Goliath Hive City, having endured orbital bombardment, billowed with thick black smoke.
Collapsed towers and statues lay everywhere.
Bright flames dyed the sky fiery red.
The city ruins were filled with a hail of gunfire.
Torrents of bullets formed iron serpents that curled into the air.
Straight energy beams flashed and vanished in an instant.
In the atmosphere, fighter craft tangled in a chaotic melee.
The blazing beams fired from their weapons painted short-lived, nameless shining constellations.
"For the Emperor, charge!"
"At any cost, take Goliath Hive City!"
Colonel Griffin shouted, urging his soldiers onward.
The soldiers held Lasguns and advanced toward the Rebel lines under the cover of Leman Russ Tanks.
The heavy tanks rumbled forward, their tracks crushing rubble along the way.
Their sturdy armored hulls smashed through charred building wreckage.
The Leman Russ Tank was the Astra Militarum's primary battle tank.
It was renowned for its toughness armor and bellicose Machine Spirit.
It could withstand a storm of enemy fire in battle.
Its turret was highly versatile and could mount a range of different weapon systems.
Including devastating anti-infantry weapons, Punisher Gatling Cannons, high-penetration anti-tank guns, and more.
As Colonel Griffin's forces crossed Goliath Hive City's outer walls and entered the rubble-strewn streets,
Rebels suddenly emerged from both sides and opened fire on the advancing Imperial soldiers.
Dense bullets and lasers poured down like rain.
They struck the tanks' armor and shields, sending ripples spreading across them.
Imperial soldiers took cover or used the tanks as cover to return fire.
A fierce battle erupted, with neither side able to break the other.
The Leman Russ Tanks turned their cannons toward the rebels' heavy fire units.
Boom!
The bunker housing the Rebel heavy weapons exploded, thick concrete slabs blown into fragments.
They scattered across the ground, mixed with charred flesh and blood.
Then came the second, and the third.
Every shell struck with flawless accuracy.
With their inherent advantages, the Leman Russ Tanks easily wiped out the enemy fire positions.
Having lost their firepower advantage, the rebels were quickly forced back by the Imperial soldiers.
"Fill the gap, fill the gap!"
Griffin shouted, signaling the soldiers behind them to fill the openings and keep advancing.
To him, human lives had become cold numbers.
He did not care how many soldiers had to die.
The only thing he cared about was the mission objective: seizing Goliath Hive City.
On the other side of the battlefield,
Little Fatty, piloting Heavy Tomorrow Mark III Exoskeleton Armor, led his teammates in an assault.
"Feel the Omnissiah's wrath!"
With outstanding defenses and firepower, they swiftly punched through the Rebel lines.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The Multiple Bolt Gun roared, blasting every struck Rebel soldier into mangled flesh.
Several Rebel soldiers tried to close in and fire.
Little Fatty activated the Exoskeleton Armor's circular saw and cut them into pieces.
Cough! Cough!
One Rebel soldier's chest had been shattered.
Yet he was not dead, coughing blood as he lay on the charred battlefield.
Little Fatty studied him through the Exoskeleton Armor's observation cameras.
The Rebel soldier was not very old, appearing to be in his twenties.
His skin was deathly pale, his pupils entirely black, eerie and evil.
Bloody Chaos symbols had been carved into his face.
"Lackeys of the Corpse Emperor, you will be dragged into hell."
The soldier spat blood as he uttered a venomous curse.
"Then you go first."
The Exoskeleton Armor's mechanical foot rose, then came crashing down, stomping the Rebel soldier's head apart.
"Huh, I actually leveled up."
Little Fatty was pleasantly surprised.
"And I unlocked a new skill: Humanoid Vehicle Machine Spirit Affinity. It lets me gain the Machine Spirit's approval more easily."
"Machine Spirit Affinity?"
"After a few more levels, won't it let you steal ammunition from the Warp?"
Spiky Hair, standing to Little Fatty's right, sounded astonished.
"How can something that pleases the Machine Spirit be called stealing?!" September Nine, Brother of the September Ninth Remembrance Chapter, said.
After killing a Rebel soldier, Spiky Hair turned to look at Griffin's forces charging toward the enemy lines.
"By the way, these NPCs fight like monsters."
"The Great Devourer hasn't arrived yet. The Genestealers are definitely both Loyalist and fierce."
As an old player, Little Fatty had known from the start that the regiments selected as vanguard forces were all Genestealer Cults.
"Orks die for the nation, Genestealers guard the gates. A Warhammer specialty. All I can say is, six-six-six."
"These are all Hybrids. There's also a group of Purestrains in Tirean Hive City. Once we finish this battle, we'll have to head back to Tirean for another fight."
"Guide, you're still going to fight the Genestealers?"
"Obviously. Those guys' corruption abilities are so terrifying. If we don't deal with them early, they'll become a huge problem sooner or later."
"..."
Little Fatty and the other players communicated through the Exoskeleton Armor's squad channel.
Those Genestealer soldiers could not hear them.
Even if they could hear the players' conversation, it would only sound like static, and they would have no idea what was being discussed.
Under the players' and Genestealers' assault, the Rebel lines fell one after another, showing faint signs of total collapse.
"These bastards are fighting too fiercely. We can't stop them at all."
Svid looked at the one frantically calling for reinforcements before him, his expression growing increasingly grim.
Those Loyalists were too fierce. They simply could not be stopped.
Troubled, he scratched at his sparse hair several times.
Tearing it out along with chunks of rotten scalp.
"Go ask those damned sorcerers how the ritual preparations are coming along."
"Tell them we're about to be unable to hold out."
The Rebel soldier who had received the order had barely stepped out of the command post.
When a crystalline Aether Shard flew over and instantly pierced through his head.
The other Rebel soldiers were pierced one after another as well, their heads exploding instantly.
Svid's face went deathly pale at the sight. Realizing the enemy was already close, he thought of fleeing first.
But the moment he ran out of the command post, he saw Imperial soldiers in Exoskeleton Armor surrounding it from every direction.
Realizing escape was impossible, Svid immediately fell into despair.
"Whoever captures the Rebel leader will be rewarded with a hundred gold and granted lordship over ten thousand households! Brothers, charge!"
"Damn it, Twisted Man, have you been reading too much Chu–Han Contention?!"
"Quit talking. Encircle them. Don't let the big fish get away."
Ten-Timer, Twisted Man, and the other veteran players formed the fastest assault squad.
They cut through the enemy lines and charged straight for the enemy command post.
"Explosions are an art. Head explosions are the art among arts."
Psychic energy surged in Ten-Timer's hand.
As he clenched his fist, the heads of the Rebel soldiers firing their guns in the distance all burst like watermelons.
The soldiers around Svid were shot down one after another.
In the end, he was surrounded by the players.
But he did not surrender, choosing instead to fight until the very last moment.
In the end, a bolt round shattered his lower body, and he fell into a pool of blood.
"What a loss. We couldn't capture him alive." Ten-Timer sounded regretful.
"You can't win." Svid said. "Grandfather Nurgle's angels will soon descend upon this world."
After saying that, he died.
The players looked at one another, not yet having time to figure out the truth.
When Ten-Timer suddenly screamed.
Horrifying visions flooded his mind as countless Nurgle daemons shrieked.
Then a golden sun appeared within Ten-Timer's mind.
The horrifying visions and daemon shrieks vanished along with it.
Having recovered somewhat, Ten-Timer looked at his teammates and swallowed.
"I heard Nurgle's lackeys screaming. It sounds like they're coming."
The moment he finished speaking, a terrifying psychic storm erupted from deep within Goliath Hive City.
The sky warped and twisted, radiating an eerie glow.
The grand spired buildings shifted and flickered like unstable phantom slides.
The players' expressions all changed.
They were all veteran Warhammer fans, so they naturally knew what this meant.
It was a sign of a daemon invasion.
"Stop them. And request another round of orbital bombardment from Guide."
Twisted Man looked toward the depths of the Hive City. "If the Nurgle Daemon Army enters the real world, this entire planet may become impossible to defend."
The next chapter might be a little late.
Before you continue