The clearing of the radiation storm made the situation on the ground exceptionally clear. This stretch of desert chosen as the landing zone was filled with countless T'au ambush units.
This desert had originally been meant to become a slaughterhouse for the Imperium's armored forces, but Lin Fan had approached Sage Kaos and used the power of the Favor Fruit, so Kaos reluctantly activated the weather controller.
The captains of every ship saw the T'au forces lying in ambush in the desert through their augur arrays. The fleet's bombardment left these desert hunters without even a chance to flee.
A shell landed amid a Hammerhead ambush unit. The violent blast wave threw up vast sheets of sand, swallowing the Hammerheads like a tsunami on land.
Thousands of tons of superheated sand buried squad after squad of Hammerheads. The T'au pilots inside tried to blast themselves a way out with their railguns.
The electromagnetic rounds melted the sand, turning it into scorching slurry that dripped onto the armor. They would not be getting out from under that sand anytime soon.
The Astra Militarum was deployed into the desert, and Lin Fan and the 37th Regiment swiftly disembarked from their transports.
The sky was unusually clear, and radiation levels had fallen to what the human body could tolerate. The endless dunes formed a breathtaking sight, but macro shells and lances occasionally fell from the sky, sending tons of sand flying and ruining the view.
Feeling the blast winds carry fine grains of sand against him, Lin Fan grimaced and put on the gas mask Colonel Erika had given him.
Having sand scrub across his face was not a pleasant feeling.
Transport after transport delivered troops to their positions. They would form a ring of encirclement around the T'au city beyond the desert.