"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

The tracks of the Leman Russ main battle tank rolled over the charred land, and the steel behemoth weighing dozens of tons left ruts half a meter deep on the surface of the planet.

The front armor of each tank was covered with marks of laser burns and shrapnel scratches, and the gun barrels were densely covered with kill marks marked with white paint.

The roar of the engine made the gravel on the ground bounce continuously, and the thick smoke from the exhaust pipe dragged a long black trail in the sky.

"Keep in formation! Car No. 3, watch the left wing!"

A tank officer from the 114th Armored Regiment leaned half of his body out of the command vehicle. The collar of his uniform was stained with oil and gunpowder residue, and the infrared imager on his right eye kept flashing green light.

Behind him, more than thirty Leman Russ tanks formed a wedge-shaped array, with their main guns all pointing straight ahead.

The gunners stared at the horizon through their sights, ready to rain death on any alien that appeared.

"Report! 1300 kilometers to the target!"

The hoarse voice of the signalman came from inside the armored command vehicle. The Chimera armored vehicle was filled with the pungent smell of engine oil and the sweat of the soldiers, and the holographic tactical map projected a light blue light on the central desktop.

Colonel Marcus ran his calloused fingers across the map, brow furrowed as he calculated the marching route.

"Notify all companies to maintain the current speed." The colonel's voice was like sandpaper rubbing against each other, "Let the reconnaissance company set up a cordon five kilometers ahead."

His lieutenant quickly wrote down the order, the tip of his pen making a sharp sound on the data slate.

In the corner of the carriage, a young communications soldier was adjusting the frequency of the communicator in vain, trying to eliminate static interference.

The heavy bolter turret on the roof rotated from time to time, and the gunner vigilantly scanned the surrounding wasteland ravaged by war.

This steel flood moved extremely slowly. Every kilometer they advanced, the leading engineers had to check for possible roadside bombs; every time they passed a ruin, the infantry company had to get off the vehicle and clean it up thoroughly.

On both sides of the marching column, the Sentinel mechs marched with heavy steps, their multi-barreled melta guns ready to evaporate any suspicious targets into gas at any time.

"Company 3 reports that a suspected enemy outpost has been discovered in the northwest."

The sudden report from the communicator made the air in the command vehicle freeze instantly.

Colonel Marcus immediately leaned over to check the thermal image. Three kilometers to the northwest, several irregular heat sources were moving.

"Order the Hellhounds to conduct reconnaissance," the colonel tapped his fingers on the table, "and have the artillery company prepare firepower."

As the order was given, three armored vehicles equipped with flamethrowers broke away from the main team.

Thick smoke belched out of their exhaust pipes, the heavy flamethrowers on the front of the vehicles had finished preheating, and the promethium liquid in the fuel tanks made a dangerous gurgling sound.

Above orbit, the cruiser "Holy Will" is like a sword of Damocles hanging over one's head.

This 7-kilometer-long steel behemoth is adjusting its orbit, and the array of ground-to-ground light spears on the belly of the ship is slowly unfolding.

Inside the bridge, hundreds of crew members were nervously operating various instruments, and the priests of the Mechanicus chanted binary prayers to ensure that every shot would receive the blessing of the Omnissiah.

"Target locked, main gun charging begins."

The weapons officer's voice echoed throughout the bridge.

The holographic projection showed a three-dimensional image of the Tau fortress on the ground, with a dozen red light circles marking key targets.

The light spear's energy core emitted an increasingly loud humming sound, and the energy readings rose sharply.

"For the glory of the Emperor!"

Following the captain's order, the cruiser's weapon array burst into dazzling light.

Several beams of light pierced the atmosphere like spears of divine punishment, and wherever they passed, the air was ionized, producing brilliant auroras.

........................

The sirens pierced the pre-dawn silence.

Inside the Tau outpost, the Fire Warrior Sha'El suddenly raised his head from the tactical holographic table, and the communicator beside his ear suddenly burst into a sharp beep.

The lights in the command center instantly turned into a dazzling red, and the tactical map on the holographic projection was covered with emergency alarm symbols. That was the sound of the orbital strike warning.

"Everyone, get into the bunker immediately! I repeat, get into the bunker immediately!"

The commander's voice roared over the comms channel, and Sha'El could hear the sound of sirens and hurried footsteps in the background.

He grabbed his pulse rifle and rushed to the nearest blast door.

The corridor was crowded with hastily evacuated fire warriors, their combat uniforms glowing a strange bloody color under the alarm lights.

“Quick! Quick!”

The engineers were closing the outer protective barrier, and the heavy alloy gate was slowly lowering, making a teeth-grinding metal friction sound.

Sha'El could feel the ground beneath his feet shaking slightly. It was not from the operation of the gate, but from the roar of the Imperial armored forces marching in the distance.

"The Greater Good is above..."

He took one last look back at the sky outside the observation window.

In the dim light of dawn, the clouds were torn apart by some huge energy, and several dazzling streaks of light were falling from the sky.

It was not a meteor, nor artillery fire, but something more deadly, the light spear of the Imperial Navy.

“Close the door! Now!”

The moment Sha'el rushed into the explosion-proof door, the last protective barrier suddenly closed.

He stumbled down the spiral staircase into the heart of the bunker, the walls trembling with every explosion and dust falling from the ceiling.

The underground command center was filled with Fire Warriors taking shelter. Communications officers tried in vain to contact other bases, but all channels were filled with static.

S'El saw the commander staring at a tactical hologram - the red markings representing the Imperial fleet had covered the entire orbital space.

"An estimated twenty seconds..."

The engineer's voice was trembling.

S'El unconsciously tightened his grip on the pulse rifle. He could hear his own heartbeat, even over the sirens' screams.

The bunker's lights flickered on and off, and each flicker distorted the shadows on the wall.

Then--

The world turned white.

There was no sound, or rather, the sound was too loud, beyond the limit of hearing.

Sha'El felt an indescribable pressure coming from all directions, as if a giant was holding the entire bunker in his palm.

The ground heaved violently, and he fell to the ground, seeing spider-web-like cracks appearing on the concrete wall.

The spear of light hit.

Even if buried deep underground, the destructive energy still seeps in.

The temperature soared in seconds, and Sha'el's battlesuit's cooling system sounded an overload alarm.

The lighting equipment on the top of the bunker exploded one after another, and sparks fell like rain.

At one point, he saw light—not an artificial light source, but pure energy, seeping in through the cracks in the wall, illuminating everything as if it were noon.

The nearest few fire warriors didn't even have time to scream. Their figures became blurry silhouettes in the light and then disappeared.

Shock waves followed.

Sha'el was thrown against the wall, his helmet slamming against the metal surface.

The visor display flickered a few times and then went out completely.

In the darkness, he heard the groaning of metal twisting and breaking, the painful cries of his comrades, and the roar of something collapsing in the distance.

………………

The shock wave of the explosion swept across a radius of several kilometers, and a mushroom cloud rose into the sky.

The effects of this orbital strike were accurately recorded on the ground forces' observation instruments.

Colonel Marcus looked at the enemy mark disappearing on the tactical screen and nodded with satisfaction.

"Notify the navy that the strike was effective." He turned to the signalman and said, "Let the engineering company prepare to set up a temporary base. We will stay here overnight."

As night fell, the Astra Militarum began to build their defenses.

The Leman Russ tanks formed a circular defensive formation with their guns pointed in all directions.

The infantrymen dug trenches, the charging indicators of their laser rifles flickering like fireflies in the darkness.

In the center of the camp, the unpleasant smell of synthetic protein wafted from the field kitchen, and exhausted soldiers lined up to receive rations.

Colonel Marcus stepped out of the command vehicle and looked up at the starry sky.

The fleet in orbit flickered like stars, and new spots of light crossed the sky from time to time. That was the navy carrying out a new round of orbital bombardment.

He lit a cheap cigar and took a deep puff. The spicy taste of nicotine temporarily dispelled the fatigue of war.

"Report, scouts have detected enemy activity in the southeast."

The adjutant's report interrupted the colonel's rare rest. He sighed, threw his cigar on the ground and crushed it with his military boots.

"Notify all units to prepare for a night attack."

As the alarm sounded, the entire camp instantly entered combat status.

The tank engine roared again and the turret began to rotate; the infantry quickly took up firing positions, and the red dots of the laser sights weaved a web of death in the darkness.

The Sentinel's searchlight swept across the wilderness, and its multi-barreled melta guns began to warm up.

The darkness is deepest before dawn.

When the last wave of Tau night assault troops were reduced to charred corpses under the crossfire of Leman Russ tanks, the eastern horizon had already turned pale.

Colonel Marcus stood in front of the command vehicle, his breath condensing in the cold morning mist.

He looked ahead at the scorched earth plowed by orbital bombardment, his fingers unconsciously stroking the grip of the laser pistol.

"Report, the enemy's night attack force has been completely wiped out." The signalman's voice was hoarse, "Two Chimeras of the third company were damaged, but the casualties were minor."

The colonel nodded, his eyes scanning the tactical map.

There are very few red areas left representing the Tau defense line, with only the central fortress still holding out.

He looked up at the sky and saw the Holy Will cruiser in orbit slowly sliding across the morning star, like the scythe raised by the god of death.

"Send a message to all troops," Marcus' voice was like sandpaper rubbing against the ground, "the general attack begins."

When the first ray of sunlight broke through the clouds, the Imperial artillery let out a deafening roar.

The earth is shaking.

Hundreds of petrified lizard self-propelled artillery fired at the same time; the whistling sound of the shells cutting through the sky became a melody of death.

The Tau fortress in the distance was instantly engulfed in the flames of the explosion, and the shock wave tore the remaining fortifications into pieces like paper.

Sha'El woke up from his coma and found that most of the bunker had collapsed. Through the crack above his head, he saw a hellish scene.

The sky was filled with the trails of artillery shells, like an inverted meteor shower; on the ground, the empire's steel torrent was rolling in.

The Leman Russ tanks advanced in a wedge-shaped formation, the huge steel beasts rolling over the scorched earth, and every roar of the main guns created a gap in the distant fortress.

Between the tanks, countless Chimera armored vehicles raised clouds of dust, and the heavy bolter turrets on the roofs continuously spewed flames, providing cover for the infantry who got off the vehicles to fight.

"For the Emperor!"

Astra Militarum soldiers leapt from their armored vehicles, their volleys of laser rifle fire weaving a deadly red web in the morning light.

They marched forward in measured steps, each step accompanied by another volley of fire.

The remaining automatic turrets of the Tau had just opened fire when they were engulfed in the promethium flames from the Hellhound flamethrowers, and the operators were turned into charcoal with screams.

Shai'El struggled to climb out of the ruins, his pulse rifle already damaged, his visor display flashing a malfunction warning.

There were less than twenty surviving fire warriors around. They huddled among the ruins, light blue blood oozing from their wounds.

"Hold your ground—"

One commander didn't finish his words before a shell from a basilisk hit him directly, and the shock wave knocked Sha'El over again.

When he got up, all that was left was a smoking crater and a few pieces of charred armor.

"Bayonet!"

Chief Petty Officer Blake's roar was heard above the roar of artillery fire.

The soldiers of the 114th Cadian Regiment drew their bayonets in unison, and the sound of metal rubbing against ceramic was continuous.

The young Private Horn's fingers were shaking, but he still accurately inserted the bayonet into the interface of the laser rifle. The crisp "click" sound was clearly audible in the deafening battlefield.

Thirty meters away, the last batch of Titanium fire warriors rushed out from the smoke.

Sha'el could taste the copper rust in his own blood.

The left arm joint of his combat suit was damaged, and light blue coolant mixed with blood oozed out from the cracks.

The five surviving fire warriors behind him formed an assault formation, and the blade components of their pulse rifles gleamed coldly in the morning light.

“For the Greater Good!”

Two torrents of steel collided violently in the charred crater.

Blake dodged the stabbing pulse blade by leaning sideways, and his combat boots drew a semicircle in the mud.

He backhanded the butt of his rifle and smashed it into the Fire Warrior's visor, causing the ceramic glass to crack.

Before the opponent could stagger back, his bayonet had already stabbed into the crack. With a twist of his wrist, light blue blood gushed out along the blood trough.

"Next!" the old sergeant shouted, spitting out the blood foam from his mouth.

Horn was not so lucky.

His bayonet was caught in the Fire Warrior's armor, and the opponent elbowed him in the nose.

The boy's eyes went dark, but he instinctively pulled the trigger, and the barrel of the laser rifle fired at the enemy's abdomen.

The fire warrior's abdomen vaporized instantly, but the dying forearm blade still cut through Horn's shoulder armor.

Three meters away, a Fire Warrior's pulse blade pierced the throat of a female Astra Militarum soldier.

Before he could draw his weapon, the engineer shovel that attacked him from behind chopped into his cervical vertebrae.

Engineer Haskell, his face covered in blood, stepped on the twitching corpse, pulled out the shovel, turned around and chopped at another enemy.

Sha'El spotted the officer with the gold epaulettes in the melee.

Colonel Marcus's laser pistol had run out of energy and he was pinning a fire warrior to the ground with his silver-plated command knife.

The front of the colonel's uniform was singed by the pulse bullet, revealing his chest covered with old scars. Sha'El raised his vibroblade and rushed forward.

"boom!"

A heavy bolter from a Sentinel mech shattered Shai'El's right leg at the knee. He fell into the mud and saw the Imperial officer holding his pistol condescendingly. The humming sound of the energy battery recharging was like a countdown to death.

"For the Emperor," said the Colonel drily.

The last thing Sha'El saw was a blinding red light.

At noon, the imperial flag was hoisted in the center of the fortress.

Colonel Marcus stepped through the still smoking ruins, crushing a Tau flag under his boot.

Around him, Astra Militarum soldiers were mopping up the last of the resistance.

A pulse beam suddenly shot out from a corner and knocked down a soldier, immediately attracting dozens of laser rifles to retaliate, turning the area into a sieve.

"Report the battle situation." The colonel said into the communicator.

"The main force of the enemy has been annihilated, and the remaining enemy forces are being eliminated." Reports from various companies came one after another on the communication channel, "An escape route has been found in the tunnel on the east side, and the Hellhound troops have been sent to pursue."

The colonel nodded, his eyes falling on the command tower in the center of the fortress. It was once a building that the Tau were proud of, but now only half of the twisted metal skeleton remained.

An imperial double-headed eagle flag was fluttering in the wind on top of the tower, standing out against the smoky sky.