Chapter 70: Genestealers Guarding the Nation's Gate

Chapter 70: Genestealers Guarding the Nation's Gate

"For the Lord of Brass!"

The roar of a mutant champion shattered the rusted shell of an abandoned pipeline. The xenos skulls hanging from his waist clattered together, an unholy dirge. From the chest plate of fused flesh and scrap metal, eight molten maws erupted simultaneously, weaving a crimson web of sulphurous smoke between the Chaos sigils, turning the entire alley into a sacrificial ground for the Lord of Skulls.

Behind him, the Khornate cultists let out a fiery roar, vowing to find the hidden chosen champion of their god within the hive city.

"For the Four-Armed Emperor!"

The chitinous scales of a Genestealer Kelermorph reflected a rainbow of colors in the promethium firelight. The roar of its twin autopistols and the hum of its power knife wove together into a hymn of praise.

Behind him, the bald-headed faithful cheered with fervor, vowing to secure the right to survive for their compatriots from the clutches of the heretics.

And on this chaotic battlefield, where were the humans?

Everyone's gaze fell upon the background scenery of the melee.

Humans. The humans who were struggling to survive in the chaos of the hive city. They were dying every second, like small boats caught between two crashing waves, in constant danger of being overturned.

"Genestealers guarding the nation's gate," Karna remarked on the internal comms.

"Don't say it," Romulus replied, feeling his composure start to crack.

Seeing the gallows humor they used to joke about play out in vivid detail before their very eyes, the transmigrators finally understood what it meant to be unable to look away.

He glanced at the front line, where the two sides were locked in a brutal slaughter. Romulus looked up, then quickly looked away as if pricked by a needle, pressing a hand to his forehead.

On the bright side, with two hyenas tearing each other apart, the Devourer and the Despoiler locked in mutual slaughter, they would have more opportunities to act.

"I will ascertain as quickly as possible if this planet has any salvage value," Cawl was the first to disengage from the images. By the standards of certain zealous Inquisitors, this planet was already beyond reclamation.

"Archmagos, I request that you have the fleet monitor any gravitational anomalies within the system at all times," Romulus said, his hand on his comm-bead, having made a preliminary assessment of the Genestealer cult's scale from the images. "If we are to establish a base of operations on this planet for any length of time, we will likely have more enemies arriving."

There were numerous fifth-generation Purestrains on the battlefield. This meant the planet's infestation was in its final stages. According to the information the transmigrators possessed, and combined with the shadow that was already approaching in the Warp, the Hive Fleet was on its way. The so-called "Genestealers guarding the nation's gate" was like taking out a loan. By the time you start enjoying the benefits of the xenos' presence, the debt collectors are already on their way.

And the debt was everything on this planet.

"...An enemy from beyond the galaxy?"

"Correct," Romulus replied. "Their numbers are vast."

"...I understand. The fleet will maintain a wide berth from Pierdra's orbital plane and conduct real-time monitoring of the system's edge." After a microsecond of static, Cawl's voice returned. Romulus couldn't understand binary, but he could vaguely sense the Archmagos's state of mind. It was like when a project you've been working on for ages finally has a breakthrough, and you see a way to take it even further, only to find that with every step you take, something tries to destroy your work, making every move more difficult, as if the entire universe is against you.

Basically, it just didn't want you to succeed. To not go mad in such a situation would make you a god among men.

"Lord Romulus."

As Romulus finished assigning tasks to the various units, Arabella approached him. "If you intend to unite the human forces on this planet, I believe we can try to rally the forces of the Ecclesiarchy." The sharp click of her armored boots on the marble floor startled a dormant servo-skull.

"On this planet?" Romulus frowned slightly, data-ripples flowing through his eyes as he projected the "Imperium-scope" onto his retina. In the Upper Hive, the golden motes of light representing the faithful of the Emperor were intermingled with the gradually dissipating shadows of the cult and the chaotic energies of Chaos. The daemon-vision had its drawbacks; when the distance was too great and the types of entities too varied, they all just blurred together into a messy blob.

"Judging by the state of the Imperial nobility, I wouldn't hold out too much hope, Arabella."

The servo-skull vented high-pressure gas, as if sighing on its master's behalf.

"Steel armors our bodies, and faith armors our souls. If even they have collapsed..." Arabella hesitated for a moment, her fingers unconsciously stroking the rose-beads on her chest. The saintly relics sealed within the glass beads were glowing faintly. Finally, she said bluntly, "I fear this planet will lose the Emperor's protection."

"I understand." Romulus nodded. The holographic tactical platform that had already been constructed in his mind automatically rose, marking the coordinates of the Grand Cathedral as a pale yellow, secondary to the red of Chaos and the purple of the Genestealers.

Just then, Arthur's voice suddenly came through the transmigrators' encrypted channel. "Apologies," he said, holding up a hand. "I found something else."

Arthur's voice, wrapped in the hum of data, cut into the comms channel. He was currently in a data-storage area, filled with cogitators.

"Before we landed, these Genestealers were conducting a concentrated assault on the convent of the Order of the Bloody Rose, as well as infiltrating several human communities. With the collapse of the cult's leadership, the pressure on these areas has been relieved. The reference data indicates they possess considerable resistance forces."

He then added, "Chaos will be much harder to deal with now that the Genestealers are no longer suppressing them. If we don't want them to be wiped out by Chaos, we need to move quickly."

"Wait, you could hear our conversation just now?" Romulus's hand hovered over the tactical display he was still editing.

"Yes." Arthur's reply was concise.

"Hmm?"

"?" Arthur tilted his head, the edges of his tactical lenses glowing with an innocent blue light. What's my friend so surprised about? "Didn't you give me the authorization? I have the authority to monitor each of you during a mission."

So you were actually listening in the whole time.

Romulus's mouth twitched. The unspoken complaint manifested as a twitch in his servo-skull, the incense burner embedded in it puffing out a gray cloud of resignation, which finally formed into a single thought.

'Never mind.'

Faced with his friend's professional competence, what could Romulus say besides being happy?

"Alright then." Arthur cut the communication and fell silent as a ghost.

Romulus looked down and continued with his work. His extinguished tactical lenses reflected the data Arthur had just sent, including the details of his report and various video files that had already been preliminarily categorized.

(End of Chapter)