Herald of the Stars: Chapter Three Hundred and Twenty-Three

After a minute of silence, Abbisine looks away from the hololith and walks over to me, her mechadendrites tracking the hololith behind her.

“Good day, Aldrich. Are you sure your augurs are not in error?”

“Hello to you too, Abbisine. Every vessel is showing near identical results to what you see here. Would you be so kind as to clarify what we should be seeing? None of my vessels have ever visited the Lathes and I would like to confirm that my records are correct.”

Abbisine nods, “Very well. Sentanim is supposed to be a blue, main sequence star of two solar masses and 1.7 solar radii. It is 25 times the brightness of Sol and should have a surface temperature of 10,000 degrees. Its projected lifespan is 2.5 billion years with Sentanim being approximately 1 billion years old.”

“Thank you. It would seem that Sentanim has aged millions of years since you last saw it. The brightness is now 40 times that of Sol and it is 1.35 solar radii. What little atmosphere that Het, Hesh, and Hadd clung onto from Sentanim’s solar winds has been stripped away. 

“As best I can tell, anyone on or near the surface of any of Sentanim’s celestial bodies without the sturdiest of radiation suits would die within hours, possibly minutes, if they’re on the Lathes themselves.”

Abbisine says, “I agree. The Lathes are considerably more hostile than before. What do you make of the sudden change in age?”

“There is significant residue from a temporal event within the Sentanim system and I could not even begin to guess with any confidence how such a thing came about. Long range Vox communication is likely challenging, perhaps even impossible. Augurs and auspex are limited. What level of disaster are we looking at here?”

“All three Lathe Worlds are Eucemenopolises,” Abbisine says, her voice tinged with pride. “Each Lathe World has a single Hive concentrated around the original landing zone of their blessed fabricator vessels. The Hive cities have Void Shields. Assuming that the shields are in use, the Hives will be unaffected by the increased radiation. Other facilities spread around the planets are less well protected. However, I can confirm that all environments in the Lathes are sealed like a void ship on account of their previous thin atmospheres.”

“That’s not as bad as I feared,” I say. “That’s hardly the only problem though, is it?”

“Quite. I am not confident that the Lathes have dealt well with the sudden increase in temperature and loss of atmosphere as these require a different approach to cooling to what would normally be used for a Hive. All three worlds will have shed a lot of water and gas as emergency measures until they could swap cooling methods. This is a significant undertaking and is likely still going on. 

“There will be significant shortages in water and air. Air will not be critical, as even menials and Servitors are issued rebreathers to mitigate pollution and radioactive dust. However, with the Lathes cut off from resupply, water will be the greatest resource in demand.”

I say, “I am pleased that your analysis matches my own. Anything else?”

“The top most layers on Het, Hesh, and Hadd have likely been abandoned wherever practical. Food production in the orbital stations will have suffered, though I would hope that any issues have been fixed by now. The Lathes do not store that much food as they are self-sufficient and widespread starvation is likely due to production losses during adaptation, especially if production and resources were shifted to materiél and capacity to alter the Rustica Mandate Stations was low. In addition, the Rustica Mandate Stations are a high value target and I would be surprised if all of them remain intact.”

“Now that, I did not know. We will have to find a way to ship the Lathes food as well as water in vast quantities,” I say. “Soylent Viridans production equipment would not go amiss either. Rare metals and carbon will be in high demand, as always. Iron should be less urgent, as the Forge Masters can always recycle abandoned areas.”

“Those are assumptions worth working with.” Abbisine folds her arms and purses her lips, “What do you intend to do?”

I nod, “Herald Primarus Noake, Aeronautica Marshal Igraine Yorath, and Fleet Marshal Lonceta Ridel are all in agreement that we can hide in the Oort Cloud and, using our most stealthy shuttles, reach anywhere within the Lathes in 75 days, without exposing our vessels. 

“This is also my preference as even one of the enemy fleets is enough to crush us should we be caught. The Nova Cannon is great, but it is not almighty. We are still undecided on the details of our plans as we can’t pick out proper targets yet.”

Abbisine says, “The introductory packet I gave you years ago did not contain actionable data for military actions. Once we are done here, I will send you what maps for the Excipio stations I have, as well as the data I have collected on the micro-singularities.”

“That would be a huge help, thank you,” I say. “We intend to sling large tanks of resources, also under stealth, at the inner Lathes, with a focus on large quantities of water and methane, to get an appreciable amount of resources through. I’m not going to run for the inner Lathes until we have to. 

“It could be that this is all we do for the whole war, though I doubt we’d get away with ferrying resources for that long. Ideally, we will need to rescue at least one Lathe Master pilot from the Excipio stations, assuming they haven’t all been killed, before making a run for the inner Lathes.”

“Is there anything specific you need from me to achieve this?” says Abbisine.

“In addition to the data you have volunteered, I’ll need you to tell me where to send resources and who my automated systems should attempt to contact and how. It would not do for my aid to make it past enemy patrols, all the way through the Belts of Etiam the singularities, only to be shot down or quarantined once they reach the fleets protecting the Lathe Worlds.” 

Abbisine tries to hide it, but I can tell she is immensely pleased by my proposal. This is no surprise as I’ve just handed the opportunity to gain an immense amount of political capital. 

I am going to get good will from this as well, but I’ve no way of squeezing anything from Abbisine for the privilege I’m handing her as she is the only person in the Stellar Fleet with the credentials to make my plans work. I can only hope that enough strike teams will return to the fleet with high ranking captives eager to repay favours and help me keep Abbisine’s influence in check. I do not want her to get all the credit for helping the Lathes. 

Sure, I could just turn around and forget about the Lathes, but that would go against my public goals of helping drag the Imperium from the muck of its Hive sumps. My crews and troops expect to help with all the examples I’ve set too. 

Force Commander Odhran and the Bargests are only required to follow me so long as I help them destroy enemy forces. After all the investment I’ve put into the Barghests, I am not willing to toss that aside until I have extracted sufficient worth from them.

Abbisine says, “May I have a copy of the data displayed on the hololith and constant updates sent to my quarters? My speciality lies in predicting unusual celestial phenomena and I have confidence that I can plot optimal routes for the Stellar Fleet for a multitude of scenarios.”

“Granted,” I say. “I expect an update every month.”

“May the Omnissiah grant me wisdom to see my task through to the end. I appreciate your trust, Aldrich.”

“Likewise, Abbsine. I am certain that we will see the hand of the Emperor again before we are done with the Lathes.”

“Travelling with you is always an experience. Farewell.”

“Good day to you too, Abbisine.”

Abbisine departs and I am left alone in the Strategium, toying with its systems as I simulate different plans.

Our voyage continues and our observation of the Lathes shows near constant ‘minor’ engagements, where more ships than I own are destroyed or captured each month during raids upon the minor orbitals of inner Lathes and its many patrols. 

Neither side seems willing to fully commit their forces so I doubt anyone is particularly low on resources just yet. Fleet Command and I get the impression that both sides have no idea what the other’s priorities are and, despite the length of the war, are still trying to draw each other out to no success.

At the beginning of our fourth year, we get close enough to identify a single, monstrous ship, four times the size of Torchbearer. It’s a Gloriana, though whose remains in question. Knowing that we are likely heading to fight a Traitor Primarch is an unpleasant, though not wholly unexpected surprise. 

A message is immediately sent back to Lathe Watch via Neutrino Vox along with the latest estimates of the Great Enemy’s numbers.

We reach the end of our journey, halting at the inner edge of the Oort Cloud, 2000 AU from Sentanim during the first week of the fifth year. The system is oddly quiet and we do not pick up any Vox chatter. Tens of thousands of drones and shuttles are detected moving through the system every day.

The situation has not changed much. We are close enough to detect lights on the Ork Rok and a power signature from the Eldar World Ship. The Gloriana is heavily damaged and orbiting Cella. 

To my third eye, the Sentanim system is rife with the cloying essence of Slaanesh. Her euphoric corruption sparks off our wards and challenges our Machine-Spirits with false data. A Daemon Prince proudly proclaims its presence through the Warp, with unearned confidence and foundationless pride.

We settle in to observe for a month, cataloguing void ships, mapping celestial phenomena, and recording every wreck and other hazards. The original enemy armada was estimated at 6,666 void ships, two thirds of which were transports. So far, the Chaos Armada have lost just under 15%, or 999 vessels, putting their numbers at 5,667 functioning void ships. The Ruinous Powers have approximately 200 vessels docked with the Excipio Stations that are undergoing repairs or salvage. There are 16 enemy battleships, one for each fleet.

The symbolic numbers, just as I enter the system, make me think that our arrival has not gone unnoticed. I don’t think the Enemy can detect the exact location of our ships, cloaked as we are in Empyrean Mantles, but we can’t afford to slack off on our stealth protocols either.

The Lathes began with 2,400 void ships, 600 of which were monitor vessels with extra armour and guns. 200 vessels are stationed near Het, utterly untouched by the fighting. As best we can tell, they are all exploratory vessels and the peak of the Lathes production capability. The remaining vessels are all transports and most have been cheaply up-armed and armoured. We can tell because they’ve all been sprayed with fresh ferrocrete. They’re also sporting Macro-Cannon broadside batteries where as before they would have had none.

Despite the rather pathetic array of void ships, Lathe losses are light at 6%, or 144 vessels, approximately. The reason for that lies in the system’s other defences.

There are no Ark Mechanicus. Instead, there are three functional battleships and four partially completed battleships under sporadic construction. The system's many shipyards are also busy, churning out Sword Class frigates and the occasional cruiser. The Lathes are not the orbital rings of Mars or the Jupiter shipyards, but they are launching at least one vessel a week. Most are refurbished or rebuilt wrecks, though at least one ship a month is new.

Each Lathe World has 48 defensive platforms with a similar volume to the smaller Macro-Conveyor Class vessels. Each platform has at least twice as many guns as the average battleship. They’re toast if one could hit them with enough torpedoes or asteroids as their manoeuvrability is poor. However, the Dark Mechanicum has a tiny fraction of the production capabilities of the Imperium and Mechanicus. 

I don’t think that the Chaos Armada has the ammunition and strike craft to blow through the defensive platforms’ interceptor screens and their many other defences and deal with everything else at the same time. They might be able to do it once, but that would require a commitment of all forces, which they are obviously avoiding.

After thirteen years, assuming the temporal anomaly hasn’t messed with the expected date, I am certain there are enough chaos infiltrators and unwilling converts to cause trouble though. Just what is that Daemon Prince waiting for?

There are hundreds of orbital stations: a mix of habitats, manufactorums, and agronomy domes. Each of these is also armed.

It is clear that the Lathes cannot contest the enemy fleet outside the defensive aegis of their defence platforms and numerous orbital structures. The one fleet that could probably do something, the Explorator Fleet, remains in reserve.

The Chaos Armada, even if it were to risk the Belts of Etiam and attempt a mass assault, is fairly well matched against the Lathes’ fixed defences and fleet. The Enemy fleet does not have enough warships. Supplementing their attack with weapon fire from their transports, transports that hold their men and supplies, would drastically cut their operational time in a system that’s cut off from the wider galaxy by unpredictable temporal anomalies and a Warp Storm. 

The Ruinous Powers can’t rush in and drop large amounts of troops on the Lathe Worlds with the unexpected increase in radiation either. I’d be willing to bet a regiment or two that all the Chaos Armarda’s stock of radiation protection equipment is tied up in assaulting Lycocidae. 

With the near perfect stalemate prolonging the war as much as possible, I can only assume that whoever messed with Sentanim is as mad and reckless as they are genius.

It’s the sort of plan I’d expect from an Ork, not a Magos!