Chapter 1105: Landing Vikings
"Mortals, stand back."
Sigismund's voice seemed to have been tempered by thousands of years of ice.
He stroked the hilt of the black sword with his right hand and made a tactical gesture with his left hand.
Twenty Black Templars emerged from the shadows like ghosts, their power armor engraved with ancient battle runes.
At this moment, more swarms of insects attacked them.
Three executioners pounced at the same time, their modified bone blades could easily cut through the Terminator's armor.
Sigismund's black sword didn't even make a sound of metal friction when it was unsheathed. The molecular-level blade of this black sword was too perfect.
With just one vertical chop, the left executioner was split in two from the top of the skull to the hips;
With a horizontal slash, the six limbs of the executioner on the right were separated from the body at the same time.
Then Sigismund thrust his sword straight up and pierced the throat ganglion of the third charging executioner.
The whole process took a few nanoseconds, and the remaining Zerg instinctively retreated because the node creatures were killed, but were blown into pieces by the Black Templar's salvos of explosive bombs.
"Reorganize the defense line!" Sigismund ordered without looking back, "Stormtroopers are responsible for long-range suppression, clones protect the flanks, and my soldiers will tear open the breakthrough."
The well-trained Imperial troops immediately carried out the order. The Stormtrooper Sergeant picked up the still usable E-11 on the ground and led the remaining soldiers to form a crossfire network.
The clones used their last concussion grenades to create a kill zone, buying time for the Space Marines.
"Praise the Emperor!"
The Black Templar priest shouted a battle prayer, his power staff crushing the skull of a Tyrant Guard, "Show these filthies the true faith!"
"For the Emperor!"
........................
The Vengeful Spirit's tactical holographic projector hummed, projecting a three-dimensional image of the entire war zone into the center of the command hall.
The main cluster of the Zerg Hive Fleet spread in the void like a rotten nebula, and its number was so large that it even interfered with the normal operation of the scanner.
"The biological mass reading has exceeded the threshold." The voice of the mechanical priest came from the speaker, "Preliminary estimate is that there is about a biological warship approaching."
The Warmaster's pupils contracted slightly.
In the projection, those hive warships were undergoing disturbing changes in their morphology. The shells of some biological ships had thickened by nearly three times, with countless spiky psychic crystals protruding from the surface; others had shrunk into a streamlined shape, with their thruster glands noticeably expanding.
"They have evolved," Abaddon whispered. "This variant was not present when we last encountered it."
"It would be strange if they didn't evolve."
Horus ran his finger across the projection, calling up the Death Guard fleet's formation. "Mortarion, your left wing will bear the first brunt of the impact."
A hoarse laugh and the sound of dripping liquid came from the communicator. "Let them come... The Death Guard has already prepared a generous gift for them."
The deployment of the Death Guard fleet in the void is a state of art.
1500 warships blessed by the Mechanicus formed three staggered arc-shaped defense lines, with precisely calculated gaps between each line.
The surface of these warships was covered with golden light, and the sacred imperial double-headed eagle was engraved on every corner of the warships.
"The enemy is coming, be prepared for battle."
"Repeat, the enemy is coming, be prepared for battle."
When the first wave of Zerg torpedoes approached, the Death Guard's response confused the commanding node creature.
Instead of activating the void shield, they took the initiative to shut down the defense system.
“Greet guests warmly.”
Death Guard Captain Grak chuckled. His finger pressed the launch button, and hundreds of missiles filled with viscous liquid were released from the launch bay under the hull.
When the biological torpedoes collided with these missiles, the neurotoxins on their surfaces were quickly decomposed, and the living guidance systems inside began to twitch and rot.
An infected hive frigate suddenly lost control and turned, crashing into one of its own kind, and what exploded was not flames but dark green pus.
“Phase 1 of Resilient Defense Completed.”
Mortarion stood on the golden bridge of the Terminus Est, his green and white power armor making metallic sounds. "Now, let them experience true despair."
The Zerg's fleet was destroyed in an organized manner. 1500 main battleships plus various auxiliary warships, nearly 2 warships, forcibly stopped the Zerg fleet's offensive spearhead.
On the other side? Perturabo's fleet cut into the battlefield with textbook precision.
Each Iron Warrior ship is held in a perfectly calculated position, forming a huge three-dimensional firepower matrix.
"The entire ship's synchronized fire control system is activated."
The Lord of Steel's voice was like a cold mathematical formula, "Use the 'anvil' strike mode."
Tens of thousands of macro cannons blessed by the Mechanicus were calibrated simultaneously, with sacred binary prayers engraved on the surface of the barrels.
All the shells in the first salvo have been specially modified, with the warheads filled with millions of nano-scale jagged fragments, which will be accelerated to sub-light speed by the magnetic field when leaving the barrel.
The twenty-four warships at the vanguard of the Zerg swarm instantly turned into floating meat sieves.
The most terrifying thing is that those nano-saw teeth are coated with toxins that inhibit regeneration, and the flesh around the wound rots at a speed visible to the naked eye.
"Correcting parameters, coordinates Theta-7 to Theta-9." Perturabo's cybernetic eye flashed with a stream of data. "Adopting override mode."
The second salvo was a different type of round, this time firing specially designed incendiary rounds, formulated to burn continuously for 47 seconds in the outer space environment.
The area where the Zerg fleet was located suddenly turned into a sea of fire, and the biological warships twisted in the flames looked like a scroll from hell.
At this moment, in the tactical room of the Imperial Fists' flagship Mountain Array, Rogal Dorn stood like a mountain in front of the three-dimensional projection.
In the holographic image, the Death Guard fleet and the Iron Warriors' iron torrent are working together to strangle the Zerg fleet.
His eyes, as cold as flint, narrowed slightly, observing every tactical detail.
His power armor shone with a dark golden luster under the dim light, and the emblem of the Imperial Fists on the shoulder armor was coated with a cold tint by the projected blue light.
Dorn's finger passed over the projection, zooming in on the distribution pattern of Mortarion's biological plague weapon. The precisely calculated trajectories of the virus' spread made him nod slightly.
"My brother..."
As the holographic image of Horus appeared on the communicator, Dorn noticed the weariness in the Warmaster's brow.
"Your support was timely."
"The steel of the Empire will stand alongside the stone of the Empire, Dorn," Perturabo said slowly.
"The Death Guard will do everything they can to help you." Mortarion's hoarse voice slowly sounded.
"Everyone, now is not the time to chat." The captain of the Imperial Guard interrupted.
"The Zerg are landing on the planet's surface. They want to end the battle by destroying our supply base in the sector."
"I will go to support the mortal army on the ground. The battle in orbit will be left to you."
..............................
The atmosphere of the industrial planet Khars was rubbed red by millions of spore sacs, as if the sky was torn into countless bleeding wounds.
The first wave of spore sacs that landed collectively exploded 500 meters above the ground, releasing not the common swarm of knife insects, but a new type of mutant whose carapaces had an unnatural metallic luster and long, thin bone spurs extended from their joints.
"High-density biological signals detected!" The sensor operator at the Orbital Defense Command Center said in a trembling voice, "The landing point covers the entire eastern continent!"
The ground vibration warning system suddenly issued the highest level alarm.
Continental shelf sensors indicate some giant creature is moving through the Earth's crust.
Chief of Staff General Anderson's pupils shrank in front of the holographic sandbox. The number of enemies far exceeded his expectations. Even if there were space marines in orbit to support them, it would be of no avail.
"The enemy is falling!"
In the morning mist filled with gunpowder, the sharp sound of breaking through the air tore through the tranquility above the city.
A dozen dark green biological airborne capsules were like falling meteorites, their surfaces covered with a sticky organic layer, which made teeth-grinding hissing sounds as they rubbed against the air as they passed through the atmosphere.
These death messengers from the Zerg Hive Fleet dragged dark green tail flames and slammed into the alloy ground of the Seventh Industrial Zone at a nearly vertical angle.
"Enemy attack! Everyone on alert!"
Patrol Captain Jackson's roar exploded on the communication channel, and twelve scarlet landing tracks instantly lit up on the HUD interface of his power armor.
The steel-cast urban surface fell apart like a fragile biscuit at the moment of impact. In the center of the crater with a diameter of 30 meters, the squirming airborne capsules were splitting open their six-petal organic shells like blooming buds, oozing out highly corrosive yellow-green mucus.
The shrill alarm sounded throughout the entire defense matrix, and more than fifty fully armed Marines assembled within ninety seconds.
The hydraulic system of the CMC-400 power armor made a uniform humming sound, and the blue and white Space Marine Corps emblem on the shoulder armor glowed coldly under the searchlight.
Private First Class Wilson felt his palms sweating slightly. He looked through the reinforced window of the armor and saw that the inner walls of the drop chamber, which were covered with vascular patterns, were beating regularly, like the heart of some giant creature.
"Free fire! I repeat, free fire!"
Following the commander's order, more than fifty C-14 "Piercer" Gauss rifles simultaneously spewed out azure flames.
The 8mm steel nail bullets broke through the sound barrier under electromagnetic acceleration and poured down on the hatching insect swarm like a rainstorm.
The first dozen or so knife worms that emerged were torn into pieces in an instant. Their chitinous shells were as thin as paper in front of the Gauss rifle. The yellow-green blood and internal organ fragments exploded into a bloody mist in the vacuum-like gunshot.
But the hell was just beginning.
Thick organic vapor rose from the bottom of the crater, and countless sharp arthropod knocking sounds formed an eerie wave in the smoke.
Wilson saw that the bio-signal readings on the HUD were soaring wildly, from fifty, one hundred, three hundred... and finally a glaring red warning exploded on the mask.
His breathing almost stopped when the first three-meter-tall warrior worm broke through the smoke. Its sickle-shaped forelimbs easily split a Marine in half, including his armor. The splattering blood formed a fan-shaped pattern on his mask.
"Stay in formation! Don't—"
Captain Jackson's roar came to an abrupt end as some huge piercing thorns suddenly shot out from the ground and impaled him five meters in the air.
The CMC armor was twisted and deformed like tinfoil, and dark red blood flowed down the gaps in the power pipes.
The entire battlefield fell into chaos in an instant. Gunworms swarmed out from all directions and began to spray acid bombs. The soldiers who were hit let out screams that were not like human voices, and their armor was melting into molten iron at a speed visible to the naked eye.
As Wilson was retreating, some sticky tentacles entangled his ankles. He pulled the trigger frantically to shoot the lurker into a sieve, but found that more knife worms were crawling out of the cracks in the ground.
These two-meter-long killing machines move like a flowing black tide, and the bone blades at the ends of their limbs pierce the seams of the armor with precision.
The communication channel was filled with dying gasps and the crisp sound of bones breaking. He saw with his own eyes that medic Emma was torn apart by five knife bugs at the same time. The arm she was trying to inject stimulants with was still hanging in the air, but her whole body had turned into scattered pieces of meat.
As the first rays of sunlight penetrated the smoke, the last resisters gathered behind the circular fortifications.
The only seven remaining Marines stood back to back, forming a firepower network. The insect corpses piled up under their feet were already above their knees.
Sergeant Rodriguez, his right arm missing, bit the safety pin of a thermal grenade with his teeth: "For the Emperor!"
In the flames of the explosion, the overwhelming swarm of insects finally engulfed this last position.
"This is Skyhawk-7, the swarm density is exceeding the limit, requesting immediate support!"
The pilot's urgent shouts were heard on the communication channel, and then a blue and white Viking fighter plane roared past at low altitude, with the rocket nests under its wings spewing out hot rain of fire.
The shock wave of the explosion tore a burning gap in the insect swarm, and dozens of knife insects turned into charcoal in the flames.
The pilot gritted his teeth and held the firing button on the joystick tightly with his thumb. The 30mm machine gun mounted on the belly of the fighter plane roared wildly, suppressing the charging swarm of insects at the edge of the industrial zone.
Immediately afterwards, the Viking fighter drew a sharp arc in the air, and then the wings folded, and the hydraulic joints made a heavy metallic roar.
The fighter plane completed its transformation in mid-air, and the shock absorbers on its mechanical feet slammed heavily into the ground, raising a cloud of dust.
The moment it landed, the Viking fighter's twin Gatling machine guns had already started spinning to preheat, with the barrels burning red from the high-speed rotation.
"Come on, you disgusting bugs!"
The driver roared and pulled the trigger, and the storm of bullets instantly tore the front row of insects into pieces.
However, before he could adjust the shooting angle, the ground suddenly shook violently, and a long-lurking digging python broke out from the ground, with its huge sickle-shaped forelimbs raised high, shining coldly in the sunlight.
"Do not--!"
The driver only had time to raise his machine gun before the python's sharp claws swept past him in the next second.
The armor of the Viking fighter was like paper in front of the power of the Thunder Beast. The cockpit was torn apart, and the pilot's body and broken mechanical parts were thrown into the air, and then smashed into the ruins in the distance.
