On the surface of the fourth planet of the Sork-Prime System, crimson dust trembled beneath the Titans' footfalls.
The leg joints of the Hound-class Titans vented high-pressure steam as their twenty-one-meter steel frames advanced steadily through mountains of xenos corpses and rivers of blood. Their arms were each equipped with twin-linked turbo-laser destructors and volcano cannons — every discharge plowing a scorched furrow through the xenos lines. The missile systems mounted on their shoulders, with each salvo, shattered the Krathos formations into ruin.
"Titan Legion, advance steadily."
Dantioch's voice carried through the Logic Engine's encrypted channels into the combat cores of every Titan.
"Reaver-class Titans are responsible for fire suppression. Hound-class Titans provide flank cover."
On the holographic projection, the icons of hundreds of Titans were moving slowly but unstoppably toward the core of the xenos defensive line. Behind them stretched dense formations of Mechanized troops and Iron Circle units, along with armored columns pushing forward past them.
One hundred and thirty Reaver-class Titans deployed in three horizontal ranks, their volcano cannons and cluster missile launchers firing simultaneously. Hundreds of crimson volcano cannon beams — like the judgment staves of gods — erupted from the Titans' iron arms, crossing dozens of kilometers in an instant and crashing into the depths of the xenos defensive line.
The power of a single volcano cannon shot was sufficient to level a mountain peak several hundred meters tall.
Their targets at this moment were the massive bio-steel structures behind the xenos line — writhing biological conduit systems, bio-mechanical factories venting foul liquids, clusters of chambers nurturing countless xenos within.
In a single coordinated salvo, thirty-seven hatchery nests exploded simultaneously. Millions of xenos larvae were reduced to ash in green fire. Fourteen bio-factories took direct hits; the psychic carriers and mutant xenos being cultivated within had no time to so much as screech before the volcano cannons' heat vaporized them utterly. Six xenos command spires collapsed in ruin, their structures of fused biological tissue and alloy shattered into countless burning fragments by the missile barrage.
The Titan Legion's fire extended outward to both flanks, destroying the xenos line's support nodes.
Elite formations of mutant xenos were assembling, preparing to launch suicidal strikes against the Titan Legion — but volcano cannon beams struck their midst first.
No screams. No struggle. Only instantaneous vaporization. The Krathos mutants vanishing into the crimson beams, leaving not even a trace of ash behind.
The Titan Legion's fire covered the entire depth of the Krathos defensive line. Every twin volcano cannon shot blasted a crater one hundred meters in diameter into the ground, vaporizing every living thing within in an instant. The god-machines' fire left scorched black streaks across the red earth. Melta fire ignited and blazed through the xenos swarms, vaporizing hundreds upon thousands in moments. Hundreds of missiles from the launcher arrays swarmed toward the xenos rear like dense hornets, detonating among concentrations of armored vehicles and psychic units, throwing up clouds of mushroom-shaped smoke.
The psychic carrier vehicles lurking behind the battle line were attempting to slip away, their bloated organic frames trying to quietly exit this hell — but they were too slow, too large, and against the Titan Legion's firepower they were nothing but stationary targets.
A single volcano cannon round struck one psychic carrier squarely. The war machine grown from biological tissue was torn apart in the explosion. The bloated xenos unit within loosed a single shriek before being completely consumed, along with the psychic shockwave it had been about to unleash, by the Titan's fire.
They had no power to resist. The carefully designed defensive line was shredded like paper before the Fourth Legion's iron tide.
Titans at the front, Sacred Dreadnoughts and Knight mechs screening the flanks, Mechanized and Iron Circle units following behind, armored formations providing fire support at the rear — this was a moving wall of steel, an unstoppable tide of annihilation.
The xenos armored units could not inflict any meaningful damage on the Titans; the thirteen layered void shields rendered them nearly immune to any heavy fire the xenos armored formations could bring to bear.
The god-machine Titans' power far exceeded the xenos' imagination. The xenos queen had seen these Titans before — back when she had not yet become what she was now — and they cast an immense shadow over her.
"The Titan Legion's fire coverage is producing significant results."
Dantioch studied the projection before him, gaining a profound new appreciation for the god-machines' power — though during training he had already developed a clear understanding of just how formidable these divine instruments of war were.
The Logic Engine's voice sounded through Dantioch's communications system.
"Based on battlefield data collection: two thousand three hundred and seventy-eight significant xenos targets destroyed, including fifty-seven hatchery nests, twenty-two bio-factories, eleven command spires, one hundred and nine psychic carrier vehicles, and thirty-seven mutant xenos assembly zones."
"The overall combat effectiveness of the xenos defensive line has decreased by fourteen point six percent."
A flicker of satisfaction crossed Dantioch's eyes.
"Good. Continue the advance. Titan Legion, maintain fire suppression. Armored units, press forward."
His gaze shifted to the second landing battleground on the holographic projection.
That was the right flank of the xenos defensive line, where Mechanized and Iron Circle units were locked in fierce combat against xenos warriors several times their number.
The combat groups formed by Mechanized troops had been compressed into an area less than three kilometers in diameter. They stood back-to-back in tight defensive formations, using bolt guns and chainswords to hold back the xenos surging in from every direction.
Iron Circle units around them provided fire support with multi-barreled heavy bolt guns and plasma cannons, but the xenos numbers were simply overwhelming — their assaults came in wave after wave, seemingly without end.
Even the Sacred Dreadnoughts had been rapidly separated by the seemingly endless xenos tide. Each Dreadnought was swamped by the Krathos swarming over them like an avalanche.
Meltas and bolt weapons lacked the sheer throughput to break a xenos assault that came on like ocean waves.
The massive siege hammers seemed almost trivial in these moments, even though each swing was sufficient to pulp any xenos in their path.
Just as the second landing zone was sliding into crisis, another dense "meteor shower" fell from the sky.
Mechanized and Iron Circle units — there were more where they came from. Sacred Dreadnoughts and Knight mechs were no great problem to resupply either.
Flesh and blood simply could not compare to steel. That was an iron fact.
Even a Primarch would appear helpless before a Titan.
The situation at the second landing zone gradually began to stabilize. After all, the overwhelming majority of the xenos main strength had already been pinned down firmly by Dantioch.
"Xenos swarm detected on the left flank — approximately thirty million, executing a flanking maneuver against the Seventh Combat Group."
The Logic Engine's voice sounded in Dantioch's ear.
Dantioch's gaze swept the holographic projection. He made his assessment in an instant.
"Seventh Combat Group, contract the defensive line. Third Assault Detachment, wheel to the left flank. Thirteen Reaver-class Titans provide fire support.
"Third Assault Detachment breaks through from the front, combining with the Seventh Combat Group to form a pincer."
The moment the orders were issued, the tactical situation on the battlefield began to shift.
The Seventh Combat Group's five hundred Mechanized troops rapidly contracted into a tight defensive formation. Their heavy bolt guns and meltaguns wove a dense suppressing fire network, cutting down the charging xenos in swathes.
The Third Assault Detachment's twenty-two Sacred Dreadnoughts wheeled to the left flank. Their siege hammers and gun-barrels smashed through the xenos swarm; each swing crushed the bodies of several xenos.
The roar of heavy bolt guns was deafening. Dense fire plowed bloody furrows through the xenos swarms. Melta fire blazed through xenos piles with wild abandon, billowing black smoke carrying a foul stench.
Prior to the landing, accounting for psychic contamination and environmental contamination, and given the Fourth Legion's ample resources, every ground troop in this landing operation had been issued standard-pattern armor — a decision now proving its worth.
Thirteen Reaver-class Titans redirected their gun-barrels to bear on the xenos swarm on the left flank.
Volcano cannons, plasma cannons, and storm missiles opened fire simultaneously. Several million Krathos xenos were melted where they stood in an instant, blasted into a spray of gore, dark green blood raining down upon the earth like a storm.
The Third Assault Detachment's twenty-two Knight mechs launched a frontal charge. Their chainswords and power claws swept through the xenos swarm; each strike cleaved apart a psychic xenos unit.
Amid the roar of melta cannons and bolt guns, the Knight mechs moved like mobile fortresses, crashing through the xenos swarm. In their wake, nothing remained but a bloody, mangled wreckage.
The Seventh Combat Group seized the moment and launched a counterattack from the front. Mechanized and Iron Circle units opened fire simultaneously, dense fire cutting down the disintegrating xenos in great swathes.
In just fifteen minutes, thirty million xenos warriors were completely annihilated.
Scenes like this played out again and again across the entire landing battleground.
The Titan Legion's arrival had utterly transformed the balance of the battlefield.
The mutant xenos that had previously given the landing forces such headaches were rendered fragile and helpless in the face of Titan-class firepower. Their claws could perhaps scratch through a Sacred Dreadnought's armor — but against the god-machine Titans' composite plating several meters thick, they were powerless.
The armored carrier vehicles housing psychic units were even more helpless under the Titans' fire coverage. A single volcano cannon shot from one Reaver-class Titan was sufficient to destroy an entire armored convoy.
The xenos defensive line began to collapse.
"Advance rate has increased to twenty-three kilometers per hour."
The Logic Engine's voice carried to him.
"Estimated time for the vanguard to reach the outer perimeter of the xenos city: thirteen hours."
Dantioch's brow relaxed slightly — but he knew the true test still lay ahead.
That bio-steel city was the key to this entire battle.
Meanwhile, in orbit of the fourth planet of the Sork-Prime System, aboard the bridge of the Iron Will, Ferrix's gaze was locked on the tactical display of the holographic projection.
The ground battle's progress was far ahead of what he had anticipated. The Titan Legion's deployment had made the Iron Warriors' advance unstoppable.
"What is the status of the planetary shield bombardment?"
He asked.
"Continuous bombardment for thirty-seven hours and fifty-six minutes. Shield energy has decreased by thirty-three percent."
An Iron Circle operator reported.
"Estimated remaining time until total shield collapse: two days, seven hours, twenty-two minutes."
"Still too slow."
Ferrix turned, his gaze falling on another set of coordinates on the holographic star chart — the fifth planet.
This was the second habitable planet of the Sork-Prime System, and the other primary inhabited world of the Krathos xenos. According to reconnaissance data, it too hosted massive xenos armies and a complete defensive network — but by now, its xenos void fleet had been completely annihilated by the Second Fleet, and its ground defenses were being methodically dismantled by forces under Berossus's command.
"Pass orders to Berossus and Tolaramino: accelerate the offensive on the fifth planet. I want to see that world under our control within three days."
"Understood."
Ferrix's gaze returned to the fourth planet.
He knew the outcome of this campaign ultimately rested on the fourth planet. Destroy the xenos queen's nest, and the entire Sork Empire would be left without a head — the remaining star systems would fall without a fight.
But before that, he needed to ensure the ground forces had sufficient time and room to complete their task.
"Analyze the movements of the xenos in the remaining star systems."
"Analyzing..."
A moment later, the Logic Engine's voice sounded.
"According to current reconnaissance data, the xenos fleets of the remaining nine star systems of the Sork Empire are assembling, but have not yet shown any signs of movement. Their response speed is far below projections — there is suspected command system failure."
"Command system failure?"
Ferrix's brow furrowed slightly.
This was the second time they had discovered anomalies in the xenos command system. Earlier in the void battle, the xenos fleet's communications had exhibited irregularities that prevented their vanguard and main fleets from operating in coordination. Now the same thing was happening again.
"What is the cause?"
"Unable to determine."
The Logic Engine's answer was direct.
"Possible causes include technical malfunction or innate biological defects. However, based on current data analysis, psychic interference is the most probable explanation."
Ferrix's pupils contracted slightly.
The Warp.
For any person of the Imperium, that word meant danger and forbidden territory. Setting aside other matters, the mere presence of psykers within the Astartes was already a grave concern in the Imperium.
The Fifteenth Legion was, in a certain sense, actually something of a fortunate case — if only their numbers weren't constrained by the Flesh Change, it would have been even better.
Psykers within the Iron Warriors were quite rare.
"There's a powerful psyker manipulating this sorcery — like those techno-barbarians of ancient Terra?"
Ferrix's expression grew grave. He had witnessed firsthand the terror those madmen were capable of. The Unification Wars had nearly torn all of Terra apart, and even the Emperor himself had required a very long time to finally eradicate them.
"Probability is extremely high. The psychic emanations in the Sork-Prime System are abnormally intense — far exceeding normal levels."
"Based on biological data research on the xenos, the mutation of the Krathos xenos is deeply irregular. Their evolutionary trajectory shows a very pronounced anomaly at a specific point in time. The Commander is advised to remain on high alert."
He recalled the inexplicable surge of irritability he had felt upon entering this star system — a feeling that had arrived suddenly and departed just as suddenly, but enough to put him on guard.
"Pass orders to all warships: increase Warp detection, and report any anomalies immediately."
"Understood."
Ferrix's gaze returned to the fourth planet.
Psychic contamination.
If it truly was that, then the variables in this campaign had just multiplied considerably.
He thought back to the days in the simulated training — he had experienced firsthand and in intimate detail how savage and depraved those traitors became. The memory was vivid.
But he had no intention of retreating.
Whatever force was backing these enemies, the Iron Warriors had only one duty: exterminate every last Krathos xenos.
This was Father's command. This was their mission.
On the surface of the fourth planet. The outer perimeter of the xenos city.
Inside a mobile command post, Dantioch studied the holographic projection, looking out at that vast bio-steel amalgamation of a nest-city stretching before him.
This was a place of nightmare in the truest sense.
Towering steel spires rose upward, enormous tendrils reaching toward the heavens, their surfaces covered with dense arrays of breathing pores and sensory organs. Writhing conduits snaked across the ground, periodically spewing gouts of foul red liquid. In vast chambers, countless Krathos xenos were hatching, growing, maturing, and then being dispatched to the battlefield.
Around the nest-city stood layered defensive fortifications — walls of fused biological tissue and steel, dense batteries of weapons emplacements, long trench networks running in every direction, and xenos warriors numbering in the billions.
Most prominent was the even larger bio-structure rising at the city's center.
The Krathos queen's lair. A living structure exceeding five kilometers in diameter. Countless delicate tendrils extended from its surface, connecting to every corner of the city. A faint, pulsing red luminescence seeped from within the lair, accompanied by an unsettling rhythmic throb.
"Analysis of the xenos nest-city's defensive system complete."
The Logic Engine's voice sounded in Dantioch's ear.
"Wall thickness approximately thirty meters, composed of biological tissue and alloy composite, with structural integrity approximately three times that of standard Imperial fortress armor."
"Weapons emplacements number approximately two hundred thousand, equipped with a variety of bio-weapons including plasma cannons, bio-missiles, and psychic shockwave cannons. Garrison strength cannot be precisely calculated, but based on nest-city scale estimates, the number is at least ten billion."
The corner of Dantioch's mouth twitched slightly.
Even with the Iron Warriors' current firepower advantage, eliminating ten billion xenos warriors was a formidable undertaking.
"How is the assembly of the remaining Titans progressing?"
"Assembly complete. They are en route. Estimated arrival at the current battlefield: two hours and twenty-two minutes."
Threads of red had crept into Dantioch's eyes, but his voice was calm and steady.
"Prepare the assault."
"Reaver-class Titans take the vanguard. Concentrate fire on the walls. Hound-class Titans provide encircling fire support, prioritizing neutralization of the weapons emplacements on the walls. Knight Household screens the flanks and prevents enemy flanking maneuvers."
"Push the follow-on Titan Legion to quicken its pace — the assault needs their firepower."
"Mechanized and Iron Circle units stand by. Once the wall is breached, advance immediately with Dreadnought units into the city and engage in street fighting."
"The self-propelled guns and autonomous equipment Father loaded aboard earlier can be brought forward now."
"Armored units advance with the assault and provide fire support at all times."
"Air units maintain air superiority and conduct precise strikes against high-value targets inside the nest-city."
"All units maintain information sharing. Logic Engines coordinate in real time. Ensure every action is executed with precision."
The moment the orders were issued, the Fourth Legion's war machine began to turn.
Two hundred and twenty Hound-class Titans advanced forward in step, their movements perfectly synchronized, like a single organism. The roar of their plasma reactors was deafening, reverberating across the earth.
One hundred and thirty Reaver-class Titans deployed into formation. Their volcano cannons and plasma cannons trained on the weapons emplacements along the walls, the barrels already beginning to charge.
The Krathos xenos' gunfire could not inflict any effective damage on the Iron Warriors Legion. Hundreds of Titans with their interlocking void shields deflected all incoming fire into the Immaterium.
Setting aside psychic attacks, every form of Krathos resistance crumbled helplessly before the Iron Warriors' iron tide and their absolute firepower.
Knight mechs fanned out on the flanks, their chainswords and power claws gleaming with cold light in the red glow.
Tens of thousands of main battle tanks and self-propelled artillery from the armored units formed dense formations, their barrels leveled forward, awaiting the order to fire.
Above, thousands of Stormbirds, Thunderhawks, and assault craft circled low, their weapon systems already locked onto targets within the city.
This was a force of annihilation in the truest sense of the word.
Dantioch stepped to the front of the command post and looked out at that vast, grotesque nest-city. In his heart there was no fear, no hesitation — only cold, absolute resolve.
"Attack."
With his command, hundreds of Titan-class weapons opened fire simultaneously.
The Hound-class Titans' twin-linked turbo-laser destructors blazed brilliant blue beams that crashed into the city walls. Biological tissue burned, exploded, and scattered at the temperatures involved; the alloy armor melted, warped, and cracked under the laser bombardment. In a single salvo, dozens of massive holes were blasted through the wall surface.
The Reaver-class Titans' volcano cannons and plasma cannons opened fire together. Dense shells hammered the walls like a downpour, igniting enormous fireballs on impact. The weapons emplacements on the walls were destroyed one after another under the concentrated bombardment — biological tissue wreckage and alloy fragments scattering in all directions.
The xenos returned fire.
Two hundred thousand emplacements on the wall opened fire simultaneously. The dense barrage swarmed toward the Iron Warriors' lines like hornets.
The Titans' void shields activated simultaneously, layer upon layer of energy barriers expanding before the line.
The ferocious bombardment crashed against the shields, detonating in blooms of blue energy — but could not penetrate the shields' defense. Missiles exploded against shield surfaces, sending ripples of energy outward; one layer of void shielding overloaded and failed.
The Titans continued their bombardment of the walls without any reduction in fire.
Knight mechs on the flanks engaged the xenos counterattack forces in fierce combat. Tens of millions of xenos warriors poured from the flanking defensive lines, attempting to envelop and encircle the Titan Legion's rear and flanks.
But the Iron Warriors had anticipated this.
Mechanized and Iron Circle units rapidly wheeled to the flanks, forming a combined defensive line with the Knight mechs and Sacred Dreadnoughts. Dense fire swept through the xenos swarms, cutting down swathes of xenos with each pass.
Above, Stormbirds and Thunderhawks dove down, their weapon systems firing simultaneously.
The thunder of heavy bolt guns was deafening. Dense fire plowed bloody furrows through the xenos swarms. Incendiary bombs dropped from their bellies into the xenos masses, igniting enormous fireballs. Assault craft darted through the low altitude, firing constantly, conducting precise strikes against the xenos armored vehicles.
This was a true slaughter. Wherever the Iron Warriors' blades pointed, the xenos defensive lines collapsed utterly.
BOOM. BOOM. BOOM.
A tremendous roaring came from behind the Fourth Legion.
"My lord, the follow-on Titan Legion has arrived at the battlefield. Awaiting your orders."
"Excellent."
Dantioch had been waiting for this moment for some time.
These xenos had been on the back foot throughout the engagement — but they were still fighting back tenaciously. Combined with what his commanding officer had mentioned earlier, this battle would likely not be easily resolved.
Dantioch had a premonition: the xenos queen was probably an extraordinarily powerful psyker, and there was a very good chance she was a remnant plague left over from the golden age of humanity.
Even now, with the Iron Warriors holding an overwhelming advantage, Dantioch maintained his vigilance at full intensity.
"Titan Legion, immediately join the assault on the xenos nest-city."
A first-generation Imperator-class Titan advanced at the vanguard. Despite its colossal one-hundred-and-fifty-two-meter frame, it moved with surprising agility.
The right arm — a volcano cannon comparable in scale to those of a Warlord-class Titan — began to rapidly charge. Blinding blue-white radiance coalesced at the barrel mouth, and the air around it warped and distorted from the heat.
The charging process took a full ten seconds. For a Titan, this was an extraordinarily long time — but it meant the power of this single shot would far exceed that of an ordinary volcano cannon.
A blue-white beam more than ten meters in diameter erupted from the barrel, crossing twenty kilometers in an instant and slamming into the wall of the xenos nest-city.
BOOM.
The thunderous concussion was felt all the way up in orbital space.
The biological tissue and alloy armor of the wall vaporized instantaneously under the heat, leaving two gaping craters each over one hundred meters in diameter. The volcano cannon beam did not stop there — it punched through the wall and continued driving deeper into the nest-city's interior.
Everything in its path was reduced to ash.
Writhing biological conduits. Bio-mechanical factories spewing liquids. Clusters of hatching chambers. Hundreds of thousands of xenos.
The beam finally struck the massive bio-steel structure at the nest-city's center, blasting two enormous wounds in its surface. Green pus erupted from the wounds like waterfalls cascading down, carrying the stench of rot and decay.
"All Titans — open fire at will."
"Targets: the walls, the emplacements, and everything that moves."
The next instant, close to a thousand Titan gun-barrels opened fire simultaneously.
The barrage crashed into the walls like a downpour. Every beam blasted a crater several meters deep. The cumulative effect of thousands of blue-white beams rapidly honeycombed the wall's surface. Volcano cannons and plasma cannons maintained continuous fire, concentrating on several key nodes in the wall structure; once those nodes were destroyed, entire sections of wall would come down.
The missile arrays fired ceaselessly. Hundreds of missiles swarmed the remaining emplacements on the walls. Each detonation destroyed one or several emplacements.
The Imperator-class Titan continued firing. Each shot blasted a new hole in the walls and plowed a scorched furrow kilometers long through the nest-city's interior.
The surviving emplacements on the walls still fought back, their fire slamming into the Titans' void shields. Layer after layer overloaded and collapsed under the ferocious barrage — but before the void shields could be completely stripped away, new layers regenerated. The Titan Legion's formation moved like a shifting wall of steel, absorbing the xenos fire and advancing steadily regardless.
The armored formations under the void shield cover also demonstrated devastating heavy firepower. No xenos could come within one kilometer of them. The fire — more dense than rain — reduced every xenos in sight to charcoal.
"The wall's energy layer is showing signs of collapse."
The Logic Engine's voice sounded in Dantioch's ear.
"Estimated time until total wall collapse: twenty-two minutes."
"Knight Household, prepare to breach. Mechanized and Iron Circle units, stand ready for street fighting. Armored units, advance to one kilometer from the wall — open fire immediately upon wall collapse to clear resistance inside the city."
The moment the orders were issued, the entire iron formation began to adjust.
Knight mechs converged from the flanks toward the front. Their chainswords and power claws were already running, ready to breach the city at any moment.
Mechanized and Iron Circle units formed tight assault formations. Bolt guns and meltaguns were loaded.
Sacred Dreadnoughts kept close alongside them. Nothing was better suited to street fighting than a Sacred Dreadnought.
Seventeen minutes later, the walls came down.
Kilometers of wall had finally given way under the Titan Legion's sustained bombardment. Countless cracks spread and widened across the wall surface, and then — like dominoes — the entire section fell with a thunderous crash.
A vast cloud of dust surged into the sky, blotting out half the heavens.
Street fighting is a uniquely brutal form of combat.
In narrow streets, amid dense building clusters, through complex underground passages, every inch of space may conceal lethal danger. The enemy may appear from any direction, launch an attack from any corner.
But the Iron Warriors of today feared no form of combat whatsoever.
"Continue the assault!"
Dantioch's voice rang out across the communications channels.
The Knight mechs were first to charge.
Moving like mobile steel fortresses, they poured through the breaches in the fallen walls and into the city.
The Mechanized and Iron Circle units followed close behind.
They flooded into the city through the breaches, bolt guns and meltaguns firing simultaneously, dense fire sweeping through the xenos swarms.
For every step of ground gained, tens of thousands of xenos fell before their guns.
The Sacred Dreadnoughts — with the impact force of main battle tanks — crashed through the xenos mass in a relentless drive, clearing everything in their path clean.
Tens of thousands of main guns from the armored units roared simultaneously. Dense shells rained down into the city like a storm.
Each shell's detonation killed dozens, even hundreds, of xenos.
Self-propelled artillery moved through the nest-city's streets. Rocket batteries fired continuously. Thousands of rockets burst among the xenos, throwing up mushroom-shaped clouds of smoke.
The Krathos xenos' defensive lines collapsed utterly. Their flesh and blood was utterly fragile in the face of bolt rounds and laser fire.
Every act of resistance they could mount was rendered pale and powerless before the Iron Warriors' absolute firepower.