The Ramilies advanced toward the planet Advex-Mors IV, launching a full-scale assault on its orbital defenses.
From the fortress's central section, countless torpedo tubes fired in rapid succession, streaking toward the defensive cannons and missile platforms in orbit, as though the ammunition would never run out.
Under the relentless bombardment, the Rangdan orbital defense network struggled desperately to hold.
The return fire from their cannons was like the futile flailing of prey surrounded by a swarm of bloodthirsty sharks.
One after another, the defense platforms were consumed by storms of torpedoes, reduced to drifting ruins.
Within four hours of the initial strike, the Ramilies obliterated the orbital defenses of Rangdan and secured control of the planet's orbit.
Its massive gun batteries rotated downward, raining devastation upon the surface.
The cloud cover below glowed from within as if illuminated by a thousand lightning strikes, the thunderous roar of atmospheric discharges echoing across the planet.
Rangdan outposts were shredded in the first wave of bombardment, the hypervelocity shells producing multiple sonic booms as they tore through xenos fortifications.
The Third Chapter's fleet joined the attack, unleashing energy weapons, kinetic bombardments, and heavy artillery toward the surface.
Blinding ice-blue beams lanced down, joining the Ramilies's barrage to batter the Rangdan fortress's energy shields.
Dazzling vertical rays fell upon the shimmering barrier.
By the fifth day of bombardment, a cascade of expanding shockwaves signaled the collapse of the shield.
The orbital assault ceased, and a massive swarm of black troop carriers, assault boats, and gunships plunged toward the surface, followed by heavy transports loaded with armor and artillery.
Spearheading the descent were flocks of Stormbirds, black, blade-shaped craft with gleaming crescent moons painted on their prows.
On Advex-Mors IV, the largest enemy of the planet's fortress awaited.
Human slaves within the watchtowers, driven by their masters, manned the turrets and fired energy beams at the descending fleet of black aircraft.
At the head of the formation flew ten black Stormbirds. Twin-layered void shields crackled under the energy barrage.
Inside each craft, the gunners gripped their controls, and once targeting systems locked on, they released volleys of missiles toward the towers.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The explosions hurled entire towers into the air. Dual-linked lascannons spat molten beams, sweeping across enemy positions to clear a landing zone. Landing struts slammed down, shaking the earth.
As the ramps crashed open, Vostroyan Rhino armored transports rumbled out.
Compared to other legions, the Third had reinforced their armor more heavily, every assault trooper rode to war in Rhinos.
Massive transports descended like meteors, crushing the alien triangular structures beneath, disgorging tanks in the Shadows of Order's black livery.
Gabriel-pattern Predators and Malcador Defender tanks opened fire, their cannons thundering across the battlefield.
From all directions, enslaved humans surged forward.
Two Librarians raised their left hands, channeling psychic power into heart-shaped crystal orbs.
Invisible waves of force rippled outward in a fifty-meter radius.
Nearly half of the humans hesitated, torn between the control of their neural collars and the liberating pull of the Librarians' powers.
One-third of the remainder still charged forward, enslaved minds unbroken.
But the rest blinked in sudden awareness, dropped their weapons in terror, and fled, only to turn violent again once beyond the range of psychic interference.
Nearby Techmarines noted the results:
'Collar-disruption efficiency: approximately 50%.'
'Current effect: insufficient for combat utility, further refinement required.'
Lines of Mordian Iron Guard battle tanks advanced in perfect formation.
From within the lead tank Night Eternal, the sound of turrets rotating and cannons elevating echoed deep in its hull.
When locked onto target, the 120mm battle cannon fired, its shell joined a deadly barrage from other tanks, hammering the alien spires.
The combined volley overwhelmed enemy fire, forcing Rangdan turrets to cease targeting anything else.
Gabriel-pattern Predators followed up with twin heavy flamers, belching streams of blazing promethium.
These variant Predators were several times deadlier than standard models, the molten destruction they unleashed tore vast gaps through the ranks of the slave-soldiers.
Flanking them, the Vostroyan Rhinos charged forward, assault ramps dropping as black-armored warriors of the Shadows of Order leapt out.
Jump pack flames roared as they vaulted onto the tall towers, blasting through windows and hurling grenades into the energy generators.
Explosions burst through the towers, smoke and debris raining as the Shadows descended back into their Rhinos and pressed on.
Chapter Master Bukayo Arshivan coordinated seamlessly with the Mordian Iron Guard, systematically demolishing turret by turret, their advance steady and precise.
The Blyek-pattern tanks featured water-cooled barrels, gyro-stabilizers for accurate fire on the move, and precision targeting aided by avian navigators, laser rangefinders, and inertial dampeners from the Forge World Stygies VIII.
The Mordians' discipline showed, not a single shell was wasted. Each shot struck home.
But as the massive pyramidal fortress of the inner citadel came into view, the advance finally slowed.
The twenty-meter-tall crystalline towers glowed with fierce light, discharging arcs of lightning.
Four of them unleashed simultaneous bolts that struck a Vostroyan Rhino, the web of electricity crawled across its hull before tearing it apart, reducing both the vehicle and its passengers to flickering shadows.
"Requesting Titan support from the Legio Astorum," said the Dark Lord into his vox-bead.
"Request acknowledged. Legio Astorum deploying now."
Before he could issue another order, the ground trembled. Through the viewports of his command vehicle, he saw them, a squadron of Titans, closing in at impossible speed.
The Legio Astorum moved faster than any other Titan Legion. Five colossal war machines stormed the battlefield, banners whipping in the wind.
At their center gleamed the Dark Sun of Lucius, emblem of the hollow world's artificial star, and a symbol of the isolation they had endured through centuries of the Old Night.
Upon each Titan's armor were etched intricate constellations, abstract solar maps and warp routes chronicling the legion's long journey through the stars. It was this that earned them their other name: The Starborne Legio.
Moving in perfect formation, the Legio Astorum fired as one.
The Warlord-class Titan Unyielding Wrath spun its dual autocannons, spewing a hurricane of massive shells.
Explosions erupted across the fortress, flame cyclones and shockwaves swept the Rangdan defenses. The spires crumbled, melting under the inferno.
Everywhere on Rangdan IV, the same sight unfolded: Legio Astorum responding to aid requests with blinding speed, smashing fortresses one by one.
They crashed through bastions, their iron feet crushing slave soldiers into paste.
The Dark Lord's command Rhino roared through a breach, heading for the citadel's heart.
A massive Rangdan overlord, shaped like a rhinoceros, charged out of the smoke.
Bukayo saw it coming. He did not leave his command vehicle, using his psychic art meant he could not move.
His eyes darkened. Spirit energy reached toward the xeno's mind.
The Rangdan overlord's stride faltered, his eyelids grew heavy.
Suddenly, his vision shifted. The smoke was gone. He was sinking into a swamp.
The creature convulsed, struggling to rise, as the command Rhino's guns opened up. The overlord's personal shield crackled, then failed.
The troops behind him froze in confusion, cut down by fire.
"Human psyker, assaulting the overlord's mind!" shouted a Rangdan warlock.
He extended his staff, projecting his consciousness into the overlord's psyche.
A moment later, shock filled his eyes, the human's technique was unlike any psychic domination he had ever known.
Before he could react, the overlord's shield shattered, and a barrage tore through his unprotected body, leaving nothing but fragments of flesh and armor.
.....
If you enjoy the story, my p@treon is 30 chapters ahead.
[email protected]/DaoistJinzu