Victory on Triton came at a great cost, and the Imperium had little time to account for it. The battle was over on Triton, but the moon of Laomedia and the orbital city of Grylor still present a challenge yet to be completed.
The destruction of the Neptunian Compacts orbiting Neptune halts most of the fleet's progress. Many commanders and generals advocate for a direct strike, which only gained the ire from the Astartes that lost their brothers in the Triton offensive.
From beyond Neptune's distant shadow, something stirred.
At first, they appeared as faint signals, ghost echoes on auspex returns, dismissed as debris or sensor error. Then they resolved into shapes. Ships. Dozens of them.
"Shipmaster, auspex-pattern 'Ghost' signals identified. Egressing from the Neptunian debris-field, massive signatures, non-standard silhouettes."
"Confirm resolution. If those are the relics of Old Night, why is their reactor-heat spiking? All hands to battle stations." A sense of dread came upon command. They assumed only the present dangers would need to be resolved to achieve victory.
"Lord-Commander Thorne, detach the rear guard, engage the ghost-signatures. Do not let them bite at our flank."
The Ghost Fleet had awakened.
These were relics of Old Night, ancient warships that had drifted in silence for centuries. Their hulls were scarred, their configurations archaic and inconsistent. Some bore weapons no longer recognized by Imperial doctrine, others seemed barely functional.
Commander Thorne took his group of ships, 1 vanquisher class battleship, 2 Dictator-class carriers, and 5 avenger class brawlers to intercept the coming army. Their aim was to allow the remaining ships to focus on the compacts of Neptune.
The ships were still in the process of organizing their offensive when
WHIRRRR-ZAP!!!
The old dilapidated looking ships fired. And when they did, they killed.
An avenger brawler was struck by a lance beam that flickered unpredictably, bypassing its void shields entirely. The beam carved through its reactor core, and the ship detonated in a blinding flash.
Seeing the devastation of these weapon systems, the imperium is not one to only take a beating without responding in kind. Commander Thorne's vanquisher battlecruiser fired its front facing lance batteries.
VWOOM-WOOM
It collided with the ghost ship's void shield, stalling for a second before its shields gave out and BOOM… the ship exploded into space debris.
Elsewhere, torpedoes launched from unknown platforms phased through defensive screens before materializing within their targets, detonating with catastrophic force.
The Imperial fleet staggered.
Command Thorne responded with ruthless efficiency. Formations tightened, ships drawing closer together to maximize overlapping fields of fire. Point-defense systems activated at full capacity, filling the void with streams of tracer fire and laser bursts.
"Primary batteries insufficient. This fleet is using non-Euclidean weaponry, requesting reinforcements from the Gloriana-line." Commander Thorne voxed to high command.
"Diverting support to your location, do not expect anymore" a vox response came quick.
"Negative, shipmaster, hold your vector. The Ten Thousand shall excise this cancer." a deep gravely voice came over vox channels to high command.
It was captain Aurelian Gaius Trajan. The custodians are about to take to the field. 20 custodians followed Aurelian to the rear of the ship, fitted with teleportation stations.
"Boarding elements, initialize teleport homers, establish the bridgehead. We shall bring the Emperor's judgement to these hulks." Aurelian voxed to commander Thorne.
Fighter wings surged forward. Fury interceptors engaged in chaotic dogfights against drone-like attackers launched from the Ghost Fleet. Explosions lit the darkness as pilots fought at extreme ranges and impossible speeds.
With the authorization of boarding actions.
The avenger class brawlers moved in between the ships, firing boarding torpedoes and launching assault boats. The torpedoes arrived first, punching a hole through the hull of the ghost ships.
The Imperial army burst through the doors of the torpedoes firing at the enemy. What they met was not a resistance of humans, or even mutated humans, but servitors functioning on old patterns long since forgotten.
Returning fire on the invaders they did not follow logical patterns of war, but a mixed match of confusing tactics. Continuous forward formations without use of cover, making it difficult for the Imperial army to attain a foothold.
"Homer signal activated." voxed one of the soldiers
As soon as the signal got through to the rear
Golden lightening on the ships space came from different locations, on different ships then CRACK…
like lightning, golden men in Auramite armor and guardian spears appeared on the ships. Squads teleported into the heart of enemy vessels, their arrival marked by bursts of crackling energy. Inside, they found madness.
Corridors filled with inert servitors that sprang to life without warning. Machine spirits that screamed through vox channels.
These ships were not crewed, they were true haunted vessels.
Custodians arrived in pairs, they did not speak they began their work. Splitting up they fired bolter rounds from their spears with precision. Sometimes using 1 bullet for multiple targets.
With them clearing the way, more landing vessels could come in, increasing the pace of clearing the ships.
"Command bridge primary objective, secure the logic-cores. Terminate all automated resistance." Aurelian commanded through vox channels. No response came over, but in every ship the custodians moved with precision toward their objectives.
Aurelian moved straight for the control room of the ship. With blinding speed he fired at the servitors while still moving towards his objective. Turning around a corner a brute sized servitor intercepted him.
Without missing a step he took half a step forward dragging the tip of his spear across the floor. Using the momentum, he severed the leg of the brute causing it to stagger forward and drop low.
Spinning his spear he brought it back across the neck of the brute as soon as its body dropped, taking it head off. To him this was not a battle it was a clean up, he did not even stop his steps to deal with the brute, he was already gone.
One by one, the Ghost Fleet vessels were silenced. Some were destroyed outright. Others were seized and scuttled from within, their reactors overloaded to prevent further threat.
When it ended, the void was quiet once more.
But the Imperium had been reminded of a harsh truth.
Old Night still lingered.