Warhammer: Striving to Be a Grinding Man

Chapter 125 Judgment of Ashes (1)

The moment the Void Shield was raised again, the sky above Invernus remained unchanged, but the battlefield changed.

The imperial hymn ceased. The hymn that had lasted for hours vanished completely from the air, the mechanical voice from the full-band broadcast still echoing through the ruins, but the Titan's loudspeakers were silent. In its place came shouts from the depths of the ruins—

The sounds were coming from cracks in the armor plates, joints in the ventilation ducts, and gaps in the collapsed steel frame.

Cries from ordinary people began to rise. Those who had hidden in basements for days, those who had survived on condensation in the pipe crevices, those who had crawled out from the cracks in the collapsed steel frame—they heard the broadcast, and they knew the Empire had returned.

However, the Void Shield only covered a few dozen kilometers around the node ruins. The Void Shield network of the Imperial hive was a vast "internet"—each node independently covered a sector, and dozens of nodes were interconnected, weaving an energy barrier that enveloped the entire hive. The node destroyed by Rellano was the backbone hub, directly paralyzing the entire network. The techpriests of Cohen repaired only one node, which became a "regional network," independently supporting a sector of several dozen kilometers around the command center. To expand the advance area, more nodes had to be captured and incorporated into the network—otherwise, they would have to withstand the orcs' orbital strikes.

Many more nodes remain in Orcish hands, or lie silently in ruins awaiting reactivation. The Orcs' powerful abilities might be able to repair them, but the Imperium's continuous orbital attacks have prevented them from finding an opportunity. Now, with only the Ork's fleet remaining in orbit, repairing the nodes is meaningless for the Orcs. For the Imperium to once again erect the Void Shield over its entire city, it must reclaim every single node.

Current mission flow: Clear out the greenskins within the coverage area under the existing Void Shield cover; then assault the nodes sequentially to repair the network; finally, conduct a large-scale cleanup in the new coverage area. This means the assault team may have to withstand orbital attacks without shield cover.

The massive shadow of the Emperor-class Titan stretched for kilometers behind Cohen. The orbital fleet had retreated into deep space; the delivery was complete.

Cohen flipped open the data panel, and the casualty figures jumped. Nearly 10,000. Less than a day after landing. He put the data panel down and looked into the depths of the hive city.

"Rellano. Your men are the vanguard. Clear the area covered by the Void Shield."

Relano's reply signaled that the attack had been launched. Over ten thousand elite combatants drawn from various capital ships—equipped with CMCs—

The 300A, having completed its neural interface modification, with some core members equipped with the 300E Type Adamantite Armor, deployed simultaneously in multiple directions and dimensions. Dozens of combat groups advanced through narrow passageways, the roar of explosive guns echoing from all directions, reflecting off the armored panels. Rellano joined the leading combat group, activating his chainsaw sword and loading his explosive guns.

The industrial district in Invernus stretches for hundreds of kilometers, with tens of thousands of factories, warehouses, and workshops spread out along broken viaducts and collapsed streets. Elevated transport corridors crisscross overhead, huge exhaust pipes extend from the sides of buildings, steel staircases climb the exterior walls, and the entrances to underground utility tunnels are hidden in the shadows of each building.

The main structure of the building was intact, except that a layer of outer armor plating had been peeled off, several pipes were torn, and the steel frame had been reinforced with rough orcish fasteners. Imperial orbital bombardment had torn several gaps before the landing, stripping sections of the building, dozens of meters high, from the outer walls to expose the internal steel frame and pipes, but the entire steel skeleton of the hive city still stood. This wasn't the landing site outside the hive city; this was a steel fortress draped in ruins. Detached armor plating lay piled on the streets, broken pipes hung overhead, and twisted steel frames blocked intersections, but the road beneath one's feet was made of cast steel, the walls on either side were made of composite plastic-steel panels, and the dome overhead was supported by a steel frame.

The orcs don't need to defend every inch of land; they only need to leave a few corpses at each crossroads to slow down the Empire's advance.

The hundreds of thousands of troops of the Galos Planetary Defense Force are under the unified command of Cole, and are being continuously deployed to the front lines. The Defense Force includes a large number of elite infantry regiments—equipped with CMC-300A power armor, and implanted with neural interfaces and mental barrier modules, their combat capabilities are comparable to those of the Galos fleet's capital ship combatants. These elite infantry regiments have multiple missions: some are deployed to clear out urban areas, advancing in coordination with the Relano battle groups; others remain outside the node ruins, serving as a defensive reserve.

The armored forces deployed in the open. Several industrial areas on the outer perimeter of Invernus's middle layer had been razed by rail bombardment; plastic-coated steel plates were torn off, exposing terracotta frames, and the ground was covered with twisted steel beams and fallen wall panels, offering unobstructed views. The Leman Rustank Company advanced at full speed through these areas, turrets rotating as they moved, high-explosive shells picking off distant Orc firing positions one by one. Chimeras provided flank cover, and vehicle-mounted explosive guns continuously suppressed firing ports along the edges of the ruins. The advance speed in the open was several times that in densely populated streets. Once the armored forces entered the building complex, the speed would slow down, and elite infantry would have to scout ahead of the tanks, clearing every side road and every building entrance.

The Titan Legion, protected by AI-controlled mechs, attacked the Orcs' key nodes. Imperial-class volcanic cannons fired relentlessly, precisely hitting the repair workshops and ammunition depots in the middle of the hive. Beams streaked across the sky, leaving incandescent white trails in the smoke and dust. The Titans' heavy firepower was clearing obstacles ahead for the entire attacking force. General-class crossfire covered the Orcs' two command nodes, Marauder-class molten cannons blasted new breaches on the flanks, and Warhound-class units flanked the outermost perimeter. Each volley of artillery fire tore open the Orcs' defenses for the other legions. AI-controlled mechs deployed a ring of defenses around the Titans, their heavy explosive rounds aimed at every possible hiding place among the ruins of anti-armor squads.

The clearing operation covered the entire urban area. Countless combat groups engaged in simultaneous firefights in countless streets and alleyways, the roar of explosive guns and the tearing sounds of laser guns coming from all directions, interspersed with the booming of heavy artillery and the screeching of attack aircraft and fighter jets. Fighter squadrons had already set up temporary airfields at their footholds, with hundreds of thousands of aircraft servitors busily working behind them. The chaotic sounds reflected back and forth between the steel walls, amplifying into a continuous sonic boom. Search teams followed behind the combat groups, pulling survivors one by one from the collapsed building crypts, from the corners of ventilation ducts, and from the gaps between stacked steel frames. Some were crying, some were laughing, some were slumped on the ground unable to move, and some clung to the legs of their servitors. The defenders handed them purified water, draped blankets over their shoulders, and continued forward.

But the protagonists of this war were not the Titans, the armored forces, or even the Garros Legion. They were the Invernus who crawled out of the ruins.

The regular guard of the Invernus Iron Legion—a whole unit of troops—mutinyed when Governor von Kirska announced the surrender. It was not a small-scale disturbance, but a large-scale act of defiance. The 3rd Regiment locked the armory, the 7th Regiment blew up the communications tower, and soldiers of the 12th Regiment set up heavy-fire muskets at the gates of the barracks, aiming them at the arriving military police. The governor summoned his still-loyal guards and private soldiers of the Upper Nest nobles drawn from the upper districts. The mutiny was suppressed within days. The officers who led the disobedience were executed on the spot, the soldiers were disarmed, and the officers were ordered home to await retribution.

But not all the soldiers of the Steel Legion surrendered. Before being disarmed, they dismantled their weapons, hiding gun barrels in ventilation ducts, burying magazines under factory scrap heaps, and dismantling their armor into pieces, stuffing them into the mortise and tenon joints of residential buildings. Then they took off their uniforms, changed into civilian clothes, and disappeared into the steel jungle of the middle and lower levels. Their wait felt like a long, harsh winter, until finally the Imperial legions arrived, bringing with them the Titan Legion.

The news spread through the steel-filled city of Chaodu in just a few hours.

The first to emerge from the rubble weren't just civilians. While clearing a partially collapsed factory, a pile of twisted armor plates stirred. A man crawled out, wearing oil-stained overalls, shaved, and with a scar on his face from old shrapnel. He didn't ask for water or a blanket; his first words were, "Private, 1st Company, 3rd Regiment. Who's the commander?"

The news spread much faster than among civilians. The remnants of the Steel Legion had their own communication channels—not the Empire's official network, but an emergency contact method agreed upon by the soldiers. Within hours, the scattered and hidden soldiers began to assemble in organized units. Someone shouted the old unit's commands from the shadows of the steel pillars, and the other side responded. They dug out pre-buried weapons from their hiding places, lined up in formation amidst the ruins, officers standing at the front of the ranks, soldiers standing ramrod straight—they were still loyal Imperial soldiers.

A major crawled out of the collapsed underground command post. His left arm, wounded in the mutiny and in a sling, was covered in dust. Standing on a pile of detached armor plating, he addressed the thousands of soldiers gathered before him: "When the governor surrendered, he handed over the beautiful women of our hive, not for anything else, but to feed these green-skinned beasts. This filthy traitor deserved to be burned at the stake. And now the Empire has returned; it's time to carry out that punishment." No one shouted slogans, but thousands gripped their weapons simultaneously.

That night, the officers of the Steel Legion were led to Cohen's command bunker. Leading them was a colonel, a burly man with a stitched wound above his left eye that hadn't been removed. He reported on the situation of the remnants of the Steel Legion—

Currently, there are tens of thousands of organized troops that can be mustered, scattered across areas that have been cleared and those that have not yet been cleared, with a large number of stragglers still on their way. Weapons are in short supply, and ammunition is scarce, but there are several armories in the area that have not yet been discovered by the orcs and can be opened.

Cohen didn't ask why they hadn't died when the governor surrendered. Soldiers who survived until the Empire's return, and who were now fighting for the Empire, were loyal. If he deemed them loyal, then they could only be loyal.

"Weapons will be taken from the armory. Ammunition will be issued in basic quantities. Your soldiers are familiar with the terrain and will be integrated into the infantry regiments of the Garros Legion, serving as guides and flanking mopping-up operations."

The colonel paused for a moment and said, "The Invernus Steel Legion, which currently has the 3rd, 7th, and 12th Regiments, requests to return to its unit."

Cohen glanced at him. The combat group this man had once led had been legally disbanded by the governor. But he nodded.

"Return to base. The reorganization will be discussed again after the mopping-up operation is completed."

The colonel gave a salute to the Invernus Iron Legion, then turned and left.

The clearing operation continued into the night. The pace quickened noticeably after the remnants of the Steel Legion joined the fray. They had been stationed in Invernus's hive for generations. They knew the layout of every tunnel, the depth of every shaft, and the load-bearing structure of every building.

As Rellano's battle group advanced on the western flank, a company of the Iron Legion emerged from underground tunnels on the flank and outflanked an orc stronghold from the rear. Bolt rifles provided frontal suppression, while laser guns swept from behind; the stronghold was destroyed within fifteen minutes. Rellano uttered two words over the comms: "Not bad."

The crackdown continues, and the number of casualties is still rising.

As the occupied zone expanded, the medical station had been moved from tents to warehouses in the factory area, with stretcher-bearers forming an uninterrupted transport chain between the front lines and the medical station. Nearly ten thousand wounded soldiers were receiving emergency care and being triaged in the medical area, the tents filled with people just brought down from the front. Dr. Liz stood beside the triage table, her fingers and the front of her surgical gown stained with blood. She didn't look up, but her fingers paused for a moment; she knew who had entered the tent.

Cohen walked into the medical station, and the field unfolded the moment he entered. A spherical perception with a radius of twenty-five meters extended outward from his body. He simply walked through. The vital signs of the seriously wounded stabilized one by one in his consciousness. No one saw the subtle adjustments and repairs at the atomic level. The nurses only saw the numbers on the monitors stabilize, the electrocardiogram waveforms become regular from chaotic, and the blood pressure readings jump from red to green. They noted "patient's condition stable" on the data board, vaguely judging that the treatment was effective.

Cohen walked for hours around the medical station. He went to every tent, past every row of beds. Of the nearly ten thousand wounded, not a single one died before his eyes. As long as there was still consciousness in their brains, he could save them.

The incident at the medical station was strictly suppressed by Dr. Liss, but it still leaked out from the wounded. Some people, after waking up under the influence of anesthesia, clearly remembered that their entire lower body and power armor had been blown apart, but upon waking, they found themselves intact.

The person in the next bed told him in a suppressed voice, "The captain has been here."

The soldiers had heard of the captain, and of the governor of Garros. Those who enlisted at Garros had heard stories of the captain from the veterans on the training grounds, and there were already some rumors circulating. But when they saw the changes in the medical station with their own eyes, those stories were no longer just stories. It wasn't an explosive spread, but a slow, cumulative, layered confirmation. One soldier told another, "It's true," and that soldier told the next, "I saw it." Because the number of wounded was simply too great.

The prevailing rumor is that the Emperor is watching the Captain, and the Captain is watching every single soldier.

As Cohen emerged from the last tent, Liz stood at the doorway. She still clutched the styptic spray gun, the blood on her fingertips already half-dried. She watched his retreating figure, her lips moved slightly, but no sound came out.

Time passed, and two days later...

Cohen stood before a model of the hive city inside a state cathedral that had been requisitioned as command headquarters. Blue arrows were protruding deeper into the hive's inner layers. Over ten thousand Rellano soldiers had cleared several blocks on the western flank and were advancing towards the fifth. Countless battle groups attacked and advanced in their respective directions. The second Void Shield node had been ignited, and elite infantry regiments of the defense forces weaved through the ruins. Armored units had completed their assaults in the open and were moving towards the next open area. The third Void Shield node was in sight.

Several regiments of the Steel Legion fought their way through the ruins, and the remnants of the Steel Legion continued to expand, snowballing their numbers. The fervor of rallying scattered soldiers and seeking revenge for their families and comrades fueled their fighting spirit. The wounded were evacuated and returned to battle; some who were on the verge of death one day were back in the ranks with only minor injuries the next. The Garros Legion and the Steel Legion, as if injected with adrenaline, roared for the Emperor and launched a hysterical attack.

Part of the Stormstrike Force was providing support around Titan, while the main force remained assembled in Cathedral Square. Kara stood atop the cathedral, arms crossed, gazing at the still-smoking industrial area in the distance, her fingers lightly tapping the magazine of her explosive rifle. The Garros Legion awaited a breakthrough. Rellano's elite troops continued their advance during the mopping-up operation, but Grom's core defenses remained in Upper Nest. The orc chieftain had clearly retreated to his command post in Upper Nest, where the last major orc force resided, the war behemoths still being assembled, and the industrial hub that had been converted into an armory.