But the real danger came from above.
Liu Zhipeng stood on the deck of the cloaked warship, his eyes burning with molten-gold fire as he stared fixedly at the largest shadow overhead.
Although a single shot from the Phalanx had shattered the Blackstone Fortress's core, its main body remained a deadly mass of rock the size of a continental plate. Now, countless thruster-like flames were lighting up across its uneven surface.
"The Dark Mechanicum..." Liu Zhipeng snorted, golden steam gushing from the gaps in his armour. "Trying to pull a 'Heavenly Obstacle Quaking Star'? Did you ask me, the 'demolition chief,' first?"
He turned to the Ember Guard behind him, who had been ready to deploy since their time on the Biel-Tan Craftworld. "Lads! The monkeys... I mean, humans down below are fighting for their lives. We can't just stand here and watch. See that big rock? That's Abaddon's last trump card."
He raised his blazing greatsword, End of Lament, its tip pointing straight at the heavens.
"Our mission is simple: board it, slaughter the mechanical heretics installing those thrusters, and then-tear that damned rock to pieces!"
"For the Overlord! For the wrath of Khaine!"
Thousands of Ember Guard let out a silent roar.
The next moment, the cloaked warship dropped its camouflage and forced its way into low orbit around the Blackstone wreckage. Countless golden teleportation beams pierced the void like a torrential downpour, striking the blasphemous rune-covered surface of the ruined Blackstone Fortress.
Amid the vast wreckage of twisted metal and fleshy conduits, a Great Sage of the Dark Mechanicum frantically directed the Skitarii and slave labourers under his command.
"Faster! Faster! For the Warmaster's will! Overload the Gravitational Engines! We'll smash this planet to pieces!"
But what answered him was not the slaves' meek assent, but a