Warhammer 40: Doom

Chapter 155 Horanion
The ship's holographic image lit up, and a message came from the reconnaissance ship ahead: an alien race was being ravaged by humans.

The briefing was brief: a reconnaissance ship equipped with an "invisibility field" discovered a lost human world at the edge of a cluster of black holes known as the "stellar graveyard."

They are being plundered by aliens; the invaders and the guardians are at war.

Nur's reconnaissance ships are covered by an "invisibility field," which shields the ships' electromagnetic and infrared signals and reduces the gleam of their engines.

Once the force field is activated, the warship becomes visually invisible, allowing it to approach silently for reconnaissance.

Unfortunately, the stealth field consumes too much energy, and the entire system is too large, resulting in the reconnaissance ship having pitifully little weaponry and being completely powerless to fight back.

The miniaturized stealth field is progressing slowly; otherwise, all of Nur's ships would be killers lurking in the void.

"Head towards the star graveyard. Upon arrival, the fleet will immediately leave the warp and launch an attack on the Xenomorphs to help humanity drive them out."

Doom ordered the fleet to immediately deviate from its course and proceed toward the coordinates provided by the reconnaissance ships.

As time went by, more and more interstellar communications were transmitted back, and the information became increasingly dense.

The unknown aliens possess advanced technology, and their ships manipulate gravity to pull continents along the orbits of the human world.

While plundering the population, they also take away the planet's land and seize high-value mineral resources.

Humans, stranded in this world, resist sporadically yet tenaciously. They have not yielded to the plundering of aliens and have taken up arms to fight back fiercely.

"Reality anchor completed, we are about to leave the warp."

Franshka's clear voice rang out from the bridge, and as the fleet's subspace engines shut down, the escort ships were the first to leave the subspace.

Doom sat on his throne, his eyes fixed on the holographic projection, as the Royal Majesty slowly sailed out of the warp.

"Pay attention to the fleet's posture and approach the alien ship."

The fleet appeared at the edge of the star system, and the cruisers, leading the destroyers, left the fleet group to encircle the aliens that were plundering.

Approaching from the edge of the galaxy, they used the shadows of the galactic stars to obscure the engine's light.

Soon, the Ornithometer array finished collecting galaxy readings and released the summarized data.

There are six planets in the galaxy, orbiting a bright yellow star, and four of them have been found to contain signs of human life.

Various data indicate that this place was once prosperous.

The oracle did not detect any enemy ships, and the scanning array showed no other warships besides those of the First Fleet.

The approaching reconnaissance ships did indeed see the enemy ship in their telescopes, and the holographic images transmitted back were clearly visible.

Eight strange ships, each about ten kilometers long, floated in the air, mostly butterfly-shaped or oval, and were anchored in the void.

The unknown ship's materials were as smooth as a mirror, reflecting the dazzling stars in the void. If it weren't for the exhaust flames from the engines, it would be difficult to spot.

"An artificial gravitational field exists around the enemy ship, and the scanning wave is blocked by the gravitational field." Iron Man Gates quickly concluded by manipulating the holographic image with his mechanical tentacles.

Light flowed along the edges of its butterfly-shaped body, flashing continuously with a cold, mechanical voice: "The gravitational field is very strong, please be careful."

"Because of the gravitational field, ordinary weapons are unlikely to be effective," Stone Man Victor immediately reminded him, his oily face showing a serious expression as he spoke to Doom.
"The gravitational field around the enemy ship is like a small black hole, and conventional weapons such as light spears and macro cannons will be attracted and deflected by gravity."

“However,” Victor smiled ruthlessly, “they encountered us.”

"Our firepower systems are equipped with a hit-and-run device, so once they enter the firing range, their gravitational deflection has no effect."

"The oracles are set up and we can see them now." Sofia quickly completed the adjustments and recalibrated the oracles.

Since engaging in exchanges with the Empire, many of Nur's original names have been changed to the terms used by the Empire for the convenience of both parties.

After readjusting the scanning variables, eight alien ships appeared in the oracle array; they were gathering.

"We've been discovered!"

The alien fleet is gathering, indicating that a threat has been detected. Where does this threat in the galaxy come from?
The answer is obvious.

No sooner had Doom finished speaking than a communication request came through the communication channel; the alien's communication probe was imminent.

Gates winked at Iron Man, then gently stroked his tentacle, displaying the alien communication via a holographic image.

A creature never seen before has appeared, resembling the slugs of ancient Terra, with a body composed of transparent gel, revealing its internal organs.

It resembles a combination of mollusks and vertebrates, with a spine running from the head to the tail within a translucent body.

The semi-solid body was swaying, and several blue energy glands flickered around it. The alien did not have a clear visual or auditory system.

"Humanity?"

The slug, lacking vocal organs, uttered a smooth, hollow voice. When it saw Doom, it seemed momentarily stunned. It hadn't expected that the organized fleet appearing in the galaxy would belong to humanity.

“Yes! Humans.” Doom raised his chin slightly, a look of disdain in his eyes, proudly acknowledging his racial identity.

“Then there’s nothing to talk about.” The slug, without hesitation, uttered these harsh words and expressed its contempt before ending the communication:

“We are the Horanion, the children of the abyss, the superior race of mankind.”

Horanion was expressionless, his smooth tone filled with arrogance, regarding himself as a superior race to humanity and belittling the human race.

"Dirty soft-bodied aliens, if the human race were to casually sprinkle sodium chloride, you would all be torn to pieces!"

Doom, not to be outdone, responded with words of contempt, expressing his disdain for the alien.

"Just you wait, you monkey!" The alien's energy glands flowed faster, its emotions fluctuated significantly, and its voice was filled with intense hatred.

The universe is vast, and there are many mollusks. Horanion clearly understood and knew the lethality of sodium chloride to slugs.

"Wait until I get over there and stomp you all to death, you slugs." Doom's expression was arrogant, and his verbal attacks remained unabated.

Then communication was interrupted, and the holographic image lost its picture, setting the tone for this encounter.

Both sides understand that there is only one outcome now—a fight to the death!
The aliens are plundering the human population and resources, and their crimes are still fresh in our minds.

Horanion knew very well that with the arrival of the human fleet, he would inevitably be wiped out.

The Nur fleet had a clear objective: to make the aliens realize the terror of humanity in their first battle of the expedition.

"Spread out, fire your cannons, and teach these opportunistic aliens a lesson!"

Doom sat firmly on his throne and ordered his fleet to assume an attack posture, preparing to attack the alien ships that were charging towards his side.

Eight alien warships abandoned their plan to plunder the human world and formed a battle formation to cover each other.

The data from the oracles showed that the Horanion warships were getting close to each other, their gravitational fields were interfering with each other, and there was chaos around them.

Ordinary light spears and cannons, when they fire lasers and projectiles, will deviate from their firing trajectory due to the mutual pull of the gravitational field.

The aliens, seemingly emboldened and well aware of human attack methods, brought their warships close together and charged straight towards the center of the fleet.

The bright surfaces of the eight warships rippled like waves on water.

"Gravity fluctuations detected." Gates reported urgently, pointing out the location of the gravitational fluctuations in a mechanical voice.

The First Fleet's scout array detected anomalies in the alien warships and distortions in the gravitational pull of outer space.

Horanion launched the first attack, creating a gravitational field in front of the First Fleet, dragging the human fleet into collisions.

"I suggest adjusting the output of the gravity weapon to neutralize the gravitational anomaly in front of the enemy," the stone man suggested. Viktor's biological computer reacted extremely quickly and immediately found a solution.

Doom nodded in agreement. His technical experts and staff were highly professional and gave people a great sense of security.

A cruiser received an order, its hull mesh opened, revealing a strange device that emitted a spatial fluctuation.

Soon, another gravitational pull point appeared in front of the First Fleet.

Two man-made miniature black holes disturbed each other, rotated and devoured each other, and eventually exhausted their energy and disappeared into the void.

"We dare not take these suddenly appearing humans lightly."

After a simple probe, Horanion witnessed the strength of the human fleet and sent a warning signal to his fellow humans.

The two fleets were approaching, their engines shining like stars, propelling the warships to accelerate.

"Smash them!" Doom commanded the fleet with a cold, expressionless voice, ordering them to annihilate the aliens.

The order was transmitted via quantum communication, and all eight main cruisers of the First Fleet opened their broadside guns and began charging.

The human movements were observed by Horanion; the energy glands in their bodies were pulsating with light particles, and their emotions surged with contempt.

They have been exploiting humanity for thousands of years, enduring the fiercest resistance, and figuring out the capabilities of human warships.

The shells posed no threat to the warship; the gravitational field would deflect any approaching objects, including the sharp beams of light from human spears.

The fleet commander was cold and impatient, eager to tear the human fleet apart with minimal forces.

After defeating the lowly human, collect the tall human and severely humiliate and punish his arrogance.

(End of this chapter)