The small fleet was under way for about a week now with little sign of activity of any kind. Invictus kept up her patrols while the Cobra destroyers continuously scanned the area, feeding all ships with sensor data. Though the scope was clear, the commanders and officers were not at ease. While traveling this close to the GrailDark nebula, everyone had the feeling that they were being watched. It was almost as if the nebula itself was looking upon the five vessels as unwelcome intruders.

Just before departing, the commanders of the escort vessels came aboard Invictus to plan the exact route. Again it was clear that these men were a rough bunch. Clearly they've seen a lot of bad stuff. However, Howard had them pegged from the moment they stepped aboard. Prove you can keep your word and they will follow to hell and back.

For some reason, a fifth imperial figure had joined the commanders in the Situation Room. He wasn't part of the Navy, that much was clear. The man wore a black trenchcoat with red lining and inner sleeves, together with a pointed officers cap. According to Goradin, this man was part of a different branch within the Imperium. Something called the Commissariat. Whatever his purpose was aboard, he didn't interfere or take part in the route planning in great part.

He just stood around, observing mostly.

Price didn't care much at the moment. He had more pressing matters to discuss with the commanders.

With their combined experiences and area knowledge they could avoid certain known hotspots of pirate activity. But they would still have to cross a lot of dangerous ground. Some of which they had already passed without seeing any sign of the enemy, or any sign of anyone.

According to intel provided by the station commanders, a lot of imperial ships were already en-route. By now they would have seen someone or a plasma trail of some kind, indicating traveling ships.

The route was entirely empty. No ships, no plasma trails, no debris, no comm traffic. Nothing. Something was off here.

None of the Commanders liked it one bit and thus kept their crews close to alert. Ready to react within a moments notice. As a added precaution Price had ordered radio-checks every one or two hours, especially if one of the destroyers peeled off to investigate a nearby area. Mostly unnecessary, but if someone got missing, they'd know it soon enough.

Right on time for his duty-shift, Price marched in the CIC to take the Conn. "Sit-Rep" He ordered.

He was answered by one of the junior officers on watch.

"All systems nominal, course steady at 236 by 75. DRADIS is clean."

"Fleet Report?"

"All ships have reported in half an hour ago. All report Negative contacts as well."

"Very well Major. I have the Conn, you are relieved."

"Yes Sir" the man replied before walking off for his down-time.

"Where is the XO" Price asked at a nearby console operator.

"The colonel was called away to engineering. Something about maintenance."

"Alright, have you seen the LT?"

"The Blue should be around somewhere. Last I saw him he was looking at the fleet comms" he said while pointing toward the other side of the room.

'Blue', so that is what they were calling him now. The crew was getting accustomed to having foreign officers aboard. Seemed like a good thing. Though they'd never say that name to his face and expect to survive his response. Maybe that was a part of the reason why they did precisely that. Maybe it was a good idea to explain this later to the man should he lack the sense of humor.

Walking towards the comms he saw 'The Blue' sure enough.

"Morning Commander" He said while looking up from his clipboard.

"Morning LT. Anything of note happening around here?"

"Nothing special. Aside from our regular transmissions, all we hear is the universe laughing at us."

Static bursts of radiation shooting across space always gave garbled sounds through the comms. Listening to the random burbling and garbles for too long could give a man chilling nightmares if he let his fantasy loose.

"The universe can laugh for all I care. I just want to get through this area as fast as possible. This place gives me the creeps."

"I don't like it either. There's nothing out there but still I have the feeling like we're being watched."

"Since when do you have that feeling?"

"From the moment we entered this forsaken place."

"Good, that means I'm not alone."

"Sir?"

"A lot of men have the same feeling we do. The other commanders don't like it either. The sooner we are outta here the better."

The next hour and a half Price just went about his duties, only to be disturbed by a call from Commander Rohr aboard the cobra 'Avenger'.

"Price" he started without naming ranks. "My observers have seen silhouettes of an eldar destroyer stalking us in the distance. Bearing 192, same attitude."

Price snapped with his fingers and gestured Goradin to pick up the second horn to listen in.

"Rohr, please repeat your last" he said while taking a hard look at the DRADIS screen. Rohr did as asked. DRADIS showed nothing.

Goradin contacted the observers dotted around the Invictus' hull to look in the direction Rohr indicated. On the many surveillance screens both men focussed hard, looking for any sign of the fish-like shape of the enemy vessels.

After a few hard looks they managed to get a few quick reports and views on the small vessel. From the look of it, that ship had been drifting after them for quite a while.

"Confirmed. We see them as well. Possibly a Hemlock destroyer. We can't ID him yet. Stand-by for orders. Do not engage unless fired upon." and Price put the horn down.

Quickly he pulled up the navigation map and scrambled the navigator to assist.

"We're still a ways away from the estimated jump point" the man began while calculating in his head.

"It is doable. We can get within 200k of our previous calculated exit point. If I adjust our present calculations we can jump in under seven minutes." the navigator concluded.

"Do it" Price ordered. The navigator sped away to perform his duty.

"Sir?" Goradin began questionably.

"We're not here to fight them just yet. Connect me to the fleet." he said while picking up the horn.

"This is Invictus Actual to all fleet vessels. We are being followed by an enemy vessel. More ships of unknown strength may be following as well. Fall in and begin Jump Prep to Point Bravo. Avoid combat if at this time."

"Stalker, Aye" Borzakov agreed.

"Avenger, Aye" that was Rohr.

"Silent Nemesis, Aye" Geiss said with his raw voice.

"Aquila, Aye" Lemere voiced, only to be followed by a loud protest from the background.

A voice came back which Price remembered of being from the Commissar.

"As the Commissar of this fleet I protest against this order, Commander" he said while spitting the last rank out.

"We are here to vanquish all enemies of mankind and as such they need to suffer our wrath, Now! We must not run like cowards!"

"Make no mistake Commissar, I am no coward. But I am not about to risk our vessels on a wild goose chase. We have no idea what is out there. This vessel has been shadowing us for quite some time while remaining undetected. Maybe as long as we entered this region. For all we know there could be an entire fleet out there. At this time it is imperative to reach the Orar system as soon as possible, with as many ships as possible, as Lord-Admiral Ravensburg instructed. I intend to carry out this order. If you wish to protest against my orders I suggest you take it up to him. Until then you are to prep your vessel for immediate Jump Action towards Point Bravo. Do I make myself clear?"

The short silence that followed was broken with a clearly angry growl saying "Aye" before the connection was broken.

Looking up he found Lieutenant Goradin staring at him as if he was nailed to the ground. The way he talked the Commissar down made him stare in disbelief. Not many officers in the Imperial Armed Forces had the guts to talk to a Commissar like that. Even fewer lived to tell the tale. Regardless of future consequences he found it glorious to behold nevertheless.

After making sure his entire fleet had jumped, the Invictus spooled up her FTL-drive and jumped out. Though Goradin has a number of jumps under his belt by now, he still didn't get used to the feeling. Neither did he stop his customary prayers before jumping. He needn't have worried.

As expected the ship emerged at Point Bravo, slightly off course, but close enough all the same.

All ships checked in and were verified before resuming their place in the formation. The three Cobra's formed a spearheaded front, closely followed by Invictus and the Aquila. Soon the first patrols emerged from the Invictus launch tubes and went on to recon the area.

Something was off though. According to the star charts the edge of the nebula should be several thousand kilometers away from their present course. Instead they were practically sitting on its edge, looking in the purple-grayish haze of dust and gasses flying around. After looking at the charts and constellations again they found they were in the right position. Only the nebula wasn't.

"Either this map is outdated or someone didn't paint it in the right spot."

"It doesn't matter. Things move in space all the time. Signal the escorts to stay close. I don't want to lose them in this soup."

"Copy that. We should keep our heads down while we're here. We could have someone watching us in there. How long till we reach our next jump point?"

"If we keep our emissions down, four days. Maybe a bit more."

"Very well. Let's hope we can pass unnoticed."

For the duration of his shift nothing of note happened so both officers went about their duties. Afterwards they exited the CIC together and started walking towards their quarters.

Before they could step through their hatches, alert-sirens started blaring, warning lights began blinking their amber lights and a voice came over the intercom:

"Action stations, Action stations! Set condition one throughout the ship. Commander Price and XO Howard to the CIC...."

"What now?" Price asked in his mind and quickly went back to the CIC.

"Sitrep!" he barked at the ranking officer nearby.

"We've got reports of vessels nearby. Patrol 5 didn't report in and was overdue. The Stalker went in to investigate. The ships were found destroyed by energy weapons. Stalker was lucky to survive. A Hemlock destroyer swooped in and flew right past em at point blank range."

"How the hell do they get in so close without being detected?"

"I don't know Sir." The man concluded.

"Right. Get the Vipers in their tubes. And where is the XO?"

"Right here, Sir!" Howard replied while quickly walking at the Commander, excusing the officer.

"Order the fleet to stay at full battle readiness. Increase speed! No sense in trying to hide when they are looking right at ya. Slowest ship gives the pace!"

His orders were quickly executed. Looking at his plotting table, Price wondered what his adversary had in store for them. Moments later Goradin took place between the DRADIS and Fire Control stations.

Usually the ship would rely completely on its own sensors, but because it was now in convoy, all sensors were linked, giving all ships better vision all around.

Since the Eldar were active now, they were visible on sensors from time to time.

Everyone expected them to attack at any moment. However, for the next twenty minutes everything was quiet. All crewmen kept focussed on their task regardless.

Out of nowhere a fast shadow appeared, flashing through the formation before anyone could react. When the guns were busy tracking the shadow, another appeared. When closing the shadow appeared as multiple small destroyers bearing in on the Cobra Avenger, Invictus turned her guns to defend and sent a barrage of fire their way. Only to find their shots would fly straight through them without doing damage.

One of the many incoming destroyers fired three blasts with its pulsar cannon. Two blasts cleared Invictus only by a margin of mere meters, not causing damage but leaving scorch-marks all the same on her back. The third shot went high and blasted straight in the shields of the Stalker, almost overloading them. The Hemlock destroyer tried to align for a second pass but had to abort to avoid the combined fire of the convoy.

The first Hemlock came around for a second pass and put two pulsar blasts in the Aquila frigate before disappearing again.

"What the hell was that? Six of them were closing in at the same time but only one fired?" one of the crew exclaimed.

"That is because there was only one destroyer attacking us at a time. Two ships were relieving each other, keeping us under fire." Goradin explained. "Their Holofield technology makes it near impossible to find the real ship between the electronic and optical shadows. Remember, only the real ship can shoot. So if you can target that vessel."

Thirty-five minutes passed without any sign of the enemy before they attacked again. This time Invictus launched one of its Viper wings to help out. But again they had no luck. The eldar would swoop in at different angles, fire their guns, and buzz off again. If they did get hit, the crew found little evidence of it.

After a few of these battle 'cycles' some officers began to wonder what was going on.

"Why are they disappearing every time? If they make a concentrated attack they could destroy us one at a time!" Howard remarked.

"If they attack now, at least one of them will be destroyed before they can take out one of us. They are keeping us on full alert. They will keep harassing us until one of our ships makes a mistake. If we do, they'll strike and blow us into space." Price answered

"They've got us pinned!"

"Not much we can do about that. They have the initiative. And without a signature to follow we can't take the fight to them. All we can do is firewall the throttle and stick together in the defence until we reach our next jump point."

Attack-day 5.

By now all crews of the Convoy had been fending off Eldar attacks for 113.27 hours straight. Almost five days without sleep was taking its toll on the crews. Most were walking around with unbuttoned uniforms and unshaven faces. More and more crewmen were falling asleep against door-frames, bulkheads and on top of their consoles and had to be awakened from time to time by their neighbour. Even the Imperial Lieutenant, who always walked around spotless and properly dressed showed signs of fatigue. He didn't even bother to button up his collared jacket. He kept going though and commanded the tired men with in the traditional way of the Navy.

The Commander and the XO were discussing the ship and crew status in the hallway, next to a comm officer collecting signature-forms. Though damage wasn't serious, the state of the crew was more of a worry.

"Twenty-one more cases of nervous exhaustion. That makes 105. Get the doc put em on stims to get them back on their feet. One in four every cycle"

"That is gonna come back and bite us in the ass." Howard replied

"Well, we have too much work and not enough people to do it. Tell the imperial commanders to do as they see fit on their ships. Was this my ten minutes or yours?"

"Yours, I had my ten minutes last time."

"I'll see you guys in combat." Price ended before walking off to his cabin.

"I believe it was your ten minutes Colonel." the Comm officer said.

"If the old man is so tired he can't remember than it is his turn." Howard replied before returning to the CIC.

========

"One hour to jump point!" an exhausted navigator called out.

"Eldar attack incoming, Port side!" the DRADIS operator shouted.

"Action stations! Launch Vipers in defensive formation and give us a solid defensive screen. Force them to break off before they get too close."

Goradin kept an eye on the Battery Control and slapped a few crewman awake while Howard tried to analyse the enemy attack patterns.

"Oh my gods, they are focussing on the Stalker!"

"Batteries seven through Fifteen, redirect your fire to cover the stalker, Now!" Shouted Goradin.

The batteries turned and fired to form a defensive screen around the destroyer.

It was too late.

By the time the screen was formed, the Eldar had already stripped the shields from the ship. The exhausted crew couldn't get them back up in time for the next series of attacks.

The next series of Pulsar blasts burnt holes through the hull of the ship and exited on the other side. Moments later the ship exploded in a bright fiery flash.

"Gods damn it!" Price Cursed. "Navigation, get us out of here! Order the fleet to jump, Now!"

"We're not yet at our designated coordinates! We will drift from our exit point!"

"We are close enough. Jump the fleet before we lose more ships!"

Moments later all ships jumped towards their next destination.

All four remaining ships emerged close to each other. The ships seemed relatively intact, save for the Avenger who emerged from the warp with streaks of fire trailing from her hull.

Price tried hailing her and offered assistance. All they got back were garbled transmissions and random data before the ship broke apart.

"What the hell just happened?" Howard asked. "They were intact when they jumped right?"

"What happened is anybody's guess. Anything can happen inside the warp. They might have been in there for a long time."

"They jumped mere minutes ago!"

"Time has no meaning inside the Warp. what for us is mere minutes could be months for them."

"Great. Now we're down two ships." Howard sighed. "Is there any sign of the Eldar?"

"Nothing yet Colonel." came from the sensors station.

"Keep an eye on it. Let's hope we won't see them for a while."

=======

The next few days there was little sign of the Eldar. There were shadows moving in the background, but nothing came close enough to be a threat. Completely exhausted, the captains of all ships took the opportunity to get their crew rested and back on their feet. Still, with all those shadows and sensor shadows on the background no one was quite at ease.

It was even worse for the guys in the Vipers. It is easy to see ghosts in the clouds. And not having a thick battlestar armour belt around you didn't help either.

Mercer and Major Burke were on patrol on the edge of the formation. Every now and then they peeled off to investigate an anomaly, but every time it ended up nothing. Just their minds playing tricks on themselves. They were about to return to the fleet when the DRADIS sensors started bleeping.

Looking down on their screens the two pilots only saw a faint signal moving slowly.

"Invictus, Bingo. We've got a Bogey on DRADIS moving in parallel on your starboard. Moving to investigate."

"Roger that Bingo. Be advised, Alert fighters have been launched and are two minutes behind you." came through the radio.

Price just walked in the CIC when the alarm started blaring. "Sitrep!" he ordered.