An hour passed, and although Colonel Acat was still at his post, there was still no news about the Astral Knights.
"Is there still no communication at the command center?"
"Yes...yes, sir."
"Don't think something happened——"
Standing in the hatch of the command vehicle, the picture of the battle going perfectly could not calm Colonel Acat's growing uneasiness. He resisted the urge to continue asking the correspondent for information that did not exist, and instead fired heavy explosives and fired at the left tank. He opened fire in the gaps between them, exploding bloody spray in the sea of zealous people.
Suddenly, night falls, and then suddenly disappears.
A dazzling white light appeared in the sky, and Colonel Acat was startled. He looked up and saw through the smoke the flashes of explosions dancing among the clouds, but no thunder followed.
Colonel Acat stared at the horrific sight, his throat suddenly became dry, and he could not even say the word "no".
The flash faded and darkness briefly returned.
Then daylight fell again, and huge debris streaked across the sky, as bright as the sun, like a meteor shower trailing fire.
The white night shattered, the light shone brightly, and some fragments fell several kilometers away from the queue. Along with the shaking of the earth, a thunderous roar finally sounded.
More light, a final light, an explosion of fire from the Wild Howl shattering into a hundred pieces.
Colonel Acat released the heavy bomb, fumbled for the radio receiver, and swallowed three times before he managed to make a sound.
"Everyone pay attention to falling objects and don't be nervous."
There was nothing more to say, but the new Commissar would maintain morale, no doubt shouting that nothing had changed from what the soldiers had seen just moments before.
Until now, he thought it was an imperial battleship.
The light generated by the death of the Wild Howl gradually faded away where it erupted. The shells continued to fall, the jets of burning promethium cleared the front of the position, and the roar of the main guns also continued.
Suddenly, someone saw a huge blunt-bow aircraft falling from the sky.
"What!"
For a moment, Colonel Acart had absurd hopes.
He stared at what appeared to be landing craft, as if they would miraculously take on a familiar color.
They don't.
There was no dark green, no silver gray, just pitch black and iron gray, as well as disgusting heretical symbols.
He didn't know that it was the Brotherhood of Steel that appeared above him, but he knew that it was definitely not friendly forces.
"Fire at those ships!"
Colonel Acat shouted, and the artillery crews all turned around the battery.
Before the other party launched a rocket, the Hydra anti-aircraft artillery team took the lead in firing, and the sharp sound of the shells instantly tore the sky apart!
But this field air defense alone cannot stop orbital airborne landings.
After the black iron-shelled landing ship sank into the planet's atmosphere, it immediately accelerated and dived down, dumping its destructive force onto the mud-filled plain.
Large armored vehicles, Land Raiders, and Predators swept out of the landing craft, carving deep grooves in the mud.
The deadliest of them all is the Waldo tank destroyer.
The Waldo tank destroyer is a tank destroyer based on the chassis of the Malcador heavy tank. A powerful neutron laser cannon is installed on the chassis - a technological heritage from the Dark Ages that relies on powerful With a main gun, this tank is capable of fighting heavy tanks and even Titans that are several times larger than it.
But this main gun is not without its shortcomings. Although it is more compact and consumes less energy than the larger volcano gun, installing it directly on the chassis of a Makado heavy tank is not enough for this tank. It is still a bit reluctant for a combat vehicle. For this reason, the original turret, front weapons and a side weapon rack had to be removed to install the neutron laser cannon and its power supply components.
This design is effective but has many unreasonable elements. For example, the chassis of Malcador is not large enough to provide sufficient safety protection for the occupants like the Shadow Sword. If something happens to the capacitor and power supply coil of the neutron laser cannon, the car will be destroyed. The team is in trouble.
As a result, it is a powerful and dangerous vehicle - both for the enemy and the user.
The Valdo tank destroyer appeared relatively late. It was not until the Horus Heresy that it had a brief opportunity to show its skills. During the Horus Heresy and the subsequent Great Purge, it was used in the Land Raid against the Traitor Legions. and the Titan Legions of the Dark Mechanicus, and ensured that most of the rebel legions disappeared deep into the Eye of Terror, never to see the light of day again.
There were originally 20-30 Valdos sleeping in the arsenal of Vraks, unable to be used due to the lack of corresponding technology. However, when the Brotherhood of Steel arrived, the war blacksmiths who had served the Great Crusade awakened these tanks. and took some of it with them during the subsequent evacuation.
And the number of this "part" is——
6 aircraft!
However, this time the Brotherhood of Steel did not invest all the vehicles, but only invested 2. After all, they were too precious.
Not just for the Chaos Warbands, but for the Imperium as well.
Today, the Waldo tank destroyer is a rare combat vehicle. Only a few forge worlds, including Mars, still have the ability to produce and maintain them. Those Astral Legions that are still equipped with Waldo either have a long history or are related to the Red Robes. Clerics are closely related, such as the Cadian Legion.
Therefore, it is not surprising that Colonel Acat recognized these gray iron-colored vehicles at a glance through the telescope.
When he put down the telescope, only a few words escaped his lips.
"What the fuck-"
Before he finished speaking, his voice was drowned in the sound of exploding metal.
A red neutron beam hit the front armor of a Leman Russ fifty meters away from the left side of the Chimera command vehicle. In an instant, smoke and flames exploded outwards, and the huge chassis violently exploded like an angry beast. Jumping up, its turret fell to the side with a bang in a cloud of smoke.
Colonel Acat immediately turned on the microphone:
"Retreat! Release smoke barrages, all vehicles retreat!"
He realized that another Waldo destroyer must also be targeting, so he quickly ordered the armored formation to retreat and released the smoke grenades on the vehicle.
Soon, a smoke screen more than 500 meters long appeared on the front.
The Brotherhood of Steel's Predators also advanced, firing, heavy shots flashing as they struck the ruins around the command vehicle.
Colonel Acat quickly looked away.
"Let's go, go to the back first."
When he finished, the driver grunted in confirmation.
Colonel Acat then took command of the infantry.
"All companies are ready for anti-vehicle operations! Armor-piercing rocket launchers and demolition teams are on standby!"
Suddenly, just as he was deploying, the gunner began to curse. Colonel Acat turned his head and looked at him, his ears filled with a series of curses.
"What's wrong?"
Colonel Acat shouted, and the gunner stopped cursing.
"Sir, a vehicle of unknown model has come around to our right."
Colonel Acat quickly looked to the right with his binoculars, and he saw——
"Emperor——"
