fortress powered weapons and broke formation, rushing to join the battle.
Strike cruisers, escorts, and battlebarges — battered remnants of pirate warbands and renegade flotillas — all turned their guns toward the encroaching Exiled forces.
On the blackstone command bridge, Huron Blackheart's lip curled in savage defiance.
"All ships, attack! hold our line! Show these bastards the teeth of chaos! Fire all batteries! Board them if you must! Blackstone's honor stands with us!"
The dark between the fleets filled with fire.
Lances, plasma torpedoes, and macro shells screamed across the void.
Yet, against the disciplined, superior firepower and extended-range of the Machinist fleet, the traitor vessels were hopelessly outmatched.
CIWS grids intercepted volleys with ruthless efficiency.
Nova torpedoes shredded smaller escorts with contemptuous ease.
Traitor destroyers vanished in blooms of emerald fire. Chaos strike cruisers' shields buckled within seconds under coordinated lance salvos.
[Enemy battlebarge vaporized!]
[Another strike cruiser crippled — reactor core breach!]
The Chaos fleet became space debris in minutes, their desperate charges annihilated by the Machinist's fleet cold and mechanical precision.
Without anymore interuption, the whole fleet moves unhindered.
The first coordinated salvo ripped across the void not long after.
Hundreds of lance batteries opened fire in flawless sequence — brilliant emerald beams striking the Blackstone's shields. The shields held, flaring like suns under the pounding, yet the armada didn't relent.
Back at blackstone fortress command chair, Huron's clawed fist slammed onto the command rail.
"Signal all nearby chaos lords! Call in every pirate, warband, renegade flotilla, anyone left in the Maelstrom! Get me a vox-link to Abaddon himself!"
Varkhan blinked. "You would… beg from the Despoiler?"
"I'll not lose my fortress without a fight. Transmit it now. Priority call! 'Blackstone at siege. Immediate reinforcements required.'"
The distress vox roared into the storm, a pulse of desperation across the Maelstrom and beyond.
- Daggerfall's Oath Command Bridge -
"Enemy fleet numbers declining. Remaining traitor vessels are disorganized. Confirmed mass distress signals across the Maelstrom grid."
Voorn's cold satisfaction bled into his words.
"Let them come. One at a time or en masse, we'll burn them all the same."
The hololithic projection shows that Blackstone's void shields began to falter as the exile fleet begin its attack on the fortress itself.
A percentage counter blinked down:
92%89%85%
Nova torpedoes slammed into the barrier grid and 50 meters sabot round released by warships at astonishing 3 per minute per cannon.
Nusa's voice drifted over the command vox, impassive as a storm god.
"All ships, maintain pressure. Assault Doctrine Omega in effect. Prepare boarding contingents. This fortress will be taken in flame and iron. The void war begins here."
Every officer knew — this battle would be legend.
On every bridge, officers give order and status update on their own charges.
"Lance capacitors at seventy percent, recharging."
"Enemy torpedoes inbound — 200+, impact in forty seconds."
The Blackstone's massive weapon silos roared to life, launching barrages of plasma warheads and warp-infused torpedoes.
"CIWS grids synced, all projectile intercept solutions plotted."
The Machinist CIWS grid answered with pitiless precision. Twin-linked rotary railcannons spat streams of mach 10 adamantium slugs, detonating torpedoes long before they reached the engagement perimeter. Defense screens shimmered under sporadic plasma impacts — but no vital system was breached.
-Blackstone Fotress command bridge-
Mirroring admiral Voorn, Huron also watched the same readings drop, his snarled command echoing.
"Prepare the main cannon! Seal the hangar decks! Rig internal charges if we must — we hold this fortress, or we die bleeding at its gate!"
Huron Blackheart's face was a mask of fury.
On his tactical hololith, the shield integrity readouts were dropping percentage by percentage, tick by tick. The enemy firestorm was working on wearing down his defenses.
"How in the Eye can this many ships breach the Maelstrom unchallenged?!" Huron snarled, slamming a fist against his command rail.
"Unknown, Lord," Varkhan spat.
"And that Gloriana..." Huron growled, his augmetic eye gleaming red.
His greed still fills him yet he is helpless to do anything.
He turned to his tech-marine. "Is the main cannon ready?"
"Negative lord, the main cannon is not responding."
"Then force it! I want that warbeam online now!"
- Moon Tear briefing chamber -
Nusa's eyes narrowed, watching the incremental degradation of the fortress' defensive matrix.
"Now we see if they're worthy of surviving at all."