Author: Tide of Crows

"Enemy attack!"

Phrix, known as the "City Breaker", roared at the top of his lungs.

But even this shout, which was enough to shatter the city wall, disappeared in the blink of an eye among the more terrifying torrents around him.

The loud noises of artillery shells and energy beams tore through the air, constantly lapping at the Iron Warriors' defense lines and trenches like raging waves. Wherever Frix could see, they were filled with huge armored units of the Red Dragon Legion.

There are those rebel flags that are depicted in twisted shapes.

In the face of the rolling iron flow composed of armor, artillery, fighter planes and mechanized troops, even the will of the Astartes seemed so weak.

The Sword of Destruction, Rhino armored personnel carrier, Executioner tank, Chimera armored vehicle, as well as the Commander missile vehicle and Hydra anti-aircraft self-propelled cannon looming at the end of his field of vision.

Felix distinguished the intruder's equipment, then looked down at the bolter in his hand, and then thought of the 150mm cannon that had just been pulled out of the warehouse. He felt a sour taste in his mouth that made people panic.

Then, strange noises in the air caught Flix's attention again. He raised his head and saw about two squadrons of Thunderhawks speeding toward his defense line.

"……Grass."

Is this really the firepower that a mere planetary garrison should have?

But the Iron Warrior knows that he is not qualified to complain more, because the sound of artillery fire on his left, in the western suburbs of Kalena City, has not stopped until now, and his genetic father Perturabo is sitting there.

, facing the Red Dragon Legion’s craziest attack.

"Anti-aircraft fire!"

Felix roared to convey his orders, because his communicator had been occupied by chaotic gunshots and shouts, and he could not regulate the slightest order.

After saying that, without waiting for a reply, he raised his gun, ducked out of the hiding spot, fired three times, and then quickly hid under the tower on the other side.

With the sound of his gunshot, the opponent's heavy weapons team, which was constantly tilting its firepower, was instantly silenced. Behind them, the captain commanding the Executioner tank fell directly on top of his vehicle, his head

It has completely exploded.

Felix didn't stop for a moment for his precise marksmanship. He quickly stood up and moved away from his former position in a few breaths. Behind him, the belated revenge firepower of the Red Dragon Legion had already destroyed the entire area.

The land was plowed again.

The city breaker retreated all the way, easily crushing or dodging the rocks on the road, while constantly firing back. Amidst the constant sound of bolt guns, the leading soldiers of the Red Dragon Legion fell one after another in the dust.

After running about a hundred meters, Flix jumped straight into the position that had just been established. More than twenty Iron Warriors were scattered among the trenches and ruins, blocking the intersection in front of them.

At this moment, the anti-aircraft firepower loyal to the empire began to show off. The city breaker watched as the leading Thunderhawk was directly hit and exploded in the air. Its successors shook their wings uneasily, and finally drew pictures in mid-air.

After a series of ugly arcs, we headed back home.

But the failure in the air did not dampen the crazy will of the attackers. With the sound of rumbling tracks knocking down the small building, hundreds of well-equipped Red Dragon soldiers appeared in the eyes of Frix, and they surrounded

Looking at those terrifying war beasts, they used thunderstorm-like steel barrages to suppress the Iron Warriors' positions.

Just like its name, the Red Dragon Legion's offensive is like a giant dragon, seemingly unstoppable. They completely ignore the consumption of supplies and carefully burn every piece of land in front of them with cannonballs and fire.

Compared with the wealthy attackers, the Iron Warriors are much more cautious in their counterattacks. Phrix and his men carefully calculate the ammunition on hand. Each of their blows will take away one of the craziest opponents, or it may be accurate.

Count every heavy firepower.

Under the control of the Sons of Perturabo, even the old artillery was still spitting out the most deadly flames, turning the vanguard tanks of the Red Dragon Legion into burning torches, completely blocking the sight.

The main road, then, the Iron Warriors used bullets, chain saws and even fists to clear the battlefield until the last enemy who roared the name of Sitan fell.

Felix's eyes immediately scanned the entire position and his team, making sure that none of his soldiers had fallen. Then, he touched his waist.

There's only one magazine left there.

Before the Iron Warrior could lament his current poverty situation, he heard the most piercing sound. Fricks looked up and saw only those displaying Commander-type missile vehicles and Hydra-type anti-aircraft self-propelled cannons.

The place was making a deafening noise, and directly above them, two squadrons of Thunderhawks had already returned.

This time, they were extremely determined.

——————

For the Iron Warriors, this battle is far from easy.

Although thanks to Magnus' timely reminder, Perturabo and his heirs were not unprepared, the invaders did move faster than they imagined.

Less than twenty minutes after Perturabo issued the order to evacuate the residents outside the city, the first air strikes from the Red Dragon Legion had already appeared from the skyline, followed by a torrent of steel all over the mountains and plains, and under the most elite

Behind the armored troops were an even greater number of fanatical followers of the Sons of Sitan. They rode in privately modified armed trucks, shouted crazy slogans, and rushed towards the temporary defense line where the Iron Warriors were stationed.

The Lord of Steel allowed his descendants to temporarily abandon the defense line in this war because he knew deeply that if the thousands of Iron Warriors in Kalena City with only light firepower were allowed to confront the armored forces head-on, it would be a useless battle.

A massacre without any suspense, even if there was a plundering formation by the Thousand Sons Legion, Perturabo would not throw his legion into this kind of mortal hell.

Because this was just a disaster relief activity, those big guys that made the Fourth Legion proud were naturally placed on the fleet staying in low-Earth orbit, and Perturabo did not follow his past habit of letting his heirs

They built Kalena City into an unbreakable fortress, and all this constituted the current crisis: after barely dispersing the outermost refugees, the Iron Warriors could only use their only bolters and individual weapons.

, dealing with a steady stream of armored troops in the ruins of the city, protecting civilians while constantly evacuating towards the central defense circle with the [Salimavis] Fortress as the core.

And that's not the worst.

Almost at the moment when the Red Dragon Legion officially launched its attack, thousands of thugs suddenly launched an attack in the center of Kalena City. For a time, the communications of the Thousand Sons Legion were occupied by reports of hundreds of violent incidents.

The mind controllers of the Xiao School were exhausted from indiscriminate massacres, large and small, and barely managed to control the stability of the core area.

——————

Ahriman stretched out his hand and waved his psychic whip for the forty-fourth time today, tearing the dozen [Sons of Sitan] fanatic followers in front of him into pieces.

Even the Primarch cannot explain this strange question: why, after the Sons of Magnus's most stringent and cautious exploration and differentiation, which even affected the efficiency of evacuation, these followers of the [Son of Sitan] can still evacuate on a large scale.

Sneaking in?

There are no rules or characteristics. Whether they are old people or children, rich or poor, each of them may become the most crazy believer of [Sons of Sitan] in the next moment, attacking strangers around them and even their own relatives and friends.

Killer with pain.

【How is the situation over there?】

Morgan's question echoed in his mind, a direct link between the two powerful psykers, thus avoiding the cacophony of the comms.

"It's barely under control, but I can't guarantee whether it will happen again."

Ahriman's interrogating eyes swept across the block in front of him. Although it is now basically occupied by women, children and the elderly, the son of Magnus can no longer trust any of them.

Ahriman's spiritual energy swept through the brains of these mortals over and over again, but could not find any clues. His proud mind reading and prophecy seemed to have been suppressed in some way, and their power was greatly reduced.

The captain of Thousand Sons suspected that this was because he was too close to the Steadfast Light. For some reason, this golden age colonial ship used a lot of anti-psionic materials during its construction, even in its decoration.

It is also full of elements that suppress psykers. The weaker Thousand Sons cannot even get too close to it. Even the Primarch Magnus will be defeated by the layers of counter-spirits of this giant ship.

can be affected by the device.

Just when he felt more doubts, Ahriman heard the roar of fighter engines.

Then, the Iron Warriors' air defense siren sounded.

Ahriman raised his head and saw about a squadron of tattered Thunderhawks rushing towards him, and in their shadows were countless fleeing people.

"What's going on, Fricks?"

Thousand Sons connected the communicator between the two, and amid the destructive sounds of countless bombs and shells, he heard Frix's gritted teeth reply.

"Thunder Eagles! Two squadrons of Thunder Eagles! They went crazy and crashed directly into the anti-aircraft fire network. We only shot down about one squadron..."

"I know, leave it to me."

Ahriman promised in a low voice, and then yelled in his mind.

"Morgan!"

【I can hear you, please keep your voice down.】

There was complaint in the voice of the silver-haired female officer. Then, Ahriman's psychic eyes only saw an invisible iron curtain appearing out of thin air behind him, and behind this iron curtain, the [Steadfast Light] had already carried

There are enough refugees, and the ancient colonial ships are slowly setting sail, preparing to avoid this place of right and wrong first.

Looking back again, those Thunder Eagles were already close at hand - their target was not concealed at all, it was the [Steadfast Light] carrying countless people!

"Get away!"

As Ahriman cursed in a low voice through gritted teeth, the ammunition of the first fighter plane suddenly twisted out of thin air, and the next moment, it fell in the air with a violent explosion.

Then came the second one, Ahriman directly crushed the pilot's head, causing it to disappear with the scream of falling; the third one soon followed, and as for the fourth one, the Thousand Sons Captain's psychic power

Just tear it into pieces.

The remaining Thunderhawks fired in unison, tilting all their ammunition out. The moment these burning destruction touched the Morgan Iron Curtain, they all turned around and destroyed all the fighters that could not dodge. A whole squadron of Thunderhawks

In an instant, they turned into red and white fireworks in mid-air, and their corpses and fragments were scattered all over the ground.

"boom--!"

Before Ahriman could breathe a sigh of relief, a loud noise suddenly came from behind him. This noise was even more violent than the fighting outside the city, and it made the Astartes' ears numb.

"what happened!"

Ahriman roared in the communicator, and at this moment, the communicator also fell into a long-lost silence. After a while, a voice answered him intermittently.

"Self-destruct! Ahriman...self-destruct!"
To be continued...