Medrengard—the current home of the Iron Warriors and the domain of Perturabo.
Unlike other Primarchs who were missing or whose fates were unknown, the current Perturabo was definitively inside this very fortress. He had forged his lair into an impregnable bastion, surrounded day and night by his most loyal guards protecting its hardest shells.
Over the vast expanse of time, neither Daemon nor Imperial army had ever breached this place. Most fleets that arrived were instantly obliterated by the planet's orbital defense systems. This world held the absolute highest concentration of Daemon Smiths and Daemon Engines.
Aboard the colossal artillery batteries, every single Iron Warrior guard stood on high alert. Even though there had been no enemy incursions for decades, their meticulous nature meant they strictly performed their duties and held their posts day in and day out.
"Quickly, enemy attack!"
"It's the Conqueror!"
"We've detected a Primarch's psychic signature—Angron is definitely here!"
One after another, the Iron Warriors began operating like parts of a precise machine. Different Grand Companies and different warbands immediately moved to secure their designated defensive sectors.
A faction within the Iron Warriors remained intensely loyal to Perturabo, even though the Primarch currently adopted a hands-off, hands-free approach to governance. They still chose to garrison the perimeter of this magnificent fortress.
In truth, these space marines actually preferred the Primarch staying out of their business. After all, if the Primarch did take charge, they would likely have to face the threat of decimation. Now that the Primarch spent his days holed up inside playing video games, it ironically allowed these Iron Warriors to enjoy a relatively peaceful life.
---
Massive, large-caliber orbital cannons began firing payloads into the sky. Countless plasma beams cut through the heavens, tracing brilliant, blinding streaks of light across the atmosphere.
The power of these weapons was devastating. Even the Conqueror, a Gloriana-class battleship positioned well outside normal firing range, had to raise its psychic shields to withstand the onslaught.
"Damn, they're hitting us from that far away?!" Angron couldn't help but feel shocked by the sheer scale of the local defensive network.
The sky-piercing fortresses and defensive installations here were simply too flawless; there wasn't a single blind spot to exploit. Forcing a direct spearhead would likely cost them staggering casualties. Aside from her own flagship, the Conqueror, basically no other ship in the fleet could survive a single salvo from the planet's orbital network.
"As expected of Perturabo—the defensive might he commands is terrifying!"
"With defenses like these, an entire fleet could be wiped out in an instant. Traditional Imperial warships stand absolutely no chance against a monster like this!"
Staring at the dense, overlapping grid of the orbital defense system, Angron felt a rare sense of helplessness, unsure of where to even begin an assault. In terms of raw combat prowess, Angron was by no means inferior to Perturabo. But when it came to civil engineering and constructing fortifications, Angron lagged far behind.
Right now, their engineer brother Perturabo was completely hands-off. The defensive matrix currently operating was merely what he had designed before ascending to become a Daemon Primarch. It was clean, efficient, and brutally lethal.
No one understood civil engineering better than Perturabo. The iron-clad bulwarks he erected left even Greater Daemons of Chaos in awe. This was exactly how Perturabo managed to maintain his independence—without this turtle-shell defense, he wouldn't be able to keep his autonomy.
"Mother—this planet is a total hedgehog. What should we do?"
"If we launch a direct assault, your children will suffer horrific casualties."
"Without other reinforcements, it might be incredibly difficult for us to take this fortress."
"Don't worry!" Angron replied calmly. She wasn't anxious because a certain voice had already promised to aid her while they were en route.
[Caleb: What kind of warship do I need to give you so you can take it down?]
[As long as the Imperium has it, I can pull it out!]
Caleb's claim was no empty boast; he currently even had the Buphalis (The Emperor's Somnium) in his possession. If Angron insisted on borrowing the Phalanx, it wasn't out of the question either. Even the Imperial Fists deployed inside could potentially serve as a massive asset in this battle.
[Angron: If we want to take this place with minimal losses, we must use the Imperium's mightiest fortress—the Phalanx!]
[Otherwise, it will be incredibly difficult for our warships just to approach the planet's orbit.]
[To say nothing of dealing with the Iron Warriors stationed on it.]
[Caleb: Fine—I'll give you the Phalanx. However, you'll have to find a way to convince the Imperial Fists on board. The rest is up to you!]
With that, Caleb picked up the Phalanx piece and placed it directly onto the gaming table. This pure plastic model weighed a staggering 80 kilograms on its own. If it weren't for his enhanced physical constitution, he wouldn't even be able to lift the game piece. Fortunately, the Phalanx didn't require too many deployment points, and he still had another one in his storage—theoretically, in the most extreme scenario, he could deploy two.
---
In a flash, a giant golden hand manifested in the cosmos once more. This time, it brought forth the Imperium's behemoth: the Phalanx.
When this 150-kilometer-wide colossal monster materialized on the battlefield, the horns of victory had effectively been sounded.
"Son of a btch! How could a thing like that suddenly show up?!"
"Is the Corpse King completely insane?!"
"He actually dragged out his ultimate trump card!"
The Warsmith garrisoning the fortress began swearing loudly the moment he saw the behemoth. He had absolutely no idea what kind of madness had gripped the Imperium. To send a fortress-monastery of this magnitude just to purge them—they were certainly being given a lot of face!
"What did you say? Our enemies are the Iron Warriors?!"
"Sons of Rogal Dorn, do not bring shame to our Gene-Father!"
"Since the Emperor has commanded us to eliminate these Iron Warriors, then even if this fortress explodes, we must blow these dregs to pieces!"
"Yes! By the Primarch above, for your honor and the glory of Terra!"
Angron had originally intended to hail the Imperial Fists to coordinate a tactical plan. Yet, these blockheads actually charged in even faster than she could! The entire fortress-monastery plunged forward like a meteor directly toward the enemy, absorbing the brunt of the incoming fire. They forcefully tore a massive breach straight through the enemy's defensive platform strike arrays.
"Primarch, it's our turn to charge! Since they've already gone in, there's nothing left to say!"
"True!" Angron immediately gave the order: "Deploy all the armored Grand Companies of our revolutionary army!"
"This landing operation is bound to be a brutal slog!"
"We must mass all of our armored forces to give Perturabo a proper show!"
Though Angron had ordered all armored assets to mobilize, the vehicular strength within her revolutionary army was still far inferior to that of the Iron Warriors. Among the Space Marine Legions of the Imperium, only two boasted the absolute strongest armored divisions: the Iron Warriors and the Iron Hands.
However, because the Iron Hands had broken down from a Legion into Chapters, and their Primarch Ferrus Manus had died, their strength was incredibly fragmented, leaving them with only small armored assault companies. While the current Iron Hands could still rely on the power of the Adeptus Mechanicus to play a vital role, their cohesion and comprehensive strength were vastly inferior to the Iron Warriors due to the loss of their Primarch.
And right now, Angron was assaulting Perturabo's main home. This was his iron bastion. Taking it would be an agonizingly difficult task.
---
Relying on its colossal firepower, the Phalanx rapidly overwhelmed several defensive platforms. Each of these platforms possessed the combat capability of a Lunar-class cruiser, but before a true moving fortress, they were trivial. Terrifying macro-cannon batteries quickly shattered the platforms, while the orbital defense grid on the ground was subjected to merciless, inhumane bombardment.
At this moment, the fortress's backup defensive fire platforms were still only in the deployment phase. This precise window of time was the absolute best moment to land!
"Everyone, charge with me!"
"I hope you can forgive my choices!"
"Regardless of whether he is willing to submit, I must bring his Warp essence back!"
Angron wasted no words. Her body turned into a streak of fire as she plunged directly down toward the planet's surface. This method of using one's bare physical body to breach the atmosphere left all the Space Marines completely stunned for a brief moment.
However, they didn't dally. They immediately strapped into their drop pods and rapidly followed in their Primarch's wake.
"It should be right there!"
The landing zone Angron chose wasn't a weak point in the defenses, but rather the area where the resistance was fiercest. Although it had been hammered by the Phalanx's bombardment, not all the anti-aircraft flak batteries had lost their ability to fight back!
The red angel ducked and weaved through the sky. Every time an Iron Warrior prepared to fire, the emotional ripples within their hearts would be intercepted by Angron. Using this mind-reading capability, she could react instantly—evading before the enemy even pulled the trigger, ensuring they could never land a clean hit on her.
BOOM!
Her seemingly petite frame smashed directly into the earth, creating a massive crater. Immediately following the impact, this small form sprinted straight toward several Iron Warrior defensive positions.
"Quickly, open fire! Hold her back!"
The steady and cold-blooded Iron Warriors had no room for chivalry or mercy, even if the figure charging them was a Primarch of a Legion. They executed their drills continuously, following the defensive protocols left behind by Perturabo.
Perturabo had long accounted for every conceivable scenario, including elite enemy units executing a direct drop onto their front lines. Back then, Perturabo had only anticipated enemy Terminators; he hadn't expected a Primarch.
Slash! Crunch!
A massive pair of chainaxes spun into motion. Angron turned into a flying whirlwind, tearing straight into the defensive line. In a mere matter of moments, this twin-tailed, fang-toothed girl had slaughtered her way clean through the enemy's formations. Simultaneously, the World Eaters accompanying her landing arrived by her side.
"Primarch!"
The World Eaters hitting the ground immediately secured the perimeter, gunning down the remaining stragglers. However, the Iron Warriors' reaction speed was also incredibly fast, and both sides rapidly locked into a fierce firefight across the trenches.
"Raise shields! Systematically suppress them tier by tier!"
"The Iron Warriors are masters of siege warfare; our only option is to use our numbers to grind them down!"
Recalling the events of the past, Angron knew that against Perturabo, one could truly only rely on solid fortifications and attritional warfare. Sometimes, clever little tricks would only end up handing Perturabo more opportunities. Angron proceeded with extreme caution in this battle.
---
[Caleb: Let me give you another hand! I'll provide you with a batch of armored units!]
Caleb glanced at the Astraeus Super-Heavy Tanks he had set aside earlier. Unlike ordinary tracked super-heavy tanks, these were specialized repulsor-craft. These terrifying steel behemoths could completely ignore gravity to operate on any terrain, meaning they weren't clumsy monsters like the Baneblade heavy tanks.
They could adapt to almost any environment while boasting defensive capabilities far more absurd than a Baneblade, alongside even more horrifying firepower projection.
As Caleb deployed three Astraeus Super-Heavy Tanks in a neat row, Angron quickly issued orders for her soldiers to pilot them. Since these vehicles were things that could only be manufactured during Belisarius Cawl's era, their internal mechanized systems and level of machine intelligence far exceeded standard Imperial tanks.
Hummmmm!
The Machine Spirits inside the tanks thrummed. At the same time, Alice sensed that new Machine Spirits were being birthed. Quickly, Alice offered words of soothing comfort to them, and these Machine Spirits rapidly transitioned into an active combat state.
"The time is now! Melt the gates with plasma cannons and breach!"
"We must rush inside before their backup defensive turrets are raised!"
"Otherwise, Perturabo's pre-programmed fire support will arrive shortly. We're out of time!"
With six plasma cannons instantly blowing the gates apart, Angron led from the front and charged inside. The World Eaters behind her surged forward alongside their Primarch. In the blink of an eye, they dismantled the fortress's outer layer of defense.
---
"Damn it, we've lost contact with so many of our boys!"
"As expected, this planet's defense system isn't that simple. There are hidden turrets tucked away in the shadows."
Angron merely tilted her head slightly before raising her massive axe to cleave a turret concealed within the corridor wall. These defensive turrets wouldn't reveal themselves immediately; instead, they would suddenly pop out after you had passed them, blocking the path and inflicting massive damage on rear units.
Every single tunnel here had been meticulously engineered precisely to make these defensive measures effective. Every tunnel and every corner could potentially house weapons of mass destruction. They could be landmines capable of disintegrating heavy armor, or automated defense turrets like the one just destroyed.
Angron could feel that just in the opening moments of the landing, her losses were already incredibly heavy. If word got out, she had lost nearly an entire Chapter's worth of troops in just the first half-hour of the landing!
Yet, interestingly enough, Angron also sensed through her empathy that the sons of Rogal Dorn had sent their own companies down to join the fray. The two sides were locked in a bloody siege—but this was the Iron Warriors' home turf after all. Relying on just a few companies consisting of a few hundred men made it impossible to break through!
"What absolute idiots. What's the point of coming down with so few men?"
"I brought down tens of thousands and still suffered heavy losses. With a mere handful of men, they actually dare to fight a war of positions against them?"
Angron could only curse the foolishness of the Imperial Fists in her heart. Yet, deep down, she deeply admired the courage of these warriors. It wasn't that her own space marines lacked bravery, but this unyielding, death-defying spirit was precisely the foundation that kept the Imperium standing amidst the raging storms.
"You lot, take a regiment's worth of troops and support those Imperial Fists!"
"If they ask which Chapter you belong to, tell them you're from the 'Liberators Chapter.' Do not reveal your true identities!"
"Aside from our red armor, they probably won't be able to guess which Legion you're from anyway. Take off those bunny ears first, you can put them back on later!"
"Uh, oh, understood, Primarch!"
The current World Eaters were incredibly obedient to their mother's words! To receive their mother's personal psychological counseling, these knuckleheads were willing to fight tooth and nail.
"One more thing!" Before they charged, Angron didn't forget to add: "You must handle your relationship with the Imperial Fists well. Of course, when the time comes, you can also confess your troubles to me. I will make sure to give you proper psychological counseling!"
"Don't carry any mental burdens. If you have something to say, just speak freely!"
"Yes, Mother! For our Gene-Mother, we are willing to sacrifice everything!"
The moment they heard that fighting came with counseling perks, the warriors were instantly revitalized. This was a one-on-one exclusive counseling session with their Primarch mother! Though it might only last a few minutes for each warrior, those few minutes of bonding would completely soothe their minds!
"Hey, wait, I haven't finished speaking! Why are you running so fast?!"
"They're running faster than my repulsor tanks!"
Seeing her kids so incredibly proactive about completing their tasks, Angron fell silent. Why did it feel like the effects of her psychological counseling were even more potent than combat stimulants? It looked like she would have to give her children counseling sessions a lot more often in the future!