The Doom Warriors were genuinely touched. Three Strike Cruisers!
The Chaplain spent a moment considering whether this was a Chaos plot, then came to a realization.
Wouldn't we have to smash them either way? Since when could an encounter with Chaos Warriors end peacefully?
Next, the Chief Commissar led several Doom Warriors on a rapid inspection of the Chaos Warriors' corpses. Some of these traitors had been Salamanders, some Iron Hands, and others were bastards from the Iron Warriors and Imperial Fists.
Without exception, they had undergone extensive metallization. Large quantities of metal plating had greatly increased their survivability.
Their defenses surpassed the record held by the Nurgle Cultists.
(Nurgle's Death Guard took an average of 14.5 bolter rounds to kill.)
These traitors bore more than a dozen bullet craters each, along with no shortage of wounds from melta and ion weapons.
The Chaplain immediately imagined the threat these heavily protected Chaos Warriors would pose if they held key routes.
It felt like facing a warband of Techmarines.
He had not forgotten his original purpose: scouting the defenses here. The Chief Commissar led him to Gate Three, where Emperor's Blade Tanks stood guard. With help from the Tech-Priests and Skitarii, the line was extremely stable. Then they visited the breached Gate Four, where a vicious firefight was raging, consuming hundreds upon thousands of rounds every moment.
Why visit those two places? Because the routes passed through areas where the Emperor's Icons had not yet been fully dismantled.
The Doom Warriors' Chaplain confirmed that the enemy had indeed committed its troops to the hive city. The Strike Cruisers should be short on defenders.
What were they waiting for? Both sides agreed to take out the Chaos Warriors first.
Communications between the ground and the sky had been cut off, but that