Fanatical roars erupted from the rebel ranks.
On the Khornate side, the Bloodletter hoisted its massive flesh-and-bone axe, throwing its head back to unleash a deafening bellow.
The bloodshot hue in the eyes of every Khornate Berzerker deepened. They began beating their weapons against their chest plates, the rhythmic thud-thud echoing like war drums.
Rayne's voice drifted over from the warehouse. By now, his voice had warped into an eerie, multi-layered harmonization:
"The Lord of Change bestows his blessing... let the winds of change... sweep across this dead land..."
The Blue Horrors of Tzeentch began weaving complex flight trajectories through the air, faint blue electricity crackling at their claws.
"Oh, boy."
Zeke deadpanned in the regional channel. "We've got ourselves a grand Chaos Alliance."
"It's very Warhammer," [Fugitive Cogboy of the Mechanicus] added. "When facing Imperial forces—even if they're just local elites—they'll temporarily put aside their internal conflicts to butcher the forces of Order first."
"What about us, then?" [Soul of Cadia] asked. "Do we keep saving people?"
"Of course we do!"
Zeke looked behind him. At the entrance to the raw material transport corridor in the northwest corner, over three thousand workers were already gathered. Players were still steadily leading new workers out from various ruins.
Most of these native workers were paralyzed with terror, and many were wounded.
But under the players' direction—which consisted mostly of shouting and aggressive hand gestures—they had managed to form a somewhat orderly line and were filing one by one into the three-meter-wide, rusted metal pipe.
According to the intel Jeramie provided before his death, the other end of this pipe led to an abandoned mining quarry two kilometers outside the factory zone.
"Squad 1! Report status!" Zeke barked in the channel.
"Squad 1, copy!" [Soul of Cadia]'s voice came through, panting. "Corridor interior cleared! We took out seven straggler overseers hiding inside. No traps found!"
"The pipe's structural integrity is mostly intact, but there are cave-in risks in certain sections. We've left men behind to reinforce the route!"
"Estimated time to evacuate all workers... at least forty minutes!"
"Too slow!" Zeke frowned. "The Aru forces are going to attack in three minutes! The Chaos scum and the rebels in the factory won't last that long!"
He glanced at the holographic timer: 02:12, 02:11...
"All squads, attention! Plan adjustment!"
"Squad 1, speed up the worker flow! If you have to, kick them in the ass to get them moving!"
"Squad 2 and Squad 3, split off one-third of your manpower and establish a circular defensive perimeter at the corridor entrance! Prepare to repel any attacks coming from inside the factory zone—whether it's rebels, Chaos, or leftover overseers!"
"Squad 4, Tech Team, with me!"
Zeke led the direct strike team and several dozen tech team members, crouching as they dashed through a burning ruin and scaled the foundation of a partially collapsed cooling tower.
From this vantage point, they had a bird's-eye view of most of the factory zone.
The Aru forces had completed their final deployments. Tank turrets were making micro-adjustments to their angles. The front-line soldiers of the infantry squares dropped to one knee, deploying heavy bolters and missile launchers.
Inside the factory, the rebels had constructed makeshift fortifications from the rubble. The Khornate cultists had clustered around the Bloodletter, forming a surging vortex of bloodred rage.
The Tzeentchian Daemons hovered above the warehouse. The Blue Horrors were arranging themselves into a bizarre formation, while the Herald of Tzeentch began casting with all nine arms simultaneously, manifesting countless glowing runes in the air.
"Cogboy," Zeke stared in that direction. "Analyze it. What kind of ultimate move are those blue smurfs charging up?"
[Fugitive Cogboy of the Mechanicus]'s eyes rapidly scanned the distant psychic fluctuations:
"Cross-referencing with Warhammer lore compendiums... they appear to be preparing a large-scale area-of-effect spell."
"It's not highly lethal. It leans more toward... crowd control."
"Likely a spatial distortion, temporal deceleration, or probability interference—classic Tzeentchian tricks."
"The objective is to stall the Aru forces, creating an opportunity for the Khornate cultists and rebels to close into melee range."
"What about Khorne's side?" Tax Bro asked.
"Khorne is simple," Schrödinger Bro chimed in. "The moment the Aru forces attack and their front line is disrupted by the Tzeentchian spell, the Bloodletter will lead the Berzerkers on a charge and chop them to pieces in close combat."
"The rebels will take the opportunity to provide ranged fire support, targeting the fragile infantry and light armor units."
"A textbook joint Chaos operation. Although this kind of cooperation usually devolves into backstabbing long before the battle actually ends."
Zeke nodded, getting a read on the situation.
At that moment, the holographic timer ticked down to 00:30.
Kaspar Aru's mechanical voice echoed once more:
"Thirty seconds remain."
"This is your final mercy."
"All who step outside the factory zone will be considered surrendered."
"All who remain inside will be considered heretics."
"Countdown: 00:29, 00:28..."
Inside the factory zone, not a single rebel or Chaos cultist made a move to leave.
Instead, several faded flags were raised within the rebel ranks—the sigil of House Blaec from eighty years ago: an eagle clutching a lightning bolt.
The rhythmic beating from the Khornate cultists grew denser. The Bloodletter began slamming its massive axe into the ground, every strike making the earth tremble.
The chanting of the Tzeentchian Daemons reached a crescendo. The Herald's three heads opened their eyes simultaneously, and its nine arms thrust violently toward the sky!
"00:03, 00:02, 00:01!"
"Time is up."
The red glow in Kaspar Aru's cybernetic eye flared brilliantly:
"For the Consortium. For Order. For the Emperor."
"OPEN FIRE!!!"
BOOM!!!!!!!
The main cannons of fifteen Leman Russ battle tanks roared in unison!
Fifteen high-explosive shells tore through the morning sky, trailing plumes of fire, and smashed into the factory zone!
Almost simultaneously, the twin-linked main cannons of three Baneblade-class siege tanks fired, sending even more massive shells right behind them!
Then came the lascannons and heavy bolters of the Sentinel walkers, followed by volley after volley of missiles and las-fire from the infantry squares...
The entire perimeter wall of the refinery was instantly swallowed by explosions and blinding firelight!
"Holy shit!" [Did the White Scars Speed Today?] nearly jumped out from behind his cover. "These visual effects! The explosions! The sound design! This is way better than the cutscenes in Dawn of War!"
"No shit! You're literally standing in it!" Tax Bro yanked him back down. "Stray bullets! Watch out for stray bullets!"
The primary objective of the first bombardment wave was the perimeter walls and outer buildings, aiming to open an assault corridor.
However, over a dozen shells landed deep inside the factory zone. One of them scored a direct hit on a towering ore pulverizer that hadn't fully collapsed yet.
The machine—worth 50,000 Imperial Coins, which the players hadn't had the time to dismantle yet—was instantly reduced to a storm of flying metal shrapnel.
"My fifty thousand coins!!!" [Soul of Cadia] shrieked in the channel.
"Stop howling!" Zeke yelled back. "Look over there!"
After the bombardment, the Aru forces began their advance.
Tanks took the vanguard, Sentinel walkers guarded the flanks, and the infantry squares followed closely behind, surging toward the breached walls like a tide of steel.
Meanwhile, inside the factory, the Tzeentchian Daemons' ultimate move was ready.
The Herald of Tzeentch drove all nine arms downward!
The glowing runes hovering in the air abruptly detonated, transforming into a blue force field that blanketed half the factory zone!
Space within the force field began to warp. Light refracted at grotesque angles, and sounds became muffled and distorted.
Most terrifyingly, the three Leman Russ tanks leading the charge suddenly seemed to hit a wall. Their treads spun wildly, but their forward momentum plummeted by seventy percent!
The trajectories of the tank shells became erratic. Even when aimed directly at rebel fortifications, the shells swerved wildly in mid-air, striking the nearby wastewater pools instead.
"Spatial Distortion Field!" [Fugitive Cogboy of the Mechanicus] excitedly recorded the data. "Reduces movement speed, interferes with ballistic trajectories. Classic Tzeentchian crowd control!"
"Khornates are moving!"
Sure enough, under the cover of the Tzeentchian force field, the Bloodletter let out an earth-shattering roar. Raising its flesh-and-bone axe, it charged straight toward the nearest Leman Russ tank!
Behind it, over two hundred half-daemonic Khornate Berzerkers roared and followed, surging forward like a mudslide of blood!
"BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD!!!"
"SKULLS FOR THE SKULL THRONE!!!"
The rebels didn't stay idle either. They had hauled various defensive armaments off the hundreds of vehicles they had driven into the industrial zone.
Mounting dozens of their own heavy bolters and lascannons behind their fortifications, they unleashed a ferocious barrage into the Aru infantry squares!
The battle had completely erupted.