The Battle of Hive Ilium

Ilium巢都之戰(zhàn)

The attack on Manachea when it came was both swift and executed with ruthless precision. Long had the Sons of Horus been famed as one of the Imperium's finest exponents of the decapitation strike; the sudden killing blow to an enemy's fighting power that makes victory all but inevitable. The attack on Manachea Vysidae was to be no exception to this, save that the throat to be cut was not simply a command post, an enemy general or even a great fortress, but an entire hive city.

對于Manachea的進攻是迅速且被準確執(zhí)行的。長期以來，荷魯斯之子軍團都是作為帝國中最優(yōu)秀的斬首進攻大師之一而著稱；對于敵軍的戰(zhàn)斗部隊進行突然的致命打擊能讓成功變?yōu)楸厝?。對Manachea Vysidae的進攻也不例外，但荷魯斯之子們要擊潰的不僅是一間指揮所，一位敵軍將領(lǐng)，甚至一座強大的堡壘，而是整座巢城。

In their plan of attack, the Sons of Horus assault fleet had aligned itself in a precise conical formation, a three-dimensional spear tip assault from space which presented the fleet's minimum aspect to the planet below, greatly reducing the potential hazard of ground fire to the attacking ships. Even so, Hive Ilium itself was well defended, with multiple reactor-fed laser batteries the equal of a battleship's main guns, banks of surface- to-air missile emplacements, and layered power field and void shield umbrellas over its most vital installations. As with any hive city, its sheer gargantuan scale was also a defence in itself, the inherent resilience of its titanic architecture as proof against violence as any purpose built fortification, while its thousands of kilometres of roadways and passages, habitation blocks, administration districts, manufactora, plazas and concourses, were a maze in which entire armies could be swallowed up whole. But to the Sons of Horus, such obstacles were the meat and drink of warfare, and to the master of the attacking fleet, none other than Ezekyle Abaddon, First Captain of his Legion, commanding the assault from the bridge of the battle barge King Eater, Ilium represented a prize he was determined to deliver to his Primarch as an emphatic victory.

在他們的進攻計劃中，荷魯斯之子的進攻艦隊排列成了精準的圓錐形編隊；當從太空中發(fā)動進攻時，艦隊會形成一個三維的矛尖，使飛船展現(xiàn)給下方星球的船體面積達到最小，這極大降低了地面火力對攻擊飛船的潛在傷害。但盡管如此，Ilium巢都自身也是防御精良，配備了數(shù)座火力相當于戰(zhàn)列艦主炮的由反應(yīng)堆進行供能的激光炮塔、成排的地對空導彈炮位，最關(guān)鍵的設(shè)施上還升起層疊的力場和虛空盾。而且就像所有巢城一樣，其純粹巨大的規(guī)模自身也是一種防御措施：巨大建筑結(jié)構(gòu)具備著內(nèi)在的韌性，這是其能夠像為任何目的所建造的防御工事那樣抵抗暴力的證據(jù)；數(shù)千公里長的公路和通道、居民樓、行政區(qū)域、制造工廠、廣場和大廳也構(gòu)成了一座能將全部軍隊整體吞沒的迷宮。但對于荷魯斯之子們而言，這種障礙只是（提供了）戰(zhàn)爭的樂趣；這支進攻艦隊的主宰者正是軍團第一連長艾澤克爾 阿巴頓，他在戰(zhàn)列母艦“噬王者”號的艦橋上指揮著進攻，對他而言，Ilium代表了一件戰(zhàn)利品——他決定將一次顯著的勝利獻給自己的原體。

As the spear tip descended into low orbit, the night skies around them became awash with varicoloured fire as the city's defence lasers found the attacking ships, blinding pulses of energy as bright as the noonday sun flashing from their void shields as the searing blasts struck home. In answer, the strike cruisers and battle barges let loose with a cannonade of their own, macro-shells and plasma bolts hammering down upon the city. Where the deadly meteors fell, the ground shook, power fields crackled with lightning and habitation blocks crumbled like sand, dooming those caught within. But this was no indiscriminate bombardment, and the strange method in Abaddon's plan of attack was soon apparent. Buildings collapsed, causeways shattered and great gouges were carved into the fabric of the city, but aside from probing for weaknesses in the heavy defence shields of the great ground batteries and the block fortresses, and leaping upon them where such weakness was found, the majority of the Traitors’ fire was falling not on military targets but on precise sections of the city's sprawl, smashing them flat. The ground barrage intensified and the strike cruiser Oblivion reeled under the counterfire, her own shields splitting, and was forced to pull away from the fury or topple to her death, but the work was done and the way was paved.

隨著艦隊矛尖下降進入了低空軌道，巢城的防御激光也發(fā)現(xiàn)了進攻艦船（并開火），艦隊周圍的夜空也被各種顏色的光焰所淹沒。灼熱的爆炸正中要害，如同正午艷陽那般明亮刺眼的能量脈沖撞在虛空盾上，閃爍出光芒。作為回應(yīng)，打擊巡洋艦們和戰(zhàn)列母艦們還以炮擊，宏炮炮彈和電漿彈砸向了巢城。在這些致命流星的墜落之處，地面震動，（防御）力場放出閃電劈啪作響，居民樓如同沙子般倒塌瓦解，困在其中的人們慘遭劫難。但這并非是肆意的狂轟濫炸，阿巴頓進攻計劃中的奇怪手段很快就顯露了出來。巢都中建筑物倒塌且堤道破碎，巢城的結(jié)構(gòu)被炸開了巨大的溝壑；但是除了探查巨大的地面炮臺與塊狀要塞的重型防御盾上的薄弱點，并且射擊發(fā)現(xiàn)這些薄弱點的區(qū)域之外，叛軍的大部分炮火都是落在了巢城外延區(qū)的明確分區(qū)而非軍事目標上，這些區(qū)域被炸碎夷平了。地面的防御炮火加強，打擊巡洋艦“湮滅”號在反擊炮火中搖搖晃晃，她的虛空盾被撕裂開來。這艘飛船不得不遠離了炮火，否則她就會被擊落墜毀，但她已經(jīng)完成了工作，并為后續(xù)進攻鋪好了道路。

The Traitors' second wave came, descending through the firestorm. First the black, carrion crow shapes of the drop ships: massive Condor class Stormbirds, and their smaller, more agile Warhawk class brethren, relics as they were of the earliest wars of the Great Crusade. Then, outnumbering them, scores of the newer Thunderhawks and Storm Eagles wheeling and darting to avoid a hurricane of flak now rising up to greet them as they breached the lower atmosphere. The attack craft screamed down out of the fire and darkness, here and there some of their number exploded in blazing ruin as the spite of Hive Ilium's guns found them, but far too few to alter the course of what was about to happen. On reaching the skyline, the Sons of Horus craft broke off into strafing runs, roaring at breakneck speeds through the city's towering anificial canyons of Ferrocrete and adamantium, missiles streaming from wing pods, cannon blazing as they found their targets. Power junctions were blasted to fragments, flak weapons silenced, auspex antenna severed and defence domes blown open. As the heavy firepower of the Stormbirds and Thunderhawks was unleased against Hive Ilium's defences at point blank range, horrified silence fell in the watching amphitheatre of the Palace of Light. No-one present could escape the realisation that every attack had been perfectly plotted, every field of fire anticipated, every gun-site and concealed power node known to the attackers before a blow had been struck.Like so many before them in this bitter civil war, not yet three years old, the defenders of Manachea had been betrayed.

叛軍的第二波進攻（部隊）也穿過火焰風暴降臨到了地表。首先是狀如腐尸烏鴉的黑色空降艇們：巨大的禿鷹型風暴鳥與更小型也更靈活的戰(zhàn)鷹型風暴鳥，它們是（來自）大遠征最初期戰(zhàn)爭中的遺物。之后是數(shù)量超過他們的新型雷鷹和風暴鷹，在突破低空大氣層時，這數(shù)十艘炮艇盤旋和俯沖著以躲避颶風般迎面襲來的高射炮彈。突襲的炮艇們嚎叫著沖過炮火與黑暗，盡管它們當中有一些會在各處被Ilium巢都防御炮所射出的兇猛炮火擊中，爆炸為燃燒著的殘骸，但數(shù)量太過稀少，遠不足以改變即將發(fā)生的事情。一經(jīng)抵達巢都天際線，荷魯斯之子的飛艇便開始掃射，以極快的速度咆哮著沖過巢城中由鋼筋混凝土和精金構(gòu)成的高聳人造峽谷，當發(fā)現(xiàn)目標時，便從機翼彈艙中射出導彈，用機炮進行射擊。動力樞紐站被炸成碎片，高射武器沉寂下來，鳥卜儀天線遭到切斷，防御穹頂也被炸開。在風暴鳥和雷鷹炮艇在近距離朝著Ilium巢都的防御釋放出沉重火力的同時，可怕的寂靜降臨在了光之宮殿的觀景圓廳中。在場的眾人全都無法逃避這些事實：荷魯斯之子的每一次進攻都是完美策劃過的，襲擊者們在發(fā)動進攻之前就每一片預(yù)期中的交火區(qū)域，以及所有的射擊點和隱藏的能量節(jié)點。就像很多在他們之前被卷入這場（持續(xù)時間）至今不滿三年的苦澀內(nèi)戰(zhàn)中的人們那樣，Manachea的防御者們遭到了背叛。

The silence of the amphitheatre was broken by fresh outcries of alarm and urgent requests for aid as new reports began to stream in; the Sons of Horus had made footfall, and already the blood was flowing. The vast fortified dome-complexes that housed the defence lasers were among the Legiones Astartes'?first targets, waves of jet-pack equipped Assault squads peeling off from the drop ships to attack them from the air, while Despoilers and Reavers leapt from the armoured maws of the Thunderhawks as they hovered perilously close to the defenders’?ramparts, braving a fury of ground fire as they did so. Here, at the fortified bastions and cannon-domes, the Solar Auxilia stood their ground against the attackers. While each one of them, as an unmodified human, was no match for a Legiones Astartes in the press of battle, their discipline was iron. They fought in tight, ordered patterns, forming firing ladders to maintain a steady stream of rapid fire against the armoured monsters that came for them in the dark. Against such relentless fusillades even Space Marine power armour was not entirely proof as las-bolts found chinks and vulnerabilities, piercing eye-lenses and burning through suit joints. But where the Sons of Horus crashed into the line, all was a carnage of whirling chainblades and bodies torn?asunder. Despite the valour of the Solar Auxilia, one by one the great defence lasers went dark and fired no more.

新傳來的警報與緊急求援的呼喊聲打破了圓廳中的寂靜——新的報告開始涌入；荷魯斯之子們已經(jīng)在步行前進了，守軍在與他們進行血戰(zhàn)。安置著防御激光炮塔的巨大加固型穹頂綜合體是阿斯塔特軍團的首批進攻目標之一，數(shù)波裝備著噴射背包的突擊小隊從空降艇中跳出，由空中發(fā)動進攻。頂著地面炮火的猛烈進攻，雷鷹炮艇危險地盤旋著接近守軍的壁壘，同時掠奪者和劫掠者部隊從炮艇的裝甲船腹中一躍而出。駐守此地的太陽軍們堅守陣地，在加固過的要塞和火炮穹頂中抵御著來犯之敵。盡管太陽軍士兵們都是未接受過改造的凡人，在戰(zhàn)斗的高壓之下無法與阿斯塔特軍團戰(zhàn)士相匹敵，但他們有著鐵一般的紀律。他們以緊密有序地進行著戰(zhàn)斗，組成射擊梯隊來保持穩(wěn)定的快速射擊流，以此來對抗那些從黑暗中向他們襲來的裝甲怪物。面對如此無情的連續(xù)射擊，哪怕星際戰(zhàn)士們的動力甲也并非是絕對安全的——因為光彈擊中了動力甲上面的裂縫和薄弱處，擊穿了目鏡和燒穿了動力甲的關(guān)節(jié)處。但當荷魯斯之子們沖入太陽軍的隊列中時，發(fā)生的便只有屠殺，到處都是旋轉(zhuǎn)的鏈鋸刃和被撕碎的尸體。盡管太陽軍英勇抵抗，但強大的防御激光炮塔還是一座接一座得啞火，最終不再發(fā)射。

Where the hardened veterans of the Auxilia Tercios had offered strong resistance to the Son of Horus, the conscript militia units which haltingly engaged them offered little, and here the scions of the Warmaster tore into the militia platoons like the wolves they had once used as a namesake set loose amid a caged flock. But yet the tide might be turned for the defenders of Manachea, for in their lightning assault the Sons of Horus had stirred up a hornet's nest, and even now armoured columns of lumbering battle tanks by the hundred were stirring from sub-surface vaults, and thousands of fresh troops were streaming up from their bunkers to make good a counter-attack. Against such overmatching numbers and weight of fire even the Sons of Horus spear tip had no chance of standing alone in open battle, but then it had never intended to.

輔助軍步兵團中久經(jīng)沙場的老兵們頑強抵抗著荷魯斯之子們，而征召兵組成的民兵部隊只能與星際戰(zhàn)士們勉強交戰(zhàn)，收效甚微。戰(zhàn)帥的子嗣們?nèi)缤龌\的惡狼那般沖向民兵排——荷魯斯之子們也（確實）曾以狼作為自己的名稱。但對于Manachea的守軍們來說，形勢也可能會轉(zhuǎn)向他們一方——荷魯斯之子的閃電進攻捅進了馬蜂窩，哪怕是現(xiàn)在，數(shù)百輛沉重緩慢的戰(zhàn)斗坦克所組成的裝甲編隊也在從地下駛出，數(shù)千支部隊正從地堡中涌出以進行一次出色的反攻。面對超出自身如此之多的的敵軍數(shù)量和火力，哪怕是荷魯斯之子的矛尖部隊也沒有機會在公開戰(zhàn)斗中獨自撐住，但他們也不打算這樣做。

With the majority of the ground defence batteries negated, the night skies above Hive Ilium shivered and boiled anew as the third wave of the attack came. Forcing brutal passageways through the air with a shrieking roar that drowned out even the cacophony of battle below, fifteen great orbs of fire seemed to hang above the city like new suns. The orbs slammed down into the blasted landing zones that had been prepared for them and the ground shook for kilometres in each direction. The cyclopean doors of the vast drop ships, still glowing with the embers of their arrival, rent open, and the Titans of the accursed and treacherous division of the Legio Tempestus strode forth, and before them through the dust and smoke, their searchlights stabbing forth defiantly against the darkness, the armoured might of the Solar Auxilia came defiantly to meet their challenge. Hundreds of Leman Russ, their engines straining and bleaching heat, arced out to the flanks, encircling the landing zones, while through the centre of the armoured wave, scores of Malcador heavy tanks formed up in echelon before the Auxilia's most powerful units: Baneblades and Shadowswords in the winter-white and sapphire livery of the Excertus Imperialis Ultima, while behind them Basilisk artillery squadrons were already striking up their deadly thunder. Their void shields already crackling under the growing fury of the bombardment, the Legio Tempestus advanced. The Warlord Titan, Agrippa, towering far above the ant-like tanks which dared to challenge it, let howl its war siren and the chorus was taken up by the score of God-machines now treading the rubble of Hive Ilium to dust behind it. Kilometres away, eardrums burst and windows shattered. Agrippa then raised its gargantuan plasma annihilatorand banished the night in white- hot sun fire.

隨著大部分地面防御炮臺失效，Ilium巢都上方的夜空再次顫抖和沸騰起來——叛軍的第三波進攻來了。空降船們在空中強行開辟出一條殘酷的通路，其降落時發(fā)出的尖銳噪音甚至蓋過了下方戰(zhàn)斗的嘈雜聲響，那十五顆巨大的火球看起來就如同高懸在巢城上空的新生太陽。這些火球猛得撞進了荷魯斯之子炸平的區(qū)域——這是為它們準備好的降落場，各個方向上數(shù)公里外的區(qū)域都被震得搖晃。龐大的空降船敞開了巨大的艙門——船身仍然發(fā)著抵達過程中產(chǎn)生的余燼般的暗紅光，從中闊步走出的是屬于暴風軍團那該被詛咒的叛變分支的泰坦們。而在它們面前，探照燈光挑釁般地刺破黑暗，穿透煙塵——太陽軍的裝甲力量無畏地前來應(yīng)戰(zhàn)。數(shù)百輛黎曼魯斯戰(zhàn)斗坦克的引擎高度運轉(zhuǎn)并散發(fā)著熱量，他們以弧狀隊形駛向空降船兩翼，包圍了登陸區(qū)；數(shù)十輛馬卡多重型坦克排成梯隊前進，其后跟著輔助軍部隊中最強大的單位：噴涂著Ultima帝國輔助軍部隊的冰白和藍寶石配色的毒刃與影劍超重型坦克；而在他們身后，石化蜥蜴炮兵中隊們已經(jīng)開始發(fā)射出致命的雷霆了。風暴軍團繼續(xù)前進著，太陽軍不斷增強的炮擊轟炸令它們的虛空盾噼啪作響。高大的戰(zhàn)將泰坦“阿格里帕”號俯視著這些膽敢挑戰(zhàn)自己的螞蟻般的坦克們，它拉響了戰(zhàn)爭汽笛，數(shù)十臺神之機械也一同發(fā)出合鳴，他們跟在阿格里帕號身后大步向前，將Ilium巢都的瓦礫碾為塵土。巨大的聲音讓數(shù)公里之外的人們耳膜破裂，建筑物窗戶破碎。阿格里帕號抬起自己巨大的電漿殲滅炮，噴出一團如同太陽般白熱的電漿火球，黑夜都被其亮光所驅(qū)散。

The Ravens

渡鴉

At the same hour that the first footfalls of the Titans were sounding at Hive Ilium on Manachea.at Port Maw open void war had now erupted between those ships that had turned fully traitor and those who had remained loyal, while all across the artificial planetoid station below them, civil war was being waged with bloody conviction. The Traitors’?plan had proved only partly effective in conquering the Loyalist fleet from within or forcing its surrender, and now the malign influence radiating from the Mechanicum Panopticon had been ended, the Loyalists were rapidly gaining strength.

就在泰坦們的第一陣腳步聲響徹了Manachea世界上的Ilium巢都的同時，在巨口港宙域處，那些完全叛變的飛船與仍舊忠誠的飛船之間爆發(fā)了一場公開的虛空戰(zhàn)爭；而艦隊下方的人造小行星空間站中，忠誠派和叛軍雙方也正在以血腥的信念進行著內(nèi)戰(zhàn)。叛軍（想要）從內(nèi)部征服忠誠派艦隊或令其投降的計劃已經(jīng)被證明只是部分奏效，機械神教控制圓廳中散發(fā)出的惡意影響現(xiàn)在已經(jīng)被終結(jié)了，忠誠派在快速獲取兵力。

After the bloody and chaotic skirmish, those warships that remained mobile had broken away and parted into two battle lines, forming thousand kilometre-long crescent formations mirroring each other in orbit round the Maw, each now staying their range and keeping the bulk of the artificial planetoid between them and the enemy as they manoeuvred to form up. Around them hundreds of wrecks and stricken ships cascaded, reeling with damage or drifting paralysed as bloody struggles raged on within them for control. Neither force had such overwhelming superiority yet that a direct attack on the other would guarantee victory without severe losses, but both knew that to attempt to flee —to turn away from the enemy and run— would be to secede the entire strategically vital star system and all it contained to the enemy. The fate of Port Maw and its vast armada hovered on a knife edge.

在血腥且混亂的遭遇戰(zhàn)之后，那些仍能移動的戰(zhàn)艦們分散開并分排成了兩條戰(zhàn)列線，雙方都形成了數(shù)公里長的新月型編隊，在巨口港的軌道上對峙著。現(xiàn)在每艘船都保持著自己的距離，它們移動著進行隊列編組，并讓人造小行星的大部分星體擋在自己與敵人之間。而在它們周邊還懸垂著數(shù)百具殘骸與被擊毀的艦船——其內(nèi)部曾為奪取控制權(quán)而進行過血腥戰(zhàn)斗，結(jié)果導致飛船受到損傷，或者癱瘓后懸在虛空中。雙方現(xiàn)在都沒有壓倒性的優(yōu)勢，都無法做到在直接進攻中不遭受嚴重損失就確保勝利;但雙方也都明白：（現(xiàn)在）企圖避開敵軍并逃跑就是將整個在戰(zhàn)略上至關(guān)重要的恒星系與其中包含的一切拱手讓于敵人。巨口港及其龐大艦隊的命運懸于一線。

As the two battle lines fell into a deadlock, from the darkness of the outer system came a new and unexpected threat. The dark fleet answered no hails, broadcast no identification cyphers, but came hurtling on at near relativistic speeds like a dagger hurled at the heart of Port Maw. In the Strategium of the gargantuan Loyalist flagship, Triumph of Reason, Grand Admiral LaBray waited impatiently as his sensorium officers strained their auspexes to get a firm repon on the incoming fleet. Some form of masking technology was being employed that scattered and defused the scanning beams, making a definite fix on the vessels impossible to attain. LaBray likely knew, as many of his rank did, of the rumours of such arcane devices being employed by the secretive Raven Guard Legion—a Legion which remained loyal, but was reported destroyed at Isstvan V. Could this be a Raven Guard splinter fleet, the survivors of that cataclysmic battle? If so, why did they not answer, why did they not identify themselves? These questions could not be readily answered. But however effectively their true nature was shrouded from LaBray's fleet auspexes, while operating at such intense acceleration, their engines burning bright with plasma thrust, they could not hide their number; there were twenty vessels by their drive flares, at least half of which were capital class by his savants' estimations, meaning LaBray's own fleet outnumbered the interlopers by a margin of four to one. It was a force which alone he could overwhelm, but if?it joined with the mass of the enemy now matching him in orbit on the other side of Port Maw, would likely tip the balance in the Traitors’?favour. Without hesitation LaBray gave the order, and the vast crescent of his armada turned and began to arc toward the stranger-fleet on an intercept vector, their own engines burning bright.

就在雙方戰(zhàn)列線陷入僵局時，一股意想不到的全新威脅從恒星系外側(cè)黑暗空間到達此地。這支黑暗的艦隊沒有回應(yīng)呼叫，也沒有廣播身份識別密碼，但卻以近相對論的速度飛馳而來，就像一把刺向了巨口港心臟的匕首。在巨大的忠誠派旗艦——“理性勝利”號上的戰(zhàn)情室中，海軍上將拉布雷在不耐煩得等待著，負責獲取戰(zhàn)場信息的軍官把鳥卜儀調(diào)到大功率來確認那支新到艦隊的身份。對方采用了某種掩蔽技術(shù)來散射和化解掃描光束，這讓鳥卜儀不可能對這些艦船進行精準定位。就像他的許多同事一樣，拉布雷很可能也知道神秘的暗鴉守衛(wèi)軍團正在使用此類神秘設(shè)備的傳言——該軍團仍舊忠于帝國，但根據(jù)報告，他們已經(jīng)在伊斯特萬五號被摧毀。這會是暗鴉守衛(wèi)軍團艦隊的殘軍，逃出那場災(zāi)難般戰(zhàn)斗的幸存者嗎？但倘若如此的話，他們又為何不回復呼叫，不表明自己的身份？這是些難以回答的問題。盡管拉布雷艦隊的鳥卜儀都探測不出這群闖入者的真實本質(zhì)，但在飛船們的引擎燃燒著明亮的等離子推進尾焰、以極高的速度航行著的情況下，這支艦隊的艦船數(shù)量是無法被隱藏的；從引擎尾焰來看，這支艦隊中有二十艘飛船，根據(jù)拉布雷手下艦船專家的推測其中只是有一半是主力級別的戰(zhàn)艦，這意味著拉布雷自己麾下的艦船數(shù)量是闖入者數(shù)量的四倍。拉布雷依靠自身力量就能壓倒性擊敗這支艦隊，但如同它們與處在巨口港另一側(cè)軌道上與忠誠派力量相匹敵的敵軍匯合，戰(zhàn)爭的天平可能就會向著對叛軍有利的一側(cè)傾斜。拉布雷毫不猶豫地下了命令，他那支龐大的新月形艦隊轉(zhuǎn)過身，點亮了自己的引擎，開始沿攔截矢量向那支陌生艦隊駛?cè)ァ?/p>

The distance closed, thousands of kilometres flashing by in mere seconds, and behind the Loyalists the Traitor fleet followed suit, but it would be LaBray's ships that met the newcomers first, that was now inevitable. The minutes ticked by until it was reported that the incoming ships were now close enough to be within visual range of the flagships occularis, and LaBray immediately ordered the image up before him. It was only then that he realised the depth of his mistake. The vanguard of the incoming fleet were indeed Legiones Astartes battle barges of the Raven Guard, or at least had been; two modified Dagon class grand cruisers bearing the sable heraldry of Corax's Legion now torn and burned in the fires of battle, but what came after them was not of the Raven Guard. The monster rose up behind the battle barges, making them seem as mere frigates in comparison to its nightmare magnitude. It was a ship no Imperial captain could ever have failed to recognise at first glance, it was a war machine few vessels could ever hope to match, but what its presence portended was darker still. It was the Vengeful Spirit; it was the flagship of Horus.

雙方距離越來越近，數(shù)千公里在短短幾秒鐘內(nèi)一閃而過，叛軍艦隊也緊隨在忠誠派身后，但拉布雷的艦隊會不可避免地首先遇到這支新出現(xiàn)的艦隊。時間一分一秒地過去，直到“理性勝利”號的船員報道稱來襲的戰(zhàn)艦已經(jīng)足夠接近，進入了旗艦顯像鏡的可視范圍內(nèi)，拉布雷立刻下令把獲取的圖像展示在自己面前。這時他才知道自己對這支艦隊的誤判有多么嚴重。來襲艦隊的先鋒確實是暗鴉守衛(wèi)阿斯塔特軍團的戰(zhàn)列母艦，或者至少曾經(jīng)是；兩艘經(jīng)過改造的達貢級超大型巡洋艦上也帶有克拉克斯軍團的黑色紋章，它們現(xiàn)在被戰(zhàn)火所撕裂和燒傷；而跟在它們身后的艦船則并不屬于暗鴉守衛(wèi)軍團。戰(zhàn)列母艦后方，那只鋼鐵怪獸現(xiàn)出了身形，相比于它噩夢般的尺寸，戰(zhàn)列母艦看起來都只是護衛(wèi)艦而已。它是所有帝國船長第一眼就能認出的飛船，也是只有極少數(shù)飛船才能與之匹敵戰(zhàn)爭機器，但它的出現(xiàn)預(yù)示著更黑暗的局面。它是復仇之魂，荷魯斯本人的旗艦。