Reinforcements and Interception Battle

The Raven Guard and Ork melee thus deviated from the strategic plans set by their respective commanders, unfolding in the Om System. Sandman's fleet's exposure drew the other Ork main forces towards them, and to prevent his flagship from being surrounded, the other Raven Guard had to emerge from their Reflective Shields to intercept the reinforcements of the Ork fleets.

Fortunately, through previous guerrilla warfare, the Raven Guard had successfully eliminated a large portion of the Ork's fighting strength, bringing the space forces of both sides into a general state of balance.

A battle of reinforcements and interceptions began.

"Styx, find the Ork flagship and destroy it. We can't drag this out here." Sandman commanded his fleet as it engaged in a fierce battle with the Ork warships, while also giving orders to his flagship. This was, after all, Ork territory. If they didn't destroy this main Ork fleet quickly, it was only a matter of time before the Raven Guard fell into a disadvantage. Although most of the space defense stations on the main routes had been destroyed, some planetary defense systems on the planets could still reach the Raven Guard fleet. Even though their numbers were not large, as time went on, the impact of this variable would become increasingly unstable.

"Master, shall we overload the Death Ray?" Styx asked Sandman for instructions.

"As long as you find the Ork flagship, overload it directly!" Sandman didn't hesitate. Styx wasn't rendered combat-incapable if it overloaded its main weapon. The super-giant Lance system on its spine and the Macro Cannons on its flanks could still heavily damage units below the Heavy Cruiser class. Styx's firepower alone could rival that of a small fleet.

"No, after this war, I need to place an order with Russ. The Death Ray's cooling system must be upgraded immediately, it's too troublesome!" Sandman put the upgrade plan for Styx's main weapon's cooling system on the agenda. Overloading Styx's main weapon would mean that this Battleship, comparable to a Gloriana-class, would be like a fierce tiger that had lost its fangs, its combat effectiveness dropping drastically.

Although Styx's combat effectiveness could already rival a Gloriana-class, Sandman felt something was missing, just like how a Stone Golem was a completely different hero with or without its large form.

"Concentrate fire and shatter that shrimp's massive warship!" The Ork Boss, seeing Styx's outrageous firepower, became anxious. The shrimp's fleet was smaller in scale than the Ork fleet, but its firepower output was even stronger. Especially that enormous triangular warship, it made him incredibly envious.

He, Zargug of the Goff Clan, needed a bigger, stronger, more Waaagh! flagship to match his status!

As for damaging it? He never worried about that. Ork warships were repaired from various shipwrecks and scrap. In the hands of the Orks, any problem would bow down to their marvelous "I reckon" logic.

"Hmm? Can't the Orks see Styx's firepower?" Sandman asked, looking at the Ork fleet adjusting its formation with some confusion. They only needed to stall the battle here, and once the Ork warships in other sectors were free, they would be invincible.

But now, they were so openly exposing themselves, like criminals offering their necks for slaughter.

"Master, the Ork flagship has revealed itself, the largest one." Styx indicated the Ork flagship with its crimson skull icon. It was a Battleship with a length of 18 kilometers. It appeared to have been modified from a ship equipped with a Nova Cannon by the Imperium of Man. Ordinary Battleships wouldn't reach this length; the Nova Cannon's extremely long barrel meant the ship needed more space to house it.

"Perfect, it saves us the trouble of finding it. Since that's the case, let's send him to meet the Great Father and the Great Mother first. Hope he's not so hot-headed in his next life," Sandman ordered.

"Yes, my Lord," Styx replied.

Following Sandman's schedule, all the warships began to retreat behind Styx's massive hull, leaving only Styx's cruisers and frigates at the forefront.

The Void Shields of dozens of warships, emitting a faint blue light, quickly turned a deep blue. Styx's fleet's Void Shield systems began to link up, and immense energy was continuously drawn from the engine rooms to the Void Shield systems.

The reactor in Styx's engine room began to operate at high speed, and the surging energy was divided into two streams, directed towards the shields and the Death Ray. The thick energy conduits seemed to roar with the surge of power. The black light at the ship's bow began to rapidly transform into a purplish-black hue.

"Run!!!" The Ork Boss's Waaagh! field constantly warned him that this human warship, so different from the standard Imperium of Man vessels, possessed power beyond their expectations.

A Battleship in front began to maneuver urgently towards the flagship, intending to use its massive body to shield the flagship from that human weapon emitting a dense, ominous aura.

A dazzling purplish-black beam was compressed to a width of hundreds of meters, then, as smoothly as a blade slicing through tofu, it tore the Battleship blocking Agrukk's path in half. The remaining energy easily pierced the Ork flagship's shields and scorched one-third of its bow.

"Retreat!!!" Agrukk, who had narrowly escaped death, urgently called for the fleet to retreat.

But immediately after, four beams of incandescent energy filled the wound left by the Death Ray's energy depletion.

The steel warship, unprotected by shields, was so fragile under the assault of the super-giant Lance system. The terrifying heat rendered all armor useless. Where the Lances passed, steel melted, and the Orks' flesh and blood were vaporized, leaving no trace.

Ork Boss Agrukk only felt a slight increase in temperature at the bridge before he completely turned to dust, his instincts not even having time to warn him.

With the death of the Ork Boss, the previously orderly Ork fleet formation instantly became scattered. The density and accuracy of their artillery fire dropped significantly, and even their shield systems seemed to have weakened considerably.

"Let's press our advantage and crush this main Ork fleet!" Sandman wouldn't miss such a good opportunity. Besides its main weapon, which had been silenced, Styx's other secondary weapons unleashed deadly fire, continuously harvesting the now-chaotic Ork warships.

This was the most obvious characteristic of the Orks: once the strongest Ork on the battlefield was killed, the Ork army would inevitably fall into chaos. Not only would their morale be crushed, but their individual strength would also decrease.

The hulking Orks, who had been able to fight the Astartes to a standstill just moments ago, were now being brutally slaughtered. In severe cases, their strength could decrease by a third, which on the battlefield was a death sentence.

"Master, the main Ork fleet is in retreat!" Styx reported to Sandman.

"Don't pursue them. Go help the other fleets break free from the Orks' entanglement, then withdraw!" Sandman ordered.

Never pursue a cornered enemy, especially when the advantage was not with the Raven Guard.

Sandman quickly led his fleet into the closest group to him, that of Nekser, who was currently under attack by about a third more Ork warships than his own fleet.

"Nekser, break through towards the 8 o'clock direction. I will open a defensive gap for you!" Sandman's command was transmitted to Nekser through the command platform.

"Yes, boss."

"Fleet, concentrate fire! For one standard time period, pour all firepower towards the 8 o'clock direction! Large warships at the front! Fire now!" Nekser ordered his fleet.

At the same time, the Styx fleet, having arrived around the Ork encirclement, also began to unleash massive firepower towards the Ork encirclement.

With coordinated attacks from both sides, the Ork encirclement, which was not tight to begin with, instantly became like a fishing net torn open with a huge hole. The fish trapped inside swam out through the opening.

"Let's go, pick up An's fleet, and we'll withdraw!" After meeting up with Nekser, Sandman headed towards An's location.

The Ork fleet surrounding An was clearly more decisive. Seeing the human shrimp fleet charging menacingly towards them, they directly dispersed their encirclement, intending to unite with other Ork fleets and cooperate with the planetary defense systems to destroy the shrimp's fleet.

"Don't get bogged down, move!" Sandman saw through their plan at a glance. With the sheer number of Ork ships, they might actually be able to trap the Raven Guard fleet within the firing range of the planetary defense systems.

But Sandman wouldn't fall for that trick. He wasn't stupid. The Ork fleet outnumbered them, and they would also have to endure the firepower of the planetary defense systems. How could that be possible?

Under his command, the Raven Guard fleet found the weakest point in the Ork defenses and broke through!

"Cunning shrimp!" The Orks of the Om System roared in anger!

They were so close. They were just a little bit away from trapping the human fleet and slowly forcing them into the planetary firing range, but in the end, they failed.

On the other side, the Raven Guard fleet, having withdrawn from the Om System, reactivated their Reflective Shield systems and concealed themselves once more.

"These Orks are quite strong." Sandman tallied the fleet's losses. The entire fleet had lost about 30 ships, leaving him with just over a hundred warships.

However, the Raven Guard's achievements were very gratifying. They had destroyed about 60 Ork warships, including one of their flagships, and 6 main warships.

This meant that the Orks were no longer inferior to the Raven Guard in terms of fleet size and firepower. From now on, even if Sandman fought the Orks head-on, he wouldn't flinch. Sandman was waiting for his flagship's main weapon to cool down. With a few more surprise attacks, the fate of the Ork fleet was sealed.