"Let us act now and bestow the blessings of the Grandfather upon these common folk who have been deceived by the Corpse Emperor," Gurlak said, striding forward.
The other Plague Marines made way for their lord.
The Plague Marines' armor oozed foul-smelling liquid and was stretched wide by their bloated bodies.
They were also covered in a layer of vibrant green flies, emitting a sickening stench and a sickly green mist from within.
"Let us bring the gifts of the Grandfather to those fools," Gurlak's second-in-command also spoke, his voice sounding like the putrid yet articulate speech of a rotting throat.
He followed closely behind Gurlak, wielding a power maul covered in flesh as he walked towards the battlefield, his distillation equipment and experimental plague grenades clanking.
It is worth introducing Gurlak's second-in-command: a Plague Alchemist.
He could create terrifying plagues by mixing different bacteria and viruses, easily poisoning entire Imperial worlds and even spreading to other worlds, bringing countless suffering and death.
The threat posed by the Plague Alchemists was far more terrifying than that of other Plague Marines.
They would poison the Imperial worlds they came into contact with and even perform sacrificial rituals, sacrificing Imperial worlds to make them Nurgle's gardens.
"Praise the Grandfather."
"Gifts, bring them gifts."
"The Grandfather's love."
"Exterminate the Corpse Emperor."
The other Plague Marines also cheered, waving their rusty bolters, swords, heavy mauls, and plague spewers with rotting nozzles, following closely behind Gurlak, ready to launch the final assault.
Gurlak, leading the charge, raised his massive plague axe and let out a hoarse, terrifying war cry, "We are the sons of Mortarion, we are the embodiment of plague and death."
The other Plague Marines echoed the same war cry.
The booming sound of artillery fire erupted as the daemon Engines and traitor-controlled cannons once again bombarded the fortress.
Plague shells flew towards the fortress' flickering shields, blooming into malicious fiery petals upon them.
Large amounts of plague toxic clouds scattered with the explosions but were blocked by the shields.
The fortress' shields flickered erratically, clearly reaching their limit.
With the continuous bombardment, the shield generators were on the verge of overloading.
After a few more rounds of shelling, the fortress would lose the protection of its shields.
Without shields, the fortress would be like fish on a chopping board, to be slaughtered at will.
"Unleash the Grandfather's gifts," Gurlak commanded.
Soon, a large number of Plague Zombies were driven from afar.
They were once living people, residents and defenders of the planet, but now they had become Nurgle's puppets and playthings.
Many of the zombies still wore the clothes and weapons of the planetary defense force, which hung loosely on their bodies.
They only retained simple instincts and could not use weapons.
Gurlak did not need them to use weapons.
The Plague Zombies primarily inflicted casualties on the enemy through the plagues they carried.
These creatures stared blankly ahead, walking forward in a daze, green viscous fluid dripping from their snarling faces.
The stench of decay and the wriggling tentacles emitted a putrid odor, and the wails of the departed echoed in the air.
Driven by the Plague Marines, the Plague Zombies numbly walked towards the fortress, serving as expendable cannon fodder.
Tens of thousands of undead swarmed through the ruins, stumbling towards the Imperial fortress' line of fire.
The Plague Marines followed closely behind, herding the zombies like shepherds.
Behind them, daemon Engines like the Plagueburst Crawler, used for long-range bombardment, continued their incessant shelling, causing the fortress' void shields to flicker and dim even more.
As the enemy entered optimal attack range, the defenders' firepower became active.
Heavy lascannons and autocannons roared, mowing down rows of plague-ridden mutants.
Artillery roared, and countless zombies were blown away, exploding into chunks of rotten flesh scattered everywhere.
Giant flamers unleashed streams of fire, incinerating the plague flies attempting to approach the defensive line.
Laser beams shot out from the fortifications, hitting the Plague Zombies, causing them to sizzle and fall to the ground as charred corpses.
The defenders shouted the Emperor's slogans, trying to inflict casualties on the enemy while conserving ammunition, attempting to repulse the enemy once again.
The Plague Marines returned fire, their bolters accurately targeting the heavy units and main firing points of the Imperial defenders, constantly pulling the trigger.
Bolts easily blew apart the bodies of ordinary soldiers, destroyed heavy units, and eliminated key firing points of the Imperial defenders one by one, allowing them to continue driving the Plague Zombies forward.
Daemon Engines like the Plague Spreader also advanced, unleashing terrifying plague shells and toxins, corroding the human defenders and suppressing their firepower.
The Imperial defenders fought with all their might, even resorting to strapping melta bombs to their bodies to try and stop the enemy's advance.
But no matter how hard they tried, facing the fierce assault of the Plague Marines, they were still pushed back, losing ground repeatedly, and their defensive line was constantly compressed.
The Plague Marines deployed their Dreadnoughts and daemon Engines.
The terrifying firepower of these behemoths made the defenders, who were short on firepower, suffer even more.
During several defensive battles, they had lost a large number of artillery and tanks.
Trapped in the fortress, they had virtually no heavy firepower left.
"Merciful Emperor, this time it's truly over," Jason held a pair of binoculars, watching those terrifyingly large, fleshy Dreadnoughts emerge from the sickly green mist, following closely behind the Plague Zombies.
He knew that without a miracle, the fall of the fortress was only a matter of time.
The Plague Marines also possessed Dreadnoughts, and they were all models from ten thousand years ago, with better performance and the blessings of the Chaos Gods, making their combat power even more terrifying than the Imperial Dreadnoughts.
Those few Dreadnoughts walked past a burning Chimera transport.
In front of their massive size, the Chimera transport seemed somewhat insignificant.
One hand of the Dreadnought was equipped with a massive cannon, unleashing insane firepower, while the other hand was a limb covered in barbs.
There was also a large mouth on the Dreadnought's chest, where the remains of the Plague Marine were stored, and a cluster of eyes blinked around the mouth, making it very unsettling.
Jason had seen these Dreadnoughts in action several times.
When facing the Imperium, they completely overwhelmed and crushed the defenders, who could not stop them at all.
He had personally witnessed those Dreadnoughts easily destroy a super-heavy tank, a Baneblade.
Their firepower output was truly terrifying.
"We don't even have a Knight.
What are we fighting for?
Find a small squad to be a suicide squad and see if they can get close enough to blow it up with melta bombs."
Jason tried to make a last-ditch effort, to see if he could trade human lives for that Dreadnought.
Soon, a squad ran out, and other units provided covering fire.
They strapped melta bombs to themselves and charged forward.
The tactic was simple: detonate the melta bombs when they got close, or have other teammates detonate them remotely if they died.
As long as they delivered the bombs, it was enough.
Unfortunately, while courage is a very precious and rare thing, it cannot change anything, especially on the battlefield, and it is even less likely to turn the tide of the battle.
"What a shame, they failed."
Watching the last soldier of the suicide squad shout the Emperor's slogans and be shattered by the Dreadnought's long-range fire, Jason smiled.
He had lived for over thirty years, and today was his turn to be called by the Emperor.
"It's these civilians."
Jason turned his head and looked into the depths of the fortress, a hint of sadness in his eyes.
He knew very well the consequences of the last line of defense falling.
Chaos never shows any mercy.
Jason looked up.
The shields flickered erratically, seemingly about to shatter at any moment.
Through the shields, his bionic eye could see that the hazy green mist of the plague had already covered the entire sky.
The planet had fallen, and their resistance was useless.
They had done their best, but the outcome was already determined.
Facing an invincible enemy, they had no chance of winning.
All they could do in the end was shout the Emperor's slogans and rush towards death.
Suppressing the sadness in his heart, Jason drew his command sword and laspistol, and opened the all-military communicator.
"It has been a pleasure fighting alongside you, my comrades.
May we all be with the Emperor, and may your souls all be accepted by the Emperor.
The glory of humanity shall endure forever, and the light of the Emperor shall shine for all eternity.
We will fight until the last moment.
Chaos will never make us yield."
As Jason's words fell, the overburdened shields flickered a few times and then completely disappeared.
Plague bombs fell into the fortress, causing explosions and plague toxic mist.
Screams and cries came from within the fortress.
The desperate voices of the civilians echoed throughout the entire fortress.
Everyone knew that their final hour had arrived.
The Plague Zombies and Plague Marines broke through the defenders' line of fire and began a frantic slaughter on the last defensive position.
The defenders also tried to hold the last line with close combat, preserving humanity's last dignity.