Editing 97th Conglomerate's Tyrannic War (section)

=== Part 1: Judgement Day ===
“Sir, we’re pulling out of Warp!” The helmsman yelled to the Admiral who was seated in his Command Throne on the bridge of ''Gravity’s Union''. 

“What?!” Admiral Invictus shot up from the cushioned seat, standing at the top of the steps that led up the pedestal to the Throne itself. “We weren’t supposed to arrive for another 6 hours at least our time!” The ship burst forth from the purplish cloud of a Warp-hole, strings of greyish spittle ejected from the other dimension along with it. 

Below them was Moranis VI: a planet covered mostly with blue-green oceans (about 60% of the surface), and two enormous continents of dull grey-brown land flecked with dark green patches. Rivers and lakes dotted and carved across the landscapes; mountains and hills dominated the vast expanses of the continents, separating the many Hive Spires that were nestled between the rugged features in valleys and depressions. 

No enemy waited for permission to strike, and neither did the terrifyingly alien bioships of the Tyranid Hive Fleet. The massive latticed xenos structures along the Hive Ships’ surfaces betrayed their biological origins: being bred purely as warships, to strip and consume all life on a world. Despite the unexpected earliness of ''Gravity’s Union'', the bioships had reacted almost immediately, as if expecting them. Swarms of small crafts of sharp colours formed like enormous clouds around the Tyranid ships, while maelstroms of biomass rained down into the atmosphere in a giant funnel shape, pouring into a single location near Terragrad Hive. Through the massive plasma-glass windows of the bridge, the sun’s familiar yellow light could be seen glinting off the glittering hive spires from low orbit. 

“Make ready for war!” The Admiral barked at his First Mate. The short, stocky crewman tapped a series of runes on the console in front of him; a klaxon alarm resounded throughout the ship. He held the rune that activated the ship-wide vox system and spoke into the receiver. 

“All hands, man your battle stations!” His deep, projecting voice further amplified by the vox grills that blared it into every room on the warship. 
“Guardsmen, make ready for war!”

“Deploy the fleet.” Admiral Invictus commanded. 

Deep in the ship’s underbelly, a massive rumbling was felt. Enormous gears worked to open doors of various sizes, facing downward toward the planet, several hundred kilometers below them. From these massive doors were birthed warships; an entire battlefleet, ready for combat, swung out and upwards. A staggered line as formed, waiting for the commanding word of the Admiral. With this, a single large mining ship turned away from the impending battle upon its departure from ''Gravity’s Union'', its destination not known to anyone beyond its crew and the Admiral himself.  

As the line formed, the clouds of swarming Tyranid biofighters and single-ships drew closer with every single agonizingly long second. The 97th’s ships released their own fighters and defense craft, swirling like a ghostly aegis around the fleet. The fighters surged forth, having a single, disturbingly suicidal purpose; the only objective was to clear a hole through the Tyranids’ meatshield of fighter craft. 

“All ships, rotate 090 by 010 degrees.” The Admiral had reseated himself on the Command Throne, now transmitting orders to the other ships of his fleet. The sheer enormity of ''Gravity’s Union'' meant that his fleet of heavy cruisers and frigates with a myriad of destroyers was more than sufficient at handling almost any threat. 

The fleet of cruisers and frigates obeyed the Admiral’s order, rotating to the right 90 degrees and then tilting their bows up slightly; this maximized the number of shots that hit their targets. The destroyers and smaller corvettes floated amongst the larger warships, ready to cut through any biofighters with the audacity to attack the fleet directly. Just behind the line of broadsides, ''Gravity’s Union'' rotated to match the line, exposing its entire 18-kilometer-long broadside to the Tyranid splinter fleet. The bridge rotated opposed to the bow, so that that the Admiral could still view the battle directly. Macro-cannons of enormous size and quantity jutted outward, forming the most terrifying array of weapons any single Imperial Ship has known, and perhaps ever will know. 

Invictus watched the engagement between fighters that separated the two fleets for what felt like hours (but was only a minute or so), waiting until the moment came to unleash the Emperor’s Justice and His Holy Wrath upon the foul xenos swarm. As he waited, the doors of the bridge’s lift just behind the Command Throne gave a pneumatic hiss as they opened; several of the Auxillia Security Officers snapped to attention at the arrival of Lady Commissar Aurelia. The commanding woman stepped forth, her heeled-boots making a distinct sound against the heavy metal deck of the bridge, and stood beside the Admiral on the Throne as he watched the engagement. 

She stood in silence for a moment as they both watched the Tyranid’s main fleet tried to make an attempt at evasion. The crowded bioships lacked the maneuverability to weave past each other and escape their crowded formation. They only wanted one thing: biomass. 

“Admiral.” She nodded to the officer as an acknowledgment of presence.

“Lady Commissar.” He replied, only paying half-attention to the incredibly high-ranking member of the Commissariat. “Would you care to read for us?” He turned to her.

“Pardon?” She finally pulled her gaze from the battle in front of her with raised eyebrows, looking almost confusedly at the shipmaster. 

“I would like you to grace us with your voice, and read The Emperor’s Word to the fleet, so they we may crush those xenos that have not seen His Light.” Invictus was now humbling himself to the Aurelia, trying to gain her favour. She blinked, narcissistic approval in her eyes.

“It would be an honour, Admiral.” She replied graciously. “From what text would you like me to read?”

“Actually, it’s an ancient Imperial text, not even many Ministorium Priests have heard of it.” The Admiral admitted. “It was one held dear on my homeworld.”

“Well, what is it?” The Commissar was already becoming annoyed by the delay. 

“It’s simply known as Ezekiel 25:17.” He finally offered; the Commissar’s eyes lit up. 

“I’m familiar with the passage, but have not read it for many years.” She admitted. 

At this, the admiral pulled out a very old, small, leather-bound book from the inside jacket-pocket of his uniform; he opened it to a dog-eared page and presented it to Aurelia. She moved towards the communication console, tapped in the runes that opened a broadcast to the whole fleet – in fact, to the ship-wide voxgrills of every ship in the fleet – and read aloud for all to hear. 

"The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the inequities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil powers. Blessed is the man who, in the name of charity and good will, shepherds the weak through the valley of the darkness. For that man is truly his brother's keeper and the finder of lost children.” Her voice, smooth yet powerful, began to crescendo as the passage deepened. The Admiral’s finger hovered over a rune on the arm of his Command Throne; the rune would give the signal to Smite-at-Will. Lady Commissar Aurelia, book in one hand and the other raised in a fist, stood almost triumphantly as her oration met its climax. “And He will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who attempt to poison and destroy His children! And you will know He is the Emperor when He lays His Vengeance upon you!" The rune was tapped…

They say that in space, no one can hear you scream. That may yet be true, but the same cannot always be said for thunder.