Battlestar Invictus

Ch III. Trial by Fire

It took the crew a few hours longer than expected to translate the salvaged star-charts, but now at least they'd have a tool to work with. Verification with visible constellations wasn't really difficult once the map was readable. It seems that his ship jumped in a well-traveled area, a place called the Fire Fall, whatever that may be. The system they were currently in was nothing but a relay identified by a series of numbers, Relay 571, nothing significant. What was significant was the huge amount of space this Imperium Hominis seemed to have. The Twelve Colonies were just a speck on this map by scale! At least now they knew the Imperium was vast and very powerful. Now it was up to him to figure out the next step. What now? The answer to that question would come sooner than he thought...

"CONN-DRADIS, I've got a bogey bearing 305 carum 04."

"Identify"

"Unknown contact sir, whatever it is, that sucker is HUGE! The power signature is off the charts." "Keep me informed, XO thoughts?"

"Observation reports a similar configuration as we've seen in this system. The charts verify it. Big engines in the rear, long and narrow body, rear wings, wedge prow. They're probably Imperials."

"Mark this contact as Cathedral one, and edge us closer to the edge of the debris field. Start making calculations for an emergency jump. If this guy decides to shoot we can't trade blows with him."

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In the meantime aboard the Imperial vessel, Admiral Julius Lahain aboard his battleship was trying to get his crew back in order. While en route back to Port Maw his ship was attacked by Chaos forces, and now he had lost his escorts. They were destroyed one by one by the red menace, which left him alone and on the run. His navigator managed to pull the immense battleship into the warp in time. For about a week, or so it seemed, they had traveled through the illogical immaterium to reach Relay 571. The last stop before the next jump to friendly lines.

With a big jolt, and at the same time a soothing transition the SkyWatcher left the immaterium and entered Realspace on the edge of Relay system 571, a safe distance away from the debris field orbiting the white dwarf. His old mentor talked about the big battle waged here two centuries ago. Now all that was left of the glorious ships who defended the Imperium were chunks of debris, such a shame.

The time spent in the Warp enabled the Enginseer crew of the SkyWatcher to conduct some repairs, but they were still vulnerable.

"Shipmaster, what is the status of our repairs?"

"Admiral, our lance batteries are operational, our macro-broadsides still have problems with the resupply gear, a large portion of our point defence guns is still offline and we have around two-thirds of our carrier-craft left operational. The rest either destroyed or damaged beyond repair."

"That was to be expected. What is the status of our engines?"

"Plasma-engine three and six have sustained damage, but are for the most part operational. If they deteriorate we may have to shut them down to prevent a meltdown."

"That will cost us a third of our power! The cog-heads in Port Maw are gonna love this."

Suddenly the young lieutenant observing the Auspex Array called out:

"Admiral, new rifts are opening! They are Chaos ships, six of them on an intercept course!"

"Bring the ship to alert status!" He ordered while grabbing the ships vox. "All hands to Battlestations!"

Before long the entire bridge was sounding with orders: "Secure all hatches and bulkheads, all gun crews to their pieces, Engineering: charge the lance capacitors, standby damage control teams."