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"My Lord, we have lost contact with the scout company."
Alexei halted his steps. They had already reached the perimeter of the Watson family's sphere of influence. Looking at the white tower standing close at hand, he turned and walked away.
"Are we not going?" Heinrich asked immediately from behind him.
"No, I'm going to deal with those fellows first." Alexei walked to an open space to wait. The takeover of the Leopes high-level officials wasn't fully complete, but it should be sufficient.
Under his command, a medical transport ship swiftly flew toward them, unobstructed throughout the journey. The two men boarded the transport bay in silence. As the ship took off, Alexei gazed toward the distant fortress. Simultaneously, a Battlecruiser began moving toward the low-earth orbit above the target, carrying Astartes and a psyker of incomprehensible power.
Inside the fortress, the Praetorian Guard captain led dozens of men toward the building location displayed on their visor maps. Along the way, frenzied Slaanesh cultists tried to block them at all costs. However, facing the overwhelming firepower of the Guards, they couldn't even manage a brief delay; the autoguns in the cultists' hands weren't even qualified to leave a scratch on the power armor.
Koster's squad was among them. The heavy Gauss rifle in his hands fired incessantly until the muzzle glowed red. As the team pushed forward, he gradually realized something was wrong. "Captain, the enemy numbers are thinning!"
The Praetorian captain seemed to have noticed this as well. Unsure of what the enemy was planning, he simply ordered everyone to conserve ammunition. As they approached the Gothic structure, the mist began to thin, and the figures of the cultists vanished entirely from their sight.
A light fog swirled around the black building. The towering spires brought a sense of unease to the hearts of these veterans. They needed to climb a long flight of stairs to enter the building, yet the stairs seemed endless; no matter how far they walked, they didn't seem to get any closer.
"Damn it, it feels like we've walked into a trap," Koster cursed under his breath. Moments later, an eerie laugh echoed in their minds.
A seductive figure slowly approached them from the top of the stairs. Koster looked closely; it was clearly the Internal Affairs Steward who had led the way earlier. But now, he—or she—had become something grotesque. Clothes had fused with skin, and dual-gender characteristics were exposed. Two slender horns sprouted from its head, and its arms had grown unnaturally long, holding two humming, razor-sharp blades.
It looked at the Guards with flirtatious eyes, as if viewing a collection of fine toys. "Look who's here? Oh, lovely little things, I hope you can keep me entertained~"
The shrill words sent shivers down their spines. The captain knew this wasn't an opponent they could handle. "Koster, when we engage, take your squad and circle around the side." He tossed a coordinate transmitter to Koster.
"Understood," Koster replied grimly. Now was not the time for debate. Before the group could even react, the enemy's figure vanished. Following a scream, a Praetorian Guard was sliced in half—the thick power armor seemed non-existent before those two blades.
Intense gunfire erupted instantly, but they couldn't track the target. Even with smart-aim assistance, their weapons couldn't land a hit. The Guards continued to fall as the enemy harvested their lives like a gale.
"Now, run!" the captain's roar, accompanied by the thunder of firearms, rang through the squad's comms. Koster and his men, who had moved to the edge of the battlefield, took off immediately. Dale's heavy frame stood behind them, his searing flames temporarily blocking the enemy's advance.
However, the reprieve was short-lived. Following a giggle and a muffled grunt, the thick projectors of the Firebat power armor were sliced clean off.
"Dale!" Koster shouted anxiously over the channel.
"Just go, Boss," Dale's hoarse voice replied. "I was already affected by those whispers earlier... I wouldn't have lasted long anyway. Go..."
Koster didn't speak again. He simply charged forward. A massive explosion suddenly erupted behind him, making the ground tremble. Moments later, a roar of humiliated rage sounded again. By now, Koster was only a step away from the building's entrance. His visor highlighted the red dot representing the Void Shield array.
The remaining squad members stopped and turned, raising their weapons in a futile spray of bullets. Every second was precious now; their lives were secondary. In their final moments, they cried out, "For Aiur!"
As the gunfire behind him faded into silence, Koster said nothing and took a giant stride toward the array. The giggling returned. "It hurts... it hurts so much~" A figure with scorched skin appeared behind him. "Only one left~ Hehe~ I'm going to torture you... to avenge my father~"
Koster turned around and opened his visor, revealing a defiant smirk. "Too bad, pal. My mission is complete." As he spoke, a brilliant psionic beam shot straight into the sky.
"Bzzzt... Coordinates... confirmed... Support arriving... Sergeant... Good work!" Fragmented voices came through Koster's comms.
"You damned ant!" The creature's smile vanished instantly upon seeing the coordinate beam, and its figure disappeared.
Koster closed his eyes. A gust of wind rushed toward him, but the expected pain didn't come. He slowly opened his eyes to see a pair of terrified eyes; a pungent smell of char mixed with a sickly sweet scent filled his nose.
The two blades were inches from his neck, but they were trembling violently—perhaps from exertion, or perhaps from sheer terror.
As Koster stood dazed, the enemy was hurled away at a terrifying speed. Only then did he notice a blonde girl floating at the entrance, tilting her head and watching them with cold, indifferent eyes.
"You..." The scorched figure barely managed a sound before the girl flicked her finger. Its mouth and throat were torn away. It was then hoisted into the air and slammed into the ground with such force that it created a deep crater. The entire building shook. Once, twice, three times... until finally, only a puddle of mangled flesh remained, which was then telekinetically tossed aside.
"It's over," the girl's voice echoed from nowhere. She looked at the active Void Shield array and suddenly clenched her left fist. With a horrifying screech of twisting metal, the entire generator was crushed into a floating sphere and slammed into the dirt. The violent explosion that should have occurred was snuffed out in the void.
Under Koster's stunned gaze, the girl vanished. Immediately after, a thundering roar of breaking air sounded from above. He slowly stepped out of the building to see a massive number of drop pods slamming into the earth.
In the mist-covered sky, a shadow dispersed the clouds as the gargantuan warship arrived directly over the fortress.
The purge had begun.