The dark raider ships clung to the sides of the transport like two hyenas, greedily sucking out the wealth they had plundered from the larger vessel.
They had accurate intelligence, and they had been promised that once the job was done, no one would hold them responsible, so this raid was meant to be a bloody feast for them.
They were far from any planet and far from the system's Mandeville Point, and the transport's earlier forced breach through the veil of the Warp had left behind a small zone of unstable energy.
Unless a receiving ship was extremely close by, the transport's distress signal would be gradually distorted by long-range energy interference until it became meaningless static.
This was a complete plan.
A carefully woven net.
The pirates wore cruel, satisfied smiles. The transport was now a lamb waiting for slaughter, and it was only a matter of time before they stripped it clean.
But very soon, those smiles vanished.
Without warning, intense fire blossomed behind the Desecrator-class raider on the transport's port side, almost causing a sympathetic detonation in its main engines.
"Damn it, those are Sharkhunter torpedoes! Full power to the augurs! Run an active scan!"
Curses rang out among the pirates as they recovered from being caught off guard. With the augurs pushed to full power, a cluster of red points representing serious threats appeared on their screens.
"Judging by the direction, only one ship fired. Extend the scan-wave along that vector."
The seasoned pirates regained their composure. While hugging the transport's hull and shifting their own ship's position, they began searching for the source of the attack.
Since the torpedoes had clearly been avoiding the transport, all they needed to do was slide beneath it to avoid the first volley.
What puzzled them, however, was that even after focusing their scan on the direction the torpedoes had come from, they still found no trace of the attacker.
That eased their nerves a little, because it meant the attacker was highly maneuverable, and a highly maneuverable ship could not be a heavy vessel with overwhelming firepower.
"That torpedo strike nearly crippled our ascent engines."
"What about the Black Shark crew? Have they been hit too?"
"No. They're still watching the surroundings."
"Damn it, could those bastards be trying to double-cross us?"
The pirates aboard the Desecrator-class raider started shouting, their suspicion turning toward the untouched Blind Believer-class raider on the other side.
For this attack, the employer had hired both their Darkstar Pirate Band and the neighboring Black Shark Pirate Band. After discussion, the two sides had agreed to commit one ship each and split the transport's cargo fifty-fifty.
But they themselves knew best that, as pirates who lived by the blade, their honor was worth less than dirt.
Given how airtight this plan had seemed, the chance of an outside disruptor was far lower than the chance that their supposed allies were betraying them.
Still, they could not jump to conclusions too quickly. If Black Shark really was not planning to stab them in the back, making a false accusation now would damage what little professional decency remained between them.
And if Black Shark really did intend to double-cross them, then there was no point pretending anymore. With their own vessel already badly damaged, they could not win against Black Shark's still-superior firepower.
So what now?
Just as the Darkstar pirates were putting their breathtaking intelligence to work, another torpedo suddenly tore past their hull from the upper starboard direction.
The transport's bulk had concealed the torpedo's approach, meaning the Desecrator-class raider, hiding under the transport, had failed to track it on the augurs.
"That torpedo came from their side! Those bastards really are trying to double-cross us!"
"Calm down. It only came from their direction. That doesn't prove they fired it."
"On that side, they've got far more exposed hull than we do. If it wasn't their ship, why wasn't it them who got hit first?"
"That..."
The Darkstar pirates broke into a full-blown shouting match.
Although Black Shark kept insisting over the comms that they had absolutely no intention of betrayal, the Darkstar pirates knew exactly what sort of people they all were. There was no way they were going to trust that so easily.
In the end, the captain of the Desecrator-class raider made his decision.
Whether the other side intended to double-cross them or not, they were leaving first.
"Boss, what about the brothers still butchering the lamb over there?"
"If Black Shark really wasn't planning anything, then once their heavier Blind Believer beats off the attacker, our boys can stick with them for a while. Worst case, we just take a smaller cut of the loot."
"But if Black Shark really is trying to double-cross us, then in our current condition we absolutely can't fight. Otherwise we'll all die here together."
The earlier torpedo strike had severely degraded their engine performance. If they hesitated now, the situation would only get worse.
And even if Black Shark had not intended betrayal at first, now that they had seen how badly the Desecrator was damaged, would that heavier-armed Blind Believer start getting ideas?
This was a prisoner's dilemma, and no matter how one looked at it, immediate withdrawal was the best move for Darkstar.
And so, once the captain slammed down his decision, the Desecrator-class raider seized the chance and immediately began diving away.
On the other side, the Black Shark pirates were so furious their lungs nearly burst.
"Damn it, those cowards ran after taking one hit."
"I told you from the start, we never should've worked with those spineless birds."
"What kind of idiot employer hires those bastards and then makes us split the payout with them?"
...
Aboard the Spear of Destiny, hidden at the outer edge of the enemy augurs' active scan range, Gaia stared at the fleeing Desecrator-class raider in stunned silence.
Using the Spear of Destiny's superior maneuverability and her loadout of long-range precision torpedoes, Solomon had guided the ship across the void like a dancer, toying with the enemy in the palm of his hand.
His seemingly nonsensical sudden right-angle turns and crash-like dives were in fact exploiting the different blind zones created by the enemy augurs' active scan, passive detection, and extended search patterns.
And just as he had confidently told Gaia before:
"The enemy ships are completely different classes. They're obviously from two different pirate bands."
"I don't know what made them cooperate for a moment this time, but the people pirates trust least are always each other."
"All I need to do is give them a little push, and they'll split apart on their own, which means fewer enemies before the fight even starts."
And the outcome was exactly as he predicted. The Desecrator-class raider, having been hit first, chose to withdraw.
He was like a master conductor, taking control of the rhythm of the entire battlefield with a flick of his fingers.
"The fireworks announcing the overture have already been lit by Captain Harlock."
"So now comes the boarding act."
"My dear bodyguard, the stage from here on is yours."
Gaia narrowed her eyes and looked at the transport ship in the distance, unable to stop the smile tugging at her lips.
Boarding combat. The greatest romance in Warhammer.
...
The Blind Believer-class raider pushed its augurs to maximum power and conducted constant full-spectrum active scans, trying to uncover the hidden attacker.
Very soon, however, a huge red contact appeared on their augur screens.
"The attacker has appeared! It's a modified Cobra-class destroyer!"
"They've got a macro-cannon. Their firepower's nasty. Circle them."
But it did not take long for them to realize that the other ship's true target was not the raider at all.
"Not good. They're trying to board the transport and rescue it."
"It doesn't matter. It's just one destroyer. Our two raider crews are all aboard there already. Advantage is ours."
While evading the macro-cannon shots from the Spear of Destiny, the Black Shark pirates began a wide flanking maneuver.
Since the enemy made no attempt to intercept them, the Spear of Destiny was able to push through the fire of their lighter gun batteries and easily close alongside the transport.
Then a Thunderhawk assault craft launched from the hangar deck, carrying the boarding party Solomon had personally selected, including himself. Following the beacon provided by House Hayek, they cut their way in using melta-breachers and entered the transport ship that was already deep in slaughter.
...
At the lift leading to the upper deck, the remaining guards held the line with desperate resolve.
This was the last barrier leading to the bridge. If the pirates broke through here, the Navigator noble would be exposed to danger.
As loyal guards, they would never let these raiders advance another step, even if they had to spend the last drop of blood in their bodies.
But the pirates' firepower was simply too fierce.
"Hahaha, kill them all! Once we clear the bridge, everything on this ship belongs to us!"
A giant brute in carapace armor, swinging a chainaxe wildly, laughed like a maniac as he hacked through bodies as if chopping vegetables.
Boom!
A deafening blast from the corridor beside him interrupted his killing spree, stopping his blood-soaked axe right in front of the face of a guard whose eyes were red with strain.
The brute turned his head in confusion, only to see a tall, powerfully built figure appearing through the smoke.
The next instant, almost too fast to follow, the smoke was blown apart by a gale created by sudden movement, and he felt the entire right side of his body turn strangely light.
Blankly, he looked to his right, only to discover that his arm and the chainaxe attached to it were both gone.
"Nice toy. Mind if I borrow it for a bit?"
A magnetic, androgynous voice sounded behind him, and the roar of a revving chainblade that followed made his whole body turn ice-cold.
(End of Chapter)
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