Warhammer 40: Starting as a Rogue Trader

Chapter 248 I still don't quite trust you, Guilliman
On the Mountain Formation, Galadon also discovered the arrival of Gao Yi and others. The arrival of reinforcements seemed to give the soldiers, who were on the verge of collapse, a second chance at life.

He immediately relayed the message back to Cardia.

Creed, who was inside the Kraf Bastion at that moment, couldn't help but cheer.

They had done everything they could, and they finally held on until reinforcements arrived.

However, Galadun brought not only good news, but also bad news that no one wanted to hear.

The chaotic fleet has begun to move.

What was originally a chaotic 24-hour continuous harassment has completely turned into a full-scale offensive.

They could have worn down Cadia by attrition, but they chose the method that would result in the greatest loss. Creed knew that the arrival of the Primarch would also put unimaginable pressure on Chaos.

The holographic projection in the fortress's operations room clearly showed a densely packed fleet rushing towards Cardia, disregarding losses.

One after another, orbital landings began again, and the Mountain Array was also tied down by a large number of Chaos Fleets.

Lacking ammunition, the Mountain Array could only rely on its sheer size to withstand the attack.

"Lord Creedburg, prepare for ground combat. The Mountain Formation and the other warships cannot stop them all. This may be the final battle."

Meanwhile, Creed was constantly issuing orders to move troops.

The priests of the Holy Mechanism Order who had come to Cadia also began opening the large, sealed metal boxes inside Gorgon.

Even though the soldiers of Kadia suffered heavy losses in the previous battles, these boxes were not opened.

The priests were only allowed to open the door after obtaining Gao Yi's authorization.

The sight of countless tunnel worms clinging tightly to the metal floor, wriggling and hissing incessantly, sent chills down the priests' spines.

These tunnel worms began to continuously spew out armies of alien insects onto Cardia, while several probes began to construct crystal towers within the Holy Mechanics' territory.

From the very beginning, Gao Yi's goal was not just to defend Kadia, but to kill as many of these Chaos traitors' forces as possible.

Even Gao Yi himself didn't know how many Zerg had appeared; in any case, countless Zerg hatcheries were densely packed on Char Star.

If all these Zerg were brought to Cardia, Gao Yi felt that Abaddon might abandon the attack, which was not what Gao Yi wanted to see. Knowing the future, Gao Yi knew that Taraxin, with his collecting obsession, must be on Cardia at this moment.

If the advantage is too great, Taracin might give up telling Kaul how to activate the Black Stone Obelisk; the technology is still too important for humanity at this stage.

Blackrock Fortress began to move, and once the Chaos Wizards reached the ground, they would teleport Abaddon and his Black Legion to Kadia.

At this time, he was unaware that the seemingly disadvantageous Cardia was actually a trap waiting for him. Not to mention Abaddon, even Creed was unaware of Gao Yi's plan.

This is also to prevent intelligence leaks.

No one can guarantee that there won't be traitors among the mortal troops; even the soldiers of Kadia can break down.

The events that Abaddon could never have imagined made him increasingly aware of the uncertainty that Gao Yi's presence brought to the entire invasion.

Guilliman's sudden resurrection... Despite his constant denigration and curses, Abaddon remained extremely wary of him.

After all, he was someone even Horus, the father of his genes, found troublesome.

Vashtor's death also caused chaos in the Black Legion. The moment Gao Yi finished building his Soul Forge, some of the Demon Engines went berserk, and some of Vashtor's direct Black Engine lords lost their ability to forge Demon Engines.

Beyond the warp storm formed by the Cardia, the fleets mobilized by the High Lords had also assembled, and the Tauren Chapters had also set out under the High Lords' orders.

The presence of ten strike cruisers and battle barges demonstrates the extent of the High Lords' assistance to them.

The number of Tauren warbands deployed exceeded the limits permitted by the Temple of Astartes, with 1500 Astartes accompanying the fleet. This was clearly not the entirety of the Tauren warbands; the High Lords, using their power, provided them not only with warships and weaponry, but also with a sufficient quantity of gene seeds.

Even Trajan himself led his entourage out of the palace.

A force comprised of the Imperial Guard and the Silent Sisters began attacking planets in the outer reaches of the Cardia system that had been sacrificed by the Word Bearers.

Once the Imperial Guard and the Silent Sisters had dealt with the planet's main enemy, the extermination order was issued.

No one dared to scrutinize these extermination orders issued by Trajan.

As planets where rituals were performed were destroyed, the warp storms created by the sacrifices began to weaken.

The assembled fleet is waiting for the moment when the warp storm is weakened enough to make passage possible.

Abaddon hadn't heard any good news in a long time, which made him increasingly irritable.

He had a bad feeling that if things dragged on any longer, he might really fail.

With the order given, most of the Black Legion's fleet headed straight for Cardia, leaving Abaddon with only one-fifth of its fleet to block Gao Yi and Guilliman's fleet.

Even this one-fifth of the total number is already comparable to the size of Gao Yi's fleet.

They even had an advantage in the number of battleships. Abaddon didn't expect to annihilate the Imperial fleet; all he needed to do was stall them.

Among these one-fifth of the fleet, several special warships were laden with millions of slaves and prisoners, who were the materials for the ritual sacrifices required by the Four Gods.

Their role is to summon Primarchs into the real universe.

Primarchs gained greater power after ascending to demonic status, but they also faced limitations: as demons, they could not bypass the most basic conditions.

That is, they cannot freely reach the real universe; they can only be summoned into reality through sufficient subspace energy and certain specific sacrificial rituals.

Among the remaining fleets are sorcerers who worship their respective four gods. They have prepared rituals so that when millions of souls loyal to the God-Emperor are sacrificed, the Chaos Primarchs will have the opportunity to return to the real universe.

Once the two fleets begin to engage in battle, they will summon the Primarchs.

Seeing the Chaos Fleet begin to move, Guilliman no longer waited. The Spear of Adun, the Radiance of Macragge, and the Star Pioneer charged towards the enemy before him.

With his superhuman brain working at lightning speed, Guilliman alone issued a multitude of orders to the entire fleet.

"If only my legion were still here."

Felus murmured, for without any offspring to assist him, he could only watch as his brother commanded the battle.

He turned to look at Gao Yi and found that Gao Yi didn't seem too nervous.

"Lord Gao Yi, I know your fleet has the ability to teleport. I will command the fleet to hold off these chaotic forces. I hope you will lead your troops directly to Cardia to support the ground battle. Your troops can be more effective on the ground."

You mentioned the importance of the Black Stone; the Black Stone Obelisk must never be destroyed.

Guilliman hoped that Gao Yi could cooperate with his strategic plan.

“I think I’ll stay here. I’m still a little worried about you. Once I get to Kadia, I estimate the pressure on Kadia will be even greater. I’ve already become a thorn in the side of the Four Gods. You don’t need to worry about Kadia’s ground defenses; Kerrigan and Artanis have already made their own arrangements. I will stay here and fight the battle in the Void with you.”

If Magnus sets his sights on you, you might not be able to handle it. You finally saved my life, but what could have happened?

"Not entirely at ease?!" This was the first time Guilliman had heard someone say that to him.

(End of this chapter)