The Conqueror lurched into the Immaterium, its colossal, blood-crimson hull fleeing into the roiling madness of the Warp.
Other warband flagships soon followed. Their battered prows were scarred by lance strikes and plasma burns as they slipped into the howling Warp currents, narrowly avoiding complete destruction.
But the system itself was left littered with the wreckage of more than a hundred warships. The fleet that Kossolax had painstakingly assembled had lost over 80% of its vessels.
Immense debris fields drifted silently across the void.
Broken hulls of once-proud ships drifting across the void like frozen graveyards, haunted by the last flickers of extinguished machine spirits, their shattered cogitators sparking dimly in the darkness.
Inside the command deck aboard the Celestial Engine, Grey watched the hololithic display with a grim expression. The war had entered its second phase.
"Will we be teleported directly into the warzone?" Yoan asked, his voice edged with anticipation.
"No." Grey shook his head. "We'll first deploy to the primary command center of Forge World Agripinaa. As Talon military command, our role is strategic oversight and coordination."
Yoan frowned, confused. "Why not just fight alongside the ground forces? We blast the surface with orbital bombardment, advance, secure positions, and then hold the system. Isn't that how it's done?"
"It's not that simple," Grey replied. "Agripinaa isn't a dead world or a frontier outpost. It's one of the Imperium's major Forge Worlds. Every manufactorum, reactor complex, and data-vault on that planet has strategic value. We can't just charge in guns blazing with the ground forces."
Yoan remained unconvinced. He clenched his fists, the servos in his gauntlets whining softly. To him, Grey was overthinking, maybe even wavering.
The orders they had received before deploying from the Talon System had been clear: defend the Forge World, not just any particular manufactorum, but the entire world as a whole.
Even so, after extensive combat calculations and predictive simulations, the Celestial Engine's Machine Spirit had reached the same conclusion as Grey.
The initial strategy was to reinforce existing battlefronts and stabilize loyalist defensive lines, not launch an immediate planetwide offensive against the remaining enemy forces.
The enemy had already lost orbital superiority. Time now favored the defenders. There was no need to trade irreplaceable infrastructure for a faster victory.
As for the two Thunderborns, Grey and Yoan, they were being sent directly to meet the Forge World's leadership.
The Celestial Engine continued its orbit, drawing closer to the embattled Forge World.
Soon, the colossus loomed over the Forge World's skies, its hull resembling a floating fortress-city layered with spires, sensor arrays, docking structures, and immense weapon batteries, slowing as it approached.
Under the precise control of its Stone Men (the automated caretaker machine-mind aboard), the partially completed planetary hull adjusted its trajectory with microscopic corrections, maintaining exact orbital positioning while avoiding destabilization from the Forge World's gravity well.
Sensor arrays embedded across the Celestial Engine unleashed continuous waves of scans. Auspex pulses, gravimetric readings, thermal mapping, and electromagnetic sweeps poured across the planet below. Streams of data rippled across the hololithic projection as the system compiled a detailed tactical overview of the warzone.
Grey studied the incoming data before exhaling slowly in relief.
Compared to the broader system-wide conflict, the situation on the Forge World itself wasn't catastrophic.
Fires of war raged across the planet.
Across its spires and manufactoria, Imperial forces; Sisters of Battle, Skitarii, and Mechanicus war engines clashed with heretical infantry, Traitor Astartes, corrupted Knights, and even Chaos Titans.
Yet, despite the ferocity of the enemy, the defenders still maintained overwhelming strategic superiority.
The only reason Imperial forces had been pushed into defensive positions beneath void shields was the earlier orbital bombardment conducted by the enemy fleet. Entire districts had been destabilized before ground forces even made planetfall.
But now the situation had changed.
The traitor fleet had been shattered.
Enemy reinforcement routes had collapsed.
Their Titans and armored columns were now operating without reliable orbital support, ammunition resupply, or extraction capability.
Aside from lacking significant loyalist Space Marine support, the loyalist forces possessed superior numbers in nearly every category of heavy warfare. Loyalist Knight Houses still maintained operational strength. Multiple Titan Legions remained combat capable. Reserve Skitarii cohorts continued to mobilize from underground manufactorum districts that had avoided major bombardment.
In sheer numbers, the Imperium vastly outmatched the invaders.
Now that orbital superiority had been reclaimed, destroying the remaining traitor forces on the surface would only be a matter of time.
"I estimate the fighting will conclude soon," Grey said optimistically. "We only need to maintain a military presence in the Agripinaa System long enough to stabilize the region."
"Yes…" Yoan nodded, though his expression remained dark.
His thoughts drifted back to the hive cities.
Back to the hidden truth known only to two people in the entire system.
Before the heretical Cult of the Omniscient Mind had been purged from the hive worlds of Talon, its leaders had completed multiple Warp rituals and successfully summoned a daemon into realspace.
And now this was Agripinaa.
A Forge World with billions of inhabitants.
Millions of laborers.
Countless data shrines, reactor cathedrals, forge temples, and sealed Mechanicus vaults.
The number of cultists here could be hundreds, maybe thousands of times greater..
It was highly likely they would attempt daemonic summoning again or perform some blasphemous rite.
While Yoan pondered the grim possibilities, the First Legion's ground forces were already deploying onto the surface. Teleport flares ignited across multiple battlefronts as Talon troops reinforced defensive sectors.
At the same time, the Celestial Engine's particle lances began targeting enemy super-heavy assets identified by orbital scans.
Several corrupted Knights advancing through a refinery district vanished beneath descending columns of white energy. Their ion shields collapsed instantly before their armored frames disintegrated under the focused particle streams.
Moments later, an enemy Titan lost half its upper structure as another particle lance penetrated its void shields and reactor core simultaneously. The Titan staggered three steps before detonating, its plasma reactor erupting into a fireball visible from orbit.
Entire enemy formations scattered as precision orbital fire erased command vehicles, artillery batteries, and armored spearheads with surgical accuracy.
"It's time for us to deploy," Grey murmured, pulling his gaze from the hololith.
The teleport shield generators built into his armor activated immediately, encasing him in a protective layer of blue-white energy.
Yoan's armor activated a moment later.
Then both Thunderborns vanished.
….
Inside a heavily fortified plaza where Vick was stationed, a dimensional rupture split open the air.
Grey and Yoan emerged from the expanding teleport rift, their teleport shields dissipating seconds after materialization completed.
Grey immediately surveyed the surroundings.
They had arrived inside a massive fortress courtyard integrated directly into a manufactorum defense complex. Thick ferrocrete walls surrounded the plaza, blackened by bombardment and reinforced with emergency plating welded into place by industrial servitors. Defensive turrets tracked the skies overhead while damaged Skitarii transports and ammunition haulers lined the perimeter.
Several anti-air batteries showed signs of recent overheating. Spent shell casings and cooling lines littered nearby loading stations. Makeshift triage zones had been established beneath shielded overhangs where wounded Skitarii received battlefield repairs from medicae servitors.
Banners of the Omnissiah hung between defensive bastions, stained by smoke, oil, and ash.
The surrounding Skitarii reacted instantly upon spotting the newcomers.
Dozens of galvanic rifles, arc weapons, and plasma calivers locked onto Grey and Yoan as combat protocols activated across the courtyard.
Because Talon military communications used entirely separate encryption systems and command architecture from the Adeptus Mechanicus and Astra Militarum, the defenders had received no prior notice regarding the Celestial Engine's deployment.
The Stone Men had concluded that the Thunderborn should establish direct contact with planetary leadership immediately. However, they lacked precise information regarding the location of the current command center.
As a result, they selected the most heavily defended command position detected on the planet under the assumption that senior leadership personnel would be present there.
"They're not the enemy."
"Bzzt… bzzt…"
Grey heard overlapping vox chatter and streams of binaric communication.
Moments later, two Adeptus Mechanicus figures approached through the Skitarii lines. Their red robes swayed around extensive cybernetic augmentations while servo-skulls hovered overhead carrying data-scrolls, auspex arrays, and surgical implements.
One of them transmitted an encrypted command signal through the noosphere.
The surrounding troops lowered their weapons immediately.
Grey and Yoan's visors automatically processed and archived the newcomers' biometric data. One figure was unfamiliar, but the other matched existing records: Vick.
"Praise the Omnissiah," Vick said. His movements were measured and mechanical, closely mirroring the behavior of the Magos beside him, Sevin.
Grey had met Vick once before, back when the Magos had inspected the hive world, but now wasn't the time for reminiscing.
"Where is the Archmagos?" Grey asked directly. "Or the Fabricator-General of Agripinaa?"
"There is no Archmagos anymore," Sevin replied in a flat mechanical tone layered with binaric static. "The surviving senior Magi now function as the highest authority on this world."
Grey narrowed his eyes. "Your ground forces outnumber and outgun the enemy. The void shields across key locations are still operational. Did your Archmagos… commit suicide?"
"Negative," Sevin answered calmly. "After orbital superiority was lost, static defensive strength became strategically irrelevant."
He paused briefly as streams of data passed across his optical implants.
"I received final confirmation three point seven standard days ago. No fewer than twenty Traitor Astartes drop pods penetrated directly into the Archmagos's command sanctum during the orbital assault. Internal defense signals ceased shortly afterward. Recovery teams later confirmed catastrophic casualties among command personnel."
"I understand," Grey murmured grimly.
Against a concentrated Traitor Astartes decapitation strike launched directly into the planetary command center, survival had been unlikely from the beginning.
After briefing them on the planetary situation, Sevin addressed the most urgent strategic concern.
"You must avoid large-scale orbital bombardment," he stated. "The industrial infrastructure of Agripinaa represents thousands of years of accumulated production capacity, it is a treasure beyond measure for all mankind. The loss of even a fraction of its manufactorums would cripple regional Imperial supply lines."
Grey nodded without hesitation.
He had already come to the same conclusion.
The Forge World's most vital asset was not its population or military assets, but its industrial capability.
Reckless bombardment that disregarded the safety of its manufactorums would cripple the Astra Militarum's logistics chain. A Forge World unable to produce weapons was a Forge World with no value.
"The remaining Magi are already en route," Sevin continued, his optics flickering as he communicated through the noosphere. "We will establish a unified command structure upon their arrival."
"Good," Grey nodded.
"I won't participate in the command discussions," Yoan said suddenly.
He turned toward Grey, his expression cold and focused.
"I'm going to the front lines. I'll locate the enemy command structure."
Grey nodded again.
As Thunderborns, they were specialists in decapitation strikes. Once Yoan identified the location of the enemy leaders, they would be dead within the day.
But in truth, Yoan's real mission wasn't merely paving the way for a kill-strike, he had his own duty to fulfill in this war.
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