The ground battle was exceptionally fierce, and the retinue knights' support arrived urgently, with numerous castle-shaped drop pods deployed.
The knight titans inside were already battle-ready.
Zeke did not use his BT003; instead, he remained in his original knight titan, with his retinue knights by his side.
Lissa, the retinue knights' commander, continued to follow Zeke closely, and his auxiliary forces were no longer the personal guard units and Emperor's Custodes he had originally created.
Although Zeke had not detected the chaos's conspiracy, he had already sensed that something was amiss, and he kept these troops as a reserve.
Zeke didn't know why he was doing this, but he always felt an inexplicable need to hold something back.
To ensure he had enough trump cards, no troops from the Terran Dominion's fleet or its ground forces were committed to this Cadia operation.
The Dominion Fleet remained at the outermost edge of the star system, observing the Imperial Fleet and chaos Fleet clash from a distance.
The psionic shields displayed excellent stealth effects, encompassing the entire Dominion Fleet, preventing the enemy from detecting them in any way.
The Ten Thousand Strong Custodes Regiment was even more prepared for battle, ready to immediately activate their Warp drives and come to the Emperor's side to protect him if he summoned them or needed them.
As for the 500 Custodes and 10,000 Space Marines personally trained by Zeke, they had also been elevated to the same standard as the Emperor's Custodes during this time.
At this moment, Zeke's army consisted of 10,000 top-tier gene-ascended and psychic-ascended Custodes from the Terran Dominion, and 10,500 regular Imperial Custodes.
He also commanded 1 million Space Marines-level troops, which Zeke had conscripted from his colony.
Speaking of this 1 million Space Marines-level legion, to be honest, recruiting this force required almost no effort; they voluntarily enlisted simply at Zeke's command.
They wanted to fight for the Emperor; genuinely and wholeheartedly wanted to fight for their Emperor.
All forces were ready to go; as soon as Zeke gave the order, the Terran Dominion's army would immediately enter the Cadia battlefield.
Meanwhile, on Zeke's planet Calis, two other space marine Legions had already set off and were flying towards the Cadia region.
Six months had been enough time for the colony to assemble two more ground forces, which were now traveling at superluminal speeds through space and would arrive at Cadia in no more than 15 days.
If he didn't display the mechanical legions to the Imperium, it would cause unnecessary trouble.
Zeke could create more troops, as manufacturing machines was far simpler for him than training regular units.
If the Terran Dominion's heavy weaponry for its combat forces was set at 200 emperor-class titans per legion, then these three legions would deploy 600 emperor-class titans into the Cadia battlefield.
And this was only the emperor-class titans.
Zeke had also ordered his people to manufacture a batch of warlord-class titans.
Each legion was equipped with 2,000 warlord-class titans; when these Titan Legions appeared on the surface of Cadia, the overwhelming numbers of Titan Legions would crush all resistance.
These titans were not traditional Imperium of Man titans; they incorporated a large amount of AI technology, allowing a single ordinary soldier, a space marine, to control these emperor-class and warlord-class titans.
As for why the Terran Dominion didn't use Stellaris technology to create more star-class battle titans or slightly smaller battle titans, Zeke could explicitly answer on the surface that he didn't want the Dominion to appear before everyone yet.
Prudence!
Privately: The most important thing is a lack of money; the production cost of a star-class battle titan is almost the same as that of a regular frigate.
Furthermore, assembling the Imperial Army indeed has a huge advantage in terms of cost; cheapness and affordability are the most famous hallmarks of the Imperium of Man's military units.
At least, that's how the Terran Dominion saw it.
Even to the Dominion's Department of Military Affairs, allowing humans to use the Imperium of Man's military equipment and enter the battlefield was tantamount to sending them to their deaths.
However, you also have to admit that their Emperor is indeed quite poor right now, and saving money is really important.
And the opponent is indeed quite weak, so perhaps fighting with such weaponry would also work.
Most of the Dominion's resources were being used to build more frigates and destroyers; they couldn't even afford cruisers and battleships.
The ground forces are always the lowest priority in the Stellaris combat system; the main combat power is always the Dominion Fleet.
But I've strayed; now, let's refocus on the surface of planet Cadia, where, upon the arrival of the retinue knights' reinforcements, a massive knight castle crashed to the ground.
A long, ancient horn sounded as the castle gates opened.
One knight titan after another emerged, and Zeke was in one of them.
Behind him followed the spear-wielding troops prepared for him by his family!
The power of the retinue knights' knight titans is immense, so they couldn't appear in large clusters; the Department of Military Affairs distributed the entire retinue knights' knight titans to various corners of the battlefield to support the local Astra Militarum in their operations.
Zeke was no exception; even as the heir to the high king, he also received orders from the Department of Military Affairs, choosing a drop zone for deployment, and as he stepped out of the castle gates, he saw a very familiar legion.
The Death Korps of Krieg!
Originally, the chaos daemon were attacking the Krieg trenches, but the Krieg officers, upon seeing the knight titans arrive, immediately blew the attack whistle.
Deafening artillery fire exploded on the chaos army's positions opposite, and countless gas-mask-wearing Krieg soldiers surged out of the trenches like a tide.
The plasma guns in their hands cut crimson beams across the dim battlefield, and bayonets glinted coldly in the smoke.
None of the Krieg soldiers made a sound; they charged in silence and died in silence; they were the Emperor's currency.
"These madmen..." Lissa, Zeke's retinue knights, exclaimed in the comms channel, "Don't they know that the knights are here to provide fire support?"
"Of course, these daemon are seeking death; isn't it better to eliminate a portion of them first by relying on our positions?"
Even though the Krieg's madness was already renowned throughout the Imperium, the new knights of the retinue knights were not so familiar with it.
Unlike the others, Zeke suddenly smiled; he knew the Krieg too well.
Although he didn't know much about the Warhammer world, he was familiar with such well-known Astra Militarum Chapters.
For these penitents, death was their ultimate destination.
And the arrival of the knights was not an excuse for them to hold their ground, but rather the best timing to launch a desperate charge!
Thinking of this, Zeke suddenly wanted to go to the Warp and scold the Emperor for the mess he had created.
Zeke shook his head, clearing his mind of chaotic thoughts.
Only a moment had passed, and Zeke issued his command.
"Fire support, coordinate with the Death Korps of Krieg's charge!"