Chapter 39: The Empire's Frontier: Before Destruction

The light of stars shines on the giant floor-to-ceiling windows of the imperial warship. This structure like a church window supports the huge glass. Countless steel beams and supporting steel bars snake on it, shaping the glass into different arcs. with angle.

And even this huge glass window cannot contain even ten percent of the Victoria Prime. The planet is suspended outside the command deck of the battleship, projecting its silver-white light into the dim bridge.

The bridge of the spacious Mars-class battlecruiser is extremely busy. The tapping of mechanical keyboards and the sound of mechanical operation blessed by the gods of all machines, coupled with the continuous chatter of naval crews, form a busy movement here. Everyone is very busy. , the entire battleship was extremely busy.

The entire battleship is busy with docking repairs, supplies, ammunition transportation, personnel mobilization, etc. In fact, the same is true for the entire Imperial Navy fleet that has just arrived here.

Countless giant starships are docked at the starports surrounding the equator of the entire planet. The starport ring on the east side of the planet is filled with Imperial Navy warships. In every dock and every pier, there are navy ships that are being replenished. ships, and the battleships lined up were suspended outside the star port, swarming like wolves.

Cole stood on the command bridge, looking through the glass window at the Imperial Navy cruiser on the other side of his battleship, which was in the berth of the pier next door. The giant ship ran through the entire length of the pier, and its giant plasma thrusters were still flashing. With the uncooled flames, countless gorgeous decorations and large naval guns were quietly bathed in the light of the planet itself.

Cole turned around and walked to the holographic projector behind the captain's chair. He turned on the instrument. Almost instantly, rays of light created the outlines of several figures around him. When their images gradually became clear, it was enough to see them clearly. their identities.

The iconic felt hat of the Valhalla Legion and the eye-catching red military coat of the Vostonian Firstborn. Standing next to the two Astra Militarum Marshals were several Imperial Navy captains and the new Marshal of the local Planetary Defense Force, as well as the local Legal Department. The Grand Arbitrator and the Grand Magus of the Adeptus Mechanicus.

"Everyone, thank you in advance for the support of Valhalla and the Vostonian Army. It's an honor to fight alongside you." Cole nodded to the two of them, and the latter two nodded slightly in response.

"The Vostonian Firstborn will always respond to the Emperor's demands. We will always fight against the enemies of the Empire in the galaxy, no matter where they are or what they are! Vostonia will never abandon it!" said the leader of the Firstborn. The leader said sharply, his mustache rising and falling on his nose in time with the rhythm of each syllable.

The Grand Marshal of the Valhalla Regiment also nodded affirmatively, "We just carried out a mission to quell the chaos in the star field next door. We just received the Inquisitor's signal for help, and they rushed here non-stop, but my troops need to replenish ammunition. Supplies and armored vehicles, etc.”

"Of course, sir, I believe that the local Mechanic Church will provide you with help, right Great Sage." "Yes, we will provide you with all support."

The Generalissimo nodded to the sage in thanks, and then looked at Cole, "What is our current situation? Will reinforcements arrive one after another?"

Cole waved his hand and a holographic projection data catalog appeared in front of everyone, and of course himself. Rows of data and names scrolled on it. Cole swiped the list and quickly reviewed it, although he had actually already Just watched it.

"Victoria now has seven battlecruisers from the Imperial Navy, eight including my ship, twenty-six cruisers and one hundred and eighty frigates, destroyers and armed transports."

Cole's fingers stopped. He used his fingers to pull out a specific line of data, threw it casually and projected it onto the holographic instrument in front of everyone.

It was a supply progress bar for countless ships, large and small. The supplies, fuel and ammunition of each warship were summarized and projected in detail. The amount of data was so large that it could not be quickly reviewed in a short period of time.

But at this moment, this is not absolute. The Mechanical Sage quickly reviewed the data and raised his head full of pipelines. "Currently, 67% of the battleships have been replenished. We have postponed it." The replenishment speed of living materials has accelerated the speed of combat supplies. "

The mechanical sage's electronic voice clicked and said, and his fingers holding the gear scepter were also covered with a gold-bronze metal shell. "It is estimated that we can complete the replenishment within the next two to three days."

The captains of the Imperial Navy all nodded with satisfaction. The efficiency of the local Mechanicus is indeed good. In other words, the efficiency of the Mechanicus has always been many times higher than the general administrative departments of the empire. Therefore, Judge Vito wisely let the Mechanicus The teaching took over the war preparation mission of the entire planet.

"The replenishment of ground troops will also be completed within the next few days." The sage looked at the two Astra Militarum commanders. The two generals saluted the sage affirmatively. Cole looked at them and nodded slightly. , casually throwing up another list including the Astra Militarum, the Planetary Defense Force and the Armed Forces of the Ministry of Justice.

The data maps of the navy and the army were suspended in front of them, which was enough for everyone present to accurately understand the current situation. Each pair of eyes scanned the names and lists, and remembered the status of each unit and establishment in their minds.

"The ground forces we can mobilize now are about 20 million people. The 5 million people of the Astra Militarum troops need to be deployed intensively. The two commanders will be left to you."

Cole looked at the two of them. The commander of the Valhalla regiment nodded slightly, then pointed at the map and asked, "Will any reinforcements arrive? Based on our experience in fighting the Tyranids in Perelmunda, the number of bugs will never be the same." Much, much more than us.”

"Then let them come! The Vostonians will fight to the death in the name of the Emperor! Send enough alien bastards back to hell!" the mustached general roared, like a fanatical state church priest, but Considering the situation of the First Sons and Vostonia, they would indeed be so fanatical.

The culture of shame has always been rooted in their legions. Even after thousands of years, Vostonia's betrayal during the Horus Heresy still shamed her people. Countless generations of Vostonians have been leaders for thousands of years. With such enthusiasm, he stepped into the sea of ​​​​stars and washed away the shame of his ancestors with the blood of himself and his enemies.

Cole had seen similar legions. He still remembered the fearlessness and enthusiasm of the Krieg Death Legion during the Siege of Vraks. To be honest, Cole did not like this enthusiasm. He always thought that as the emperor's warriors, they You should try your best to live longer and play a greater role in this way instead of dying gloriously.

The commander of the Valhalla regiment was obviously much calmer. He pointed at the signs on it, "We are seriously short of armored mobile units. It is difficult for my regiment and the Vostonian regiment to quickly complete the armor replenishment. This means that we have The heavy artillery and infantry units must try to defend several nest areas. "

"According to our experience, this is the most correct way to deal with Tyranid, if you can't get support." The leader said and looked at Cole, who nodded affirmatively and waved his hand at the bottom of the display. A schematic diagram of stars and warp waves emerged.

There is an obvious huge shadow on the display map. The shadow has almost reached the Victoria Universe, and the black tentacles are protruding from the edge of the galaxy into the ring of the approaching star system.

The shadows of the warp are closing in, everyone can see it, which means they won't be able to get any support or contact any part of the empire. Only when the night passes can everything be seen again. If they are still there at that time if.

Everyone's expressions darkened, and only the leader of Vostonia looked relatively normal, "Let them come, we will fight gloriously under the emperor's gaze."

"I don't doubt this, Grand Master, I believe we all will." Cole said, clicking the button of the holographic instrument, clearing all the data streams to replace the previous galaxy star map. There is a percentage progress bar next to each empire planet, some are more, some are less.

"These are the evacuation situations of various planets. We have given priority to evacuating planets with large populations and materials, and some worlds near the edge of the galaxy have withdrawn their population materials to the main star. This can effectively prevent the Tyranid fleet from obtaining enough biomass. "

"The evacuation work in various worlds is still in progress. I have requisitioned and dispatched all the ships I can find to organize the evacuation. The Inquisitor gave this operation a code name, which seems to be the name of a large-scale evacuation operation in ancient Terra. , Operation Dynamo.”

Cole still remembers Vito's excitement when he said the name, as if he was conducting it at the time.

"The Imperial Navy will leave port after replenishment and leave low-Earth orbit for deployment. Some fleets will be sent to the edge of the galaxy to deploy minefields and carry out harassment strikes, trying to cause losses and delay the Tyranid fleet before it arrives. "

Cole looked at the navy captains. They all responded to the order. What's interesting is that most of them are actually either the same level as Cole or a little higher, but they all obey the command of this young captain. Why? Because the big Inquisition logo on Cole's naval uniform is too eye-catching.

"We and the Vostonia Regiment will complete the ground deployment as soon as possible. In fact, at this moment, my troops have already begun to land on the surface. We will defend the third hive and the fourth and fifth hive areas."

"The First Sons of Vostonia will be responsible for the rest of the first, second and sixth hives. The God's Machine we carry will give the alien hybrids a head-on blow!"

Cole sighed silently. He had thought that the Vostonian First Sons would bring a Titan Order, but apparently they did not. They only brought a few War Dog Titans, and they all needed repair and replenishment.

The leader of Valhalla closed the star map and replaced it with dense urban clusters on the surface of the planet. Each hive area number appeared on the surface and looked directly at the rotation and jumping.

"We will concentrate all the Hydra anti-aircraft cannons to the Planetary Defense Force. Has the local air defense system been activated?" the leader asked, and the marshal of the local Planetary Defense Force loyalist nodded in the affirmative. He clicked on the map one by one. Red lines and grid areas appear on it.

"We have worked with the Ministry of Justice troops to take over and activate the traitors' long-abandoned orbital defense system. Together with the air defense equipment everyone has gathered, we are confident that we can destroy at least half of the Tyranid airborne sacs, or at least prevent them from being used. Fight in the hive."

"According to speculation, the main Tyranid landing force will land on the planet's wasteland. We have evacuated and destroyed all personnel and materials. Those bastards don't even think about finding anything to eat."

Cole nodded affirmatively. He leaned on the edge of the projector and looked down at the map. "If the Tyranids get supplies, then their attack will be simpler, and the navy will try to destroy the Tyranids' Hive Fleet as much as possible. At least we will Try to hit them hard."

The Tyranids fight as rigorously as the Mechanicus. Once they find that they have lost more biomass than they have gained after fighting for a long time, the Tyranid fleet will decisively give up the attack and quickly evacuate the system to find another unlucky guy to replenish biomass.

So now the task of the Victorian defenders is to make those bastards bleed, and then after these bastards leave the Victorian system, they will contact the Imperial forces to strangle the remaining fleet, but now they only need to consider how to survive these dark months.

"The Skitarii will be responsible for cleaning up the infiltration and destruction inside the city, and ensuring the continuous operation of the factory." The Great Sage said word by word, "Brother Omega will be responsible for leading the local Skitarii to protect the safety of everyone's flanks. May the God of All Machines bless us."

"May the God of All Machines and the Emperor bless us, we will survive!" The leader of the Firstborn said resolutely, and another Vostroyan warrior appeared behind his projection. He said a few words to the leader and was then signaled to leave.

"Brothers, I must go to my legion brothers to prepare for the coming of destruction. We will bring destruction in the name of the Emperor and the God of All Machines."

The image of the leader of the Vostroyan Firstborn disappeared, and the leader of Valhalla also nodded to Cole, "I also need to deploy my troops. May the Emperor bless you." "May the Emperor bless you all, go and prepare."

The image of the leader of Valhalla also disappeared, followed by the second, the third, until all the holographic images disappeared. Cole sighed and then went to his captain's chair. He sat on it and looked at the huge planet and the endless sea of ​​stars behind it like a tired lord.

Cole leaned tiredly on the captain's chair, and his eyes reflected a little starlight. Cole once dreamed of commanding a fleet. When he was a child, he always imagined that he would command his own fleet like the great Sun Lord Makarian, but when he grew up and became the captain of the Imperial Navy, and even participated in a series of major battles with Vito, he began to feel that he was childish when he was a child.

Sometimes, I really want to go back to my childhood when I was carefree and had innocent fantasies about the endless sea of ​​stars.

Cole closed his eyes, but when he recalled his hometown and the starry sky, the alarm sounded like thunder, and countless warning lights flashed one after another.

Cole woke up instantly, he stood up and strode to the command post of the bridge, "Captain of the Aviary! Report!"

"Sir, we have found a large-scale jump signal at the edge of the galaxy! A fleet appeared from the subspace! Huge number." The captain of the aviary said in horror, operating and switching the display data quickly.

"Confirm the identity." Cole calmly gave the order, and the captain of the aviary quickly executed the order, "Confirming." But soon his eyes implanted with mechanical prosthetic eyes showed mechanical surprise.

"Captain. My Lord, they are!"

"We are the Ultramarines Expeditionary Fleet. I am Captain Mikael Fabian of the Third Company of the Ultramarines. I am here to lead the combined fleet of the Sons of Guilliman to help us under the orders of Chapter Master Calgar."

The deep voice echoed from the communication band.

"In the name of the Emperor and the Primarch, we will crush the aliens."