Part 1: Bridge of Light
Prologue
3.763M41 Imperial
Lubyan System, Delta Russ Sector, Segmentum Solar
The Retribution class battleship Ave Humanus trembled and shuddered as its vast weapons batteries sent teratons of death towards the eldar raiders hamstringing the supply effort to the great Crusade raging in the Sabbat Worlds to the galactic south. The Imperial Guard troopships, and Munitorum supply and fuel vessels scattered behind the great Imperial fleet defending them from the vile eldar raiders. Aboard the mighty vessels bridge, Lord Captain Gabriel Nuskov gripped his command throne and let a small grin cross his face. One of the fragile eldar vessels had been shattered by his battleships guns, and its wreckage slowly spun out in a small star pattern.
“Adjust course!” he called out to his helmsman. “Bring us about! Charge the xenos!” he ordered before turning to the armory officer. “Prepare the Nova Cannon,” he said with a wicked grin on his face before turning his attention back to the great window that looked upon the void. Already, the view was changing as the mighty ship altered its course to bring its armored prow and mighty Nova cannon to bear on the raiders. Nuskov grinned as he flipped open a small red button on his command throne.
“Do we have a target lock?” he asked as he rested his finger on the button.
“Yes, m’Lord,” the weapons officer replied, not taking his eyes off his panel.
“Suffer not the xenos to live!” Nuskov declared in a triumphant voice as he smashed the button. The Nova cannon on the bow of the might battleship let loose a streak of fire as the magnetic rails propelled the shell at an unimaginable speed towards the eldar raiders. The bridge crew could not help but take their eyes off their consoles to view the destruction that the mightiest weapon the battleship could boast unleashed upon the xenos raiders. The resultant explosion ignited right next to the massive ship at the heart of their formation. Against an Imperial vessel, the explosion would have crippled the ship, but the ship would have remained intact, and even have the potential for repair. But in demonstration of how the xenos fell far behind the glory of Human technology, the explosion vaporized the solar wing that propelled the sleek vessel, and left a gaping hole in its side. The vessel seemed to struggle for a minute, trying to stay together before whatever sorcery held it together failed, and the vessel tore itself apart.
The loss of the vessel seemed to dishearten the remainder of the fleet; no doubt the ship had been where their lead witch had been, and the death of the psyker had broken their spirit, and were fleeing back to whatever portal they had used to enter the system. With screams of vengeance and fury echoing along the Imperial communications channels, a chunk of vessels broke away from the main Imperial Fleet, with the Ave Humanus at their head. As the chunk charged, it slowly morphed into the vanguard of the entire fleet as nearly every surviving Imperial vessel in the system charged the fleeing xenos. Battleships, cruisers, destroyers, and even the transports seemed to be unified by the words still echoing across the Imperial channels. Lord Captain Nuskov couldn’t help but smile as he saw the Astartes Strike Cruisers that had been stopping off in the system for resupply lead an entire squadron of Imperial frigates into the very heart of the remaining eldar ships. Flashes of weapons battery and lance fire lept from the Imperial ships, smashing into the scattering fleet. One eldar vessel, its solar wings ripped away and its hull blackened and punctured by Imperial fire rammed an Imperial cruiser.
Lord Captain Nuskov closed his eyes, and formed the sign of the Aquila on his chest, sending a silent prayer for the souls of the men who had just perished at the hands of the foul aliens. As he opened his eyes once more, he frowned. The cruiser was still semi intact, and was trying to limp away from the battle itself. He gave an order to try and communicate with the frigate, but the vessel was unresponsive to their attempts at beginning communication, but was still broadcasting information in broken streams.
“….core! The core is breached!” the voice of the vessels commander tried to scream over the communication ways. “….we’ve….away…..Repeat. Moving……core breach!”
Nuskov’s eyes went wide with realization. The entire fleet was moving at maximum speed towards a vessel with a warp core that was about to explode, potentially tearing a gateway into the Warp. They’d fly right into it, if not be sucked in, and already they were so close that they wouldn’t have time to stop, and flying in a formation so tight no ship could turn around without slamming into another. In other words, Battlegroup Lubya was doomed. Nuskov took a deep sigh as he saw the cruiser explode, and a rift of rolling energy opened up. Ships tried to pull away, but their attempts were in vain. One by one, the vessels were drawn into the wound in space, dragged screaming into the foul depth of the Warp. Nuskov closed his eyes for what he feared would be the last as his bridge was flooded with displays of impossible colors, tumbling and boiling as more and more ships were drawn to their doom.