As Osiris expected, the World Eaters' attack method was simple and brutal.
Countless drop pods, like burning meteorites, disregarded any orbital tactical advantages and directly slammed into the Death World's surface, exploding into blasphemous landing zones across the wilderness surrounding the base.
Before the hatch doors were fully open, savage roars and the thunder of boltguns already tore through the air; these madmen, implanted with Butcher's Nails, were like hungry beasts, wielding chainaxes and power claws, launching an uncoordinated but ferocious charge towards the defensive line.
Osiris calmly observed the battlefield situation; his core computation's evaluation of this tactic was only two words: inefficient.
The frigates in orbit had already withdrawn, and the entire Death World was completely undefended at this moment.
The World Eaters' fleet could have brazenly lowered their altitude, entered low orbit, and used lances and macro-cannons for precise, devastating orbital bombardment, completely erasing the ancient ruins and his painstakingly developed canyon experimental grounds from the planet's surface.
Even if they wanted to seize the technology or samples in his possession, the optimal solution would have been sustained orbital strikes, weakening and suppressing until the defensive forces collapsed to an acceptable level, then dispatching small teams for precise cleanup.
However, these madmen chose the most direct and foolish method—a ground assault.
"Lack of logic, tactical thinking completely overridden by the desire for slaughter," Osiris' synthesized voice calmly stated the conclusion in the command center, "Their behavioral pattern is identical to their Primarch's choice on Isstvan V."
He recalled that historical record: Angron also abandoned orbital superiority, insisting on deploying ground forces for a bloody melee with the loyalists.
Now, his descendants perfectly inherited this "tradition."
Perhaps, in their brains, constantly scorched by the Butcher's Nails and left with only rage and pain, concepts like "tactical advantage" and "efficiency" simply did not exist.
Close-quarters combat, the sensation of flesh tearing, and the feedback of skulls shattering under chainswords were the only things they craved.
Osiris swiftly adjusted his defensive strategy.
Against such irrational charges, sturdy positions, interlocking fields of fire, and precise long-range strikes would become the most effective harvesting tools.
He ordered the Adeptus Ministorum Troops to contract their defensive line, forming multi-layered fire traps based on fortifications, while servitor constructs were deployed at key nodes, using their tireless, precise shooting to compensate for their lack of numbers.
The knight mecha, meanwhile, served as mobile counter-attack forces, ready at any moment to crush any clusters that broke through the fire network.
Since the enemy insisted on a bloody ground war, he would, in the calmest and most efficient manner, turn this wilderness into a slaughterhouse for the World Eaters.
They craved close combat? Then let them bleed out their last drop of blood on the way to the positions.
—
Just as Osiris, relying on his defensive line, calmly reaped the chaotic waves of the World Eaters' charge, Sigismund and his Black Templars fleet were also rushing towards the Death World at their maximum achievable speed.
However, the Warp's fury did not cease; deadly energy storms still raged, hindering normal deep-Warp travel.
In such situations, the conventional approach would be to find gaps in the storm or circumnavigate it, but this would mean unpredictable delays.
Sigismund did not have that time.
He issued an unconventional order: "Abandon deep-Warp travel. Adopt a shallow-jump mode, keeping the fleet traversing the fringe between real space and the Warp."
This was an ancient and inefficient method of travel, typically only used by Imperial colonial fleets or small patrol fleets lacking powerful astropaths or high-performance Warp engines.
It was like skipping stones on a turbulent sea; the vessel would briefly cut into the Warp's surface, using its thrust to complete a short-range faster-than-light jump, then quickly disengage and return to real space for repositioning.
Each "skip" could only cover a distance of a few to a dozen light-years, after which it had to resurface to avoid the immense risks and navigational errors associated with prolonged exposure to the Warp's edge.
Its efficiency was far lower than long-term, high-speed travel deep within the Warp.
But at this moment, the advantage of this method became apparent—it was almost unaffected by the terrifying storm deep within the Warp.
The fleet could advance like stubborn stones against a current, making difficult progress but steadily and resolutely moving towards its objective.
The "eternal crusade" and its escort ships transformed into a series of silent projectiles, stubbornly shortening the distance to the Death World with each brief jump.
Scans performed during each momentary exit from the Warp failed to detect any other intercepting fleets, which seemed to confirm Sigismund's judgment—the main obstructing forces were concentrated on the Death World itself, and on the Death Guard he had previously encountered.
The journey was greatly extended, and time was ticking away.
Sigismund stood on the bridge, like a rock, gazing out the viewport at the bizarre, constantly shifting surface of the Warp.
He could imagine how fierce the battle on the Death World must be, and what kind of pressure Osiris was facing alone.
All he could do now was to arrive as quickly as possible, at all costs.
Even if this method was like a crawl, it was better than standing still.
—
Just as Sigismund's fleet was laboriously advancing with its clumsy but determined "stone-skipping" method, reinforcements from the Neksum Forge World were traversing this disturbed Warp in a completely different manner, showcasing the Adeptus Mechanicus' technological prowess.
Although the Warp storm targeting this star system remained violent, as if an invisible giant hand was trying to choke off all routes to the Death World, the expeditionary fleet, composed of Adeptus Ministorum Troops macro-branches and titans, was not fundamentally hindered in its journey.
Adeptus Mechanicus vessels, especially the capital ships belonging to important Forge Worlds, were often equipped with ancient engines and precise navigation equipment far exceeding Imperial Navy standard models.
They did not rely solely on the psychic eyes of astropaths, but combined inertial navigation systems based on ancient STC templates, powerful computations from stellar chart databases, and mathematical model predictions of Warp tide patterns.
In certain extreme situations, they could even activate a powerful Geller Field stabilization array, like an icebreaker, forcibly carving out a brief but stable passage through the turbulent Warp energy over a relatively short journey.
At this moment, deep within the core giant ship of this Forge World fleet—a colossal Mechanicus Ark—countless Tech-Priests were collaborating with powerful cogitator arrays, continuously calibrating their course in the form of binary prayers.
The reinforced Geller Field projected from the bow acted like a wedge, forcibly pushing aside the surging Warp energy; although this required immense energy consumption and placed enormous stress on the ship's structure, it was indeed effective.
The fleet maintained a strict formation, like a steady metal leviathan moving through raging waves; although its speed was reduced by resisting the storm, its course remained clear, steadfastly heading towards the Mandeville Point of the Death World.
Finally, in the void of real space, the dim outline of the Death World gradually grew larger in their view.
The fleet successfully broke through the storm blockade, exited the Warp, and firmly anchored itself in planetary orbit.
Almost simultaneously, on the Death World's surface, Osiris' sensor arrays received identification signals from orbit.
The unique, encrypted Adeptus Mechanicus binary greeting announced the arrival of reinforcements.
The massive transport ships began to release swarms of landing craft and transports, carrying two full macro-branches of Adeptus Ministorum Troops soldiers and war machines.
Even more striking were the several specialized, particularly large transport ships adjusting their attitude; their temple-like cargo bays were slowly opening, preparing to release the sleeping gods of war within—the titans of the Iron Hounds Legion.
The mastermind might be able to mobilize Orks, incite the Death Guard, and even stir up the Warp to some extent, but its power was clearly insufficient to simultaneously and effectively block reinforcements from both the Black Templars and a fully mobilized Forge World.
The scales were beginning to tip.