Chapter 200: The Nurgle Plague and the Plague of Unbelief
Lucan thought about what might happen next and quickly made a decision in his mind.
Going directly to Cadia was certainly not feasible. No matter how strong his ground forces were, if Abaddon were to drop a Blackstone Fortress on them, any number of troops would be meaningless. Lucan had to find a way to stop them in the void.
The forces Chaos had mobilized this time were the largest since the Great Heresy. He had to rely on the existing strength of the Imperium. With his Dynasty's current population and strength, he didn't know if he could win, but his own assets would most likely be exhausted in the fight. After all, the enemy had an endless legion of daemons behind them.
On paper, the Imperium's forces for the Battle of Cadia were not weaker than those of Chaos. However, the massive warp storms that followed had blocked reinforcements and communications. The harassment incidents in the surrounding sectors also left the Imperium's vast military forces spread too thin.
Lucan had to make use of the Imperium's dozens of Space Marine Chapters and their hundreds of millions of mortal soldiers and their fleets. However, how to integrate these forces was a major problem. Perhaps he could first try to resurrect Guilliman? With the influence of a Primarch, it should not be a problem.
And the other forces of the Dynasty could take advantage of the chaos to occupy some planets. By killing a large number of Chaos forces to obtain Psy-crystals, they could then establish production bases on the spot to arm the nearby Imperial forces. This would achieve the goal of "making the war pay for itself," slowing down the Chaos offensive while also freeing up the Imperium's original forces to be fully committed to the war for Cadia.
The initial investment for the Protoss had almost completely emptied Lucan's pockets of crystals.
"Tell Damon to transmit the team's coordinates back to Agathos. The Dynasty will soon send him reinforcements and the necessary supplies. Their mission is to establish a bridgehead for the Dynasty!"
The massive military force that Agathos had armed and trained over the years began to be summoned. One Gorgon-class battlecruiser after another was fully loaded with supplies and personnel. But the current territory in the Expanse also required a large number of troops for defense, which prevented Lucan from committing his full strength.
Damon also received the order. Just as he was thinking about how to begin his first move, the Departmento Munitorum on Agripinaa came looking for the Raiders.
The local fleet of Agripinaa could not spare any more forces. The strength of the Agripinaa Battlefleet could only defend a few important worlds to prevent them from falling completely. The Imperium had no more forces to support the Agripinaa Sector.
As for the Raiders, this Astra Militarum unit with its own warships, although the Munitorum found it incredible and even felt it violated the laws of the Imperium, after seeing that it belonged to a Rogue Trader Dynasty, they chose not to delve into the reasons for the time being. Rogue Traders did indeed have sufficient autonomy.
In normal times, even a Rogue Trader's forces would inevitably be subject to scrutiny by the Munitorum and the Inquisition. But now, they really needed a strong force to help solve the chaos in the Agripinaa Sector.
"Commander of the Raiders! Where is the commander of the Raiders!"
A loud and impolite call rang in Damon's ears. An officer from the Departmento Munitorum was shouting. But when he saw the murderous-looking Damon and the two Night Sentinels beside him walking toward him, the officer couldn't help but lower his voice.
What's with the aura on these guys? So full of killing intent?
Damon, who had to be looked up to, stood before the officer, looking down on him.
"I am Damon, the commander of the Raiders. Is there something you need?"
"Uh... as per the request of the Imperial Departmento Munitorum, the Agathos Raiders are to immediately proceed to the civilized world of Lorysia to assist the local governor in quelling the riots!"
"The Raiders will complete the mission!"
Hearing that the Raiders had accepted the mission, the officer did not want to stay in front of Damon any longer and immediately left the scene.
Damon had been thinking about what pretext to use to leave this place. And now, the Raiders could leave with a legitimate reason. Lorysia was an important system for entering the Agripinaa Sector and needed a strong force to retake it. Seeing the troop composition report submitted by the Raiders, the Munitorum had immediately assigned them to this mission.
However, when the Raiders' fleet arrived in the Lorysia system and witnessed the situation the entire planet was facing, they were still shocked by the scene before them. Lorysia was a civilized world of the Imperium. It was not covered in towering hive cities, but with large city clusters spread across the planet. For thousands of years, the world had developed naturally. It was more akin to a normal world, not outstanding in any particular area, but self-sufficient in industry and agriculture.
A Nurgle plague was spreading across this planet. The dead were rising again and attacking the living. Faced with this plague, all they could do was to purify all the infected with fire.
A transport flew over the surface of Lorysia. Looking at the scene in the fallen areas, Damon's brow furrowed tightly. The spread of the Nurgle plague in the sky above some cities had already caused some of them to show strange phenomena. A dark green, thick fog faintly shrouded the cities.
As the first StarCraft human summoned by Lucan into this world, the first Chaos enemy he had faced was the plague-infected crew. The Nurgle Poxwalkers, who fought without fear of death and were difficult to kill, had left a deep impression on him when he first arrived in this world. But the scene on this planet now made the Nurgle plague that had occurred on the Golden Battering Ram seem so laughable. The number of crew on the Golden Battering Ram meant that the total number of Nurgle Poxwalkers was only in the tens of thousands. But the scene before him had them in the tens of millions, and even hundreds of millions.
The Planetary Defence Force, with the help of a large number of defensive fortifications and depth, was holding back the Poxwalkers' attack. Several cities on the planet had already fallen, all of them collapsing from within.
And outside the surviving cities were refugee camps. Countless civilians had fled to the areas still under Imperial control, but they had also brought the plague with them. It was not yet so deadly, but the disease was still ravaging their bodies. The government here had physically isolated them from the most important areas. They did their best to send troops to maintain order here, and Ecclesiarchy churches were established to use faith to stabilize the people's濒临崩溃emotions. A pitifully small amount of supplies barely kept these people alive. Lorysia knew the threat of these potential carriers, but they needed this large population for labor. They could be workers or temporary soldiers.
The high-ranking officials in the systems near Cadia still had a sufficient understanding of Chaos. Casually abandoning these people would only make the corruption and influence of Chaos more severe. But the entire planet had now entered a vicious cycle.
The transport ship landed in the landing zone. The moment the ramp opened, an official from Lorysia walked up excitedly.
"By the Emperor! I am Franz, the official in charge of receiving you on Lorysia. We almost thought we had been abandoned by the Imperium. If you hadn't come, we wouldn't have been able to hold on for much longer!"
Looking at the other party's expression of having survived a catastrophe, Damon continued to ask, "Where is your governor? I need to understand the situation from him!"
"The governor... the governor is dead."
"Dead?"
"Yes... the governor died in an attack while inspecting the outer areas not long after the chaos began. The Administratum has not appointed a new one since. No one is willing to take the position of governor at this time. The departments of Lorysia are all operating independently. The astropaths have all gone mad. We can't even send astropathic messages to the Imperium, let alone receive them. We suspect it's those Unbelievers. These guys are spreading heretical theories everywhere. They slander the Imperium, and even dare to say that the Imperium has twisted the will of the Emperor. These guys even dared to attack the churches of the Ecclesiarchy and kill the holy priests!"
Hearing his words, Damon realized that the situation on Lorysia was more complicated than he had imagined. It could be said to be a crisis from both within and without.
"Clear the landing zone. My troops need to land. Give me all the intelligence on the fallen areas!"
"Sir, please follow me! I will have someone do it at once!"
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