Barrages wove dozens of layers of fire nets across the sky.
Under the illumination of the gunfire, the dark night was instantly covered by a layer of orange-yellow light.
Then, a bio-ship, its body shredded and splattering everywhere, screeched as it forced its way into the ground.
Along with it came the dense spore cysts following it, as well as the boundless orbital drop pods crashing down like a rainstorm!
"Astartes!"
"It's raining Astartes from the sky!"
On the high walls of the Hive Cities still holding out on Terra, Imperial Guardsmen watched this spectacle they had never seen before, pointing in horror at the world outside the high walls.
Amidst the roar of artillery filling the sky, they shouted frantically to their comrades beside them.
Not far away, the anti-aircraft guns aimed straight at the sky were spinning wildly, unsure for a moment who to fire at.
"The ancient ship has retreated; this beast didn't dare to engage us in close quarters!"
On the bridge of the orac, Van Roth stood before the scanner and spoke furiously.
The great battle had officially begun, and Sith finally had no need to sit on the mechanical throne maintaining the 'composure' he showed to outsiders.
He also stood tall, eyes wide, looking down at Terra beneath his feet.
Meteors like fire, giant beasts smashing into the sky.
Not only was Sith deploying a large number of Legions to the ground, but the Tyranids were actually crazily throwing their own forces at Terra as well.
To break through the anti-aircraft fire, they even used some heavily damaged bio-ships as shields, forcing them into the surface, where they were then used as biomass reserves after landing, converted into endless Tyranid ground beasts.
At this moment, beneath the meteors of Astartes was a crazily gathering tidal wave of chitin.
"Yes! I am Lorgar Aurelian!"
"Repeating again, as long as they are human, regardless of which Legion, treat them all as friendly forces!"
"What? Traitors?"
"That's just your eyes playing tricks on you!!!"
Sith looked down, and on the other side by the communicator, Lorgar Aurelian was struggling to shout orders amidst the artillery fire filling the sky.
After furiously reprimanding his subordinates on the ground, Lorgar Aurelian forcefully put down the communicator, turned around, and walked quickly toward Sith with several Custodes.
"My Lord, I must go to the Imperial Palace immediately, otherwise the defenders are highly likely to start fighting with your... Legion..."
Holding his helmet, Lorgar Aurelian walked quickly from the communicator to Sith's side, his face showing great anxiety.
Sith did not need to look; just by listening to the previous communication, he knew that the ground defenders would find it difficult to accept for a moment that the reinforcements they had been waiting for were actually the Legion of the past.
"Van Roth, prepare a Transport for Lorgar Aurelian, and arrange two squadrons of fighters for escort."
Sith didn't even turn his head, speaking to Van Roth while watching the battle situation outside.
Hearing that Sith was not yet planning to go to the surface, Lorgar Aurelian hesitated.
After all, standing here in orbit of Terra, if Lorgar Aurelian didn't know that the person in front of him was still Sith...
...just looking at the golden light surrounding him, no one would doubt it if someone said the God-Emperor had possessed him and arrived in person.
Sith also knew that Lorgar Aurelian wanted him to go to the surface as soon as possible to see the God-Emperor, but looking at that cunning ancient ship in the distance, it seemed to be waiting for him to leave the orac.
Even around the ancient ship, the boundless bio-artillery shells were not flying over in a massive swarm as before, but were being gathered together, seemingly wanting to accumulate power for a sudden, massive strike.
"I will go down later."
Sith looked at the ancient ship with a sense of helplessness at being unable to hit it. Lorgar Aurelian also watched the menacing ancient ship, knowing that now was truly not the best time, so he had to withdraw his intention to urge him.
Lorgar Aurelian took a half-step back, bowed slightly to Sith respectfully, and then, instead of leaving, pointed directly at the Black Gold Custodes 101 guarding the bridge.
"I would also like to request, My Lord, that you deploy your Black Gold Custodes to the Imperial Palace."
"I am worried that the Norn Emissary from Sanctuary Star will be deployed into the Imperial Palace."
Lorgar Aurelian was even a bit hesitant when saying this, because in his view, this had the suspicion of taking away the protective force and placing Sith in a dangerous situation.
After speaking, he was even afraid that Sith would overthink it, and wanted to explain:
"It's mainly because most of the Imperial Palace Custodes are out, and right now..."
"Fine, I will also deploy 101 to the Imperial Palace."
Before Lorgar Aurelian could finish, Sith had already spoken proactively.
He even kept his eyes fixed on the ancient ship, not caring at all about this matter that Lorgar Aurelian saw as weakening his own protection.
This frankness directly made Lorgar Aurelian feel a bit embarrassed.
"Then, My Lord, your protection...?"
Lorgar Aurelian reminded him in a low voice, and hearing this, as well as the fact that Lorgar Aurelian had wasted so much time, Sith finally frowned and withdrew his gaze.
At the same time, his eyes were still fully focused on the ancient ship, and he responded to Lorgar Aurelian distractedly.
"Protection? Who? Me?"
"Not needed."
Sith frowned, his response so quick it was almost perfunctory. Lorgar Aurelian stared blankly at the unconcerned Sith, then looked at Van Roth and the others around him, who also showed no concern for Sith's personal safety, and Lorgar Aurelian suddenly realized something.
Then, with a hint of lack of confidence, he carefully sized up Sith.
"Looking at the reactions of the people around, why do I feel..."
"...that the one who can fight the best here is Sith?!"
Lorgar Aurelian was still puzzled until he boarded the Transport arranged by Van Roth.
It was only when the Transport carrying the Custodes and 101, escorted by a full four squadrons of fighters, headed toward the surface that he slightly regained his composure.
Subsequently, looking at the silent 101 beside him, and the Custodes who were forced to be in the same cabin at close range and feeling uncomfortable all over, Lorgar Aurelian was somewhat speechless about the two additional escort fighter squadrons.
Although Sith only requested two squadrons, Van Roth had directly doubled it.
And Lorgar Aurelian, looking at the silent 101 at this moment, knew that not to mention these two added squadrons, even the initial two squadrons were because Van Roth cared about his own 101, not to protect them, this group of Custodes who protected the Emperor 'very well'.
On the bridge, Van Roth returned, and Sith was standing in front of the projection, watching the images transmitted from the ground by Huron.
Huron stood in the image, and in the dark sky far behind him, illuminated red by the firelight, were several rows of Bio-Titans slowly crushing across the land, grabbing and rolling up Knight mechs. A squadron of fighters, braving the siege of Tyranid gargoyles that had gathered like a dark cloud, launched a desperate attack, finally turning into rolling flames and crashing into the ground, briefly illuminating the surroundings while scattering dense chitin fragments.
Nearby, a squad of Imperial Guardsmen ran past in a panic behind Huron, and further away on a pile of rubble, several Astartes stood directly on high ground, holding Bolters and firing wildly at their feet.
Judging from the splashed fragments, just over ten meters away from Huron was a surging tidal wave of chitin.
"I don't want your casualty figures."
"I only want Terra!"
After Sith reprimanded Huron with slight dissatisfaction, he directly turned off the projection while Huron stood stiffly with a flushed face.
Then he looked back at the ancient ship, which was still hiding behind the sea of bio-ships, and gritted his back teeth hard.
"Should we prepare an assault fleet?"
Van Roth spoke cautiously, while Sith gritted his teeth and watched the ancient ship shrinking behind for a while, only forcefully withdrawing his gaze after a long time.
He dared not leave the orac just like that, otherwise the ancient ship might really go all-in and fight to the death against the flagship he had worked so hard to find.
But the intensity of the ground battle greatly exceeded his expectations.
"Huron has not advanced according to the plan, and Terra's supporting firepower is far weaker than what Lorgar Aurelian promised!"
Sith temporarily ignored the ancient ship as he recounted the communication Huron had just sent. Van Roth looked at the battle situation on the surface; the ground had already effectively formed a large ocean of white chitin.
And at this moment, the friendly forces dropped into the area were like isolated islands, covered by this white ocean.
"Then... should we... use some high-power ground'support' weapons?"
Van Roth held back for a long time before speaking hesitantly, and Sith glanced at Van Roth, also unable to hold back.
An Inquisitor was actually suggesting the use of 'Exterminatus weapons' on Terra!
After all, besides Exterminatus weapons, what other high-power ground support weapons did the Empire have?
Sith thought about it very seriously, but then shook his head. Finally, after taking one more look at the ancient ship in the distance, Sith finally focused all his attention on the surface first:
"No need."
"We still have one option that can provide fire support to the ground."
After Sith finished speaking, he turned and sat back on the mechanical throne. Seeing that Sith was actually preparing to drive the orac again, Van Roth, who had originally felt that his previous idea was indeed not loyal enough, instantly froze in place.
For some reason, he remembered the day they fought for the Ork Crown; Sith seemed to have used this 'option' then.
A moment later, Lorgar Aurelian, who had just arrived at the Imperial Palace, had not yet had a chance to catch his breath.
An Astra Militarum officer on the ground ran over in a panic. Lorgar Aurelian, confused, took the report and glanced over it quickly, then his eyes widened:
"What do you mean the Imperator Somnium is entering the atmosphere?!"
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