Inside the platform's main command center, Shas'la Mont, the Fire Caste commander responsible for security, watched the holographic map with a deathly pale face. The red dots marking the "enemy" were advancing at an unbelievable speed, driving relentlessly toward the platform's core-the main reactor.
Every interception force he sent out vanished without a trace the instant it made contact with the enemy, like clay oxen sinking into the sea.
He had no idea that the army he faced could not be judged by any conventional standard.
What he faced was an unprecedented, miniature WAAAGH! launched by hundreds of thousands of Gretchin endowed with intelligence, discipline, and technology that defied all reason!
Sharpfang led his Gretchin legion forward with unstoppable momentum. They smashed through more than a dozen blast doors and crushed over a hundred defensive positions before finally reaching their destination.
It was an immense circular chamber, like the dome of a cathedral. At its center floated a huge sphere radiating an eerie blue glow. Countless thick energy conduits stretched from the sphere to the surrounding walls like gigantic snakes. The air hummed with the sound of overloading energy.
This was the heart of the Fist of the Firmament-03-the M.A.R.K-V reactor.
"Heh heh heh... now that's a big one." Excitement gleamed in Sharpfang's electronic eyes. He knew that destroying this place would turn the entire orbital platform into a cold corpse.
But in front of the reactor, the T'au defenders had established their final-and most elite-line of defense.
Dozens of XV88 Broadside Battlesuits knelt on one knee like silent giants. The massive heavy Railguns mounted on their shoulders had finished charging, their muzzles gleaming with the cold light of death. Beside them stood several even taller, pure-white XV104 Riptide Battlesuits, their chest-mounted ion accelerators gathering enough energy to lay waste