High above the war-torn Fortress of Watson, no one noticed several specially modified cloaked transports racing toward their target location. These were the result of Alexei modifying Medivacs with Banshee cloaking components, primarily intended to assist in transporting Astartes so they could break through enemy lines from behind.
Inside the continuously swaying Medivac cargo bay, a squad of silent Astartes clad in a unique model of power armor stood up. Nearby automated mechanical arms immediately latched onto them, installing a thruster onto their backs. The power armor worn by these Astartes was noticeably different from the standard CMC-300 power armor.
On their backs was a pair of massive jump engine nozzles, sufficient to provide them with the thrust needed for brief aerial suspension, allowing them to bypass enemy defenses through the air.
This was something Alexei had tasked Cawl with researching. He had handed the blueprint of the Reaper over to Cawl, and in return, he received this upgraded version of Reaper power armor, along with a pair of enhanced rapid-fire gauss submachine guns.
There were six other squads similar to them, likewise carried above the enemy by cloaked transports. Accompanied by a bout of turbulence, they arrived at their designated aerial position. Looking down from here, they could clearly see the entire hive city shrouded beneath clouds of acid rain.
Mario silently looked at the mission briefing displayed on his visor:
Objective: Silence the heavy anti-air defense platforms on the right high wall and locate the void shield generators.
Squad Count: 10.
Following that, the adjutant's voice rang out over the comm channel. "Performing power armor servo array self-diagnostic..."
The power armor on their bodies began to emit continuous clacks, and the jump engines behind them let out a sharp, piercing screech. A moment later, the entire cargo bay fell back into silence, save for the rattling of the hull.
"Self-diagnostic complete. Bay doors opening. Drop countdown: 30, 29, 28..."
Mario and his squad remained expressionless and silent. After becoming Astartes, they had lost much of their human emotion. Fear, excitement, joy, pain... what remained within them was mostly logic and cold calm. They would execute Governor Aiur's orders in silence until every mission was complete.
"3... 2... 1..."
As the adjutant's countdown ended, the bay doors beneath their feet slowly parted, and violent winds savaged the interior of the cabin. With a faint click, the mechanical arms holding them released their grip. "Unit C-1 detached successfully."
Mario plummeted into the sky. The thrusters on his back ignited with a ferocious burst, the immense propulsion causing the air to friction-burn against his power armor. The terrifying heat turned him into a brilliant meteor falling through the sky until the thruster fuel was spent and the pack detached from his jump engine, finally allowing his descent speed to gradually slow.
Behind him, the other squad members followed closely. Mario's visor displayed the coordinates of their destination. He constantly adjusted his positioning using his jump engine. Gradually, the warring fortress grew larger and larger in his field of vision. Fierce artillery fire relentlessly bombarded the positions of both sides, and the translucent void shields visibly deformed and snapped back whenever they were struck by the shells of the Aiur Praetorian Guard.
Suddenly, the enemy seemed to notice their trajectory. The base of an anti-air turret platform began to rotate, its pitch-black barrels aiming straight at the airborne Astartes squad. Mario did not panic in the slightest. He calmly throttled up his jump pack, and his entire body instantly veered off the predicted trajectory. The squad members behind him executed the exact same maneuver.
The anti-air fire grazed past their flight paths, tearing into the distant sky. Like agile swallows, the Astartes continuously altered their positions in midair, Mario could even hear the shriek of the flak shells tearing right past him.
By now, their distance was close enough that they could clearly see the snarling, twisted expressions on the enemies' faces. It seemed as though there would be no room to dodge the next volley—but they didn't need to dodge anymore.
Mario drew two lightweight, rapid-fire gauss submachine guns. Before the enemy could even react, the bursting hollow-point rounds tore their bodies to shreds. Amidst the erupting spray of blood, the Astartes landed firmly upon the high wall, their power armor scorched pitch-black by the flames of atmospheric entry. Like silent grim reapers, they stood. Next, the harvest began.
The Astartes moved like giants stepping into a children's playground; no enemy could last a single round before them. Reporting enemy coordinates, aiming, firing, target eliminated—Mario's words in the comm channel consisted only of these few phrases, repeated continuously until no trace of any enemy remained around them.
They arrived at the mission objective location, quietly gunned down all remaining hostiles, and hurled melta bombs onto the heavy anti-air defense platform. Following a violent, booming explosion, Mario reported through the Swarm's psionic network, "Primary objective complete. Targets silenced."
"Beautifully done. Begin executing your secondary objective." Standing on a distant battle line, Alexei had already seen the towering fireball rising above the high wall. As expected, the Astartes never disappointed.
Immediately after, reports of other completed objectives came trickling in one after another. The heavy anti-air fire of all enemy fortresses had been completely paralyzed. The shadows of over a dozen Battlecruisers now loomed over the enemy's stronghold, and they began to apply crushing pressure to the ground battlefield. As soon as the enemy's void shields dropped, what followed would be a total massacre.
But locating the void shield arrays would take time. Hopefully, those Astartes could be quick... Hm? Alexei froze for a moment. He looked toward a brilliant beam of psionic coordinate light erupting from the center of the distant fortress. "What is the meaning of this?"
Deep within the Watson family fortress, the interior architecture had been turned into a labyrinth by the followers of Tzeentch. The void shield arrays were located at its deepest core, where a vast number of Tzeentch cultists lay in ambush. Should those invaders dare to step into the labyrinth, they would launch a ferocious assault to destroy them all.
At this moment, in front of the void shield arrays deep within the labyrinth, numerous profane symbols were carved into the floor. Dozens of humanoid figures clad in black robes were continuously chanting in low murmurs. The leading robed figure prayed incessantly to their master, begging for a swift end to this battle.
Suddenly, the entire space began to shudder violently, and the profane symbols began to glow with a blinding blue light. Immediately after, words incomprehensible to ordinary mortals echoed within the minds of the robed cultists. A moment later, the leader knelt on the ground in wild excitement—their master had answered.
Their master had sent an envoy to aid them. That envoy represented infinite change, the pinnacle of deception and misdirection. It told them it could help them quickly resolve the battle, and it granted the robed man an object—their ultimate and sole chance to win this war.
"Prepare to meet your doom!" The robed man laughed maniacally, tightly gripping the deep-blue jade given to him by the Changeling. Right after, he used his own psionic power to activate the gemstone, and then... then, to his horror-struck eyes, a psionic beacon that pierced through all obstacles and illusions manifested directly in front of him.
"No!!!"