Chapter 227: Landing on the Blackstone Fortress
Warp Prisms began to warp Templar and Probes into the interior of the Blackstone Fortress. The Probes immediately began to construct Pylons, Shield Batteries, and Photon Cannons.
Protoss combat drones called Sentries generated a large, semi-solid shield known as a Guardian Shield around themselves, which could effectively reduce the kinetic and energy damage of incoming weapons. And the impenetrable, wall-like Force Fields they created began to block the enemy's reinforcement routes to buy time for the initial Protoss warp-in. A simple defensive position was quickly formed.
One by one, Templar and Immortals were warped into the Blackstone Fortress, with Artanis among them. The Templar and the arriving Red Corsairs, as well as the Tzeentchian daemons summoned by sacrifice inside the Blackstone Fortress, began to fight.
The psi-blades in the hands of the Templar were exceptionally effective against pure warp creatures, able to penetrate the psychic barriers formed by Tzeentch's evil sorcery. The combat memories accumulated over the long lives of the Templar were also no weaker than those of the Chaos Astartes, and the existence of the Khala made the cooperation of the Protoss almost perfect.
The absurdly high ceilings inside the Blackstone Fortress could even accommodate some of the Protoss's smaller air units. Twenty flying vehicles called Phoenixes flew above the battlefield, picking off key enemy units. The anti-gravity tractor beams they carried could directly lift non-heavy units off the ground, exposing them to the fire of the Immortals. This was especially effective against the followers and daemons of Tzeentch who could cast warp sorcery. The Tzeentchian flames they unleashed were enough to melt the armor of an Immortal. Once the cockpit was breached, the already heavily wounded and fragile Protoss within could be easily killed. The threat of these daemons was much greater than that of the Red Corsairs.
"Hierarch, a landing zone has been cleared for the subsequent forces. The Lord said that someone will come to meet us and lead us to kill the enemy commander. However, one of our teams has been blocked by those humans called the Ultramarines. We even had some conflict."
"Were there any casualties?"
"No, but two Templar were injured. Our attacks were very restrained, and we did not harm the other side."
"Take me there!"
At this moment, among the Ultramarines' boarding party, more than forty of them were in a standoff with the Protoss, using the walls and simple cover. Behind them was a sacred Dreadnought. Its assault cannon was aimed forward. The moment the Protoss appeared, it would open fire without hesitation.
"Captain Michaelus! They are an unknown xenos!"
"I know. Their combat effectiveness is very strong! How did these creatures get inside the Blackstone Fortress? They seem to be attacking the traitors and daemons as well!"
"Should we attack, Captain!"
"Wait a little longer. We can first let those xenos wear down the traitors' strength, and then we will annihilate them both!"
The force that had broken into the Blackstone Fortress was the Third Company of the Ultramarines. They had won great fame in the war against the Tyranids; even their company banner was a severed Tyranid head. To deal with close-quarters combat with xenos, the company was equipped with a good number of Terminators and a large number of powerful melee weapons. The members of the company would also frequently go to the Deathwatch for training to learn how to better deal with xenos. They were experts in fighting aliens.
This also made their hatred and hostility toward xenos exceptionally strong. And seeing these Protoss, who seemed to be a friendly force, they did not give them any good face, and even directly launched an attack.
At that moment, a voice suddenly appeared in Michaelus's mind. It was the voice of Artanis. Through the vibration of psychic energy, the voice echoed directly in his brain.
"Xenos! Get out of my mind! There is no need for any negotiation between us!"
The Blackstone Fortress blocked the signal from Macragge, which meant that Michaelus had not received the message from Tigurius.
"Human! We belong to the Mongorte Rogue Trader Dynasty. We are following the orders of Lord Lucan to assist you in capturing this Blackstone Fortress and killing those followers of Chaos. Your Chief Librarian, Tigurius, has already sent a message to your fleet and your Chapter. We are not enemies, but friends. You can receive a message from your Chapter through the breach we have opened to verify. We will not take the initiative to attack you, but I hope you will not harm my people again! No matter what, Chaos is our common enemy!"
"We can never be friends! Filthy xenos!"
However, Artanis's words still had some effect. Although Michaelus hated xenos, from the actions of the Protoss, he knew that their enemies were also those of Chaos. The strict discipline of the Ultramarines prevented him from being blinded by hatred. As a captain, he had to make the most effective tactical decisions in battle. The best course of action now was to temporarily avoid conflict with this powerful race, the Protoss. It would only benefit Chaos.
At the same time, he was constantly trying to communicate with the outside world. The Spear of Adun and the Tempest fleet outside had caused a great deal of damage to the exterior armor of the Blackstone Fortress, which also allowed the warriors of the Third Company to barely establish a fuzzy connection with the outside.
The message Michaelus received then confirmed Artanis's words. However, he did not understand the decision made by Tigurius. The Third Company could refrain from attacking the Protoss, but they would absolutely not cooperate with these xenos!
Seeing the Third Company begin to move in the opposite direction, Artanis also breathed a sigh of relief. In his eyes, these warriors called Astartes in this world were all frighteningly paranoid.
After persuading the Astartes of the Ultramarines' Third Company to leave, the Protoss also welcomed the assistants that Lucan had mentioned. The ones who came were two hooded Fallen Angels. These Fallen Angels, who seemed to have fallen to Chaos, were actually practicing their loyalty to their Primarch and the Imperium in their own way. They had not expected that Cypher would have them assist some xenos. Although they could not say they hated them, they did not like xenos. It seemed that all loyalist Astartes were like this. In their eyes, this Rogue Trader Lucan's cooperation with or even raising of xenos had reached such a state.
Feeling the psychic energy on Artanis and the Protoss, these Fallen Angels were also surprised that they had not been corrupted by Chaos. Under normal circumstances, any race with this level of psychic power would have been targeted by the Four Gods of Chaos long ago.
However, for the Four Gods to corrupt the Protoss, they would have to invade the Khala. And to invade the Khala, they would first have to deal with Lucan's warp projection, which served as the central nexus. At this moment, the Sarr-Naga projection was also growing stronger, and the Emperor was always watching from the side. This was clearly something the Four Gods could not do right now.
"Protoss, Lord Cypher has sent us to assist you. Gather your troops. We will lead the way for you!"
The internal structure of the Blackstone Fortress was extremely complex. It was impossible to figure out the internal routes in a short period of time. But they not only knew the routes but also many of the defensive measures inside. It was said that the strongest fortresses were often broken from within.
At this moment, Vingaard was slowly having his sanity eroded by the Black Rage of the Blood Angels. Even though he had fallen to Chaos, the symptoms of this torment still appeared. The sudden appearance of the Protoss had completely disrupted his plans. In his eyes, the invasion that was bound to succeed had been nearly aborted from the very beginning. The losses of the Red Corsairs under his command were getting larger and larger. If he won, it would be fine. But if he lost... even if he escaped back, the others in the Red Corsairs would eat him alive. This was the most common and fastest way to rise in a Chaos warband. And he knew that Huron would absolutely not forgive him for his unauthorized actions. As someone who had been granted command or the authority to guard the Blackstone Fortress, he knew Huron better than anyone else. Huron was not cruel and would not torture his opponents, but he would also not hesitate to kill them.
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