Warhammer 40K in a box

Chapter 622 Ground Offensive and Defensive Warfare

The Emperor's Sons fleet's seemingly frenzied and chaotic assault, after failing to tear apart Medusa's orbital defenses in one fell swoop, suddenly revealed its insidious tactical flexibility.

Like a venomous snake retracting its tongue, they are not defeated, but rather gathering the strength for a second bite.

The entire fleet maneuvered swiftly and systematically toward the planet's shadow region.

Immediately, the sky-covering airdrop pods and landing craft were released, like a desecrating rain of steel.

These airdrop pods were by no means crude creations of imperial design.

They were twisted and reshaped into all sorts of bizarre and "beautiful" forms, their surfaces covered with bas-reliefs of screaming faces, or meandering, flowing, and seemingly alive erotic patterns.

When they tear through the atmosphere, they emit not only a violent frictional roar, but also a sonic boom that is a mixture of shrieks, groans and a distorted symphony.

This is like a prelude to the apocalypse, first subjecting the ground troops to brutal psychological torture.

"The orbital elevator platform 'Gorgon's Spine' is under heavy attack! Numerous airborne signals detected! Energy signature match—confirmed to be the Emperor's Son!"

"Landing craft cluster detected in the eastern district of Orbit Casting City! Engagement expected in five minutes!"

Inside the Karada command center, urgent messages poured in like a tidal wave.

This information was transformed on the main tactical holographic platform into countless menacing, flashing red invasion arrows, which pierced fiercely towards Medusa's iron-gray ground.

Primarch Ferrus Manus stood like a mountain before the holographic platform.

His silver-gray face was as still as frozen steel, completely expressionless.

Only those eyes, like precision instruments, were rapidly scanning every subtle change on the battlefield.

Her voice, transmitted clearly, coldly, and steadily through an encrypted data link, reached every defense unit.

"All units shall hold their pre-established positions as ordered."

"Initiate the second phase of the 'steel tempering' ground contingency plan."

"The rail elevator is a lifeline and cannot be lost."

"'Anvil' Heavy Armor Company, immediately reinforce the base defense of 'Gorgon's Spine'."

"All air defense arrays open fire at maximum power to intercept subsequent airborne units."

"The city is our heart."

"Contract the outer defenses toward the core fortification complex, and use every furnace, every pipe, and every workshop to create a killing corridor."

"The fortress artillery group will conduct a comprehensive attack based on the guidance of the frontline observers."

"No need to be stingy with ammunition, I want to turn every inch of land occupied by the enemy into boiling molten slag."

Her commands were concise and efficient, like a heavy hammer striking hot iron, bringing the chaotic battle back into a steely logic and order.

Millennia of management and the enhancements made after the Primarch's return have transformed Medusa's surface into an incredibly vast fortress.

Outside the city of Orbita, a massive adamantine gate crashed down, completely blocking the wide passage leading to the core area.

The buildings on both sides of the street have long been transformed into sturdy fortresses.

Hidden turrets suddenly emerged from the camouflaged rock walls, weaving a crisscrossing net of deadly fire that covered all paths of attack.

The heavily armored infantry line, composed of battle-hardened veterans, stands like a moving steel wall at the crucial crossroads.

The explosive guns, heavy explosives, and plasma cannons in their hands together formed a wall of death.

The cold legion insignia on the power armor flickered in and out amidst the flashes of continuous artillery fire.

The new recruits—those soldiers who had just completed their training and were still somewhat green—were deployed on the flanks and secondary positions.

They gripped their weapons tightly.

The eyes behind the sensors stared intently at the area ahead, engulfed by thick smoke and dazzling beams of energy.

The communications channel echoed with the veteran sergeants' calm, almost ruthless, commands:

"Control your breathing and maintain your firing rhythm."

"Aim at the torso, and the bomb will do the rest."

"Keep a close eye on the heat indicator; overheating means death."

"Replace the energy tank, and be quick!"

"They're coming up!"

"For the Emperor! For the Father of Steel! Fire!"

The first wave of Sons of the Emperor warriors, clad in ornate yet twisted power armor, charged forward with maniacal laughter, accompanied by a piercing, mind-altering noise and psychedelic iridescent light.

They viewed war as the ultimate sensory feast, craving the ultimate pleasure brought by killing.

Immediately afterwards, they crashed headlong into the steel fire net woven by the steel hand.

The heavy bomb brutally tore apart the exquisite armor.

The light emitted when plasma is overloaded instantly vaporizes flesh and metal.

The high-speed projectiles fired by the railgun completely swept the area into a death zone.

The emperor's son's unrestrained charge came to a halt. The severed limbs and exploding fireballs scattered along the way became the bloody and cruel appetizers of this "feast".

However, the power of chaos is by no means easy to contend with.

Accompanied by even more powerful and suffocating psionic fluctuations, Chaos Lords wielding power swords and surrounded by ominous auras, along with Noise Warriors, joined the fray.

They evaded heavy fire with an uncanny agility that defied the laws of physics.

The blasphemous sonic weapon shattered the defenders' internal organs and armor.

The twisted energy blade easily sliced ​​through the thick adamantite armor plate.

The battle quickly escalated into an extremely brutal close-quarters combat.

The roar of the bomb gun was replaced by the shrill clash of powered weapons and the dying screams of the chainsaw sword.

The warriors of the Steel Hand fought silently.

Use your shield to block.

He retaliated with a chainsaw sword.

Use a hot melt gun to bombard at close range.

Soldiers kept falling.

Their genetic seeds were quickly retrieved by their comrades.

The positions they left behind were immediately filled by reinforcements from the rear.

New recruit Carl trembled involuntarily amidst the deafening noise and continuous explosions.

He witnessed a veteran who had fought in dozens of battles being hit head-on by a noise fighter's sonic cannon.

His entire upper body instantly exploded into a cloud of blood mist.

A chilling fear gripped him instantly, almost freezing his breath and his movements.

"Stand up, recruits!"

The sergeant's hoarse roar erupted in the communications channel.

Look around you!

What are we protecting?

"Not cold metal!"

"It's the furnace behind you!"

"It's the technical priests and countless workers inside!"

"It's the future of Medusa!"

"Your fear is meaningless; only an iron will and faith in the Emperor will allow you to live!"

"Remember your oath to protect!"

"Fire!"

Carl suddenly woke up.

He saw the sergeant use his last strength to lunge at the noise-making soldier.

The activated molten metal bomb perished along with it, transforming into an expanding ball of destructive light.

A surge of heat, a mixture of shame, furious rage, and a do-or-die determination, instantly coursed through his body.

He let out a beastly roar.

Hold the explosive gun steady.

He unleashed the full rage of an entire magazine at another Son of the Emperor warrior who was trying to break through the defenses.

Witnessing the magnificent armor shatter and disintegrate in a series of explosions.

At that moment, recruit Carl truly tasted the naked cruelty of war.

For the first time, I vaguely yet profoundly understood the weight that the word "protect" carries—a weight that can crush the soul.

Similar scenes played out tragically on every front and at every point of contact.

The steel hand puts up a tenacious resistance with its meticulously constructed fortifications and every obstacle.

They did their utmost to drag the Emperor's Sons' attack into a war of attrition, a war they were most adept at and most brutal in.

Precision artillery support from the orbital platform and rear gun emplacements never ceased.

Time and again, they shattered the enemy's newly assembled offensive momentum.

The surface of Medusa seemed to have transformed into a giant furnace.

It mercilessly devours blood, life, and steel.

The struggle for every inch of land must be won at the cost of endless sacrifices.

(End of this chapter)