Chapter 207: Cadia
The Eye of Terror. The Fortress World of Cadia.
The planet's orbit was filled with various Imperial warships, but every single one was scarred and battered. They all looked as if they had just been through a major battle. Tech-priests of the Mechanicus were doing their best to restore the basic combat capabilities of these heavily damaged vessels, and even the Techmarines of the Astartes had thrown themselves into this work.
From time to time, warships would break through from the warp, bringing vital war materials to Cadia. But often, only a fifth of these fleets, or even fewer, would successfully reach their destination. The Chaos attacks on the Imperium's transit routes had never ceased, and the Imperium's existing fleets were fighting a desperate battle to maintain these lines. Any reinforcements attempting to enter the Cadian system would be intercepted by the Chaos fleet. To ensure the arrival of supplies, Imperial warships could only take the risk of ignoring the Mandeville Points and undertaking more dangerous warp journeys to evade the Chaos blockade.
On the surface of Cadia, countless trenches and fortresses were being constructed. Mortal reinforcements from across the Imperium and Cadian regiments recalled from all corners of the galaxy were reinforcing these fortifications, awaiting the enemy's arrival.
Every face was filled with determination and an irrepressible exhaustion. The mental pressure was constantly eroding everyone's will. The people held their positions, relying on loyalty and faith. They had already repelled more than one Chaos ground invasion. Soldiers on the front lines burned the bodies of the enemy and collected the remains of their comrades.
In the hospitals behind the lines, a large number of wounded soldiers were moaning in agony. Medical supplies had long been unable to meet their needs. However, in these combat hospitals, many things that should not have been there were now active.
Philip sat on a chair in the hospital, looking at the combat suits Damon had provided them. Among them were more than a hundred Medic combat suits and nano-healing guns. Philip himself had not expected that his regiment would be split up and assigned to the relatively safe rear to protect these Cadian soldiers in Medic combat suits. Although the rear was relatively safe, Philip would have preferred to go to the front lines.
These Medics had become an indispensable part of Cadia's existing medical system.
When Philip had brought the combat suits back to Cadia, he had immediately reported their existence to Lord Castellan Creed. After the tech-priests of the Mechanicus and the priests of the Ecclesiarchy had confirmed countless times that this extraordinary equipment did not carry the taint of Chaos, it was immediately put into service.
The standard combat suits were requisitioned by the Cadian Kasrkin who protected Creed. This number of combat suits did not have as great an impact on the main battlefield as one might think. But after testing the effects of the Medic combat suits, Creed had immediately distributed them and dispatched heavy troops to protect them. Although they had no direct combat capability, their value was countless times higher than that of the standard combat suits. The wounded were no longer a burden; with the treatment of the Medics, they could quickly return to the battlefield. This was crucial for Cadia, which was short on manpower.
"Colonel Philip! By order of Lord Castellan Creed! You are to proceed to Kasr Kraf to report to the Lord Castellan!"
The arrival of the messenger made Philip quickly stand up.
"I am to go to Kasr Kraf to report to the Lord Castellan?"
"Yes! This is a direct order from the Lord Castellan. A Valkyrie has already landed. Please depart at once!"
Philip boarded the Valkyrie with a sense of trepidation and arrived at the most heavily defended area of Cadia. Here, not only were Cadia's most elite soldiers, but one could even see Astartes in force, also on defense. The different colors of their power armor and their Chapter insignia indicated that several Chapters were gathered here. Astartes, who were rarely seen on a daily basis, were now as common as if they were free.
Walking through the gates of the Kasr, Philip was taken directly into the war room.
"Great Lord Castellan! Philip of the Cadian 99th Mechanized Infantry, reporting!!"
Philip stood up straight and made an impeccable Aquila salute. He looked around the war room.
Lord Castellan Creed, with a full head of white hair, sat with a grim expression at the end of the long table. The lho-stick that almost never left his mouth glowed and dimmed, illuminating his resolute face. A huge holographic map clearly marked all the current combat deployments on Cadia, as well as the situation of the fleet in the void and the enemy's position.
On the system map, there were several scarlet red dots; those were the planets that had already been occupied by Abaddon. But several important strategic resource and fortress worlds were still under Cadia's control. And these planets were currently under attack by the Chaos fleet.
Creed was fiddling with a small, miniature Cadian soldier figurine. When he removed the piece from the map spread on the table, it represented that an entire regiment of Cadian soldiers had been wiped out. Life, at this moment, was just a number.
On both sides of the long table sat the commanders of various Astra Militarum regiments and the leaders of Imperial Knight houses. The Space Wolves, the Dark Angels, the Black Templars, and other Astartes commanders were also sitting here. These superhuman warriors, who held immense power in the Imperium, also gave Creed the respect he was due. This mortal man had conquered them all with his extraordinary art of war and strategic vision, and they were willing to cooperate with his command and orders.
Seeing Philip's arrival, Creed looked up at him.
"Soldier, tell us where that equipment came from!"
Faced with Creed's questioning, Philip looked at the countless eyes fixed on him and swallowed. Then, under the pressure, he told them everything he had seen about the existence of the Raiders, and also stated that a force from the Mongorte Dynasty had already arrived at Agripinaa.
His words also attracted the attention of the commanders around him. Harald of the Space Wolves was also in the war room at this time.
"Great Wolf," he said, turning to his leader, "what Philip said is true. I have fought alongside the Mongorte Dynasty before. Their combat effectiveness is astonishing. And most importantly, their production capacity. The combat suits that Cadia now possesses are nothing in the eyes of that Rogue Trader Dynasty. If I can get their support, we might even gain an advantage in the ground war!"
But the words of Philip and Harald were met with skepticism from the other Chapters and commanders. A Rogue Trader Dynasty could change the current situation? If the Mongorte Dynasty, which could fight a daemon legion, really existed, how could they be so unknown?
"Enough! Are you questioning the word of a warrior of the Space Wolves?!" Logan slammed his fist heavily on the table before him, and the entire conference room immediately fell silent. No one wanted to anger these ferocious wolves.
"I also believe what Philip says. The brave soldiers of Cadia would not lie about this matter!" Creed let out a heavy puff of smoke.
No matter what, he needed to find a glimmer of hope in this almost certain-death situation. But he could not place his hopes on this ethereal Rogue Trader Dynasty. At this moment, the warp storm was growing more and more violent. Astropathic communication was blocked, and a large number of Imperial ships had to suffer terrifying losses to enter Cadia. Even if this Dynasty's fleet had reached the outskirts of the Cadian system, could they break through the Chaos fleet's blockade to reach them? No matter how strong these combat suits were, if they were destroyed along with the ship, they would be of no use.
At that moment, the door to the conference room was pushed open. The shout of a soldier drew everyone's attention.
"Lord Castellan!! Several large transport ships! They have suddenly appeared on the outskirts of the system!!"
"Transport ships?!"
Even a battleship entering the Cadian system was not guaranteed to reach Cadia through the Chaos fleet's siege. To say nothing of a few transport ships!
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