The lances pierced its hull. The hastily sealed pressure doors were utterly incapable of withstanding the assault of a Gloriana-class Battleship. Deadly torpedoes tore through the defenses and slammed directly into the Conqueror's lower decks.
Lotara Sarrin, the captain fused as one with the warship, felt the flagship's agony through neural pulses. Every muscle in her body spasmed violently. Blood gushed from her mouth, and even streamed from the corners of her eyes.
Yet even in such desperation, Lotara did not lose her savage nature. This captain would never abandon her warship, nor would she sit and await death.
The Conqueror was engulfed in flames. Countless explosions pushed the warship toward the brink of destruction. Secondary detonations from its ammunition stores, along with its engines and reactors spiraling out of control, left this supreme achievement of Imperial technology completely powerless.
It still fired its macro-cannons with all its might. Its outer rapid-fire batteries and lance arrays relentlessly destroyed Ultramarines vessels that came too close. Even grievously wounded, it was not something cruisers or destroyers could profane.
"Give it death!" Gage coldly ordered the captains.
Two immensely powerful torpedoes became the final straw. The Conqueror's adamantine keel was stripped of its structural integrity by the catastrophic explosions.
The colossal vessel's skeleton separated from its flesh. Vast sections of decks and compartments were hurled into space, allowing its internal atmosphere to be swiftly sucked away by the cold void.
The engineers still struggling at their work, along with the slaves whipped into labor, were killed within moments by space's extreme cold and near-vacuum.
Pale-faced, Lotara slumped upon her throne. The warship's Machine Spirit no longer answered her. It had been utterly slain by its sister, just as it had once slain Ultramarines ships.
The captain's soul was bound to that of the