Vulkan's church.
It became the center of the battle.
Outside the church, a purple beacon was continuously summoning Chaos minions for Chaos.
"Brown, the research vessel's shells missed. Aim for that purple beam."
"Governor, that's a research vessel, not an orbital cannon mounted on a battleship in orbit. We're lucky it didn't blow us up." Brown grumbled to himself, but still yelled at the research vessel's operators overhead. "Can't you people aim a little better?"
"."
There were no coordinates, no precise location—just "aim for the beam." Why not try dropping a few torpedoes from twenty thousand meters up in space yourself?
Grumbling aside, the job still had to be done properly. Otherwise, when the governor returned, he might revoke their eligibility to live in the City of Ideals. That would hardly be worth it.
The operators could only put pressure on the orbital calculator and the shell thrower.
"You lot, aim better! Is it that hard to shoot at the purple beam?"
"."
Development was still far too slow.
Everything was only just getting started.
Our technological progress was already slow, and now you Chaos bastards had to come and cause trouble.
Once my technology had advanced, I'd hunt down every last one of you and plug you all into the power grid.
The rest would go into the Megastructure Synapse Condenser.
"My Emperor, he's not even human! Did you see that? He tore apart a mechanical daemon that big with his bare hands!"
"By the Emperor, the Emperor must have heard our prayers and sent his mightiest Angel to unleash His wrath upon the traitors."
"So this is what it feels like to fight alongside an Angel of the Emperor? I feel so powerful! We even stopped Chaos."
"Don't get cocky. The enemy isn't all dead yet, and our mission isn't complete."
The battle line had been pushed forward almost entirely by Cisrain alone.
The ground was littered with the bodies of Chaos minions, but more Chaos troops kept pouring in from the rear. Cisrain stood atop a mound of corpses, routing one Chaos warrior after another. Among them were corrupted humans, members of the Adeptus Mechanicus, Abhumans, Xenos, and Chaos Space Marines.
Some of the Chaos troops were even beginning to include the rotting corpses of Chaos-tainted humans, their bodies decaying and reeking.
Cisrain kicked down a corrupted rank-and-file soldier of the Adeptus Mechanicus.
Standing atop the mound of corpses, with the sun behind him, he cast a black silhouette across the ground.
"We can fire!"
"Yes, Governor!" The people aboard the research vessel said, "Prepare to deliver the package."
"Beginning delivery countdown."
The radar in space, originally used to survey the planet's surface, was now being used to lock onto the Chaos Beacon's purple light. The torpedoes that had been used to blast asteroids out of the way were now being deployed as bombs, sent toward the beacon.
In the silent void of space, the Reaper's scythe descended.
"Brown Shield at full power! Scientists, find cover!"
"Find cover immediately! Air raid incoming!"
Brown Hoken directed the scientists. They were Gamma Planet's wealth and the foundation of its rise. Gamma Planet wasn't short on people, but it lacked scientists. At least until they got the Synapse Condenser Governor Cisrain had mentioned, these scientists were the Empire's most precious resource.
Of course, the governor was even more precious.
"Governor, cover?" Brown waved to him from the rear.
Cisrain heard him and glanced over his shoulder. "Just hide behind me."
"No, I mean—"
"Air raid!"
"Air raid!"
"Find cover nearby!"
Seeing Brown call for cover, the remaining Astra Militarum troops also began shouting for everyone to find cover nearby.
But Cisrain, standing atop the mound of corpses, didn't need any cover.
As a gene-ascended being, he was the strongest cover there was.
And it was only a nuclear warhead.
Cisrain shook the blood from his hand.
That was satisfying.
His recent weariness vanished all at once.
Sure enough, whether it was Chaos or Xenos, the best thing to do with creatures like these was wait for a chance to drag them out and beat them up.
If he had to deal with government affairs every day, he'd go crazy.
Peace for too long, huh? It really wasn't a good thing.
"Does that lord not need cover?"
"Probably... not?"
Above the Chaos Beacon,
a space torpedo carrying a nuclear warhead plummeted from above.
Following the purple beam, it fell into the canyon where the Chaos Beacon stood.
The death knell rang at once.
Boom!
The nuclear torpedo hadn't seemed very powerful in space, but once it struck the ground, it set the air and earth resonating.
A Blood Ravens reconnaissance squad was on its way to the church.
"I felt a tremor." Cyrus looked toward the Chaos Beacon.
The valley beneath the purple beam lit up with a blinding, daylight-bright flash.
It instantly swallowed the dark valley, along with the Chaos creatures about to pour into it.
"It's happening again!"
"Watch out for the bombing! Find cover!"
Humm!
The violent tremor brought fear.
The searing light and heat carried the power to incinerate everything.
The fireball swallowed everything in an instant, sparing not even the Chaos Beacon.
The Chaos forces near the center were roasted to ash by the scorching heat.
Boom!
A powerful shock wave swept across dozens of kilometers in an instant.
Trees and buildings were uprooted, almost without exception.
"Cover!"
Humm!
The energy wave pounded their eardrums. Even their shouts were drowned out by its force.
A sliver of energy leaking through a crack in the church flung the people inside away.
But Cisrain, outside, stood atop the towering mound of corpses and activated his force-field shield at even greater power, firmly holding back the impact in front of him.
Beneath the searing white light of the explosion,
Cisrain became the lone silhouette amid the dazzling radiance.
Some had to force their eyes open just to see the light around him.
"That man... he's practically a Living Saint."
They had never seen a Living Saint, nor had they ever seen one of the Emperor's chosen champions.
But Cisrain must be the kind of legend they talked about in the Astra Militarum.
"The Chaos Beacon has collapsed."
[Destroyed Chaos Beacon *1] [Triggered hidden event: Nineteen beacons have activated around Gamma Planet in the Far East Frontier. The one you destroyed was only one of them. (Chaos Beacons will summon more Chaos Cultists. If they are not completely destroyed within three years, a Chaos crisis will occur.) Complete the mission to receive the Colossus Project: Quantum Catapult] [Current incomplete events] [Daily event: Recover research points, progress: 30%] [Emergency event: Eliminate Chaos Warband, progress: 3%] [Hidden event: Chaos Beacon, progress: 5%]
"."
Cisrain raised an eyebrow when he saw the hidden event.
The flames burning before him were dazzling. The sky had even changed color.
"Confirmed. We really have been targeted."
A Cogitator sitting on a desk could help intelligent beings do many things. Tech-Priests used them to store data, the T'au used them to look up information, the Dark Eldar used them to watch porn, and the dwarves couldn't reach them.
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