Under normal circumstances, during wars with the Imperium, planets would also display void shields.
However, void shields can be penetrated; if you slow down enough, you can pass right through.
But what was this scene before them? Their drop pods were precisely calculated; when they were about to arrive, a counter-force would slow them down, allowing them to sequentially pass through the planetary void shield.
This was all part of their design; theoretically, it shouldn't have looked like this. So why didn't their drop pods penetrate the void shield? Instead, they were bounced back?
Although Caruso could be considered battle-hardened and experienced,
this was the first time he had encountered anything like this.
This scene was somewhat refreshing his worldview. The first batch of Space Marines dropped could be said to have suffered greatly.
It's important to remember that there is no gravity in space, only the gravity of planets.
These drop pods first fell, experiencing a downward force, then were directly bounced up by the shield, experiencing an upward force.
Then, planetary gravity would pull them back down, and they would be pulled back onto the shield again.
This meant that before the force ran out, or before the shield could be penetrated, the first batch of Space Marines under his command would endlessly play bumper cars between the planet's surface and the shield.
And the most crucial prerequisite was that this shield could maintain its current non-damaging state. If the shield caused damage, then his Space Marines would be directly annihilated.
Of course, all of this would only happen without external interference.
Though this situation was quite absurd, he was, after all, the commander of the World Eaters warband, leading ten entire World Eaters warbands.
He was not lacking in intelligence.
Therefore, before addressing the current situation, he first issued an order.
"Send in assault ships to retrieve our warriors. Don't let them be directly eliminated in this bumper car game."
"Yes, now, change orbit with me. We must find a way to break this shield, otherwise, we will not be able to acquire this planet."
The allure of Gaia made him unwilling to leave just like that. He wanted to acquire this planet, so even with the shield's obstruction, he was now thinking of trying to break it.
The entire fleet began to move again, and a large number of macro cannons and lances began to strike the planetary shield on the planet's surface.
The attacks from the lances and macro cannons created ripples on the planetary shield, clearly indicating that such attacks were not enough to overcome it.
Moreover, this planetary shield was formed by connecting a void shield and a psionic shield; it was definitely not something that could be easily broken by a warship. Thus, the World Eaters fleet was directly blocked by the shield.
This was somewhat awkward... "Caruso, this won't do. This target was your choice, and now we're blocked by its planetary shield. Tell me, how are we supposed to get in?!"
This scene caused the leaders of the other two warbands to become somewhat dissatisfied.
What they needed was blood, to offer blood to their patron god, not to be blocked outside by a planetary shield, unable to engage in battle.
Upon hearing this, Caruso turned his head and glared fiercely at the two leaders of the other warbands who had suddenly spoken up.
"What?"
"Do you have any objections? Or do you want to fight me?!"
Caruso's crimson optical sensors flickered with dangerous light, and his modified vocal cords emitted a low, threatening hum.
The atmosphere on the bridge instantly solidified. The other two warband leaders,
Gorg of the Gore Harvesters and Ulrak of the Skull Rippers, instinctively placed their hands on their respective weapons.
"Do you think we're afraid of you, Caruso?" Gorg roared first.
"The reason we came out with you is that we didn't want to stay in the Warp. It was to glorify the Blood God through slaughter, not to be blocked outside like an idiot by a glowing wall!"
"If you can't command, then hand over command of the troops to me, and I will break through this wall of light!"
His roar caused Caruso to momentarily lose focus. After a moment of thought, Caruso did not continue to reprimand the other party; instead, he took a step back.
"Since you think you can, then go ahead and try. If you succeed, you will have the first pick of the spoils from this planet!
But I warn you, if you fail, your warband will be mine, and you..."
Caruso's words carried a threat. Ultimately, he was still the strongest among these ten Chaos warbands. For now, he just couldn't break through this shield.
The World Eaters were very pragmatic; they revered strength. Even though he couldn't break the shield, as the strongest, he could still control the entire legion.
Gorg sneered and stepped forward. His power armor was adorned with flayed scalps and skulls, and his chainaxe hummed in his hand.
"Very well, Caruso, remember your promise." He turned to the bridge's comms array, his voice booming like thunder: "Bring out our warband's Chaos artifact! Send that weapon to the flagship!"
This order was transmitted to his warband through the communication array, while the leaders of the other warbands continued to wait on the side.
Chaos artifact?
If there was a Chaos artifact, it might actually be possible to break this planetary shield.
After all, the Great Rift had already opened, and the power of the Chaos Gods could more or less interfere with the mortal realm.
Therefore, the Chaos Lords of the various warbands all began to wait quietly. Ten minutes later, over a dozen World Eaters delivered an axe-like artifact to the flagship.
Gorg stepped forward under the watchful eyes of the other leaders and picked up this Warp artifact blessed by Khorne.
With his Chaos artifact in hand, he seemed somewhat proud. He raised the blood axe high and then walked in front of the other leaders, introducing it.
"Bloodskull Breaker Axe! This is an artifact bestowed upon me by the patron god, specifically designed to cleave through any shield!"
"This was personally bestowed by my god upon the most furious champion, specifically for destroying those 'cowards' who hide behind shields.
The axe blade is forged from the core of a sacrificed Titan, and the axe handle is cast from the spinal column of an entire Space Marine chapter.
The axe face is etched with records of the shields it has shattered; with each shield destroyed, the axe blade grows even more crimson."
Having his Chaos artifact made Caruso feel completely confident, even to the point of being in the mood to introduce his Chaos artifact to the other leaders.
As his introductory words faded, the leaders of the other warbands, and even Caruso, began to salivate.
Regardless of whether this Warp artifact was personally crafted by Khorne, merely the supreme benefit of breaking shields was enough to make them quite tempted.
Seeing Gorg become so arrogant due to the appearance of this artifact, Karusuo was very displeased.
After Gorg finished introducing his artifact, Karusuo couldn't help but urge him on.
"Do not spout such nonsense here. If it's truly useful, then use it now. Otherwise, you know the consequences. You're not the only one with Chaos artifacts.
This artifact cannot help you defeat me!"
Karusuo's somewhat angry words at this moment not only failed to make Gorg fearful, but instead made him even more arrogant.
"Shattering the planet's shield is, of course, what needs to be done, but this artifact requires some additional boost to shatter the planetary shield, and for that, Leader, you will need to make a sacrifice."
Karusuo's expression grew even more displeased.
Because of the appearance of the Chaos artifact, this fellow now showed him no respect at all; he was practically offending him.
But considering that he couldn't break the planetary shield, he finally spoke.
"Whatever you need, say it quickly! If you keep dawdling, don't blame me for killing you first!"
"I imagine this artifact isn't just for you to use, is it?"
Gorg let out a low laugh, the blood flowing on the axe blade seeming to respond to his ecstasy.
He raised the Skull-Cleaver Axe, and the skull patterns carved on its surface began to emit a dark red glow.
"To activate its true power, a sufficient blood sacrifice is needed."
"I've already performed a blood sacrifice, but besides the blood, it also needs a catalyst."
Gorg's gaze swept across the bridge, finally landing on Karusuo, "Not the blood of ordinary slaves, but the blood of a powerful warrior—for example, the blood of a Warband leader."
The air on the bridge instantly solidified. Ulrak and the other Warband leaders instinctively took half a step back, hands on their weapons.
Karusuo's visor narrowed dangerously, and his power fist emitted an energy-charged hum.
"You dare—" Karusuo's voice was like sandpaper rubbing.
"No, no, no, I don't want your blood," Gorg quickly explained, but with an obvious hint of mockery in his tone.
"It's this axe that craves the blood of the strong. Just a few drops of your blood as a catalyst, and then..." He suddenly turned, and the axe swung out!
Crack!
A World Eaters warrior from Karusuo's faction standing behind him didn't even have time to react, being split in half from head to toe.
Blood splattered on the axe blade, quickly absorbed completely.
Immediately after, this World Eaters warrior also vanished without a trace, as if he had never appeared, directly evaporating from this world.
In exchange, the Skull-Cleaver Axe hummed with satisfaction, and the red light on its blade grew even more intense.
"...and the entire life of a brave warrior!" Gorg cackled after the slaughter, "Now it's ready!"
Karusuo suppressed his rage.
He knew very well this was Gorg's provocation.
But at this moment, breaking through the shield was the top priority. He extended his power fist and deliberately scraped it against a sharp edge—a few drops of shimmering blood fell onto the axe's surface.
He was already close to ascending to daemonhood; for him, he only lacked a sufficient ritual and sacrifice.
Otherwise, he wouldn't be the strongest among these World Eaters, and it was precisely this daemon-level blood that gave this Khorne artifact immense power.
The moment the blood touched the axe blade, it erupted in a dazzling red light. The entire axe seemed to come alive, the vertebrae on the handle writhing segment by segment, and the titan core on the blade emitting a thunderous heartbeat.
"Blood for the Khorne!" Gorg roared as he rushed towards the observation window, facing the shielded planet below, "Now let's see how you stop me!"
Buzz—!!!
The shockwave even reached the fleet in space.
All ships shook violently, and energy readings fluctuated wildly.
Most terrifyingly, Khorne's figure also appeared at this moment.
The Chaos artifact actually summoned a phantom of Khorne.
The next moment, these Chaos Space Marines saw their chief god raise a gigantic bronze axe and fiercely cleave towards the planet opposite.
The powerful attack from Khorne directly struck the planet's defensive shield, and immediately afterward, the void shield on the planet instantly exploded. The psionic shield immediately entered an overloaded state, with large amounts of energy continuously pouring into the shield.
Under the injection of massive energy, the psionic shield erupted with unprecedented power, with a planetary defensive shield directly withstanding the attack of Khorne's Chaos God phantom!
But after all, this was Khorne, and the weapon he held was also specifically designed to break shields. Under such an attack, the planetary shield only lasted for 30 minutes before disappearing.
The shield was broken; the World Eaters Legion's biggest obstacle was completely shattered.
The moment Khorne's phantom disappeared, Khorne cast a thoughtful gaze upon the planet's shield.
Although he was merely a phantom, for a planet's shield to withstand his attack for a full 30 minutes, how defiant was that?
Such a sight couldn't help but make Khorne regard this place with higher esteem.
At the same time, he also felt someone peeking at him. In the last moment before the phantom dissipated, his gaze turned towards Noah, hundreds of light-years away.
The next instant, his figure completely vanished... The moment Khorne's phantom dissipated, the terrifying pressure that had almost crushed the bridge also receded.
All World Eaters, including Karusuo and Gorg, instinctively let out a sigh of relief, though no one would admit to fearing the Khorne.
After a brief silence, the communication channels erupted with frenzied shouts and war cries. The shield was gone! The path to the fertile world was open!
"For the Khorne!"
"Skulls for the Skull Throne! Blood for the Khorne!"
"Kill them all! Plunder everything!"
Gorg was the first to react. He raised the still humming Skull-Cleaver Axe, his voice hoarse with excitement: "Do you see?! The Khorne favors me! It was I who broke this turtle shell! All warriors of the Bloody Reapers, charge with me! Be the first to land! All glory and skulls will belong to us!"
His fleet, like sharks smelling blood, engaged full engines, scrambling to pounce on the now defenseless planet.
Gorg could already imagine the endless slaughter in the cities, staining the earth with blood, and offering mountains of skulls to Khorne.
Then, his power would be unmatched, even surpassing Karusuo!
Karusuo watched Gorg's fleet rush towards the planet with a cold gaze. The rage in his heart had not subsided with the shield's collapse; instead, it burned even more fiercely.
Gorg's arrogance, that artifact, and the 'thoughtful' gaze Khorne's phantom cast at the end, all made him extremely uneasy.
The planetary defensive shield actually withstood the chief god's attack for 30 minutes—how shocking was that?
He was not a brute like the others; he was Khorne's true chosen champion, possessing wisdom.
"Karusuo, what are we waiting for?" Ulrak's voice came from the side, with a hint of urgency, "Are we really going to let that idiot Gorg take all the credit and all the spoils?"
The other Warband leaders were also restless, the hum of chainaxes rising and falling on the bridge, the desire for slaughter almost overwhelming their reason.
Under the desire of the other leaders to launch an attack, even though he was still the strongest, he now had to compromise and give them the order.
"Attack! Blood for the Khorne, skulls for the Skull Throne!"
Everything that happened on Nairus was seen by Noah; even though they were hundreds of light-years apart, he still saw it, as the equipment on the battleship was not just for show.
At the same time, he also saw Khorne looking in his direction.
One could only say that he truly was a Chaos God from the Warp, and indeed a Chaos God that the Imperium of Man had pushed to such an extent.
Their combat power was truly powerful; they actually saw him from hundreds of light-years away.
Noah quietly raised the Chaos Gods by another level in his heart.
To destroy a Chaos God of this caliber would probably require a long-term plan.
It wasn't just because of the powerful combat strength Khorne was currently displaying; most importantly, he sensed a familiar aura on Khorne.
That was the unique aura of the World Eaters!
The Terran Federation had once pursued the path of Psionic ascension, and thus had sent Psykers to establish contact with the gods of the Empyrean, among whom were five Chaos Gods.
These five Chaos Gods were the Vessel of Desire, the World Eaters, the Tower of Life, the Whisper of the Void, and the End of Reincarnation.
These five Empyrean gods had both helped and hindered the Terran Federation on its path to ascension, ultimately ending with the Terran Federation draining the entire Warp of its energy. Subsequently, they never encountered these five Empyrean gods again.
Some suspected that as the Warp's energy was largely drained, these five Empyrean gods also disappeared with the Warp.
This conjecture was quite popular within the Terran Federation, and even Noah himself had thought so before.
At the time, Noah also believed that the federation had eliminated these five Chaos Gods, killing them all.
After all, the federation still owed money to the End of Reincarnation; if they hadn't killed her, wouldn't the End of Reincarnation come to collect debts from the federation?
But now, there seemed to be some other changes.
Now, in this strange universe, he once again felt the aura of the World Eaters, which was not fun.
The crimes committed by the Terran Federation in the Empyrean, for the Empyrean gods, would probably be enough to make them die of anger.
Now encountering such a thing... If the entire Terran Federation were here, Noah naturally wouldn't be afraid, but now he was alone, and a scientist who couldn't utilize military technology. This was somewhat ridiculous.
Noah's expression became abstract. He began to use his superhuman brain to ponder how to answer and solve the problem.
If it really was the Four Great Ones plus the End of Reincarnation, then the problem would be huge, and that wouldn't do.
The original idea of using Psykers to punish these guys would probably need to be postponed.
At least a top-tier Psionic Legion would be needed; what he had now was completely insufficient.
However, amidst Noah's wild thoughts, his super brain gave him another hint.
No, if they really were those gods of the Empyrean, their power shouldn't be so weak, and those Daemons in the Warp seem a bit too weak, don't they?
Another question began to appear in Noah's mind.
He was destined to be unable to solve this mystery for a while, so Noah had to try hard to reseal the question.
Then he observed the flames of war on the planet's surface.
After Nairus lost the protection of its Planetary Shield, the real war broke out!
The World Eaters Legion, with Warbands as their basic unit, began to launch attacks on the entire planet.
The World Eaters Warband's fleet began orbital bombardment of the planet's orbit, while the orbital guns on the planet also began to return fire at the World Eaters Legion fleet on the planet's surface.
A large number of weapons began to fire at the battleships in the sky, and gauss rifles were also brought out.
The World Eaters Legion barely withstood the first round of attacks with their void shields, but in the second round, they chose to retreat.
The gauss rifles Noah equipped for his Worlds were not comparable to ordinary weapons.
Just one volley from weapons of this caliber almost overloaded the void shield of a battleship.
In the galaxy, naval fleets are the most important, so to ensure the future fighting strength of their Warband, these fleets began to disengage from orbit.
Orbital bombardment was no longer an option; they could only aimlessly attack the planet below.
Never mind the accuracy; anyway, the World Eaters were few in number, so artillery fire would suffice. The possibility of hitting themselves was always much smaller than hitting the enemy.
Whole swathes of artillery fire began to fall, and the PDF on the ground also joined the battle.
Karusuo, Gorg, and other leaders of the World Eaters Warbands each led their respective Warbands to land in various hive Cities and launched attacks.
As one of the most prosperous of the Misty Star Domain 108 Worlds, Karusuo led his World Eaters Warband upon arrival, and for a moment, he was stunned.
The scene he witnessed was not something typically seen in Imperial worlds.
Those Gothic architectures did not appear on a large scale on these planets; instead, there were neat, orderly, and highly technological communities.
The location where he landed was the most prosperous hive city on Nairus, and it was also the first hive city to undergo Noah's modifications.
The appearance of this hive city left the leader of the World Eaters Warband dumbfounded.
And his momentary daze almost brought about his demise; two Emperor's Bane tanks locked onto the leader of the World Eaters Legion, and then two shells were fired.
At the same time, the Space Marines stationed on this planet also opened fire; they had arrived, and their gauss rifles began to fire at Karusuo.
Relying on the blessings bestowed upon him by Khorne and the blessing that almost led to daemonhood, these long-range attacks had relatively little effect on him; he was merely blown away by the Emperor's Bane.
However, the attacks from the gauss rifles were not so easy to dodge; even with Khorne's blessing, his power armor still suffered a violent impact.
The metal warhead of the gauss rifle directly shattered his arm; he lost an arm right after making his appearance.
This scene left the World Eaters Chaos Space Marines, who were following him and preparing to attack, dumbfounded.
What made them need to seriously ponder even more was the appearance of a large number of Space Marines opposite them.
An estimated 300-plus Space Marines appeared before them.
This number of Space Marines made these World Eaters somewhat confused. Although this world was known as one of the Misty Star Domain 108 Worlds.
It could be said to be one of the richest Worlds in the Segmentum Tempestus, but why would a single hive city have as many as 300 Space Marines?
The combat thinking of these World Eaters had not yet shifted, as they were unaware of the war that had occurred in the Webway.
If they were Chaos Space Marines who had pledged allegiance to Tzeentch, they might be thinking if there was a problem now, but Khorne's Space Marines wouldn't think that way.
Why think so much? Chop them all down, blood for the blood god is the truth!
The World Eaters roared.
"Blood for the blood god, skulls for the skull throne!"
Then they strode forward, beginning their charge towards the Space Marines' position.
Why bother with so much? Just slaughter all these enemies in front of them!
Due to the blessings of Khorne on the World Eaters, ranged attacks against them were greatly weakened.
Therefore, although the gauss rifles fired continuously, attempting to eliminate the charging World Eaters, their effectiveness was significantly reduced under Khorne's blessings.
As the two sides drew closer, the Space Marines on Noah's side simply stopped firing their gauss rifles and instead drew their power swords.
Their gauss rifles quickly transformed into shields on their arms through nanotechnology.
Wielding sword and shield, they charged directly at the oncoming World Eaters.
The chainswords and power swords clashed, but the quality of the World Eaters' chainswords was no match for the power swords of Noah's Space Marines.
Consequently, after only two rounds of clashing, the chainswords were directly severed in two.
With their weapons cut in half, the eyes of the World Eaters, who had been fighting valiantly, cleared considerably… The next instant, power swords sliced through their necks, and heads flew high into the air.
Over 300 Space Marines and World Eaters engaged in a fierce melee, with both sides suffering casualties.
However, this battlefield was merely a small skirmish; more importantly, the World Eaters had begun their Chaos ritual.
They couldn't yet reach the Mid-hive and Upper-hive, but they had discovered a large number of people in the Under-hive. They quickly gathered a large number of them and, with the help of their cultists, brought them together to begin a Daemon summoning ritual.
They hadn't brought enough auxiliary troops on this expedition, so to conquer this world, they needed the help of Daemons.
The symbol of the eight-pointed star of Chaos began to appear on the industrial world of Narlus. The moment this symbol appeared, even Noah, who was waiting in the distance for the Black Legion to appear, couldn't sit still.
It wasn't that the emergence of Chaos Daemons would cause him significant losses.
Rather, after these Chaos energy contaminations appeared, cleaning up these messes would require considerable effort.
More importantly, Noah didn't want to fight in a pile of excrement; the sweep of Chaos energy would make him feel like he was fighting someone in a septic tank.
Noah's brow furrowed, a sight noticed by Doss, who was beside him. He stepped forward and asked,
"Grand Marshal, should I order the army to attack?"
Although he didn't know the exact reason for his teacher's distress, it was certainly related to the World Eaters. Therefore, Doss immediately suggested whether they should launch a direct attack to eliminate the World Eaters.
"There's no need for that. Don't let my current expression interfere with your own judgment. This is not the behavior of a qualified commander."
Noah did not adopt the suggestion; instead, he gestured to his student, emphasizing the importance of independent judgment.
"As a future Fleet Admiral, you must have your own judgment, and not always follow my wishes.
We have waited this long; if we only eliminate these World Eaters, then our wait will have been meaningless."
Noah didn't mind giving his student a good lesson, after all, this was the fleet commander he valued.
"Understood, Teacher." Doss was not a foolish person; since Noah had already said so, he naturally followed suit.
The fleet remained over 400 light-years away, continuing to observe the changes on the planet, where the battle on the surface had now grown even more intense.
Rifts to the Warp appeared on Narlus!
Numerous Chaos Daemons, such as Bloodletters and Flesh Hounds, began to emerge, cooperating with the World Eaters to attack the Imperial Guard forces.
The powerful Chaos corruption began to affect the PDF, and in an instant, some of the PDF troops on the front lines, who had been continuously firing to stop the World Eaters, ceased their fire.
Only about one-third of the PDF continued to fire diligently, attempting to halt the advance of the Chaos Daemons.
These mortals, with their strong willpower, overcame the corruption and erosion from Chaos.
Because Noah had treated them so well, unlike the mindless individuals in the Under-hive, those who suddenly rebelled were ultimately a minority.
Most people were still grateful for the good life Noah had brought them, and furthermore, the rebellion in the Under-hive made these PDF feel even more defiled.
Although they were not the ones who rebelled, it was still people from their planet who rebelled.
To them, this was an insult, a defilement of their honor, and therefore they had to atone for the crimes committed by those who had rebelled.
As a result, the combat will of the PDF troops became even more resolute.
Now, they were like the Krieg, seeking to atone for the sins committed by their planetary compatriots.
What was Warp corruption?
Still, mortals could overcome it with their strong willpower.
Furthermore, five minutes after the Warp contamination first appeared, the purification facilities established at the governor's mansion quickly began to function.
A white light shot out from the governor's mansion, subsequently enveloping the entire planet.
Wherever the white light passed, everything melted away like ice and snow, and even Chaos Daemons were somewhat suppressed.
After the purifying white light enveloped the entire planet, it had cleared all the contamination and other oppression from Chaos.
After an initial pause, the PDF units resumed their bombardment.
A barrage of artillery and laser weapons continued to be employed.
Without the need for commissars to urge them on, and without needing morale boosts, these PDF soldiers fired diligently, refusing to stop fighting.
Even when the Bloodletters charged the PDF positions, some PDF troops directly engaged in close combat with Khorne's Daemons, bayoneting them with phase blades.
Bloodletter: "Blood for the Blood God! Skulls for the Skull Throne!"
PDF: "For the Manifest Destiny of humanity!"
Khorne is impartial; he values the brave.
Therefore, when these PDF troops actually launched a counter-charge against Khorne's daemon army, Khorne's gaze was drawn to them.
Red light began to appear on some PDF soldiers; they became blessed by Khorne.
And these individuals blessed by Khorne wielded their weapons, launching a counter-attack against Khorne's Daemons.
Their unwavering will, stemming from humanity's manifest destiny, made them unwilling to make any compromises.
"For the Manifest Destiny of humanity! The Narlus Defense Force will never compromise, the Narlus Defense Force will never retreat!"