After clearing the hall, Soshyan counted the casualties. Only four soldiers were killed, but thirteen were seriously injured or dying - including Farzad.
The power of the undead army's bloodline was once again highlighted.
After leaving a team and a pharmacist to take care of the wounded, Soshyan decided to divide his troops into three groups.
He led the group, mainly composed of the First Company and the Honor Guard, including the nuns, straight to the center of the Star Castle.
The other team was led by Thor, mainly Farzad's third company, and went to control the star fort's void shield array.
The third team, the second company led by Ustad, went to control the fortress' armory.
Although dividing the troops at this time was not the best strategy, Soshyan had no choice but to do so. He had to control the key systems of the entire star fort in the shortest possible time.
After the division of troops, Soshyan led the streamlined team towards the star fort center at high speed.
As he turned the corner of a passage, a string of bolts hit his shoulder armor.
The Chaos Space Marines formed a temporary fire network on the opposite side of the passage, firing volleys at the Astral Knights who had just turned the corner.
A rain of bullets passed through the team, and the bombs that were bounced off by the armor hit the surrounding bulkheads. Sparks flew across the passage several meters wide.
Soshyan, who stood out from the crowd in his Terminator, became the main target. Explosive bombs hit his body, forcing him to retreat continuously.
Behind him, Armin picked up a rocket launcher and pressed the launch button.
An armor-piercing rocket spiraled into the air dragging a cloud of black smoke, then suddenly began to tilt, zigzagging towards the narrow passage, and rushed into the temporary bunker built by the Red Pirates.
The explosion shook the deck, and flying metal fragments rained down on the Red Pirates.
Taking advantage of this opening, other fighters rolled for cover behind porches and abandoned vehicles.
They did not expect that the Red Pirates would terminate their retreat so suddenly, and the salvo caught them completely off guard.
Soshyan also hid behind a huge metal pillar because he saw heavy explosive bombs being moved out from the opposite side.
Then he looked around, checking behind the team in case they were surrounded, but fortunately they were still safe behind them.
In this case, Soshyan activated a secret communication channel.
"YT-001, break the enemy's defense from the side."
"Received, executed."
Just as the Red Pirates continued to suppress the Astral Knights' team and began to laugh and taunt, the bulkhead of their side passage suddenly exploded.
Amidst the flying flames and metal debris, a slender ghostly figure broke into their sight, and then rushed through the torn bulkhead like a storm.
YT-001 raised his arm, the twin bolt guns attached to it and the heavy laser on his shoulders spraying out fury.
Behind it, there are thirty castle-level battle robots arranged neatly.
The Red Pirates' front collapsed almost instantly in front of the awe-inspiring bullets and flaming firepower of the battle robots.,
YT-001 also fired several Cyclone Missiles, which flew directly over the bunker and exploded among the huddled Chaos Space Marines.
Soshyan turned to signal his squad, and the warriors quickly stood up and joined the assaulting battle droids, increasing their firepower with volleys of bolters.
The remaining red pirates only lasted for more than ten seconds before they were completely finished. Except for the three who escaped, the others were turned into smoking corpses lying on the ground.
"go ahead!"
Leaving this passage, the team's position is only 500 meters away from the star fort center.
What lies between them and the Star Castle Center is a complex functional area, where many key components are concentrated, such as the center's cooling module, oxygen circulation module, and air purification module.
These facilities and modules are separated by forked roads, like an interconnected metal mountain range, and have the unique chaos of imperial machinery.
In order not to damage these important facilities, Soshyan asked the soldiers not to open fire unless absolutely necessary.
He believed that the other party would definitely do the same.
Sure enough, as soon as he turned a corner, he saw a large group of people rushing into the main road from the dim lane.
They were human beings—or had been human beings, with melted and broken muscles, lumbering crookedly through the streets.
Everyone has the mark of the evil god on their body - turning them into slaves of darkness, and there seem to be many of them.
They kept coming, spilling out of the alley or stumbling closer from the far end, as if there was no upper limit to their number.
Groaning, the men surrounded the Astral Knights amid a sea of heretics and buzzing machinery, firing shotguns and pistols.
"Chapter Commander, what should we do now?"
Armin asked, feeling sick in his stomach as he raised his bolter.
"Living in the devil's realm can have unfortunate effects on people."
Soshyan added, taking a step forward wearing a huge Terminator armor.
"Don't use bolters, use close-quarters weapons."
"The fallen shall be destroyed."
Adriana Velez made her declaration loud and clear.
Even so, her stomach was still churning with nausea as she drew the power sword.
The depravity of these people made her even more angry.
Soon, in the depths of her mind, a soft singing voice like silver bells washed her soul again and again, making her settle down.
"We will fight together, Chapter Master Soshyan."
She whispered, raising her armored sword with one hand and a flat-ended bolter with the other, and strode out of the heretic barrier.
Soshyan smiled slightly and issued a new order through the communication channel.
The combat robots strode forward, the weapons on their arms switched to small-caliber multi-barreled machine guns, and fired a hail of bullets at the swarming infidels, suppressing them while clearing a path for the team.
"this--"
Adriana Velez looked at all this in surprise. She was born in a noble family in the hive city, so she had a lot of experience. She had also seen combat robots from the Mechanicum, but she had never seen such an efficient harvesting method.
The guns on their arms flickered and fired at the infidels again, but the gradually thinning crowd did not disperse. The infidels continued to move forward, unconsciously stepping into the fire net woven by the combat robots, and formed into pieces.
The ground fell.
"Time waits for no time, move forward!"
Soshyan started running, followed closely by Adrianna Velez, slashing at the infidels blocking his path with her power sword, killing dozens of them in an instant.
The warriors also drew their weapons one after another, cutting down the surrounding heathens as if they were trekking through the jungle to chop off miscellaneous trees, cutting off their limbs with their chain swords, and smashing their skulls with their rifle butts.
The Astral Knights were unstoppable, and the cultists fell screaming into the gaps in the deck - the splashing sound of the bodies falling to the bottom of the ravine was clearly audible.
As the rearguard force, the battle robots followed the charge of the Astral Knights.
The brief light that bloomed from time to time on their arms illuminated the grotesque and twisted features of the pagans who were scattered in all directions.