Warhammer 40: Starting as a Rogue Trader

Chapter 241 The Current Situation of Cardia

On the bridge of the Star Pioneer.

According to information transmitted via quantum communication, Kadia's situation is deteriorating.

The Mountain Array has been repaired by the SCV several times. Chaos's attempts to seize the Mountain Array have never stopped. Although they ultimately failed, they destroyed a lot of war materials inside the Mountain Array.

Despite the assistance of medics, Imperial Fist still suffered casualties.

Many of those powerful cursed warriors were also banished back to the warp by the demons.

The ammunition inside the Mountain Array is running low. Energy weapons like light spears are fine, but physical weapons like macro cannons cannot be created out of thin air. Even the explosive guns in the hands of the Astartes are running out of explosive ammunition.

The Imperial Fists picked up the Rangers' C-14s or engaged in combat with melee weapons.

The Mountain Array was not the only ship facing this problem; the rest of the Imperial warships were in the same boat.

The intensity of the battle far exceeded everyone's expectations; the resources consumed by each counterattack were slowly mortifying the Empire of Kadia.

Chaos also knew this disadvantage of the loyalists.

The foundries on Kadia simply cannot sustain such enormous consumption, and the foundries have always been a key target of Chaos Strike.

Upon the arrival of the Mountain Array and the realization that the Imperial fleet could not be completely destroyed in a short time, Abaddon began to direct the fleet to attack other forging and resource planets within the Cardia.

Without the protection of a fleet, these planets could not withstand the onslaught of Chaos.

While acquiring resources to manufacture more weapons and ammunition for Chaos, the captured mortals on these planets were also used as slaves or as consumables for sacrificial rituals.

Countless blasphemous rituals have turned these planets into hellscapes, and under normal circumstances, the Empire would not hesitate to issue an extermination order for these planets.

On the outer reaches of the galaxy, Abaddon increased the size of his hunting fleet, intercepting all Imperial resource ships attempting to force their way through the warp storms.

If it weren't for the barracks, military factories, and airports that Gao Yi established on Cadia using SCVs, the Empire's garrison might have run out of ammunition and supplies.

This has resulted in a large portion of the Imperial garrison's weaponry now being replaced with weapons manufactured in these facilities.

The Rangers stationed inside the Mountain Fortress had also reached their limit.

Physical injuries can be healed, but mental exhaustion cannot be countered by weapons and equipment.

Even the most elite soldiers appear exceptionally small on this apocalyptic battlefield.

Chaos's attack could launch at any moment of relaxation, forcing everyone to remain on high alert at all times.

And the stimulants that are only used as a last resort, which are carried in the combat uniforms, are also frequently used by soldiers to boost their morale.

The officers knew about the side effects of the stimulant, but they didn't stop it; the only concern was survival.

However, the fatigue from the long battle, coupled with the exhaustion caused by the aftereffects of stimulants, caused the soldiers' willpower to falter, which was discovered by the Chaos. The battle with the invading demons inevitably tainted the soldiers with some of the corruption of the warp.

Under the subtle influence of the insidious teachings and the sudden appearance of the evil god's ravings, the Rangers experienced their first breakdown of will, allowing Chaos to take advantage of their vulnerability. The ravings drove several infantry squads on the verge of collapse completely insane in their barracks, causing them to turn their guns on their former comrades.

When the other Rangers arrived, there were hardly any survivors left in the barracks, and those who did survive had completely broken down.

This caused considerable harassment among the Rangers.

When Gao Yi learned of this, he did not blame the officers involved.

Willpower is something that needs to be honed. The best equipment, the best treatment, the best training, and the best logistical support have indeed given the Rangers an unimaginable advantage.

This makes them among the best in the Astral Army in terms of combat power.

However, once the Rangers were formed, the battles in the expansion of the territories and within the Empire went too smoothly. The Rangers in the early days of the Agathos unification were alright; they fought against Chaos traitors and demons without combat uniforms.

Even after acquiring combat suits, they still engaged in bloody battles with those cunning thieves in the underbelly. At that time, the Rangers' organization was not as complete as it is now, but it also honed their willpower.

However, the Rangers' organization has become increasingly sophisticated, and with the support of various powerful weapons and equipment, they are almost never able to encounter enemies who can match them in conventional warfare.

Most of the Rangers were promoted from ordinary soldiers through examinations.

They often achieve victory with minimal sacrifices. This makes their fatigue even more apparent in unfavorable matchups.

However, as long as they can win the final victory, these Ranger units will make up for their last weakness.

If the Rangers were like this, then the rest of the Imperial Navy in the Imperial Fleet were even more extreme; it could be said that every Imperial soldier in the fleet had reached their limit.

If the fleet isn't destroyed in another ten days or two weeks, the crew will collapse on their own.

And in the ground invasion of Cardia.

Despite sacrificing a large number of lives, Chaos still managed to achieve certain tactical objectives, destroying a portion of the Blackstone obelisks.

This has made the warp erosion from the Eye of Fear even more severe.

The characteristics of Scv have led the Empire to attempt to repair these Necromancer creations. Scv repairs are effective when the Necromancers are still operational and not destroyed.

The damaged black stone obelisk looks brand new after being restored by SCV.

However, once it is completely destroyed, even if Scv repairs it, Blackrock will cease to function.

Even if humans know its function, they have no way to activate it.

The Black Stone lacks a Machine Soul, which caused the attempt to force activation using the Pure Mark to fail.

In addition, the deliberate spread of chaos by Abaddon's chaos wizards caused some small-scale chaos rifts to appear out of thin air.

The endless demons in the warp were consuming the already limited forces of the Cardia.

The increasingly dense subspace also makes it easier for the four gods to influence the real universe.

The corpses of countless loyalists and traitors became a breeding ground for the Nurgle plague. Astartes was relatively unaffected, but almost all mortals were affected to some extent.

The demons are endless, and every mortal who dies on Cadia is one less to be found.

Meanwhile, the elusive Alpha Legion secretly infiltrated Cardia during one of the battles.

These traitors, with their extremely strong ability to hide and infiltrate, are a major headache for everyone on Cadia.

They specifically targeted officers and important facilities.

They disappeared completely before reinforcements arrived.

The worst news is that the remaining Star Speakers and Astartes think tanks on Cadia sense an even greater crisis is on the horizon.

The Primarch fleet is also about to arrive in Cardia. Every time a Primarch comes to the real universe, it often means the destruction of several or even a dozen planets. It takes a terrible price to defeat a Primarch and banish it back to the warp.

Each occurrence of it is worthy of being called a disaster.

Seeing this bad news, Gao Yi and Guilliman both realized they didn't have time to wait for more troops to arrive.

They had to set off immediately.

"Those traitors..."

Guilliman had faced them before and knew how terrifying these traitors were, which made him waver slightly in his resolve to fight the battle ahead.

However, Gao Yi told him that he had a surprise for him and asked him to wait patiently. This surprise could be used to fight against his former brothers.

Artanis, Kerrigan, and Guilliman gathered in front of the holographic projection.

Artanis and Kerrigan explained the characteristics of their races to Guilliman in order to better allocate their power.

Under the control of the Protoss, the Webgate was reopened.

The fleet entered the gates of the network in a grand procession.

Meanwhile, Gao Yi was on the Spear of Adun, working with Caul and Karax on the final breakthrough of the Purifier Project and preparing the surprise for Guilliman.

(End of this chapter)