Rumble.
A colossal platform several kilometers wide crashed down, embedding itself firmly into the earth and throwing up a thick cloud of dust.
"Hurry up. We have to finish construction and evacuate within the allotted time!"
The head of the engineering department tightened his white hard hat and urged the workers on, not daring to slack off in the slightest.
The energy concentration on this planet was far too dense. Even with protective measures in place, they could not work for long in such a highly polluted environment.
Doing so would affect the workers' bodies and violate the New Imperium's safety regulations for construction sites.
More importantly, His Majesty the Savior would soon be using these land-based defense arrays and long-range weapons against the Chaos abominations. They had to complete the work as quickly as possible.
Before New Dragonwood faced the impact of the Chaos army, the engineering department had to finish every last piece of military construction.
"Damn, it's hot here." A bearded worker could not help grumbling as he operated his construction machine. The lava volcanoes around him had him drenched in sweat.
That was the terrain shaped by the authority of the Lord of Hell, continuously radiating heat.
Without the protection of blackstone devices, the mortals would have been affected by Warp energy long ago.
"Hey, I wouldn't mind getting jobs like this more often. One run pays a fortune!" another worker said as he labored away.
Dangerous engineering meant larger bonuses, along with hazard compensation for working in a polluted environment. Once the project ended, they would also receive valuable vacation slots.
He would be able to take his family aboard a pilgrimage ship and follow the fleet to a garden world or shrine world for a vacation, to see the wonders of the galaxy.
That was a rare opportunity. In his entire life, he might only get it once or twice.
If they were not third-rank technicians, they would not even be qualified to participate in this honor project.
Of course, battlefield engineering like this usually meant greater risk as well.
"Savior above, I hope the Chaos abominations attack a little later. That way, we can all make it back alive."
The bearded worker clearly agreed with his coworker.
After receiving the notice, he had quickly signed up for the engineering team headed to Terra for battlefield construction.
This way, he could earn more credits and accumulate experience toward a higher professional rank.
Naturally, all of that depended on coming back alive. Otherwise, his family would only be collecting compensation.
This job carried a fairly high risk of casualties. If Chaos attacked this region ahead of schedule, they could easily be caught in the blast and die.
While the workers in this region toiled overtime to install ultra-heavy artillery, other regions were also beginning their own military construction.
All of New Dragonwood seemed to have become one enormous construction site.
The engineering departments had mobilized hundreds of millions of senior workers and vast numbers of construction machines to install tens of thousands of large energy engines, providing power for hundreds of thousands of large land-based weapons.
In addition, engineering ships dragged over one low-orbit anti-air platform after another.
There were enormous numbers of them, combining into dense low-orbit anti-air arrays.
The engineering department built an integrated air-and-ground defensive line, allowing them to better block the Chaos coalition's assault.
"Machine Goddess above, those cheapskates in the Departmento Administratum used to oppose my planetary armament plan. Now it seems I was the one who was right. Even His Majesty the Savior praised my wisdom..."
Archmagos Engineer Sephothos of the Forge Department adjusted the relevant data, excitement running even through his electronic voice.
The project under his responsibility had finally come into use. Decades of work and investment had not been wasted, and there was now hope for future research funding.
"Perhaps after this campaign, I can apply to establish a dedicated research institute and recruit Magos-level researchers."
Sephothos looked forward to it. That would mean an entirely new forge faction and the publication of more papers.
He might even be able to make a bid for the title of Honored Archmagos, becoming one of the leading Archmagi in the field of mechanical forging, then gaining control over the Imperium's massive research resources.
That was the benefit of having a research project receive attention and practical application.
In an instant, he had gone from an unknown figure left on the sidelines to a popular and highly watched Archmagos Engineer.
Sephothos had worked for far too long for this moment.
After he was promoted to Archmagos, he began his own forge research project, focused mainly on planetary armament.
This Archmagos Engineer had spent nearly every forge resource he could apply for to create an entire planetary defense system.
He hoped to use it to pursue a higher forge title, then establish a research institute of his own.
However, after he completed the project, he discovered that his project results had almost no chance of practical application.
That was because the important planets within the New Imperium's territory had almost no possibility of being attacked. The Redemption Fleet could basically intercept enemies beyond high orbit.
As for unimportant planets, they were not worth spending such enormous resources to arm.
This turned the planetary armament plan into something awkward and impractical, a thoroughly unpopular research path that no Archmagos dared invest in again.
Sephothos himself had also exhausted all his application qualifications, making it difficult for him to carry out any new large-scale research projects.
He was trapped in a dilemma. Continuing to research this awkward project no longer had much meaning.
But if he changed research tracks, he would have to start from scratch, and it would take at least a century before he could apply for the resources required for a major project again.
Even though the New Imperium was rich in resources, those resources still flowed toward fields with practical applications. For a niche large-scale project like this, receiving one chance was already generous.
After all, Sephothos's planetary defense project had consumed first-tier research resources, equivalent to more than a century of taxes from dozens of advanced resource-rich civilized worlds.
Only the New Imperium would dare devote such enormous resources to letting the Archmagi of the Adeptus Mechanicus make mistakes.
Of course, if one failed the way he had, one would need time to accumulate results again and pass another assessment before receiving a new opportunity.
"The Imperium needs this planetary defense plan. There will inevitably come a day when it is discovered and used."
Sephothos decided to persist instead of changing research paths.
He had no better choice, and he believed that his research would one day prove useful.
Even so, watching the Archmagi who had been promoted around the same time as him achieve outstanding results one after another and form their own research institutes left him deeply envious.
Fortunately, the Machine Goddess favored him. Sephothos's persistence was not betrayed.
With the outbreak of the Defense of Terra, the Imperium urgently needed to arm certain planets, and his planetary defense plan was dug out by the Departmento Munitorum.
The full set of defensive facilities he had painstakingly forged before finally found a use and was ultimately deployed to New Dragonwood.
It was a complete defense system, not simply a crude pileup of hardware. The weapons in the defensive system were all interconnected and could be used in concert.
This gave the Departmento Munitorum the ability to rapidly arm an entire planet, and all of it was ready-made equipment. They only needed to haul it out of Sephothos's warehouses and install it in the target region.
Sephothos himself was even granted an audience with the Savior.
That being held his hand and praised him as a cornerstone of the Imperium's scientific research system, a sage among tech-priests, and one worthy of the Machine Goddess's blessing.
As for research funding, he no longer had to worry. He had regained the qualifications to apply for first-tier research resources.
If this planetary defense plan could make an even greater contribution in this campaign, a high-level independent research institute would be all but guaranteed.
Bzzz.
Sephothos took a deep breath and entered the code to activate the core machinery in this region. The relevant energy conduits lit up and connected to the Machine Goddess's machine-spirit engines.
This allowed the entire planet's defensive weapons to be controlled through the psychic network, enabling more complex deployment and combat operations.
Gradually, one energy engine platform after another lit up and linked together. Every defensive array and land-based weapon began operating.
That meant New Dragonwood's armament was complete. Compared with before, it now possessed even stronger defensive and offensive capabilities.
...
Inside the Chaos temple.
The great hall had been modified, giving it some degree of operational command functionality.
Eden, the Lion, Dorn, Perturabo, and the other Primarchs gathered around the tactical roundtable at the center, watching the virtual map of the New Dragonwood war zone.
In addition to the maps of the combat zones inside and outside the planet, it also displayed a star chart of the entire Sol System.
Enemy units were all marked in red. It was clear that vast numbers of Chaos forces were surrounding New Dragonwood.
Obviously, the Chaos coalition deep within the Sol System was rapidly returning to reinforce the area, hoping to retake this important Chaos fortress world.
Such an enormous Chaos army would be enough to drown any Imperial fortress world and reduce it to a dead land.
"The Chaos army is moving pretty fast. I wonder whether we can complete the planet's armament and launch our attack before they arrive."
Eden stared at the darkened regions on the map of New Dragonwood, feeling somewhat anxious.
If he could not complete the planet's armament before the attack struck, the Imperium would lose more warships and lives.
Even the technicians and workers responsible for the engineering effort could suffer mass casualties under the Chaos assault.
That would be a huge loss. Training a mature soldier or worker required considerable cost.
The Imperium was no longer what it had once been, where soldiers were recruited, handed a lasgun, and that was the end of it.
Even mortal soldiers had to pass through round after round of training before they could enter the battlefield.
That was one of the reasons the Imperium's martial strength was so abundant, and why even mortal legions could trade fire with daemons.
If training was inadequate, even the best weapons would be hard to use effectively.
Not only the Savior, but the other loyalist Primarchs were also somewhat worried. They knew the Chaos coalition would not be easy to deal with.
Earlier, those Chaos forces had relied on powerful combat strength and destructive means to destroy several Iron Great Walls in succession.
If the new defense system was not ready, humanity and Chaos would erupt into a brutal galactic war.
That was not a good thing.
No one wanted this victory to be drenched in too much blood.
If this were the old Imperium, perhaps everyone would still accept a costly victory, losing a thousand to kill eight hundred. As long as the enemy was driven back, it counted as a win.
But under the Savior's influence, that kind of costly victory could no longer count as victory. It was failure.
The Imperium had to crush the enemy and win decisively before it could be called victory.
Now there were only minor victories and major victories. A costly victory was no different from losing.
Ding.
The sudden notification drew everyone's attention. They saw many important regions on the New Dragonwood map turn green.
This meant the defensive weapons in those regions had been installed and could be put into the war against Chaos.
"Everyone, we are ready to begin the battle." Eden looked at the virtual map, and much of his nervousness faded.
This planetary fortress world had been fully armed, and the technical personnel and workers from the engineering department were gradually withdrawing to safe areas.
Only a very small number remained behind to continue maintaining the mechanical facilities.
"Let us see the power of our new weapons, especially the dark main cannon." Eden stared at the nearest Chaos fleet as he spoke.
Those Chaos fleets had already entered New Dragonwood's high orbit. If they were not dealt with, it would be very easy for them to launch large-scale orbital bombardment.
As he gave the attack order, a giant dark tower in one region gathered a terrifying beam.
Once charging was complete, a Chaos ray several kilometers in diameter shot from the planet's surface, streaked straight into space, and blasted toward the Chaos fleet.
In everyone's field of view, a Chaos flagship dozens of kilometers long was pierced directly through by the fell-energy beam. The remaining fell energy also swept through the ships around it.
After that came a chain of explosions, and a large number of Chaos warships were destroyed by the dark main cannon.
"The power is decent. Unfortunately, the charge time is a little long." Eden observed the distant airspace battlefield and felt somewhat regretful.
The dark relic weapons forged by Horus and the others were indeed powerful. There were almost no fortresses capable of withstanding their attacks.
They had probably intended to use the dark relic weapons to completely blast open Holy Terra's defenses.
Unfortunately, the moment they arrived, they were blocked by the nested Iron Great Walls and never had any room to perform.
In the end, Eden benefited from it all.
However, relying only on the dark relic main cannon and the Chaos defense equipment would make it difficult to withstand the Chaos coalition's full-scale assault.
Fortunately, he also had the newly constructed planetary defense system. Its raw power might not compare to the dark main cannon, but it had more than enough firepower.
In an instant, points of light appeared across New Dragonwood, along with dense black specks rushing into space.
Hundreds of thousands of ultra-heavy cannons within the planet's defense system fired at the same time. Beams, torpedoes, macro-cannon shells, and more rushed toward the nearest Chaos fleet.
That saturation attack, like scouring the ground clean, destroyed every Chaos warship within the target zone.
Only drifting wreckage remained.
Without the protection of an Iron Great Wall, the Chaos coalition before a planet armed by the Savior like New Dragonwood was a lamb waiting for slaughter.
They could only take the beating passively, and the losses were brutal.
The fierce strike New Dragonwood unleashed against the Chaos coalition brought smiles to everyone's faces. It felt unbelievably satisfying.
"They're here."
Eden's smile abruptly faded. He turned toward a point in the void, and the image of that region was projected into the hall.
In that airspace appeared the fallen traitors' Gloriana-class flagships: the Vengeful Spirit, the Endurance, the Conqueror, and others.
More importantly, that region radiated an intense aura of fell energy. That meant Horus and the other fallen Primarchs had arrived at New Dragonwood's perimeter.
The gazes of the Lion, Dorn, and the other Primarchs turned cold. They could not help holding their breath.
The decisive battle they had awaited for ten thousand years had finally arrived.
At that moment, a Warp fluctuation swept through the Chaos temple. The sudden change made everyone instantly alert.
Especially when a scarlet rift appeared, the Lion and the other Primarchs had already tightened their grips on their weapons.
Then Eden's voice sounded.
"That is one of our Primarch brothers. Corax, you finally made it back."
As he spoke, a flock of blood-colored ravens poured out of the rift, then transformed into a stern figure bearing black mechanical raven wings.
The Nineteenth Primarch, the Liberator, the Raven Lord, Corvus Corax, had followed the Savior's guidance and returned to the galaxy to join this final battle.
"Where is Guilliman?" Corax swept his gaze around and asked.
The Raven Lord had a good relationship with the Primarch of the Ultramarines.
During the Horus Heresy, he had not only entrusted command of his Legion to Guilliman, but also supported him afterward during the debate over dividing the Legions.
Now the known loyalist Primarchs had mostly gathered, yet Guilliman alone was absent. That puzzled him greatly.
After all, before Corax rushed here, he had already known that Guilliman had returned to the Sol System with the Savior.
His words plunged the Chaos temple into silence. For a moment, no one knew how to answer that question.
"Ahem. Brother Guilliman is on his way. I believe he will definitely arrive this time."
Eden said this, doing his best to preserve Guilliman's dignity.
The man was already in the Sol System. Surely he would not fail to make it in time for the Primarch showdown while it was still fresh, right?
Yet the instant Eden finished speaking, he sensed a familiar aura. The other loyalist Primarchs also sensed it clearly.
"Oh? Old Roboute actually made it this time." Eden was quite surprised, and even felt a trace of relief.
Perhaps Guilliman's humiliating title as the nine-hour specialist could finally be removed. Who said he was always late? Had he not caught up this time?
Yet when Eden saw where Guilliman was, his entire body went numb.
Old Roboute had not only caught up this time. He had overshot the mark and charged straight into the enemy's lair.
In the view before them, the Eternal Soul floated alone in the void.
And lined up in front of it were the fallen Primarchs' flagships: the Vengeful Spirit, the Endurance, the Conqueror, and more.
That made the ancient vessel look so very small and powerless...
(End of Chapter)
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