Battle for Silent Star (Part 1)

In the disbelief of Company Commander Caslon, the portal that had lain dormant for countless years suddenly flared with intense light.

"Something is coming through the portal!"

"It's xenos! Xenos warships!"

A cacophony of noise instantly engulfed the entire Silent Star camp.

No one could have imagined their luck would be this bad.

Of all times, they were attacked by xenos just days after the Expeditionary Fleet's main force had departed.

And look at what Horus had left them.

One Lunar-class Cruiser, five hundred Sons of the Emperor.

Plus a few powerful Malcador-class Heavy Tanks.

Ha!

We're doomed!

Caslon let out a resigned laugh.

But... maybe not.

What if, by some chance, the xenos emerging from this portal were so weak that they could handle them easily?

Right? What if?

The last shred of hope in Caslon's heart vanished completely as he saw the xenos warship's hull, stretching for kilometers, cross through the portal.

"This... is really the end."

"They're here."

"Order our warship to retreat immediately. No engagement."

"Notify all squads under our command to fall back to the first line of Defensive Fortifications at the foot of the mountain and prepare for battle."

"Chemos Guard, deploy Automated Flying Mechs."

"Sons of the Emperor Fifth Company reconnaissance squad, return. Notify the Adeptus Mechanicus outpost to begin personnel evacuation."

In a standard Space Marine chapter, the Fifth Company was a battle company, with scouts belonging to the Tenth.

But the Sons of the Emperor were different.

They only had five companies.

Not even a full chapter.

Kasgar directed the deployment of the forces below through the comms.

Though he might seem inexperienced by typical Space Marine standards—most underwent their transformation in youth—he was different.

He had actually led troops on Chemos for Thirty Years, learning command from Fulgrim for all that time.

In truth, almost every official in the Imperium of Man misunderstood one thing.

The reason Chemos had no army, only a guard, wasn't because Fulgrim's exceptional diplomacy had won over every faction on the planet.

It was because those factions that refused to be won over had been permanently eliminated by Kasgar and his Chemos Guard.

"...And finally, send a communication signal to those xenos. If we can resolve this through negotiation and cooperation, that's best."

"Over."

"You forgot to notify Horus's Expeditionary Fleet to return for support, Kasgar."

As Kasgar ended the transmission, Aqua spoke up to remind him.

"Return for support?"

"Why would the Expeditionary Fleet need to return? Teacher, you don't actually think we can't handle them, do you?"

At this, Aqua hesitated for a moment, then nodded.

They couldn't win. Wasn't that obvious?

The Xenos Fleet had fully passed through the portal, blotting out the sky—over a dozen ships in total.

Their warships were distinctive: several kilometers long, teardrop-shaped, with bright, shimmering colors.

And these were just Escorts.

The Xenos Flagship they surrounded at the center was several thousand meters long.

Though the ships carried no Void Shields or similar defenses, their large optical weapons could still inflict devastating damage on other vessels.

As Kasgar ordered the deployment, enemy drop troops began descending from their ships to the surface.

Thousands of fully armed xenos landed on Silent Star's ground.

On the human side, how could five hundred Space Marines, stripped of Orbital Support, stand against a xenos army backed by battlecruisers?

To hold out until Horus's reinforcements arrived in such a situation would already mark an exceptional commander.

Yet Kasgar seemed to believe he had nothing to fear from the enemy.

"The other party has rejected our communication request."

The xenos' stance was clear—they had come to sweep away the remaining human forces on the planet.

These xenos resembled crystalline clusters fused together, and their weapons were equally advanced: the energy crystals in their hands fired powerful beams that could melt or cut through nearly any obstacle in their path.

Far more effective than the flashlights the Imperial Army had to work with.

Fwoosh!

As countless beams streaked across the sky, the forward outpost that Caslon and his men had just set up collapsed in a thunderous heap under the aliens' laser fire.

Their fortress was no match for the enemy's laser weapons!

At this rate, even though Kasgar had the foresight to insist on building the highest-grade ironclad defenses, under the terror of those laser weapons, the fall of the entire defensive fortifications was likely only a matter of time.

Beneath the glare of countless laser beams, the sturdy defensive line was already riddled with holes.

If they didn't pull back soon, they might all be buried beneath the steel and stone.

"Orders received, preparing to withdraw."

The Auxilia leader who had been holding the line alongside Caslon responded into the communicator.

After the forward reconnaissance post fell, the first line of defense was now teetering under the enemy's suppressive fire.

All frontline commands had been issued.

But there was one exception—no combat orders had been given to the elite veterans of the Sons of the Emperor's First Company.

The message left for them contained no battle assignments.

Instead, it ordered them to fall back to the second line of defense, to observe and learn from the Chemos Guard's response strategy.

"What does this mean?!"

"I know full well that the veterans aren't happy with me becoming the Acting Prefect of the Legion."

Inside the bunker, Kasgar spoke unhurriedly.

"So for this battle, I never planned to have the Space Marines intervene."

Kasgar explained to the bewildered Aqua.

"Relying on just these few thousand Auxilia?"

"That's right, relying solely on our Auxilia—the Chemos Guard."

It was time.

Kasgar looked down at the battle unfolding among the troops below, his eyes brimming with confidence.

Let them witness firsthand the advanced tactics of the ancient 3K Era.

Now, it was the 31st Millennium.

Over these ages, countless advanced things had been lost.

Not just technology, but tactics as well.

"Tactics? What tactics?"

"When humanity was still in a primitive, blood-drinking society, our ancestors were at a disadvantage against large carnivores."

Kasgar didn't directly answer the question.

"But the clever ones learned to play to their strengths and use tactics—by mimicking sounds to startle, by chasing over long distances, by setting ambushes and traps."

"From then on, the weak became hunters, and the ferocious beasts became prey."

"Even without stronger muscles, fangs, or claws than the beasts, our ancestors still became the lords of all creation."

The key to defeating an enemy was never about charging headlong into a desperate struggle.

It was about preserving your own strength while eliminating the enemy's as much as possible.

"But sadly, after gaining sturdy armor and invincible weapons, arrogant people gradually forgot this principle."

Always ramming the strongest, hardest horns against each other.

Believing that only the toughest, most brutal victory counted as a true win.

(Of course, the real reason was to sell miniatures.)

But the truth?

The truth was never glorious: only the victors got to talk about it.

"Interesting."

"But I still think I'm better suited to duels."

The Sword Saint Aqua never bothered with any of this.

Her tactic was always the same—charge in and challenge the enemy's strongest leader to single combat.

Win, and the battle was over. Lose, and...

Well, she'd never lost.

So that tactic had never caused any problems.

No helping it.

If the xenos were beasts, Then she was Wu Song.