Fiction:Neraida War/Defence of Angrenos

On the bridge of the flagship Republica, Admiral —sentinel of the Republic—sat with his hands templed on his command chair. Around him, his various crewmembers worked overtime to organise the massing fleet positioned over the critical Republic shipyards over Angrenos. His executive officer, Commander Reemuckeeus, ensured that they remained within protocol as calls rose from various divisions announcing their battle readiness. Soon enough, he received reports confirming the arrival of the other captains of the fleet, including Admiral Kuestantine, Commandant Gavakar, Shiplord X'elorn Tolahven and Captain Helo Roslia. When the last ship had arrived, Commander Selanius approached the Admiral's command chair.

"All vessels are accounted for, and fitted with the weapon, Admiral. We await the arrival of the Neraida."

Admiral Cretacea nodded his head solemnly. "So be it."

Pushing some buttons on the arm of his chair, Cretacea addressed the fleet.

"We must make our stand here, my friends. You all know the power and ferocity of our foe, but know this: We will never relent! The enemy will give no quarter, expect none. And give none. Prepare for battle and one day, this galaxy will be free from the scourge of these mechanical monstrocities. All ships, combat alert!"

One by one, thousands of Neraida vessels materialised in orbit over Angrenos. They were soon joined by the largest Neraida vessel ever constructed, the vast Neraida Supercube, commanded by Aedanius himself. The drone scrutinised the assembled allied fleet hovering above the blue-green marble, a flash of uncertainty appearing in his cybernetic optical implant. "Unexpected enemy resistance detected in sector 149000. All units, converge. Suppress enemy units." Beams of brilliant green light lanced across the black void toward their targets. The allies were prepared, with the beams impacting relatively harmlessly against the larger vessels' shields. On the bridge of the , Shiplord Tolahven stood with his hands behind his back, overlooking the vast field of battle. Sitting in the command chair in front of him was Primarch himself, who longed to experience what he considered to be the last battle of the Neraida. "If fortune favours us", he thought to himself.

"Unleash the wrath of our cannons, shiplord! Let these abominations taste plasma!"

The Cognatus vessels of the fleet opened fire before the others, firing their upgraded weapon systems with all the ferocity one would expect. Smirking on the bridge of the Republica, Admiral Cretacea gave the order to join the Cognatus' warships. Soon the entire allied fleet was unleashing Commander Selanius' upgraded weapon systems on their cybernetic foes. As the lances pierced across space, the commanders of the fleet waited with baited breath for the result. The Cognatus energy bolts were the first to impact against the closest Neraida cubes.

The shields of the cubes flashed green, though no damage was done. Crestfallen, Admiral Cretacea turned to Commander Selanius, a grave expression on his face. Selanius never once removed his gaze from the viewscreen. "Patience is a virtue, Admiral."

The second wave of energy impacted against the Neraida shields. They flashed green momentarily. Cretacea sighed deeply and resigned himself to retreat. This tactic clearly wasn't worki-

Suddenly, the shields of the Neraida vessels ignited violently—sparking hundreds of what seemed to be microsupernovas. Ripping apart the hulls of over two hundred Neraida cubes, the central mass of the largest explosion suddenly began dragging nearby vessels into a sprawling mass of energy and debris. Even some undamaged vessels were torn off their course and into the hellish maw and once it had gained sufficient mass—it unleashed a vast wave of energy which incinerated a sizable portion of the surviving Neraida fleet. On the bridge of the Republica, cheers rang out, though Selanius remained stoic. "Satisfactory."

He gazed at the undamaged Supercube. "Still not sufficient."

Within the Supercube, Aedanius stood expressionless as he watched his ruined fleet collapse into nothingness. Suddenly, the Supercube and the surviving cubes vanished into nothingness. Aedanius had one last gambit up his sleeve.

Trivia

 * Previously a section on the Neraida War mainpage.