Warhammer 40K in a box

Chapter 708 The Battle of Kamas 5
Malaca's death did indeed buy the Imperial defenses a precious respite, but this tranquility was as fleeting as a rare clear sky in the Kamas Sector.

The Thousand-Eyed Warband's offensive wave did not completely collapse after losing a Chaos Lord. Under the urging of their junior officers, they retreated several kilometers and regrouped into a chaotic but still dangerous warband.

Inside the command center of the Crimson Crescent Fortress Monastery, Leona, Chen Xi, and the two chapter leaders all knew that this was by no means a sign of victory.

"They are regrouping." Company Commander Tycho wiped the blood and grime from his visor, his voice hoarse from the fierce battle coming through the communicator. "The losses are considerable, but the core strength remains. Serafax will not give up so easily."

Chen Xi stared at the tactics panel, which showed that enemy ground forces were building temporary defensive fortifications, while more airdrop pods were on standby in orbit: "They are waiting for new instructions, or... preparing for some kind of change that we have not yet detected."

His concerns were soon confirmed.

On the track, the intense battle situation underwent a subtle but crucial shift.

The Thousand-Eyed Warband's fleet no longer insisted on engaging in costly head-on artillery battles with the "Indomitable Truth" and its escort fleet.

Instead, they began to exploit their numerical advantage, employing harassment and division tactics.

A large number of small raiding ships and faster cruisers were divided into several formations, constantly probing the weak points of the Imperial defenses, forcing the Imperial fleet to divert its attention to respond.

The "Indomitable Truth" remained a pillar of strength, but its powerful firepower was hampered by these "fly" tactics, making it unable to effectively concentrate its firepower to destroy the enemy's main warships.

Lion King Leon stood on the bridge, keenly sensing the change in the enemy's tactical intentions.

“They’re stalling,” Lion King’s deep voice echoed on the bridge of the Indomitable Truth, “trying to pin us firmly to the tracks.”

Almost simultaneously, an urgent communication from another continent on the planet pierced the fortress command center like a sharp icicle.

"SOS! This is Hera City! We are under attack by a massive Chaos fleet! Repeat, Hera City is under massive attack! Orbital defenses have been breached! Requesting emergency support!"

The main screen switched to a blurry image transmitted from Hera City: countless airdrop pods trailing foul flames rained down on the industrial city of millions of people like deadly raindrops.

The city's void shield flickered a few times under the saturation attack before going out completely, and the ground-based air defense network was mostly destroyed by precise anti-radiation missiles in the first instance.

"Hera City..." Chapter Commander Cassius's voice was heavy with despair, "...it only has basic planetary defense forces and a company of local PDFs, which are simply not capable of withstanding an attack of this scale!"

Chen Xi immediately pulled up the data for Hera City.

Located on the other side of the continent, it is an important industrial center and population center on the planet Kamas, but its military value is far less than that of the Crimson Crescent Fortress as a strategic stronghold.

For this reason, the main defensive forces and all the Astartes warriors were concentrated around the fortress.

“This is a conspiracy.” Leona’s voice was cold as she revealed the cruel truth. “Therafax took advantage of our focus on the fortress and attacked our weaker but… more suitable target for sacrifice.”

The command center was deathly silent.

Everyone understands what the word "sacrifice" means in a chaotic context.

The next few hours were an ordeal for everyone inside the fortress.

They could only watch helplessly as the city of Hera fell, relying on intermittent communications and reconnaissance footage from orbit.

The battle—if it could be called a battle—ended exceptionally quickly. The Thousand-Eyed Warband committed far more troops than necessary, crushing any organized resistance with overwhelming force.

The last images transmitted were of flames spreading through the city streets, explosions, and the desperate cries of civilians. Then communications were completely cut off, leaving only an ominous static noise.
-
The anomaly began approximately six standard hours after the fall of Hera.

Even the Crimson Crescent Fortress, located on the other side of the continent, could feel the suffocating oppressive atmosphere through psionic sensors and atmospheric monitoring equipment.

First is the sky.

The once pale blue sky of Kamas was now stained with a sickly, dark red, like congealed blood. This red was not from clouds, but from some kind of energy glow permeating the entire continent. The light of the stars became weak and cold, unable to dispel this ominous veil.

Immediately following was a violent tremor on the psionic level.

All the psionicists and Leona sensed a violent, bloodthirsty will, filled with an endless thirst for slaughter, rising from the direction of Hera City, like an evil heart that had just begun to beat.

A faint smell of rust began to permeate the air; it was the smell of blood that had congealed and evaporated, defying the laws of physics and traveling a great distance to directly affect the sense of smell of living beings.

“They are conducting a ceremony.” Chen Xi looked at the off-the-charts data on the sensors, his tone heavy and unyielding. “The scale… is beyond imagination.”

The central square of Hera—once a place where citizens gathered for leisure—has now been transformed into a hellish altar.

The city was piled high with corpses, and the blood of millions of residents was guided by blasphemous runic trails, converging into a massive pool of blood several kilometers in diameter.

In the center of the blood pool stands a pyramid constructed from skeletons, twisted metal, and the remains of living people.

Another Chaos Lord from the Thousand-Eyed Warband, a wizard named Gorg, is standing at the top of the pyramid.

He wore a robe sewn from peeled human skin and a crown inlaid with countless still screaming heads.

His body was severely mutated due to long-term sacrifices and gifts from the warp, and his arms were transformed into bone sickles resembling insects.

He brandished his sickle arm and roared in a non-human language a prayer praising the Blood God.

As he chanted, the blood pool boiled and churned, huge bubbles burst, releasing a nauseating stench and pure negative energy.

Vast amounts of psionic energy were extracted and gathered through the pain and death of the sacrificers, bombarding the fragile structure of reality above Hera City.

The dark red energy in the sky began to rotate, forming a huge vortex.

At the center of the vortex, reality was ripped apart, revealing the raging, chaotic dimension behind it, filled with endless fury—Khorne's Realm.

A massive rift spanning the heavens and the earth was forcibly torn open! At the edge of the rift, blood-red lightning flickered erratically, while inside, molten lava churned and countless twisted, roaring shadows filled the air.

The gate to the warp has been opened.

In an instant, a roar that seemed to come from another world swept across the entire planet Kamas.

It wasn't a sound that traveled through the air, but a terrifying echo that was directly imprinted deep within the soul.

Immediately afterwards, like a flood bursting its banks, countless Khorne demons surged out from the cracks!

The vampires formed a burning legion, wielding flaming swords and emitting piercing battle howls, surging through the streets of Hera like a red tide.

The skull turret moved its segmented limbs like a living thing, and its barrels contained destructive energy.

An even larger entity—a pack of flesh-and-blood hounds—smelled the scent of slaughter and transformed into streaks of swift red lightning.

You can even see some huge, bulky, but incredibly destructive Khorne's Blood Crusher appearing and disappearing in the demonic tide.

These demons are not stable warp projections; their very existence is highly corrupting.

Where they set foot, the soil becomes scorched and cracked, oozing blood; a layer of writhing flesh quickly covers the ruins of buildings; the air is distorted by the high temperature and malice.

Chaotic pollution is rapidly spreading from the city of Hera to the entire planet!
(End of this chapter)