Driven by the Helldivers Legion's suicidal full-speed march, the main forces of the Human Expeditionary Army arrived at the capital of the T'au Empire's homeworld, Guelbryn, with astonishing speed. There was no rest, no pre-battle mobilization; Commander-in-Chief Wendell Gage's order was a single word: Attack.
The giant wheels of war rumbled into motion, and magnificent city defenses were pulverized by the roar of Titan cannons.
However, this time, the players uncharacteristically chose not to follow the central army group where the Titans were located. The reason was simple: the T'au Empire clearly regarded this as the top priority for defense, concentrating most of its orbital cannons and heavy firepower, pouring them madly onto the Titans and Astra Militarum armored units' advance routes.
That area had long become a death zone riddled with artillery fire; although the Helldivers were not afraid of death, they also did not want to repeatedly die in such meaningless artillery barrages, which would be of no help to the battle.
As for the left flank army group, the vanguard's duties were mainly undertaken by the great astartes. The Emperor's Angels naturally encountered the T'au Empire's most elite troops—Fire Warrior elites wearing XV-8 'Crisis' battlesuits. Fighting these optically cloaked, highly mobile, and fiercely armed guys in the complex urban ruins was not a good choice.
Thus, the highly proactive players, after a brief probe, unanimously and comprehensively turned to the relatively weaker right flank.
This choice allowed them to successfully avoid most of the heavy artillery fire and advance rapidly through the complex urban terrain, quickly becoming the fastest and deepest penetrating force into the heart of Guelbryn among the entire Human Expeditionary Army.
In the urban labyrinth of broken walls and ruins, the company where RNGesus was located was moving rapidly in battle formation. Suddenly, he saw a player quickly approach their Platoon Leader.
"Platoon Leader, where are we? Why haven't we encountered any enemies yet?"
Due to the setting that the commanding officer himself was a mobile resurrection node, the concealment of grassroots officers' identities in the Helldivers Legion was much deeper than in any Astra Militarum unit.
From the outside, all Helldivers wore identical full-coverage carapaces, with no markings to distinguish officers from soldiers. The Platoon Leader was mixed in with the company like an ordinary soldier, and no one would salute him.
Logically speaking, this player's behavior was not inappropriate; he merely asked a question, and many people in the company were also whispering amongst themselves. But for some reason, at this moment, an ominous premonition suddenly rose in RNGesus' heart.
The Platoon Leader lowered his voice and replied, "We're almost in the middle of the city. What, itching for a fight?"
The player chuckled, saying nothing, but the expression on his face was already self-evident.
"Don't worry, the T'au won't just let us push through and flank them," the Platoon Leader patted his shoulder and said, "I estimate we'll soon encounter the T'au Empire's blocking force…"
Before he finished speaking, the Platoon Leader's judgment and RNGesus' ominous premonition were simultaneously confirmed.
A nearly imperceptible energy beam cut through the air, accurately hitting the Platoon Leader's spine. The immense impact directly broke his neck, and his helmeted head shot skyward, arcing through the air. The Platoon Leader's headless corpse swayed twice before crashing to the ground. He immediately went to see the battalion commander.
"Enemy attack!"
The players, experienced in ambushes, didn't even need orders; they instantly dispersed into squads, each finding cover. In the chaos, RNGesus heard a grumbling voice from Pyro beside him: "Holy crap! The enemy can't even see our IDs above our heads, so how did they know that was our Platoon Leader?"
"Maybe we're just unlucky, and the Platoon Leader happened to be chosen as the first target," the squad leader said casually, crouched behind cover.
"No, I thought about it carefully, and I'm afraid it wasn't an accident," RNGesus mused for a moment before refuting this statement.
As soon as he said this, it immediately attracted the attention of everyone in the squad. The squad leader asked, "Why do you say that? Many people in the company were whispering to each other more obviously just now, weren't they?"
"But they were all talking to people in their own squad next to them," RNGesus calmly analyzed, "Only the Platoon Leader had someone specifically leave their own squad and cross a distance to talk to him."
"Oh my goodness, that's so twisted?" The players in the squad suddenly felt uneasy. "Do they really notice such small details?"
"Shhh—!"
Just then, a whistle came from deep within the ruins. The players immediately looked in the direction of the sound, trying to spot the enemy, but only saw some shadowy human figures moving like the wind among the distant architectural ruins, incredibly fast. The enemy was clearly trying to increase the players' psychological pressure with a method similar to a horror movie.
But this method was clearly ineffective against players—especially when they possessed heavy firepower.
Grenades, hand grenades, and heavy lumber guns immediately unleashed indiscriminate firepower coverage on the areas where those ghostly figures appeared. For a time, explosions rang out one after another, and those elusive ghosts were instantly suppressed and unable to move. But this also seemed to be the enemy's objective; the moment the heavy weapon operators exposed their positions, deadly energy beams shot from different sniping points, accurately hitting them.
It must be admitted that the enemy's strikes were very precise. Combined with the Platoon Leader who was precisely sniped based on a tiny detail earlier, it was clear that they had encountered an extremely seasoned hunter unit.
However, for the players, the only effective precise strike from the enemy was on the Platoon Leader who had just died. As for the heavy weapon operators who were precisely struck… go ahead and hit them; positions that require continuous output and are obviously exposed will never be filled by critical personnel like squad leaders and Platoon Leaders. You can keep hitting them for another year, and it won't be a problem.
That being said, the Helldivers certainly wouldn't let these insidious snipers have all the fun.
"Damn it, trying to snipe us?" Another prepared player in the squad roared, suddenly shouldering a rocket launcher from behind cover and aiming at one of the energy beam sources.
"Come on! Snipe me if you dare!"
He pulled the trigger without hesitation. The rocket, trailing a fiery exhaust, whistled out. Of course, he was immediately hit in the head by the enemy as he leaned out, dying on the spot.
But in the moment before his consciousness faded, a crisp kill notification sounded in his ear, bringing a satisfied smile to his face.