Segmentum Tempestus, Belt of Iron, Holaj.
Aboard the Blanchette, flagship of the Valia-Maximal fleet, binary data began to scroll rapidly around Magos Februhen-25 on the bridge.
He stared at the rolling 0s and 1s: [Warp energy reading climbing by 36%.]
[...]
Februhen-25 watched the runes representing ships on the holographic display. His mechadendrites extended and quickly retrieved log records from the cogitator before him.
He rapidly reviewed all file records, confirming that his memory data contained no errors: No ships had arrived in the past sixteen days.
The next support fleet was estimated to arrive at Holaj in 16 days, 25 hours, and 36 minutes.
Februhen-25 did not issue immediate orders. Standard translation times were not fixed, and deviations of months or even years were common.
He waited for the augur array's scan results.
A string of pale green numbers began to scroll rapidly.
[Return 12 received. Dorsal tag identification in progress.]
[Result confirmed. Friendly fleet.]
[Identification: One battleship, four cruisers, thirteen frigates.]
[Identifying... confirming vessel identity...]
"Send a communication request." Februhen-25 ordered, then turned his gaze to the hololithic display, monitoring the execution of the orbital bombardment command.
His fleet was arranged in an attack formation in high synchronous orbit. Rains of torpedoes streaked down towards the artillery arrays below, while barrages from the bombarding ships hammered the missile platforms.
Auto-cannon shells and guided warheads from the orbital defense system ignited the murky cloud layers, casting a deep crimson glow.
Holaj was still resisting.
The early arrival of the support fleet would significantly accelerate the process.
As Februhen-25 considered coordination with the friendly forces, a piercing alarm suddenly blared.
Countless deep red runes filled the surrounding view screens.
Februhen-25 hurriedly checked the sudden flood of warning runes. Dazzling, ice-blue beams of light pierced his mechanical eyes.
Lance strikes, coming from friendly ships.
The friendly ships that had arrived early.
Februhen-25's logic Pathways suffered a fifteen-second disconnect amidst a cascade of error warning runes before returning to normal.
"Send a message. Remind them: targeting error."
As Februhen-25 issued the command, he checked the communication logs. The previously sent communication requests had received no response.
A series of yellow and green flashes flickered in his mechanical eyes as he checked the surrounding chrono screens.
One second.
Two seconds.
...
Twenty-five seconds.
...
No reply from the friendly ships. A second salvo of blazing beams shot forth.
On the periphery of the fleet, one green rune after another flickered and turned red.
[Loss of frigate Eastbourne.]
[Battleship Hastings hull damaged, deck 36 on fire.]
[...]
Februhen-25's mechadendrites swayed. The sensor array showed no unusual communication interference within the Holaj system. The friendly fleet should have received the messages, yet they continued their erroneous attack.
The third and fourth salvos followed relentlessly, crashing in without mercy.
Layered, blazing fireballs spread like towering waves across the fleet's periphery, filling the void.
Februhen-25 stared at the hulls dissipating amidst the throbbing orange-red and bright yellow flames. He could no longer allow the support fleet's mistaken attack to continue.
He roared loudly, his vocal array vibrating intensely: "Evasive action!"
["I will report this to the Conclave of Magi! I will make you pay for this error!"] The Valia-Maximal bombardment fleet, now laboring, changed course, searching for an exit through the quagmire of debris while enduring wave after wave of strikes.
The communication arrays transmitted repeated hails, but received no response from the support fleet.
The devastating, lethal explosions destroyed thirty-eight ships.
The Blanchette trembled violently as it escaped the deadly orbit of the Holaj Prime. Februhen-25's mechadendrites waved about like an octopus in a fury.
Hundreds of surrounding screens were black, crackling with electrical sparks.
94.7% of the fleet's ships were now out of contact. The remaining five vessels had all suffered varying degrees of severe damage.
The losses inflicted by the 'support fleet' were over a dozen times greater than those suffered in the previous void battle.
Februhen-25 stared with crimson mechanical eyes at the cogitator screen. Only it could provide stable information on the flagship.
[Stern thruster array damage: 47.05%.]
[Starboard thruster array damage: 26.19%.]
[Port propulsion lost. Usable turn angle below 60% warning threshold.]
[...]
"Turn angle two-five-eight." Februhen-25 roared, ignoring the cascading warning runes, and forced the Blanchette to turn.
He would make that support fleet, which had lost its logical faculties, realize the magnitude of its blasphemous act.
A deep red rune suddenly streaked across the screen.
Boom!
The bridge's blast doors exploded open. Shrill air currents rushed in.
Fire servitors raised their mechanical arms, spraying foam fire-suppressant solvent.
As flames spread rapidly along the deck plating, Magos Februhen-25 stared intently at the suddenly flickering image.
A black, Gothic-styled warship burned into his mechanical eyes.
Not a Valia-Maximal vessel.
An enemy ship.
Februhen-25's cogitator array crashed. Countless contradictory data streams scrolled.
'Why would an enemy ship present the same signature as friendly forces in the reading identification?'
After twelve logical iterations within his cogitator array, the contradictory streams rolled into a clear circuit:
The enemy ships can forge friendly vessel signatures.
Having reached this conclusion, all the accumulated, inexplicable fallacies were resolved: It wasn't a stupid attack by the support fleet, but a deliberate attack by enemy ships; The enemy ships hadn't replied to messages because they couldn't provide the cryptographic keys.
.....
Februhen-25 grasped the terrifying reality of the black fleet and simultaneously formed his error report:
If he had been able to identify the enemy during their second wave of fire, approximately one-third of his ships could have launched a counterattack before being destroyed.
Though this wouldn't have changed the fleet's annihilation, it would have provided sufficient time to report to the Conclave.
Boom!
Februhen-25 was sent flying by a sudden, violent air blast. He crashed onto metal deck plates twisted and deformed by the heat-melt impact. Then, all signals were lost.
Aboard the Thorn Rose, flagship of the Tenth Chapter, Chapter Master Ramsey gazed at the hololithic tactical table. One large and one small red rune dissolved.
He had annihilated the Valia-Maximal fleet without losing a single ship.
Ramsey, whose face was identical to Nareth's, allowed a slight smirk.
"The Phantasm device perfectly deceived the enemy ships."
The signature-forging device, based on Rangdan ship research and internally called the Phantasm device within the Shadow of Order, aptly reflected its function.
....
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