03 - Savage Scars Read Online Free Page B

cruisers gliding past in stately procession. In
echelon behind the Oceanid came the other two vessels of the rogue
trader’s flotilla, the cruisers Fairlight and Rosetta . As the
three ships began to open fire at extreme long range against the distant defence
platforms, the majestic form of the Blade of Woe , the crusade’s flagship,
came into view. Even Sarik, who had seen the sight many times before and far
preferred to prosecute his wars on land, could not help but be impressed by the
battle cruiser’s vast form. Its sharp prow was sculpted into the form of
sweeping eagle’s wings, and every square metre of its ancient armour was carved
with litanies and the features of revered Imperial saints. Its portholes were
delicate lancet windows, the armoured glass a riot of colours depicting scenes
of glorious battle. One by one, the warships sailed past the Nomad ,
passing her by on every side and accompanied by their nimble escort squadrons
and swarms of smaller vessels.
    And then, the strike cruiser Fist of Light came into view. Though
smaller than the Blade of Woe, the Space Marine vessel, which belonged to
the Iron Hands contingent of the crusade forces, radiated menace as if the cold
outer steel skin shielded a raging furnace at its heart. Where the Imperial Navy
warships were stately, with sharp prows and covered in Gothic detailing, the
Space Marine vessels were blunt-prowed and unadorned. Their flanks were not
encrusted with devotional statues, but sheathed in the thickest ceramite armour
known to man. The Fist of Light was the largest Space Marine warship in
the crusade fleet, the remainder frigates and destroyers. Her armoured flanks
were painted black, white and steel grey, the predominant colours of the Iron
Hands heraldry, and they were pitted with countless thousands of small craters,
each a battle scar earned over many centuries of service to the Imperium of
Mankind.
    The fleet crossed the point at which its longest-ranged weapons could open
fire upon the alien defence stations. Initially, these weapons were those
mounted in dorsal turrets, or torpedoes fired from cavernous tubes mounted in
the armoured prows. The Blade of Woe ’s weapons batteries spoke first, for
they had the longest range, great salvoes of city-levelling ordnance blasting
across the void to smash into the tau stations. Yet, the display was
inconsequential compared to what would follow when the ships’ masters ordered
their warships to turn and present a broadside to the alien platforms. The
Imperial Navy’s battle doctrine dictated that its vessels’ firepower was
concentrated in mighty batteries on either flank. A single salvo could drive
off, cripple or even destroy almost any enemy vessel, as the tau had already
discovered to their detriment.
    The Nomad ’s systems began to reawaken, the lectern screen flickering
to life, though it remained shot through with churning, grainy static. Though
too far distant to be seen with the naked eye, even that of a Space Marine, the
screen indicated the presence of a number of the crusade fleet’s supporting
vessels. Tenders stood by should a warship need repair or towing clear of the
battle. Tankers and mass haulers carried vast quantities of fuel and other
commodities. Transports carried the crusade’s ground troops, each of them home
to an entire regiment of Imperial Guard. Most of the ground troops belonged to
one of the Brimlock regiments, raised from the planet on which the crusade
against the expanding alien empire of the tau had first been preached. Right on
the edge of the readout was an icon representing the huge conveyance Toil of
Digamma , a vessel of the Adeptus Mechanicus that transported the Legio
Thanataris Titan Legion, known as the “Deathbringers”. The towering god-machines
carried in its cavernous bays would be crucial in the forthcoming planetary
assault.
    As mighty as the crusade fleet was, Sarik was painfully aware that it lacked