In the World of Sword and Magic as Space Marine

Chapter 152: Beast of Caerbannog

"One unbreakable shield against the coming darkness, one last blade forged in defiance of fate, let them be my legacy to the galaxy I conquered, and my final gift to the species I failed." By Emperor of Mankind

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The Day Before Departure,

Ciaphas Cain held his daughter while his aide Ferik Jurgen finished packing all of Cain's personal belongings. Cain saw this moment coming and a century of experience as Commissar would help ease the departure but this was different. This is because Cain has to leave his daughter, Eleanor Rose Cain in this New World. 

Thanks to Lord William's help and connection, Eleanor will be in care of the Crown Prince Benton after tomorrow and when time comes, Rose will receive Cain's gifts including his business. The only thing Rose will ever interact with Cain will be the golden necklace that contains Cain's recorded videos and messages. Tonight will be the last night Cain will spend his time with his daughter. 

"Sir, everything is ready. Do you require a Tanna?" Jurgen asks Cain as he doesn't know what to do next. 

"No, Jurgen. Thank you but I would like to spend tonight with my daughter." Cain dismissed Jurgen afterward and sat down on his favourite chair. Signing his favourite tunes, Cain imagines what his daughter will become. Will she follow in her father's footsteps and become a military woman or will she become a leader of Cain's community? Whatever she will become in the future, Cain would accept as long as she lives a long peaceful life, away from the never ending conflict of the Imperium and forces of evil. 

"Tomorrow, let us have a proper vox image photo. It will be my final gift to you, my dear Eleanor." Cain kisses his baby daughter's forehead and continues his song as the sun starts to set. 

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For the past month, the entire fortress and city went into departure readiness the moment William gave his order. With massive starships in orbit and now able to access the high orbit, Archmagos and members of the Cult Mechanicus tech-priests made their preparation with help from the Imperial Guard. 

Lord Castellan Ursarkar E. Creed and his officers are well experienced with planetary departure. First, everything heavier than Chimera is the first one to be lifted from the planet and sent to transportation ships. More precisely, onto Battleships such as Emperor Class and Retribution Class ships. 

Lord William has complete control of the 50 ships (Reference to Ch 144). Titans and Knights will be sent to their respective transport ships while regiments and their equipment will be sent to each Battleships. As for the Astartes, half of the Atrates will board the five Battle Barges while other half will board the Lord William's flag ship.

The last part is still in question even for Lord Creed. Lord William still hasn't revealed which one of the eight Battleships will be his flag ship. When Lord Creed asked Lord William, he simply said he will reveal everything when time comes. 

'Just what is he planning? Tomorrow is the day.' Lord Creed thought to himself when suddenly his vox earpiece activates with several people making reports at the sametime. 

"One at a time. By the Golden Throne, I just need one person to give a proper report for once." Lord Creed said in anger as he thought that his officers knew better. That is unless a massive fleet of Chaos or Xenos entered the New World's space without 50 Imperial ships knowing. 

"My Lord Commander, this is Major Celilanto from the command center. A massive ship just entered the planet's far space and our fleet can't tell if it's friendly or not." The officer in charge of the Command Center said in a panicking voice. Moment Lord Creed was about to take control of the situation, a new voice entered the vox channel. 

"This is Chapter Master William. All forces stand down, I will say again all forces stand down. The single ship in question is under my command and wouldn't move from its position until our departure day. We will rendezvous with the ship after we leave the planet's surface." William's voice wasn't just coming from the Lord Creed Vox earpiece, it was broadcast to the entire channel including other factions including the rest of the Astartes. 

"All senior officers of all groups report to the council chamber within one hour." William's vox ended and Lord Creed poured himself a drink and finished it in one shot. Usually, William will let his officers know beforehand but for some reason this one was different and it was so sudden.

" A day before departure, he called a single ship far from the planet's orbit. What is he thinking?" Lord Creed poured himself one more and called his attendants to help him get ready for the surprise meeting. 

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One Hour Later, Council Meeting Room, 

"Do you know why the Chapter Master didn't have a new ship join the fleet?" One of the Astartes Captain asks openly to others the moment the last member of the council joins the table. The question of what kind of ship appeared at the edge of the radar was the first one while the second one is related to what kind of reveal Chapter Master will give when the meeting starts. 

It was at this moment when William entered the council room with his terminator armor and a group of his honour guards followed him as usual. William's facial expression is the face of an exhausted man. The management of the pulling of the military forces are done through Lord Creed but everything else such as logistics of food supplies, raw materials for the future campaigns and lists after lists of nightmare have to be done through the highest of the order. This meant that William was up for a whole week to approve and disapprove things that only Lord Guilliman would enjoy in his free time. 

"Good day to you all, I'm sorry I came a little late as I lost track of time at the moment. I have some good news to share with you all. As you could have guessed, we have a single ship on the edge of the system waiting for us. Once we depart from the New World's orbit, we will rendezvous with the ship and embark on the massive warp portal behind one of the moons." Said William. He gave a small smile to ensure everything was fine and clear but this wasn't enough for others as many raised their hands to ask questions they have. 

"Yes, Lord Creed asks away." 

"My Lord, what is the name of the ship and what will be the role of the fleet?" Lord Creed asked and immediately half of the group put down their hands. 

"I see that is the question of the day. I was hoping to surprise you all when we reach the rendezvous point. Oh well, allow me to explain." William provides the information regarding the mysterious ship he summoned at the edge of the star system. 

"The name of the ship is Beast of Caerbannog and she will be my flagship for our journey back home."

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Mythical Summoning Item 

Name: Beast of Caerbannog

The flagship of the Legions of Blacksouls and headquarter of the Blacksouls. 

Once lost in time and found, the ancient ship dates back all the way into humanity's Dark Age of Technology. The ship's origin date and production planet is unknown but based on its design and armament, it was made to take part in a long period of war as long as personnel is available. 

Length of 54 Km/33.55 Miles, the ship is massive and bigger than Gloriana Class Battleship. Clad with black platings with reflectors and deflectors of unknown technology from humanity's golden age, the ship itself is nearly indestructible and capable of self repairs if needed. 

It was recorded that at one point in the ancient engagement in the battle, the ship went into its first engagement starting with ramming first before anything else after. This massive ship is armed to its teeth and big enough to conquer the entire star system by itself as the ship's arsenals are vast and too many to count. From standard anti-air guns to planet killer triple lasers on the front of the ship, Beast of Caerbannog is the mighty spear head and shield at the same time. 

As the ship is from the Dark Age of Technology, it is equipped with the most technologically advanced machinery and data available back in the days of the Dark Age. The ship possesses full memory of the STC and backup memory banks with known numbers. The ship is also capable of producing vast and large numbers of items and equipment without need of supervision. With multiple production levels and factories built-in the ship, the only issue the ship will face is the continuation of raw material it can feed it to the production. 

The ship itself is a fleet of its own. The ship is big enough to hold multiple ships capable of matching against an enemy fleet as its weaponry are powerful and possess thousands of drones equipped with missiles/lasers. 

The ships are divided into two groups. First one is known as a 'Sword' and is used for offensive operations. The swords' role is hybrid of carrier and cruiser as it can be used for various ways such as search and destroy or partols. 

The second group is known as 'Shield.' Like the name, the Shield operates to protect the flagship while Sword is away. Hybrid of carrier and destroyer roles, the Shield is fast and can endure punishment from the enemy attack. The Shield also possesses formidable firepower and energy shield but its signature ability comes from the drones as swarms of remote drones in size of cars can retrieve, harvest and repair ships in command. 

In the worst case scenario, drones from both groups can form up like a massive swarm and strike the enemy forces in a kamikaze-like attack. By doing so, the drones could deliver heavy damage to the key enemy target and attach itself to rip and tear the ship components. 

The Beast of Caerbannog is capable of three modes when the situation demands it.

First, is standard/default form in which a ship can travel in the void and even embark on long distance travel through the warp without need of navigators' help (it is advisable that a ship should have navigators available all times if needed for appearance). The standard form is also used for space battles but can't produce anything big as other ships. On the other side, the ship can assist the repair of other battle damaged ships while in combat as long as ships in repairs don't receive any more damages. 

The second form is production mode. The ship can be stationary similar to an orbital station and able to go into production or factory mode to produce various things such as war gears to ships. During production mode, the ship isn't defenceless as multiple layers of void shields and weapons will protect itself from any harm. The production form can also be used as a battle station/command centre while legion forces invade or protect a planet and are able to supply or repair other ships. This also means that the ship can drop its products from orbit, providing immediate supplies or even base buildings for the military campaign. 

The third and last form is harvest form. This form is usually used after the battle to gather any useful materials from the enemy ships, planets and even raw materials from the asteroids. While in the harvest form, the ship can travel around the battle zone and gather its resources for future uses as there is no telling when the fleet can resupply from the friendly forces. If the situation demands it, the ship can fly close enough to harvest the sun's energy and matter to produce war materials. 

During all three forms, the ship is capable of sending out drones and salvage crews to retrieve damaged ships or raw materials. The second and third forms are much more productive when it comes to salvaging compared to the first form. 

Lastly, the Beast of Caerbannog is fully crewed and supplied for the departure. Still, the ship has enough rooms and space to house a full legion and multiple regiments if needed. The ship also possesses an advanced AI named Arthur who is in charge of the ship itself. Due to the ship's size and multiple functions, Arthur has a dozen sub AIs to help his work loads and supervise the condition of the ship and Legion's needs.

*Note that AI Arthur is aware of the Imperium and updated with its opinion towards AI. For this reason, Arthur and his sub AIs manage deep within the ship's database and disguise themselves as William's personal servitors if physical interaction is needed. 

The ship's system is protected physically through multiple defence weapon systems and fortress-like energy shield layers that will require multiple armies to breach the outer walls. 

As for the digital protection from the hackers, the ship's cryptographic protocols use polyphasic entangled waveforms (An advanced encryption technology for the operation system) for the starters and other advanced protection programs to prevent any intruders from infiltrating the ship's brain and stealing the knowledge. 

As the flagship of the Blacksouls Legion, Chapter Master William is the sole master of the Beast of Caerbannog. No one is above his authority and AI Arthur will make sure William's command is met with perfection without mistakes. 

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Meanwhile, 

Old man sat in front of his house smoking a long pipe while a cup of warm tea was placed next to his chair. Enjoying the ray of sunlight and peace, the old man wonders what kind of day awaits him. Just as he was about to take the first sip of the tea from the cup, an alarm began to sound from unknown sources. Arthur, the AI of the Beast of Caerbannog takes a deep breath and places the tea on the table without drinking it. 

[Yes, what is it?] Arthur used both of his hands to generate a digital monitor and expand it wide, in front of him, dozens of faces of knights appeared in each monitor with various expressions ready to answer. 

[I'm dictating multiple approaching ships from the 5th sector. It is not friendly as it is not signalling assigned code or radio contact. Advise battle ready and activate 5th sector defence turrets and remote ships.] Said one of the knights as many others agreed to the knight's recommendation. 

[Merlin, what do you think?] Arthur summoned another screen and this time a young man in a wizard hat and big glasses appeared. This was Merlin, Arthur's advisor and in charge of humanity's knowledge, aka STC database. 

[Based on the ship's long range sensors and intel from the scout ships, approaching ships are a fleet of aliens known as Tau. If I have to guess, they are Tau's merchant fleet but unlike their name sake, they are well armed and numerous to be one. Seems to me they are a lost expansion naval fleet.] Said Merlin after he went over the entire date file related to Tau empire and its battle capability. 

[Well, in that case there is nothing to worry about. Sir Lamorak, you may take the first sword to intercept the intruders. Leave no one alive. Sir Percival, you may take the first shield for the salvage operation after the battle. Any questions?] Said Arthur and with no one asking any questions to his order, all 13 screens disappeared, leaving Arthur alone again. 

[We will maintain the order until my master comes home.]