[Regional Channel: Light of the Emperor]
[The Emperor's Will is Unstoppable]: "HOLY SHIT!!"
"IT'S OVER ALREADY?!"
[Loken Did Not Betray the Luna Wolves]: "FOUR VOLLEYS! JUST FOUR FUCKING VOLLEYS!"
"THAT WAS OVER SIX HUNDRED WARSHIPS!"
"AND THEY'RE JUST... GONE?!"
"So this is the firepower of the 63rd Expeditionary Fleet..."
"This is the war machine of the Luna Wolves..."
[Thirty Years a Centaur Gold Ring] could barely believe what he was seeing.
"If the Imperium in 40K had firepower like this, what the hell would Abaddon even be launching Black Crusades for?"
"They could just steamroll straight through the Eye of Terror!"
[I Don't Eat Bear Biscuits] replied gloomily.
"Don't even start, bro. It's too depressing."
"The Imperium in 41K is basically a walking pile of rotting meat."
"Compared to 31K?"
"Not even close."
[I Want to be the Imperial Regent] joined the conversation.
"This is the Great Crusade fleet personally built by the Emperor."
"This is what the Imperium of Man looked like at the height of its power."
"The decaying, bloated, infighting mess that exists in 41K can't even begin to compare."
"So enjoy it while it lasts."
"Once the Horus Heresy begins, this fleet will tear itself apart."
"And when that happens..."
--
[Regional Channel: Wings of Freedom]
[Chaos Warmaster Abba-Egg]: "..."
[Your Salt, My Vinegar]: "..."
[Poor Men Buy Cars, Rich Men Buy Watches, Billionaires Play Boonie Bears Run]: "..."
[Guilliman, the Greatest Schemer]: "..."
[Emperor, Please Marry Horus]: "..."
The entire channel remained silent for five full seconds.
Then [Chaos Warmaster Abba-Egg] slowly typed a message.
"Holy mother of..."
"With firepower like THAT, aren't we just going down there to feed the enemy kills?"
[Your Salt, My Vinegar]: "THEN WE FEED THEM!"
"SEJANUS HAS TO DIE!"
"Otherwise, our entire faction is screwed!"
[Poor Men Buy Cars, Rich Men Buy Watches, Billionaires Play Boonie Bears Run]: "BRO, THIS IS A PLANETARY INVASION INVOLVING THOUSANDS OF WARSHIPS!"
"What the hell are a few hundred of us supposed to do down there?"
"We're basically ants!"
[Guilliman, the Greatest Schemer]: "Ants can still bite people to death."
"Remember, our goal isn't to fight the Luna Wolves head-on."
"It's to assassinate Sejanus."
"We just need to take advantage of the chaos and strike when nobody's looking."
[Emperor, Please Marry Horus]: "Exactly!"
"As long as Sejanus dies, Loken takes his place, and Horus goes to Davin..."
"Everything goes back to the original timeline."
[Chaos Warmaster Abba-Egg] slowly typed another message.
"Then let's fucking do it."
"We can respawn anyway."
"If it takes a few hundred deaths to trade for Sejanus's life..."
"It'll be worth it."
More than eight hundred black usernames replied at almost the exact same moment.
"We're in."
--
Aboard the Vengeful Spirit, the hangars were bustling with activity.
Four Space Marine companies were assembling.
The First Company.
The Fifth Company.
The Second Company.
And the Tenth Company.
Nearly four thousand Luna Wolves Astartes stood in perfectly organized ranks.
Their white power armor gleamed coldly beneath the hangar lights, while the silver-gray wolf-head emblems on their breastplates shone brilliantly.
Bolters hung from their waists, and power swords rested against their thighs.
Every face was as hard as iron.
Every pair of eyes burned with the hunger for battle.
Abaddon stood at the head of the First Company.
His gaze swept across the thousand-plus warriors assembled before him, and a satisfied smile spread across his face.
"Brothers!"
His voice thundered across the company communications channel, barely concealing his excitement.
"This time, we're going down there to rescue our brothers!"
"But while we're rescuing them..."
He paused, ambition burning fiercely in his eyes.
"We're also going to show those traitors what the wrath of the Luna Wolves looks like!"
"We'll show them exactly what it means..."
"TO FACE THE WOLFPACK!"
The warriors of the First Company answered with a deep, unified battle cry.
Their voices echoed throughout the hangar, powerful enough to make the air itself tremble.
Little Horus Aximand stood at the head of the Fifth Company.
He said nothing.
But the fanatical fire burning in his eyes was even more intense than Abaddon's.
Tarik Torgaddon stood before the Second Company.
His normally cheerful, joking expression was nowhere to be seen.
For once, his face was completely serious.
He studied the warriors who had fought alongside him for so many years, then gave a slight nod.
"Everyone ready?"
His voice was calm, carrying a reassuring confidence.
The warriors of the Second Company struck their right fists against their breastplates in perfect unison, moving as though they were a single person.
Garviel Loken stood at the head of the Tenth Company.
His face was expressionless.
Only his eyes betrayed what was going through his mind as he stared out past the hangar, toward the blue-green planet hanging in the void.
He was thinking about Sejanus.
The brother who had once guided him, taught him, and saved his life.
The brother who had trusted Loken to watch his back through countless battles.
The brother who was now trapped on that planet, hunted from every direction by countless enemies.
Loken slowly clenched his fists at his sides.
Wait for me, Sejanus.
I'm coming.
Behind him, the warriors of the Tenth Company stood in the same solemn silence.
Meanwhile, across the fleet's countless troop transports, the Solar Auxilia and Imperial Army began assembling for deployment.
Hundreds of thousands of mortal soldiers were forming ranks and boarding their transports.
Clad in standardized military armor and armed with lasrifles, their faces were filled with determination and courage.
They knew that this time, the enemy they faced would be human.
Ordinary mortals, just like themselves.
Soldiers serving a traitor who dared impersonate the Emperor of Mankind.
To them, such enemies had to be destroyed.
For the honor and glory of the Emperor.
Farther away, aboard the Mechanicum fleet, the Titan Legion was also preparing for battle.
Eight immense war machines stood silently upon the landing platforms deep inside the hangars.
Three Warhound Scout Titans.
Two Reaver Battle Titans.
And one Warlord Battle Titan.
Their heights ranged from twenty to forty meters, each resembling a mobile fortress built for war.
Enormous cannon barrels pointed toward the void, while the low rumble of plasma reactors echoed through the hangars.
The Mechanicum's Skitarii were conducting their final prebattle inspections.
Red-robed Tech-Priests moved between the Titans' towering legs, applying sacred unguents to their mechanical joints while chanting prayers to the Omnissiah, the Machine God.
"Those oversized toys..."
A young Solar Auxilia soldier muttered under his breath.
"One of those things could probably flatten an entire city, right?"
"If all eight of them land together, is anyone on that planet even going to survive?"
The veteran beside him patted his shoulder.
"Whether anyone down there survives isn't our problem."
"Our job is to follow behind the honored Astartes and mop up whatever enemies they leave standing."
"Remember, don't charge too far ahead, but don't fall behind either."
"Stay with the wolfpack if you want to make it home alive."
The young soldier nodded and tightened his grip on his lasrifle.
Just then, the hangar's announcement system crackled to life.
A mechanical voice echoed from every corner.
"Attention, all planetary assault units..."
"The landing operation will officially commence in ten minutes."
"All companies, auxiliary formations, and Titan crews..."
"Prepare for orbital deployment."
The four Space Marine companies began boarding their drop pods.
Abaddon led the warriors of the First Company into the nearest pods.
Aximand followed with his own men.
Torgaddon marched at the head of the Second Company, his steps steady and deliberate.
Loken was the last to board his drop pod.
Just before stepping through the hatch, he turned and looked toward the blue planet in the distance.
Hang in there, Sejanus.
The wrath of the Imperium is about to descend.
And if anything happens to you...
We'll kill that false Emperor.
And avenge you.
--
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