"There are nine entire such groups called a Balefleet , each is formed around an Ark of Omen at its core. Each consists of an army of various Chaos forces including Heretic Astartes, Cultists, Traitor Guard, Chaos Knights, Dark Mechanicum, and worse." Inquisitor Vail said as she leaned on her Bone Staff, her forehead sweaty with effort. Probably ripping the information from the brains of any Chaos Traitor she could reach. I knew she could do that, and far worse.

"Huh. About 5000 ships for each of these Arks. Mostly small escorts and some 300 capital voidships, various Cruiser types. Also 5 Chaos battleships per group. They brought enough firepower to match the Stygius Crusade fleet." I continued her words, already englobing the entire Chaos Armada with my third tesseract senses.

"And there is that Necron Fortress again, just like at Cadia. Not even trying to disguise as a Mechanicus fleet this time." my lovely Inquisitor lover spoke with love on her lips.

Okay, that was scorn, not love. I may have alliterated a bit.

Brother-Librarian Valerian took a step forward at my side. "My Lord, I can only sense a blob of hate and cruelty from this fleet. And nothing from that Black Fortress." he claimed with a doubtful voice.

Lash raised a lazy eye at my Psyker-Pariah son, as if curious what he was. 'Type 5 signal, etheric+inverted' was all the wrist detector could tell.

I just shook my head, unable to answer them both. An Alpha Psyker was orders of magnitude stronger than a Gamma-level like Valerian, and Amberly went even further on the scale now. Instead I took out the only Ancestral_Warding_Stave I found among the Demiurg, and passed it to my son. Its dwarf user had chosen death before surrender, but the Demiurg artifact was still very strong.

"... I'm not sure if you should use Demiurg items already, Lord Lancefire." the Ordo Xenos Inquisitor muttered with a wary glance at the ancient relic.

"You saw these guys with your own eyes, Lady Vail. It's all human tech, and more robust than most of what we have now. Plus, there are exigent circumstances ahead." I declared with a careless voice.

"We should begin as well. The Necrons are firing now." she answered instead, tacitly approving my actions.

"All ships! Accelerate to military speed. Armored blinds down. Flak batteries set to logis-engine autonomy. Augurs go autistic and close all vox channels. Nova volley on my mark!" I ordered and signaled the Machine Spirit to go mute and blind. The crew of my fleet will not need to see what they were fighting.

In a few seconds, my entire fleet entered blind mode, flying towards the back of the Chaos Armada.

"The Talon fighters are sweeping back. They sense something." my psychic lover whispered in slight worry. Almost there...mark!

One by one, our heavy cruisers began firing their Nova cannons as soon as they entered range, pulverizing most Chaos escorts guarding the nearest Omen Ark, and the small Chaos starfighters as well.

'I think this fireworks show is you, Pef Lancefire.' Lord Trazyn spoke in his mind, now close enough to connect easily.

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'We may have to delay our meeting for few hours, my bony friend. You were right about a dangerous galaxy. Or did you invite them, as a favor for a certain Chaos Sorcerer?' I asked with suspicion in my tone.

'...I did not think of this. But no, Lord Ahriman is not among these creatures. I checked already.' he answered with a curious voice.

'We'll talk at the victory feast then. Your troops may need some live training too.' I proposed with an easier voice.

'Agreed. I find this Chaos Armada quite suspicious and too well-equipped. These big ships can even withstand Gauss cannons with ease. Neutron shielding, most likely. I'll know for certain during dissection' Trazyn the Infinite said in a scientist tone.

My hand hovered over the side, and poked the C'tan wolf. 'Hungry yet?'

'Just don't steal my food again, Rogue Trader. Send me on the nearest Omen Ark. I'll investigate in more detail what they have.' the C'tan demanded with a hungry-for-souls voice.

Well, I didn't carry a C'tan on my ship for the pleasure of his company. With a flick, I moved the C'tan wolf onto the nearest Ark, and set him loose.

Amberly just rose a curious eyebrow, then shrugged as the second wolf vanished from the bridge. For some reason, the Inquisitor seemed reserved, even avoiding the wolves lately.

With a mental pulse, I ordered all ship captains to change course and head for the next Ark, while our Carriers began launching the escort corvettes and fighters. So far, I wasn't impressed much by the Chaos forces.

They would have to show their hand soon.

It didn't take long for the next stage to begin, as a Warp Rift emerged at the limit of our Reality Cage buried into the magma layer of Illevar.

Flying Daemon Engines, on which strange Warp creatures rode through the void.

Still not impressed! My right hand slammed onto the Immaterium Beam control plate, snuffing out the Daemons and their riders as well. Still tiresome, but I was fresh now. I could last for hours.

A red Chaos beam from the first Omen Ark strafed my Fortress and failed to penetrate the Void Shields, then began to move towards my weaker ships. Cheeky bastards!

With my tesseract, I flicked a Nova mine on top of the red battery and melted it and anything around it for a kilometer, revealing more layers of armor, hangar decks and countless traitors screaming silently at the void.

Still only a surface wound on the Space Hulk-sized megaship. I closed my eyes and rapidly computed the required munitions to obliterate such a monster, and found my inventory wanting.

Second mark reached! Another salvo of Nova cannons from my capital ships obliterated most of the second Balefleet, including escorts, fighters and some light cruisers.

This time, I added a few Nova mines inside the second Ark, producing tremendous explosions on the inner decks and crippling the engines, then also transported my Tyranid forces inside. My poor Tyranid Auxilia was hungry too.

Sending new mental commands, I once more changed course for my fleet towards the third Ark. Come on! Show me what you got!

You didn't come here to get exterminated in detail, did you?

"Hateful! Cheating bastard!" a giant voice filled the void, as the owner of this Armada emerged from his third Ark.

"Uhhh. Is that a Chaos tech-priest?" I asked curious, as a strange Daemon emerged, with mechanical arms and creepy glowing skulls strapped to his sides.

"...I think this creature is Vashtorr , if my Warp lore is correct. Much stronger than a Greater Daemon as well." Inquisitor Vail said with a white face. She didn't seem too confident.

I just fired the Immaterium Beam into his face, not really concerned. I have killed stronger things already.

'We might be in trouble' I heard Trazyn comment as a giant black fist slammed into my soul.