Leading the Charge

Roboute Guilliman's grief was immense, and the Iron Hands were equally despondent, yet they still offered their thanks to the Primarch of the Thirteenth Legion.

"Our Primarch is dead, but the Tenth Legion is not broken. We will personally slay the traitorous Sons of the Emperor, showing no mercy or pity," roared Iron Father Willand.

Guilliman issued an order to all the warriors:

"Assemble all troops, all personnel, all heavy weapons. Anyone not bound by the Chapter's structure is to be reorganized into new combat teams on the spot, and the helmets of squad leaders are to be painted red starting now."

"Red?" Gage asked.

"In the past, red signified punishment, but our Sergeant Hill's performance has proven that to be misguided. Furthermore, distinct colors will allow the command chain to operate more smoothly."

Having recovered their Primarch and restored their propulsion systems, the Glory of Macragge was finally able to set sail once more. The reactor's surging power output caused the colossal vessel to spew a dazzling blue beam from its stern, instantly vaporizing the Word Bearers still struggling to cut through its armor.

The cruisers clinging to the hull were dragged along by the irresistible force, unable to offer any resistance. When their anchors snapped, they were flung backward, annihilated by the engine's flames and Void Shields.

As the Glory of Macragge moved, the insignificant ones could only turn into sparks in the starry sky.

Captain Homid, who was commanding the warship's navigation, discovered an anomaly. In the warship's scanning system, the Kaos orbital weapon array had changed its firing direction.

But this was not a cause for celebration.

"My Lord, the weapon array, they've opened fire!" the captain screamed.

"Opened fire on what?"

"The sun, they're firing on Kaos's sun!"

Near-orbit, Weapon Array Control Center.

Soloth Cho'el of the Word Bearers, who fired the first shot of betrayal and nearly killed Ultramarines Captain Lucius, received a message from the surface of Kaos.

It was an order from the Word Bearer's Hand of Fate, Priest Erebus.

This Word Bearer priest, who had been lurking on the surface of Kaos overseeing the ritual, had completed all arrangements. The time had come.

Khorvalen, the overall commander responsible for space, nodded to Cho'el, signaling him to proceed.

As the command was issued, technicians at the control consoles became busy. The weapon arrays on the orbital platform completed their rotation. These dangerous weapons, capable of annihilating an entire fleet, were aimed in the same direction.

It was the direction of Kaos's sun.

"Damn it, why is our Thinker System so slow today?" one technician complained.

"Shut up! It must be because you've been too lax, displeasing the machine spirit!" another Adeptus Mechanicus Tech-Priest berated him.

Their conversation was extremely quiet. The Word Bearers were not easy people to get along with, and they had seen too many captives and mortals killed and sacrificed by them.

The sun was not merely the core of a star system; within the Word Bearers' belief system, stars were also a crucial part. Those who first received the Warp's blessing and merged with Warp entities, the Enchanted Warriors, were given the name "Serrated Sun."

Erebus and Khorvalen, two high-ranking officials of the Word Bearers Legion, jointly facilitated this ritual. The former presided over the ritual on the surface of Kaos, weakening Kaos's veil of reality and allowing the Warp's currents to touch the real world.

The latter would further complete this ritual.

"A magnificent sacrifice. Kaos's sun is also one of the offerings. We have presented the most captivating tribute to the truth of the Warp."

"And in return, the gods will bestow upon me the most wondrous blessings."

Khorvalen casually pressed the main control button, and the magnificent orbital station beneath him began to tremble.

The weapon arrays spread across the orbit unleashed all their accumulated destructive power.

Continuous energy beams, missile clusters capable of destroying starships, antimatter warheads encased in heavy metal, and highly unstable atomic weapons.

All lethal weapons were released. They only needed eight minutes to reach the sun's surface, disrupting the nuclear reactions of Kaos's sun through continuous bombardment.

The consequence of this would be the sun's rapid decay, releasing all its energy in a short period, turning it into an incredibly deadly supernova.

Roboute Guilliman's fleet detected the Word Bearers' conspiracy, but they could do nothing. Nothing could stop that torrent of death.

It was all too late.

The Gene-Father could only stand before the viewport of the auxiliary bridge, witnessing the prime of its life star being subjected to intense energy bombardment and contamination by toxic heavy metals. The nuclear reactions were severely disrupted, and the sun's radiation surged dramatically in a very short time.

All the alarms on the warships were buzzing, the viewports were shielded by blast curtains that blocked solar radiation, and warnings to the surface were issued simultaneously.

The sun emitted an evil radiance, transforming from a warm nurturer into a malevolent destroyer. Large sunspots appeared on its surface like detestable scars. The attacks by humans were insignificant to the star, yet they created terrifyingly colossal solar flares that broke through the sun's atmosphere.

These were energy eruptions from within the star, appearing macroscopically like tongues of fire spewing forth and falling from the plasma below.

Everyone understood that even if they drove away the Word Bearers, the beautiful and prosperous Kaos would never return.

The scars of orbital bombardment could be repaired, and the evaporated oceans would return, but if the most crucial sun no longer favored life, then everything would die in agony under the massive solar radiation.

"The plan remains unchanged. The orbital and weapon arrays must be recaptured."

Guilliman stated resolutely. He did not vent his anger pointlessly but was instead seizing every second to assemble his forces, while also ordering the loyalists on the surface to seek shelter underground.

The ground battle for Kaos had lost its meaning, as everything would soon turn to dust.

The kill team was assembled. Six hundred Ultramarines would be teleported to the orbital Zesangwerid Shipyard.

This was the vast majority of the warriors that the Glory of Macragge could currently deploy. Moreover, Roboute Guilliman decided to lead this team personally.

"My Lord Primarch, you do not need to go personally. Allow me to lead the airborne assault!" Gage tried to persuade the Primarch not to take further risks, but the Gene-Father's gaze rendered the rest of his words unspoken.

"We have reached a desperate moment. If not now, then when, my Chapter Master?"

"Are you the Primarch or am I the Primarch, obey my command!"

Guilliman granted command of the squad to Gage, Ventanus, and Hill. After the kill team's drop, they would each lead a portion of the warriors in decapitation strikes against the enemies in the control towers.

With the aid of a Tech-Priest, the Primarch received a brand-new combat helmet. His armor was urgently maintained, and he was no longer unarmed. His left hand was equipped with a massive lightning claw, while his right hand held a high-powered, master-crafted bolter.

Cobalt blue and gold accented each other, with magnificent Ultramarines insignia and aquila engravings covering the armor. The fully armed Primarch stood at the forefront, awaiting the activation of the teleportation system.

The room was filled with the pungent smell of ozone, and a mixture of cold dust and metal permeated the air – the traces of the brutal war that had erupted on the battleship.

Energy began to accumulate, the machine spirit let out a high-pitched cry, and in the next instant, Guilliman and the kill team vanished once more.

The plot of the War of Kaos is mainly to allow the protagonist to experience the atmosphere of 31k. He won't be able to do anything until the next plot. Please vote and collect.