At the most critical moment, the weapon of mass extermination was slotted into the projector. As the launch authorization request lit up, Harlan slammed his hand down onto the blackstone pedestal, authorizing the launch command.
Silent in the vacuum, the projector accelerated the electromagnetic bomb to a thousand times the speed of sound. It penetrated the energy barrier and plunged toward the alien forge world.
The payload torpedo glided through dimensions, ignoring interception from anti-air fire, and dropped straight into the forge world's core, waiting for the timer to hit zero.
"Blackstone Fortress, climb at maximum speed. Leave the blast radius."
An alarm blared through the helmet comms. Harlan watched the blackstone decks close, gripped the Light of Darkness tightly in his hand, and headed for the nearest boarding breach to clear out the remaining Rangdan boarding forces.
He felt a distinct heaviness in his legs as the starlight outside the viewing window sank. The fortress began to rapidly pull up, breaking away from the electromagnetic bomb's blast radius.
The fortress diverted precious power to its engines to avoid being caught in the aftermath.
The power of the electromagnetic bomb was terrifying; even its users had to strictly follow protocols and use such relic weapons with extreme caution.
The Blackstone Fortress stopped spinning, its lower decks opened, and it activated its physical engines for the first time.
The stone thrusters unleashed the power of the warp, quickly raising the fortress's altitude. Everyone inside could tangibly feel themselves ascending at a rapid pace.
Seeing the humans drop a single torpedo and then flee in a desperate rush, many in the Rangdan fleet immediately sensed something was wrong.
The commanders swiftly issued orders, directing the fleet away from the forge world in preparation for the activation of an extermination-class weapon.
While humans and Rangdan engaged in fierce crossfire, both sides simultaneously pushed their engines to maximum output, mutually pulling away from the forge world as if it contained some ultimate horror.
The Blackstone Fortress halted after moving 200,000 kilometers away from the forge world. The stone engine thrusters shut down, and power was redirected back to the vortex cannons.
Meanwhile, at the Mandeville point of the U-2 system, the light of the warp flared. A massive fleet ended its warp jump and re-entered realspace.
However, the information relayed by the sensors and surveyors left the fleet commander absolutely furious!
This fleet came from the Rangdan homeworld. It had originally planned to resupply in the Marachias system before advancing to the front lines to launch an all-out war against the Imperium of Man.
The fleet commander held a noble status: the Sixth of the Thirteen Overlords—Overlord Unyielding!
Blazkowicz naturally noticed the Rangdan fleet's arrival in realspace. The fleet consisted of a thousand capital ships and a large number of support vessels, including a thirty-kilometer-long dreadnought with a greenish-lead hull adorned with lavish decorations.
Surrounding the dreadnought were thirty specially made warships with a uniform decorative style—likely its direct escort fleet.
Knowing a high-ranking Rangdan figure had arrived, Blazkowicz calmly opened public communications.
Not long after the public channel was broadcasted, a transmission connected. A massive, dark-green head materialized in the holographic projection. It spoke immediately, demanding: "Which Primarch are you?"
Overlord Unyielding understood that no one but a Primarch would dare to penetrate so deep and alone into the heart of the Rangdan Empire.
The sharp mouth beneath its head opened and closed as it added: "Allow me to introduce myself. I am one of the Rangdan Overlords—the Unyielding One."
Though featureless, the Rangdan Overlord's highly aggressive red eyes burned with immense pride. Even facing a Primarch, it remained haughty.
Blazkowicz studied the abominable creature for a moment, turned on his own transmission to project his image to the other side, but remained silent.
"So it is you?" Overlord Unyielding's crimson eyes shifted up and down, recognizing the tall, extraordinary figure in the holographic projection, a hint of realization dawning in its gaze. "The Twenty-First Primarch, Lord of the Stars, King of Warriors."
It spoke calmly, its synthesized voice low and raspy, as if reading an inconsequential text.
"What of it?" Blazkowicz understood perfectly. Solas had leaked the Imperium's intelligence to the Rangdan.
He looked the massive dark-green head up and down, making no effort to hide the disdain in his eyes. "Are you going to bow to me, and then surrender?"
"Mere words," Overlord Unyielding snorted coldly. Its body slowly floated upward, adopting a posture that looked down upon him as it said, "Get out of Marachias, Primarch."
"Your fortress ship is powerful, but it cannot withstand the saturated attacks of the garrison fleet. Your departure is only a matter of time."
The alien Overlord's attitude was arrogant, its synthesized voice dripping with indescribable pride and confidence. "And my arrival is entirely outside your tactical calculations. You can tuck your tail and get out now."
As the leader of a species, the Rangdan Overlord was naturally possessed of extraordinary intelligence and possessed a clear insight into the specific situation within the system.
Two unfinished Battle Moons had been destroyed, and the forge world had suffered heavy damage. The losses were severe; the human forces had achieved their tactical objectives.
Meanwhile, under the siege, the human fortress was showing signs of fatigue, faltering, and indicating an intent to retreat.
Overlord Unyielding's purpose was simple: state the facts plainly to intimidate the isolated human force into leaving on their own accord.
This would help establish its authority and reorganize the Marachias system.
"Of course I will leave." Blazkowicz did not deny his next move. The corners of his mouth curled into a sinister smile as he tapped to open a system-wide broadcast.
Seeing the human Primarch display an incomprehensible, wicked smirk, Overlord Unyielding felt a sudden foreboding premonition. A projection slowly unfolded across the system-wide feed.
The forge world was displayed within it. In the upper left corner of the screen, a digital countdown was disappearing second by second.
"Before I leave, I want to give you a gift," Blazkowicz said, lightly tapping the holographic projection. The countdown had less than three seconds remaining. "You are not allowed to refuse."
With that, the countdown hit zero.
The forge world erupted! In an instant, electromagnetism—one of the four fundamental forces of the universe—vanished. Within microseconds, it triggered a sequence of horrific consequences!
Atomic disintegration: The electromagnetic force binds atomic nuclei and electrons together. Without it, all atoms instantly evaporated, and chemical bonds ceased to exist.
All structures failed. The electromagnetic force is the source that determines material strength; without it, no solids or liquids could exist.
Biological bodies, buildings, the ground, the atmosphere—all matter turned into a cloud of plasma composed of bare nuclei and electrons.
The sudden collapse of atomic structures released a colossal amount of energy, akin to countless nuclear bombs detonating simultaneously. The forge world instantly transformed into a fireball enveloped in incandescent plasma.
In just a few microseconds, the once-prosperous forge world became the second "star" within the system.
Within the blast radius of the electromagnetic bomb, planets, orbital forge rings, and all matter collapsed, turning into high-energy fireballs.
A dead silence fell over the system. The Rangdan forces were struck with absolute horror, unable to believe what was unfolding before their eyes.
There was no violent explosion, no sorrowful destruction, and no grand elegy for the death of a planet—yet it was far more terrifying.
Blazkowicz was also filled with wonder, thoroughly satisfied with the power displayed by the electromagnetic weapon.
The electromagnetic bomb belonged to the class of extermination weapons, ranked alongside black hole weapons like the "Unresolved Elegy," categorized under fundamental physical weaponry.
"Are you satisfied with my gift?" Blazkowicz's eyes burned brightly as he stared at the holographic projection, his gaze seeming to pierce through the virtual image straight into the soul of the Rangdan Overlord.
Faced with the Primarch's provocation, Overlord Unyielding said nothing, though the trembling tendrils beneath its head indicated that its mind was far from calm.
"Be gone!" it spoke again, its crimson eyes redder than before, a thousand burning fires of rage consuming its mind.
But the Overlord knew it absolutely could not display anger or lose composure. It needed to use its own emotional stability to reassure the Rangdan citizens.
Everyone was watching!
An angry leader could not inspire confidence in the populace.
Seeing that he could not provoke an emotional reaction, Blazkowicz inwardly acknowledged that the Rangdan Overlord was indeed extraordinary. He waved his hand at the holographic projection and said:
"I will leave under your watchful gaze."
He knew that across half a system, the Rangdan Overlord was powerless against him.
The vortex cannon had completed its severing, two Battle Moons were destroyed, and a forge world was completely obliterated. It was time to leave.
But to just leave like this? Blazkowicz was unwilling in his heart.
"Tear open realspace. We will wait in the warp for now."
With a single command, the self-repair protocols activated. The fractured blackstone returned to its place, and the fortress's integrity restored to one hundred percent.
A warp rift opened. Amidst a parting salute of enemy gunfire, the Blackstone Fortress slowly entered the warp, temporarily avoiding the brunt of the Rangdan fleet.
Blazkowicz leaned back into his command throne, planning how to strike at the Rangdan Overlord.
Since he had run into such a big fish, he naturally had to scheme carefully. He was truly unwilling to just let it march to the front lines.
But before that, there were other matters to attend to.
"Clear out the internal boarding forces. The fortress will lie low in the warp, waiting for an opportunity to strike again."
When the shields were at their weakest, many Rangdan boarding parties had breached the fortress. Right now, they were wandering inside like headless flies, searching for vital targets.
Before plotting the next phase of the plan, these internal threats had to be strangled first to prevent any major chaos later.
The Primarch handed down the order. The Legions and the Custodes went into immediate action. Leaving guards to defend the teleportation nodes, they dispatched warriors to hunt down and eliminate the Rangdan boarding parties.
Time had no meaning within the warp, and the Blackstone Fortress hovered within the immaterium. Blazkowicz began his machinations against the Rangdan Overlord, intending to deal a heavy blow to the Rangdan Empire right here.
Observing that the humans had not truly departed, the Rangdan Overlord was not surprised.
It knew the Slayer had locked its sights onto it!