War always broke out so suddenly, especially for ordinary people.
The Imperium's subjects hid in terror in the gaps between the dark, towering buildings of the Hive City, watching the Emperor's armies in the streets through clouded eyes.
Strictly speaking, they did not count as subjects of the Imperium. These people living in the Underhive were merely cogs in the vast world of the Hive City. They spent their lives in appalling conditions and knew, from the moment they were born, how their short lives would end.
As soon as they were old enough to hold tools, they had to start working in factories and workshops, earning a few energy bars and six Terran hours of rest.
No one considered them important. After all, they were merely tools that automatically replaced themselves every twenty years.
And now, the Nostad Third Regiment was moving through the Underhive at tremendous speed.
The Leman Russ Battle Tank's tracks ground brutally through a drainage ditch filled with toxic wastewater as the Emperor's soldiers charged through the streets.
Colonel Sakot stood atop the command turret of the Emperor's Baneblade, surveying his surroundings.
"Colonel, we're about to enter the Mid Hive."
"Understood. Stay alert. Those damned Chaos scum love ambushes."
"Understood."
After they entered the Mid Hive, their surroundings changed noticeably.
Compared with the neglected laborers of the Underhive, the people here had more respectable housing and better public order.
Oh, and there were the PDF troops lying on the ground, reduced to bloody pulp.
Colonel Sakot looked around in confusion. He could not understand where the attackers had gone.
Didn't the enemy have plenty of Astartes? Why hadn't they encountered an attack yet?
Suddenly, a voice rang out.
"Soldiers of the Imperium, we have come for humanity and peace, not for bloody sacrifices."
Crack!
The loudspeaker fell to the ground, and an Astra Militarum soldier beside the road lowered his Lasgun.
"You too are warriors fighting for humanity. There is no need for conflict between us. There is room for negotiation."
A nearby Commissar roared.
"Do not be deceived by the enemy's lies! We are the Emperor's soldiers, his faithful blades!"
Watching the Nostad Third Regiment break through yet another security perimeter, Bona frowned slightly.
Numerous Astartes lay in ambush in the surrounding buildings, while Thunder Warriors waited at the far end of the road ahead.
Scattered across these positions were nearly four hundred Astartes, along with seven or eight Thunder Warriors. Such a force was extravagant for an ambush against the Astra Militarum.
But what left Bona feeling helpless was this.
Despite all that terrifying strength, they could not scrape together three Plasma Guns or five Melta grenades. Even their Bolts had to be counted out one by one.
As for Terminator Armour, they had none whatsoever.
The only ones with lavish equipment were, of all people, the Thunder Warriors under his command!!!
These Astartes, who had left the Imperium but refused to give themselves over completely to Chaos, were poorer than the fucking Chaos Astartes!
They even relied on raiding Imperial ships for supplies.
Bona began to understand why Chaos Warbands loved close combat so much. Apparently, poverty had driven them to it.
He looked at the Emperor's Baneblade. Its gun barrel was almost wide enough to fit an Astartes inside, and among the Astra Militarum troops, roughly one in every seven or eight carried a Plasma Gun or Melta weapon.
Much as he hated to admit it, Bona genuinely felt that these four hundred or so Astartes might not be able to defeat this Astra Militarum force.
"Abort the ambush. Everyone withdraw."
"Captain Dakan, bring your men and follow me."
After rounding a corner, Colonel Sakot finally saw the "attackers."
A white-robed figure stood in the middle of the road, with several oversized Astartes behind him.
"Halt."
The Emperor's Baneblade came to a steady stop, then trained its ten-meter gun barrel on the target ahead.
The gunners loaded an explosive, Promethium rocket-propelled shell into the breech. All eleven of its guns, large and small, aimed at the target.
Several Leman Russ Battle Tanks surged past on either side, and a large number of Imperial Guard soldiers also aimed their weapons at the strange enemy.
Sakot narrowed his eyes slightly.
"Connect me to the vox system."
"Yes, sir."
Accompanied by a shrill whine, Sakot picked up the handset.
"Astartes ahead, identify yourselves immediately."
"Otherwise, we will open fire."
Bona watched them calmly.
"We come in peace."
"Chaos scum?"
Colonel Sakot sneered.
"Gunner, fire."
The expected roar of cannon fire never came.
"Gunner, in the Emperor's name, fire!"
But all he heard was silence.
Sakot looked down into the Bane Blade. Its operators stood motionless, as though their souls had left them.
All around him, the fully armed Astra Militarum soldiers had fallen into a daze. No amount of shouting drew any response.
"I think we should be able to have a proper conversation now," Bona said.
"Never, Chaos scum!"
The colonel went to draw his pistol and shoot, but an immense force struck his hand, and the pistol flew into the air of its own accord.
Bona walked over.
"You keep insisting that we are a Chaos force."
"Yet not a single person has been sacrificed."
"I told you, we came for peace."
Suddenly, a flash of light appeared. A moment later, Bona looked at the Bolt suspended in front of him.
"Die, heretic!" the Commissar roared in fury.
Bona looked at the Commissar in irritation.
"Stubborn fool. Kneel!"
The Commissar felt an immense force descend upon him. The next instant, both his knees hit the ground, his face contorted in pain.
Bona turned back to the colonel.
"Colonel, I want your troops to withdraw from the Hive City. I do not want innocent civilians dying in the fighting."
"Impossible, unless you get the hell out."
Bona suddenly sensed something, and witnessed an incredible sight.
Some of the Imperial Guard soldiers who had just lost consciousness had regained it.
They could not control their bodies, yet they struggled to move their hands, trying to raise their weapons.
Even the Commissar, under that crushing pressure, was slowly raising his Bolter toward Bona with trembling hands.
Anger flared in Bona's heart. He had been trying all along to prevent conflict and bloodshed, so why did some people refuse to understand?
In the blink of an eye, flames of unknown origin appeared on the Commissar's body.
The Commissar howled in agony. The burning at the level of his soul made him feel as though every cell in his body were on fire.
A voice from the Sea of Souls sounded in his ears.
|Give up your resistance.|
The Commissar roared, then used every last ounce of strength to level his Bolter.
"Never!"
He pulled the trigger, but the Bolt was crushed to dust in midair.
|Futile resistance.|
The Commissar pulled the trigger again.
The burning sensation from the Sea of Souls grew ever more intense, bringing him to the verge of unconsciousness.
His hand had lost all fear, and the Bolter fell to the ground.
But the Commissar still glared at him.
Then an immense force struck him unconscious.
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