Chapter 47: Your Rogue Trader Has Arrived!
"Quick! Bring up the reserves! Distribute weapons to the refugees! Everyone who can still move, get to the fight!
They have enjoyed the Dynasty's protection, so they must fight for the Dynasty, even if it costs them their lives!"
Rebecca had already left the tactical center and arrived at the front lines. She roared, mobilizing every force she could, yet the battle line continued to be pushed back towards the Spire District.
She could even see the flashes of distant artillery fire.
"Governor! It's dangerous here!" A guard tried to pull Rebecca back, but she flatly refused.
Boom!
A massive explosion echoed from Pilgrim's Square. The sacred statue of the Emperor was tilting, then crashed towards the ground.
The traitors had toppled the God-Emperor's holy icon and were desecrating it with the blood of loyalists.
"God-Emperor preserve us… The Emperor's statue has fallen… Is this the end?"
From Rebecca's position, she could even directly see the traitors' army.
A Forgefiend's enormous chassis was lumbering in their direction. Just as Rebecca resolved to fulfill her oath to the Dynasty with her own life, she saw a barrage of missiles suddenly appear from mid-air.
A dense and massive volley of missiles directly plowed through the traitors' ranks.
Even the Forgefiend, struck by the continuous barrage, was blown to pieces.
"Woohoo! Sweet! Those who blaspheme the God-Emperor shall surely suffer His wrath!" Harlan shouted excitedly.
He had successfully destroyed a Forgefiend. Such a feat in the Imperial Navy might have earned him several promotions!
The attack had come from the 30 cloaked Banshees. Having completed their mission, they had converged on the Spire District as agreed.
Upon arriving, they had immediately spotted the heretics' offensive, witnessing humans being slaughtered by these madmen and the holy icon being desecrated.
Harlan had decisively ordered all Banshees to join the battle.
The Banshees maneuvered at high speed while cloaked, their plasteel missiles continuously reaping enemy lives, giving the loyalists a chance to regroup.
However, the Banshees' ammunition was also running critically low, and the energy for their cloaking devices was nearly depleted. One by one, after expending their ordnance, the Banshees were forced to withdraw from combat.
Harlan piloted his Banshee above Pilgrim's Avenue. The carnage below made his scalp tingle.
And the Word Bearers, currently desecrating the corpses of priests, immediately caught his attention.
"Chaos Space Marines… By the God-Emperor… How did they end up here?!"
Harlan checked the remaining ammunition in his Banshee, then aimed at the two Word Bearers.
"Die, traitors!"
But to Harlan's surprise, before the missiles even launched, the Word Bearers all looked up in unison towards his position.
The Astartes' keen hearing allowed them to pick out the sound of the Banshee's engines from amidst the cacophony of the battlefield.
Their daemonic possession further enhanced their senses.
"There's a cloaked aerial vehicle there."
"I hear it too."
Harlan felt a chill run down his spine. He immediately hit the launch button, but as the missiles streaked towards them, the Word Bearers instantly broke into a run.
This was the first time Harlan had ever seen a Space Marine run at full speed.
"Fast… so fast! God-Emperor preserve us… A Taurus assault vehicle probably isn't even that fast, is it?"
The entire barrage of missiles missed completely.
The targeted Word Bearer immediately raised his bolter and returned fire!
Bolter shells accurately struck the cloaked Banshee.
They had actually managed to lock onto a cloaked Banshee relying solely on their hearing.
Struck repeatedly, the Banshee instantly began to trail black smoke. Sharp warning alarms blared within the cockpit. After all, the Banshee was only a light fighter; its external armor was insufficient to withstand such fire.
Harlan dared not linger any longer. He immediately pushed the speed to maximum and fled the battlefield.
"A fighter I've never seen before… A new invention of the decadent Imperium? So fragile…"
Seeing the Banshee depart, the Word Bearer did not pursue but continued to advance with the main force.
The Banshees' tactical objective had been achieved.
And at this moment, Lucan's support arrived.
Although Lucan's fleet could not directly enter the atmosphere, without the hindrance of anti-aircraft fire, he could now use shuttles to deliver his warriors into the uphive with impunity.
Lucan mobilized all available shuttles and transport ships from the fleet and issued all remaining CMC combat suits.
During this period, continuous production from the Barracks had brought the stockpile of Marine CMC combat suits to 4,000 sets. A considerable number of Marauder, Firebat, and Medic suits had also been produced.
There were enough combat suits of various types to equip 4,500 combat personnel.
One after another, transport ships and shuttles flew towards the uphive.
Lucan also changed into his own adamantium combat suit and boarded a shuttle heading towards the ground.
Looking down from high altitude, the traitors and loyalists were already intermingled.
Brutal close-quarters combat was claiming lives every moment.
"Send a message to the Governor. Tell her their Rogue Trader has arrived! Watch for IFF signals!" Lucan gripped the power sword in his hand.
Both warring factions noticed the large number of aerial vehicles rapidly streaking overhead.
The loyalists saw the Dynasty's insignia.
"By the God-Emperor! The Rogue Trader has returned… The Rogue Trader has truly returned!"
The traitors, however, did not look so pleased.
Especially the PDF soldiers from Valentin's family.
Although they had been tainted by Chaos, they had not yet been completely assimilated by it. Most had been swept up in the tide of Chaos and coerced into joining this rebellion.
The Rogue Trader's authority was still deeply ingrained in the minds of these warriors who had served the Dynasty for generations.
"Damn it… Why at this moment of all times! Just a little more! But it doesn't matter. The situation has already reached this point; you can't change anything anymore!"
Valentin watched all this from the rear. His cultists and soldiers had already broken into the uphive. So what if the Rogue Trader had returned? How many soldiers could these transport ships carry? Three thousand? Four thousand? Even if there were ten thousand, the disparity in numbers between the two sides was still terrifyingly vast.
Besides, he still had those powerful Word Bearers assisting him.
However, when the Raiders in CMC armor emerged from the transport ships and joined the battle, Valentin immediately realized something was wrong.
Rows of Marauders standing together were like batteries of artillery that would seemingly never run dry.
Their ceramite armor allowed them to weather the traitors' return fire while suppressing them with their own.
Medics behind them continuously repaired the injured Marauders.
And the more numerous Marines were all formidable warriors, effective at both range and in close combat.
"Power armor? No… force-feedback armor? How is that possible? How can there be so much force-feedback armor? What in the blazes has this Lucan fellow been doing?"
Several thousand soldiers clad in force-feedback armor? Valentin had never even heard of such a thing in his entire life. Not even the wealthiest Rogue Trader in the entire Expanse would do this!
But watching his soldiers, who had fought so hard to break into the uphive, being slowly pushed back, Valentin had no choice but to accept this reality.
And the SCVs that arrived with the transport ships began to repair the various destroyed fixed emplacements.
When some Chaos cultists thought these were just ordinary machines and tried to approach and destroy them, the SCVs would show them what true melee combat was!
An engineering drill bit directly tore an approaching Chaos cultist into a mangled heap of flesh.
"Aaargh! Impossible! Why is it like this! I was clearly about to succeed!"
Now, the only thing Valentin could rely on were those daemon engines and the powerful Word Bearers.
He believed that as long as these individuals, already blessed by the Dark Gods, were still present, they could definitely turn the tide of this battle!
He had unshakeable faith in the power of the Dark Gods.
(End of Chapter)