884.M30.
Pelasa System.
The Eleventh Chapter's fleet transitioned from the Mandeville point. On the bridge of the Son of Vostroya, Pell scrutinized the hololithic projection.
The Nephilim's egg-shaped warships rolled, almost tumbling, towards their lines.
"My Lord," the Master of Vox's voice sounded, "receiving holographic transmission. It's human."
"Continue assembly." Pell had read the material on the Nephilim issued by the Black Emperor during the Warp voyage. He had already guessed their tactics.
The "Baron of Corruption," skilled at exploiting rules, decided to let the Nephilim have their performance while his Chapter's fleet completed its assembly.
He strode towards the hololithic platform.
"Connection established," a Techmarine reported. "Hologram is weak, but audio is clear and complete."
From the Black Emperor's data, Pell knew the Nephilim possessed unique abilities in sound.
The language the Nephilim used among themselves was exceptionally harsh, its high frequencies reaching the ultra-high frequency band, difficult even for Astartes to discern.
The moment Pell stepped onto the hololithic platform, light bloomed.
The figures were blurry, but he could vaguely make out five human forms.
"Fellow humans, leave immediately," one of them said.
"There is nothing here that requires your intervention."
"Your nests have been usurped. The xenos have built foul temples here, stealing the life essence of countless people." Pell's voice was cold.
"Awaken. You should not continue this foolish devotion."
The images suddenly sharpened. Pell could see the five, their faces devout, speaking in unison.
"No! They are angels! They teach us!"
"We serve them with devotion!"
"They feed on you." The "Baron of Corruption" said loudly. Having "corroded" over a dozen nobles, merchants, and officers, he couldn't understand these enslaved humans.
His eyes widened. "Do you not hate them?"
"The greatest honor for mortals is to nourish the gods." The five said, smiling in unison. As they spoke their bizarre words, the image blurred.
"Nephilim." Pell decided to waste no more words on these hopeless humans. He addressed the xenos enslaving them directly.
"I know you took this name for yourselves from the myths of Terra, Caliban, and Barach. Nephilim means fallen six-winged angels."
"True angels do not hide. Come out and speak."
A sharp tremor in the air sounded. Strange harmonics buzzed.
The Techmarines at the consoles stared in astonishment at the particle transmission achieved by unknown means, like ripples from an invisible tympanic membrane, spreading and flooding in.
They could not understand the principle. The only thing they were certain of was that it was unrelated to aetheric energy.
They suddenly understood why their Father had ordered the recording and analysis of Nephilim speech and communication.
If this technology could be mastered, it would enable encrypted communication.
"Why have you come here to fight us?" The Nephilim's voice was unusually high-pitched. It enunciated every syllable of every word clearly in Gothic.
"There is no need for this. We want peace."
"You are not angels. Just parasites." Pell glanced at his helmet's tactical display. Ninety-four percent of his ships had arrived at Pelasa.
"You feed on the life force of radiation. You need to be worshipped, to be revered as gods."
"Your technology controls human minds, imprisons their souls."
"That is also peace." A grey figure flashed.
"Join us. I will show you. You will understand how wonderful it is to be united."
"Both mortal and divine."
"You are nothing but false, pale reflections!" Pell roared. The very existence of the Nephilim was a blasphemy against the Black Emperor.
He stepped off the hololithic platform. Green runes on his helmet display confirmed the fleet was assembled.
"Attack!"
The Son of Vostroya's machine-spirit, sensing Pell's Beyonder fury, roared, spitting strange and sharp, blazing light.
Crystalline lances shattered two of the round eggs.
One egg-shaped warship reacted first. It spun like a rolling egg. As it trembled, an invisible force field rippled into solid shockwaves.
Particles rippled in the silent void, bizarrely generating strange harmonics.
The Eleventh Chapter's auspex detected no attack. The Simulus Chamber's officers were oblivious.
Until a buzzing sound, bizarrely, sounded in the ears of the Shadows of Orders aboard the Son of Vostroya.
Pell's Lyman's Ear filtered the high-frequency sound waves. The piercing noise vanished.
He looked up at the viewscreen above the strategic table.
The void shield numbers fluctuated, 97.14%, 98.52%...
His adjutant's voice sounded in his helmet.
"My Lord, we cannot identify the xenos' attack."
"As commanded, all ships modified with auto-recharging void shields are at the front of the lines."
Through studying salvaged Phallian ships and Dulan's orbital station technology, Techmarines had mastered the STC for auto-recharging void shields.
The Eleventh Chapter had completed the modification of most of its ships at Vostroya's growing orbital shipyard. This was why the Black Emperor had chosen his Chapter for the void battle.
"Continue firing. Smash their eggs."
As he gave the order, Pell returned to the strategic table.
In the hololith, black runes fired beam after beam, slicing the egg-shaped enemy ships open.
Yet the egg fleet seemed frozen. No beams, no torpedoes, no shells.
But the Nephilim were not passive. Their bizarre attacks simply went undetected.
As the eggs rolled, layered sound waves, buzzing, swept towards the black ships.
No energy signals. No warning runes.
The Simulus Chamber's officers, unlike before, could not determine which ships were under attack based on the enemy's weapon orientation.
After receiving reports, Pell thought for a moment, then ordered.
"Dispatch a squadron of escorts. Have them disperse, heading towards the enemy."
"Record the attacks received by ships heading directly towards the enemy and those maneuvering between them."
The Simulus Chamber's officers immediately grasped their Lord's intent.
He wanted to determine the firing arcs of the egg-shaped ships and whether they interfered with each other.
Fourteen escorts increased engine power simultaneously.
Pell took in the hololith and surrounding viewscreens.
In his mind, he naturally divided the data into two groups.
The five ships heading straight for the enemy, 96.27%, 93.18%...
The seven ships maneuvering between two or three enemy vessels, 95.05%, 91.47%...
His transhuman mind calculated rapidly. As he reached his conclusion, his adjutant's voice sounded.
"My Lord, the enemy's sound waves are omnidirectional. Evasion courses are impossible."
"Ships maneuvering between enemies are subjected to more intense attacks."
"After one hundred thirty-six iterations, the enemy's sound waves create harmonic aggregation effects."
The adjutant had barely finished when a ship maneuvering between three enemy vessels lit up with a red rune, then vanished from the hololith.
"Order the ships to withdraw." Having obtained the intelligence he needed, Pell gave the order.
"Abandon standard broadside attacks. Bow-on, one-on-one."
"Smash those eggs!"
The Eleventh Chapter's Gothic warships fired beams like lances at the eggs.
Sound waves struck. Energy levels dropped.
The waves receded. Energy levels rose.
The piercing sound waves and fluctuating numbers were the only indicators of attack.
Pell surveyed the battle, eggs shattered every moment.
Black runes rarely vanished.
'Though we can't track the Nephilim's attack trajectories, the auto-recharging void shields mean our ships recover faster than the xenos can damage them.'
The black ships advanced steadily. Shattered eggshells scattered in the void.
On the tenth day of the Eleventh Chapter's arrival in the system, the last thirty-six egg-shaped ships over Pelasa's main world shattered almost simultaneously.
Eggshell fragments rained through the atmosphere, crashing to the surface, igniting fires.
Around the temples, millions of humans cheered the arrival of their gods.
.....
If you enjoy the story, my p@treon is 30 chapters ahead.
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