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It was ten minutes after the Xenos entered the Asteroid Belt, when they were fully committed to approaching the Mechanicum’s Fleet, that the trap that was so carefully laid out was sprung.
At numerous places across the Xeno’s several torpedoes, ships, and even chunks of rock were slammed into their hulls with no descrimination or impunity. Almost all of the attacks landed their marks from what were previously destroyed shields from the initial bombardment. They impacted and pierced the hulls belonging to the Xenos without trouble as long as the shields were down.
TalOS could count two of the enemy ship’s that failed in being destroyed. The failure of this resulted in the deaths of fifty seven Skitarii, ten Acillians, and a Dominus who were in the area. Such destruction was because of what TalOS realized was information that he was lacking.
Closer examination of the enemy ships revealed to the Primarch that they were not of the standard Xenos make. They were not larger but their hull was of a different color. This was not by the nature of identification as TalOS looked at it and examined how it operated. It was because it was made of a different material.
Experimental ships? Sent out to be battle tested against a foe who to the Xenos were but a backwater savages who posed no threat? Maybe, or it could be that they were a form of higher form super weapon meant to wipe out the Mechanicum’s fleet.
These questions were things that TalOS wanted to know but won’t until the battle was over. All he could do now was focus fire upon those ships, changing targets only when they present themselves either immediate threats so that they will fall.
The battle outside the Onus Probandi was becoming more and more dire with every second that TalOS watched. With the Xenos finally reaching a comfortable range of fire they were able to fire all the guns that they had been attempting to fire for the entire engagement.
Many of the Mechanicum’s ships were able to dodge into the asteroids, making it so they would only take manageable attacks from the Xenos as they all focused down ships. Each and every one of them were however, with the oversight of TalOS, able to strike out with proficiency against the Xenos and take their ships.
That however did not mean the Mechanicum and TalOS’s estimates were perfect. With every Xenos ship shot down the Xenos were able to catch a Mechanicum ship out of position and destroy it with their foul sorcerous attacks.
It was a bad rate of attrition, but things will change once the boarding crews achieved their objectives.
