Chapter 14: Hydrogen Bomb and Orbital Bombardment
In the high tower where the planetary Governor resided, the Governor, Intelligence Minister Bruel, and several military generals observed the movements of the space fleet.
Behind an ornate telescope, Lady Isha gazed into orbit, her golden hair striking and breathtakingly drifting in a minimal gust of wind.
The Governor exhaled with relief as the Alpha Legion departed. He both welcomed and feared the Imperial military in equal measure.
Puffing on a cigar, the Governor considered what other threats might remain on the planet, then mused aloud with lingering doubt. "I wonder if that Ghost departed with them. It would be best if he were aboard one of those warships."
"Your Excellency, this war with the Rangdan lasted months until its conclusion, yet we never found a trace of him," Major General Kristiel analyzed. "Perhaps....he truly has left."
Those present began discussing animatedly, with some arguing the Ghost had left and others insisting he remained.
Isha rested her delicate hand on her chin and sighed. "The Ghost Warrior. A super-soldier who fights for humanity in obscurity, unknown to the masses. He doesn't even give us the chance to bestow our highest honors. I'm truly curious what he looks like."
The corpulent Governor chuckled heartily. "If that Ghost is willing to step forward, I'll make him a general and give him a mountain of medals!"
Everyone nearby burst into laughter, and even Isha smiled faintly.
For some reason, she suddenly thought of the Space Marine she'd spoken with not long ago.
Six months later.
On Mylosak, where the Rangdan army had retreated, a star in the dark void illuminated the planet. Through the atmosphere, the entire world blazed with war. Strange alien structures had been reduced to rubble.
The black smoke of conflict seemed to stain the atmosphere itself, and anti-gravity floating structures occasionally fell from the sky or burned in mid-air, crashing as flaming wreckage.
Half a year prior, the Alpha Legion had used Warp jumps to follow the Rangdan retreat route and assaulted the planets under Rangdan control directly.
Fighting on the Rangdan homeworld proved even more brutal than on Balsavor.
Still, the Alpha Legion possessed two Primarchs, both capable of using their formidable abilities to reduce their presence and infiltrate enemy strongholds for sabotage.
Over six months, the void war had concluded.
Every alien warship lay destroyed, and planetary resistance was being systematically dismantled at the moment. At considerable cost, the Alpha Legion had achieved complete victory in this campaign.
The two Primarchs now stood upon a peak in a massive mountain range. Snowflakes fell gently like feathers around them as they regarded the final alien fortress with cold eyes.
Omega observed a white, sacred palace on a distant snow-covered peak.
A massive energy shield enveloped several thousand meters of the surrounding mountains, and within that barrier floated numerous anti-gravity defensive platforms.
Yet this was not the enemy's true stronghold;. it was inside the mountain range
"This is Bethrisha," Omega exclaimed. "The Rangdan holy site in this world. They've hollowed out the entire mountain range and built a fortress they claim is impregnable."
"Let us test nuclear weapons," Alpharius replied. "The most powerful thermonuclear warhead might suffice."
"A thermonuclear device could work." Omega's tone carried a pragmatic assessment. "I was considering orbital bombardment to obliterate this mountain range entirely, turn their impregnable defense to ash under our boots."
Alpharius gripped his power sword, its shimmering blade pointing toward the powerful energy shield. "Then let us try them sequentially."
Omega smiled faintly. "One at a time."
Alpharius nodded, and the two quickly boarded a Thunderhawk gunship. The order was swiftly relayed to the distant Imperial Army command post and the numerous warships in orbit.
Half an hour later, a massive barrage of conventional missiles rained down upon the alien holy site.
Aware of the human attack, numerous ion cannons and electromagnetic batteries emerged from the mountain fortress to intercept the incoming ordnance. Floating automated defense systems charged and acquired targets in the sky.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Thunder rolled across the ground. After sustained bombardment, the holy site's defenses were overwhelmed and continuously struck, yet the thick energy shield absorbed all impacts.
Then, with a roaring boom, a massive supersonic nuclear missile streaked across the sky, leaving a brilliant contrail.
The thermonuclear warhead, following after the conventional missiles had exhausted enemy countermeasures, plummeted directly toward the mountain holy site.
The mountain range rumbled and shifted with tremendous force, revealing a colossal cannon that aimed its barrel skyward. Surrounding smaller batteries fired a salvo of unusual munitions.
These strange projectiles detonated violently as they climbed into the sky. Their immense power seemed to warp space itself, causing numerous conventional missiles to explode continuously under the spatial distortion.
The entire missile barrage detonated under the strange munitions' effect. The mountaintop and mid-air were engulfed in roiling yellow-orange flames that covered several kilometers.
Alpharius frowned at the sight. "Gravity bombs. They truly have the resources."
"Did the Rangdan transform their entire holy site into a massive land battleship?" Omega analyzed from its distant position. "A typical defensive fortress wouldn't possess such overwhelming firepower."
Alpharius watched the massive thermonuclear warhead descending, unconcerned. "That's the only logical explanation. But this will be far easier to handle than their planetary battleships."
BOOM!
An incredibly powerful energy cannon blasted forth from the mountain holy site, its dazzling beam altering the entire sky's luminosity. Simultaneously, the thermonuclear warhead adjusted its trajectory mid-descent.
Moments later, the energy cannon and the warhead collided at over a thousand meters altitude. With a deafening roar, an incomparably brilliant energy detonation, like a miniature sun, consumed the entire sky.
Though the Rangdan successfully intercepted the device, the thermonuclear explosion's power far exceeded a mere thousand-meter radius. A potent surge of energized particles impacted the massive energy shield protecting the holy site below unimpeded.
The might of the thermonuclear detonation and the energy shield resisted each other in a contest of pure force.
Under intense energy consumption, the shield's integrity began failing.
The energy shockwave penetrated the shield's defense. Numerous floating defensive platforms drifted like paper boats in the energy maelstrom before being swept away, falling groundward, and exploding.
Simultaneously, the alien holy palace on the mountain peak was blown into fragments, and the entire range shook violently.
The energy shield could no longer hold. With several audible cracks, it shattered completely.
The Imperial forces cheered at the sight as the thermonuclear explosion unleashed its full destructive potential upon the mountain range.
With a cataclysmic tremor, Omega did not look directly at the detonation's brilliance. The sky, affected by the thermonuclear shockwave, was impacted across a thousand-mile radius.
An hour later, the explosion's aftershocks gradually weakened.
From orbit, the thermonuclear detonation's shockwave had created a sphere of disturbed clouds over a thousand miles wide.
As the alien holy site's energy shield shattered and the mountain range fractured into chaos, the true form of the Rangdan holy site, hidden within the mountains, emerged before everyone's observation.
A colossal void battleship nearly ten kilometers in length became visible through the shattered mountain range.
Monitor feeds showed that though the massive vessel remained structurally intact, its surface energy shielding was critically weakened. Large scorch marks and flames raged across the warship's hull. The Rangdan appeared to be attempting to activate the vessel.
After several attempts, the enormous battleship only exposed more of itself from the ground.
For some reason, the warship remained grounded. It seems that, though it survived the thermonuclear detonation, it had sustained considerable damage.
Alpharius hadn't expected the alien holy site actually to be a warship, nor that even a thermonuclear device could destroy it outright.
He smiled grimly and transmitted orders. "Now it is my turn. Begin orbital bombardment."
The signal transmitted at the speed of light.
Moments later, massive cannon barrels beneath a capital ship already positioned in orbit aimed toward the planetary surface.
Though separated by atmosphere, they locked onto the holy site's crippled vessel accurately.
[End of Chapter]