Chapter 149: Your Past Has Come Knocking |
Above Optus, shrouded in a fine mist of rain.
Within an ancient fortress integrated with Xenos architecture.
Warsmith Iydris and his commanders faced the constant stream of enemy deployment notifications from the auspex, waiting for an attack that was long overdue.
"What are these Sons of Dorn hesitating for?"
Iydris commanded his troops to deal with the damned Eldar Xenos deep within the fortress, a look of confusion crossing his face as he watched the enemy forces fail to launch an attack on his defensive lines as expected.
The scale of this Imperial Expeditionary Fleet was truly exaggerated. He had never imagined that the Imperium could amass such a massive fleet anywhere outside the Eye of Terror.
"Are the Daemonhosts and Daemon Engines still unusable?"
Iydris turned his head to look at the adjutant by his side.
"No."
Heaven knew how many times he had endured the blasphemous phrases, "Iron decays, stone endures," and "Iron Warriors? They feel inferior to the Iron Circle robots," while trying to repair these creations that blended the Warp and machinery.
It was absolute torture.
Their fleet had been wiped out like clouds scattered by a gale. Apart from knowing that the Eternal Crusader had arrived, they did not even know the details of the battle.
"They probably do not know what we are doing either. They plan to accumulate their strength before launching a full-scale assault on the fortress."
Iydris analyzed, his gaze falling upon the Eldar Xenos who were gradually being surrounded and exterminated.
"But they do not realize that with every moment they hesitate, every inch of steel in this fortress will become increasingly lethal."
These self-proclaimed Harlequins, the minions of some god, intended to snatch the gift he planned to offer the Lord of Iron, which had brought him no small amount of trouble.
Unfortunately for them, they were isolated and helpless. Amidst the churning serrated teeth of steel, they would only be slowly ground into pieces.
With a cold gaze resting on the soldiers engaged in a brutal exchange of lives with the Eldar Xenos, Iydris continued to issue orders for a fierce assault.
There was no heartache in losing these rapid-conscription troops created with Imperial Fists gene-seed. On their slave planets, countless gene-servitors were still using their flesh to produce these inferior gene-seeds for them.
"Yes, just like on Sebastus IV, we will deal the Sons of Dorn their most agonizing defeat."
The adjutant remarked.
"Exactly."
Iydris excitedly clenched his fists.
The fall of the fleet, the death of his subordinates—none of that mattered.
"In thirteen hours, our ritual will be complete. The Lord of Iron will receive our gift and watch as we win him an unprecedented victory."
'As long as I can regain the favor of the Lord of Iron, everything will be worth it.'
Whoosh—
A sudden howling gale swept through, so powerful that it was impossible to stand. The people commanding the troops and deploying the defensive lines all stopped in their tracks. Iydris, in particular, raised his head in horror upon feeling that familiar frequency.
At this moment, the scene unfolding before their eyes was beyond description.
The gray sky was churning as if a vortex had formed. Like a stone dropped into calm water, visible ripples emerged across the firmament, spreading outward from the center.
Every creation it touched, even the indestructible architectural ruins of the Xenos, was shattered by the shockwaves into a hazy cloud of dust.
Just a single glance was enough to chill a person to the bone, sending shivers straight to their minds.
Boom!
It was as if the protection of the void shields had vanished entirely. A tactical squad maintaining the defensive installations simply ceased to exist on the spot, and the military formation engaged in bloody melee with those rebellious Daemon Engines instantly disintegrated.
A channel nearly ten meters wide and over ten kilometers long abruptly appeared right through the fortress.
The mortal soldiers stared at the area that had been suddenly wiped clean, then scrambled desperately toward the inner sections of the fortress, frantically seeking shelter.
But immediately after, a massive roar struck from behind, turning the bodies of these mortals into bloody smears painted across the walls.
Thirteen Deathstrike missiles loaded with concussion warheads poured through the newly opened channel.
These missiles relied on laser guidance from the Tech-Priests. Even when electronic equipment failed, the Tech-Priests could still manually observe the coordinates, directly calculate the missile trajectories, and feed them into the missiles' machine spirits.
Thus, even when facing the Archenemy of Chaos, these missiles remained devastatingly effective.
However, as far as the Imperium was concerned, rather than exhausting time and effort haggling with the Magoi of the Adeptus Mechanicus for a limited batch of strike weapons, it was far more convenient to simply conscript millions of Astra Militarum troopers and throw their lives into the meat grinder.
But the Transmigrators' philosophy of war had always been clear: if they could utilize armored pushes and superior firepower, they would absolutely never resort to human wave assaults.
Under the relentless downpour, the frequency emitted by the Tiamat Grand General Cannon obliterated almost all transmission of sound. As violent explosions filled the interior of the fortress, the main structure in that sector collapsed entirely.
"My Lord, what is this?!"
The adjutant gripped a protruding metal railing for support.
The structure of the fortress had been compromised, and even their carefully selected command center suffered massive impacts.
"Impossible."
Iydris did not reply directly. He just stared blankly at the imaging system, looking at the breach caused by what should have been their own Grand General Cannon, repeating a single phrase under his breath.
This sudden destruction completely shattered his confidence.
From the vox-caster system, a ceaseless howling sound blared out. The sky darkened, and visibility dropped rapidly.
"This is impossible."
Pointing at the massive breach, Iydris asked in utter disbelief, "How could they use the Grand General Cannon? The encryption keys to unlock it were lost ten thousand years ago."
He desperately wanted to go outside and check—to see if some Daemon had possessed a machine just to deceive him.
But he did not dare. He could only root his feet to the floor, glaring fiercely at the screens.
If Iydris was reacting this way, the rest of them could only tremble uncontrollably. They did not even have the mental capacity to ponder what kind of weapon this was; just trying to figure out how to survive such an attack exhausted all their strength.
No one could answer him.
It defied all logic. How could the modern Imperium decode an ancient engine of war in such a short amount of time?
They could not even remember where those weapons were buried anymore.
Hiding within the deep trenches buried inside the fortress, Iydris watched the howling tempest ravage the outside, staring at the profound breaches carved into the walls as if they were nothing more than fragile porcelain.
He watched as engines of war began to rumble forward through the newly formed gaps in the fortress. Their silhouettes were so intimately familiar to him, completely different from anything fielded by the current Imperium.
Iydris had a vague, sinking premonition.
His past had come knocking.