Warhammer 40K in a box

Chapter 730 The Flames of War Are Scorching
"They're here! Orbital drop! Covering the entire Northern Hemisphere!" The roar of an Astral Army officer echoed through the communications channel from within the surface defense line.

The first spore sac crashed heavily onto a newly fortified position on Hades III. With a nauseating, tearing sound, the sac exploded, releasing roaring Blade Worms and Gun Worms that instantly clashed with the nearest Astragalus soldiers.

Laser beams flashed, carapace shattered, and blood and acidic substances splattered everywhere.

This was just the beginning; more airdrops followed, spreading death and destruction across the land.

The battle nuns' hymns and the roar of bolters echoed through the ruins as they held fast to the key temple and evacuation point, purifying the approaching aliens with their faith and fire.

But the swarms of insects are endless; they trample over the corpses of their own kind, crashing against every line of defense like a tidal wave.

In space, the Dark Angels fleet attempted to intercept subsequent airdrops, with light spears tearing through the void and destroying swarm motherships or large spore sacs that tried to approach the planet.

However, the swarms are deployed in a three-dimensional and dispersed manner, and they even use some asteroids as springboards to continuously infiltrate the surface of planets.

The pressure reached its peak instantly.

The evacuation was forced to take place amidst the fighting, with Blood Angels' transport ships taking off and landing in a hail of bullets, each landing and takeoff fraught with immense risk.

The ground forces' resistance became exceptionally fierce; every second of delay was bought with blood and lives.

At this moment, the combined squad of Astartes and necromancers had just arrived at the perimeter of the nearest lens control station.

The control station's cold, metallic shell gleamed in the twin stars' light, but its interior might already be occupied by infiltrated Zerg units, or it might conceal a dormant Necromancer defense mechanism.

They must break through as soon as possible and activate that decisive weapon.

The swarm's vanguard claws have firmly grasped the throat of the Hades system, and time for humanity and the undead is slipping away at an alarming rate.

The countdown to destruction has begun.

The surfaces of planets in the Hades Galaxy were instantly transformed into meat grinders the moment the swarm's drop capsules landed.

The Astronautical Army's defenses immediately bore the brunt of the Zerg Vanguard's fiercest attack, and the battle quickly escalated to a fever pitch, its ferocity exceeding all expectations.

On the outer perimeter of the largest residential dome on Hades III, on a position held by the Cardian Regiment, scorching beams of laser gun fire, like a torrential downpour, burned brief gaps in the surging swarm of insects.

But this loss was insignificant to the swarm. More Blade Zerglings and Gun Bugs stepped over the charred corpses of their companions, emitting piercing screechs, and crashed against the defensive line made up of sandbags, makeshift trenches and broken armored vehicles like a crimson tide.

"For the Emperor! For Kadian!" an officer roared hoarsely, his chainsaw sword having just cleaved a swarming Blade Worm in two, its foul-smelling blood splattering all over his face.

The next second, a biological acid cannon from a distant Hive Warrior struck the bunker he was in. Accompanied by a tooth-grinding corrosive sound and a shrill scream, the bunker and the soldiers inside quickly melted into a pool of viscous, bubbling organic matter.

The defenses were not impregnable, and there were often points that were breached.

The ferocious gene-stealers mingled with the swarm of insects, bursting into the trenches with uncanny speed. Their claws and bone knives easily tore apart the throats of the Katachan jungle warriors, even though the latter had also pierced the alien's chest with a combat dagger before falling.

The entire battlefield was filled with the hissing of laser weapons, the roar of explosives, the howling of chainsaws, the shrieks of aliens, and the dying cries of human soldiers.

The battle nuns held their ground on the main passage leading to the evacuation point, chanting hymns as their bolters unleashed flames of destruction, tearing apart swarms of Zerg units.

The fanatic wielded his power halberd into a death whirlwind, slicing through any alien that approached.

However, even the power of faith could not completely stop the torrent of physics. A battle nun was simultaneously attacked by several Hive Warriors. Even though she used her superb skills to parry and counterattack, she was ultimately crushed into pieces along with her power armor by the absolute force.

The Astronautical Army's artillery array roared deafeningly from the rear, its heavy artillery fire attempting to cover the swarm's subsequent assembly points, kicking up clouds of smoke and dust mixed with severed limbs and rubble.

However, the swarms are extremely adaptable. They began digging tunnels, suddenly emerging from beneath the Imperial defenses, or using tunnel bugs to appear directly in the center of the position, causing enormous chaos and casualties.

The ordinary soldiers used their flesh and blood to stubbornly resist the alien attack.

They knew that every extra moment they held out meant a greater chance for the civilians behind them to board the transport ship.

The casualty figures climbed at an alarming rate, and the field medical stations were already overcrowded before being wiped out by the Zerg units that broke through the defenses.

The green, acidic blood mixed with bright red human blood, soaking the scorched earth. The air was thick with the stench of blood, gunpowder, and the putrid smell unique to aliens.

Every inch of land was fought for at the cost of lives.

This was not an evenly matched battle, but a desperate struggle to buy time with sacrifices.

With astonishing courage and discipline, the soldiers of the Astronautical Army fulfilled their oath to the Emperor, using their mortal bodies to build the last and most tragic line of defense on this land that was about to be purified by the fires of the stars.

Their sacrifice bought them that tiny, yet crucial, window of opportunity to activate the ultimate weapon in space.
-
While the Astral Army was sacrificing their lives to delay the Zerg swarm's advance, the Battle Sisters faced a completely different challenge.

On the vast plains of Hades III, covered in red dust, several enormous solar power platforms, resembling mobile cities, stand silently. They are the homes and cultural centers upon which the local technological barbarian tribes have lived for generations.

At this moment, the indigenous people of these tribes gathered at the foot of the platform, looking with fear, doubt and stubbornness at the silver-armored figures who were trying to guide them onto the transport ship.

"Leave? No! This is the land of our ancestors, a mobile ark bestowed upon us by the Sun God!" An old patriarch, his body painted with white totems and holding a scepter inlaid with solar panels, shouted excitedly to a battle nun preacher in front of him.

His voice trembled in the hot, dry air, and the men, women, and children of the tribe gathered around echoed his words, clinging tightly to the platform's thick metal tracks as if they were the very lifeblood of them.

These tribes have long forgotten ancient technologies; their civilization was built around these massive platforms that could chase stars and draw energy from them.

The platform is not only their home and energy source, but also the core of their social structure, religious beliefs and identity.

Asking them to give up all of this would be tantamount to destroying their entire worldview.

The battle-hardened nun preacher suppressed her inner anxiety. She could hear the increasingly close explosions and alien screech in the distance; with each passing second, the swarm drew ever closer.

She tried to persuade them with the Emperor's teachings and the immediate existential crisis: "Elders! Look at the sky! The green plague is approaching; it will devour everything, including your platform and your lives! The Emperor's ships will take you to safety!"

"A safe place?" The old chieftain brandished his scepter, pointing to the endless sea of ​​sand. "Where is safety? Where is life? We would rather perish with the Ark!"

The situation has reached a stalemate.

Although the battle nuns possess formidable martial prowess, their mission is salvation, not slaughter.

Forcibly dragging these natives onto the ship would not only risk causing riots and wasting time, but would also violate their doctrine of saving souls. The preacher looked at these stubborn faces, then at the vanguard of the swarm of insects, faintly visible on the horizon like a turbulent tide of filth, her fingers gripping the bolter gun so tightly they turned slightly white.

“Proclaimer,” a nun in charge of reconnaissance reported urgently over the internal channel, “the swarm advance team is less than five kilometers away, mainly fast-moving sickle swarms!”

Time was running out. The speaker took a deep breath and made a difficult decision.

Instead of trying to persuade everyone, she turned her attention to the old patriarch and several elders who seemed the most prestigious.

“Elder,” her voice carried an unprecedented solemnity and an undeniable resolve, “we respect your beliefs and traditions. But destruction is imminent, and it will not discriminate based on faith.”

We can stay and guard your ark with you until the very last moment.

She shifted her focus, pointing to the terrified women and children: "But let these futures, let the seeds of the tribe leave first! If the ark is destined to be destroyed, at least let the bloodline continue!"
If the Ark survives, they will return! This is the only way to preserve your tribe's future!

This proposal, by separating the defense of the homeland from the continuation of the bloodline, touched upon the tribe's most fundamental survival instinct.

The old patriarch looked at the young faces around him, then at the increasing number of spore sacs trailing green tails in the distant sky, and a fierce struggle appeared on his wrinkled face.

Finally, he closed his eyes heavily, nodded slowly, and gave the order in a hoarse voice.

The evacuation operation was finally able to continue, albeit slowly, but the deadlock was broken.

Women and children, escorted by nuns, boarded the transport boat, weeping and turning back every few steps.

The men of the tribe took up their rudimentary, solar-powered weapons and spears, and together with some of the fighting nuns who volunteered to stay behind, they built the last, destined-to-be-tragic line of defense around their vast mobile home.

They chose to perish alongside their core culture and beliefs, buying precious last moments for their people to escape.

Between the sky and the horizon, the shadow of destruction is rapidly closing in.
-
The Hades Galaxy Joint Command Center—located in a heavily reinforced hall on the deep deck of the "Indomitable Truth" filled with tactical holographic projections and communication arrays—is currently under the command of Judge Chen Xi at the central command post.

He replaced the Lion King and Leona, facing the battlefield situation before him alone, which was like a boiling pot of oil.

On the massive master holographic star map, the dirty green patches representing the swarm invasion are visibly eroding the blue areas representing the Imperial-controlled territories.

Countless flashing red warning signs jumped across the front lines, symbolizing that the defenses were in dire straits, the positions had fallen, or the units had suffered heavy losses.

The communication channels were filled with hoarse, urgent, and even desperate pleas for help and battle reports from commanders on all fronts, with the background noise mixed with the shrieks of laser weapons, the roar of explosions, and the inhuman howls of the Zerg.

"At 32 degrees North latitude, the defensive line of the 118th Regiment of Kadian has been breached! Requesting orbital fire coverage to impede its movement! Repeat, requesting fire coverage!"

"The equatorial defense line of Hades 5 needs at least two battalions of reserves! We can't withstand the next wave of attacks!"

"Evacuation convoy number Gamma-7 has been intercepted by a swarm of Zerg spores. The escort ships have suffered heavy losses and urgently need air support!"

Chen Xi's face was tense, but her eyes remained sharp and focused.

His hands moved rapidly between different control interfaces and communication channels, while his brain, like a highly efficient data processing core, quickly filtered through massive amounts of often contradictory information and made decisions.

"Orbital fire request approved. Coordinates sent to the cruiser 'Unwavering Will.' Tell them there's only one salvo window; precision is paramount!" He ordered the officer in charge of fleet coordination, his voice calm and unwavering.

"Tell the commander of Hades V that there are no reserves left. Instruct him to consolidate his defenses, concentrate all heavy firepower, and establish a crossfire network using the canyon terrain. Hold out for as long as possible!" This was a cruel but necessary decision; he had to invest his limited resources in the most critical positions.

"Mobilize the nearest Ravenwing Stormclaw squadron to Gamma-7 to clear the interception point. Inform the Blood Angels' evacuation fleet to change course and bypass the main threat zone by circumnavigating the edge of the Zeta-9 asteroid belt!"

He issued one instruction after another, clear, concise, and with a clear objective.

Staff officers and technical priests worked efficiently around him, translating his orders into concrete action codes and sending them to Imperial units throughout the star system.

Fine beads of sweat appeared on Chen Xi's forehead. The pressure from being highly focused was immense, but he held on.

Thanks to his experience commanding the Rostov Sector Expeditionary Force in large-scale interstellar warfare, he was not unprepared for how to maintain the operation of a large army in such a chaotic and information-scarce situation.

He knew he couldn't be on the front lines like the Primarch and turn the tide of battle with absolute power, nor could he predict the enemy's key moments with extraordinary insight like Leona.

All he could do was find the least bad path amidst the chaotic battle reports and calls for help, and mobilize as many mortal soldiers, the Star Guardians, and the limited naval forces as possible, like patching up a leaky bucket, to try and keep the front line from collapsing instantly.

He coordinated the security of the logistics supply lines, adjusted the deployment of artillery positions, and even when a certain mortal regiment was about to collapse, he directly contacted its commander channel and issued an order to hold the line to the death with the authority of an inquisitor and a cold tone, forcibly stabilizing the situation.

The situation remains critical, with all fronts still bearing immense pressure and casualties. However, under Chen Xi's almost exhausting command, the entire imperial defense system, though teetering on the brink of collapse, continues to operate with difficulty.

He was like an old sailor clinging to the helm in a raging storm. Despite the ship's constant groans and the relentless influx of seawater, he never allowed the giant ship, carrying countless hopes, to capsize completely.

He was using all his experience and willpower to buy the precious time necessary for the Lion King, Leona, and the team carrying out the critical mission to implement the final plan.

(End of this chapter)