The star system Axis and his fleet were headed toward lay roughly twenty light-years away. With warp travel, it would only take a few days to reach it.
If they were quick, the journey would take three to four days; if slow, no more than ten.
By then, Axis's fleet would arrive at the target system.
According to available intelligence, the system contained a Forge World and several mining worlds.
It was a small red-dwarf system under the control of the Adeptus Mechanicus, guarded by a substantial force of Skitarii and Tech-Priest auxiliaries.
The Forge World's primary function was manufacturing God-Machines, and more than ten Titans were currently under construction.
Among them was even an Imperator-class Titan, a strategic asset of immense importance.
"Axis, this Forge World is absolutely critical. If we can reclaim it, then every Imperial world within at least a hundred light-years will have a stable supply of weapons.
"And at least one Titan Legion will join the war effort," Kasha said.
"I understand that. This time, I plan to end the battle within a single day. Once we're done, we depart for the next target immediately," Axis replied.
"That's more than possible with your strength, I'm not even gona put forth any suggestions," Kasha admitted.
It was fortunate for the Imperium that someone like Axis existed.
Without him, she truly had no idea how they could ever effectively deal with this so-called Galactic Empire.
Against them, the Imperium had almost no hope of victory in the short term.
Her father would have get involved, and even then, it would be a hardfought victory.
Five days later, Axis and Kasha emerged from the warp, leading their human fleet into the target system.
After more than ten hours of sub-light travel, they approached the Forge World. The planet had been attacked by Rangda xenos a month earlier.
It had not yet fallen. Imperial Navy ships were still locked in battle with the enemy, while Skitarii and local Imperial forces on the surface engaged the aliens in fierce combat.
From the tactical displays, however, these Rangda forces were unlike the ones Axis had encountered twice before.
Even their warship designs were entirely different.
Their ships were roughly the size of human vessels, ten kilometers long at most, some as short as five or six.
They carried only standard macro-cannons and void shields, with no sign of energy-barrier technology.
Their warriors wore blue-gray power armor with retractable twin energy blades, which they deployed for lightning-fast charges.
These Rangda appeared far more human-like, with two arms, two legs, but their skin was blue-red.
They bore little resemblance to the insectoid, six-armed, triple-eyed creatures Axis had fought before.
These looked closer to human aesthetics. Humanoid in form, with heads similar to humanity's, though crowned with sharp horns and eyes glowing blue.
Rangda was simply the human name for the coalition. They called themselves the Galactic Empire, boasting more than a dozen member species and enslaving hundreds more.
During the past few days of warp travel, Axis had learned much about the so-called Empire's power.
What the Imperium had faced so far was only the tip of the iceberg.
The entire Eastern and Northern Galactic quadrants were almost completely under their control.
Their methods of expansion were twofold.
First: if a civilization had reached interstellar capability, capable of leaving its homeworld, establishing colonies in other systems, and mastering warp technology, it could join the Galactic Empire as a member.
In return for military service, it would receive the Empire's protection and resources.
The second method applied to all others.
Any civilization that had not reached interstellar status was deemed, by the Empire's standards, to be no more than an animal species, considered non-sentient and subject to slavery.
When they first encountered the Imperium, the Galactic Empire had actually attempted diplomacy.
But relations soured quickly, escalating into what became the First Rangda Campaign.
The Galactic Empire had risen to power just a few centuries after the collapse of the human Golden Age.
They fought not only humanity, and the Imperium was far from their only enemy.
"Solus Prime, do you have any detailed records on this new variant of Rangda?" Axis asked.
"Father, this is a species that joined the Galactic Empire only a few decades ago. Their technology is barely on par with that of the Imperium of Man.
"Their average height ranges from two to two-point-three meters. They are extremely strong, at least twice as physically powerful as humans, and they are equipped with advanced power armor and a weapon similar to a power sword, but using energy blades," the Solus Prime reported, transmitting the xenos data to Axis through the comm system.
"They don't look that strong," Axis said.
Compared to the insectoid creatures he had fought before, these were far weaker, both in individual combat ability and technological level.
If they had been truly formidable, this Forge World would have fallen long ago.
Yet, even after a month, it still stood. A quick scan put the enemy fleet at over five hundred ships.
"Yes, Father. Among the Empire's member races, this one ranks near the bottom.
"They are usually sent to hold defensive lines or used as expendable troops to wear down difficult targets," the Solus Prime explained.
"We're short on time then. I'll take the lead," Axis said, nodding to Kasha before heading off to equip himself for battle.
Five hundred ships would take him only a few hours to destroy.
Once the enemy fleet was gone, their ground forces would be trapped like prey in a cage.
On the planet's surface, several Titans had already been activated.
These colossal God-Machines were the most powerful single combat units on the battlefield.
"May you achieve swift victory, Wolf Lord," Kasha said with a coy smile.
Axis pecked her on the lips and, then vanished in a flare of blue light, teleporting into the middle of the enemy fleet.
With a shout, his body flared with golden light as he transformed into a Super Saiyan.
The golden aura burned fiercely in the void, outshining the nearby star.
A roar of excitement erupted aboard the Imperial ships.
Every time the soldiers of the Imperium witnessed Axis's golden transformation, they felt an almost religious thrill.
The shining radiance carried a sacred quality, evoking thoughts of the Emperor Himself.
And though it was slaughter, the victims were xenos, making it a righteous act.
"Haah!"
With a battle cry that shook the space, Axis gathered an energy sphere over ten kilometers wide in both hands and hurled it into the nearest enemy cluster.
The torrent of blue-white energy swallowed more than thirty Rangda ships in an instant.
Void shields tore apart like paper, and hulls vaporized under the intense heat.
The sudden strike stunned the blue-and-red creatures.
What in the void had hit them?
Panic spread through the fleet as alarms blared. Commanders shouted frantic orders to turn away.
But Axis was faster.
He became a streak of golden lightning, weaving through their formation, destroying ship after ship.
With a single-handed strike, he unleashed a massive, crescent-shaped energy blade that tore through five vessels in a line, triggering a chain of explosions. Debris tumbled silently through the void.
The attack consumed little of Axis's ki yet carried devastating power.
White light flared in his palms as he hurled blast after blast, unleashing wave after wave of shockwaves, employing the classic Saiyans strategy: indiscriminate, overwhelming firepower against every enemy in sight.
Countless Rangda ships were annihilated in moments, reduced to drifting wreckage.
The blue-and-red Rangda warriors stared in disbelief.
This was not what their intelligence reports had claimed.
According to the Galactic Empire's briefings, humans were not supposed to possess such raw power.
But here was a man whose body could ram through warships. It was, without a doubt, a living impossibility.
On the planet's surface, both sides of the battle looked skyward, witnessing the devastation.
Imperial soldiers gaped at the repeated flashes of destruction above. Enemy ships were exploding like fireworks.
"Praise the Emperor! His messenger has come! The Emperor's wrath is upon the xenos!"
"Praise the Omnissiah!" the Skitarii cried, morale surging as they launched a counterattack.
Inside the cockpits of Warlord-class Titans, the Princeps and Moderati watched through their sensors, tracking the golden figure.
"That… is that the Emperor's angel?" one whispered.
If they had not been briefed beforehand that Axis would arrive to aid them, they would have believed the Emperor Himself had descended.
The brilliance was too holy, too blinding to be anything else.
In orbit, each flare of golden light marked the destruction of several more enemy vessels.
Three hours later, the last Rangda warship dissolved into nothing under a massive ki blast.
Axis hovered in the void, extending his senses across the entire star system to confirm there were no survivors.
This opponent had been underwhelming, too weak for his taste.
"Mission complete,
"Now to clean up the trash on the surface."
His gaze shifted downward to the planet, where the remaining Rangda soldiers still resisted.
Axis shot toward the surface, hands coming together at his waist as they gathered brilliant light. Then he swept his arms outward, hurling blast after blast.
A rain of ki blasts descended, detonating across the battlefield.
Boom. Boom. Boom. Boom.
A third of the planet's surface vanished under waves of silver-white explosions.
For wiping out swarms of lesser foes, the saiyan's Battle Strategy was unmatched. Utterly devastating to the enemy, yet sparing the world itself.
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HERE'S YOUR BONUS CHAPTER!! Guys1 more powerstones!