The pitch-black, icy void was twisted by an invisible force.
A rift appeared out of nowhere, and a massive fleet of over a hundred warships burst out of the Empyrean.
After entering realspace, the Gellar Fields flickered out, replaced by rising void shields.
The prows of these vessels were adorned with enormous golden Double-headed Eagles.
Towering religious statues stood along their hulls, alongside rows of macrocannon ports.
Freed from the rift in space, the fleet carried an overwhelming presence that made hearts tremble.
The ships ignited their realspace engines, adjusted their courses, and sped toward the burning star.
The Emperor's Grand Plan, at the head of the fleet, released an invisible net the moment it entered realspace.
It worked to absorb all available data from the system before it.
The fleet received very little information.
Apart from basic data on the planets, ring belts, and asteroid belts, there was nothing else.
After comparing the data with its database, the fleet learned that this system was called Cenus.
It possessed multiple colonies.
After conducting detection scans, the Empire discovered that the technology of these colonies had all declined.
Some colonies even had gaps in their histories.
The achievements once attained by their ancestors had become mere myths to descendants who had fallen into an age of ignorance.
Reclaiming these colonies was a very simple matter.
When the Empire's armies descended from the heavens, those ignorant brethren regarded them as gods.
The local rulers all declared their submission, not even daring to entertain thoughts of resistance.
Everything went smoothly.
Only the situation on Cenus III was somewhat unusual.
The abandoned orbital ring stations and satellite platforms around the planet—
—showed that Cenus III had once been a highly advanced technological world.
Now, the entire planet was shrouded in thick black clouds and electromagnetic storms.
Any electronic equipment passing through the cloud layer filled with electromagnetic currents risked malfunctioning or losing control.
They cut off the connection between the world of Cenus III and the void.
They also blocked the colonists' path back into the void.
The Empire used every kind of instrument to survey the surface.
Due to interference from the clouds and electromagnetic storms, the returned data signals were sparse and noisy.
The Mechanicus Sages used immense computing power to extract useful information from the noisy data streams.
They confirmed the presence of extensive mechanical activity and human life signals on the surface.
Following contact protocol, the fleet sent a communication request to the other side.
They hoped that Cenus III would peacefully submit to the Empire.
The Empire's diplomatic envoys did everything they could to express the bright vision the Empire sought to build.
Their words conveyed a beautiful hope for humanity to reunite and rise to the summit once more.
Their efforts received only a strange reply.
Humanity. Error. Purge.
Humanity. Error. Purge. Thought.
Having received no further information, the fleet remained anchored in the void.
"Let me go to the surface. As long as there is still a chance to resolve our differences peacefully, we should not give up."
The Empire's diplomatic envoy displayed great courage and compassion.
After discussion, the senior commanders decided to let him make the attempt.
The envoy boarded a golden spacecraft and, under fighter escort, passed through the dense clouds.
The ship's sensors captured the scene beneath the cloud layer.
The planet's surface was covered in metal structures stretching all the way to the horizon.
There was not a trace of green vegetation or soil in sight.
Black metal buildings stood across the surface.
Some towered into the clouds, while others covered vast areas.
The buildings were dotted with crimson indicator lights that flashed in the dim sky, turning even the fog blanketing the city scarlet.
Octopus-like aircraft trailing mechanical tentacles moved between the skyscrapers.
"This is a civilized world. I will do everything in my power to make them submit peacefully."
"We should put their strength toward the Great Crusade, not waste it on slaughtering their own brethren."
The diplomatic envoy sounded excited as he reported back to the fleet.
His eyes shone with the light of ideals and hope.
Boom!
Whoosh!
The ground-based artillery arrays opened fire.
Dense beams and missiles streaked toward the spacecraft carrying the delegation, destroying it.
The blazing wreckage fell toward the ground like meteors, erupting in terrifying explosions.
Before the pacifist envoy could even meet the native inhabitants of Cenus III, he met a tragic end.
Many commanders aboard the fleet were shocked by such an atrocity.
The envoy's ship carried no weapons.
Even if they had been unwilling to accept negotiations, they should not have massacred unarmed envoys.
"Grant them enlightenment."
The Emperor issued the order to attack.
The Empire had given the world of Cenus III a peaceful choice, but they had refused.
What came next could only be the Empire's vengeful wrath.
The fleet aimed its Lances of Light, macrocannons, and missile launch platforms at the surface and began orbital bombardment.
Frenzied fire rained down like a storm upon the designated drop zones and key military structures.
Many buildings were destroyed in the bombardment, becoming ruins belching black smoke.
Some special structures raised shields, withstanding the savage orbital bombardment.
The fleet's sensors constantly scanned the enemy's defenses.
Once the enemy's anti-air firepower had been completely crippled, the landing operation began.
"I will win this victory, Father. Witness the rise of Horus."
On Boarding Deck 66, Horus and the warriors of the Sixteenth Legion were conducting their final combat readiness checks.
Horus hoped to achieve an impressive result in this battle.
He wanted to prove to everyone in the Empire that Horus was the Emperor's strongest, finest, and most dependable son.
"Whether in the arena or on the battlefield, I will never be defeated."
Angron stood with the warriors of the Twelfth Legion.
He regarded this drop assault as a new gladiatorial bout.
He firmly believed that he would achieve victory and weave another section into the Crimson Victor Rope.
The Triumph Rope was a custom among the gladiators of Nuceria.
It was woven after every gladiatorial bout.
Red represented victory, while black represented defeat.
Angron's Triumph Rope had remained red ever since the day he entered the arena.
He was an undefeated warrior, the Crimson King, the Angel of Battle.
The drop assault began.
The Twelfth Legion and the Sixteenth Legion were deployed as the vanguard.
After landing, Horus was shocked to discover that the forces fighting them were not humans, but purely mechanical troops.
They did not fear death, nor did they possess weak emotions such as fear or panic.
They would only resolutely carry out their preprogrammed directives and attack the Imperial forces.
They were the most stubborn enemies. Only by destroying every one of them could this battle end.
The fighting between the two sides was extraordinarily brutal.
One side was the Astartes Legions, filled with vengeful fury and unyielding will.
The other was an utterly rational mechanical force that would never know fear.
For a time, the battle fell into a deadlock.
The Ignition Assault Rifle, Heavy Bolter, Plasma Cannon, and other lethal weapons were all brought into use.
The Empire's Titans were also dropped onto the surface.
Relying on their enormous size and Plasma Incinerators as huge as skyscrapers, they forcibly carved a path called destruction through the metal city.
Over the long and brutal struggle, the scales of victory gradually tilted toward the Empire.
The landing forces of the two Legions annihilated all mechanical enemies near the landing zones.
They began advancing deeper inland, expanding their occupied territory and establishing defensive fortifications.
Leading a squad of Twelfth Legion warriors, Angron captured a magnificent domed structure and discovered something horrifying.
Countless nutrient pods filled the building, each containing a human being.
There were infants, children, teenagers, young adults, middle-aged people, the elderly, men, and women.
All kinds of data cables ran into their bodies, sustaining their lives.
They were all asleep, seemingly trapped within a virtual world.
The news was quickly transmitted back to the fleet.
The Matrix?
When Raven saw the image data uploaded by the Twelfth Legion, he instinctively thought of it.
But he quickly dismissed the absurd notion.
Biological batteries simply could not sustain such a vast mechanical planet.
These humans were most likely being used for some other, darker purpose.
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