The Imperial fleet tore through their adversaries, crippling four capital ships and destroying eleven escorts in the initial pass. Rather than turning to fight, which with hindsight would have given him the greater chance of victory, the Chaos Warmaster ordered his fleet to continue on their course in a bid to escape.?

帝國艦隊擊潰了他們的對手，在初期接戰(zhàn)中，混沌艦隊就有四艘主力艦被重創(chuàng)擊殘，十一艘護航艦被摧毀?；煦鐟?zhàn)帥并未繼續(xù)與帝國艦隊交鋒，而是命令艦隊繼續(xù)前進，試圖逃跑——事后看來，繼續(xù)作戰(zhàn)原本能讓他獲得更大的取勝機會。

THE EXECUTIONERS' BLOW

處決者的進攻

It looked as if the Chaos fleet would escape justice again, as the faster renegade vessels accelerated away from Ravensburg's pursuit. Even as the enemy drew away, more drama was to occur, as this account by Captain Drew of the Fortitude shows:?

隨著速度更快的變節(jié)者艦船加速逃離瑞文斯伯格的追擊，混沌艦隊仿佛會再次逃過審判。但就在敵艦撤退的同時，更多戲劇性的事件將會發(fā)生，一如“剛毅”號艦長——德雷的報告所表述的那樣：

“他們在毫無警告的情況下發(fā)起了進攻——前一分鐘，屏幕上還空無一物；下一秒，那支名副其實的艾爾達無敵艦隊就出現(xiàn)在了混沌艦隊前方。我們在異形的艦船中辨認出了處決者的配色，于是都為自己的性命感到擔(dān)憂。就在我們試圖改變航向時，我們的恐懼變成了狂喜。艾爾達人的進攻目標并非是我們，當(dāng)異形的光矛燒穿某艘混沌戰(zhàn)列艦的船身，令裝甲碎片翻滾散開，火焰順著上層火炮甲板蔓延開時，我們的歡呼聲傳遍了艦橋各處——我對此記憶猶新。”

Caught between the attacking Eldar and Ravensburg's fleet, the Chaos ships were annihilated, although a dozen more of the Emperor's vessels were crippled or destroysd before victory was finally attained. Why the Eldar decided to lend their weight to the Imperial cause was never discovered, though it is a common belief that they had finally heard of Abaddon's capture of the Blackstone Fortress. and had seen an alliance as their only chance of survival.?

在來襲的艾爾達艦隊與瑞文斯伯格艦隊的夾擊下，混沌艦船被殲滅了，但在奪得最終勝利之前，仍有另外十二艘帝皇的艦船被擊殘或摧毀。對于艾爾達人為何要助帝國艦隊一臂之力，我們不得而知，但普遍的看法是：它們最終聽到了阿巴頓奪取黑石要塞的情況，并將與人類結(jié)盟視為自己存活的唯一機會。

THE TIDE TURNS

攻守之勢異也

As the news of Ravensburg's great victory in the Battle of Gethsemane was spread throughout the fleet,?even more promising tidings were to come. In the late months of 151.M41, the warp storms that had isolated the Gothic Sector began to abate and several ships from neighbouring battlefleets arrived to reinforce the Lord Admiral's bloodied fleets. The battle barges and strike cruisers of several Space Marine Chapters also arrived, bringing fresh, elite troops to the fighting. The Imperium's solid defence, though broken in places, had prevented the Chaos fleets from achieving swift victory, and with the help of the Eldar and ships from nearby sectors, the Emperor's servants could go on the offensive.?

就在瑞文斯伯格于Gethsemane之戰(zhàn)中取得偉大勝利的消息傳遍艦隊各處的同時，更具希望的消息也即將傳來。在151.M41的最后幾個月中，令哥特星區(qū)陷入孤立的亞空間風(fēng)暴開始減弱，來自周邊戰(zhàn)斗艦隊們的多艘飛船也抵達此地，前來增援領(lǐng)主上將的受損艦隊。來自多個星際戰(zhàn)士戰(zhàn)團的戰(zhàn)列母艦和打擊巡洋艦也趕到，送來了新的精銳部隊。盡管某些區(qū)域受到破壞，但帝國堅固的防線阻止了混沌艦隊立刻取勝，而且在艾爾達人和來自周邊星區(qū)的艦船幫助下，帝皇的仆人們能夠發(fā)動進攻了。

THE DESTRUCTION OF TARANTIS?

TARANTIS的毀滅

Just as Ravensburg had never contemplated defeat, it seems that Abaddon was equally loth to give up what he had won. With two, possibly even three, Blackstone Fortresses under his command, it was Abaddon who was the greatest threat to Imperial worlds in the Gothic Sector. Just how much of a threat was not realised until the attack on the Tarantis system. On the edges of Gothic Sector, Tarantis was a common gathering ground for ships entering or leaving the region from Tamahl Sector and so it was here that Abaddon tried to stem the flow of reinforcements coming in.

就像瑞文斯伯格從未考慮過失敗那樣，阿巴頓似乎也同樣不愿放棄自己的勝利成果。在其手中握有兩座（甚至可能是三座）黑石要塞的情況下，阿巴頓是哥特星區(qū)中帝國世界最重大的威脅。而直到Tarantis星系遭到進攻，人們才意識到這種威脅有多么嚴重。Tarantis位于哥特星區(qū)的邊境處，是那些經(jīng)由Tamahl星區(qū)進入或離開該區(qū)域的艦船的常用集結(jié)地，所以阿巴頓正是努力想要在此地阻止增援部隊的涌入。

His main fleet, accompanied by all three of the missing Blackstone Fortresses, swept aside the few Imperial ships close to where it broke from the warp. Closing rapidly into the system, the cruisers and battleships of the Chaos armada punched a hole through the defenders to allow the Blackstone Fortressss to break through. Countless millions of navy personnel and Imperial Guard died, planets were destroyed and an uncountable number of innocents perished as the two mighty fleets clashed, but what happened next was to totally eclipse all the horrific events?of the war so far.?

連同全部三座失蹤的黑石要塞，阿巴頓的主力艦隊從亞空間突入現(xiàn)實宇宙，掃清了附近的少數(shù)帝國艦船?；煦缗炾牭难惭笈灪蛻?zhàn)列艦快速接近Tarantis星系，在帝國防線上撕開一道口子，放黑石要塞突入。在兩只強大艦隊的對決中，數(shù)百萬海軍官兵和帝國衛(wèi)軍犧牲，行星被摧毀，無數(shù)的無辜者橫死于戰(zhàn)火，但接下來發(fā)生的情況會令迄今為止戰(zhàn)爭中所有可怕的事件都黯然失色。

Combining their power together in the same fashion as at Fularis. the Blackstones unleashsd a massive energy wave into the Tarantis star. With their objective complete, the Chaos ships conducted a fighting withdrawal and then jumped into warp space once more.

就和它們在Fularis星系所做的一樣，黑石要塞們將自身的能量合而為一，向Tarantis恒星釋放出一道巨大的能量波。隨著目標達成，混沌艦隊進行了戰(zhàn)術(shù)撤退，再次躍入了亞空間。

For a whole month. the Tarantis star raged and boiled. Tortured storms moved across its surface, its corona expanding to engulf the two nearest worlds. Any that could leave fled the system, but to evacuate the populations of three worlds was an impossible task. Four weeks after Abaddon's attack, Tarantis' star went nova, wiping out everything for many?thousands of billions of miles in every direction in a storm of gas and plasma. Tarantis, a whole star system. was no more and Abaddon had the power to unleash this destruction wherever he wished.?

在一整個月的時間中，Tarantis恒星都在沸騰并快速擴張，飽受折磨的太陽風(fēng)從其表面掠過，日冕膨脹擴張，吞沒了距離最近的兩顆世界。所有能夠離開的人都逃離了該星系，但疏散三顆世界的人口是一項不可能的任務(wù)。在阿巴頓的襲擊過去四周后，Tarantis恒星變?yōu)榱艘活w新星，在一陣氣體與電漿體構(gòu)成的風(fēng)暴中，方圓數(shù)十億英里內(nèi)的一切都被摧毀了。整個Tarantis恒星系都不復(fù)存在，阿巴頓有能力在自己想要的任何地方發(fā)動毀滅。

THE TRAP IS SPRUNG

請君入甕

Lord Ravensburg firmly believed that Abaddon would try to capture the other three Blackstone Fortresses, but he had no idea against which of the three the Chaos Warmaster would strike next. The hunt continued for six months, with Imperial and Eldar ships patrolling through long forgotten systems in a desperate bid to find Abaddon and his horrific weapons. Then the forces opposing Chaos achieved a breakthrough — the Eldar had located Abaddon's fleet in the Lower Lysades and were able to use their sophisticated ships to trail hits through the warp.

瑞文斯伯格閣下堅定相信，阿巴頓將會極力奪取另外三座黑石要塞，但他并不知道混沌戰(zhàn)帥的下一個進攻目標具體是哪一座。追捕行動持續(xù)了六個月，帝國和艾爾達人的飛船在那些被長久遺忘的星系中巡邏，不顧一切地尋找著阿巴頓及其恐怖的武器。之后，對抗混沌的部隊取得了一項突破突破——艾爾達人在Lysades次星區(qū)定位到了阿巴頓艦隊，而且它們能利用自己復(fù)雜先進的飛船，追蹤著（混沌艦船的）痕跡穿越了亞空間。

From his course it was clear that the Warmaster was preparing to launch an attack on Schindlegeist, where Blackstone V floated in the depths of space. Leaving only a few vessels to deal with the other Chaos fleets, Ravensburg and the Eldar raced to reach Schindlegeist before Abaddon. Using ancient warp gates shown to them by the Eldar. the Imperial Admirals sped across the sector and arrived five days before Abaddon was due to reach the area. With a constant stream of infonnation concerning Abaddon's actions, the Imperial ships and Eldar lay in wait.?

從他的航線來看，戰(zhàn)帥正準備向Schindlegeist星系發(fā)動進攻——五號黑石要塞就漂浮在此地的太空深處。瑞文斯伯格和艾爾達人僅僅留下少量戰(zhàn)艦用于對付其他混沌艦隊，他們極速趕往Schindlegeist星系，以趕在阿巴頓之前抵達。利用艾爾達人展現(xiàn)給他們的古老亞空間傳送門，帝國海軍將領(lǐng)們從星區(qū)中快速穿過，比阿巴頓早五天抵達了目的地。帝國艦船和艾爾達人不斷獲得著關(guān)于阿巴頓行動的信息，他們設(shè)伏等待著敵人。

Outnumbered and caught by surprise, there was little the traitorous ship captains could do except die fighting. For three days the two mighty fleets battled, inflicting horrendous casualties on both sides. But for all their ferocity, the Chaos ships simply could not match the forces arranged against them. As the third day of fighting drew to its bloody conclusion. Abaddon once more broke the Blackstone Fortresses through the Imperial defence and head?towards the star. Ravensburg ordered all available ships to intercept them, though he knew there was little he could do to stop the behemoths. Only the Flame of Purity?was close enough to attack. but the battlecruiser's weapons had little effect against the huge stations.?

幾乎沒有叛軍艦長能預(yù)料到這次死戰(zhàn)，他們處于數(shù)量劣勢，并且驚慌失措。兩支強大的艦隊鏖戰(zhàn)了三日，雙方都遭受了駭人的傷亡戰(zhàn)損。然而，盡管混沌艦隊攻勢極其兇猛，但他們根本無法與自己的對手相抗衡。隨著第三天的戰(zhàn)斗接近血腥的尾聲，阿巴頓再次突破帝國的防線，帶著兩座黑石要塞沖向恒星。瑞文斯伯格命令所有可用艦船前去截擊，但他也知道自己幾乎阻止那兩頭巨獸。只有“純潔之火”號接近到足以發(fā)動進攻，但這艘戰(zhàn)列巡洋艦的武器幾乎無法傷及巨大的空間站。

As the Fortresses built up power for their cataclysmic attack, they were again linked by powerful energy beams. Seeing only one chance. Captain Abridal ordered all power to the shields and drove the Flame of Purity into the middle of the converging energy waves. The ship was destroyed almost instantly, scattered into its constituent atoms. However, the detonation had expended the Fortresses power and, as Abridal had hoped, the Blackstone Fortresses would take some time to accumulate the energy required for another attack. Luckily, time was something that Abaddon had run out of.?

隨著黑石要塞為災(zāi)難性的進攻聚集起能量，強悍的能量射線再度連接成型?！凹儩嵵稹碧柕呐為L——阿布里達爾看到了僅有的機會，他下令將所有能量輸送到虛空盾，指揮飛船沖入了匯聚中的能量波中央?！凹儩嵵稹碧枎缀跛查g被摧毀，其被撕裂為基本原子。不過，這次爆炸也消耗了要塞的能量，就如同阿布里達爾預(yù)料的那樣，黑石要塞要耗費一些時間來聚集起發(fā)動下一次進攻的能量。幸運的是，阿巴頓已經(jīng)耗盡了時間。

ABADDON'S DEFEAT?

阿巴頓的戰(zhàn)敗

Their power systems drained. the Blackstone Fortresses could do little. Abaddon managed to escape into the warp with two of them, after a lengthy chase to the edges of the Schindlegeist system and a jump into warp space dangerously near to the gravity well. The Imperial fleet closed in on the third, unleashing all of their weapons. although still to little effect. Finally, two strike cruisers from the Angels of Redemption Space Marine Chapter, combinsd with assault boats from the Divine Right, boarded the isolated Blackstone in an attempt to recapture it. Ensign Goldwyn was part of the Navy's boarding party and he later reported to his superiors:?

黑石要塞耗盡了自身能量，它們幾乎無法行動。經(jīng)過一場漫長的極速航行之后，阿巴頓逃到了Schindlegeist星系的邊境處，在與重力井接近到危險的區(qū)域中進行了亞空間跳躍，帶著兩座要塞進入了亞空間。帝國艦隊接近了第三座黑石要塞，釋放出全部武器的火力，也無法傷及要塞分毫。最終，救贖天使戰(zhàn)團的兩艘打擊巡洋艦，與“君權(quán)神授”號派出的突擊艇一道，跳幫了這座孤獨的黑石要塞，試圖將其奪回。海軍跳幫隊中的一員——恩賽因 古德溫事后向上級報告稱：

“We were astounded to find no crew aboard the Blackstone Fortress. There was no opposition at all to our boarding and on entering I found it entirely unrecognisable from the base where I had been trained. The walls themselves pulsed with energy. the surface of which had become a deep-veined black — totally unlike?the harsh white-painted corridors and rooms I had called home for six years. There was no sign at all of the modifications made?by the Tech-Priests, as if our intrusion had been totally expunged. We had been aboard for perhaps an hour when suddenly a high pitched whine filled the air and the walls became ruddy in colour. A sense of panic filled our hearts and we hurried back to the Shark(assault boats). We were just in time, as no sooner had we left than the Fortress began to break up. slowly shattering into thousands of fragments. It should have been a happy moument?to see our enemy destroyed but. although I cannot say why. my heart was filled with sorrow and I could not get over the feeling that something magnificent had died."?

“黑石要塞上沒有任何船員，這令我們大吃一驚。我們的跳幫行動未遭到任何阻攔，一進入其中，我便發(fā)現(xiàn)此地與我接受訓(xùn)練的基地相比，已是面目全非。墻壁上涌動著能量，墻面已經(jīng)變?yōu)榱松詈谏耆煌谖以诹曛幸曋疄榧覉@，涂著刺眼白色的那些房間和走廊們。沒有任何跡象表明技術(shù)神甫們對其進行了修改，就仿佛是我們的闖入（痕跡）完全被清除了一樣。在我們登艦大概一小時之后，空氣中突然充滿了尖銳的哀鳴聲，墻壁也變得通紅。我們心中滿是恐慌感，匆忙撤回到鯊魚號（突擊艇）。我們的行動剛好及時，因為我們剛一離開，要塞便開始破裂解體，緩慢分裂為了數(shù)千塊碎片?？吹綌橙吮粴?，我原本應(yīng)該覺得高興，但不知為何，我擺脫不了那種感覺：某些偉大的事物已經(jīng)死去了?！?/strong>