Viola's surface air-defense network fully awakened the moment the vast, almost entirely unprotected fleet entered the atmosphere.
From the wasteland shrouded in thick sulfurous fog, a landscape like a vision of the apocalypse, and from the fortified military cities rising like the skeletons of colossal beasts, countless dazzling energy beams and solid shells erupted from the ground like an inverted forest, stabbing straight into the heavens!
The immense Railguns fired metal projectiles with piercing shrieks, effortlessly tearing through the transports' thin armour. Dense laser arrays sliced through their hulls with surgical precision. Countless anti-air missiles trailed long plumes of flame as they pursued their lumbering "prey" like schools of bloodthirsty sharks.
The sky became a grand and merciless fireworks display.
Transport after transport exploded in midair. Huge fireballs bloomed like blood-red flowers against the gloomy sky, briefly illuminating the other ships falling around them. Countless brave Astra Militarum soldiers never even glimpsed the enemy before they and their cold iron coffins became burning fragments scattered across the heavens.
On the bridge of the Blade of Sorrow, General Gage stared fixedly at the holographic display, watching the points of light that represented the lives of his soldiers wink out one after another. His remaining fist clenched so tightly that his knuckles cracked. In just a few minutes, he had lost over thirty percent of his mortal airborne forces. Every extinguished light represented thousands, even tens of thousands, of loyal souls.
"Enough." Saul's calm voice rang out, putting an end to the pointless sacrifice.
He turned, sweeping his gaze over the Space Marines behind him, already fully equipped and ready, their eyes blazing with battle lust. They came from seven different Chapters, including the Lamenters, Iron Hands, Black Templars, and White Scars. At that moment, every face bore the same expression, a