Chapter 328: The Blood Angels Enter the Fray
To pin down the forces led by Lucan, the Hive Mind began to adapt and mass-produce a Tyranid creature known as the Toxicrene.
At that moment, although there were not many active Tyranid creatures within the city of Phodia, a thick, pale green fog had begun to permeate it. This was all composed of the toxic bacteriophage spores released by the Toxicrenes. For Tyranids, these spores increased their activity, but for humans, they were fatal. Once the concentration reached a certain level, humans simply could not survive.
It was impossible for the Tyranids to make the humans in Phodia collapse just with these Toxicrenes, but it could certainly cause them a great deal of trouble.
Mellen looked worriedly at the aggregated data. The number of non-combat casualties caused by the toxic fog was slowly beginning to surpass the casualties from battle.
"Lord Lucan," he said, "the soldiers with powersuits are fine, but those without them still have a chance of being infected, even with respirators. If this continues, I'm afraid we won't be able to hold out for long."
If the soldiers had at least some protection, then the tens of billions of civilians left on this planet had none. The workers in the underhives had some filtration-respirators, but the planetary government hadn't even provided them with a sufficient supply during peacetime, let alone now. No matter how fast they produced them, they could not meet the needs of so many people.
"The fallen zones are simply too large," Lucan replied. "The spore clouds there are so thick that visibility is less than ten meters. If we sally forth, we will certainly lose our terrain advantage. And without the city's anti-air cover, our fighters will not be able to outlast the countless Gargoyles. Even if I call in the Gorgons to bombard them, it won't be long before they can create a sufficient number of units again. It doesn't solve the root problem. As long as the bio-ships in orbit are not eliminated, the Tyranids can quickly reoccupy these areas."
"But, we can't do that right now, my Lord!"
"We can't do it now," Lucan agreed. "But we will have support soon. What day of the battle is this?"
"The sixth day, my Lord! What support are you talking about?!"
Before Mellen could even finish his question, the Imperial warships patrolling the system suddenly sent back intelligence. A holographic projection of Admiral Justus appeared before them, his face filled with joy.
"The Blood Angels! It's the Blood Angels! Lord Lucan, General Mellen! The ship's augurs have detected a massive Blood Angels fleet crossing the Diamor Shield!"
"You see, Mellen?" Lucan said with a smile. "We are not the only ones in a hurry. The Cryptus System is the shield system for Baal. The Blood Angels are more anxious than anyone."
At that moment, the Chapter Master of the Blood Angels, Commander Dante, stood on the bridge of his flagship, the Blade of Vengeance.
Beneath his golden death mask, no one knew what he was thinking. In the eyes of others, Dante was always calm and composed. He could always use his personal combat prowess and command talent to lead his Chapter and humanity to victory. On any battlefield, if Dante arrived, the commanding officer would almost always willingly hand over their command to him. This showed the Imperium's recognition of his leadership ability. He was, after all, the man who would have become the Regent of Imperium Nihilus, with military command over half the Imperium.
But beneath the mask, Dante was incredibly weary. As one of the longest-serving Astartes in the Imperium, he really just wanted to clock out, but the duty he carried forced him to persist. The constant suppression of his thirst for blood was a ceaseless torment to his spirit. When other Blood Angels would occasionally need to consume a small amount of human blood to suppress their Red Thirst, Dante refused to drink even a single drop. He had to prove that this terrible curse could be overcome through willpower alone.
This time, he had brought the Blood Angels' First and Second Companies, as well as the entire Flesh Tearers successor chapter. To cross the Shadow in the Warp, he had consumed the lives of a great many Navigators, but for Dante, if he could save the Cryptus System, these sacrifices were worth it. If the Cryptus System fell, then Baal, with its weak defenses, could not possibly hold off a Leviathan tendril that had just finished digesting an entire system. Their fates were intertwined.
He had already prepared for the worst. He had even thought that the Cryptus System might have already fallen, and that his purpose here was to save as many survivors as possible and deny Leviathan more biomass. But when he entered the system, he was immediately contacted by the Imperial forces there.
Every world in the Cryptus System was still in Imperial hands. The Tyranids had not been able to devour a single planet! They had even repelled Leviathan's assault on Asphodel! And their fleet in the void still retained a considerable number of ships.
Even Dante was astonished by this news. He knew the terror of the Tyranids. How could the Cryptus System, with the strength of a single system, hold back such a massive Tyranid fleet? Had the Emperor performed a miracle? Or was Leviathan just a paper tiger?
And the current situation in the system was something he couldn't quite understand. He knew the respective roles of the planets in the Cryptus System. Under normal circumstances, the main force of the Tyranids should be concentrated on Asphodel. But now? The number of Tyranid bio-ships displayed over Asphodel was not even as many as those over the planet Iphix. Was there something on that planet that was worth the Tyranids fighting so desperately for?!
And when he learned that it was Lucan, the man who had resurrected Guilliman, who had reinforced the Cryptus System and allowed it to hold out, Dante was eager to find him and get to the bottom of things. The Blood Angels had, of course, also received the news of Guilliman's resurrection and Lucan becoming a High Lord. To verify if Guilliman had truly been revived, they had also sent their own emissaries to Terra.
The fact that the Cryptus System had not suffered a devastating loss was the best news he could have hoped for. And when he met Lucan, everything would become clear.
"Full speed ahead to Asphodel! Destroy the Tyranid fleet over Asphodel! I need to get to the surface!" Dante issued his first command.
Seeing the Blood Angels' actions, Lucan immediately ordered his own fleet and the Imperial Navy led by Justus to coordinate with them. This time, the fleet of the Cryptus System did not suffer overly severe losses. With the addition of the Blood Angels' warships, the strength of the Imperial fleet in this system was now sufficient to launch an attack on the now-depleted number of Tyranid bio-ships over Asphodel.
Lucan and Mellen walked out of the command center. In the planet's low orbit, the Blood Angels' Strike Cruisers and Battle Barges weaved through the Tyranid bio-ships. One after another, the bio-ships were destroyed under their swift strikes. The Imperial Navy under Justus's command was also exceptionally valiant. Previously, they could only retreat in disarray and launch sneak attacks. Now, they could finally vent all their pent-up frustration.
And with the Blood Angels drawing the Tyranids' attention, Lucan also ordered his Gorgons to immediately execute a tactical jump and begin a large-scale bombardment of the areas on Asphodel that had been occupied by the Tyranids. One after another, the towering Capillary Towers toppled, and the digestion pools were destroyed. The areas where the Toxicrenes were gathered were a primary target.
Flames incinerated the spore clouds. Without the support of the Toxicrenes, it wouldn't be long before the spore clouds thinned and slowly disappeared.
After dealing with most of the Tyranid bio-ships, several Blood Angels Thunderhawks began to head for the Melos Starport.
"Mellen, let's go," Lucan said. "Let's go meet Dante."
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