Even though the Chaos Lord himself wouldn't specifically come to this remote Hive City, the current situation was still daunting. The enemy's deployment of organized Chaos Space Marines, including Terminators, likely indicated the presence of a Chaos Traitor capable of matching an Astartes Company Commander.
Even now, Amelia would find it difficult to confront such an enemy directly. If the three Sister Superiors were still here, there might have been a chance, but now... perhaps they would have to wait for Olivia to arrive before they could figure out how to deal with him.
Zhang Ge looked around from inside the vehicle.
As they got closer to the core combat zone, the boundary between the Warp and real space grew increasingly blurred.
The enemy, utilizing the abundant materials aboard their warships and the numerous humans killed upon landing, was rapidly advancing their ritual. In just a few hours, the distortion of the Warp in this area had nearly reached that of the previous small town.
Everywhere, there were grotesque artworks constructed from blood, human corpses, and bones, with a multitude of profane symbols frantically scrawled by those driven mad by the taint of the Warp.
On either side, numerous buildings were either visibly decaying at an alarming rate or had been rewritten into different forms. Some had even silently opened doorways, preying on any life that happened to wander inside.
The previously chaotic sounds of gunfire had somehow become more familiar, at least compared to the constant backdrop of anguished wails and insane laughter, which were far beyond what the human mind could comprehend.
In such an environment, every step forward came with a risk of attack, and even just being in a heavily tainted area of the Warp meant that strange whispers constantly surrounded everyone.
Fortunately, the soldiers of the Guard were protected by their faith in the Emperor and rigorously controlled military equipment, allowing them not to face this terrifying phenomenon alone with their willpower.
The convoy progressed along the roads toward their target, navigating through this gap in the fighting.
Due to the Chaos side's lack of core forces, they couldn't control the immense Hive City spire. Thus, the enemy had chosen to establish concentric defensive positions around the fallen Chaos warship and then concentrated their forces in one direction to launch attacks on their intended targets.
Between these circles of defensive lines lay a gap that the Chaos forces struggled to control, where they simply allowed the demons running from the Warp and the crazed, tainted humans to fight amongst themselves and occupy the area, without deploying forces to take control.
With the intelligence provided by Amelia, the convoy continuously adjusted their route, gradually charting a path that could get them as close as possible to the point of origin for the enemy's attack on the Void Shield Zone.
Throughout this process, constant attacks wore down everyone's energy.
But just as the tension in everyone's minds reached its peak, the target location finally appeared in view.
It was a towering Bell Tower.
Such towers displaying the real-time Terra time were quite common at the spire region, allowing those who had undergone Warp-speed travel to correct their timing and providing a standardized way of keeping time for those from different planets.
Although this once-thousand-meter-high tower had lost its top to bombardment, the remaining part still rose above the surrounding buildings, serving as a high point for reconnaissance.
Of course, the Chaos forces would not overlook such a high ground—but Amelia had already taken the initiative, flying over before the convoy could clearly see the target.
She didn't need to clear the entire tower alone; she only needed to secure the highest point, eliminate the scouts on top, install electronic and psychic disruption devices, and snipe any cultists trying to escape from inside the tower, preventing them from relaying information back to their forces.
The time they could buy was still limited—perhaps only one or two hours.
But that was more than enough to clear the enemy from the tower and secure the area, after which Zhang Ge and a few others would return to the cathedral to bring the fully prepared 1st Mechanized Company here.
A few minutes passed, and the convoy came to a halt near the Bell Tower's district.
With the top lost and communications disrupted, the enemies within the tower would certainly reinforce their outer defenses. Attempting to drive the convoy directly in would definitely result in heavy fire from anti-armor weaponry, so the next phase would require infantry to lead the advance.
Zhang Ge stepped out of the vehicle with the other two members, while the Guard soldiers dismounted and began to establish control over the surrounding area with the help of their armored vehicles.
Moving closer to the Squad Leader and discussing a basic plan, Zhang Ge decided to have ten infantry squads—approximately a hundred surviving Guard soldiers, excluding the vehicle drivers and weapon operators—launch an assault on the nearby district from ten different entry points.
In addition to these foundational forces, there would be Isis, the Squad Leader, and his Lieutenant operating on the left and right flanks, while Zhang Ge and Dominica would press into the central area with one squad.
This simple tactical deployment spread quickly to the various units, and the Guard soldiers began to move towards their attack positions.
There were no trumpets, no preparations for heavy firepower; the locks of door after door were cut open with monomolecular blades.
After slightly opening a gap in one door to confirm there were no tripwires or traps, Dominica stood to the side of the door clad in feedback armor. She kicked the wooden door open with a resounding crash that served as a signal, marking the beginning of the struggle for the district.
Though a soldier equipped with a bird-sense device had already reported that no anomalies were detected before she kicked down the door, as Dominica forced it open, she was pulled back by those behind her to evade the danger zone just as she seamlessly launched several stun grenades into the room.
Of course, it was the same in other areas; the blaring echo of stun grenades and their blinding flashes tore through the pale pink night sky.
As the stun grenades exploded, heavily armored assault troopers unleashed their portable shields—these shields, typically wielded on one arm, were usually used by the Guard to form protective walls for important personnel but worked just as well in an offensive capacity—and they charged through the door.
Following them, the remaining Guard soldiers poured in.
Under strict light control, most of the time the room was cloaked in darkness. It was only at the start when the frontline soldiers flipped their tactical flashlights on and off quickly to illuminate the different directions inside the room, gathering necessary information while minimizing the risk of their lights revealing their precise positions.
Zhang Ge and Dominica entered the room last. At this point, the soldiers searching through the rooms had ceased to make any noise, signaling that the room had been cleared.
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