ACCEPTABLE LOSSES
Gav Thorpe

'CAPTAIN ON THE flight deck!'
The assembled aircraft crews of the Imperial cruiser Divine Justice moved as one. Captain Kauri strolled into the vast hangar to the resounding clang of one hundred boots stamping in near-perfect unison on the steel-mesh decking. Walking two strides behind the stocky flag captain, Flight Commander Jaeger looked over his new comrades.
Most were dressed in regulation fatigues, standing smartly where they had been working or lounging before their commander's arrival. Jaeger's eye was drawn towards a particular crowd off to one side, towards the rear of the aircraft bay. There was something surly about their bearing: meir uniforms were not quite so smart, their posture not so rigid as the other flight crews; their attention not totally focused on the newly arrived captain. Instinctively, Jaeger knew that they were Raptor Squadron, his new command.
That explained a couple of things, at least: Kauri's slightly amused look when he had greeted Jaeger earlier, and the glances from the other flight commanders during his initial introduction. So, the Raptors were in need of some discipline? Well, Jaeger would soon knock them into shape.
Jaeger realised that Captain Kauri was addressing the flight crews and tuned his wandering mind into what his new commander was saying.
'.. .and I expect every one of you to accord Flight Commander Jaeger the same amount of respect and co-operation you gave to his predecessor, Commander Glade. Proceed with your duties; we break from dock at 0500 hours.'
Wim a nod, the captain sent the gathered men back to work and turned to Jaeger.

'I see from your look that you've already spotted Raptor Squadron.' he said plainly.
Jaeger nodded slightly, keeping his expression as neutral as possible.
They're not as bad as they might seem at first.' Kauri continued. There are some damn fine pilots there, and with the right man in charge they'll make a fine showing. I think you're that man, Jaeger, and I'll be watching your progress with interest'
Thank you, sir.' Jaeger replied, pleased the captain had confidence in him. 'I don't think you'll have anything to worry about from Raptor Squadron.'
'Go and meet your men then, I'll see you later. Give them a chance and they'll prove themselves worthy of the Emperor's Navy.'
The two officers exchanged respectful bows before Kauri turned on his heel and strode from the flight deck. Jaeger took in all the sights, sounds and smells of his new home. Although most flight decks had similarities, each always had a unique odour, a different edge on the lighting, variations in layout and a hundred other small details that made it special. The flight deck of the Divine Justice had space to cany, prepare and launch ten of the massive Marauder bombers, along with a complement of ten Thunderbolt fighters. All of the aircraft were currently in their docking bays, each nestling in its own arched alcove along the sides of the flight deck. Above the flight commander's head, a labyrinthine criss-cross of gantries and steps hung in the distant shadows, centred around a pair of enormous cranes capable of picking up and transferring the planes to the launching bays. The chatter of the flight crews filled the cavernous chamber with a constant murmuring, and the fragrances of the tech-priests' unguents and incense hung heavy in the air, mixed with the more mundane smell of oiled metal and human sweat. Taking a deep breath, Jaeger started towards his new flight crews.
As HE STRODE across the flight deck, Jaeger quickly inspected his new men more closely. Despite Kauri's parting words, he was not impressed with what he saw. They slouched amidst a scattering of crates, idly passing the time arguing heatedly, playing with dice or just sprawling around relaxing. All but a few wore loose-fitting, light grey fatigues, presenting a drab, uninspiring sight. Some of them turned to look at the flight commander as he strode briskly over, and a couple managed to get to their feet. One of them, a gunner from Jaeger's own plane judging by his insignia, pulled himself upright and snapped off a sharp salute.
'Fine day!' proclaimed the gaunt-looking gunner. 'May I welcome you to the auspicious role that is flight commander of Raptor Squadron.'
One of the others, a burly-looking bombardier, shot a murderous glance at the man.
'Shut it, Saile. The new commander don't want to hear your creeping!' the bombardier warned, his sweat-beaded brow knitted in a glowering scowl.

That's enough from both of you!' Jaeger snapped, irritated by their indiscipline. 'Let's get something straight right from the start: I don't like you, any of you.' Jaeger made a point of looking them over slowly. 'From what I've already seen, you are a bunch of shoddy, undisciplined, no-hope slackers. Well, not any more!
'You will address me as Commander Jaeger. Unless directly addressed by me, in non-combat situations you will only talk to me by first receiving permission, in the manner of "Permission to speak, Commander Jaeger?". Are those two simple facts absolutely clear?'
The men looked at Jaeger in stunned disbelief.
'I believe the words you are looking for are, "Yes, Commander Jaeger".' he prompted, eyebrows raised.
Their reply was quiet and faltering, but it was a start.
Ahm, permission to speak, Commander Jaeger?' came a quiet voice from one of the men around them.
Jaeger looked at the flyer who was stepping lightly between the others to stand in front of him. He was swathed in the voluminous robes that marked him out as one of the tech-adepts, responsible for the mechanical and spiritual wellbeing of the planes, as well as the 0 itself. The man's neck was criss-crossed with wires and scar tissue, and an interface plug dangled from the back of his right hand. In battle, the tech-adept would literally wire himself into the Marauder bomber, monitoring any damage and prompting the plane's repair mechanisms into action.
'Granted.' Jaeger said with a nod.
As I am principally a member of the Adeptus Mechanicus, and only aligned to the efforts of the Imperial Navy by secondary venture, I consider your treatment of myself and the other tech-adepts as subordinates in a very serious light.' the tech-adept said, his chin raised proudly to look the tall flight commander full in the face.
Jaeger grabbed the man's robe, pulling him up until he was on the tips of his toes. The adept's hood fell back, exposing more bio-wiring. The coils of thin cable sprung from his shaven head like metallic hair, attached to his scalp through a hundred scabrous incisions in the skin. Some of the others stepped forward but were stopped in their tracks by a murderous glance from their new commander.
'While you fly my planes, I am your commanding officer!' Jaeger snarled. 'I don't care what rank you have in the worship of the Machine God - on this flight deck and in the air, you answer to me! Make no mistake, I have every intention of turning this squadron into a respectable fighting unit. Cooperate and you may come through it with your lives and your rank. Go against me and I'll chew you up and spit out the pieces.'
Jaeger let go of the adept and stalked off, cursing himself for losing his temper. But if there was one thing that Jaeger hated, it was sloppiness. He

had seen too many good men die because of another's carelessness, and he wasn't going to let it happen again.
JAEGER ORDERED THE men to stand down, pleased with their performance during the training session. As they sloped off to their communal sleeping chambers, Jaeger headed back towards the bunkroom he shared with the other three flight commanders. Jaeger wiped the sweat from his face with the palm of his hand, and was glad to be leaving the heat of the flight deck, warmed beyond tolerance by the bombers' engines. As he walked down the corridor towards the officers' quarters, Jaeger heard the clump of boots on the metal deck and turned. Marte, one of his gunners and a veteran of many years service, jogged slowly up, saluting as he approached.
'Permission to speak, Commander Jaeger?' the man asked cautiously.
"What's on your mind, gunner?'
'Excuse my saying, but I don't reckon you're as hard-edged as you make out, sir.' The gunner was sheepishly inspecting the backs of his hands, avoiding Jaeger's stare. We - that is, the other lads and me - we were wondering how you ended up as our flight commander. I mean, what did you do wrong?'
"What are you getting at, gunner?' Jaeger rested his hands on his hips. 'And look at me when I speak to you,' he added, annoyed at having to address the top of the gunner's bald head.
Marte looked up reluctantly to meet his gaze. It was obvious that the other crew members had put him up to this. 'Well, getting stuck with Raptors,' the gunner explained quietly. 'I mean, you seem like you know what you're doing, so why did you end up in this dead-end assignment?'
'"Dead-end"? Raptor Squadron may not be spectacular, but you're all competent, dedicated men. Why should this command be so bad?' Jaeger asked, genuinely puzzled.
'So you've not heard the stories, sir?' The gunner's face was a picture of incredulity.
'I don't listen to rumours, I deal with facts and my own experiences.' Jaeger snapped, annoyed that the gunner considered the flight commander the type to listened to scuttlebutt.
'Very wise, sir.' the old gunner said quickly. 'Look, Raptors get the worst deal, it's that simple. If there's some dirty work to be done, we'll get it. You must have seen the records, we've got the highest loss rate for the last three tours. That idiot Glade didn't help either, Emperor rot him.'
To Jaeger, the gunner was making no sense at all. 'What about the other Marauders?' he asked. 'Devil Squadron?'
The Devils?' The gunner laughed, a short and bitter noise. 'They don't know the meaning of hard work. Flight Commander Raf is Admiral Venis-ton's nephew, if you take my meaning...'

The veteran gunner was shaking his head, as if his surprise at the flight commander's ignorance had reached a new level. Jaeger had had enough of being treated like a naive youth who had just earned his commission.
'You and all those other scurrilous gossips can rest assured that by the time I'm finished, Devil Squadron will be polishing our boots.' he promised, his voice hard, his eyes boring into the gunner. 'Remember, a crew is only as good as they think they are. Captain Kauri is behind me on this: all you need is a morale boost and things will fall into place. Now go and get some rest!'
The old gunner hesitated for a moment, giving his commander a doubtful look, before hurrying back down the corridor, leaving Jaeger to his thoughts.
Raptor Squadron wasn't inherently bad, the flight commander mused. They'd just started believing the things that were said about them. If it was true that the admiral's favouritism for his nephew was costing lives, he'd have a few things to say about that. For now, all he could do was watch and wait. And hope that things weren't as bad as they seemed.
'EMPEROR'S BLOOD! THAT'S a sight to set a man's heart trembling!' Admiral Veniston exclaimed. Only eight weeks into her patrol, the Divine Justice had run into serious trouble. Magnified on the main display screen of the Divine Justice's bridge was a scene of utter destruction, the like of which the ageing officer had not witnessed for many years. The terrible wreckage of a Navy cruiser, what little remained, spun slowly across the stars. In the distance could just be made out the dark shape of an ork hulk, the source of the carnage. One of the command crew looked up from the glowing green read-out in front of him.
'Surveyors identify her as the Imperial Retribution, admiral. 80% structural damage - she's taken one hell of a pounding.' the crewman reported.
Veniston nodded. 'Aye, she has. And the question is: how do we avoid a similar fate?'
Captain Kauri took a step forward, a glint in his eye. 'I suppose dropping back into the warp and forgetting we found her is out of the question?'
As the command crew chuckled, Veniston directed Kauri into the conference chamber with a flick of his head. Within the small wood-panelled room, the two were able to speak more freely.
It was Veniston who spoke first. 'Seriously, Jacob. How the hell are we going to take out that damned hulk?'
The tech-priests made a long-range assay.' The captain activated a comm-screen and brought up a rough schematic of the hulk. The bulk of the weapon systems are located near the front. If we could come at it from the rear we could probably give her enough of a pounding while limiting

the return fire.' As he spoke, Kauri drew his finger over the screen in a wide circle, to finish pointing at the hulk's main engine block.
The admiral frowned. 'There's only us and the frigates, we can't take her on from more than one direction without being taken apart piecemeal. If she can bring her guns to bear, even the Divine Justice won't survive for very long. Just how do you suggest we get the greenskin scum on that hulk to sit still long enough for us to let rip with the torpedoes and batteries, Jacob?'
Kauri rubbed his short-cropped beard. With the press of a rune, he imposed a series of arrows and notations onto the diagram of the hulk. 'Well, now that you mention it,' he said, 'I have had one idea. The orks won't have a problem hitting something the size of the Divine Justice, but that doesn't mean they're invulnerable...'
THE ORDER TO prepare for launch had been issued an hour ago. Now the flight crews were hurrying to finish their last tasks. Jaeger's second-in-command, Phrao, was leading the crew in prayer, kneeling with heads bowed beneath the fuselage of their Marauder, chanting hymnals with admirable concentration. Jaeger looked up to where Arick, one of the dorsal gunners, was clambering around on top of the Marauder's fuselage.
'What's with them?' Jaeger called up.
Arick looked down from where he was polishing the twin barrels of his auto-cannon atop the spine of the Marauder.
'Do it every time. S'posed to bring the Emperor's blessing.' the gunner called down.
'I guessed that, but why beneath the Marauder? Isn't it more practical to do it in the open?'
Arick shrugged, although the movement could hardly be seen inside the thick folds of the vacuum suit he was wearing. 'Meant to bring the Emperor's power through the plane. You know the score, you must've seen other crews doing something like that before every flight, a special ritual. Like Jeryll reading out the Articles of War, and me polishing this damned big gun, though I know the maintenance crews have oiled it plenty since we got our orders. Surprised you don't do something like it yourself.'
'Yes... Yes, you're right, there is something I nearly forgot.' Jaeger replied distractedly.
Standing in front of his massive Marauder, Jaeger called for his crew to gather in front of him, ready for briefing. His gaze turned to the nose of his craft and the gilded Eagle Rampant that shone from it. The design was repeated on the gloves of his dress uniform and printed on all of their helmets. It was the blazon of the Raptor Squadron. A fine name, but was it a fine crew?

As his crew congregated, he looked at each of them in turn. Over the two months that had passed since leaving the dock at Bakka, he had come to know the men better, although only real combat would show him their true mettle. There were the gunners, Arick, Marte and Saile; each had proved his accuracy on the simulation ranges, but word was that Arick lost his cool in the heat of battle, and Saile was basically a coward. Still, trust not in rumour, Jaeger's old captain on the Invincible had taught him.
The tech-adept, Ferix, had been no problem since Jaeger's rough treatment of his fellow Adeptus Mechanicus at that first encounter. Ferix was frowning, however, as he climbed down from the Marauder's engine, obviously annoyed that his attempts to consecrate the Marauder to the Machine God had been interrupted. Jaeger would give him time to finish his rituals before they launched; there were enough variables to worry about without offending the Marauder's spirit with hasty ceremonies and hurried prayers.
The last over was Berhandt, the bullying, muscle-bound bombardier. For all his rough accent and large frame, the flyer had a shrewd mind. He'd have to be watched, however, Jaeger had decided, since much of the pessimism of the squadron seemed to originate from him, one way or another.
Once all five of his crew were present, Jaeger stepped onto an empty munitions crate that the servitors had not yet moved. Clearing his throat, he spoke out strongly and surely, wanting to instil his crew with the confidence that they demanded. If they didn't believe in him now, their hesitation or doubt could get them all killed once they were in battle.
'As you know, many bomber crews have certain customs to ensure the Emperor's grace and no bad luck. Well, this is something of a tradition for me, a little ceremony I go through before my first combat flight with a new squadron, just to make sure nothing bad happens - to any of us. Don't worry, it doesn't take very long.' Jaeger assured them, seeing their distracted gazes. They wanted him to get his little pep-talk over as quickly as possible, and he could empathise with that.
'It's an old tale from my home planet. I come from Extu, in case you hadn't heard already - bit of a backwater by many of your standards, but we've a strong sense of honour and courage, so I'll not be running away from any fights.'
Jaeger saw nods of agreement from Marte and Arick. The others shuffled their feet uneasily, embarrassed by being told a story. Not all cultures were like the one on Extu, Jaeger knew; in some societies tales were seen as childish rather than important teachings for adults and children alike. Though he sometimes cursed others for their ridiculous habits or customs, in his years of service in the Imperial Navy, Jaeger had learnt to accept all manner of viewpoints and outlooks on life.

'Anyway, to my tale, as told to me by Faith-Sayer Gunthe. It tells of the great Emperor Eagle, whose claws are sheathed with fire and whose eyes are all-seeing - and of how he banished the Chaos Serpent from our realm. One day, the Chaos Serpent, the eternal enemy of the Emperor Eagle, steals one of the sacred eggs from the Emperor Eagle's nest whilst he is away hunting. The Chaos Serpent takes the egg back to her lair, and wraps herself about the egg to keep it warm, to make sure it incubates. When the Emperor Eagle returns, great is his dismay to find one of the sacred eggs missing. He searches far and wide, but he cannot see the missing sacred egg.
'Meanwhile, the egg hatches, and the young Eagle is welcomed into this world by the Chaos Serpent. "Greetings," says the Chaos Serpent, "I am your mother, you will learn what I teach you and listen to my every word." And the Eagle learnt the foul, twisted ways of the Chaos Serpent.'
Jaeger looked over his men, pleased to see they were all paying attention now, even Ferix whose own religious beliefs taught him to worship machines over human beings.
The young Eagle's radiant golden feathers were tarnished with spite.' Jaeger's mouth twisted in disgust as he pictured the fallen Eagle in his mind. 'His glistening eyes were misted with false hope and his claws were blunted by disobedience. All the while, the Emperor Eagle continued his search, seeking ever further for his lost sacred egg. At last, one day, he came across the Eagle, now fully grown, and at first the Emperor Eagle was glad. But as he spoke to the lost Eagle and saw what it had become, the Emperor Eagle became most displeased. He commanded the young Eagle to remain where he was and sought out the Chaos Serpent. He found the treacherous, false creature hiding in the shadows nearby, but the Emperor Eagle's keen eyes still spotted her.'
Jaeger half-closed his eyes, remembering the first time he'd heard the tale when he was a small child. The next part was his favourite and had served to inspire him all the way through his upbringing by the Schola Progenium and through his flight training at Bakka. It was this that had first given him the ambition to be a pilot, and when times had been hard, he'd told himself the story in his mind. Each time it gave him the strength to persevere through his hardships.
As the other flight crews had finished their pre-flight rituals, they had drifted over to listen to the flight commander's speech. Now all twenty-nine of them stood in front of him, gripped by his words. Taking a deep breath, Jaeger continued.
'Swooping down upon his massive pinions, the Emperor Eagle seized the Chaos Serpent in his flame-wreathed talons and swept the Chaos Serpent high into the air. For a long time they flew. "Why do you attack me so?" enquired the Chaos Serpent, in feigned ignorance and innocence.

'"You have taken one of mine own from me," said the Emperor Eagle, "and twisted it with your dark ways so that it is no longer tall and proud and fulfilling its righteous destiny. That is a crime for which there can be no mercy." And the Emperor Eagle dropped the Chaos Serpent into the bottomless dark pit that is the Eye of Terror, condemning the Chaos Serpent to eternal imprisonment, agony and torment for what she had done to the young Eagle.'
Pausing for a moment for dramatic effect, he could see that die tale was having the desired affect on the assembled crewmen. The men were listening with rapt attention now, and for the moment would listen to, and more importantly believe anything he cared to tell mem. His own pride was inspiring them, giving them the confidence to follow him wherever he led them.
The Emperor Eagle returned to his offspring,' Jaeger continued, his intense gaze meeting the stare of each of me men in turn. '"You have been done a great wrong," the Emperor Eagle said, "made that much greater for I cannot correct it, but can only punish the guilty. There are no amends to be made. You are my child and yet I cannot suffer you to live now, twisted and malignant as you are." The young Eagle looked at the Emperor Eagle and the nobility of his birth rose through the filth of the Chaos Serpent's false teachings. "I understand, oh great Emperor Eagle," and the young Eagle bent back his head to show his breast to the Emperor Eagle. With one sweep of his flame-wreathed claws, the Emperor Eagle tore out the young Eagle's heart, burning it to ashes - for none can live diat have been touched by the Chaos Serpent, not even the children of the Emperor Eagle.'
The sycophantic gunner, Saile, clapped enthusiastically; a few smiled in grim appreciation while the rest awaited his explanation with dutiful silence.
'For we are the talons of the Emperor!' Jaeger said, his voice deep and full of conviction, his right hand unconsciously making the shape of a grasping claw across his chest. 'Just as this ship is named the Divine Justice, so too must we be the instrument of the Emperor's vengeance. No mercy, no forgiveness, just the surety of swift justice and sure death!'
'Swift Justice, Sure DeauY was the squadron's motto, and hearing it spoken so confidently, with such emotion, had a startling effect on the crew. Jaeger could see their anticipation, eager for battle like they had never been before. They had pride in themselves, for uhe first time in years.
'So, what are we?' Jaeger yelled, his hand now raised in a fist.
'Swift Justice, Sure Death!' came the replying cry from twenty-nine throats. It echoed around the flight bay, making the crews of the other squadrons turn in surprise. Jaeger grinned, his heart beating fast.
'Damn right! Let's give the enemy a taste of the Emperor's claws.'
* * *

JAEGER GRINNED AS he gazed out of the cockpit's canopy and saw the rest of the Squadron flying alongside the ship's hull, each pushed forward on quadruple tails of plasma. Beyond them, he saw the firing ports of the Divine Justice's gun decks opening slowly, revealing battery upon battery of massive laser cannons, mass drivers and plasma projectors. Immense firepower, enough to destroy a city.
The comm-link in Jaeger's helmet crackled into life.
++Thunderbolt fighter squadrons Arrow and Storm ready for rendezvous.++ The familiar voice of Flight Commander Dextra, given a metallic grate over the long-range communicator.
Jaeger flicked the brass transmit rune on the comm-link panel to his left. 'Good to hear you, Jaze. Take up a diamond-ten on the aft quarters.'
++Affirm, Raptor Leader.++
As the smaller fighters took up their escorting position around the bomber squadron, Jaeger increased the throttle, taking his plane to the front to form a flying-V formation, with his Marauder as the arrowhead. The craft swept over the prow of the cruiser, looking like tiny flares of light against the backdrop of the immense torpedo tubes.
'Bridge, this is Raptor Leader. Formed up and ready to attack; awaiting target data, by the Emperor.' Jaeger reported.
Berhandt gave a thumbs-up signal as the target information was transmitted from the Divine Justice. The bombardier's gruff voice gave Jaeger the details over the internal communicator. 'It's a point at the rear of the 'ulk, in the engines somewhere. Can't tell what it is exactly, this far out.'
'What do you mean?' Jaeger asked.
'Just what I said, sir. It's just some co-ordinates, no details of target type and a notation that says the attack trajectory is at your discretion.'
Very well. Inform me as soon as we get further details,' Jaeger replied, before addressing the rest of the squadron. 'Listen up, Raptors, this is the real thing. No bickering, no whining and no stalling. I am not going to let you get me and your flight comrades killed. We're here to blow things up in the name of the Emperor, and that's what we're damned well going to do!'
Jaeger smiled as he heard the laughter of the other crew members come over his headset. Sitting back in the pilot's seat, he began to relax. It would be a while before they were anywhere near within range of the hulk's considerable defences, and being tense for two hours was sure to do his reactions no good, not to mention the nerves of his crew. To occupy his mind, Jaeger went through the pre-battle checks once again. He ran his eye over the cockpit's interior to check everything visually. There were no chinks or scratches on the tinted armoured shielding of the Marauder's cockpit. The snaking wrist-thick pipes that twisted from the control panel in all directions seemed to be intact, with no insulation breaks or kinks. The pressure gauges of the engine had their needles

pointing comfortably in their green quadrants, and numerous other dials, meters and counters indicated that nothing was amiss. Jaeger tested the flight controls, worried by the stiffness he was feeling in the movement of the control column. A few gentle turns and rolls later and everything seemed fine, easing Jaeger's suspicions.
Berhandt had told him that this Marauder had been almost cut in half by an eldar laser during its last mission. It had been then that his predecessor, Glade, had been sucked out into the void, never to be seen again. Jaeger cursed himself for such morbid thoughts and to calm himself he began to think of his home world. Unfastening a couple of catches, Jaeger pushed his helmet onto the back of his head and closed his eyes. With a thin-lipped smile, he began whistling a hunting chant from back home.
VENISTON PACED BACK and forth across the command deck of the bridge, watching the various screens that gave updates of the progressing battle. As the Divine Justice slowly moved in closer to the hulk, the smaller ork ships in its escort were trying to break through the cordon of frigates to attack the cruiser. They were having little success, and the one or two that managed to get within range were soon obliterated by the overwhelming firepower of the Divine Justice's gun decks. The floor shook with regular throbs as the immense plasma drives pushed the ship towards the distant foe, bringing all on board ever closer to death or glory. One of the communications officers was muttering sharply to Captain Kauri, while he glanced over his subordinate's shoulder at a flickering screen, directing the efforts of the escorts and fighters.
'Is there a problem, Mister Kauri?' Veniston enquired as he stepped up to the captain, trying to keep the tension from his voice.
'Not really, sir.' Kauri answered, standing up straight to look the admiral in the eye. Veniston raised an eyebrow in query. 'A wave of ork fighter-bombers has made it through the blockade. They'll be intercepting the Marauders of Raptor Squadron shortly. But the fighter screen should be able to protect our bombers.' Kauri assured the admiral, rubbing the tiredness from his eyes and running a thick-fingered hand through his dark hair.
'Send the Thunderbolts on an intercept course.' Veniston decided, looking past Kauri at the display screen. 'If the orks get too close, the bombers will have to slow down, and timing is all-important. If the Raptors don't attack in time, the whole plan will be off course and the hulk will still be fully mobile when we get within range. We can't let that happen, Jacob.' The admiral's eyes narrowed and his jaw clenched tightly for a moment as he considered the prospect of the Divine Justice suffering the same fate as the Imperial Retribution.
What if a second wave of fighters comes up? They'll be unprotected...' the captain protested, his voice suddenly hoarse with the prospect.   .

'If that happens.' Veniston stated coldly, 'then we shall pray that the Emperor is watching over us.'
The admiral turned towards the main display again, indicating that the conversation was ended. Kauri suppressed a grimace and turned towards the waiting comms officer.
'New orders for Arrow and Storm Squadrons.' the captain began.
THEIR THUNDERBOLT ESCORT had peeled away regretfully a few minutes ago, and now the Marauders were on their own. As Raptor Squadron thundered towards the hulk, more details of the battle ahead could be seen. A swarm of ork attack ships duelled with the frigates escorting the Divine Justice. Manoeuvring just outside range of the orks' crude weapons, the Imperium ships were taking a heavy toll; the wreckage of at least five ork vessels was drifting lifelessly across the battlezone. Much closer now, the hulk seemed truly immense. Around it orbited a cluster of defence asteroids, floating bases crewed by the orks and bristling with rockets and gun batteries. Some were simply pieces of the hulk that had broken off but hadn't escaped the pull of the hulk's gravity. Others, Jaeger had been taught in Command Training, were deliberately captured by the orks, who used bizarre field technology to grasp onto asteroids and debris, purposefully creating a swirl of obstacles to protect themselves against attack. Whatever the cause of their orbit, and whether they were just floating chunks of stone and metal, or had been fitted out with rocket pods or gun turrets, throughout the navy they were known simply as Rocks.
As Jaeger considered this glorious example of understatement, there was a sudden hiss of escaping gas and the control stick in his left hand started juddering uncontrollably.
'Ferix!' Jaeger snapped over the internal comm-link. 'These damned controls are playing up. I need stability right now, if you don't mind.'
The small tech-adept crawled into the cockpit and took the toolbelt from his waist. Pulling a glowing, gold-etched device from one pocket, he set about the fastenings on a panel under Jaeger's legs. As Ferix unscrewed the compartment beneath the control column he began a low-voiced chant: 'To see the spirit of the machine, that is to be Mechanicus. To find the malaise of malfunction, that is to be Mechanicus. To administer the Rite of Repair, that is to be Mechanicus.'
Jaeger let the man drift from his attention as he looked through the armoured glass of the cockpit. The frigates had done a good job punching a hole through the ork attack ships, leaving the way clear for the Marauders. However, something wasn't quite right. Jaeger's spine tingled with some inner sense of foreboding. Looking at the approaching hulk, a sinister suspicion began to rise at the back of his mind.
'Berhandt, can you get a fix on that Rock, five o'clock, about twelve by thirty-five?' Jaeger asked the bombardier, his unease rising.

'Got it.' the bombardier replied, a question in his voice.
'Plot a trajectory prediction, impose it over our course.'
'Okay, Commander Jaeger. Metriculator processing right now. Coming through... Damn! You were right to ask, sir. We're heading straight for the damn thing!' Berhandt exclaimed.
Avoidance course?' Jaeger knew that there wouldn't be one even as he asked.
'No, sir. Not with the time we've been given. Emperor's mercy, we're gonna have to deal with the bloody thing ourselves...' The bombardier's voice was barely a whisper.
Jaeger pressed the long-range communicator. 'Bridge, this is Raptor Leader.' he announced. 'We have a problem.'
THE BOMBER SQUADRON banked round slowly, shaken by the engine blasts of the vast rockets soaring past. Each of the ork missiles roaring from the Rock was larger than a Marauder, designed to blow apart a massive star-ship but equally capable of wiping out the whole squadron with one unlucky blast. Crude faces had been painted onto the tips of monstrous rockets, leering grins and sharp-teethed devils seeming to leap from the darkness on columns of raging flame.
Jaeger was listening in to the comm-net, his mood grim.
++This is the Apollo, we cannot disengage currently.++
++This is the Glorious, unable to reach your position in time.++
And so it went on, each of the fleet's frigates too busy or too far away to attack the rapidly approaching Rock. Another flare erupted from the ork defence platform in front of the Marauders, hurling six more rockets at the incoming bombers. Jaeger switched to the inter-squadron communicator.
'Split one-four, on my lead.' he ordered, his voice low and abrupt. We've only got time for one pass. Make it count.'
As an icon flashed green on the panel beside him, Jaeger switched frequency to listen to the incoming message.
++This is Tech-Priest Adramaz of the Excellent++ a tinny, unfamiliar voice reported. ++We have surveyed your target and established a primary detonation point. Transmitting information now. It appears to be some kind of power source, which may destroy the target if you can hit it. I would make your departure as expeditious as possible though, we are unsure how large the resultant blast will be.++
Thanks, Adramaz.' Jaeger replied, turning to see if Berhandt had received the information.
The bombardier gave a nod as the targeting data for the Rock's reactor was received and with the turn of a dial and a flicked switch, he transmitted the details to the other Marauders. Berhandt swivelled in his seat to grasp the forked control stick that guided and fired the Marauder's

nose-mounted lascannons. One shot from those could punch through a cubit or more of reinforced armour and smash apart rock with equal ease.
'Signature suggests it ain't laser shielded.' the bombardier said, smiling grimly. 'A couple of good hits should do the trick.'
Jaeger broadcast to the rest of the squadron again. 'Lascannons only on this one; save your missiles and bombs for the main target.'
Phrao's voice came back first. ++What do you mean 'main target'? Ain't this what we're here to destroy?++
This is just incidental!' Jaeger snapped back. 'Our main objective is on the hulk itself.'
++You're joking! Five Marauders are going to have as much effect on that beast as a swampfly biting a grox's backside!++ Drake chipped in.
Jaeger barely suppressed a growl before opening up the comm channel. 'We don't make the orders, we just follow them. If you have a problem with that, we can sort it out back on the flight deck. We've got a job to do, so let's just stay calm. We'll deal with this Rock and then we'll push on to our main objective.'
++If we get that far!++ Phrao's voice, even taking the hiss of the comm-net into account, was rasping and bitter. ++Damned Raptor's luck!++
Jaeger stabbed at the transmit rune. 'Silence, all of you!' he snapped 'Everyone listen to me right now. You all know your jobs, you've all flown combat missions before. So I'll hear no more of this "Raptor's luck". Is that understood?'
A series of affirmatives were broadcast back and Jaeger nodded to himself. Doubt sows the seeds of fear, the abbot of the Extu Schola Progenium had taught him when he was young. Crash it at birth or suffer the growth of heresy.
Flicking his gaze over the control panels, Jaeger saw that all systems were working within acceptable levels. Everything was ready. He took a deep breath, his hand poised over the comm-link. Letting it out slowly, he touched the rune.
'Raptor Squadron, this is Raptor Leader.' Jaeger made his voice deliberately calm, even though inside his heart was racing and he could feel the excitement of combat beginning to surge. 'Break and attack! Break and attack!'
A DOZEN SMALL turrets swivelled into firing position and unleashed a torrent of shells at the Marauders as they screamed in towards the Rock, their engines at full burn. Dodging through the hail of death, now was the time for each pilot to prove his worth. Jerryl took the lead, followed by Jaeger, then the other bombers. From his position, Jaeger had the perfect opportunity to see the magnificent Marauder bomber in action.
They were huge metallic beasts, each weighing more then three battle tanks, with a wide wingspan. Designed for limited range space combat as

well as atmospheric missions, the Marauder manoeuvred with small vectoring engines along the fuselage and wings whilst in the ether, and massive control planes and a quad-ramjet when they dipped into a planet's atmosphere. Nicknamed 'Big Brutes' by the flight crews, each Marauder was a flying fortress. Its two dorsal twin-autocannon were capable of unleashing a hail of fire that could punch through the armour of enemy planes and tear apart crew and engines, while the tail-gunner's triple heavy bolters could fire a dozen shells a second at enemy interceptors or strafe soft ground targets. On the nose were the lascannons for precision targeting, and six Flail missiles hung from the wings, each with a plasma warhead capable of creating a crater over fifty feet in diameter or cracking the armoured hull of a spaceship. For more wholesale devastation, the Marauder's hull also incorporated a spacious bomb bay which could deliver a payload of explosives or incendiaries.
As he contemplated the sheer destructive potential of just a single Marauder, Jaeger found his faith in the Imperium renewed. The Adeptus Mechanicus had designed this awesome fighting machine. The Schola Progenium of the Ministorum had given him the fervent faith to serve the Emperor. The Imperial Navy had taught him how to control this murderous creature of metal. And now he was here, once more about to deliver fiery judgement upon the heads of the Emperor's enemies. For Jaeger, there was no finer feeling.
As Raptor Squadron roared closer to the Rock, the enemy response grew in ferocity. With stomach-churning suddenness, Jaeger pulled up from the dive towards the Rock, bringing the Marauder's nose level with the horizon of the small asteroid. Where a second before he had been flying in open space, now there was ground beneath him. As always, it took a couple of seconds to fight off the disorientation, and while he took a few deep breaths, he subconsciously sent the Marauder into a series of short climbs, dives and banks to throw off the enemy gunners. Glancing hits ricocheted around the armoured hull, filling the air with sporadic metallic clangs. A close hit set the plane shaking, and warning runes flashed red across three of the control panels that covered every surface of the cockpit. Ferix's voice sounded over the comm in alarm.
'Armour breach! Check your vacuum seals and utter the Third Canticle of Protection, praise His name.'
Jaeger went through the routine of checking the fastenings on his helm, muttering under his breath: 'Deliver me from the void. Protect me from the ether. Guard well my soul.'
The bombers were almost within firing range and the fire had slackened as some of the Rock's gun turrets were blind-sided by the mass of the asteroid. A surprise burst of fire engulfed Jerryl's plane, stripping away great shards of metal. Phrao's plane swept low, its lascannon blasting apart the ork gunnery turret, exacting instant revenge. Jaeger could see a

gaping hole in the starboard wing of Jerryl's Marauder, trailing sparks as severed power cables discharged their energy into the vacuum.
'Raptor Three, what is your condition?' Jaeger enquired urgently.
++Lost starboard controls, handling shaky. I don't think I can hold her, permission to disengage?++
'Okay, Jerryl. Break off and return home.' Jaeger said through gritted teeth.
Suddenly the comm-net icons flashed for a priority message. ++This is Admiral Veniston. Do not disengage, Raptor Three: circle around and reform for attack on primary objective.++
Jerryl's reply came through a hiss of static. ++What the... Damned controls... Order received.++
Jaeger watched as the lead Marauder pulled up, taking it out of the attack run. Easing his control column left and right, Jaeger steered his craft through the shells screaming towards him. Guiding the Marauder over the steep lip of a crater, Jaeger saw the reactor housing for the first time: a crude conglomeration of twisting pipes and power relays. Berhandt gave a grunt as the ork's power generator came within range of his lascannon. Bolts of laser energy flashed towards the Rock, sending up plumes of smoke and dust. Berhandt's lascannon spat forth another volley of fire, tearing through metal and rock.
'Emperor's blood, missed!' cursed Berhandt, punching his fist against the lascannon controls.
Twisting in his seat as he steered the Marauder away, Jaeger watched as Phrao's bomber made its pass. As the craft swept towards its target, leaving a trail of swirling debris in its wake, two bolts of light struck the reactor full on, turning the generator's armour into a molten slurry and punching through to the highly unstable plasma chamber within.
++Spot on!++ Phrao shouted gleefully. ++Pull away!++
Jaeger's left arm ached as he wrenched the column back and right, pulling the Marauder into a spine-bending turning climb. Through the side-screens, Jaeger could see small eruptions breaking out across the Rock as a chain reaction spread from the reactor to the turrets and rocket batteries. Forks of electrical energy began to arc into the air and the reactor went into critical overload. A cloud of gas exploded through the Rock's surface from an underground tank, sending shards of rock spinning dangerously close to the following Marauders, before the gas was eaten up by a shaft of blue flame. Raw plasma spewed from the molten remains of the generator, pushing the Rock off its trajectory, sending it spinning further away from the hulk. With an explosion that momentarily blinded the flight commander, the Rock burst apart, sending fragments of debris hurtling in every direction. The victorious cries of Jaeger's crew and the other pilots rang in his ears.
'Steady, Raptors, that was just the warm up.' Jaeger chided them 'Now for the real target. Form up; Jerryl take the rear.'

++Affirmative.++ Jerryl responded. ++Where for now, sir?++
Jaeger grimaced to himself. 'Not sure.' he answered slowly. 'We haven't received full target information yet.' Damn it, he thought to himself, the whole mission briefing was hazy. This whole thing was beginning to stink, but of what he wasn't yet certain.++Let's get this straight.++ Phrao's voice was heavy with sarcasm. ++We don't know what we're attacking, we've just got a deadline to meet. That's it? We just fly in there, easy as you like, drop a few bombs, fire a few shots and go home? Somehow I don't think it'll be that easy.++
'Cut the chatter!' Jaeger ordered, his mood grim. He agreed with the other pilots, but he'd be damned if he was going to sow doubt on the command skills of Kauri and Veniston halfway through a mission.
The Marauders roared onwards, the hulk growing ever larger through their cockpit windows. Its massive bulk blocked out a swathe of stars, looking like some lurking shadow waiting to swallow up the Marauders, luring them to their doom.
CAPTAIN KAURL COUGHED gently to attract the admiral's attention. The senior officer pulled his gaze from the monitoring station and turned round, one eyebrow raised in question.
'We are in position to initiate the second attack wave, Lord Veniston.'
The admiral rubbed one haggard cheek with his hand, gazing at nothing in particular.
'Sir? Shall we proceed?' Kauri pressed.
Veniston's eyes were flints. Very well, Jacob. Launch Devil Squadron. Proceed with the attack on the engines themselves.'
WITH THE DEBRIS of the Rock scattering slowly in their wake, the Marauders headed onwards towards the hulk. Pressing a series of runes above his head, Jaeger turned on a small viewscreen just above the front canopy, and a flickering, fractured image of the view behind the bomber crackled into existence. The flight commander watched as the Divine Justice moved in towards the hulk, its awesome plasma drives pushing it forward on great trails of fire. The two surviving frigates formed up in front of the cruiser, ready to defend their capital ship against the few remaining ork attack ships.
Jaeger could picture the commotion on board the massive warships, as gun and torpedo crews scurried to and fro, readying their weapons for action. He imagined the gun decks bathed red in combat lighting, the gunners sweating and cursing as they heaved power cells into place or loaded shells the size of his bomber into the breaches. In the torpedo bays, hundreds of men would be bending their backs to the chains, hauling the massive projectiles, ten times the size of a Marauder, along the loading rails. In the engine room, the men would be sweating heavily, the

heat of the thirty plasma reactors permeating even through their thermal shielding and the crew's protective suits. He didn't envy them their task: hard work in very cramped conditions for little recognition or reward. Moreover, pilots were all volunteers, while many of the thousands of men who laboured in the depths of the fighting ships were criminals serving their penance to the Emperor, or simply unfortunate men taken unawares by the press gangs. And yet, he thought, everyone serves the Emperor, each in their own way. They will receive their due honours in time, whether in this life or not.
Something caught Jaeger's attention from the corner of his eye, but before he had a chance to look properly, Arafa was screaming in his ear.
++Incoming! Ork fighter-bombers, moving in on an intercept vector, closing fast. Where's our damned fighter screen?++
Jaeger was transmitting even before Arafa had finished.
'Storm Leader, Arrow Leader!' he rasped, throat dry with sudden fear. 'This is Raptor Leader, we need cover and fast! We have...' Jaeger checked the display in front of him '...eight fighter-bombers incoming!'
++Okay, Jaeger.++ the fighter commander came through immediately. ++We're on our way. Arrow Leader out.++
'Everyone, keep sharp!' Jaeger ordered over the squadron comm-link. 'Gunners mark your targets, watch for the crossfire. Tight formation. Don't let them get in amongst us. Drake, you're uppermost; cover the blindsides.'
Jaeger forced himself to calm down, loosening his white-kuckled grip on the control column. He kept his gaze firmly on the slivers of light that marked the approaching orks. Now was the time to trust in the gunners.
THE ORKS WERE jinking and swerving as they closed in on Raptor Squadron, surrounded by a cloud of tracer shells and pulses of laser light as the Marauders' guns opened fire. Each enemy craft was different, haphazardly constructed from crudely cut and bent metal plates, pushed screaming across the stars by hugely oversized engines that spluttered multi-coloured trails. Each was decorated differently too: some painted in bold stripes of red and black or red and yellow; others embellished with ork glyphs that were indecipherable to Jaeger; others still just a mess of jagged patterns and bold colours. Blazing cannons protruded from the nose of each interceptor and their wings were hung with bombs and missiles.
The Marauders were flying close in to each other, relying upon mass of fire to drive off the attack, rather than trying to evade the much more manoeuvrable ork aircraft. Their gunners covered each other's blind spots, trying to keep up the almost impenetrable wall of fire that was needed to keep the fighters at bay until the Divine Justice's interceptors could arrive.

'Got one!' Arick shouted from behind Jaeger, as an ork fighter exploded into a billowing cloud of shrapnel and rapidly burning fuel. Then the fighters screamed within range, raking along the length of Drake's plane, sending splinters of metal flying. A few stray rounds ricocheted off the shield in front of Jaeger, causing him to flinch, but the armoured glass held out against the impacts. As the enemy swept overhead, the dorsal guns on the Marauders swivelled to track them, spraying salvo after salvo of fire into the ork formation. Through the armoured view panel to his left, Jaeger saw one of the craft caught in a crossfire by Phrao and Drake's gunners. The enemy's cockpit shattered, causing it to tumble out of control towards Jerryl's stricken Marauder. As the bomber laboriously swung out of harm's way, its damaged wing twisted, until it sheared off completely. Lurching out of formation, the Marauder flipped madly out of control, and was suddenly in the centre of a devastating crossfire from the orks. Jaeger averted his gaze, but in his mind's eye he could picture the lifeless bodies of the crew drifting out towards the stars.
With Jerryl's covering fire lost, the ork fighter-bombers closed in on the rear of Raptor Squadron, twisting nimbly between the volleys of fire from the tail gunners. The situation was looking grim: the orks could simply pick them off one by one now that the formation was disrupted. If they just carried on flying straight towards the target they'd be sitting targets and wouldn't last more than a couple of minutes.
'Break formation for dogfight!' Jaeger ordered. 'Drake, Arafa, circle round and get-'
Jaeger's order was interrupted by a message from the Divine Justice. ++This is Admiral Veniston. Maintain formation, proceed towards primary target without delay.++
Jaeger gripped the control column, trying to quell his rising fury. Was Veniston deliberately trying to get them killed? He stabbed at the comm-net button again. 'This is Jaeger. Repeat: break formation, take out these damned orks, or we can forget about our target!'
As the Marauders pulled away from each other, Jaeger dragged his plane round in a tight circle, the control column juddering in his hands. Berhandt was crouching over the lascannon controls, staring intently through the firing visor for a target. Jaeger spotted a fighter expertly tailing Drake's weaving Marauder. Jaeger brought his own craft down above the ork craft, glancing across to check that Berhandt was ready. The slicing beams of the bombardier's lascannon were joined by Arick's fire from above their heads. It tore through the tail of the ork fighter and sent it listing off uselessly, fountains of sparks spraying from its ruptured fuselage.
A rattle of shells against the hull snapped Jaeger's attention to his left, where another enemy fighter-bomber was roaring towards him, its cannons blazing away. Something punched through the hull just behind the flight commander and he heard a muffled cry over the internal communicator.

'What's happening back there? Saile? Marte?' he demanded.
He was answered by Marte's deep voice. 'Clean head shot, Commander Jaeger. Saile's dead.'
Everything was anarchy. Jaeger watched the Marauders twisting and weaving, trying to shake off the much quicker ork craft. The enemy was everywhere, the fighter-bombers looping around the squadron, unleashing hail after hail of fire from their cannons.
Arick's voice filled the internal link: 'Come on, scum! Yeah, just a little closer... Take that! Damn, just winged him! Oh, you hungry for some as well, filth? Emperor, these scum are slippery...'
Jaeger pushed the Marauder into a steep dive, the mass of the ork hulk sliding across his field of vision through the canopy. He saw Drake's Marauder being tailed by a trio of fighter-bombers and realised the first attack wave had been reinforced by more of the ork craft. Glancing down at the on-board scanner, he realised that the bomber's sensor arrays were damaged and hadn't picked up the new arrivals. The flickering amber and red lights across the whole panel showed that nearly all the plane's systems were in need of serious repair. Glancing over his shoulder, Jaeger could make out Ferix clambering about in the gloom, frantically re-wiring cables and sealing split pipelines, muttering prayers all the while.
Turning his attention back to the outside, he watched helplessly as a volley of fire from the orks shredded the tail of Drake's Marauder. But then, without warning, the fighter-bombers tailing Drake exploded into widening blasts of twisted metal. A moment later, three Imperial Thunderbolts screamed through the cloud of burning gas, their engines at full throttle. The comm crackled into life.
++This is Arrow Leader. We have them now. Break for your target.++
With a howl of relief, Jaeger opened up the engines to full and flicked the transmit rune on the comm panel. 'Just in time, Dextra! Stay lucky and I'll see you back on board.'
The interceptors had punched a hole in the fighter-bomber squadrons, leaving the route clear for the bombers to proceed towards their destination. Jaeger banked his aircraft around to head for the opening, his eyes fixed on the huge ork vessel ahead.
'Raptor Squadron, this is Raptor Leader,' Jaeger announced over the squadron frequency, trying to keep his voice calm, despite his trepidation and pounding heart. 'Follow me in.'
'CHECK MISSILE AND bomb links.' Jaeger ordered the squadron. Behind him, Berhandt touched a pair of runes and frowned as they failed to light up. Snarling, the bombardier brought his fist down sharply on the display and grinned cheerfully as his faced was bathed in green light. He looked towards Jaeger and gave a thumbs up.

'This is Raptor Leader.' Jaeger broadcast to the squadron. 'Prepare for bombardment of primary objective.'
As a series of affirmatives came back across the comm-link, Jaeger gave a quick smile to himself. They'd got through. Not all of them, admittedly, but hopefully they'd get the opportunity to avenge Saile, Jerryl and the others.
++Look at the size of that beast.++ Arafa's awed voice came over the ether.
'Less talk, men, stay sharp.' Jaeger interrupted 'We've come too far to mess up now.'
Despite his stern words, Jaeger could understand the other pilot's feelings. The hulk was truly massive, dwarfing even the majestic size of the Divine Justice. As the squadron moved closer and closer to their target, and the hulk grew larger and larger in their sights, Jaeger could make out more details. He could see where three or perhaps four different starships had been compacted together, forming outcrops of twisted metal, jutting at a bizarre angle from where innumerable other craft and asteroids had been compressed together by the tides of warp space to form the central mass of the drifting hulk. It looked like a gigantic wedge of crumpled and torn metal and rock, the size of a city, weighing untold millions of tons. How the orks managed to populate one of these randomly wandering behemoths, the Emperor alone knew. That they could was bad enough, but when the green-skinned savages managed to activate dormant engines or build their own immense drives, that turned an uncontrolled, erratic menace into a dire threat. The bulk of the ork vessel shimmered with the frozen particles that encrusted its hull. Billowing gases vented from unseen ports, creating a wreath of lazily-moving smog around the hulk's huge girth. It had a kind of savage beauty: a wracked sculpture of tortured metal that somehow seemed to be cleaving elegantly across the stars.
Jaeger's thoughts hardened. Inside that bizarre, sprawling shell were thousands, possibly hundreds of thousands of orks waiting to devastate some planet; to spill across continents in a wave of wanton destruction and killing. He remembered what had happened to the Imperial Retribution and pictured Saile's corpse in the sealed gunnery chamber behind him. All thoughts of beauty slipped from his mind immediately. The hulk was a threat to the Emperor's domains; a stain upon the galaxy. It was his duty to destroy it.
Checking the targeting data scrolling across a small, dull yellow viewscreen just above his head, Jaeger banked the Marauder in towards the hulk to assume the best attack trajectory.
'Raptor Squadron, this is Raptor Leader.' Jaeger growled, turning over the attack pattern in his head. 'Praise the Emperor, it's time.'
*    *    *

THE MARAUDERS SPED across the chaotic hull of the ork hulk, diving low to swoop beneath ruined gantries, swerving around twisted columns. With the Marauders this close, the defence turrets had little time to react to their presence, sending up a harmless spray of energy bolts and shells seconds too late.
Jaeger started to chant the mantra that would ease his mind into union with the aircraft he controlled. He would rely solely upon instinct rather than thought, he and the bomber acting and reacting as a single entity. As he felt his mind slipping into the semi-subconscious state he required for total concentration, Jaeger glanced over to see Berhandt hunched over the targeting screen, his fingers subconsciously adjusting the row of dials below it to get the focus and magnitude correct.
Guiding the Marauder across the hulk's surface with one hand, Jaeger activated a series of runes and the canopy in front of him darkened slightly as it interfaced with the Marauder's artificial eyes and ears. A false image of outlines and silhouettes imposed itself over the view through the shield; highlighting particular obstacles, bringing the twisted contours and angles of the hulk's surface into stark contrast for ease of navigation. Patches of static or blankness showed here and there where the Marauder's sensors were damaged or some interfering energy source was fluctuating within the hulk itself.
With Berhandt concentrating on the bombs and missiles, it was Jaeger's task to take control of the lascannon. The flight commander reached overhead and pulled a lever. With a sudden venting of quickly-dissipating steam, the lascannon controls slid forward from the control panel beside Berhandt, four clamps locking the whole control bank into its new position alongside Jaeger. Punching a pair of buttons on the weapon control panel with his right hand, still guiding the Marauder around the obstructions ahead with his left, the flight commander activated the lascannon and the canopy display in front of him was filled with a swirl of static. Quickly adjusting the weapon's sensor array, Jaeger re-tuned the lascannon's false eyes and the cloud of random specks coalesced into moving icons, highlighting possible target points. The blood-red rune of their primary target stood out like a guiding beacon, a procession of angles, estimated armour, trajectories and other information scrolling rapidly alongside it.
'Raptor Squadron, sound off current status,' the flight commander ordered.
++RaptorTwo, lascannon's out, missiles and bombs on-line and ready to blow!++
++Raptor Three, all systems acceptable, by the Emperor.++
++Raptor Five, everything's in the green 'cept tail retros. She's handling hard, but we'll be fine.++
'Okay. Assume attack vector Prime, standard diamond,' Jaeger commanded. 'Let's not waste our chance.'

Jaeger slowed his breathing, realising that despite his prayers he was becoming agitated. In a few more moments they would pass over the jagged outcrop of an impacted cargo ship and would have a line to their as-yet unknown target. A hum started in Jaeger's ear through the internal comm, as Berhandt wakened the spirits of the Marauder's self-guiding missiles and they set about seeking their target. As the bomber neared its objective and the missiles' surveyors acquired the targeting point, the hum became ever more high pitched. Tilting the nose of the Marauder forward, Jaeger led the squadron over the wrecked cargo transport. The unidentified target came into full view.
Like a bolt of unholy wrath, a ball of plasma a hundred metres wide swept through the Marauder squadron, engulfing Arafa's aircraft, leaving nothing more than a cloud of gas and globules of molten plasteel.
Drake was on the comm-link instantly ++Emperor's blood! It's a damned gun battery! Why didn't they tell us it was a damned cannon? What the hell were they thinking of? Aren't we attacking the engines?++
Jaeger saw that it was true: a pair of immense guns, each with a barrel wide enough to swallow a Marauder, was pointing directly at the attacking bombers. Jaeger shivered with dread as he saw the scanner's read-out showing the energy build-up for another blast.
'Pull up!' Jaeger cried out over the squadron frequency. 'Break formation! Hit it from the other side!' As he wrenched his own plane into a steep climb, he prayed that the others had reacted in time, as if he could make their aircraft move faster, make them react quicker, through sheer force of will.
As the Marauders dispersed, another volcanic blast of energy hurtled from the cannons, blazing a path through the space where seconds before the Marauders had been. Jaeger thanked the Emperor for his swift guidance, but inwardly he was cursing Veniston and Kauri with all his might. Why hadn't they told Jaeger that the target was a weapon battery? How the hell did they think he was going to plan an attack properly if he wasn't made aware of all the dangers? Choking back his fury, Jaeger ordered the squadron back into an attack approach, fervently praying under his breath that the huge turret didn't have enough time to traverse and get another shot at them. At this range it could hardly miss.
With agonising slowness, the turret tracked around towards the incoming Marauders. The message 'Deviant Perceived' flashed scarlet across the left window of the canopy and the whine of the missiles became an unbearable shriek.
'Fly, sweet vengeance!' came Berhandt's voice, quoting the words he'd personally inscribed onto each of the missiles as they were loaded.
A salvo of fire from the other bombers joined Berhandt's volley, a rippling wave of death that streaked towards its target on tails of flame, rapidly becoming distant sparks as the missiles sped towards the gun turret. They

hit home with a deadly blossom of explosions and the viewscreen showed twisted chunks of metal being thrown in all directions. Escaping gases briefly caught fire in actinic fountains of flaring light.
The red target rune was still active on the canopy screen, shining bright just in front of Jaeger's eyes. He realised with sickening dread that the turret wasn't destroyed. It was still about to open fire once more.
'Lascannons and bombs!' Jaeger ordered, pressing the firing stud of his own plane's weapons with his thumb, spewing forth a salvo of energy bolts. Debris and burning vapours exploded across the hulk's surface as the lasers tracked towards their target, until the gun turret was at the centre of a storm of beams converging from the four Marauders. A warning sigil floated before Jaeger, showing the turret was in position to fire again. In his mind's eye, Jaeger could imagine the huge barrels of the cannons glowing with the suppressed energy inside, waiting to spit forth destruction and damnation.
With a blast that flung Jaeger back in his seat, the turret exploded in a vast, searing cloud of white plasma and billowing clouds of magnesium-bright vapour. Easing the controls back, Jaeger began to pull the Marauder out of its dive towards the hulk's surface.
Suddenly, Drake's voice was hammering in his ear: ++Control's lost, Raptor Leader. I can't pull èð.-ì-
Jaeger watched as Drake's Marauder sped below him, dipping towards the hulk's hull, trailing sparks and burning fuel from its damaged tail.
Get out, Jaeger pleaded. Get to the saviour pod. He gave a heartfelt sigh of relief as he saw the midsection of the Marauder being punched upwards by emergency rockets, sending it spinning away from the hulk.
++Lost Barnus and Cord.++ Drake's voice was hoarse with sadness. ++Their link to the pod was blocked.++
++Raptor Squadron, this is Veniston.++ The admiral's smooth voice cut through the comm-chatter. ++Excellent work, boys. You can come home now.++
Jaeger frowned to himself in confusion. How the hell did destroying one gun turret help the Divine Justice against this brute? As he raged, the answer appeared on the display screen far across the rear of the hulk. More Marauders were moving in on the behemoth's engines: the Marauders of Devil Squadron.
Phrao hissed bitterly over the comm-link: ++Trust those damned Devils. We do all the bleeding, they get all the glory!++
'Not this time, Phrao.' Jaeger answered. 'Form up on my wing. Let's give the Devils a hand.'
++I hear you, Raptor Leader!++ Phrao replied happily.
As THE BOMBS and missiles of Devil Squadron erupted across one of the hulk's immense engines, the surviving two Marauders of the Raptors swept

low, their lascannons picking out weak points in the armour, punching through buckled shields and twisted plates. Soon a dozen fires were blazing, and the engine raptured with a swirling cloud of super-heated matter. Explosions blossomed across the whole section of the hulk and one by one each of die massive stellar drives lost power and went dim, leaving the hulk drifting without control. As the Marauders sped back towards die Divine Justice, the cruiser was sweeping in victoriously for the kill. Wave after wave of torpedoes sped past; Jaeger adjusted the rear viewer to see the plasma warheads punching massive holes in the hulk's armoured skin. Gun batteries exploded across the ork vessel in bright pinpricks of light. Fires began raging across die hulk's midsection, becoming raging infernos as die atmosphere inside the hulk pushed out with ever-increasing pressure.
As he prepared to dock, Jaeger got one last glimpse of the hulk. Unable to manoeuvre wiriiout its main engines, and helpless to resist the Imperial cruiser raking it from the rear, the hulk was slowly deteriorating. Salvo after salvo from the Divine Justice's gun decks pounded into the hulk, ripping off huge swathes widi every broadside. Ancient reactors in the hulk's depths began to overload, smashing open gaping holes from within. Then the bomber passed into the shadow of the Divine Justice and the hulk was lost from view.
CLEANED UP AND in his dress uniform, Jaeger hurried to die briefing chamber. As he entered, Admiral Veniston was debriefing the Devils. Kauri was there too, standing silently behind the admiral, his face a blank mask. Jaeger listened to Veniston's praise for Devil Squadron's part in the day's victory, and what he heard set his teerii on edge.
'And I can say without doubt that die whole mission was a complete success,' the admiral said, 'and I am glad that it was achieved with acceptable losses.'
That was too much to bear. Jaeger stepped into the centre of the briefing chamber, blazing with fury. He'd already gone through too much, without having to stand around while die admiral praised the Devils' conduct and said diat the Raptors' casualties simply didn't matter.
'"Acceptable losses"?' Jaeger demanded, eyes ablaze. What the hell do you mean, "acceptable losses"? I lost fifteen good men on that mission while these flyboys were sitting on their carefully polished backsides waiting for their orders! Fifteen men lost while mirty others watched and waited! If you had sent us out together, we could have handled ourselves better. Damn it, you didn't even tell us what our target was, did you?'
Veniston and Kauri stared at Jaeger in rank disbelief, which only served to fuel his fury. 'Of course.' he spat, his voice dropping to a harsh whisper, 'we're just the Raptors, we don't really count, do we? Well I'm sorry if we're not related, admiral, but my life is worth as much to the Emperor as that of your own kin!'

Kauri was beside himself. "What is the meaning of this, flight commander?' the captain stormed, face like thunder. 'How dare you speak to a senior officer like this! Call for the Officer of the Watch. Have Commander Jaeger taken to the brig immediately!'
Jaeger clamped his mouth shut with a snort, and bristled in impotent fury. Without a word or look, Veniston walked from the chamber, ignoring the icy glare that Jaeger shot him as the admiral walked past. Jaeger felt his arm grabbed just below the elbow and he spun round.
Lieutenant Strand was standing there, flanked by two ratings. 'We've orders to take you down, Mister Jaeger.' he said, face impassive. Jaeger nodded numbly and followed them out of the briefing room. After a moment, Captain Kauri caught up with the group and dismissed the lieutenant and guards with a waved hand.
'You went too far, Jacques.' Kauri started, his voice soft, his eyes meeting the flight commander's gaze. 'If you don't have respect, then you don't have anything.'
Kauri led the flyer into one of the secondary hangars. Inside were the coffins of the dead, waiting to be ejected into space during the burial ceremony that evening. On each was an inscribed nameplate, even for those who had left no body behind: Gunner Saile, Raptor Squadron; Gunner Barnus, Raptor Squadron; Gunner Cord, Raptor Squadron; Commander Drake, Raptor Squadron; the row went on and on.
There were twenty-one coffins in all. When Jaeger read the nameplate of the sixteenth, he stumbled back a step in shock. It read Flight Commander Raf, Devil Squadron. He turned to Kauri, his brow knitted in confusion.
'I- I don't-' Jaeger stuttered, lost for words. His anger was gone; he felt empty.
'The Devils' attack wasn't the "easy in, easy out" mission you seemed to think it was.' the captain said tersely. 'They still had to get through several ork attack ships and the roaming fighter-bombers. Raf was killed guiding his plane into the engines of one of the ork attack ships that was blocking the Divine Justice's approach. He knowingly sacrificed himself for the completion of the task, and you'll do well to remember him with pride.'
Kauri stepped between Jaeger and the coffin, forcing the flight commander to look at him. 'I devised the plan of attack on the engines, not the admiral.' the captain went on relentlessly. 'It was me who decided that two waves were needed: the Raptors in first to silence the engine defence guns picked up by the Mechanicus's scan, then the Devils to finish off the whole mission. If you'd gone in together, would you have had any more chance of success? Would ten Marauders have had a better chance of destroying that battery. No, don't reply. You know what I say is true.
'There were two separate targets which required two missions. We couldn't risk the orks fixing the gun turret while the Marauders were

back on board re-arming and refuelling. It had to be done this way. Neither of the two squadrons had it particularly good, let me assure you. And the reason I didn't tell you it was a battery was to make sure you didn't worry. Come, be honest, if you'd known it was a massive gun battery, would you have been so confident?'
Jaeger considered the captain's argument, and he could see the logic. But that didn't alter the fact that they were sent into a situation without knowing the full risks. 'Taking on a massive gun battery isn't as simple as blowing up defenceless engines, sir.' Jaeger protested.
'I knew it would be hard, and that men would die.' the captain told Jaeger, his eyes showing that he understood the flight commander's concerns. As they spoke, Kauri led Jaeger out of the hanger and they continued down to the brig. 'Don't you think that every time I order an attack, I don't consider the lives of my men? You had the cover from the Thunderbolts for that second fighter attack. Why do you think it took so long for them to arrive? They were supposed to be escorting Devil Squadron. I didn't sign death warrants for your crews, I gave them a chance to prove themselves, to show what Raptor Squadron could really do. Lord Veniston had the chance to over-rule me, knowing that his nephew was going to be having just as much of a hard time as you were. But he did not.'
'Why the hell not?' Jaeger asked with a flick of his hand. 'What the hell does Raptor Squadron mean to him? Raf was in the Devils, so surely his main loyalty lay there.'
'That's not for me to say. That aside, I know that the admiral was as keen as myself to give your squadron its chance for glory. Without your efforts, the Devils would have been obliterated by the ork cannons, and after that the Divine Justice would have been facing a fully operational enemy, instead of a sitting target. Everybody realises that - including Lord Veniston.'
As they spoke, Kauri led Jaeger into the brig, where Lord Veniston was waiting silently. Jaeger looked at the admiral, and for the first time realised the pain and anguish he must be feeling.
'You can leave the prisoner in my care now, captain.' the admiral said, meeting Jaeger's gaze for the first time. Veniston appeared as calm and collected as ever at first glance, with only the occasional twitch of an eyelid or lip betraying any emotion the admiral might be feeling at his nephew's death.
As Kauri bowed and left, Veniston stepped up to Jaeger and laid a gentle hand on his shoulder. 'While you are in here, think on what has happened today.' The admiral's voice was quiet but strong. He spoke with years of authority, and for the first time since arriving on the Divine Justice, Jaeger could hear what the admiral had to say for himself.

'Your enthusiasm, your dedication, are laudable.' his superior was saying. 'But you must expand your perspective, trust in your superiors. Remember always: the cause justifies the sacrifice. No mission I've ever flown or commanded in the Emperor's name was ever a waste, and while I retain my mental faculties things will stay that way'
Jaeger didn't know what to say. His mind was fuddled with post-battle exhaustion and his thoughts were reeling, trying to make some sense of the unexpected sequence of events that had followed his outburst in the briefing chamber. 'I'll think on that, sir,' he managed to mumble.
'Just see that you do, lad.' the admiral said. With a cursory flick of his head, Veniston directed the two attendant sentries to lead Jaeger into the small, sparse cell.
As the thick steel door closed behind him with an echoing clang, Jaeger's thoughts were troubled. He sat down on the small bunk and hung his head in his hands. What did Veniston mean, 'No mission I've ever flown'?
In his head, he could not shake a small detail, barely glimpsed as the admiral had taken his hand from Jaeger's shoulder. Jaeger looked down at his black gauntlets, part of the flight commander's uniform required by regulations. Veniston had been wearing black gloves too, each with a small insignia. Picked out in delicate gold thread on Veniston's gloves had been an Eagle Rampant, the unmistakable sign of Raptor Squadron.