Seraphs of the Emperor’s Judgment

Chapter 182: Mutual Destruction

"Looks like the fight's gonna be even fiercer than I reckoned, but that's even better."

Nazdreg spoke loudly, his wild metallic voice revealing a sense of confidence.

He then strode to the bridge's observation deck, looking out from that vantage point.

The massive hull stretched out before him, and he could see the weapon arrays spitting fire. These powerful weapons could easily pierce a warship's outer shell.

Modified planetary bombardment cannons rose from their enclosed bays, primarily intended to repeatedly soften up major targets before a landing.

However, that wasn't their purpose today, though...

If necessary, they could also obliterate an enemy warship with an earth-shattering bombardment.

The Endless Night was a formidable opponent, but definitely not the strongest Nazdreg had ever faced. He was confident he could take it down.

As the bombardment cannons rose, the doors of the torpedo launch bays also retracted into the hull, preparing for a volley.

Inside the ship, all the mechanics had already assumed their battle stations. Wearing protective suits, they fulfilled their duties in areas of intense radiation, extreme heat, and vacuum that were otherwise inaccessible.That big humie ship was still approaching. Nazdreg stood on the observation deck platform and looked out, only to see countless thin beams of light piercing through space toward his flagship, while a volley of torpedoes striking from below nearly hit them.

He instinctively gripped the railing with both hands, bracing for the inevitable impact.

"Here it comes."

"Boss, the impact from the humie torpedo volley will hit in twenty seconds."

The Big Mek below the bridge shouted simultaneously.

Twenty-four torpedoes shot straight toward the Grounded. The Greenskin bombers caught between the torpedo spread and their target astonishingly turned tail and scattered at impossible angles, displaying incredible agility as they evaded the impending wall of destruction.

Subsequently, the ship's turrets unleashed a defensive barrage against the unanticipated attacks.

Some torpedoes that failed to adjust their trajectories in time were destroyed, while others terrifyingly drilled right through the Grounded's defensive screen.

Ultimately, four torpedoes passed perfectly through the defensive fire network, and the ship's klaxons began blaring loudly to warn of the imminent impact.

"There're still four torpedoes not destroyed!"

The Big Mek hissed, straining to be heard over the piercing alarms.

"Launch torpedoes! Let 'em have it!"

Nazdreg's voice remained calm and composed.

In the next second, torpedoes roared out from the Grounded's launch bays, shooting toward the Endless Night.

Afterward, the Grounded slowly adjusted its hull, attempting to turn its heavily armored side toward the enemy torpedoes to protect its open launch bays from the incoming attack.

Evasive, highly unnatural maneuvers that exceeded its design specs allowed it to slowly turn its bow.

The first torpedo struck the mid-side section first. The Grounded's defensive shields absorbed the vast majority of the explosive energy, sending ripples of blue energy radiation cascading outwards from the point of impact.

The latter two torpedoes also accomplished nothing more than sending blue energy ripples spreading across the entire hull.

The fourth torpedo struck the forward launch bay. After withstanding the previous explosions and prolonged incoming fire, the defensive shields in that area could no longer endure this direct hit.

The explosion tore through the weaker parts of the hull, and an intense fire engulfed the launch bay. Falling metal debris caused heavy casualties among the mechanics within.

Secondary explosions from the armory and fuel tanks that followed immediately exacerbated the destruction.

The ship's automated fire suppression systems were activated, beginning to extinguish the flames to control the damage.

Soon, Gretchin swarmed into the breached compartments to clear the rubble, while mechanics arrived at the damaged decks and began welding to repair compromised systems and control functions.

"Report says the forward launch bay didn't lose much, Boss."

The Big Mek gave the simplest of reports.

Under its control, the Grounded steered back onto its original course.

But at this time, on the holographic tactical map, small green dots representing transport ships suddenly appeared and scattered in all directions.

Nazdreg drew his attention back from the observation deck and turned to the tactical map.

He noticed these strange occurrences. Although most of the transport ships appeared to be in a panic, a closer look revealed that their routes were actually highly dangerous, constantly closing in on the Greenskin warships.

The alarms suddenly blared loudly again.

"What's wrong?"

Nazdreg had already figured out the answer before he asked the question.

"It's a proximity alarm, Boss. Some small ships are rammin' right toward us."

"Take 'em out!"

The Greenskin pirate warlord barked the order loudly, the ominous premonition growing stronger and stronger.

"Boss, I got it."

The Big Mek nodded and began issuing commands.

"All port-side weapons, number two and four Deffkannons, aim at those puny ships and hit 'em hard! Don't let 'em touch us!"

The Grounded began executing its master's orders. Lasers and plasma fire instantly tore apart the hull of a transport ship, severing its bridge.

After that, the terrifying bombardment cannons began firing into her cargo holds.

The transport ship was battered into scraps and started to drift lifelessly, flames and electric arcs dancing across her hull.

But in the very next second, unexpectedly, she exploded.

Such immense explosive power was not something the engine of a transport ship that size could produce.

In the instant of its detonation, the transport ship turned into a miniature star. The shockwave slammed against the Grounded's port side; its bridge began to shake violently, and explosions wracked the hull as if it had been hit by a shotgun blast.

"Zog! Get away from those ships!! Fast!!"

Finally realizing what the humies intended, Nazdreg began roaring in exasperation, and the Big Mek instantly broke into a frantic scramble.

Yet everything was too late. Numerous transport ships had already plunged like small knives into the dense Greenskin formation.

Although a portion were destroyed en route, many more survived.

Immediately following that, the escort fleet led by the Starfire opened fire, but their targets were not the Greenskin warships.

A surging tide of lance beams and shells struck those fuel tankers.

In an instant, a flat sun rose within the asteroid belt. Energy waves expanded in all directions, drowning the nearby Greenskin warships in a frozen moment in time.

City-sized hulls disintegrated, spilling the fuel from their reactors into this burning storm.

With every passing second, this wild tide continued to expand, swallowing those warships that were too slow to escape its embrace.

And the human fleet, as early as when the transport fleet had appeared, had already fired up their engines and turned their bows around.

Accompanied by the hissing sounds of dying ships, the Greenskin fleet suffered a devastating blow.