[The violent explosion of the rocket completely obscured your vision for a moment, filling your auto-senses with blinding white light and static.]
[The powerful force field generated by the shield generator—the Refractor Field of your Terminator armor—blocked the damage of the fragments with a dull, resonant thump. The immense impact caused by the explosion did not even shake your Terminator armor; it was a testament to the ancient plate's resilience.]
[At this moment, accompanied by a sharp whistle, the Cyclone missiles of the Destroyer Heavy Firepower Team flew through the air, one after another, leaving trails of superheated air. Falling into the blood-and-flesh tide composed of xenos, they erupted in terrible, focused explosions, tearing vast gaps in the enemy ranks.]
[The cannons of the five Predator tanks roared violently, providing covering fire, and at the same time, they crushed the hybrid cultists that were almost everywhere with their heavy armor, grinding flesh and bone into the bloody sand.]
[For a moment, the surging trend of the cultists seemed to be temporarily curbed, forced back by the sheer volume of firepower.]
[You seized the brief opportunity. Using the Refractor Field of your Terminator power armor as a physical and energy shield, you covered your fighting brothers and rushed into the range of the cathedral, the designated fortress.]
[However, the cultists surged again, their numbers endless, and their attack methods gradually upgraded. The sporadic buzzing of lasguns turned into the heavy reports of logging guns and mining lasers—powerful industrial weapons stolen or fabricated.]
[The Genestealer sect occupied the commanding heights around Absolution Square and launched a fierce counterattack from their high positions. Even though their shooting accuracy was not high, several unlucky battle-brothers were penetrated through their power armor at the joints and fell heavily to the ground, their lives instantly extinguished.]
[Accompanied by the praise and shouts of countless cultists, the first-generation Genestealer hybrid acolytes—the hulking, four-armed mutants—waved their massive limbs, joining the battle in their terrifying shape with stolen, heavy weapons.]
[Then, one by one, three-meter-tall Genestealer Aberrations—monstrously strong, thick-skulled xenos—rushed into Absolution Square, waving heavy industrial weapons like crude hammers and power picks.]
[They surrounded the Land Raiders and Predator tanks, trying to destroy the heavy armor of the vehicles by brute force and sustained blows.]
[The Space Sharks could not afford to lose any heavy vehicles, as replacements were nonexistent. Captain Bail Sharr immediately issued an order to retreat from them. The drivers inside locked the vehicles, one after another, and tried to break out under the cover of the Astartes' shooting.]
[Those clumsy hybrids would find them difficult to re-control, so it might be possible to recover the vehicles after the battle, Bail Sharr hoped, minimizing the loss of assets.]
[After only ten minutes, the combat vehicles on Absolution Square were almost useless—immobilized, burning, or destroyed. The Third Company now lacked cover and significant fire support.]
[Captain Bail Sharr ordered the Destroyer Heavy Fire Team to unleash more firepower to suppress the surging xenos. The beams of plasma cannons and the roar of heavy bolters continued to sound, and each volley could destroy thousands of Genestealers.]
[But this was not even superficial damage to the endless tide of cultists. The storm bolter in your hand kept shooting at those tall Aberrations, trying to reduce the defense pressure for the entire company.]
[At this moment, a large-caliber logging bullet slammed into your Refractor Field. The power consumption of protecting against the impact of the large-caliber bullet caused your power backpack to emit a sudden, violent buzz, temporarily spiking the energy draw.]
[A battle-brother standing next to you had no time to dodge the follow-up fire, and his tall figure was completely torn in half by the logging gun, his power armor failing catastrophically.]
["Captain! We must take down the commanding heights!" You shouted to Captain Bail Sharr through the communication device, the loss of the brother a stinging reminder of the vulnerability of the position.]
[The next second, accompanied by the shimmering light of teleportation, a tactical team entirely in Terminator power armor appeared in the center of Absolution Square, the six suits appearing with a flash and a crash.]
[The flamethrowers in their hands instantly sprayed burning promethium, fiercely burning the surrounding cultists, turning the tide into a wall of screaming, immolating flesh.]
[You saw the team leader, Kolo, holding up a roaring grenade launcher and leading the entire team to attack the surrounding commanding heights, a clear, brutal objective.]
[A reserve team took advantage of the brief gap cleared by the Destroyer team's powerful firepower and rushed into Absolution Square to provide necessary support for the Terminator team.]
[Afterwards, the two teams, having merged with difficulty, formed a wedge-shaped offensive formation and launched an attack against the cultists that were coming again.]
[Several silent battle-brothers sacrificed themselves—falling to cover fire—to provide a critical opportunity for the two teams to approach the building's commanding heights.]
[Several Terminators equipped with jump packs jumped up in an instant, wielding chainsaw axes and grenade launchers, and leaped onto the commanding heights, suppressing the heavy weapons fire of the cultists with overwhelming aggression.]
[The battle pressure in front of the cathedral was temporarily relieved. Captain Bail Sharr sent out several other teams to reoccupy part of the square and hold the front line.]
[A few minutes later, the Terminator team that completed the assault mission occupied the commanding heights of the building and began to suppress the enemy, turning their own weapons against the horde.]
[However, just when you thought the situation was temporarily relieved, the flank of the square position gradually fell into a state of collapse. A group of hybrid cultists drove a stolen Chimera transporter and forced their way in, opening a gap for the subsequent xenos tide to rush through.]
[You once again wielded your power axe and chainsaw axe to intervene, charging into the gap.]
[You used all the fragmentation grenades on your body, pulling the pins with your gauntlets and hurling them into the Chimera troop carrier, blowing up the vehicle as it tried to turn around. The blast shredded the hull and the crew inside.]
[You escorted the injured combat brothers into the interior of the cathedral, dragging them toward the relative safety of the fortified position.]
[Captain Bail Sharr stood in front of the cathedral door, receiving reconnaissance data from a flying vehicle, its image flickering on a small display panel.]
[You instantly saw several bursts of rising flames under the dark night sky on the display. That was the short-lived victory of the flying vehicle killing a minor leader of the Genestealer sect.]
[Captain Bail Sharr stared at the cultist tide, which was going crazy again, and chose to shrink his defense. Several squads of Astartes who were defending their positions retreated into the cathedral, and even the Terminator squad occupying the commanding heights deliberately slowed their shooting.]
[This caused countless cultists to interpret the retreat as weakness and begin to violently attack the front door of the cathedral, funneling themselves into the kill zone.]
[Your storm bolter had already run out of ammunition, the firing mechanism clicking empty.]
[While controlling the incendiary gun above your head to spit out its remaining flames, you wielded your power axe and chainsaw axe, both roaring, shoulder-to-shoulder with your Captain.]
[Captain Bail Sharr also joined the battle. He silently wielded the chainsaw axe named "Death," and his combat movements were terrifyingly efficient and precise, unlike your own brutal style.]
[Countless cultists who rushed forward were chopped into pieces of flesh and blood by Captain Bail Sharr, his weapon moving too fast to track.]
[At this moment, the cultist tide, which had always been extremely ferocious, suddenly stopped. Their screams and howls died down, replaced by a sudden, chilling silence.]
[Then the mass of fangs and claws actually retreated to both sides, slowly making way for a wide road leading directly to the cathedral entrance, as if parting for royalty.]
[You subconsciously glanced at Captain Bail Sharr. The company's deliberately weak fighting style—the retreat—had truly baited the Genestealer leader.]
[A six-meter-tall Genestealer leader, the Patriarch, covered with black chitinous carapace all over his body, with four terrifying claws that almost dragged to the ground, showed his hideous and terrifying huge figure. Its steps were slow and heavy, and each step seemed to be full of powerful force, like a king walking among his subjects.]
[The terrifying xenos leader stepped onto the stone steps and was about to enter the cathedral. The Astartes fighting brothers behind you drew out their chainsaw axes and prepared to launch an attack.]
[You also clenched the power axe and the chainsaw axe in your hands, ready to meet the apex predator.]
[At this moment, your vision suddenly became blurred, and the head hidden in the dog-shaped helmet felt a severe, stinging pain, an agonizing pressure behind your eyes.]
[Captain Bail Sharr, standing next to you, also stopped moving suddenly, his hands going slack. It seemed to be a psychic attack launched by the Genestealer leader, a hypnotic gaze or a massive mental shove.]
[You forcefully broke free from the shackles of psychic energy, the training of the Astartes resisting the mental assault.]
[You endured the intense pain, a white-hot agony inside your skull, and roared at the top of your lungs, your voice raw and unfiltered by the vox-grill.]
["For the Void Father!!!"]