Chapter 427: Loyalty Has Its Rewards
Vashtorr's dream, the Rock, had come to him.
But not in the way he imagined.
Beep~ Beep~ Beep~
Warnings of impact and the shouts of servants rang in Vashtorr's mind. The red light representing the enemy plated the fleet that appeared in the void alongside the Rock.
But he was too obsessed with the Rock. Instead of taking evasive measures, he began to activate the Plagueheart, initiating the ritual that had been coiled around it for a long time, trying to influence the approaching Rock.
The battle in the void erupted suddenly.
The cannons on the Rock, capable of easily sinking battleships, bombarded the Chaos fleet violently. Such attacks were devastating to warships much smaller than it. A single shot from weapons usually mounted on planetary orbital defense systems could overload an enemy's void shields.
Conversely, the Gorgon's Aegis on the Rock, originating from the Dark Age of Technology, was equally formidable. It remained unmoved in the face of any attack. While constantly counterattacking with its turrets, it also provided protection for other ships.
Crack!
Several concentrated lance strikes hit the port side of a Styx-class heavy cruiser, leaving a smooth crack three kilometers long on the protective layer, then swept across the bridge, swallowing the beeping damage indicator, throwing the warship, which lost its brain at the first moment of engagement, backwards.
Salvos of lances, macro-cannons, and torpedoes flew back and forth between the two fleets. Ships of both the Imperial and Chaos traitor sides were hit again and again.
From time to time, the void shields of ships were overloaded, and the hulls were torn apart by the following lances and macro-cannons. Hull fragments floated in the void along with the corpses of personnel and supplies tumbling out of the cabins, until the pitch-black void was filled with shining wreckage.
Eight surviving warship formations bravely went up to meet them. Their blood-red paint was illuminated by the fire bursts of rockets, lances, and macro-cannons. Several warbands on the right flank subconsciously distanced themselves after the sudden appearance of the Dark Angels and the crash of the first starship.
The Chaos formation showed a somewhat comical disjointedness.
At the same time, the huge planet hidden behind them was revealed.
"That is?"
Azrael's gaze was subconsciously attracted by the broken, grey planet. The throb from his subconscious made him want to say the name of this broken planet.
"That is Caliban."
Ramesses took over.
The Dark Angels of ten thousand years ago were all awakened with bad memories, looking at the planet re-glued together by supernatural power with complex expressions.
"No movement from the Tuchulcha Engine?"
In front of the unique command system vox of the Rock, Arthur calmly observed the approaching World Eaters fleet and asked.
Azrael looked around and saw dozens of robed figures behind him, dozens of Watchers in the Dark lined up against the wall, all looking this way with glowing red eyes.
That somewhat helpless gaze was cast on a silver and gold sphere floating beside the command room.
When Tuchulcha appeared here, the Watchers in the Dark already knew that this guy actually wanted to run. The communication with them was just perfunctory, a deceptive method learned from observing the Dark Angels over these years.
This made several Watchers in the Dark wearing grey robes, who usually interfaced with Librarians, feel a bit down.
Maybe the times have changed a bit too fast. Whether it was the Ouroboros ten thousand years ago or the current Tuchulcha, they, who had guarded these creations for tens of millions of years, were a bit confused. They were as full of lies as the Dark Angels.
Thinking so, the Watchers in the Dark looked at the two giants standing on the left and right in the center of the platform.
Thinking that the Dawnbreakers bluntly stated their plan to interfere with the past relying on the unification of the three artifacts and hoped for the technical support of the Watchers in the Dark, and the shared mission objectives of both sides, indicating that they would only start the experiment after verifying their control over the Tuchulcha Engine, they suddenly felt that the rare attribute of 'able to speak' appearing on their boss was so wonderful.
Although the operation of actively facilitating the unification of the three artifacts was also quite outrageous, at least the leaders were willing to say what they planned to do and what they needed you to do, instead of waiting until the bolter flew into the opponent's face to think about whether they were loyal or traitorous.
Back then, after getting Tuchulcha in Thramas, the little people suggested the Lion return to Caliban. Unexpectedly, the Lion didn't say a word, slapped his head, and crossed half the galaxy to Ultramar, delivering Curze to Guilliman.
Not to mention the Deathwing and Dreadwing confronting each other on the Invincible Reason at the time couldn't understand it, even the Watchers in the Dark couldn't understand it.
Where to go, if not Caliban then Terra. Although it was to guard against Guilliman's rebellion, you should at least tell your subordinates. The Dark Angels departments were confronting each other on the flagship after fighting the inexplicable Thramas Crusade.
Later, Caliban exploded, and the surviving Watchers in the Dark couldn't hold back their laughter when reviewing it privately.
Guilliman knew Vulkan died on the surface and was afraid the Lion was a traitor, didn't say anything.
The Lion knew Curze was on the ship and suspected Guilliman was a traitor conspiring from inside, didn't say anything.
Sanguinius knew all the above through psychic prophecy, including that the Emperor was still alive, but because he was wavering inside and afraid these two were also traitors, he simply didn't say anything either.
In the end, these three even set up Imperium Secundus.
Ah—
If Dorn knew that the only two people he didn't suspect back then dragged Sanguinius to form a Second Imperium on the other side of the galaxy while he was bitterly fighting the Alpha Legion on Pluto, he would probably die of anger.
Just waited until the end of the Siege of Terra to wait for these two.
"No."
Ramesses poked Tuchulcha, which was no different from dead. Behind him, a Webway gate moved inside the Rock was shining.
Even if Arthur's domain couldn't suppress the fusion of the three artifacts, as long as there was a possibility of fusion, he and Arthur would immediately take the Tuchulcha Engine into the Webway.
The Webway could effectively isolate warp influence. Even ascended Daemon Princes might lose contact with their masters. The Eldar also threw Chaos artifacts or enemies into Webway sections remote for them to eliminate the possibility of these Chaos minions causing harm to them.
"It seems the initiative is in our hands now."
Arthur nodded. Since the unification of the three artifacts was also under their control, there was no need to worry about the rest.
He immediately ordered the fleet, which had adjusted its formation, to start advancing in the empty cosmic space, while analyzing the battle situation from another level through the app written for him by Romulus.
The app could build a real-time battlefield model through information terminals placed inside the warships, providing detailed data, and reflect the damage status of the warships in time.
Previously, they were afraid that the mechanical creations they created were prone to corruption because they were not high-level enough and had no faith, so they didn't like to use information-end creations except for meat people. But now, hanging everything on Romulus before placement eliminated such worries.
Just hard on Old Ro. Every remote loading added to his already insufficient brain capacity.
He expanded the scope of assessment. At the same time, the eight approaching World Eaters ships were intensively shattered. Each of their ships had to face the concentrated attention of at least three ships of the same level simultaneously, while their colleagues could hardly provide effective support.
As the distance between the two sides got closer, ultra-long-range artillery gradually lost its advantage. Both sides had entered the maximum range of each other's conventional anti-ship firepower.
When the first battleship was easily sunk, the Chaos fleet realized they should run.
Otherwise, that sunken battleship would be their fate.
These already shaken warships scattered like a frightened school of fish without command.
Exposing the core fleet that still didn't intend to move.
It was composed of the Planet Killer and several Space Hulks...
"Why no reaction yet?"
Noticing the seemingly stunned Planet Killer and the stable realspace around it, Ramesses, holding the Webway gate with one hand ready to jump in at any time, couldn't help but tease again.
"The Rock he dreamed of day and night was delivered to his eyes, is he overjoyed?"
"Broken with joy."
Arthur nodded in agreement.
Relying on the rapid maneuver of the Webway, the rapid integration of the Dark Angels, eliminating Typhus in a short time, intercepting Vashtorr, and containing the Tuchulcha Engine, this was the effect they wanted.
Vashtorr was blocked by his greed and unwillingness. Now he couldn't get away.
"..."
Arthur turned his gaze to the members participating in the defense of the Rock. These members called themselves the 'Unforgiven', regarding this battle led by the Lord of Knights personally as their battle of redemption.
Dark Angels, whether parent or successor Chapters, always liked to add almost exaggerated pressure to themselves after making mistakes, believing that the existence of mistakes would deal an unprecedented blow to their honor and authority. Perhaps this was also one of the reasons why they preferred to kill insiders rather than face mistakes after making big mistakes.
Of course, he didn't think the Angels of Vigilance or other successor Chapters who chose to obey orders had anything unforgivable.
Arthur looked at Kamael beside him.
The paint on his new armor had been changed to black, but the area belonging to the Legion red was replaced with the original Chapter's gold trim, presenting a restrained black and gold overall.
The Angels of Vigilance were the only Dark Angels successor Chapter fully involved in this operation. Because the defense of the Gryhne System had reduced them to less than a hundred men, they couldn't even fill the number required by Arthur.
Of course, due to the Angels of Vigilance's good habit of liking to leave a considerable number of companies to guard home and flexibly adjusting the number of the Chapter according to the actual situation, the actual situation was still some distance from annihilation.
"Kamael."
Arthur spoke, raising his palm.
"My lord!"
The Chapter Master of the Angels of Vigilance looked surprised. After a brief daze, he raised his hand to take the shield handed over by the Lord of Knights.
On the shield, two crossed swords divided the shield face into four parts. The top was the golden Imperial Aquila, and the rest was occupied by two grey-robed figures.
His gaze briefly crossed the ornate shield face. Kamael only learned from Inquisitor Aglaia not long ago that this shield blessed by the Emperor had accompanied the Lord of Knights since the moment he appeared in the universe.
Even as the Lord of Knights grew, more and more battles reached the point where defense was unnecessary, but this shield was also one of the symbols of the Lord of Knights. Only Knights of the Round Table would select a shield bearer to wear it during wartime.
"You will be no more than ten paces from my side."
The voice of the Lord of Knights resounded throughout the comms channel, appointing his bodyguard candidate.
This is the reward for loyalty.
"Yes, my lord!"
Kamael suppressed his excitement, ignoring the envious gazes around him, bowing in salute.
"We depart."
The Lord of Knights turned and walked towards the teleportation center. Ramesses also turned and entered the Webway with the Tuchulcha Engine.
The Dark Angels were caught off guard by Vashtorr's sudden attack before, but they withstood the initial storm. Now it was time for revenge.
In the spectacular scene as if witnessing a giant whale preying on a school of fish, no one noticed that two Stormravens sped out from the launch pads of the Rock into the void.
Around them, the grand fleet attracted the enemy's attention to the launch bays of the Rock and the flight decks of the fleet as much as possible by firepower projection. At the same time, two Emperor-class battleships also spat out all carrier-based aircraft that could still fly, mixing Stormravens in them, pouncing forward.
Their target was the Planet Killer.
The Stormravens relied on deceleration to pass through the void shields. Torpedoes loaded with teleportation beacons were launched immediately, penetrating the Planet Killer's outer shell, which was completely different from current mainstream warships.
"Come here."
Arthur waved his hand, signaling the veterans of the Round Table and the Angels of Vigilance to gather on the central teleportation pad. Kamael was on his left, following him no more than a step away. Kay squeezed Cypher aside and came to the other side very proudly.
Below the steps of the Rock's teleportation center, the fully equipped squads lined up neatly. The impact of heavy plating and the breathing of Terminator armor hydraulics echoed in the quiet huge space.
The teleportation system of the Rock was once one of the important landmarks of Caliban, capable of easily projecting a Grand Company in wartime. This wide facility had gradually been transformed from a knight's castle into a chapel gathering faith over ten thousand years.
The moment the Lord of Knights came to their side, it was almost a release for these 'Unforgiven'.
Regardless of the right or wrong of the past, now the decision of the Lord of Knights to lead them to execute the mission together had been made. Now only time could let them prove whether the Lord of Knights' choice was correct.
Similarly, Arthur's arrival injected new energy into this silent space.
Trying to clarify the connection between history and the present, guarding secrets without knowing right or wrong or what consequences they would bring to the Chapter, accepting missions without knowing the cause and result—this is a heavy burden for any commander.
Now they temporarily had no such concerns.
In the conversations along the way, every squad of the 'Unforgiven' improved their understanding with the Lord of Knights, obtaining their goals and missions. This was the most straightforward experience in their military career of hundreds or thousands of years.
As the last heavy echo of footsteps landing fell, the eyes of the knights involuntarily converged on that leader.
Now, only one decision remained.
"Azrael, report void battle situation."
Arthur asked in the command comms.
"Ready to deliver the final blow on your command."
The Supreme Grand Master's response followed immediately.
"Initiate teleportation—"
The Lord of Knights issued the order without hesitation.
Arthur put down his hands. Blazing white bright light lit up around him, as if high-voltage current was flowing through his fingertips. Noise and howling resounded through the cavity wrapped by machinery, extending to the edge of the passage torn apart by rift weapons inside the Planet Killer.
"Damn it! Damn it!"
Vashtorr grabbed the console of the Planet Killer and shook it.
"What are you doing, Nurgle, or yourself, Plagueheart, what exactly do you want me to do!"
He shouted sharply.
"..."
The Plagueheart did not respond.
This eternally beating rotten heart trembled and shrunk, as if in fear.
Vashtorr, who was still repeatedly trying because the expected distortion did not appear, suddenly looked up, looking at the blurred figure above the breach opposite the eternally turning furnace of the Planet Killer.
He looked at Arthur opposite, the Lord of Knights looking down at him.
"We have arrived successfully."
The Lord of Knights said.
He raised his blade.
Clang~
Even thousands of miles away, Vashtorr was shocked, subconsciously retreating, tearing down a large piece of mechanical structure, sparks illuminating the metal on his body.
He felt the scepter in his hand was as light as nothing, as fragile and weak as the machinery shattered under his claws.
He felt the true fear in his heart cold as ice.
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