The landing force was rapidly approaching the planet below.
In their vision, beyond the boundless sand sea and the Deadwood Sector, they could see a gargantuan, almost terrifying Sandstorm.
Its area was equivalent to that of some smaller hive cities, reaching straight up into the atmosphere, like a vortex-shaped pupil opening up in the sandy ocean, gazing at the team caught in between it and the Great Rift in the background.
Its scale was so immense that it made those plummeting towards the surface worry about being swept into it, even though they were separated by hundreds of kilometers, which appeared to be only a short distance away from orbit.
However, as they approached the surface further, this concern ultimately did not materialize. The Drop Pods and fighters were advancing towards their destination along the calculated descent trajectory.
So far, no other accidents had occurred.
However, as it turned out, the absence of all accidents was impossible.
The Valkyrie carrying Zhang Ge's party soon brought some small surprises to the other fighters in the squadron.
After flying together with the other Valkyries in the squadron for a short while, it seemed to realize that its comrades could no longer accelerate further, so it simply broke away from the group once again.
Soon, it was another classic scenario of communication requests being intercepted, the others being unable to catch up despite accelerating, and them being only able to watch the receding contrails with annoyance.
It wasn't just the fighter squadron; even the large batch of Drop Pods that were accelerating further were left behind by this Valkyrie.
At this time, since they had long left the Sky Eagle Port area, the communication interference once again filled the vox array. The soldiers inside the fighters and Drop Pods could not contact the transport ships or even each other if they were slightly apart. The situation of a single Valkyrie breaking away from the group was only known to those with visual confirmation.
Amid such information isolation, apart from the loss of one fighter, the landing force continued to maintain its previous formation.
Meanwhile, on the ground.
The layered sand dunes had long transformed into a plain and depression shimmering with glassy light. Countless traces of weapons wreaking havoc were revealed, and upon closer inspection, one could further discover that fragments of temporary fortifications were scattered among the charred traces along with fragmented corpses.
Devoid of the clamor from not long ago, an eerie silence permeated this battlefield.
If one were to shift the perspective a little further, one could see the reason for this silence.
A wrecked Titan stood at the center of the battlefield. Although its right arm had been destroyed and the armor on its surface was either torn apart or riddled with bullet holes, it still stood, scanning its surroundings with its remaining weapons, trying to capture any enemy forces that appeared in its field of vision.
On the horizon, countless charred wrecks testified to the consequences of rashly intruding into its firing range.
This was the suppressive power that a Titan could bring. Even when surrounded and isolated, with a Reaver Titan as the pillar, this force had persisted until now.
Titans were the pinnacle of the Imperium's ground forces in terms of armor-piercing capabilities, their Void Shields capable of withstanding incessant artillery strikes, and their armaments capable of destroying the most tenacious fortresses.
Apart from opponents of the same class, it was difficult for anything to destroy these mobile engines of destruction. Even without sufficiently large-caliber guns, artillery units generally would not waste shells on them because the damage caused by the shells landing on the Void Shield simultaneously might not even keep up with the Titan's recharge rate.
Of course, it was not alone. At the feet of this damaged Titan, there were six or seven Knight Armigers, and the smaller ones were the Space Marines, primarily from the Imperial Fists, and accompanying Astra Militarum.
The forces of both sides were in a brief standoff after several battles.
Surrounding them before were large Ork Warbands, and later they were replaced by Chaos Cultists led by Iron Warriors. Although their main forces were soon withdrawn to launch an attack on the Deadwood Sector, those remaining were completely sufficient to crush this exhausted force.
If it hadn't been for the presence of the Titan, they would have all become corpses buried in the sand sea long ago.
But now, they were nearing their limit.
The Warhound Titans that accompanied the Reaver had already been lost, and most of the Knights had also been destroyed. Due to the enemy's overwhelming offensive, they didn't even have time to recover the remains and could only destroy a portion of them as much as possible.
The Imperial Fists commander in charge of the defense had exhausted his last bit of imagination, doing his best to delay the enemy for as long as possible. But survival? Not even the most optimistic defense plan had been drawn up for this because it was impossible.
Before the hastily rebuilt fortifications could even be completed... or even before the exhausted soldiers could recover their strength, a voice from the Titan's loudspeaker carried to the ground below:
"The enemy has launched another attack."
It was common for Titans to emit sounds as a means of boosting morale, but generally, these gigantic creations would not speak in sentences. Instead, they would proclaim their power through their rousing mechanical operations and muzzle flashes.
Aside from the Titan's guard, allied mortal forces near the Titan who were unable to evacuate in time would occasionally be killed by the massive explosions from its weapons firing.
However, this Reaver Titan could no longer do that. Its energy was nearing depletion, and most of its systems had been shut down, including its locomotive mechanisms. It could only use this androgynous voice, a hybrid of the pilot and the Machine Spirit, to indicate that it was still alive.
Just as the words finished, the Gatling Blaster on the Titan's surviving left arm began to fire precise bursts. Due to the extreme lack of ammunition, this Reaver had to use its shells where they could achieve maximum effectiveness after calculation, rather than recklessly unleashing its fury as it normally would.
On the distant horizon, the enemy's shadows also vaguely appeared amidst the explosions. Their frantic strides were not deterred by the shells that accurately eliminated a vehicle and the surrounding infantry with each impact. At the same time, they appeared from all around the perimeter.
Tanks, tank destroyers, self-propelled artillery, rocket launchers...
Countless retaliatory strikes ensued. A rain of shells, lasers, plasma, and other projectiles struck back at the teetering Titan. A small portion of the most threatening projectiles were intercepted by the Void Shield, but more of them created further damage on the already tattered Adamantium Armor.
Although the Imperial forces near the Titan's feet were also doing their best to counterattack, these attacks were like a meager cup of water thrown into a raging fire compared to the enemy surging towards the position.
Was this finally the end? Was I finally going to return to the Emperor's embrace here?
At this moment of despair, the sacred scenes of the Phalanx and Terra flashed through the mind of the Imperial Fists commander here. The thought of perhaps being able to accompany the Throne and witness these sights daily became his last solace in this battle.
But soon, a flashing dot breaking through the clouds above drew his attention away from the battle.
Was that a fighter from the Chaos Fleet?
That was the first thought that flashed through his mind.
However, his superhuman vision quickly helped him deny this idea.
Although it was unusually fast, judging from its appearance, it should be a friendly Valkyrie.
And then, he realized that he didn't even need to use superhuman vision to identify friend from foe.
Because the countless projectiles spewing from its Rocket Pods had already created a sea of fire in the Chaos lines below.
It also made him realize a somewhat surprising fact:
What were the Iron Warriors' AA Defense Grid doing? Were they unable to detect even a single Valkyrie intruding? Had they become this incompetent after turning traitor?
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