The greenskins had boiled out of the inner system like hornets streaming from a nest, dozens of smaller attack ships and a score of larger vessels that came hurtling directly for the fleet. Kulik had first taken the headlong charge as further proof that the orks were not as sophisticated as Price feared; such rush attacks had been the hallmark of many an ork raiding force for centuries. Lansung had ordered the fleet to split into lines of attack in response, hoping to break through the orks in a repeat of the attack on the asteroid field.
That was when the orks had revealed their first surprise. Rather than continue on their course directly towards the nearest ships, the alien warships had slowed and gathered their strength, turning their fury upon just two of the forming battle lines. The Colossus had been one of several ships that had borne the brunt of that first attack.
The Seraphic Guardian, Terrible, Last Endeavour, Magnificent Fate and Klaus Magnate had all surged forward in response to the call from Admiral Price to protect the flagship, but now the cruisers were embroiled in a messy fight with the smaller ork ships while the larger enemy vessels had broken away to concentrate their attack on the second line of Imperial ships.
Price was stalking back and forth across the bridge, grunting and muttering to himself. It was obvious that he had over-reacted to the first ork attack but it was too late to salvage anything meaningful from the situation.
‘Damage crews to prioritise the energy grid and flight decks,’ Kulik announced, adjusting his balance as another shockwave pulsed along the battleship. He glanced up at the screen showing the void shield generators and hull integrity data. More hits aft. The orks were very deliberately targeting the main engines. Shaffenbeck had evidently noticed the same thing.
‘Do you think they’re trying to cripple us before moving in for the kill, sir?’ said the first lieutenant.
‘Maybe,’ replied Kulik, though he preferred a different explanation, which he voiced, just loud enough to make sure Price could hear it too. ‘It might also be that they are trying to damage our engines to stop us getting anywhere near the attack moon. It might not be as impregnable as we feared.’
‘One disaster at a time, captain,’ Price said sharply. ‘The attack moon will wait for us to throw ourselves at it, no need to hurry the matter.’
Surprised, Kulik said nothing in response to the admiral’s defeatist remark, but caught a look from Shaffenbeck out of the corner of his eye.
‘Helm, bring us seven points to starboard and have every other fourth and sixth deck gun crew moved to their starboard batteries. I want a constant fire once we turn.’
Kulik studied the schematic a little longer. The cruisers had broken into pairs and were snaking their way to port, driving off the ork attack ships but leaving themselves vulnerable to several larger ork vessels moving up in a second wave.
‘Have Remarkable and Justified Annihilation come about on the port side,’ the captain told the comms officer. ‘They are to cross our turn and assist the forward cruisers.’
Price stopped his pacing and looked at Kulik with narrowed eyes. Remarkable and Justified Annihilation were two Lunar-class ships, the newest in the rimward patrol flotilla. Although part of the rimward fleet they were also under the command of Kulik as commodore, and he was technically within his rights to issue orders. The admiral looked at Kulik for several long seconds, perhaps trying to work out if the captain was being insubordinate, before he shook his head and resumed his stalking.
A secondary detonation somewhere amidships caused the Colossus to shudder from prow to aft, the sudden movement almost throwing Kulik to the deck. Price stumbled, to be caught by an alert lieutenant who had been turning to report.
‘Sir, we’re detecting a strange energy surge from the ork ships to starboard.’ Price pushed himself away from the officer and straightened his coat. Muttering some more, he turned and glared at the damage display on the main screen.
‘Be more specific, lieutenant,’ replied Kulik. ‘What sort of energy surge? That ship looks too small to be warp capable.’
‘It’s like a small-scale transition, captain. I’ve never se—’
‘Watch lieutenants on decks four and five report enemy boarding parties, sir!’
Price, Kulik and Shaffenbeck all turned as one towards the comms lieutenant who had issued the warning, then as one they all returned their attention back to the main screen. The nearest ork ship was at least three thousand miles away.
‘Confirm that report, Mister Hartnell!’ barked Shaffenbeck, striding towards the comms panel.
‘More ork attackers, sirs!’ the distraught lieutenant repeated. ‘Decks fourteen and fifteen.’
‘Teleport attack?’ Price was incredulous. ‘Those ships are far too small.’
‘Confirm some form of warp portal excavation, captain,’ said the officer at the sensor console. ‘All three enemy ships have some kind of teleporter lock.’
‘Where?’ demanded Kulik.
The officer changed the main display and a series of green crosshairs sprang up on a rotating isometric display of the Colossus. There were breaches in seven different places. Blue icons represented the responding armsmen teams, closing in on the ork teleport attack sites from above and below.
‘Emperor’s blood, that’s two decks below us!’ Price took a few paces towards the comms officer. ‘Tell the armsmen to prioritise the second boarding. They must protect the bridge!’
‘Belay that order!’ Kulik’s command stopped Price in his tracks. The admiral was enraged as he rounded on the captain, but Kulik cut off his superior. ‘The first attack is right on top of the flight decks. We need to keep the launch bays operational. Officer of the watch!’
‘Sir?’ asked Shaffenbeck, stepping up.
‘Admiral Price will have ship command, in my absence,’ Kulik told him. The captain purposefully pulled free his service pistol and heavy sword. ‘These are not just for parades.’
‘This is highly improper, captain,’ protested Shaffenbeck.
‘Go with him, lieutenant,’ said Price, mollified by Kulik’s explanation. ‘See that your captain does not get into too much trouble.’
Caught between his sense of duty and two conflicting orders, Shaffenbeck stepped first one way and then the other, gaze flicking between his superiors. Kulik shot him a meaningful glance and the lieutenant seemed to break his stasis and followed his captain towards the doors.
‘Mister Hartnell,’ Shaffenbeck addressed the lieutenant at the comms station, ‘have Sergeant Latheram meet the captain at the top of the command deck third for’ard stairwell, with as many men from the upper companies as he can muster.’
‘Have him arm defence squads from the lance crews, they’ll be put to better use against the boarders than trying to hit fast attack ships,’ added Kulik as the doors rumbled open just in front of him. He paused at the threshold and turned on his heel to look at Admiral Price. ‘Leaving the bridge, with your permission, sir?’
‘Aye, captain, carry on!’ Price replied with a wave of the hand.
Outside the armoured confines of the bridge Kulik could immediately hear sounds of fighting echoing along the corridor. Shouts and small-arms fire rang from the metal walls. He broke into a gentle run with Shaffenbeck at his heel, heading for the closest stairwell down to the deck below.
‘Mister Cabriot,’ he barked, lifting his cuff-piece communicator to his mouth, ‘with the admiral’s assent, have helm move us away from the attack ships, and order all weapons batteries to target them as soon as they come to bear. Let’s cut off the flow of reinforcements if we can.’
‘Aye aye, sir,’ came the crackling reply.