Roselle, space orbit.
The Conqueror-class cruiser hovered in space, and Arthur frowned, watching dozens of landing craft being destroyed by the orbital defense artillery on the ground.
He was already full of fire, with nowhere to vent it, and immediately pointed his finger at the 'incompetent nobles': "A bunch of insects! Damned useless people, they actually let even the planetary orbital defense system fall into the hands of Chaos. They are simply a disgrace!"
However, venting aside, the problems that needed to be faced still had to be faced. In such a situation, there were only two paths to choose from.
Either, relying on numerical superiority, organize a large number of orbital drop pods. Even if the orbital defense guns were dense, there would always be some that slipped through, and it was impossible for all of them to be intercepted.
The disadvantage of this method was obvious: it would cause a large number of unnecessary casualties. Considering that the drop location could not be precisely positioned, even if they landed on Roselle's surface, it would be difficult to find the target person amidst the encirclement of the cultists.
As for the second method... it was a bit heretical.
Using psychic power, directly open a one-way teleportation channel between the spaceship and world Roselle.
The advantage was that this would save a large number of casualties, allowing for a concentrated breakthrough of the cult's encirclement and a greater chance of finding the target. But the disadvantage was... the teleportation gate could not be precisely positioned!
It was possible to be teleported to the surface, but it was also possible to open one's eyes and find oneself teleported to the Earth's core, mantle, or even the crevices of mountain rocks, turning into a puddle of flesh!
Just then, a message interrupted his thoughts.
The astropath relay station transmitted an Astropathic message, projecting a tall male figure in a power suit, with a resolute and square face, and an extraordinary demeanor.
"Respected Mr. Arthur Emrys, we are the Watchers Chapter, Second Company, Raymond Polian. We have successfully arrived at Mandeville Point on Roselle. Please briefly describe the content of this mission."
Raymond's Astropathic message finally cheered up the irritable Arthur: "Captain Polian, this mission is a rescue mission. I need your help to rescue a person from the heretic-ridden hive city."
A rescue mission... Raymond pondered for a moment. The difficulty of this mission was not as simple as an assault mission. After all, it was not an easy task to find the rescue target precisely and accurately in a densely populated hive city.
Moreover, what if the rescue target was dead?
Even if he wasn't dead, what if they couldn't find him?
These were all questions Raymond needed to consider. Their Chapter was there to build a good relationship with the Emrys Rogue Trader Dynasty, not to offend him!
"With all due respect, Mr. Arthur, rescue missions are very difficult, as you should be well aware..." Raymond hesitated for half a second, and said truthfully: "We need more detailed information to judge the difficulty of this mission and whether it can be completed."
"I will have the Machine Spirit transmit all intelligence on Roselle to your cruiser."
Arthur paused for half a second, then said meaningfully: "Of course, including my personal small token of appreciation for inviting you to act this time. If you can rescue the target, I will also offer a reward that will satisfy your entire Chapter!"
On the other side.
Inside the Strike Cruiser, Raymond flipped through the intelligence, his brows furrowed into a 'river' character. He had thought it was just an ordinary cult rebellion, but the intelligence everywhere revealed that the situation on Roselle was far from as simple as it seemed.
Before each deployment to the battlefield, Raymond always habitually analyzed the available intelligence, and then meticulously deduced the truth. This habit had allowed his company to escape danger multiple times.
And this time, it was no exception.
But after seeing the intelligence on Roselle, Raymond remained silent until a Battle Brother next to him, unable to bear it any longer, broke the silence by asking: "Captain, is this mission... very difficult?"
"No, on the surface, the mission difficulty is very low."
Raymond frowned, and said in a deep voice: "The only difficulty is how to avoid the orbital defense artillery, but we have Thunderhawk gunships, so this is not difficult to achieve."
After speaking, he hesitated for another half second, looking at the several Battle Brothers gathered in the command room, and said with some worry: "But I always feel that this world is not that simple."
"What about the approximate location of the target person?"
Beside Raymond, a tall and burly man, somewhat impatiently, asked eagerly: "Captain, let's not hesitate. This kid is a gold mine!"
Not many people can be described as a 'gold mine'.
Coincidentally, their rescue target, Merlin Emrys, was one of them. As the last heir of the Merlin family, Arthur had offered an exorbitant price!
Regardless of whether the Watchers Chapter could rescue the target person, the entire Chapter's supplies for the next three years would be covered by Merlin. And if the target person could be rescued, Arthur would open up his territories, hundreds of populated Worlds, for conscription to the Watchers Chapter, and offer dozens of sets of master-crafted power armor, master-crafted power swords, and so on. It could not be described as anything but luxurious!
To say that kid was a gold mine was even an understatement!
Thus, that person urged the Captain, lest the fat meat within reach be snatched away by others.
"You are right..."
Even Raymond was restless due to the conditions offered by Arthur. What their Watchers Chapter lacked most was stable conscription Worlds.
Coincidentally, Arthur made up for this point.
Moreover, there were dozens of sets of master-crafted power armor. The preciousness of that stuff was such that throughout the entire Astartes, not many people were qualified to wear it, which showed how rare it was!
And Arthur actually took out dozens of sets in one go!
If it weren't inappropriate, Raymond would even have wanted to rob him, thinking to himself that no wonder the Chapter Master had them set off immediately without stopping after receiving the distress signal.
"Have the 3rd, 4th, and 5th squads pilot Thunderhawk gunships and prepare for a forced orbital drop." Raymond finally made up his mind, looking at the world in the universe, and said in a deep voice: "Leon, remember that the primary objective of this mission is to rescue the target person: Merlin Emrys, and secondly to eliminate the heretics!"
Boom! Boom! Boom!
In the narrow corridor, burly men, each about two and a half meters tall, wearing pure White power armor and with shrines hanging from their waists, stepped into the Thunderhawk Assault Gunship with heavy strides.
The next moment, the Thunderhawk Assault Gunship exited the bay doors.
At extremely high speed, dragging fire around it, it was like a meteor, fiercely smashing towards the surface of Roselle!
At the same time, Jackal led the 3rd Company's squad and successfully destroyed the planetary orbital defense artillery, completely eliminating the threat from the sky.
"That is..."
Jackal's eyes widened as he watched the fiery red streak of light cut across the sky. After realizing it was a Thunderhawk gunship, he became uncontrollably excited: "It's the Emperor's Angel! The Emperor's Angel has come!!!"