Warhammer 40K in a box

Chapter 739 The Battle of Baal, Part Six

The void shield of the "Stone" fortress fluctuated violently under the continuous impact of dense bio-acid cannons and bone projectiles, with the energy readings constantly hovering in the danger zone.

This massive mobile fortress, along with the remaining Dark Angel fleet around it, has now become the last gathering point of Imperial power on Baal's orbit.

"How much longer will it take for the Light Spear Array to recharge?" Lion King Leon's voice rang out on the bridge of the "Unyielding Truth" as he stared at the swarm of Zerg ships on the main screen, which almost obscured the starlight.

“Three more minutes, Father,” Azrael’s reply came through the communicator, with the background filled with continuous explosions and alarms.

"The left-side defensive platform of 'The Rock' has just been destroyed by a suicide attack, and we have lost 15 percent of our close-in weaponry."

The swarm has completely taken control of the Baal orbit.

The Imperial fleet suffered heavy losses in the previous war of attrition and had to abandon most of its orbital positions, retreating to the "Stone" fortress and the shadowed side of the planet, relying on the planet's own shield for mobile defense.

While this tactic reduces the area exposed to direct Zerg fire, it also means that the Imperium has completely lost the ability to effectively support the ground from orbit and intercept Zerg airdrops.

"All ships, execute the 'shadow avoidance' maneuver and maintain synchronization with the planet's rotation," Lion King ordered.

The remaining Imperial ships began maneuvering close to the shadowed side of the planet Baal, like soldiers hiding behind boulders, using the planet's massive size as a natural shield.

But this came at a cost—they lost sight and fire coverage over most of the sunlit side of the planet.
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With the Imperial fleet suppressed, the Zerg swarm's bombardment of the Baal surface intensified dramatically.

The skies above Angel Castle and its surrounding core defense perimeter are now shrouded in a dense shower of green meteors.

These are not natural celestial bodies, but various types of bio-bombs and live ammunition launched from orbit by the swarm of biological ships.

The giant sporangia crashed onto the defensive positions like meteorites, bursting open to release a large amount of highly corrosive slime and rapidly hatching low-level swarm units.

Although these units were fragile, their sheer number greatly disrupted the defenders' rhythm.

Even more deadly are those specialized biological turrets.

They were precisely deployed behind the Imperial defenses, where they quickly took root and expanded into living fortresses capable of spewing bone spikes, acid spheres, and even bio-plasma clusters.

These gun emplacements have a long range and great power, and because they are scattered throughout the defensive line, they are difficult to eliminate quickly.

"The seventh air defense array in the North District has been destroyed by biological artillery fire!"

"The outer wall of the eastern side of Castle Angel has been continuously corroded by acid, and the thickness of the armor has decreased by 20%!"

"A large number of spore mines have been discovered near the second energy hub. The engineering corps is clearing them, but progress is slow!"

Bad news kept arriving at the joint command center located underground in Angel Castle. On the control panel in front of Chen Xi, the data representing the integrity of the ground defense facilities was slowly but steadily declining.

“The intensity and accuracy of the orbital bombardment are increasing,” Chen Xi said to Dante and the Lion King in the holographic projection beside him. “The swarm is systematically weakening our fixed defenses. Without the countermeasure of orbital firepower, we can only passively take hits.”

Dante's golden mask reflected a faint light in the dimly lit command room.

“The walls can be repaired, the fortifications can be rebuilt. As long as one of Saint Gilles’s sons stands, Angel Castle will not fall.” His voice remained steady, but his clenched fists revealed the pressure he was under.
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On the ground, the defending troops, suffering from orbital bombardment, were in a difficult situation.

Cassius, a recruit of the Blood Angels, and his squad huddled in a reinforced trench, feeling the tremors from the continuous explosions outside.

Soil and gravel fell from the edge of the trench.

“These damn spores! They’re relentless!” a team member cursed through gritted teeth, having just used a flamethrower to clear out a group of small Zerglings trying to crawl into the trench.

Cassius remained silent, looking outside through the observation mirror.

The once familiar battlefield terrain has been completely destroyed, with huge craters everywhere and a strong smell of sourness and ozone permeating the air.

In the distance, a watchtower struck by biological acid is slowly melting and collapsing.

"Attention! New airdrop! Three o'clock!" Sergeant Herman's voice rang out in the squad channel.

Cassius immediately turned his gaze and saw several shadows, larger than ordinary spore sacs, falling towards their area. He recognized them as Zerg drop sacs, which usually contained more threatening units.

"Prepare for battle! Heavy weapons team, take your positions!" Hermann's voice remained calm, but Cassius could sense the urgency in it.

The bombing not only caused material losses, but also continuously drained the energy and morale of the defending troops.

Every explosion, every alarm, puts our nerves on edge.

Soldiers were not getting enough rest, equipment malfunctioned more frequently in harsh conditions, and supply lines became precarious under bombing.
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Chen Xi was coordinating the overall defense from the command center.

He ordered the remaining anti-aircraft firepower to prioritize striking the most threatening biological artillery positions and large airdrop pods; organized engineers and mechanics to brave artillery fire to repair damaged city walls and energy facilities; and adjusted troop deployments, rotating exhausted frontline troops for short rest.

But all of this only slowed down the rate at which the defenses deteriorated.

Losing orbital control meant that the Imperial army lost the initiative on the battlefield and could only passively deal with the Zerg swarm's increasingly powerful attacks.

“Based on the analysis of the bombing pattern and intensity,” Chen Xi reported to Lion King and Dante, “the swarm is creating conditions for the next large-scale ground offensive. Their goal is clear: to continuously weaken our defenses, deplete our manpower, and ultimately overwhelm Angel Castle with absolute superiority.”

Lion King Leon's gaze swept across the dense clusters of insect swarm signals on the star map.

“They will come. And until they arrive, we can only hold our ground.” His voice was deep, filled with an iron will: “Tell all the soldiers that the test has only just begun. Every moment we hold our ground buys the Emperor another moment of time.”

The order was relayed.

Under relentless orbital bombardment and increasing ground pressure, every soldier in the Baal defense perimeter knew that the darkest hour was yet to come, and they had to hold out to the very last moment in this ruin shrouded in the shadow of the Zerg swarm.
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Deep underground in the Void Shield control center of Angel Keep, the piercing overload alarm had been sounding for seven minutes.

The numbers on the main energy reading panel jumped from a dangerous red to an unrecognizable peak before plummeting to zero.

A series of sparks erupted from the control panel, and several technical priests operating the system were thrown back, with blue smoke billowing from the mechanical interfaces connected to their bodies.

"Core melted! Unstoppable!" The leading mechanical sage uttered a voice filled with a mixture of binary code and terror.

The next second, the semi-transparent energy barrier that enveloped the core defense area of ​​Baal Star flickered violently a few times like a burst bubble, and then completely dissipated.

The ripples that had been spreading across the barrier to protect against the orbital bombardment vanished instantly.

Having lost their last collective protection, the destructive energy swarmed from the orbit crashed directly onto Baal's surface.

High-energy bio-plasma like light spears, corrosive acid clumps, dense rain of bone-like shells, and many more unidentifiable live ammunition bombarded Angel Castle and its surrounding defenses without hindrance.

The massive explosions continued, and the city walls and fortifications, already damaged in the previous bombings, began to collapse and melt in large sections.

Fixed artillery positions were overturned, communication arrays were destroyed, and exposed defensive forces were instantly engulfed by flames and shockwaves. The main Zerg swarm in orbit, like a pack of sharks smelling blood, launched their all-out attack.

The spore sacs and landing pods, which blotted out the sky, were larger and denser than ever before, pouring down like a green rain onto the Baal surface, which had lost the protection of the Void Shield.

They no longer need to find weak points in the defense; instead, they directly cover the entire core defense perimeter.

Meanwhile, beneath the surface of Baal, unprecedented tremors were emanating from multiple directions.

Dozens, even hundreds, of giant tunnel worms, far larger than ever before, burst from the ground at the same time. Like demons from the earth, they appeared directly inside the defensive line and even at the foot of the walls of Angel Keep, throwing countless Tyrannical warriors directly into the core area of ​​the Imperial garrison.

The imperial army's defenses were attacked from both the sky and the ground in an instant.

The main force of the swarm, its truly terrifying number as boundless as a galaxy, was now revealed without reservation.

They were no longer probing attacks, but a destructive torrent determined to overwhelm all resistance.

On the bridge of the "Unyielding Truth," the sensor officer's voice carried a hint of despair: "Planetary-level void shield signal lost. Massive biological drop signals cover the entire core defense perimeter. Earthquake sensors have detected... an incalculable number of tunnel worms!"

Lion King Leon stared at the area on the main screen that was submerged in green, his face as cold as a rock.

He established communication with the Fort Angel command.

"Dante, ground command is entirely in your hands. I will lead the 'Stone' and the fleet to tie down the orbital enemy as much as possible, relieving you of the pressure."

"Understood, Primarch." Dante's voice came through the communication, with the background of continuous explosions and the rumble of collapsing structures. "The Blood Angels will perish with Angelburg."

In the command center of Castel Sant'Angelo, Dante turned to his commanders: "Abandon all secondary outposts. All units, retreat to the main building and inner fortress of Castel Sant'Angelo. We will fight them in the corridors, the halls, and every room."

The order was issued swiftly.

The remaining imperial army began its final retreat, fighting its way back towards the core of Angel Castle, this ancient fortress.

Every step was accompanied by tragic sacrifices, with the rearguard often being swallowed up by the surging swarm of insects in an instant.
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Leona appeared on a plaza outside Angel Castle that was about to be abandoned.

This area is guarded by Holy Blood Angels, who are protecting the main escape route.

At this moment, the position is under attack from both the sky and the ground.

The Lion King's Sword transformed into a death whirlwind in her hands, shredding any alien that approached.

She accurately threw a molten metal bomb, destroying the head of a tunnel worm that had just emerged from the ground.

Her presence temporarily stabilized the crumbling defensive line, buying time for more soldiers to retreat.

But she could clearly feel that the pressure was increasing exponentially.

The swarm was too numerous, and new types of units had appeared, including some fast-moving, hard-shelled, and even briefly invisible assassin-like creatures, clearly there to deal with high-value targets like her.

"Lady Leona! The evacuation route is about to close!" a blood-soaked Holy Blood Angel officer shouted to her.

Leona took one last look at the endless swarm of insects that surged like a tide, swung her sword and killed the last few blade insects that pounced on her, then turned and retreated with the remaining defenders behind the massive gates of Angel Castle.

The heavy, adamantine gate slowly descended behind them, shutting out the deafening roars and explosions outside, but also meaning they had lost their last bit of external space.
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In his command post deep within Angel Castle, Chen Xi watched as the blue area representing the Empire's controlled territory on the tactical map rapidly shrank until only the isolated island-like marker of Angel Castle's main building remained.

The green representing the swarm has completely surrounded it and is penetrating inward through multiple breaches.

A flood of requests for help and reports of lost positions poured in like snowflakes, and the communication channels were filled with chaotic shouts, gunfire, and dying cries.

He tried his best to maintain the command chain, coordinate the few remaining reserves to launch a counterattack, and plug the breached defenses, but it was often a case of robbing Peter to pay Paul, or pressing down one problem only to have another pop up.

He pulled up the current resource list and troop strength statistics.

Ammunition reserves are dwindling, especially for heavy weapons and special equipment.

Energy supplies have also become unstable due to the destruction of external facilities. The number of combat personnel continues to decline, and many units have been crippled.

Like a flood bursting its banks, the main force of the swarm surged onto the surface of Baal without any hindrance, heading towards the millennia-old home of the Blood Angels.

The most brutal street fighting and fortress defense battles are about to unfold on every inch of this magnificent building.

Chen Xi knew that everything they had experienced before was just the prelude to this ultimate test.

The real purgatory has only just begun.
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The interior of Fort Angels is no longer a solemn monastery, but has been transformed into a three-dimensional battlefield composed of crossfire points, makeshift roadblocks, and traces of explosions.

The Blood Angels and their subordinate warriors relied on every corridor, every hall, and every stairwell to wage a desperate yet orderly resistance.

The battle has been raging for three standard hours on the "Path of Honor," the main corridor connecting the outer walls and the inner fortress.

The defensive line, composed of veterans from the Blood Angels Company, firmly guarded the 30-meter-wide corridor. They used collapsed pillars and makeshift alloy plates as cover, while a barrage of fire from bomb guns and heavy weapons tore apart the swarms of insects that tried to pass through.

Green slime and broken carapaces almost completely covered the walls and floors that were originally carved with the stories of Saint Gilles.

However, the swarms of insects are endless.

They advanced by stepping over the corpses of their comrades, using their numbers to wear down the defenders' ammunition and energy.

The new, heavily armored units advanced slowly under heavy fire, forcing the defenders to use their precious plasma weapons and molten guns.

Occasionally, small units would jump down from ventilation ducts or ceiling openings, causing brief chaos and hand-to-hand combat.

"Samurai bugs have appeared behind the left-hand cover! We need thermal support!" a soldier shouted into the communications channel.

Almost as soon as he finished speaking, a blazing beam of molten heat shot out from behind the defensive line, vaporizing the warrior insect that had just emerged along with its cover.

But then, even more enemies surged forward.

Casualties began to rise sharply.

A veteran was changing a magazine when a bone spike fired from the side pierced his neck armor and he fell down without uttering a sound.

Another soldier, in order to destroy a destructive beast that had broken through the fire net, charged forward with a molten bomb, sacrificing himself to take the enemy down with him.

Pharmacists navigated through a hail of bullets, but all they could often do was drag the seriously wounded to a relatively safe corner and provide the most basic treatment.

(End of this chapter)