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Chapter 241: The Situation on Cadia
🕑 Added 2025-08-23 12:41:35 +0000 UTCChapter 241: The Situation on Cadia
On the bridge of the Stellar Pioneer, according to the information sent back by quantum communication, the situation on Cadia was getting worse.
The Phalanx had been repaired by SCVs several times. Chaos's attempts to capture it had never ceased. Although they had not succeeded in the end, they had destroyed many of the war supplies inside the fortress-monastery. With the assistance of the Medics, the Imperial Fists had still suffered casualties. Many of the powerful warriors of the Legion of the Damned had also been banished back to the warp by daemons.
The ammunition on the Phalanx was running low. Energy weapons like lances were fine, but physical weapons like macro-cannons could not be produced out of thin air. Even the bolts for the Astartes' boltguns were on the verge of running out. The Imperial Fists were now using the Raiders' C-14 rifles or fighting with melee weapons.
It was not only the Phalanx that was facing this problem; the remaining Imperial warships were in the same situation. The intensity of the battle far exceeded everyone's imagination. The resources consumed in every counter-attack were causing a slow death for the Imperial side on Cadia.
And Chaos also knew of this disadvantage of the loyalists. The foundries on Cadia were simply unable to bear such a massive consumption, and the foundries had always been an important target of Chaos's attacks.
After the arrival of the Phalanx, when Abaddon found that he could not completely destroy the Imperial fleet in a short time, he began to have his fleet turn to attack the other forge worlds and resource planets within the Cadian sector. Without the protection of the fleet, these planets could not possibly withstand the Chaos offensive. While obtaining resources to create more weapons and ammunition for Chaos, the captured mortals on these planets were also used as slaves or consumables for sacrificial rituals.
Countless blasphemous rituals had turned these planets into a kind of hell. In normal circumstances, the Imperium would have already issued an Exterminatus order on these planets without hesitation.
On the outskirts of the system, Abaddon had increased the scale of his hunter-killer fleets, interdicting all of the Imperium's resource ships that were trying to force their way through the warp storm. If not for the Barracks, Factories, and Starports that Lucan had established on Cadia with SCVs, the Imperial defenders might have already run out of ammunition and food. This had also led to a large portion of the weapons and equipment of the Imperial defenders on Cadia now being replaced with the matching weapons produced by these production facilities.
And the Raiders stationed on the Phalanx had also reached their limit. Physical injuries could be compensated for, but mental fatigue could not be offset by weapons and equipment. Even the most elite soldiers seemed exceptionally small on this apocalyptic battlefield. A Chaos offensive could be launched at any moment of laxity, forcing everyone to maintain a high state of tension at all times.
And the stimulants that came with the combat suits, which were only to be used when absolutely necessary, were also being frequently used by the soldiers to boost their spirits. The officers knew the side effects of these stimulants but did not stop them. Side effects were a problem to be considered only if you survived.
But the fatigue brought by the prolonged battle, combined with the overdraft from the after-effects of the stimulants, had also created a breach in the soldiers' will, which was discovered by Chaos. The battle with the daemons that had broken in had inevitably caused the soldiers to be tainted with some warp corruption. Under the subtle influence and the suddenly appearing whispers of the dark gods, for the first time, a situation where the will of the Raiders collapsed and they were taken advantage of by Chaos occurred. The whispers drove several infantry squads, whose will was on the verge of collapse, completely mad in their own barracks, causing them to turn their guns on their former comrades. When other Raiders arrived, there were not many living people left in the barracks, and those who had survived had also completely broken down.
This caused a considerable disturbance among the Raiders. When Lucan learned of this news, he did not blame the officers. Will was something that needed to be tempered. The best equipment, the best treatment, the best training, and logistical support had indeed given the Raiders an unimaginable advantage, making their combat effectiveness worthy of being called the best of the Astra Militarum.
But at the same time, after the Raiders were formed, their battles in the Expanse and within the borders of the Imperium had been too smooth. The Raiders from the early days of the unification of Agathos were fine; they had fought against Chaos traitors and daemons without combat suits. Even after they had combat suits, they had also fought a bloody battle with the Genestealers in the underhive. At that time, the establishment of the Raiders was not as perfect as it was now, but it had also tempered their willpower.
But now, the establishment of the Raiders was becoming more and more mature. The addition of various powerful weapons and equipment made it almost difficult for them to encounter an enemy that could match them in conventional combat. And most of the Raiders had been promoted from ordinary soldiers through assessment. They often only needed to sacrifice a small amount to achieve victory. This also made their fatigue in a disadvantageous situation more and more obvious.
However, as long as they could win the final victory, these participating Raider units would make up for their final shortcomings.
And if it was like this for the Raiders, it was even more so for the other Imperial Navy in the fleet. It could be said that every Imperial soldier in the fleet had reached their limit. If this dragged on for another ten or fifteen days, even if the fleet was not destroyed, the crew would collapse on their own.
In the ground invasion of Cadia, Chaos had still achieved certain tactical objectives with a large number of lives. A portion of the Blackstone Pylons had been destroyed. This had caused the warp erosion from the Eye of Terror to become more and more severe.
The characteristics of the SCVs had led the Imperium to try and repair these Necron constructs. When they were not destroyed and were still running, the SCV's repairs were effective. The damaged Blackstone Pylons were as good as new after being repaired by the SCVs. But once they were completely destroyed, even if the SCVs repaired them, the blackstone ceased to operate. And even if humanity knew its purpose, they had no way to activate it. The blackstone had no machine spirit, which meant that the attempt to forcibly start it with Purity Seals had also failed.
In addition, with the deliberate spread by the Chaos Sorcerers under Abaddon, some small-scale Chaos rifts would appear out of thin air. The endless daemons of the warp were consuming Cadia's already small number of troops. The increasingly dense warp also made it more convenient for the Four Gods to influence the material universe. The bodies of countless loyalists and traitors became a breeding ground for the Nurgle plague. The Astartes were fine, but the mortals were all more or less affected.
The daemons were endless, and at this moment, for every mortal who died on Cadia, there was one less.
And the elusive Alpha Legion had also secretly infiltrated Cadia in some battle. These traitors, with their extremely strong infiltration capabilities, were a headache for everyone on Cadia. They specialized in targeting officers and important facilities. And before the support troops could arrive, they would completely disappear again.
And the worst news was that the remaining astropaths and Astartes Librarians on Cadia had a premonition of a greater crisis to come. The fleets of the Daemon Primarchs were also about to arrive at Cadia... Every time a Daemon Primarch came to the material universe, it often meant the destruction of several or even dozens of planets. It would take a terrifying price to defeat and banish a Daemon Primarch back to the warp. Every appearance could be called a disaster.
Looking at this bad news, both Lucan and Guilliman felt that they had no time to wait for more troops to arrive. They had to set out immediately.
"Those traitors..."
Guilliman had faced them before and knew their terror. This made him a little hesitant about the upcoming battle. But Lucan told him that he had a surprise for him and asked him to wait patiently. And this surprise could be used to fight his former brothers.
Artanis, Kerrigan, and Guilliman were all gathered in front of the holographic projection. Artanis and Kerrigan were introducing the characteristics of their own races to Guilliman in order to better allocate their forces.
Under the control of the Protoss, the Webway gate was opened again. The vast fleet entered the gate.
And at this moment, Lucan was on the Spear of Adun, with Cawl and Karax, making the final breakthrough in the Purifier project and preparing that surprise for Guilliman.
