Even though Zhang Ge and his companions did not completely rely on the detection equipment, traversing a space as large as this made it extremely challenging not only to clear out but also for the defenders to set up adequate defenses across such an expansive area.
Even assuming that the enemy ship had just crashed down and immediately rebelled, there should not have been enough time for such preparations.
Therefore, to save time, their approach was not as meticulous as typical urban combat would require. Fortunately, they had not encountered any significant danger until they reached the central location of this small palace and began advancing in a straight line according to their plan.
In the face of Amelia's longsword, the ceramic steel walls were little different from paper, and gaps appeared in the adjacent buildings as each was sliced open by their advance.
Sometimes they would encounter gaps between buildings, at which point Amelia would fly over to cut through before returning to take both of them with her.
This rapid method of clearing allowed the three to quickly catch up to the attacker. Just as Amelia was preparing to leap over the next building, she said:
"The scan shows something ahead, within six hundred meters, multiple contacts, but there are interferences. The results vary each time I scan, so I can't determine the exact number."
Six hundred meters was quite close—within that range, even automatic rifles could achieve effective fire. However, considering that the scan was being conducted through layered ceramic steel and was subjected to subtler space interferences, it could be considered efficient.
Yet, just as she was about to continue, she noticed something and hesitated:
"But... it seems they are neither remaining in place nor advancing; they appear to be retreating."
Retreating? It was possible for Chaos Space Marines or those above them, but for ordinary corrupted Chaos Gutter Runners to flee was akin to saying that Orks would decide they didn't want to fight one day.
However, a change of positions should happen after being attacked, not directly running away without any tactical purpose.
Unless... they were carrying some critical objectives they had to move away from the battlefield, and the reason they were being pursued was that the first defensive line had collapsed too quickly for them to evacuate in time. Destroying that Leman Russ was originally just to intimidate the subsequent troops and buy some time for their escape.
After briefly organizing this information in his mind, Zhang Ge replied:
"Then let's pursue them."
Immediately, the three quickened their pace. The enemy was already slower than them, and after Zhang Ge's group accelerated, the distance between them gradually shrank.
As they pursued without concealment, the enemy quickly realized their situation—whether they noticed that only three pursuers were behind them or felt they couldn't outrun Zhang Ge and his companions, the enemy halted when the distance closed to about one hundred meters.
The gap further narrowed until they were separated only by a layer of floors when Zhang Ge was about to deploy a thermite bomb to blast open a passage. Suddenly, the sounds of gunfire erupted from above, muffled by the ceramic steel walls.
While he had originally intended to guard against concentrated fire from the enemy as Amelia opened a breach, it seemed they had their hands full now, prompting Zhang Ge to give her a glance.
A square cut was made, and with the assistance of their jump packs, the three quickly ascended through the opening.
Above, the chaos that greeted them was reminiscent of a tank having run over the area. The building's decorative style resembled a classical castle scaled up massively, with each floor being a vast, purpose-built room lavishly furnished with wooden furniture.
This floor seemed to serve as a reception room, yet much of the furnishings had been reduced to splinters or debris by a stampede.
Turning their attention to the two parties engaged in firefight... Zhang Ge couldn't help but be surprised by both sides.
The intruder turned out to be the noble lady, alone and seemingly able to travel faster than Zhang Ge and the others, likely due to using Warp Teleportation. The opposing side consisted of her sisters?
Observing another woman clad in a similarly splendid gown, adorned with intricate decorations and bearing a striking resemblance—albeit without having golden ornaments—Zhang Ge pondered.
Before, Amelia had mentioned that the rebelling forces included a portion of the nobility's house troops. If this noble lady belonged to the rebellious faction of her family or was directly part of the main family, it would make her agreement to initiate a counterattack seem entirely reasonable.
In fact, to ensure a swift extermination of witnesses, she would likely have preferred to act as early as possible, though she lacked a suitable justification, a rational excuse to offer when investigating the matter later.
Amelia's involvement at that time would undoubtedly have provided her with the reason she needed; as for the potentially increased casualties from launching an early assault? In comparison to the well-being of the entire family, that cost was negligible.
Of course, the enemies present weren't limited to just the look-alike commander; there were also over twenty elite Chaos PDFs clad in exo-armor.
They wielded hellguns, their concentrated fire already melting the noble lady's steed beneath her, forcing her to dodge in all directions as she wildly swung a metallic polearm of unknown material to intercept the hellgun beams flying in from every angle.
The arrival of the three posed no attempt at stealth, which meant that both of the other two parties were already aware of their presence. At the moment Zhang Ge was brainstorming his next move, a portion of the Chaos PDFs had already started to turn their weapons towards them.
If there were twenty Chaos Space Marines, Zhang Ge might have hesitated, but with only twenty or so Chaos PDFs, he could wipe them out even dragging along two elite soldiers, let alone with Amelia present.
Sensing that the risk was practically non-existent, Zhang Ge felt a bit bored.
As Amelia darted forward with a crackling sound that split the air, Zhang Ge raised his gun. His speed was sufficient to enable him to aim faster than those PDFs. The plasma gun, which hadn't been used since their journey from the outskirts, seemed to vibrate slightly as he pulled the trigger.
In an instant, a series of plasma rounds erupted from what seemed an improbable sequence of fire from just one plasma gun, the dull thudding of gunfire now carrying a hint of exhilaration.
A barrage of plasma rounds tore through the ranks of the over a dozen Chaos PDFs who attempted to fight back.
Though merely a weapon wielded by mere mortals, the plasma rounds struck with pinpoint precision, with every two or three rounds landing almost at the same point. The next plasma round burrowed into the breach left in their armor and exploded, shredding their tainted flesh in the process.
The exo-armor, which should have been enough to withstand small-caliber plasma rounds from a mundane plasma gun for a time, failed entirely; one by one, the Chaos PDFs died just like their comrades outside.
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