Chapter 99: Graviton Bomb Shows Its Power
The entire Legion, from top to bottom, harbored an unventable resentment and bitterness, and even Primarch Perturabo was no exception, as he too was assigned by the Emperor to undertake these arduous and laborious tasks.
Dantioch's words caused many of the Company Commanders to look grim, their resentment deeply suppressed within their hearts.
Perturabo was also affected by these words and snorted coldly. "If the Alpha Legion comes, we fight. If they don't, we still fight. This is the Emperor's command, and we can only respond with absolute loyalty."
"We are an invincible Legion forged from steel. There is no fortress or stronghold we cannot conquer. The Hrud before us are no different."
As he finished speaking, what was intended as a morale-boosting speech left the entire bridge silent, with no one responding.
The Company Commanders watched their Primarch feign greatness, knowing that afterward, he would demand immense casualties from his subordinates.
Dantioch understood the Primarch's character well.
He slammed his scepter onto the ground with a heavy thud, clearly dissatisfied with the Alpha Legion's actions and, moreover, frustrated that the entire Legion had been fighting such bitter battles.
Just then, the flashing red lights on the bridge caught the attention of Perturabo and the Company Commanders. Soon, an Astropath announced that a massive fleet was appearing in this star region via Warp jump.
Perturabo and the others turned toward the star region data model.
A colossal ten-kilometer warship detached from the Warp and entered the star region's cosmos.
Dantioch looked at the emblem on the warship and exclaimed in surprise, "It's the Twentieth Legion, the Alpha's! They've arrived!"
"Only one ship. Don't get too excited." Perturabo muttered under his breath.
He had long lost faith in the Imperium of Man's other Legions, believing the Alpha Legion would only send a few dozen warships to fool them.
But in the dim star region, one space warship after another continuously jumped out into the cosmos. The numbers were endless, quickly reaching over five hundred warships in a short while.
As a colossal warship over twenty kilometers long emerged, the Glorious Queen-class warship was exceptionally conspicuous, clearly identifiable as the Alpha Legion's flagship at first glance.
Perturabo looked at the flagship and said calmly, "Alpharius Omega."
"That newly returned Primarch. I didn't expect him to be so honorable." Dantioch watched as the warships kept appearing, reaching over a thousand, and his mood improved involuntarily, offering a rare positive evaluation.
As Perturabo and the Company Commanders showed various expressions, three thousand space warships arrived in this cosmic area and swiftly flew toward them.
Dantioch was surprised that the Alpha Legion had sent their entire Legion to cooperate. Such strong reinforcements meant that their Iron Warriors Legion would suffer far fewer casualties in this war.
For the first time, the Iron Warriors, who had always been filled with resentment and bitterness, felt a rare surge of joy seeing an allied force arrive with their full strength.
Dantioch immediately reminded Perturabo, who looked calm and showed no expression, to contact Alpharius.
However, Perturabo silently turned away, stubbornly refusing to make contact.
The Company Commanders, witnessing their Primarch's behavior, felt helpless in the face of his stubborn refusal to contact them, despite clearly wanting to.
At an opportune moment, Omega's communication connected with the Iron Warriors. During the Imperial Palace banquet, Perturabo had not given Omega a good impression, but Omega conducted the conversation with great politeness and formality.
Having had experience with the Night Lords' independent actions, Omega proactively presented his tactical plan.
For their first cooperation, the two Legions would advance side-by-side, allowing them to accommodate each other's tactics and observe one another, gradually coordinating and understanding each other in the upcoming war.
Perturabo agreed to the plan, but he felt uncomfortable with Omega proposing and leading it. He simply had that stubborn personality.
In Perturabo's mind at this moment, he had already simulated a unified command and attack with the Alpha Legion's three thousand warships and his own Legion, achieving a more successful outcome than Omega's plan.
As a seasoned, old-school Primarch, this newly returned brother should listen to his leadership and arrangements.
On the distant bridge, Omega had no idea that Perturabo's internal monologue was so rich at this moment. If he knew, Omega would say, "Brother, if you have something to say, just say it. If you don't, how will I know?"
The other party's brief replies were either "good" or "hmm," and since he raised no objections, Omega simply assumed Perturabo was the silent, taciturn type.
With the tactical plan set, Omega commanded his Legion, and three thousand warships headed straight for the massive Hrud fleet. The Hrud also discovered the newly arrived Human Fleet and dispatched a portion of their large army to confront them.
In space, nearly twenty thousand warships from both sides engaged in battle. The fleets began their laser bombardment from millions of kilometers apart. Alpharius commanded from the front.
Before the battle, he was very interested in the powerful Hrud as an opponent.
Omega reviewed the combat data nearby and, after the first wave of exchanges between the two sides, identified the Hrud's weapons: high-energy laser cannons, pulse electromagnetic cannons, and ion cannons, with pulse cannons being the most numerous.
Just by looking at the Hrud's warships, weapons, and warship energy shields, Omega judged that their civilization had reached the level of force-field technology.
He had not yet seen any gravity technology weapons. Laser cannons and ion cannons were basic standard weapons possessed by most alien civilizations with interstellar warfare capabilities.
The Imperium of Man had pulse cannons and pulse weapons, but they were fewer in number. The primary focus was on configuring laser and ion weapons in detail.
Of course, pulse weapons were also a promising direction for weapon development with good effectiveness.
As both sides exchanged long-range laser fire, they gradually drew closer, and a large number of Hrud interstellar fighters rapidly approached.
The Hrud interstellar fighters were noticeably smaller in model and simpler in structure compared to the Imperium of Man's. Still, they compensated with sheer numbers, swarming like vermin in the sky.
However, they encountered the Alpha Legion, which had experienced the AI Overlord war. Alpharius skillfully adjusted his tactics. Omega watched as their own warship group gathered.
During the offense and defense, nearly a million Hrud interstellar fighters approached, especially a portion of elite Hrud fighters desperately flying toward their fleet. This familiar scent clearly indicated a beheading tactic.
"Be careful. The vermins coming probably have the ability to age you rapidly." Omega warned.
Alpharius nodded, abandoning any thought of further luring the enemy, and directly ordered the deployment of graviton bombs.
On the other side, the Iron Warriors Legion's fleet was engaged in fierce combat. Through the data model, they were surprised to see many of the Alpha Legion's warships surrounded by countless interstellar fighters.
One hundred graviton bombs were rapidly launched by the warships of various companies, swiftly flying toward the countless surrounding Hrud interstellar fighters.
Boom!
One hundred graviton bombs exploded, and powerful gravitational waves rapidly spread, enveloping a large area of the surrounding Hrud interstellar fighters. Countless fighters immediately experienced mechanical failures, successively exploding into space fireworks.
The humanoid Hrud inside some fighters showed symptoms of body distortion and vomiting blood, and some fighters lost control, stopping and drifting in space, dying instantly, both machine and vermin.
Covering an arc-shaped range of one million kilometers, countless Hrud interstellar fighters directly stopped and exploded.
As the concentrated, vast gravitational waves fluctuated with space, they formed a breathtaking spectacle in the cosmos.
Dantioch, thinking there was a tactical problem on the Alpha side, exclaimed in surprise, "These are graviton weapons! I never thought the Alpha Legion would have such a large-scale deployment of graviton bombs!"
Perturabo, seeing the surprised expressions of the surrounding Company Commanders, analyzed, "Using graviton bombs against some insignificant interstellar fighters is too wasteful. If it were me, I would hide them and use them when the two fleets are in a head-on battle to achieve a greater combat effect."
"We also have graviton bombs. What's so surprising about that?"
A Company Commander, seeing the situation, said directly, "The Alpha Legion's Primarch only returned a year or two ago. How could they have so many graviton bombs configured?"
"It's a bit unbelievable. This ghost Legion, now that I see it, certainly hides many secrets."
The other Company Commanders nodded in agreement. Developing a star region and a fleet was understandable, but researching graviton weapons before the Primarch returned to lead the Legion just felt wrong somehow.
Perturabo was being too lazy to think deeply. Instead, his head was filled with bitter thoughts about his men.
It was He who had researched graviton weapons himself, and for you guys to praise Alpharius instead of me is a bit unreasonable.
[End of Chapter]
Want to read more than 50+ chapters right now!
patreon.com/cw/Mr_UmU
https://www.patreon.com/Mr_UmU
____
Want bonus chapters? You got it.
Goal: 300 – Achieved: 276 = 2 Bonus Chapters
📌 1 Power Stone on the Book Page = 100 on Chapter Pages!
!! VISIT the BOOK PAGE to donate.