The Sages of the Adeptus Mechanicus on Lucius also noticed the Red Corsairs fleet pouring out in an unending stream. After confirming that the number of enemy ships within attack range exceeded twice their own, the massive Mechanicus fleet began steadily pulling back.
Although the computational abilities of the Tech-Priests and Sages were nowhere near as extraordinary as those of the Men of Iron, a simple comparison of strength took little effort.
Under normal circumstances, this fleet of multiple Ark Mechanicus vessels and battleships stood a chance of defeating an enemy twice its size.
But the enemy before them had an almost overwhelming numerical advantage.
More than a thousand pirate warships—even if battleships and cruisers accounted for only a tenth of them—were beyond their ability to withstand.
Unlike the retreating Adeptus Mechanicus fleet, however,
the Men of Iron had no concept of withdrawal.
The three Guardian-class ships suddenly began accelerating.
They surged forward through a series of extraordinarily complex maneuvers.
When individual ships held the advantage in quality, the best approach was to prevent the enemy from exploiting its superior numbers.
Ships controlled by human crews were nowhere near as responsive as the Men of Iron ships.
And the design of Imperial ships meant that their firing angles were inevitably restricted by the orientation of their hulls.
At the cost of one ship being completely vaporized and another severely damaged, the three vessels plunged headlong into the Red Corsairs fleet.
The Red Corsairs themselves often used this tactic of charging straight into an enemy formation to sow chaos.
Their ships, however, were nowhere near as formidable as those of the Men of Iron.
The severely damaged Guardian-class ship's hull was riddled with breaches, exposing large sections of machinery. Through the enormous holes, layers of alloy armor several meters thick were