The Imperial fleet led by Chaghatai Khan erupted into a brutal space battle with Zeta Garmon's rebels within the star system.
Every moment, warships became blazing fireballs, struck by particle lances and void torpedoes, spiraling completely out of control, overloading, and self-destructing.
Many of those ancient warships, bearing glorious histories, had been in service since the early days of the Great Crusade. Centuries of glory were reduced to nothing in this moment.
Just as Horus had declared, to revive humanity, he would make the galaxy burn.
As the out-of-control warships continually detonated and destroyed themselves, anyone looking out from the bridge windows of the Sky Eagle could indeed see a void resembling a sea of fire.
Many of those burning warships were loyal vessels from Chaghatai's fleet, but even more belonged to Horus's enemy fleet.
In a naval battle of such vast scale, no matter how powerful the Sky Eagle was, she was only one ship. She could not be everywhere at once, nor could she stop those steel pugilists from destroying nearby opponents with their lethal blows.
More than a thousand space warships from both sides were bleeding within the cramped star system. The Imperial warships were generally equipped with energy shields from Lox's STC database, giving them far greater survivability than vessels equipped with void shields alone.
"Only civil war can destroy an empire. These thousand warships were once all humanity's strength. They should have given their all for humanity upon the glorious battlefields of the Great Crusade, yet now brothers turned against brothers and slaughtered one another."
"No matter who falls, it is a tremendous loss for humanity."
Chaghatai felt sorrow in his heart. He found little joy in slaughtering traitors; these men had merely chosen to stand in Horus's camp.
The rebels' weakness in high-end combat