Before seeing the enemy, Erquessos first heard the cry of the slave leader. Distraught, he raised his leg and kicked the unlucky guy into a puddle on the wall.
"Damn it!"
When they arrived outside, they found that the entire parapet was gone. It had just disappeared, leaving only a smooth stone edge that had been wiped clean.
It was a crater, and the heavy artillery from the Empire caused dust to flow down like fine water.
Regardless of the danger, Erquessos rushed through the crater. The command tower of the fortress was nearby. This building was originally the residence of the lord. After many rounds of reinforcement, it was able to withstand most ammunition.
They rushed out of the gap opened by artillery fire, and when they entered the command tower, a large group of imperial infantry had already approached the fortress's protective wall.
Erquessos immediately made arrangements and ordered his officers to lead the troops in all directions to resist the attack of the enemy Astartes, while he himself went to build the main gate that could be easily breached.
The cultists on the city wall were still struggling to hold on, lasers piercing into their midst, and grenades falling from their hands like flower petals.
"fighting!"
Erquisos howled, roaring through the soldiers in a hail of bolters, knocking the two cultists who were trying to escape into the wall behind, and the smoke filled the air.
His war ax twisted into the head of a one-eyed bull, and when he moved it, it spewed out red plasma that hung in the air - for eight thousand years it had lost the blue of the Imperium.
A force field.
Hundreds of battle-hardened Khorne warriors are beside him, waiting for the enemy to invade, and then sacrifice their blood to the Blood God!
Three green Stormraven gunships rolled gracefully in the air, flying towards the ruins and being chased by more cannonballs, but then the beastmen's screams changed their tone.
Erquessus turned around and saw three beastmen enveloped in light green flames, shooting wildly and looking around in panic.
Soon, the three of them seemed to be twitching, swelling, and their bodies were strangely deformed, and then they fell into a ball of filth on the stone ground.
The corners of Erquessus' eyes twitched and he growled viciously:
"Phosphate weapons, very good, look up to me!"
Soon, phosphorus fire surged like water on the fortress walls, and the defenders above disappeared almost immediately.
"Evacuate! Evacuate the outer wall! Hold on to the inner wall!"
Knowing that phosphate weapons cannot be hard-topped, Erquessus could only order the abandonment of the outer wall.
The soldiers immediately ran wildly, and then his adjutant suddenly rushed out of the smoke, holding a plasma gun in his hand.
"Sir, the north entrance has been captured. Heavy tanks are bombing us. The only two air defense platforms have also been destroyed. It is not suitable to stay here for a long time."
Erquessus almost groaned loudly.
"I will not be driven like an animal! This is my fortress and I will defend it!"
But he was still controlled by the soldier's instinct, making all his conjectures self-defeating: his legs had already passed the entrance to the inner wall, heading to meet the last group of retreating Space Marines and a group of struggling Space Marines who came to meet him.
's slave.
He looked at them for a long while, but he did not flinch when the Cyclone Missile exploded a dazzling yellow-white fireball above their heads.
"Brothers, hold on firmly, hold on! There is a way! The Warmaster's reinforcements are already on the way, and the battle will soon turn around."
This was not the first time Erquesus had lied, but this kind of lie made him feel ashamed.
Suddenly, the inner stone wall a few hundred meters away from them shone with blazing light and collapsed when the Space Marine next to it jumped down.
The Storm Raven that had opened the breach quickly disappeared from sight, followed by a barrage of delicate lasers, the minions falling howling, and the Beastmen pouring into the opening as the Storm Raven moved away and sailed out of sight.
gunfire.
The Chaos Space Marines quickly retreated into the inner city of the fortress. They fanned out into the fortifications without orders: within seconds, the doors were sealed, and thralls and beastmen huddled in a circle behind the bunker, muttering.
, tighten the weapon.
"Sir, we...we are surrounded by enemies on all sides."
Thain's voice was flat and hoarse with anger.
"Today will be the end."
Erquessos had no idea about this. He looked around and said:
"I don't want to hear any words related to failure. They will definitely attack us, like waves hitting the cliff, but the Blood God lives with us, and no one will survive in front of us."
Then he took the first step with his battle ax raised, followed by the others, and, as if on signal, they heard the bombardment outside begin again.
While Erquessos and his entourage gathered at the southern end of the protective wall, the imperial troops also marched in, blew up the wall, blasted open the bronze door, and dispersed among the ruins.
"Today! Blood sacrifice to the Blood God!"
Erquessus charged with a roar, his outline blurred by dust and smoke, bullets hitting the column beside him, and his men firing back from the archway.
A grenade exploded nearby, and a flash of searing white revealed the attacking Astra Militarum: after they were blinded, the Chaos Space Marines launched their own attack.
They climbed on the broken bricks. Their movements were as fast as insects, and the faint muffled sound of the German laser guns was drowned by the shocking howl of the exploding barrel.
The counterattack of the Khorne Berserkers was brutal and violent. The mortal soldiers who broke into the protective wall were defeated almost instantly. A large number of mutilated corpses were piled up in the gap of the protective wall, while the remaining people retreated in panic.
.
But the battle did not stop. On the contrary, the roar of bolters sounded again, but it came from outside the protective wall.
The Astartes in green armor appeared in the smoke.
"Bastards of the First Legion! Come on!!",
Erquessos roared, raised his ax and charged again.
The battle this time was more intense and cruel than before. The Dark Angels organized rounds of fierce attacks with hatred for the traitors, and the White Templar and Astral Knights also launched attacks from other directions.
The cultists and slaves were soon being killed and wounded, and Khorne's berserkers were either killed by explosive bombs, plasma, melta and other weapons, or cut by chainsaws and power swords.
But they showed extremely strong resilience and fighting will. Each of them fought until death, and also caused a lot of casualties to several battle groups.
"Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!"
With a roar, Thane knocked down another Dark Angel, and his left arm was cut off by the opponent, leaving a thumb-width scar on his chest.
Suddenly, a white energy stream flashed through, and the air around Thain seemed to explode.
The next second, blood and ceramite spurted from his back. The Khorne champion's torso was torn apart. The eyes under his helmet glazed over for an instant, and then he fell backwards.
Erquessus stepped away from him and let the corpse fall. At this moment, he had no time to care about the life and death of others.