The landing process went smoothly.
The Astartes Chapter on the ground showed no intention of stopping them, acting as if they were welcoming them.
"Report, Commander, we detected that they previously set up many fortifications and trenches." The Scout reported.
The Commander glanced at the layout and gave a disdainful sneer.
"Utterly foolish. They are still using such ancient tactics. Do they really think we'll engage them in close combat?"
Digging trenches and constructing fortifications—these are tactics from hundreds of years ago. The "Demigods" on whom humanity pinned its hopes only possess this level of skill.
"Hahahaha—"
Hearing the Commander's ridicule, everyone couldn't help but laugh aloud, and the atmosphere immediately became relaxed.
"True, after all, humanity is so backward and their talent is so poor. How could they possibly understand us?"
The Commander said arrogantly.
"It doesn't matter. Soon we will let them know that we—the psyker Legion—are the future of warfare, and we will inflict the most desperate terror upon these 'Demigods'!"
The battle that will make the psyker Legion famous is today!
The legion composed of 300,000 psykers marched grandly toward the front line. They didn't even bother studying formation issues, because in the Commander's view, 300,000 psykers—one spit each—could drown the Astartes, who numbered only ten thousand!
Over at the Astartes.
After seeing the Trisolarans' almost insulting, completely undisciplined legion, including their manner of advance, on the holographic battlefield projection, the Chapter Master remained expressionless and extremely calm, issuing tactics over the communication channel.
The ten-thousand-strong Chapter, instead of relying on fortifications and bunkers, took the initiative, extending out toward the flanks of the Trisolaran legion, forming a massive encirclement!
"They want to surround us?"
The Trisolaran Commander naturally realized the intent of these 'Demigods' instantly and couldn't help but let out a sneer.
"They must be dreaming. A mere ten thousand want to surround our three hundred thousand? Fine—today, let us completely destroy the myth of the Demigod that the Astartes hold in humanity's hearts!"
As the Trisolaran legion approached.
The psychic scent of the Warp grew increasingly thick.
However, outside the Astartes Chapter's chain of command, a special, mysterious legion, numbering a thousand, stood directly in front of the Trisolaran psyker Legion.
Their banner was unlike the Astartes', nor did it bear the symbol of the Imperial Double Aquila, but instead—a tattered,
faded lightning bolt!
"Which unit is this?"
The Commander was stunned for a few seconds. According to the intelligence they received, there shouldn't be a unit using "Lightning" as its banner within the Astartes Chapters, right?
"Forget it, it doesn't matter!" But soon, this slight hesitation was suppressed, and it instead ordered the legion to simply roll over them!
Three hundred thousand psykers!
The power they draw from the Warp is enough to form a flood, gradually eroding the veil of the real universe, ultimately evolving into—the catastrophe of Chaos' arrival!
At the forefront of this mysterious legion, Maximus closed his eyes.
It's back, all of it is back!
This familiar feeling brought back all the memories of glory and splendor, sealed deep within the memory of Maximus, whose body parts were almost stiff from not having been on a battlefield for so long.
The Unification Wars!
At that time, they wore heavy, low-tech, unpowered armor, and under the dream called "Unification" woven for them by the "Emperor," they raised the banner of Holy Terra, traversing all of Terra step by step with their feet and Chainswords, slaughtering one sorcerous tyrant after another, until the scattered human civilization, shrouded in dark gloom, was reunited, establishing a glorious and hopeful Imperium!
And now.
The intense sense of déjà vu, the sounds of fighting and roaring like a mountain collapse and a tsunami, and the ten-thousand-strong Astartes shouting "For the Emperor" dragged his consciousness back ten thousand years!
It was just like now!
A legion full of daemons and Monsters, overflowing with repulsive Warp energy, wrapped in sickening psychic stench, and beside him, brothers who had faced life and death together!
Gradually, blood vessels crept into his eyes.
The tragic memories flooded his mind; blood and sacrifice solidified into a single obsession, firmly and eternally occupying his thoughts!
"Unification! Unification!"
"For Terra! For Humanity—!!!"
The next moment, Maximus charged ahead.
He was like a raging wild ox, his eyes crimson and filled with terrifying murderous intent. Every step was like a heavy tank, causing the ground he rolled over to tremble.
"I am—Thunder Warrior, 29th Regiment, Maximus!" The raging figure smashed through the air like a speeding train, enduring the attacks of the Trisolaran psykers in front of him and charging directly into the crowd!
Bang! Bang! Bang!
In just one encounter!
The defenses constructed by the Trisolaran psykers were violently crushed by him, and the Trisolarans standing in front of him were smashed into a mist of blood!
This terrifying sight immediately shook the Trisolarans!
When had they ever seen such a terrifying warrior, using his body to withstand Psychic Spells, charging in and smashing the front-line soldiers into blood mist?
Is this guy—human?
Maximus roared, tearing several Trisolaran psykers apart with his bare hands, his bloodshot eyes turning to the others.
"Come on, you bunch of trash!!!"
For a moment, he was unstoppable!
Following this, the shock brought by the opposing unit, which used "Lightning" as its banner, to the Trisolaran Commander was far from over!
They saw more and more "warriors," seemingly injected with a Frenzy Stimulant, roaring and charging at them like beasts!
"Stop them!"
The Commander was startled and yelled hoarsely.
It knew clearly that if these people were allowed to charge in, it would cause devastating damage to their side!
After a brief panic, the Trisolaran psykers began chanting Spells, attempting to block these crazed beasts, but—just as they drew power from the Warp, they realized something was wrong!
The psychic power... was suppressed!
"What is going on?"
"Why can't I use my psychic power?!"
"Damn it, what is this?"
The terrified Trisolaran psykers quickly discovered that they were not just unable to use their psychic power, but that their—Souls were dissipating!
The source of all this was the women clad in black armor, who remained silent, like walking Boundless black Domains, consuming all psychic power and Souls within their range!
"Ahhh—my—my power!"
"I—I feel terrible!"
"What exactly are they?!"
Following continuous screams of terror, the Trisolaran psyker Legion—collapsed!
The sisters of Silence!
Professional anti-psykers!
Where they are present, let alone 300,000 weak psykers, even someone as strong as the Daemon Prince, the most powerful psyker Magnus, is still suppressed by the sisters of Silence into submission!
The Imperium has ten thousand ways to deal with psykers!
The extremely arrogant and conceited Trisolaran Commander would never have imagined it.
The 'elite' Legion in their eyes, composed entirely of psykers, capable of summoning wind and rain and omnipotent, completely collapsed in a single charge from a mere thousand-strong Astartes Chapter, in just a single encounter!
Why, why did it turn out like this?!
The Trisolaran Commander, stationed in the rear, was filled with confusion, fear, and panic.
These 'lunatics' were like beasts without fear. Even if there were mountains of blades and seas of fire ahead, they wouldn't hesitate in the slightest, surging forward one after another. Even if their companions were blown to pieces by psychic spells in front of them, or even lost limbs, they would still exert their last ounce of strength to launch a final attack on the enemy before them.
From the holographic projection returned, it even witnessed an extremely shocking scene.
It was a warrior whose half-body had been shattered by a psychic spell, but he did not die immediately. Instead, before dying, he used his teeth to bite through the core of a Trisolaran Psionic Warrior.
Scenes like this were playing out almost every moment.
They don't fear death!
Lunatics!
beasts!
This was the first thought in the Commander's mind.
This is not war at all!
No, or rather… it's not the 'war' it imagined!
The Trisolaran Civilization's technology was highly advanced, but precisely because of this, they had long since moved beyond this form of warfare.
Their civilization spent most of its time contending with natural disasters.
Ancient and backward wars like those of the Earthlings were, in their eyes, like barbarians eating raw meat and blood, showing no trace of the 'elegance' and 'wisdom' that a higher civilization should possess.
What should war look like in the eyes of the Trisolarans?
Taking standard interstellar warfare as an example, they should be more elegant, using the power of science to crush these 'savages' with wisdom.
But now… the scene unfolding before them undoubtedly dealt a huge psychological blow to this Commander.
Humans, no… Astartes, showed them 'true war' in the most bloody and brutal way!
Retreat?
Sorry, that word does not exist in the Imperium's dictionary.
Their goal is one and only: to complete the mission at all costs, even if they fight to the last man.
As long as the Imperium needs them, they will unhesitatingly rush to the desperate battlefield, defending the glory of the Imperium and humanity with their lives and blood!
Want to shake the will of the Astartes? That would probably… be harder than ascending to heaven!
"Hold steady! Everyone, hold steady!"
"No retreating! No retreating! Hold the line!"
The Commander, though arrogant and conceited, was by no means incompetent.
It knew very well that the morale of the entire Legion was currently low. If this thousand-strong 'beast' were allowed to rampage through their Legion, then very soon… the entire Legion would completely collapse, and it would truly be irreversible then!
"The sacred psychic link connects us—!"
Relying on the unique racial talent of the Trisolarans, the Commander's emotions and voice directly radiated to the entire Legion.
"We are the elite of the Trisolaran Civilization! We are Psionic Warriors!" Its shouts echoed deep within the confused minds of the Legion's individuals, bringing solace to the frightened warriors.
"Think of our children! Think of our civilization! Do you still want your children to return to the Trisolaran system, which is like purgatory? For our home, for our civilization, for our descendants, we must win!"
It must be said that its impromptu impassioned speech, coupled with the psychological suggestion imposed by psychic abilities, played a significant role.
The Trisolaran psyker Legion, which was on the verge of collapse under the charge of the Chapter led by Maximus, miraculously recovered its morale!
"For a new home!"
These Trisolaran Psionic Warriors, like soft mud, roared their vision for the future, once again consolidating their morale and strength.
And through careful observation, the Trisolaran Commander quickly found a way to counter.
Those female Earthlings in black armor possessed a strange 'domain'; any Psionic Warrior who entered this domain would not only be unable to cast psychic abilities but would also become weak, or even die.
But the 'radiation range' of these women was limited, which meant… as long as they attacked from outside the range, it would be fine!
So, the Commander suddenly hardened its heart.
"Coordinates XXX.YYY, have the fire-elemental psykers concentrate their power to cover that area!"
"Commander?!" Hearing this, the staff officer beside it was shocked.
"Our troops are in that area too!"
"I know!"
The Commander's heart was filled with extreme pain, and it raged as if venting.
"We have no choice! If we don't eliminate these women who can suppress psychic abilities, we are very likely to lose the entire war! Once we lose the war, what do you think humans will do to us?!"
The staff officer fell silent. It naturally knew what awaited the Trisolaran Civilization if they lost this war.
"fire-elemental psyker unit, execute maximum firepower output on the target area!"
Ultimately, it chose to obey.
The next moment, the fire-elemental psykers hiding in the rear unhesitatingly unleashed all their Warp flames towards the target area!
Thousands of psykers simultaneously drew energy from the Warp, creating a strong stench in the area.
Space vibrated violently, and then the atmosphere ignited!
The scorching, violent flames seemed to burn the sky and boil the sea, instantly obscuring the entire battlefield and sweeping in all directions.
The high temperature even melted the lunar rocks, and the rolling, scorching inferno swallowed tens of thousands of Trisolaran psykers who were mixed with the Chapter led by Maximus in front!
Did it succeed?!
The Commander stared intently at the blazing sea of fire.
However, when figures with bodies burning with flames, treading on melted rocks, appeared in their sight like daemons returned from hell, the Commander's heart almost collapsed.
"Why?!"
It didn't understand how these people could still survive under such terrifying psychic bombardment?
But soon, it knew the reason.
Wherever the sisters of Silence passed, the burning flames were extinguished in an instant, as if entering a vacuum!
"What the hell kind of creatures are these?!" Seeing this scene, the Commander completely broke down.
What exactly are these women made of?
The psychic energy of the Warp, when encountering them, was like encountering a natural enemy!
Maximus casually patted out the flames on his body, and under his helmet, his eyes were filled with chilling killing intent, a terrifying arc forming at the corner of his mouth.
"It's about what I expected… mostly Epsilon-class, with only a few Theta and Eta-class." A brutal, bloody gleam appeared in his vision.
"They don't even qualify as 'fuel', far inferior to what we encountered during the Unification Wars!"
Although the psyker Legion assembled by the Trisolarans was indeed terrifying in numbers, their quality was extremely poor!
In a Legion of three hundred thousand, there were pitifully few Eta-class psykers.
To be honest, this level of power would be enough for an Arbitrator from the Adeptus Arbites to suppress them.
Sometimes, the gap between psykers is even greater than that between humans and ants.
For example, the 'psyker Legion' that the Trisolarans were so proud of, no matter how numerous, were merely a group of easily crushed ants in front of 'High-Risk' psykers.
"The slaughter has begun!"
Maximus licked his lips, the bloodlust in his eyes growing more brutal.
"Not a single one left!"
With that, he led the charge, and wherever he passed, there was only exploding blood mist!
He was like a super-heavy tank, wielding a power hammer weighing several tons. With each swing, amidst crackling electricity, a Trisolaran Psionic Warrior was smashed into a bloody mist under his Iron Crows.
And Maximus' target was clearly the location of the Trisolaran Commander.
"Stop him!"
The Commander was scared out of its wits, ordering its various Legions to intercept.
However, it found that its previous act of bombing its own positions had plunged the Legion's hard-won morale into rock bottom.
They no longer trusted their Commander.
No one wanted to be the one to be 'sacrificed,' so the Commander realized it could no longer command its Legion.
"It's over…"
At this moment, the Commander understood that they were finished.
How could this be?!
The Trisolaran Council on Titan fell into a deathly silence.
Only two hours had passed since they, full of confidence, unilaterally tore up the peace treaty and declared war on all humanity, until the psyker Legion they had placed high hopes on was easily suppressed by the Martian Machine cult!
They originally thought this was the limit of humanity's power.
But they never expected that the 300,000 Psionic Warriors attacking the Moon would lose even more terribly!
In the footage transmitted back by the Sophon, the psyker Legion, which had been assembled by pouring the entire civilization's effort into it, looked as fragile as baby chicks before those "Barbarians" clad in heavy power armor and wielding Chainswords and Bolters!
Yes, this psyker Legion was simply a lamb waiting to be slaughtered before the Astartes.
From the perspective of the Astartes, the psyker Legion assembled by the Trisolarans was indeed an extremely threatening force.
However, there was a prerequisite... and that was Will!
For any legion, equipment, training, tactics, and so on, are merely external factors; while they can influence the direction of the war, ultimately, what truly determines victory is "Willpower"!
Clearly, the Trisolarans did not possess such Will.
When faced with massive casualties, their own side being sacrificed by the Commander, and the enemy's suicidal charge... the Trisolaran psykers were terrified out of their wits. They forgot what they were supposed to do and only cared about running away desperately!
It was at this moment that the disadvantage of the Trisolaran racial talent became apparent.
With no one capable of maintaining control, one individual's fear quickly spread like a virus on a psychic level, affecting everyone in the entire legion. The fear was layered upon itself, eventually amplifying countless times!
Following this, the collapse of morale signaled... Chaos!
On the battlefield, a chaotic legion often means defeat!
If the Astartes had faced a Trisolaran psyker Legion possessing the willpower of the Astra Militarum.
Then, in all likelihood, the Astartes would have been the ones to lose.
Though both were legions and both were warriors, the difference in willpower determined the lower limit of that legion's performance!
The moment Maximus beheaded the Commander, the "Head of State" far away on Titan felt its heart sink completely.
It knew that the Trisolarans... had lost!
Without a Commander, the completely chaotic legion's fate was to be utterly decimated in a slaughter!
At this moment, the entire Council was enveloped in the shadow of defeat, and the atmosphere became heavy and oppressive.
Voices of despair and feelings of dread spread continuously.
Before the full-scale war with humanity began, the entire Trisolaran Civilization, from the Council down to the military and civilians, believed this was a guaranteed victory.
Even the most cautious staff officers predicted the worst outcome would only be the Trisolaran Civilization paying a heavy price.
But now, the iron-clad reality was like a resounding slap across their faces.
*Slap!*
This invisible slap instantly stunned them.
"It's over, it's over..
"
"We are finished!"
"How about we try to surrender?"
"That's right, if we surrender to humanity now, they probably won't exterminate us!"
The head of State immediately shot a murderous glare at the one who spoke those words.
"Foolish!" it roared. "Do you think if we surrender now, humanity will spare us? Impossible! From the moment we unilaterally tore up the agreement, there has been no possibility of coexistence between the Trisolaran Civilization and humanity! Only one of our civilizations can survive!"
"Then, what should we do?!"
The power displayed by humanity had already driven them to despair.
"Why panic?!"
The head of State sneered, "We haven't lost yet! What are a mere few hundred thousand psykers? We have already activated the Gene Cloning Program. If we spare no expense, we can create hundreds of thousands, or even millions, more psyker Legions. And this time... our warriors will be purged of fear! They will no longer be afraid! I refuse to believe it... if 300,000 isn't enough, we'll use three million! Thirty million!"
At this point, its voice suddenly became high-pitched and impassioned.
"The greatest weakness of the Astartes is that they are too powerful, and precisely because of this, their numbers are extremely scarce. This is exactly our advantage!"
The depressed emotions of the staff officers in the Council were immediately stirred by the head of State's words, and hope welled up in their eyes.
"That's right, according to intelligence, the total number of human Astartes is only around tens of thousands!"
"Exactly! We have endless armies of clones—three million, thirty million, three hundred million—we can definitely wear them down!"
"That's the spirit. Although we have encountered a slight setback, I believe"
The head of State's tone was high and emotional, infecting everyone.
"The ones who ultimately achieve victory will surely be us!"
"We will wait for them right here!"
"We have countless clone legions, while humanity only has tens of thousands of Astartes!"
"Order the Gene Cloning Program to operate at full capacity!"
The head of State's resolute tone and voice spread.
"We must let humanity know that the will of the Trisolarans is equally firm. Even if we fight until Saturn is destroyed and the Sol System is piled high with corpses, we will continue the fight!"
However, before its voice had finished, a buzzing alarm from the Sophon sounded in the Council!
Amidst the jarring alarm and red light, an image was projected.
They saw that Titan's atmosphere was suddenly occupied by countless, dense drop pods, tearing through their sky like a terrifying meteor shower of fire, carrying an alarming sense of oppression.
Humanity's legion had arrived!
"So fast?!"
The speed of humanity's actions greatly shocked the head of State.
"Astartes, what if you are powerful? Your scarcity in numbers determines your end!" But it remained calm, sneered, and immediately gave orders.
"Send the cloned psyker Legion to attack immediately!"
Too bad, your Astartes are limited in number, one less when one dies, and they are highly valuable, making replacement difficult in the short term.
But their cloned Psionic Warriors legion is an endless supply!
It immediately saw the "weakness" of the Astartes.
High cost and extremely long manufacturing time.
At this moment on Titan, a large number of drop pods slammed into the ground, kicking up massive air blasts and dust.
The cloned Trisolaran Psionic Warriors, numbering up to several hundred thousand, were already standing ready to meet the "enemy."
However, as the drop pods opened, the roars and screams, filled with brutality, terror, and murderous intent, caused the head of State and the staff officers in the Council to feel a hint of unease.
Soon, the drop pods opened, and humanoid creatures stepped out one by one.
The head of State and the staff officers were instantly bewildered.
These creatures were not the Astartes they had anticipated, but two-meter-tall humanoid beings.
They wore black trench coats, their bulging muscles straining the fabric.
Their iron-gray skin shone with a metallic cold light, their faces were expressionless, and only their eyes revealed pure, cold killing intent. They marched in synchronized steps, like humanoid killing machines, radiating a suffocating sense of oppression.
Their arms were sharp claws resembling bone spurs, and their backs burst forth with vine-like tentacles adorned with sharp blades.
Just one look was enough to know... these creatures were bio-machines created specifically for slaughter!
This is bad!
Upon seeing these creatures, the head of State's heart suddenly sank.
Competing on cost-performance?
Sorry, Emrys possesses the "Tyrant," which is hailed as the King of Cost-Performance!
The "Tyrant," a specialty product of the Resident Evil world, costs 100,000 U.S. dollars each, and is available in unlimited supply, dear!