Rock Hive City, having endured orbital bombardment, billowed with thick black smoke.
Collapsed towers and statues were visible everywhere.
Bright flames dyed the sky fiery red.
The city ruins were filled with a hail of bullets and laser fire.
Torrents of bullets formed iron snakes, coiling into the air.
Straight beams of energy flashed in an instant.
In the atmosphere, fighter jets engaged in dogfights.
The scorching beams fired from their respective weapons drew short-lived and nameless shining constellations.
"For the Emperor, charge!"
"Take Rock Hive City at all costs!"
Colonel Griffin shouted, urging his soldiers to charge.
The soldiers, armed with lasguns, advanced towards the rebel lines, supported by Leman Russ Tanks.
The heavy tanks rumbled forward, their treads crushing the rubble along the way.
Their sturdy armored bodies crashed through charred building debris.
The Leman Russ Tank is the main battle tank of the Imperial Astra Militarum.
It is known for its resilient armor and belligerent machine spirit.
It can withstand enemy artillery storms in combat.
Its turret is versatile, allowing for the installation of a range of different weapon systems.
These include devastating anti-infantry weapons, Punisher Gatling Cannons, high-penetration anti-tank cannons, and more.
As Colonel Griffin's troops crossed the outer walls of Rock Hive City and entered the rubble-strewn streets, the rebels suddenly emerged from both sides, firing upon the advancing Imperial soldiers.
Dense bullets and lasers poured down like rain.
They struck the tank's armor and shields, creating ripples.
Imperial soldiers took cover or counterattacked from behind tanks.
A fierce battle erupted between the two sides, a desperate struggle.
The Leman Russ Tanks swiveled their cannons, aiming at the rebel's heavy firepower units.
Boom!
The rebel's heavy firepower positions exploded, thick concrete slabs shattering into fragments.
They scattered everywhere, mixed with charred flesh and blood.
Then came the second, and the third.
Each shot was incredibly precise.
The Leman Russ Tank, leveraging its advantages, easily obliterated the enemy's strongholds.
Losing their firepower advantage, the rebels were quickly pushed back by the Imperial soldiers.
"Fill in, fill in!"
Griffin shouted, signaling the soldiers behind to fill the gaps and continue the advance.
Human lives had become cold numbers in his eyes.
He didn't care how many soldiers were sacrificed.
His only concern was the mission objective: capturing Rock Hive City.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the battlefield.
Little Fatty, controlling a heavily armored Tomorrow III Type Exoskeleton, led his teammates in an attack.
"Feel the wrath of the omnissiah!"
With excellent defense and firepower, they quickly broke through the rebel lines.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The multi-barreled bolter roared, and the rebel soldiers hit were all blown into minced meat.
A few rebel soldiers tried to approach and fire.
Little Fatty activated the exoskeleton's circular saw, cutting them into pieces.
"Cough! Cough!"
A rebel soldier's chest was shattered.
But he wasn't dead yet, lying on the charred battlefield, coughing blood.
Little Fatty observed him through the exoskeleton's camera.
The rebel soldier wasn't very old, perhaps in his twenties.
His skin was terrifyingly pale, his pupils completely black, eerie and evil.
Bloody Chaos symbols were carved on his face.
"Emperor's minions, you will be dragged to hell!"
The soldier spat blood while uttering vicious curses.
"Then you go first."
The exoskeleton's mechanical leg lifted, then slammed down, crushing the rebel soldier's head.
"Hey, I actually leveled up."
Little Fatty was pleasantly surprised.
"And I learned a new skill, Humanoid Vehicle Machine Spirit Affinity, which makes it easier to gain the machine spirit's approval."
"Machine Spirit Affinity?"
"If you level up a few more times, will it be able to help you steal ammunition from the Warp?"
Pigtail, standing to Little Fatty's right, said with surprise.
"How can something that makes the machine spirit happy be called stealing?!" September Ninth (September Ninth reminiscing about his Warband brothers) said.
Pigtail killed a rebel soldier and turned to look at Griffin's troops, who were rushing towards the enemy's front line.
"By the way, these NPCs are fighting fiercely."
"The Great Devourer hasn't arrived yet, so the Genestealer must be both loyal and fierce."
As an old Player, Little Fatty knew from the start that the legions chosen as vanguard troops were all Genestealer regiments.
"Green skins kill the nation, Genestealer guard the border, Warhammer's characteristic, I can only say 666."
"These are all half-breeds. There's a bunch of pure-bloods in Tirien Hive City. After this battle, we'll have to go back to Tyreen for another fight."
"Does Guide still want to fight the Genestealer?"
"Nonsense, those guys have such astonishing corrupting abilities. If we don't deal with them early, they'll be a big problem sooner or later."
"..."
Little Fatty and the other Players communicated through the exoskeleton's team channel.
Those Genestealer soldiers couldn't hear them.
Even if they heard the Players' conversation, it would just be static, and they wouldn't understand what was being discussed.
Under the charge of the Players and the Genestealer, the rebel lines fell one after another, showing signs of a complete collapse.
"These guys are fighting so fiercely, we can't stop them."
Swede looked at the people around him, who were desperately calling for reinforcements, and his face grew increasingly grim.
These loyalists were too fierce; they simply couldn't be stopped.
He frustratingly scratched his sparse hair a few times.
Pulling it off along with rotting Scalp.
"Go ask those damned sorcerers how the ritual preparations are coming along?"
"Tell them we're about to be overwhelmed."
The rebel soldier who received the order had just walked out of the command post.
A crystalline Ethereal Shard flew over, instantly piercing his head.
Other rebel soldiers were also successively pierced, their heads exploding instantly.
Swede's face turned pale at this sight, realizing the enemy was close, and he immediately thought of escaping.
As soon as he ran out of the command post, he saw Imperial soldiers in exoskeleton armor surrounding the command post from all directions.
Realizing that escape was hopeless, Swede immediately fell into despair.
"Capture the rebel leader, reward a hundred gold, and enfeoff ten thousand households! Brothers, charge!"
"Damn it, Twisted person, have you been watching too much Chu-Han Contention?!"
"Stop talking nonsense, flank them! Don't let the big fish get away!"
Tenjiro, Twisted person, and the other old Players formed the fastest assault team.
They broke through the enemy's defenses and headed straight for the enemy's command post.
"Explosions are an art, and head explosions are the art of arts."
Psionic energy surged in Tenjiro's hand.
As he clenched his fist, the heads of the rebel soldiers firing their guns in the distance exploded like watermelons.
The soldiers around Swede were constantly being shot down.
Finally, he was surrounded by the Players.
But he did not surrender; instead, he chose to fight to the last moment.
He was eventually struck by a bolter round that shattered his lower body, and he fell into a pool of blood.
"What a loss, couldn't capture him alive," Tenjiro said with some regret.
"You can't win," Swede said, "Father Nurgle's angels will soon descend upon this world."
With that, he died.
The Players looked at each other, still unable to grasp the truth.
Tenjiro suddenly screamed.
Horrifying illusions flooded his mind, with countless Nurgle demons screaming.
Then, a golden sun appeared in Tenjiro's mind.
The terrifying illusions and the screams of the demons then vanished.
Recovering, Tenjiro looked at his teammates and swallowed.
"I heard the screams of Nurgle's minions; they seem to be coming."
No sooner had he spoken than a terrifying psionic storm erupted from deep within Rock Hive City.
The sky distorted and deformed, emitting an eerie glow.
Grand spires shifted and flickered, like unstable Slideshow.
The Players' expressions all changed.
They were all veteran Warhammer fans, so they naturally knew what this meant.
This was a sign of a demonic invasion.
"Stop them, and also, request a new round of orbital bombardment from Guide!"
Twisted person looked into the depths of the Hive City, "If Nurgle's demon army enters Holy Terra (Earth/Reality), this planet might not be defensible."
One more Battle Group might be a bit late.