The Governor's First Battle, Sacred Golden Light, Salamanders Return

They planted melta bombs at key points throughout the ship.

The massive explosions were visible even to the research vessel outside.

They did not have enough ammunition to destroy the entire battleship, but destroying several key points was enough. It had already signaled to the research vessel outside that they had successfully boarded.

"Excellent work. They succeeded over there."

"But Captain, our research vessel's shields are already nearing their limit. They can't withstand the enemy's fire any longer, and their radar has fully locked onto us. One more shot and our shields will break. We need to accelerate immediately and leave the battlefield."

"Bring us up to maximum speed. Draw their escort ship away first."

"No need. Drop me onto it. I'll seize that escort ship." The Salamander Company Captain, whose equipment had been cobbled together from various sources, rose to his feet and looked toward the escort ship.

He was the Company Captain. He should have been the one leading the charge.

Yet he had let his men charge into battle ahead of him.

"Captain, you can't! The Apothecary said one of your hearts was shattered. The new heart hasn't fully healed yet, and your weapon was borrowed by the Blood Raven Chapter."

"Bullshit. I know my body better than he does. A minor wound like that won't kill me."

"My lord, their escort ship has kept its distance from us the whole time. They are guarding against us launching more drop pods. We cannot make another drop."

After hearing this, Vulkan's face darkened with displeasure.

Were these cowardly xenos too afraid to face him head-on?

Despicable heretics who only knew how to take cheap shots from afar.

Trash that could only rely on range.

The research vessel's captain explained to Vulkan, "My lord, we are not fleeing. This is a strategic withdrawal. We need to draw fire away from those who infiltrated the enemy fleet. This is a very important mission. Besides, this research vessel carries a great deal of planetary construction supplies, and it is our vital means of returning home. We cannot afford to lose it."

"..." Vulkan did not consider himself an impulsive man.

He understood.

After all, if the research vessel were truly blown apart, their return to Ozrax would be delayed indefinitely.

Vulkan looked at the battleship. After a moment of silence, he said, "Return."

"?"

"They're still aboard."

"They will complete their mission. This won't do, that won't do—there's no point in us staying here. I'll return with the remaining Salamanders to support your Governor."

"..."

He could see that the Tau Empire did not want a swift battle. They wanted to wear them down, and he could not allow himself to be pinned here.

The traitors within the Chapter required his personal attention.

No matter what excuse they had used to betray them, it was absolutely unforgivable.

Ozrax.

High in the sky, the warships were no more than faint shadows.

But Chaos drop pods were already falling from the heavens like meteors wreathed in flame.

Boom!

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Some Chaos drop pods landed far away, while others came down almost directly before them, less than a few dozen meters away.

The Chaos drop pods, covered in cursed symbols, exuded a vile aura that profaned reality itself. The battle-scarred pods seemed to whisper with the Warp if one drew too close. Psychic storms were brewing across the battlefield, and even the surrounding air had become unsettling.

The remaining Astra Militarum troops on Ozrax swallowed hard and tightened their grips on their machine guns.

The saintly Governor holding a massive axe turned his back toward his people.

Clang!

A mutated, scaled claw pried open a drop pod hatch, revealing a twisted face.

Chaos warriors, hunters of death, Dragon Warriors of the Dragon Warband—they would soon bring conquest to this planet with their razor-sharp claws.

"The scent of humans! Over there."

"How sweet!"

Fabius, Librarian of the Chaos Warband, had once belonged to the Fifth Company of the Blood Raven Chapter. He and his entire company had been lost in the Warp for a long time. Afterward, the Blood Raven Chapter completely erased that history from the records of its flagship.

The other Chaos Warbands only knew that Fabius had once been a member of the Blood Raven Chapter. He was a rare psychic wielder capable of influencing his enemies' minds, controlling their hearts, dominating their spirits, and commanding more Chaos thralls, Tech-Priests, and Chaos cultists.

The moment he arrived on the planet's surface, he sensed the scent of flesh mingled with Chaotic psychic energy.

Excitement did not rob him of reason, nor did delight make him lower his guard.

As a psyker, he felt the traces left by Chaos more deeply than others. He touched the ground and found an abandoned Blade of Corruption. The instant he touched it, he seemed to see the past.

"A great battle took place here."

"Large numbers of Chaos forces fell."

"Find him!" "Find him!" "Find him!" "Find him!"

For an instant, Fabius seemed to possess a power that could see through the future. He saw the galaxy burning. He saw the Warp burning. He saw even the sun burning. Amid the roiling flames, he saw a figure?

A figure burning within the flames?

Vulkan, Lord of Fire Dragons?

No.

The Lord of Fire Dragons stood behind him, Storm Hammer in hand.

And there was not only the Lord of Fire Dragons. There was a second one with wings, then a third, a fourth.

Who were they?

Then—

It seemed as though some force had been forcibly injected into Fabius's body, and his body began to undergo a bizarre mutation.

"Fabius?"

Fabius's out-of-control psychic power directly detonated a Chaos Space Marine beside him. The act shocked the other Chaos Space Marines. "Fabius, what are you doing?"

Fabius's mutation progressed even faster than they had imagined. Horns and scales grew from half his body, while tentacles extended from the other half, sprouting disgusting pustules. Yet he felt no pain. On the contrary, he felt better than ever before.

"Heh heh, it's nothing, nothing."

"You, go bring him to me."

Fabius used his psychic mind-control powers. Eerie light flickered in the eyes of several nearby Chaos Space Marines as he brought them under his control, and those four Chaos Space Marines received Fabius's orders.

As the fangs that had betrayed their entire race and pledged themselves to Chaos, they had only one path ahead of them: draw the attention of the four Chaos Gods of the Warp, receive their blessings, and become true immortals.

And now, the Chaos Gods had given him an opportunity.

Capture one human.

Just one human.

This... shouldn't be difficult, right?

However, he had no intention of sharing this benefit with his Warband leader or those so-called Dragon Warriors.

On the front-line battlefield.

Chaos Space Marines descended onto the battlefield with their cultists and thralls.

[Emergency Event: Decapitation Operation]

[An unknown gaze has noticed you. The dagger left behind on the battlefield has not vanished. Defend the city, counterattack the Chaos daemons, and obtain a Mutant Psychic Energy Detector.]

"Dagger?"

He had never paid much attention to the dagger he had left in the Chaos Space Marine's body.

It seemed it had not been retrieved at the time, but had instead been picked up by someone.

"...Clean up the blood completely."

The Emperor's intermittent voice rang out beside his ear again.

"Alright, alright, I get it. I'll be more careful next time, okay? How was I supposed to have time to deal with the trash left on the ground back then?"

"Instead of talking, why not give me a buff?"

"..."

Cisrain leaped down from the city wall.

"The mission is to behead the daemons, right?"

"Protect the Governor!"

"Activating the force-field shield."

For some reason.

Brown saw that golden light on Governor Cisrain again.

Under the influence of the golden light, even the whispers around them seemed to weaken considerably.

Captain, I have good news and bad news. Which do you want to hear first?

The good news!

We're saved!

What's the bad news?

The one who came is gray!