Chapter 992 - 991: Lion, I'll Be the First to Horn In on the Grand Cannon You Gave Perturabo

In the Primarch's office aboard the Shadow's Sovereignty, Arsena frowned deeply as he reported to the Black Emperor.

"My lord, the orbital bombardment previously launched by Horus's fleet has caused severe ionization phenomena in the atmosphere. We cannot contact the surface."

As Arsena spoke, he raised his control staff, projecting a holographic image of the planet.

Nareth looked on. Diamat was covered in mottled rust, ochre, and scorched iron.

Flame runes flickered and updated continuously, surrounded by patches of gray runes.

"The Auger Master has submitted a report. Thirty-eight battlefields of varying sizes have been identified, with intense fighting ongoing."

"Due to the inability to establish contact, we cannot distinguish between rebels and loyalists."

Nareth nodded. His gaze swept across the holographic image, and all relevant memories of Diamat flashed through his mind. He then spoke, issuing orders.

"The Fourth and Seventh Chapters will land at the Governor's Palace, ascertain the situation with the rebels, and conduct a full purge."

Diamat was different from most forge worlds. After Horus brought it into compliance, the Imperium appointed a planetary governor to manage the parts outside the forges.

"The Eleventh Chapter will land at the primary forge and establish contact with the local Mechanicum."

"Do not trust Archmagos Archoi. He betrayed Archmagos Intendant Veturus and secretly sided with the Warmaster."

"Monitor his movements, but do not move against him for now. Wait until the Titan Forge falls into our hands."

Before obtaining the key assets, it was not the time to expose Archoi.

The Legio Gladius fought alongside the 27th Expeditionary Fleet and was under Horus's jurisdiction.

Moreover, Archoi had not yet been exposed, and the Legio Gladius was very likely to be deceived by him and become a weapon in his hands.

Nareth's gaze finally settled on the Titan Forge. He knew that this forge not only manufactured Titans for the Legio Gladius but also built a brand-new type of grand cannon.

This grand cannon was built based on technology long forbidden by Mars, and Horus had secretly commissioned them to manufacture it.

Lion, about fifty years ago, while studying the history of the Great Crusade, had seen it in a document Horus sent to the Emperor.

He had hurriedly extricated himself from the war of the Gordian League precisely for the sake of this powerful grand cannon.

In the ruins of Diamat, he had welcomed Perturabo.

Afterward, in order to gain Perturabo's support in selecting the new Warmaster, and hoping that he, who excelled in firepower strikes, would use the grand cannon to strike the rebels during the battle for Terra, he had gifted them to Perturabo.

'Lion, I'll be the first to horn in on the grand cannon you gave Perturabo.'

'Hmm, this is also good for your reputation. Your foolish decision born of poor judgment, one less of them.'

Nareth's mouth twisted into a smirk. "The Ninth Chapter will launch a swift storm assault on the Titan Forge."

"Seize the forge and take control of the secretly manufactured grand cannons."

"All warriors participating in the battle must be vigilant against the Alpha."

Although no ships had been detected in orbit, he knew from the subconscious of the infiltrated Alpha Legion that a suspected Alpharius, leading a large number of Alpha Legionaries, had taken root on Diamat.

This was a situation that had not appeared in his memories, and it was also the greatest enemy he would face.

If not for the existence of the Alpha's, the four Chapters' combined forces of fifty-nine thousand two hundred men, more than sixty times Lion's number, could have swept through the battle with overwhelming force.

But even though he had counter-infiltrated their Legion, he still did not know how many Alphas there were, because those Alphas did not know either.

Even Nareth, until now, could not be certain whether that Alpharius was actually him.

"By Your Will."

The flagship of the Ninth Chapter, the relic-class battleship Wave, advanced at full speed and plunged headlong into Diamat's atmosphere.

The heavy hatch of the drop pod closed and was sealed within the launch tube.

With a loud bang, the drop pod began to shake violently.

A mechanical voice suddenly sounded on the command channel: "Countdown to orbital insertion: ten seconds."

"Eight... five..." Piercing static crackled, blurring the countdown.

"Landing coordinates and tactical data successfully loaded to tactical interface."

The tactical interface in Szczesny's helmet was blurry, and it took several seconds for a clear picture to slowly take shape.

A gray ocean running north to south flowed across a desolate plain of black rock and red oxides.

A massive conical slope rose from a volcano.

Red-robed priests drilled into the dormant volcano, harnessing geothermal energy to power the Titan Forge.

"Prepare for action!"

The Ninth Chapter's fleet scattered drop pods like raindrops.

Howling drop pods streaked over the fortress-like forge on the far side and slammed into a circle at the foot of the slumbering volcano.

Szczesny leapt from the drop pod and scanned the towering chimneys and low cooling towers around him.

On the tactical interface, a striking massive orange rune leapt up.

He turned his body and gazed at the Titan Forge, which flickered with crisscrossing deep red, emerald, green, and sapphire colors.

Tactical interface information streamed rapidly: [Titan Forge covers an area of five square kilometers. It is completely self-sufficient. The massive assembly building can simultaneously begin construction on four Titans.]

[Tech-priests supervise slave laborers, from raw material extraction to forging the chassis, and finally the Titans that complete the rites will march to the Legio Gladius fortress ten kilometers to the north.]

After reviewing the orbital scan data, Szczesny unsurprisingly found that it matched perfectly with the data issued by the Black Emperor before the battle.

He quickly marked the target on the tactical interface, the assembly workshop, and then opened the command channel.

"Storm, attack!"

Landing all around, the Honor Guard members with blue wave patterns painted on their right shoulder pauldrons wore the new Mark VI Raptor-pattern power armor, of which the forge's furnaces had just produced one hundred and three sets.

Through the tactical data distributed by the Black Emperor, Szczesny knew this new armor pattern had been finalized based on the Emperor's Children's combat experience during the Schism of Mars.

The Shadows of order surged in one direction, like a tide sweeping over an isolated island.

With a thought from Szczesny, the armor custom-modified from the Russ-pattern frozen battle plate awakened. Thousands of premium gilt-alloy metal plates connected to his neural cortex activated, and the micro-fiber-linked hinged frame came online.

A gale rose within the "Ocean Songster," rapidly generating hurricanes around him.

He shot into the sky, speeding toward the Titan Forge.

A piercing alarm suddenly blared, and a mechanical voice sounded on the regional channel.

"This is the property of the Mechanicum. Setting foot here constitutes an invasion, and you will suffer the thunderous wrath of the Omnissiah."

"Halt immediately!"

Szczesny gazed at the Skitarii on the walls, rotating twin-linked lascannons toward the sky.

Heavy stubbers chattered, spraying dense barrages that swept toward them.

He opened the communication channel and issued an order to the Honor Guard: "Mask of Furry!"

....

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