Warhammer: Don't Call Me the God of All Machines

Chapter 942 The Battle of Cardia (Part 3)
"This is the greatest honor of my life."

“I snatched the right to be the first to confront the enemy from Astram.”

"My whole life has been spent walking in darkness, concealing my existence with layer upon layer of inner rings, but now, perhaps I have finally waited for the opportunity to do so openly and honestly."

On the deck of a Void Annihilation-class warship cruising on the edge of the Eye of Terror, Galad, a veteran of the Dark Angels' Inner Ring, was speaking to a holographic projection, his pride and joy radiating from him.

For an inner-circle veteran who came from the era of the Great Expedition, such a loss of emotional control is extremely rare. Most of the time, they keep their emotions hidden, along with their weaknesses.

But at this moment, Galad felt it was no longer necessary.

Even the most elite Dark Angels, being in this position on the battlefield, have already stepped into the threshold of death.

The Void Annihilation-class warship where Galad was located carried two thousand elite Dark Angels, tens of thousands of War-type Iron Men, and more than two hundred thousand elite auxiliary warriors.

Surrounding this flagship were dozens of warships, including battleships, destroyers, and cruisers, forming a small but complete combat group.

"I really envy you, bro."

"My Black Sanctuary was placed on the third line of defense by Lord Ryan, and is personally commanded by my Primarch, Rogue Dorn."

The one communicating with Galad remotely was Sigismund, the Black Knight, one of the three heroes of the Great Crusade and a strong contender for the title of strongest Space Marine.

“But I must correct one of your mistakes.” Sigismund’s face looked like a piece of cold, hard marble, and in terms of temperament, he was more than 70% similar to his Primarch, Dorn.

“You are not at the forefront of our battle line. Those uninvited greenskin orcs have unceremoniously taken the vanguard position.”

Sigismund's phantom pointed in front of Galad, then enlarged some yellow dots that were constantly moving on the star map with completely irregular trajectories.

"They brought their own battle moons, along with an equally large number of green-skinned warships, and completely disregarded our strategic plans. Even the Lion King couldn't do anything about them."

Galad's face twitched. That's how the Son of Dorne is—it's either yes or no, with no compromise whatsoever.

"But we both understand that without Lord Vulcan's integration, these green-skinned orcs are extremely prone to becoming loose individuals fighting their own battles. Even those powerful orcs known as beasts cannot completely control their subordinates."

"Therefore, the initiative in this war remains in our hands."

Sigismund remained noncommittal upon hearing Galad's rebuttal.

He spoke with Galad simply to see his close comrade-in-arms again.

Neither Galad nor Sigismund uttered the unspoken message, for death was never a punishment for Astartes, but rather a moment of glory and triumph.

“My genetic father told me that he was prepared for the first two lines of defense to collapse completely, and when that happened, he would personally lead us to defend Kadia.”

“No, it won’t,” Galad interrupted.

He wasn't wearing a helmet, and a smile appeared on his angular face.

“I will leave you with nothing, I swear in the name of the Dark Angel.”

Sigismund did not refute this, because he had already seen the crimson dots representing the Chaos Army appearing in the signals transmitted back by the oracles and the ultra-long-range scanning array.

This means that the Chaos Demon Army's massive offensive has already begun.

The real war has begun.

"For the Emperor, for humanity." Galad gave Sigismund a deep look before turning off the holographic projection.

"For the Emperor, for Mankind."

Sigismund repeated Galad's battle cry to the space that had vanished before him.

Perhaps this is his final farewell to Galad, but that doesn't matter.

The important thing is that they are now serving the Emperor and humanity.

……

Galad stood on the bridge, his eyes fixed intently on the tactical holographic star map.

On the star map, the crimson dots representing the Chaos Army spread rapidly, like thick blood dripping into clear water, originating from the several warp storm channels that were under close surveillance.

Those passages are where warp demons are most likely to appear, and that is indeed the case in reality.

"High-intensity psionic signal detected! Originating from Delta-7!"

A voice, trembling slightly, rang out from the somber bridge of a mortal operator.

All eyes immediately turned to that direction.

Amidst the distorted, illusory light and shadow and the raging turbulent flow of subspace energy, several enormous, suffocating black shadows were slowly emerging from the channel.

They are not warships in the conventional understanding of humankind, but rather irregular and hideous clumps forcibly aggregated from countless twisted, broken, severely polluted, and corroded metal remnants.

Those monsters, resembling metallic continents, were actually wrecked spaceships.

These remnants, lost in the warp for countless years, have now become the foundation for the demons to break through the Eye of Terror.

The size of the space wreckage is so staggering, often with a diameter of seven or eight hundred kilometers, resembling a moving asteroid belt.

The largest of them, with its irregular silhouette spanning thousands of kilometers, hovered there silently, casting a shadow powerful enough to engulf Galad's battle group.

Due to the interference of subspace energy, the human fleet could only vaguely observe the appearance of the wrecked ship's surface:

The twisted bridge, like the broken ribs of some indescribable monster, outlines a gaping maw of an abyss that devours everything.

The broken armor plates were piled up in layers, and some parts could be vaguely identified as belonging to ships from different eras and races, some even ancient enough to be traced back to the dark age of human technology.

Even more disturbing was the visible glow of foul warp energy emanating from the wrecked ship, and the piercing screams from the psionic sensors confirmed the source of the off-the-charts psionic readings.

It could be either a plural of great demons, or a massive demonic legion stirring within it.

And this is not the only enemy like this; in fact, they are constantly pouring out from the channels of the warp storm.

"Fleet, take note! Adjust firing angles, activate all weapon arrays, lock onto the enemy's vanguard wrecked ship!"
"Light spear array charges, macro cannon loads annihilation warheads, nova cannon targets enemy ship!"

"Don't try to save me ammo. What we should be doing is using up all our ammo in the shortest amount of time!"

Galad's voice was calm and powerful, instantly dispelling the invisible psychological pressure. His orders were transmitted throughout the entire battle group via the encrypted communication network.

However, just as the Dark Angels fleet was adjusting its formation in an orderly manner, and the hum of weapons charging echoed inside every warship, an extremely wild and irregular energy signal suddenly erupted from the front of the battlefield.

It's those green-skinned orcs!
The colossal creature known as the Battle Moon was charging toward the largest space wreckage with a brutal and ruthless attitude that was completely disproportionate to its size.

The surface of the battle moon is covered with crudely welded turrets, and the protruding huge rams and buzzing waaagh energy generators form the exaggerated totem of the Second Brother of the Mao Kingdom. As a whole, it looks like a war planet full of violent and chaotic aesthetics.

It has no formation, no tactics, only the purest desire to challenge the strongest enemy.

“Waaagh!!!”

An incredibly thick beam of green energy shot out from the main cannon at the front of the battle moon—or perhaps it couldn't even be called a cannon—and slammed into the side of the wrecked spaceship.

Countless neurotic boys powered it, while warlords on the battle moon were also drawing waaagh energy from all the green-skinned orcs within their range, turning it into a catalyst for war.

"Waaagh! Vulcan, Mao Zedong, and others above us, they are our witnesses!"

"We have witnessed a magnificent waaagh!! What happiness this is!"

The massive explosion and the flying metal fragments instantly created a devastating scar on the surface of the wrecked ship, carving it deep into the interior of the space vessel, and a large number of warp demons were instantly reduced to ashes.

At the same time, several long, ominous green whips made of pure gravitational fields were lashed out from the battle moon, striking the wrecked ship in an attempt to pull it closer for the boarding action that orcs love most.

The wrecked spaceship seemed to be enraged by the sudden attack.

Large swaths of pinkish-purple psionic lightning erupted from its surface, coiling around the green gravitational whip like living things, eroding and annihilating each other.

Countless tiny, locust-like figures began to swarm out from the cracks and holes of the wrecked ship. These were various warp demons under the command of the Four Gods, howling as they launched a counterattack.

The green-skinned orcs also used all sorts of crudely made weapons to unleash firepower on anything on the surface of the wrecked ship that looked like an enemy—whether it was a demon emerging from the wrecked ship or the wrecked ship itself.

The battle moon, without slowing down at all, crashed directly into the wrecked spaceship, instantly shattering the massive metal continent.

A chilling annihilation reaction emanated from the point of impact, followed by the collapse and disintegration of the battle moon. The debris from both sides continued to move at high speed, and the casualty figures climbed every second.

The orc warlord paid no heed to the damage to the battle moon. He led his best lads and began using waaagh energy to advance through the wreckage and ruins, killing any warp demons they encountered.

With his giant axe, which shimmered with dark green Waaagh energy, he swiftly severed the head of a bloodthirsty berserker. The orc warlord's size increased dramatically after killing his enemy, and his Imagination Power surged once more.

"You weakling, you're not worthy to fight me!"

"I will become a new beast, the most powerful warrior of Emperor Vulcan!"

The orcs roared, and the Chaos Demon Army continued to surge forward. The high-level units of both sides clashed, and the orc warlord was quickly chopped into mincemeat by more than a dozen bloodthirsty berserkers that arrived.

The orc elder was killed in battle, but the green-skinned orcs did not scatter like birds and beasts as before, because in the Cardia system, there were still beast-like orc warlords whose waaagh energy maintained the stability of the orcs as a whole.

The orc, who held the highest rank after the orc leader, immediately took command and began a cunning guerrilla war against the warp demons.

“The time has come.” Without the slightest hesitation, Galad seized the moment when the orcs were drawing the Chaos army's attention and issued the order to concentrate fire.

"Fire!"

"Don't worry about those green-skinned orcs, they won't care if we attack indiscriminately!"

"They only care whether the demons who oppose them also turn to ashes."

In an instant, the Dark Angels' battle fleet unleashed a destructive torrent.

Hundreds upon hundreds of beams of blazing white light, like spears of judgment slicing through the dark void, precisely focused on several small, wrecked ships attempting to bypass the Greenskins and head straight for the Imperial defenses. The points of impact instantly vaporized, and molten metal gushed from the wounds like blood, rapidly solidifying into twisted metal spheres in the void.

Following closely behind was a salvo from the Hongpao.

The heavy armor-piercing projectile detached from the gun barrel at near-light speed, carrying unparalleled kinetic energy, and slammed deep into the wrecked ship.

Each hit triggered a violent internal explosion. The massive structure of the wrecked ship trembled violently in the chain of explosions, and large chunks of debris were thrown in all directions, like the spasms of a dying giant.

The Void Annihilation-class warships also opened fire with full force, their dense laser beams and plasma clusters forming a wall of death, while their atomic weapons swept away the flying demons pouring out of the wrecked ships, attempting to cross the void with their bare bodies.

These abominable beings screamed and burned under the impact of pure energy, turning to ashes in an extremely short time.

Just as Galad said, the green-skinned orcs who were caught in the crossfire showed no anger. They just laughed wildly as they perished with the demon, their souls returning to the side of Brother Gou Mao to continue their great waaagh!

The battlefield was instantly illuminated: the blazing white of the light spears, the orange-red of the exploding macro cannons, the dark green of the orcs' Waaagh energy, the blue-purple of the demons casting psionic spells, and the fireballs that briefly appeared when the warships exploded...

Lights of various colors intertwined, staging a tragic and magnificent dance of death on the void stage at the edge of this Eye of Terror.

The dark angels silently slaughtered, each cannonball fired and each flash of light spear carrying their unwavering determination to protect humanity.

They watched as the massive wrecked ships disintegrated under the firepower, watched the greenskins and demons fight each other in the most primitive way, and watched the brave Imperial Navy ships be torn apart by the filthy psionic energy on the wrecked ships in close combat, turning into new cosmic dust.

A large number of warp demons were destroyed and banished back to the Sea of ​​Souls, but this was insignificant compared to the number of nightmares joining the battle.

In the void between the Eye of Fear and Kadia, the intensity of the chaotic war is constantly escalating.

The orcs' battle moon and the largest space wreckage collided in a devastating collision, creating high-speed debris that transformed the battlefield into a vortex of death, turning it into a purgatory of indiscriminate attacks.

The roar of Waaagh energy and the screams of the warp blended into a symphony of destruction, each life lost making the symphony even more intense and frenzied.

However, just as the Dark Angel had predicted, the intervention of the Greenskinned Orcs only made the war more chaotic, but could not stop other space wrecks from continuing to approach the direction of Cardia.

Just as the space wreckage and the human warships approached a critical point, the warp demons finally got the moment they had been waiting for.

Deep within a wrecked ship nine hundred kilometers long, nine blasphemous spires, constructed of twisted metal, shimmering crystals, and writhing biological flesh, gleam brightly.

The ever-changing Demon Lord, with nine heads, two wings on his back, and sharp bird beaks, danced around the boiling vortex of spiritual energy atop the spire.

Their movements were unpredictable and indescribable, chanting witchcraft incantations beyond the comprehension of mortals, each syllable triggering the surging, boundless subspace energy within their Eyes of Terror.

The Demon Lord of Myriad Changes wields the power of deception and transformation, tearing and twisting the already fragile structure of reality within the Eye of Fear like a thin veil.

An eight-pointed star ritual, drawn from pure psionic energy, suddenly lit up in the void, its light penetrating physical barriers and shining directly into the interior of the Imperial warship.

The leader of the Myriad Transformations Demon Lords burst into a strange laugh, and immediately the chaotic demons that had been waiting in the wings poured in through the ritual passage.

"Warning! Geller's position is fluctuating, and the intensity has exceeded the critical value!"

"Unauthorized psionic transmission signals detected within the ship, in multiple areas!"

The lower deck of the Void Annihilation-class warship, the Oath of Glory, where Galard was located, was suddenly illuminated by an eerie pinkish-purple light. The dimly lit corridor, which had been operating amidst the roar of cannon fire, was suddenly illuminated by this light.

The air became thick and cold, and the metal on the walls began to writhe like living things, oozing foul-smelling pus. A thin layer of ice crystals began to precipitate and spread in a short time.

Accompanied by eerie, heart-pounding sounds, unstable teleportation rifts with flashing electric arcs at their edges appeared out of thin air.

The Empire's Void Annihilation-class warships, as the main warships of the new generation, are much larger than the previous Glory Queen-class warships.

The larger size means that the warship has a more complex structure and requires a larger workforce.

Its defense system mainly relies on a large number of ordinary human auxiliary troops, war-type Iron Men, automated combat servants, and automated defense weapons commanded by the main control AI.

The Dark Angels stationed on the warships will only be drawn as a sharp blade when the aforementioned defense systems are ineffective.

Upon detecting the abnormal subspace reaction, the main control AI, whose main body was encased in the anti-psychic black stone matrix, immediately sent a warning to Galad. Then it began to control various automated weapons to intercept the enemy forces.

A bloodthirsty freak of Khorne emerged from the teleportation rift, its body flowing with molten iron and copper like lava, its menacing aura sending chills down one's spine.

"Blood sacrifice to the blood god! Skull sacrifice to the skull throne!"

A large number of vampires surged out from behind the bloodthirsty demon. These ferocious monsters were filled with a thirst for slaughter, while the heavy-explosive sentry guns inside the warship quickly turned their muzzles and fired wildly at these demons.

With the computing power of the main control AI, almost every shell hit its mark, precisely striking the undead entity's body.

The metal bullet, carrying immense kinetic energy, struck and tore through the demon's scales and skin, then penetrated its body before exploding, causing even greater destruction.

The larger demons, with their greater physical strength, might be able to hold out for a while, but the smaller vampires were torn to shreds by the gunfire, turning into a muddy mess of blood.

However, the defensive weapons controlled by the main AI are limited, and in the special environment inside a warship, weapons that are too powerful could actually endanger the humans themselves.

One after another, bloodthirsty monsters braved the gunfire and charged straight at him, then used their giant axes and claws to obliterate him.

Relying on cannon fodder at any cost, coupled with elite demons clearing the way, the demon army quickly established a stable stronghold on Galad's flagship.

More and more other evil gods and demons also passed through the passage and arrived at the battlefield.

Their division of labor and positioning is very clear: the Khorne demons, with the strongest assault capabilities, take the lead, followed by the Tzeentch demons to control the field, while the Nurgle and Slaanesh demons spread warp contamination more quickly.

The chaotic code, personally compiled by Tzeentch, was injected into the warship's mind network. Although it could not completely paralyze the main control AI protected by the anti-spiritual energy field, it could still interfere with and damage it.

Meanwhile, the Nurgle children gleefully spread the disease through the various narrow passageways of the warship.

Wherever they went, all sorts of unheard-of plagues spread, and even the metal hulls of warships began to rot and ooze pus, turning into living tissue resembling flesh and blood.

The main AI could only do its best to dispatch more war-type Iron Men and mortal auxiliary troops to the rescue. At the same time, the original Dark Angels on the warships rushed to the battlefield to drive away the invading demon army with their sharp blades.

“The Emperor…”

A young auxiliary soldier, under the command of the main control AI, and his comrades arrived at the landing point as soon as possible.

Those who serve in the Dark Angels Legion are equipped with superior, even luxurious, gear.

The fully enclosed power armor granted them the ability to fight in a vacuum environment, and the Tesla Storm Rifle in their hands could instantly ionize and vaporize any flesh and blood.

But when they arrived at the battlefield, they were horrified to find that enormous demons, some over ten meters tall and almost reaching the upper deck, were charging madly toward them.

Given the Chaos Demon's inherent ability to corrupt, even the most elite mortal support troops would be corrupted and tainted the moment they saw the enemy, either dying on the spot or falling into chaos.

However, relying on the human local area network and their unwavering faith in the God Emperor, not a single mortal auxiliary soldier present showed any fear or hesitation.

In their eyes, these were nothing more than terrifying and extremely powerful "monsters".

They might revere the other's power, or even feel fear and dread, but they will not be directly destroyed by the magic of the warp, and may even become slaves to chaos.

The mortal support troops formed a formation and used their weapons and the individual missiles mounted on their powered armor to fire at the Chaos Demon before them.

However, while these weapons may be effective against ordinary demons, they still lack the decisive power when facing enemies of the Great Demon level.

Faced with the relentless surge of demonic waves, the casualties of the mortal support army rose rapidly in a short period of time.

Under the threat of death, panic spread like a plague.

Human life is ultimately too fragile in the face of these inanimate beings from the highest heavens.

Mortals watched as the once familiar passageway transformed into a nightmarish labyrinth, and their comrades were dragged away or torn apart by demons before their very eyes.

The piercing alarms, the howls of demons, the firing of grenades, and the screams of the dying mingled together, creating a symphony of hell.

Marcus was the political commissar of the mortal auxiliary army who had come to reinforce them; he had just celebrated his eightieth year of service.

This veteran served most of his life in the Dark Angels Legion. Although the rejuvenation surgery made him look young, the signs of aging could still be seen in his eyes.

His life was almost entirely intertwined with war: training new recruits in the Dark Angels Legion, leading them to fight for the Emperor, witnessing recruits become veterans, or collecting their bodies and writing death notices.

But in all his years of service, Marcus had never seen the elite Dark Angels auxiliary forces suffer such heavy casualties.

Even during the battle against the ghoul orc empire, the First Legion did not suffer such losses.

He watched as the auxiliary soldiers beside him were ignited by a demonic psionic fire ray, turning into screaming torches in the next instant.

The automatons fighting alongside them used their power axes to quickly cut down several pink dreadlords before being swallowed by a suddenly appearing Nurgle demon, whose terrifying acid instantly melted and decomposed them.

Now, he was the only one left in the entire passage, facing alone a demon lord who had just slaughtered many auxiliary soldiers.

The Tzeentch archdeacon held a runic staff and uttered mocking whispers from its bird-like beak, as if enjoying the despair and fear of Marcus, this tiny creature.

Marcus's hands were trembling. He was indeed a seasoned commissar, but he was also a mortal with flesh and blood. He knew that his strength was insignificant in front of his opponent.

Even his most powerful plasma pistol could probably only give this huge, hairy beast a plasma bath.

He looked at the remains of his comrades scattered on the ground, at that invincible and terrifying presence, and the tangible fear almost froze his blood.

"Submit to me..."

"You can live, as a human being..."

"Now, open the wall in your heart!"

The ever-changing demon lord seemed to have taken a liking to something, and after killing the others, he did not rush to kill the political commissar.

It seems more determined to try and use fear to force Marcus to abandon his faith in the God-Emperor, thereby corrupting a resolute human from the protection of the human network.

This was an irresistible challenge and temptation for Tzeentch's Great Demon.

(End of this chapter)