Chapter 213: War Ends: "Rest in Peace"
The wolves pursued without mercy.
Duran's orbital defenses activated at full power. Their massive structures bristled with anti-ship weapons capable of overwhelming even second-generation battleship shields.
But the VI Legion's greatest strength lay not in their steel warships, but in the demigod warriors blessed by the Emperor. Once breaches appeared in the orbital defenders' shields, the wolves used spatial teleportation to board the stations, bringing the fight to close quarters.
Thousands of Space Wolves poured into the orbital facilities.
They fought from one command post to another, destroying weapon systems, killing defenders, and smashing everything in their path.
To protect their homeworld, Duran's defenders fought with desperate fury. They deployed war machines, built trench networks, and organized mechanized units to hold every position. Heavy weapons covered every strategic chokepoint.
"For the Primarch! For the Allfather! For Corax!"
"Long live Leman Russ, the Wolf King!"
The wolves roared, raising axes and power swords high. They threw themselves into battle, destroying all resistance in the Human Empire's name.
The wave of destruction spread through the station's corridors. Lights dimmed section by section. Blood flowed in rivers. Fires spread rapidly from node to node.
The orbital station fell.
Few defenders survived. They had given everything for their homeland. The battle witnessed countless acts of tragic heroism—suicide charges with melta bombs clutched in trembling hands, soldiers with shattered legs and blinded eyes who continued fighting until their last breath.
Even the wolves showed respect, admiring the determination and sacrifice displayed in defense of home.
But it couldn't change the outcome.
The orbital station fell. The Fashi fleet was annihilated. Planet Duran lay besieged by the wolf fleet, helpless as meat on a butcher's block.
"We need a swift, decisive offensive," Russ said after capturing the station, convening his senior commanders. "Cut off enemy support and eliminate the Duran tyrant. Only then can we minimize casualties."
The situation on Duran was problematic. The population had been thoroughly indoctrinated. Once the VI Legion launched its ground offensive, fierce resistance was inevitable.
Ordinary resistance posed no tactical problem for the wolves. With their implanted second-generation Gene Engines, they could slaughter any number of baseline humans.
But after so many battles, they understood the determination of Duran's people. These weren't fanatics or tyrants; they were simply trying to protect their home.
Slaughter was pointless.
A swift decapitation strike, crushing the local leadership and avoiding unnecessary casualties, that was the path forward.
After formulating a detailed battle plan targeting the palace where the Dulan Emperor resided, the airborne operation commenced.
Warships in orbit scanned continuously, locking onto defensive artillery, barracks, laser arrays, turrets, missile silos, and airfields. Orbital bombardment followed.
Artillery fire swept over designated targets. Dazzling laser weapons from the warships surged relentlessly, their deadly beams threading through falling trajectories to strike with precision.
Once the enemy lost their ability to retaliate, swarms of fighters poured from carrier ships, diving toward Duran's atmosphere.
On the surface, portals opened with crackling lightning. Wolf warriors surged through. Tanks, Titans, Knight mechs, and auxiliary forces deployed to the battlefield alongside them.
Titans descended like world-ending giants, their core reactors glowing with stellar radiance, propulsion engines roaring. Massive cannon barrels tracked target after target with mechanical precision.
Gatling cannons glowed hot, unleashing devastating beams. Power claws wreathed in lightning tore through city walls and towers with ease.
Duran's mechanized forces bravely resisted the Human Empire's first wave. They launched counter-charges through withering fire, attempting to reach Imperial positions. Bullets struck barriers, producing cascading flares of dissipating energy.
Mobile artillery emerged from camouflaged fortifications, their massive barrels nearly parallel to the ground, shaking violently from recoil. Fully armored walking mechs lumbered from the shadows of city walls, shoulder-mounted launchers targeting the most brutal combat zones, unleashing grenades without mercy.
Every variety of heavy weapon found its way to the battlefield.
Casualties mounted into cold numbers.
Russ joined the fighting personally, wielding Mjalnar. The frost blade tore through armor and shields effortlessly. Before enemies could react, the greatsword swept across with thunderous force.
Death bloomed among enemy ranks. Lifeless bodies flew and crashed back down in broken heaps.
At times, he employed more esoteric powers, tearing apart thick walls, dismembering war machines, crushing armored turrets with his bare hands.
Under his leadership, the vanguard broke through enemy defenses, reaching the palace depths.
The Dulan Emperor's personal guard resisted fiercely.
But Russ was overwhelming. His combat prowess inspired despair. No guard could approach him. None who entered his sight survived.
Thud.
The sound of a blade piercing flesh rang clearly. Crimson blood flowed, dripping to the floor.
"Rest in peace," Russ said with genuine pity, withdrawing his blade slowly.
The wide-eyed guard fell, his life extinguished.
Glancing at his Wolf Guard clearing the remaining defenders, Russ stepped over the threshold into the main hall.
"Follow him," Corax said lazily from his miniature throne.
Several Wolf Guard carrying the throne and managing the fries-and-ketchup supply hastily followed Russ inside.
The main hall's furnishings were lavish, befitting its owner's noble status. Intricate corridors branched in all directions, leading to antechambers, rooms, and alcoves. Though the light remained soft and pleasant, the indoor temperature was oppressively high.
Heat rolled through arched Gothic windows. Outside, the sky still burned red.
The dome featured a mosaic of a coiled dragon, Duran's symbol. Directly beneath it sat a throne of pure black.
Upon it rested a solitary figure: a man wrapped in crimson robes, frail and ancient, his skin translucent like parchment.
"Reckoning time again," Corax mumbled. "You've eliminated another enemy for the Human Empire, you big oaf."
Russ turned and smiled at Corax on his miniature throne, then faced the figure.
"Surrender. You've already lost. Accept the Human Empire's integration and join the unified human civilization. Continued resistance will only bring death."
"You burned everything we spent millennia building, and you call it victory," the Dulan Emperor said with a tired, mocking smile. "Now you demand we accept your enlightenment."
"Your refusal of peace brought these consequences," Russ said. "If you'd accepted the envoy's terms, none of this would've happened. Instead, you would've gained far more, enjoyed the benefits of humanity's rise."
"But we don't need you to give us more. We just wanted to live our own lives," the Dulan Emperor said. "We endured millennia of crisis and finally saw civilization's dawn, yet you demand we bow down."
"This is for humanity's rise," Russ said.
"There was another group who claimed they acted for humanity," the Dulan Emperor scoffed. "Their evil deeds tore apart human civilization and caused wars that swept the galaxy. How many atrocities in this star river have been given noble names?"
"Why waste breath on this?" Corax stretched his claws lazily. "Our technology and systems are superior, so our combat power is stronger, so we won. Winners have the right to dominate losers. That's the truth of this universe."
The Dulan Emperor tried to speak, but Corax interrupted directly. "I know you want to argue, but I don't care to hear it. Winning is winning, losing is losing, regardless of justice."
"We think this will help humanity rise, so we do it. You can disagree, but you still lost."
"Now order your forces to surrender and end this. Resistance is meaningless. If you gamble, you must accept the loss."
Russ gave a mental thumbs up.
As expected of Corax, his verbal assaults were devastating.
The Dulan Emperor stared at Corax with astonishment, then slowly lowered his head in defeat.
He surrendered to Human Empire custody.
The Fashi Empire was declared overthrown. All its territories and colonies were incorporated into the Human Empire.
Terra.
Corax didn't know how he walked out of the Throne Room.
For days afterward, he remained in a daze. His mind overflowed with images of the golden throne and the Emperor shrouded in light.
By the time his usual focus returned, he was already aboard a supply ship bound for the Transformers universe.
News had reached Terra: Sentinel Prime, lieutenant of the Cosmic Emperor, was leading a vast Transformer army to encircle and annihilate Human Empire forces led by three Primarchs, Lion, Sanguinius, and Guilliman.
This war spanned multiple domains and dimensions, holding immense educational value for a Primarch like Corax, who had not yet undergone Gene Engine implantation.
He'd been urgently dispatched to the Transformers universe.
No sooner had Corax entered that reality than bad news arrived.
Sentinel Prime, accompanied by elite forces, had launched a surprise attack on the fortress. The Human Empire command post had fallen, and the three Primarchs were embroiled in desperate fighting.
The magnificent Cybertronian fleet traversed the cold, boundless void.
Each warship measured dozens of kilometers in length, majestic metal cities sailing through space. Some carrier vessels reached several hundred kilometers long, resembling mobile continents of steel.
Propulsion engines mounted at their sterns glowed like stars.
These capital ships mounted incredibly powerful weaponry. A single shot could destroy a planet, even an entire star system. They unleashed beams a thousand meters in diameter, brilliant columns of death cutting through the void toward Human Empire fortress structures, too bright to view directly.
In an instant, they crossed vast distances and reached the colossal Imperial fortress.
Layers of interwoven lotus-shaped shields are activated.
The moment they contacted the beams, they shattered. Shields broke layer after layer with astonishing speed.
[End of Chapter]
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