The Attention Part 6 - Short Story

So intense was the desire of Ranisold to dominate Vespera that now for all intent and purposes, the Kabals are at war. For every world that Vespera seeks to exact her own brand of cruelty, Ranisold's forces will be there either exacting their own brand of sadism or both forces will arrive at the same time upon a world. In turn for this transgression upon her traditional prey, she decided to let the Archon taste his own venom and preyed upon Imperial shipping lanes that are the domain of the Kabal of the Turbulent Stars.

One thing leads to another and now whenever their Kabals meet, there will be a great conflict between them. Many an Imperial World have seen the Eldar Raiders descending upon each other at the same time that they are hunting down their human quarry. Indeed, Vespera have gotten the human transmission that said that there is an apparent 'civil war' between the Eldar race that is engulfing their region of space known as the Atema Sector. Vespera's Kabal and Ranisold's Kabals are evenly matched, but with slight advantages to their own areas of specialty; Vespera with planetary invasions and Ranisold with interstellar raids. 

So when the news that their feud have attracted the ire of an Imperial Crusade, Vespera knew that this feud is going too far. But she will not bow down to the Archon for the Kabal war will not end until one of the Kabal is subsumed into the winner's Kabal. But alas, she will need an ally or some sort, an ally that is not a Dark Eldar but yet is strong enough to take both Ranisold's forces and also the incoming Imperial Crusade. She wondered what kind of brutish strength will be up to the specific requirements that she needs to turn the tide when suddenly one of the Kabalite naval officers upon her bridge warns her of something that proved to be what she's looking for all this while.

"Milady, massive Ork fleet ahead." Vespera could only marvel at the vastness of the Ork fleet for it is perhaps one of the largest Ork fleet that she had ever seen in a long time. Throughout the entire expanse, the Orkoid fleet stretches like a great school of ugly, brutish fishes swimming around the void. One thing caught her eye immediately when she is examining the Ork fleet. 

"I do not see the biggest ship. Where is it?" Before long,  the sensors in her ships are detecting a massive warp portal coming out from above them. Vespera could only look at the massive space hulk with a certain amount of respect as the space hulk dwarfed her entire fleet in its shadow. It took a great ten minutes for the space hulk to fully exit the warp portal.

"Fire at the Space Hulk." Vespera's answer is solemn and confident, and her crew members fired upon the Hulk without hesitation. The void lance fire barely scratched the Space Hulk but the Space Hulk replied with a monstrous amount of inaccurate fire towards the fleet. Before long, thousands of Ork fighters exited the Space Hulk like a swarm of hornets and before long Vespera's Voidravens and Razorwings went out to meet the Ork flighter squadrons.

"Fire your lances upon the other ships as well." Vespera takes her time to enjoy the distiller's art of her drink. As the massive Ork fleet turned around cumbersomely to meet the new threat, Vespera gave in a final command to her crew.

"Retreat at full speed, and recall all the fighters back. But not so fast that the Orks lose us." Despite the questions in their minds, Vespera could see that the crew obeyed her without hesitation. Now, Vespera reckons she got the toll she need to bring down this entire sector of realspace.

The cat-and-mouse chase between her fleet and the Ork fleet lasted for several days, before she proceed to command her fleet to split up. Fully two thirds of her fleet disengaged themselves from the chase, and the remainder of her fleet is now the bait for the entire Ork fleet. 

"Milady what are you doing?" Selendra, her trusted handmaiden asked her Archite. 

"You will see. Just relay the command to the remainder of the fleet to continue on baiting the ork fleet down this path. You and your fleet will enter the webway portal to exit at this particular location. "

"But Milady, that is the....."

"Yes, and you know what to do." Selendra could only nod, and before long she exits the bridge. Vespera could only imagine how this particular plan will fare out.

"So...what do I owe the pleasure of your presence?" Ranisold speaks with voice as thick as oil and as smooth as velvet. Vespera's fleet, much diminished met with the Turbulent Star's Kabalite fleet. 

"I am here to talk a little about our current predicament. We both know that this feud is costing us precious time and resources, and thus I would like to propose a solution to our problems." Vespera notices a slow rictus building upon Ranisold's face.

"I would love to hear about this solution of yours. Surely you are expecting something out of this? I am paying attention to your every word now..." Ranisold is now a man filled with vainglory, his mind bent upon a single solution.

"Well, Lord Huenlar Ranisold, I would like you to pay attention to this." Before the Archon even notices anything, several streams of darklight appear from both sides of the Turbulent Star's fleet, and the elements of Vespera's fleet arrive from the flanks and in a crossfire of void lances, several of the Turbulent Star's vessels are destroyed or crippled.

"What is this??!!?" Huenlar's expression have turned to a man filled with rage.

"Farewell Lord Ranisold. I hoped you are paying attention to the fate that you deserve." Immediately the flanking elements of Vespera's fleet enters into the Webway once again, and just as the entry portals of the flanking attacks closes, Vespera could only enjoy the expression as his bridge receives the information from their sensors

"What? An Ork fleet and an Imperial fleet are coming our way?!?" Before long, a fusillade of portals appear from both sides of the Turbulent Stars flanks. The massive Gothic leviathans of the Imperial fleet appears from the left and the opposite portals gorge out the ramshackled monstrosities of the Ork fleet. The only certainty is that there is nothing the Turbulent Star fleet could do to turn away from both fleets.

"DAMN YOU!!!!!!!!" Vespera could only see the face of a man whose pride is hurt and perhaps a man whose suffering and agony had finally taken over with a large dose of rage.

"Likewise, Milord." Vespera's fleet retreats with full speed away from the onslaught that is about to follow, and with a smile on her face.