As the first Imperial landing craft tore through Dalis' sky like burning meteors, piercing alarms instantly echoed through every corner of Guelbryn.
This once bustling core city now appeared eerily empty. Under the T'au Empire's efficient, almost organization, over ninety-five percent of non-combat personnel had already been evacuated.
Shop doors and windows were sealed with alloy plates, the once-busy aerial arteries were devoid of traffic, and only automated defense turrets slowly rotated atop buildings, their cold muzzles pointed skyward. It could be said that, in a very short time, the efficient T'au Empire had completely transformed this place into a pure battlefield, with no need to worry about civilian casualties.
The T'au Empire's ability to complete such a large-scale mobilization and evacuation so quickly was largely due to an unexpected source of intelligence—rogue trader Lucian's daughter.
She wasn't dead. After the failed assassination, she was captured by the T'au Empire. During interrogation, she greatly exaggerated the strength of the expeditionary fleet, portraying this internally conflicted fleet as an invincible, unified torrent. Her goal was simple: she hoped this would make the young race retreat in the face of difficulty, avoiding a meaningless bloodbath.
The T'au Empire believed her words, but they did not retreat. On the contrary, this exaggerated threat, like the most potent catalyst, further solidified the young race's determination to mobilize all forces and resist the invaders to the death.
At this moment, on the surface of Dalis, the already prepared Air Caste pilots rushed to their cockpits amidst the blaring alarms. Barracuda and Tiger Shark fighters roared out of underground hangars, forming elegant yet deadly combat formations, heading straight for the human landing craft's trajectory. And the expeditionary fleet naturally responded without hesitation, with large numbers of Thunderbolt fighters from the Imperial Navy detaching from their carriers, like a pack of bloodthirsty raptors, meeting the T'au air force.
Just as the Air Caste pilots were adjusting their stances, preparing for what they imagined would be an exhilarating, fight-to-the-death aerial duel, a jarring static suddenly crackled across the wide-area channel. Immediately after, a slightly distorted voice spoke:
"Hello, hello, Air Caste pilots of the T'au Empire opposite, can you hear me? This is the Helldivers' air wing."
An Air Caste pilot subconsciously glanced at his comms panel, responding in surprise, "You speak our language?"
There was a second of silence on the other end of the channel, followed by two bursts of laughter, and then a concise reply:
"FUK YOU XENO!"
"I'M COMING FOR YOUR MOTHER! TELL HER TO GET READY!"
Before he finished speaking, the Air Caste pilots watched in horror as the enemy aircraft's light points on their radar suddenly accelerated. Those rugged, angular Thunderbolt fighters charged straight towards their formation, seemingly eager to ram their bodies into the T'au Empire's aircraft!
This unprecedented savage tactic instantly disrupted the Air Caste's formation. The pilots had no choice but to perform emergency maneuvers, clumsily scattering their formation to evade. Their once elegant aerial parade was thrown into disarray by the opponent's unreasonable tactics at the very first contact.
That Air Caste pilot, after clumsily pulling up his aircraft and narrowly avoiding a head-on collision with a Thunderbolt, finally let out an angry roar on the wide-area channel: "Did you want to die from the start, or do you think the primitive god you worship can truly make you immortal?!"
On the other end of the channel, the Helldivers' voice was full of smugness: "Of course! By the Emperor's grace, we are truly immortal!"
This statement, which sounded natural to players, was nothing short of a madman's ravings to the T'au, who prided themselves on reason and science and believed in The Greater Good.
"Incomprehensible!" the Air Caste pilot retorted furiously.
The Helldivers immediately shot back, "Ready your lube, the dildo of consequences is here!"
The Air Caste within the T'au Empire had always been known for being nimble, elegant, and thoughtful, but this certainly didn't mean they had no temper. How could soldiers not have a violent side? The repeated provocations and the opponent's unreasonable tactics completely ignited the fury of these blue-skinned elites.
The next moment, a series of rapid and harsh syllables erupted from their communicators—crude, aggressive T'au dialects, full of biological contempt and vicious curses towards the opponent's ancestors.
And the Helldivers, of course, were not to be outdone. They were already a group of troublemakers who loved chaos, and verbal sparring was an instinct ingrained in their genes.
For a time, within the wide-area channels of both sides, human profanities and T'au dialect insults intertwined, converted by the system into the most vicious words that both sides could understand, wildly spamming everyone's minds.
Clearly, these players from Earth had successfully opened up a new front beyond the three traditional battle lines of atmosphere, land, and space. On this front of "PTSD," they were fiercely battling the T'au with an unyielding, fighting spirit.
Amidst this chaotic aerial arena and battlefield of mental pollution, the sky... suddenly darkened.
It wasn't that dark clouds obscured the sun, but rather several mountain-sized shadows ripped through Dalis' atmosphere, descending with an unstoppable momentum. They crashed heavily onto the east coast landing zone in a majestic manner.
The stunning sight instantly rendered most of the Air Caste pilots, who had been passionately trading insults with the players, speechless.
The intense T'au dialect in the comms channel abruptly ceased, leaving only the human expletives still ongoing. One Air Caste pilot even shrieked, "By The Greater Good, what is that?!"
Since it was an all-or-nothing gamble, the expeditionary fleet had naturally decided to unveil its trump card from the very beginning—the Legio Tanatalis Titan Legion, composed of one warlord-class, six Warhound-class, and six Reaver-class Titan God-Machines.
These walking god-machines, with every step they took, made the entire continental shelf seem to groan under the unbearable weight. The violent, earthquake-like tremors even clearly transmitted tens of thousands of meters into the sky, making the T'au Empire's aircraft tremble slightly. Such a doomsday-like scene even made the Air Caste pilots forget to retort the incessant Helldivers on the wide-area channel.
It wasn't just them. Through the detectors scattered across the battlefield, the command center far behind the lines, and indeed all T'au on the entire planet Dalis, witnessed this terrifying sight. Whether they were Earth Caste engineers, Fire Caste warriors, or Air Caste pilots in the sky, they could not imagine how much a race must desire war to create such machines?