"Brother, join us..."
Vroom— Screech—!!
Before the fallen Son of the Emperor could finish its sentence, the Company Champion's power sword came down again like a thunderbolt. The vertical slash, crackling with blue arcs of destructive energy, cleaved the traitor from head to toe.
Thud—!
The bisected body fell heavily to the ground, the broken remains lying still, seemingly devoid of life.
However, the two tactical squad members armed with meltaguns showed no signs of relaxation. They quickly approached and, without hesitation, "finished off" the already severed corpse.
The high-temperature beams instantly engulfed the remains, reducing them to ash and leaving only a charred mark on the ground. The acrid smell of burnt flesh filled the air.
With the final burst of the meltagun's beam, the Central Hospital and the surrounding streets finally fell into a temporary calm.
But this "peace" felt more like a brief respite than a true victory.
Duke observed everything from a distance. Only after confirming that the battle was over did he cautiously leave his cover and head toward the entrance of the Central Hospital.
His steps were hurried, a mix of relief at having survived and gratitude toward the unfamiliar warriors.
As he passed by the towering Sons of Humanity, he paused, looking up at them with sincere eyes to convey his thanks.
Though no words were exchanged, his expression conveyed enough respect and gratitude.
Then, Duke walked straight into the hospital lobby, his figure gradually disappearing behind the doors.
"..."
However, the Sons of Humanity on the battlefield did not celebrate their victory. Instead, they fell into a heavy silence.
It was a silence born of shock and confusion.
They had not expected to encounter fallen, traitorous "brothers" in this Chaos incident, nor had they anticipated that these fallen ones would possess strength far beyond their expectations.
Especially the two fallen Sons of the Emperor—one had inflicted significant damage while surrounded by three tactical squads, and the other had nearly matched the Company Champion blow for blow, only falling at the very end.
This forced the Sons of Humanity to reassess the threat level of these enemies.
At the same time, they began to realize how little they knew about the larger picture of the war.
The Primarchs, having learned from the Emperor about the existence of a "parallel universe" (Warhammer 40k) that also had Primarchs and Astartes, had not yet shared this information with their sons.
The soldiers of these tactical squads were unaware and could not understand why the enemies they faced were so similar to them, yet so full of corruption and evil.
This sense of the unknown and the helplessness of being kept in the dark weighed heavily on everyone.
Though the battle in New Argos was far from over, it had already stirred ripples in their hearts, hinting at an even greater storm on the horizon.
"Let's move, brothers."
The brief silence lasted only two seconds before a squad leader broke the oppressive atmosphere.
He turned and began moving toward the city center, adding:
"Whether they are our brothers or not, if they choose to fall into the abyss of Chaos and slaughter humans, then they are enemies of us and the Empire. Show no mercy."
"Agreed. Let's go."
The Company Champion nodded coldly and followed closely behind.
The next steps were taken without hesitation.
The three tactical squads and the Company Champion advanced toward the city center in a standard tactical formation.
Their goal was clear: to purge all Chaos threats from the district and restore Imperial order.
The buildings lining the streets were already in ruins, with flames and smoke billowing into the air.
Countless Chaos creatures roamed the streets and alleys, wreaking havoc on local police forces and unmanned patrol drones.
However, the arrival of the Astartes completely turned the tide of battle.
The tactical squads carried out their purge with impeccable precision. Their bolters were like the scythes of death in close-quarters combat, each shot obliterating the Chaos creatures.
The Company Champion was even more ferocious. Wielding his power sword, each swing sent sparks flying and limbs scattering, reducing any enemy that dared approach to rubble.
From above, wherever the tactical squads fought, the battles were as smooth and precise as surgical strikes.
At this moment, at least a thousand fully-fledged Astartes from the 2nd Company of the Sons of Humanity had descended upon the central district of New Argos via drop pods and Thunderhawk gunships.
They were like an "iron tide," gradually compressing the Chaos-held areas and engaging the fallen Sons of the Emperor in direct combat.
Behind them, over a hundred thousand auxiliary troops followed, accompanied by various bio-weapons and mechanized units, quickly securing strategic positions to stem the tide of Chaos.
Meanwhile, in low orbit, the 2nd Company fleet of the Sons of Humanity had already completed its combat assembly.
The massive fleet "hovered" at the edge of the atmosphere, their main guns aimed at the surface, ready to provide precise fire support at a moment's notice.
As for the flagship, it was not a Forerunner Sojourner-class vessel, nor was it the New Era or Carthage-class ships upgraded by Atlas based on UNSC designs. Instead, it was a battleship approximately 8 kilometers long, with structures resembling "palaces" on its top and sides—the Emperor-class battleship.
The Emperor-class was a next-generation battleship developed by Atlas' Mars Research Division in the main universe, incorporating technologies from multiple universes.
The power of its energy shields had reached 12% of that of a Sojourner-class vessel.
Though 12% might sound small, it made the Emperor-class the second most defensively capable ship in the Imperial fleet, surpassed only by the Sojourner-class.
In addition to traditional electromagnetic main guns, the Emperor-class was also equipped with a beam matrix system, capable of delivering a true "Exterminatus"—similar to Mortarion's Sojourner-class flagship, which had utterly destroyed the Earth-like planet Quikontor.
At this moment, on the bridge of the Emperor-class:
"..."
Without his helmet and with a neat silver crew cut, 2nd Company Captain Saul Tarvitz stood by the central console, monitoring the battle in New Argos through numerous holographic screens.
A veteran who had participated in the unification of the Gears of War universe, Saul Tarvitz had naturally become the captain of the 2nd Company after the founding of the Sons of Humanity.
However, Saul Tarvitz now wore a deep frown, clearly troubled by the sight of the fallen Sons of the Emperor.
"Captain!"
Suddenly, a crew member loudly reported:
"An extremely powerful energy surge has been detected in the central artery of New Argos. The nearest 2nd Platoon squad managed to transmit footage to the fleet before their communications were disrupted by Chaos interference."
As the crew member reported, they also projected the footage onto the central console.
?!
The moment Saul Tarvitz saw the footage, his expression turned to one of disbelief.
Because the "giant creature" in the footage looked eerily similar to... their Primarch.
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