In just a few seconds from the destruction of the transport fleet, Malakin felt that he had fully understood the tactics Soshyan had hinted before.
"Sacrifice."
He concluded grimly:
"The altar of victory is heaped with victims."
The Chapter's Holy Blood Priest was standing beside him at the moment and shook his head after hearing these words.
"This is the price that must be paid for victory. War cannot be controlled by mercy, Chapter Master."
"Perhaps this is their way of war."
Malakin showed no expression, and just called up the attack vector from the technical priest.
"But not mine."
He carefully examined the intruders in front of him - there were still some green-skinned warships that had not been affected, and selected the largest one among them.
It is like a monster with a majestic head and body covered in blood, with a curved spine and smoke emitted by the propellers swirling around its body.
"It looks almost intact, so it's up to us to fix it."
The Mother of Tears passed through the storm of flames and destruction and sailed straight into the center of the battlefield. Its powerful engine easily allowed it to draw a large arc.
On both sides of her, other warships were also attacking the panicked greenskin fleet.
The naval gun spewed out waves of flames, covering the vacuum like dark clouds.
The light battleships of the Imperial Navy now adopted tactics similar to those of the Greenskins. They used firepower as a cover, and after identifying the target, they drove straight in regardless of the distance, and then dropped torpedoes at close range.
At this moment, the battleships still kept their distance from the battlefield and continued to output firepower. Only the Mother of Tears ran towards the center of hell without hesitation, heading straight for the source of the destructive storm.
"Chapter Commander, someone is calling us."
The voice of the Astropath Lord aboard the Mother of Tears came from afar.
"It's the Starfire."
"Wait a minute."
Malakin gave the answer without thinking. His attention had completely fallen on the battleship in front of him.
"Let's wait until we deal with this guy before we reply. My sword can't wait to get some blood on it."
Naturally, the green-skinned warship will not sit still and wait for death, it is also ready to fight back.
Two huge concussion cannons protruded from its heavy bow, and many scars could be seen on its sides, but they were not enough to pose a threat to it.
In the bottomless pit-like muzzle, the crackling sound could be heard endlessly, which was undoubtedly the signal that this terrifying weapon was charging.
"It's close enough."
Malakin ordered calmly.
"Fire the main light spear."
The gunners of the Mother of Tears have been waiting for orders from the Chapter Master.
When the command was received, the air reverberated with the roar of energy circulation, the promethium igniter was also ready for ignition, and the plasma that had been accumulated in the diverter continued to roar.
As soon as the sound of firing sounded, the light spear swept through the deep abyss in front of it and jumped forward with the force of piercing gold and cracking stone.
This attack stabbed firmly under the bow of the green-skinned warship, which happened to be the location where the concussion cannon was mounted. The collision of the two energies instantly released a violent shock wave, followed by a strong explosion.
The green-skinned battleship lost its balance, and its engines ran wildly, trying to stabilize the hull.
"continue."
The Mother of Tears continued to roar, and its broadside guns kept firing, trying to open a gap in the shield.
When the distance between them shortened to less than a hundred kilometers, the light spear opened fire again, accurately hitting the already crumbling enemy ship.
"Send it on its way!"
Malakin shouted, clenching his fists hard.
At the same time, the shelling from the green-skinned ships hit the Mother of Tears, causing wave-like vibrations to ripple on the void shield, and then they squeezed against the bottom hull plate.
At that moment, the bridge jolted violently, and the scene on the observation window turned dark, leaving only static shaking, but the storm left just as quickly as it came.
This attack alone was completely unable to stop the pace of this ancient relic. The Tech-Priest maximized the power of the Mother of Tears, dashing through the hail of bullets as if risking his life, clearing the way for the last glowing spear shot.
After adjusting its position, the ship slowed down, drained all its energy, and then fired a third time.
It was impossible to miss at such a close distance. The light spear pierced the protective cover of the green-skinned ship in an instant, turning them into a ball of dazzling fragments that spattered in all directions.
Even greater disasters followed, as the blown shield ignited flames on the hull and penetrated further into the hull along the weak parts.
The Mother of Tears immediately cut to the starboard side of the green-skinned ship, and its macro cannon poured out fire like a storm.
At first, the green-skinned warship was beaten and unable to fight back. Its roof burned and plasma spread everywhere.
After a while, it managed to fire a laser beam at the Mother of Tears, but the scarlet traces that covered the hull like spider webs had exposed the most fatal problem - it was a sign of implosion.
"Let's withdraw!"
Malakin ordered with satisfaction:
"That's enough!"
The combat barge turned to starboard, using all the power from each engine to ensure distance from the victim.
When the Mother of Tears had retreated less than 20 kilometers, the green-skinned battleship's reactor finally exploded, tearing the entire ship apart from the inside, and the chassis also broke into pieces and collapsed.
Then, a twisted wave of impact swept past, and its wake swallowed up all the surrounding small ships.
Even the Mother of Tears was affected by the pouring and spreading shock wave, the gravity generator was damaged, the ship sank suddenly, tilted sideways, and the air supply pipe on the bridge arch shook endlessly.
The sound of explosions from the lower deck echoed throughout the ship, which undoubtedly indicated that the engine room had also been damaged.
"Keep heading and speed up!"
Regardless of the fact that the ship was currently suffering from the reaction force caused by their killings, Malakin roared excitedly on the throne.
"Prepare the light spear and choose a target for me!"
It had been too long since he had tasted victory, and all the long-term accumulation of gloom and despair broke out at this moment, turning into unspeakable madness.
The ship's corpse wrapped in a halo of flames slid past the Mother of Tears and rubbed against the void shield, but in the end it was not penetrated.
Most of the broken parts that hit the ship's hull, or those that scraped past it, were still burning, and would light up brightly every time they landed on the shield.
The warriors of the Lamenters Chapter rejoiced at every piece of whirling wreckage before their eyes, and the mortals joined in the celebration.
They already know how to destroy the enemy - to attack head-on with overwhelming firepower, making the enemy unprepared, unable to resist, and instantly disintegrated.
Against such an opponent, strategy is no longer useful, and only brutal attack is the way to win.
But at this time, the communications officer shouted loudly.
"Emergency direct line from the Starfire, sir!"
"What happened?"
Malakin immediately opened the public channel.
First there was a crackle and a hiss of static, then he heard an urgent sound.
"Captain Malakin, come quickly for reinforcements! Nazddraig is about to run away!!!"