Wolf's Honour by Lee Lightner

Author:Lee Lightner
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: Black Library
Published: 2011-05-24T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

‘I count twenty – no, thirty – contacts, closing fast!’ the Thunderhawk’s augur operator cried, his eyes glued to the phosphorescent display screen. The bondsman’s gloved hands played with the augur unit’s tuning knobs. ‘At present speed they’ll be in range in seven seconds,’ he calculated.

‘Very well,’ the assault ship’s pilot replied calmly. He reached up and keyed his vox-mic. ‘Gunners, look alive! Contacts at six o’clock,’ he said, alerting the four crewmen manning the weapon stations in the compartment beneath the command deck. As an assault ship meant to carry troops into hostile landing zones, the Thunderhawk traded speed and manoeuvrability for weapons and armour. Along with a massive forward firing battle cannon and a pair of lascannons, the Thunderhawk also mounted four twin-linked heavy bolters on remote hardpoints. Two of these hardpoints were mounted beneath each wingtip, allowing them to fire both forward and aft. Ragnar felt the vibration of the hardpoint gimbals and the clatter of the autoloaders as the two mounts swung about and began tracking the incoming Chaos fighters.

Ragnar’s grip tightened on the stanchions to either side of the command deck’s hatch. He hadn’t counted on the possibility that the cruisers circling above the shadow world could carry attack craft as well. ‘How long until we make planetfall?’ he asked, eyeing the lightning-streaked curve of the ebon planet.

‘Twenty minutes, more or less,’ the pilot answered tersely. ‘Setting up the proper re-entry angle is going to be tricky at this speed.’

‘We’ll be lucky to last twenty seconds,’ the young Space Wolf growled. His hearts were hammering in his chest, and he thought he could feel the blood hissing in his temples. It took every ounce of will not to lash out, to feel something break and bleed in his hands. He closed his eyes and forced the Wulfen from his thoughts. The red tide seemed to ebb somewhat, after a moment, leaving his mind a little clearer.

‘Is there any sign of a city on the planet’s surface?’ Ragnar asked. ‘If this planet is truly a mirror image of Charys, there must be a shadow version of the capital as well.’

The pilot shook his head. ‘I don’t see anything but lightning,’ he replied, and then glanced back at the augur operator. ‘Otto, switch to navigational surveyors and sweep the planet.’

‘What about the enemy ships?’ the operator asked, looking up from his screen with a panicked expression on his sallow face.

‘Forget about them!’ the pilot snapped. ‘You heard the lord. Find me a city down there.’

Swearing under his breath, the augur operator jabbed at a set of runes on his control panel, and the display screen shifted to a new set of oscillating lines. Frowning, the bondsman adjusted a series of knobs, and studied the pulsing readouts. ‘I’m picking up small collections of ground structures at wide intervals. They fit the profile for agri-combines,’ he said. ‘Hard surface reflections from transit lines, but nothing… wait!’ he leaned forward, gently twisting a pair of brass dials. ‘Looks like a hard set of returns bearing zero-one-five, right at the planetary terminus.

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