Warhammer 40K in a box

Chapter 664 Campaign Advancement
With the full intervention of the Penitentiary Chapter and the main force of the Imperial Navy, the battle shifted from a desperate defense to a brutal and steady advance. The Astral Legion, like a gray tide of steel and flesh, guided by the sturdy dam constructed of fleet firepower and Astartes support, inch by inch washed away and purified this defiled land.

On the ruins of a continental coastal fortress that had been firmly occupied by the Astronautical Army, a forward joint command center was quickly established. Originally a communications node for the Planetary Defense Force, the dilapidated building had been reinforced and was now covered with serpentine communication cables and flashing data panels. A huge holographic projector in the center was displaying the global war situation in real time.

Chen Xi, Company Commander Cassirer, General Glenn, several high-ranking officers of the Astragalus Army, and a tech-priest representing the interests of the Cult of Mechanics gathered before the holographic platform. The air was thick with the smells of sweat, engine oil, and an unmistakable tension. Despite their shared goal, the cooperation between the Inquisitors, Astartes, and the Astragalus Army was not without its misunderstandings.

Aurejana's synthesized voice rang out through the loudspeaker, cold and precise: "Orbital scans confirm that 70 percent of all labeled super-large biosignals have been eliminated by orbital bombardment." One of her mechanical appendages pointed to the constantly flowing data stream on the hologram, "But the remaining targets are mostly distributed in deep-sea trenches and extreme depth areas, which conventional orbital strikes can no longer effectively reach. Biocontamination has also infiltrated underground aquifers, and the complete purification is far beyond the coverage of existing firepower."

General Glenn pointed with his baton to several slowly advancing blue arrows on the map, his voice heavy: "Our forces have controlled 35 percent of the coastal area of ​​the main continental plate and have advanced five to ten kilometers inland. However, the resistance is extremely fierce—the aliens and those corrupt traitors are using every jungle, every mine tunnel, and every city ruin to launch attacks. The advance is slow, and casualties continue to rise."

Company Commander Cassirer crossed his arms, his power armor humming softly. His sharp gaze swept across the map, finally settling on the vast ocean and scattered islands still shrouded in crimson. "Cleaning up the continent inch by inch is inefficient and only gives the aliens in the deep sea a chance to breathe. We must strike at the root."

“Agreed.” Chen Xi spoke, his slender fingers tracing across the holographic image of the areas marked as the main lair of the gene thieves and the regions with abnormally strong Tyrannosaurus biosignals, especially those isolated islands in the open sea. “The ocean is their barrier, but it has also become their prison. Since we cannot escape, we will burn it all to ashes.”

A ruthless and efficient plan quickly took shape under joint command, codenamed "Burning the Sea".

The core of the plan is divided into three layers: the Imperial Navy fleet will carry out saturation orbital bombardment on all islands outside of non-loyalist strongholds and sea areas with dense Tyran signals. Light spears, macro cannons, and whirlwind torpedoes will be unleashed without reservation, with the aim of completely erasing all living buildings and large biological clusters on the surface, burning the islands into glass, and boiling and evaporating the sea.

The Astral Army Corps is responsible for the steady clearing of the mainland area, employing the classic "scorched earth" tactic. They sweep through the area in battalion and company units with the support of tanks and armored vehicles, establishing isolation zones, burning all vegetation and buildings that may be hiding aliens or contaminated, and executing all discovered infected and traitors, leaving no hidden dangers.

As for those core lairs hidden deep beneath the sea or coral reefs, seldom destroyed even by orbital bombardment, the Empire's most elite forces would carry out targeted elimination—a task that, unsurprisingly, fell to the Ash Knights Chapter and the Deathwatch Squad. They would be like the Empire's sharpest dagger, piercing the enemy's most sordid heart.

"Operation Burn the Sea, execute immediately." Chen Xi finally made the decision. His voice was clearly audible in the noisy command center, carrying the unquestionable ultimate authority of a judge. "May the Emperor guide our artillery fire."

Once the order was given, the storm of destruction escalated once more.

From orbit, the oceans of Azure Dawn appeared to be in a frenzy. Countless destructive beams of light relentlessly bombarded the surface, massive explosions unleashing towering waves and billowing steam like mist. Islands trembled, cracked, and burned under the relentless bombardment; verdant vegetation was consumed by flames, and thick black smoke replaced the usual mist. Countless shattered remains of creatures floated in the sea, hissing and boiling; countless Tyrannosaurus creatures were utterly annihilated by the extreme heat before they even had a chance to surface.

On the continent, the Astragalus Army's advance grew increasingly resolute and ruthless. Heavy tanks rolled over ruins, blasting any suspected bunkers to smithereens. Flamethrower soldiers marched at the head of the column, purifying every bush and every crumbling building with scorching flames, the air thick with the acrid stench of burning corpses and organic matter.

The soldiers, their faces expressionless, opened fire on any moving or human-like target—whether it was a frenzied charging mutant hybrid or a gene-stealing follower shouting heretical doctrines. War here stripped away all warmth, leaving only the most primal and chilling slaughter.

In this burning inferno, two forces stood out. The Ash Knights, like heavily armored gray reapers, their Terminator armor allowing them to ignore most light firepower and charge directly into the heart of the fiercest resistance. They crushed all obstacles with Stormblasters and power gauntlets, uprooting the stubbornly resisting alien strongholds.

Meanwhile, Captain Titus's Deathwatch squad demonstrated its extraordinary versatility. At times, they steadily advanced alongside the Astral Army, using precise firepower to eliminate enemy strongholds; at other times, they employed jetpacks for high-speed transfers, launching swift attacks on the Xenomorph teams' flanks like blades; and still other times, they infiltrated deep and complex underground networks to wipe out the stubborn remnants who had managed to escape orbital bombardment.

The "Burning Seas" project continues to advance with astonishing resource consumption and equally astonishing efficiency. The Empire's war machine, like a massive and merciless millstone, slowly but relentlessly crushes and obliterates the alien life forms on the Azure Dawn. Every moment, countless Tyrannosaurus creatures are ended, and every moment, countless Imperial soldiers fall in the advance.

This exchange ratio, in the cold-blooded calculations of the Ministry of Military Affairs, is clearly still "acceptable".

However, everyone knew clearly in their hearts that the real victory lay not in the advance and attrition on the surface, but in whether they could completely destroy the source nests hidden deep in the sea that constantly breed this disaster.

Based on Oregana's comparative analysis of biosignal sources before and after the bombing, as well as information extracted from the minds of a few captured mid-level leaders of the Genestealer cult, a major nest located on the edge of the continental shelf, hidden beneath a vast coral reef system, was identified as a top priority target.

Although the signal strength of this nest weakened after the bombing, the core response remained, and energy was detected shifting deeper—likely a core member of the cult or some important biological specimen attempting to escape or putting up a final stand.

(End of this chapter)