After succeeding Flamini as Chapter Master of the Sixth Chapter, he had been leading the fleet in cleansing his territory, the Coronid New Zone, of xenos.
Relying on his prophetic abilities, he led the fleet to the Masila system.
After the fleet transitioned to realspace, Flamini ordered, "Raise the shields."
His command throne, like that of Santiago of the 5th Chapter, had been moved before a full-length viewport.
With a soft clatter, Flamini gazed into the void.
Since his elevation to "Calamity Priest," his prophetic abilities had further improved, especially his ability to foresee calamity.
Flamini left the void warfare deployment to his Simulus Chamber, led by his "Student of Ratiocination" adjutant. His eyes deepened as he searched the void for hidden calamity.
His gaze swept across the void. Suddenly, a sky full of crimson light engulfed everything.
Phantoms of ships, one after another, were battered by the crimson tide.
Flamini felt a sharp pain in his head, a dry heave in his throat. His eyes stung as if pricked by needles.
He reined in his consciousness, instantly ascending to the third level of the Thelema mindstate.
Seconds later, the sharp pain gradually faded.
'The Slaugth's counter to psychic power is truly terrible. I haven't even directly touched its evil will, yet I already feel unwell.'
'Still, this risk was worth taking. If that bizarre ship of theirs attacks, who knows how much damage it would cause. And if the Slaugth escaped, it would bring calamity to countless worlds.'
Flamini shuddered at the thought, then felt relieved.
He immediately opened his helmet's internal comm. "The Slaugth ship is hiding in the Biscay asteroid belt."
"Prepare for the energy shockwave."
"The Slaugth doesn't know I've found it."
Unlike a psychic directly touching the Slaugth's will, it wouldn't detect him.
"Formulate a plan to board the Slaugth ship."
"Leverage our advantages in air squadrons and Lightning fighters."
Most of the Sixth Chapter's Court Brothers had been granted the power of "Monster" and its subsequent "Robot" by the Black Emperor.
Based on this, Flamini decided to leverage their advantages in intuition and calculation to build powerful air squadrons.
Forge World Cyclothrathe, which the Black Emperor had instructed be developed, the industrial world Juya developed by the previous Chapter Master, and Dominica Minor, which he himself focused on, provided a solid foundation for his vision.
Lightning fighters were rapidly equipped by the Sixth Chapter, gradually establishing an advantage within the Legion.
"As you command, my Lord."
After his adjutant acknowledged the order, Flamini felt the physical discomfort fade. He withdrew from the Thelema mindstate and rose.
He strode forward and entered the elevator.
Flamini pressed the button for the forge deck. The elevator descended rapidly from the bridge.
With a hiss of hydraulics, the elevator slowed to a stop.
The moment the doors opened, Flamini stepped onto the forge deck.
He saw Techmarines and their sefs busily repairing Land Raiders torn apart on their flanks by xenos.
"My Lord."
Flamini walked forward quickly, nodding in acknowledgment to those who saluted him.
He reached the Chapter's Master of the Forge and said to the "Appraiser," "To deal with the Slaugth threat, I need to open the forbidden vault."
By the Black Emperor's command, using forbidden weapons required simultaneous authorization from the Chapter Master and another Court Baron.
The Sixth Chapter still only had five Court Barons. Four were "Lucky Ones" serving as his Honor Guard Captain and Company Captains.
To substantively obey the Black Emperor's command to use forbidden weapons sparingly, he had established the forbidden vault on the forge deck, with the semi-independent Master of the Forge as the final safeguard.
The "Appraiser" pondered for a few seconds, weighing the justification for using the forbidden weapon.
"My Lord, please follow me."
Flamini followed the "Appraiser" to the adamantium door.
The Master of the Forge extended a servo-arm, entering the thirty-three-digit key, which changed every eleven standard hours, on the keypad.
With a hydraulic whir, cold mist billowed out.
The two entered. Only after the outer door closed did they simultaneously approach the guardian sentinels flanking the inner door.
Amber irises in the sentinels' eye sockets gazed at them. With a metallic creak, their lower jaws opened.
The Chapter Master and the Court Baron simultaneously raised their hands. Sharp metal fangs pierced the backs of their hands.
Black runes flashed across the viewscreens on either side. A vox-synthesized voice announced.
["Gene-authentication passed. Door opening."]
Flamini strode quickly into the forbidden vault. He passed shadowy weapons captured from conflicts with the Squat League and headed for the stasis zone where the glass grenades were kept.
The moment he picked up a glass grenade, he felt the Warp-brain worm within quiver.
Flamini keenly perceived a hissing sound emanating in the Warp.
He placed six glass grenades into the tactical pouches on his armor's sides, waist, and thighs.
After the forbidden vault door closed, his adjutant's voice sounded in his helmet comm.
"My Lord, the assault plan is ready. Transmitting to your tactical network."
Flamini reviewed the tactical information as he walked towards the elevator.
"Execute immediately."
The relic-class ship Fortune altered its course slightly.
It handed off the enemy ship it had been targeting to other vessels. Under the coordination of the Simulus Chamber, the 361 ships of the Sixth Chapter methodically completed a series of rotations. Each ship seamlessly switched targets without abruptness.
The Fortune pursued a Rangdan ship bristling with spikes and flails. At the edge of the Biscay asteroid belt, two hundred Lightning fighters shot out like black lightning.
From countless asteroids of varying sizes, swarms of drones instantly erupted.
A "Robot" who had participated in the Gadianaal Prime void battle gently nudged the control stick and slipped out from among dozens of drones.
He immediately felt the huge difference from before. The Cutlass interceptor was a machine of incredibly high performance, with superb turning speed and touch responsiveness.
But compared to the unparalleled power of the Cyclothrathe-pattern Lightning fighter, the Cutlass was insignificant.
The Cutlass was too complex, too light, underpowered, and required a lot of troublesome precise operations in combat.
The "Robot" calmly glanced at the viewscreen. The under-wing missile pods of the Cyclothrathe-pattern Lightning fighter were extremely heavy. Its tail fins, rising high, were made of rugged, practical black metal.
The powerful plasma-ramjet engine and state-of-the-art avionics gave it super strength.
The maneuver he had just used to penetrate the drone swarm would have required dozens of control stick movements in a Cutlass.
Reducing the demands on the pilot meant he could deliver more devastating attacks on the enemy.
The long-barreled autocannon mounted under the fuselage and the laser cannons on each wingtip, all under his control, opened fire.
A chain of flames erupted. Red enemy marker runes vanished rapidly.
The "Robot" calmly left the pursuing drone swarm behind, always advancing towards the objective.
He felt the power of the new fighter and thought with feeling.
'Perhaps its only drawback is its high production cost, and the difficulty of maintenance and piloting.'
'For an Astartes, it's actually easier to fly than a Cutlass. For a mortal, it's difficult. Only fifteen of our serfs are in this strike force.'
'High production cost isn't really a problem for us, or for the Iron Hands and Ultramarines.'
As the "Robot" pondered, his craft flew along his calculated and planned route.
The black Cyclothrathe-pattern Lightning fighters, with the shortest courses and fewest deviations, flashed past asteroid after asteroid.
The drone swarm, a thousand times larger, couldn't keep up with the squadron's super strength.
They became void wreckage in flash after flash.
When Flamini saw the Rangdan's disc-shaped ship, he glanced at the tactical report.
Losses: five fighters, one Shadows of Order pilot, four Chapter sefs.
"Target locked. Inferno missiles!"
In seconds, one hundred ninety-five fighters each launched their four Inferno missiles.
Fire filled Flamini's vision, but the "Calamity Priest" was unaffected. The moment the missiles struck the disc-shaped ship, he already knew the result.
He pushed the control stick and ordered simultaneously: "Follow me!"
His craft flew through the flames and into the passage running through the ship.
Without needing to switch fuel, the Cyclothrathe-pattern Lightning fighters, their speed undiminished, adapted to the ship's low-pressure environment.
The Slaugth didn't need to breathe, but its biological minions did.
Black fighter after black fighter entered the passage. Autocannons roared, unleashing dense barrages.
Amid the thunder of explosions, Flamini's craft traversed the passage in seconds.
He saw the burial-shroud-wrapped figure, and the five Cerabovores surrounding it.
Flamini slammed the control stick forward. His fighter plunged towards the ground like lightning.
BOOM!
The promethium explosion tore through thousands of xenos. The personal energy shields of dozens of Overlords flickered.
The fourteen Overlords at the center of the explosion wanted to flee in terror, but their duty to guard their master rooted them to the spot.
A chain of explosions tore through their personal energy shields. Waves of fire engulfed them.
Flamini, ejected into the air, felt the shockwave batter his conversion field, producing piercing shrieks.
Before hitting the ground, he hurled the glass grenades from his sides.
The invisible detonation thundered in the xenos' mental realm, raising a violent storm in the Warp.
The Cerabvores and surviving Overlords cried out in terror, then collapsed one by one.
Their souls were erased, including all traces of them in the Warp.
Flamini crashed heavily onto the deck. He swayed slightly, then steadied himself.
The "Calamity Priest" activated his Spirit Vision, staring ahead.
He watched the clusters of worms wriggle slowly. The glass grenades hadn't killed the Slaugth, only lightly wounding it.
'Slaugth Overseer, enjoy the calamity together!'
Flamini grabbed the remaining four glass grenades from his pouches. As he threw them, he instantly ascended to the third level of the Thelema mindstate.
As the maggots writhed faster, the Slaugth Overseer regained consciousness.
It raised its necrotic scepter. A green ray pierced the conversion field. With a crack, the personal energy shield sparked.
Just as the clusters of worms formed beyond the fire, the glass grenades detonated.
Tsunami-like waves roared and churned in the Warp. The Slaugth's evil will was savaged by the Warp-brain worms.
Flamini suffered the same waves and Warp-brain worm attacks indiscriminately, but by ascending to the third level of the mindset, he withstood wave after wave.
The "Calamity Priest" had prepared for this, triggering a calamity in his favor.
The "Calamity Priest's" super high psychic energy extended towards the Slaugth Overseer, triggering a "Psychic Storm."
The Overseer, struggling against the onslaught, lost consciousness. Clusters of worms scattered across the floor.
Flamini's face was pale, but the leaping of his psychic energy made him feel slightly better.
He struggled to open his internal comm and issued a brief order.
"Transport ship. Stasis crystal coffin."
.....
If you enjoy the story, my p@treon is 30 chapters ahead.
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