The Great Crusades: Bellum Abyssi

Sol Under Siege, Pt. 4: War over heaven, pt. 1

I do not own any pictures or other media used in the making of this chapter and all credit goes to the original creators.
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Imperial Date: 00.9.3.1948.M41

3rd Person POV

The clouds over the palace were blackened. Smoke rose from the ground in sickly concentrations, adding to the meek atmosphere. The sky itself was a sinister red -orange hue, and looked as if it were on fire . . .

*SCREEEEEEEE-FWOOOOSH*

A single Thunderbolt fighter darted past, followed by another. They were engaged with two Abyssal Despoiler-Class fighters which tailed them close behind. One of the Thunderbolts pulled a cobra-maneuver, flying impetuously towards the enemy Despoilers. With a quick decision, the Despoilers avoided collision by banking right, but it was soon chased from behind by the second Thunderbolt. The first switched targets and pursued the second Despoiler, quickly locking in and launching a Skystrike (Hellstrike missile Air-to-Air counterpart) missile, which promptly annihilated the Despoiler. The remaining Despoiler didn't last long either, as its pursuer fired a burst from one of its twin-linked autocannons at it, which tore through the Despoiler's airframe and sent it crashing to the ground.

Both Thunderbolts regrouped and began to climb higher into the atmosphere. Once they breached the clouds, they caught sight of the monumental battle occurring before them. Abyssal and Imperial warships alike fired on one another. Shattered hulls drifted in decaying orbits or came crashing down to Terra. The void battle wasn't only over the Imperial Palace either; it filled nearly every part of Holy Terra's exosphere and beyond. Every planet in the Sol system had similar skies — but the struggle over the Throneworld was by far the largest, most brutal, and most exhilarating of them all.

The two Thunderbolts boosted their impulse drives and joined four other Thunderbolts in formation. They flew by an Imperius-Pattern SDV-Class Heavy Frigate (non imperials generally use the smaller and less combat-capable Ceudar-pattern Heavy Corvette as independent assembly forges do not have access to Imperius-pattern schematics).

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Class: SDV-Class Heavy Frigate (all other patterns of the SDV-class are designated Heavy Corvettes)

Pattern: Imperius-Pattern (utilized exclusively by Imperium and Imperial splinter factions, three times as long and massive as other patterns).

Manufacturer: All Imperial Assembly Forges and Forge/Industrial Worlds.

Specifications:

Length: 2868 meters

Width: 1197 meters

Height: 525 meters