Hasik Noyan-Khan walked back to the command throne, surrounded by the Honor Guard, and left command in Shiban's hands.
"Signal!" Khan Shiban ordered.
He had worked out where the enemy would appear: somewhere along a straight line from the Mandeville Point.
But that gave him only a rough position. He still did not know how many ships were coming.
The display overhead showed the space ahead of the fleet.
Blue turbulence churned, creeping toward them with the slow weight of an iceberg.
Shiban narrowed his eyes and studied more than a hundred overlapping, chaotic visual signals.
The roiling material universe split open, and the first ship burst from the ragged blue edge.
"Move down."
"Charge the Lances!"
A seasoned hunter had patience to spare.
The opening strike in the void was crucial. The pursuers had not yet taken stock of their surroundings, and the enemy ships had just weathered the storms of the Empyrean. They were vulnerable.
The aircraft banked sharply, and every warship followed.
Shiban waited. His timing had to be exact if they were to inflict maximum damage and narrow the gap between the two forces as much as possible.
Only when the blue clouds outlined the shape of the approaching ships did he give the order.
"Attack!"
From the prow of every white warship, beams lanced out like spears. Blazing white light tore through the void and set the edge of the turbulence aflame.
Volley after volley shattered the Void Shields and slammed into the heavy gray warships.
Fighters wheeled in wide arcs like birds of prey, drawing barrages from the Death Guard's heavy guns.
The Stormhawks came in behind them, their battle cannons blanketing the gray warships. Plumes of fire erupted across the hulls.
The white warships spread into formation. Lasers lit the void, heavy repeaters