Warhammer: The Worst Start There Is (40k) - Chapter 22: I Have Arrived

In the flames and thick fog, Sicarius and the other loyalists strode out of the drop pods, joining the battle.

His power sword hissed, and with a single swing, he cleaved two cultists into pieces. Then, he charged towards a Plague Marine holding a rusty grenade launcher.

The enemy attempted to fire at him but missed.

Sicarius possessed excellent swordsmanship and top-tier combat awareness among the Ultramarines.

With the enhancement of his power armor, in just a few seconds, he advanced through a distance of over a hundred meters, evading the enemy’s axe attack when he was close, and struck the bloated abdomen of the enemy with a backhanded swing.

The entire process was swift and efficient, devoid of any hesitation, radiating a pure sense of killing.

The Plague Marine stared at the wound on its abdomen with a hint of disbelief but before it could snap out of it, Sicarius delivered another blow.

This strike decapitated it, and the head fell to the ground, eyes wide open.

Headless, the massive body of the Plague Marine collapsed with a muffled sound.

Foul-smelling pus oozed out, and maggots writhed at the wound.

Sicarius held a grenade launcher in his other hand and continuously pulled the trigger with a vengeful rage. The explosive shells hit another traitor in the chest.

The outdated armor of the Plague Marine burst open, and a foul mix of pus, and blood with wriggling flesh and maggots splattered out.

The fleshy chainsword that grew from it dropped to the ground, and the eyes on the hilt showed fear, while a strange mouth emitted a silent, high-pitched scream. With the host gone, the daemon residing in it would slowly perish.

Sicarius and the other soldiers charged towards the artillery position.

“For the Lord Ultramar!” Sicarius shouted as he continuously fired his grenade launcher at the cannons and plague detonators.

“For the Lord Ultramar!”

“For the Emperor! for Guilliman!”

The other soldiers also joined in with their battle cries.

Their grenades ruptured the artillery, and the powerful impact ignited the shells or power modules within the barrels.

The explosions led to secondary explosions of the stored ammunition and power modules, creating a chain reaction and resulting in a more horrific firestorm and explosions.

The plague detonators that weren’t hit were quickly engulfed in flames, emitting agonizing screams.

Soon, the enemy’s artillery position became a smoky ruin.

“Primary objective complete, now execute the secondary objective, clear them out, and let us launch an attack from the enemy’s rear to support the Lord.” Sicarius sent the message.

There weren’t many remaining Plague Marines; most were cultists deceived by chaos, and cowards who had sold their souls to the enemy in a desperate attempt to extend their lives.

The cultists brandished a variety of weapons and rushed in groups toward the Space Marines, their faces marked with the taint of chaos and twisted tattoos.

Sicarius showed no mercy, swinging his power sword to kill those who dared to confront him.

Whether they were regular humans or Plague Marines, he dispatched them efficiently.

Chaos combatants perished one after another; their fragile bodies were torn into pieces by Sicarius and the other Space Marines’ assault grenade launchers and powered weapons.

More cultists, enthralled by chaos and fearless of death, poured in from all directions.

Their reinforcements came rapidly.

Sicarius and the others, however, had no fear. Soon, the battlefield turned into a gruesome scene with body parts and blood splatter everywhere.

His cobalt blue power armor was also covered in blood.

The loyalists coordinated, steadily advancing, forming a web of overlapping firepower, killing any enemies who attempted to resist.

Soon, the bravest among the chaos servitors were all killed, with only a few still desperately lunging at the Space Marines. Most of them knelt and begged for forgiveness.

“Please… I just want to live….”

A woman knelt on the blood-soaked ground, pleading with the Emperor’s Angel before her.

“There is no forgiveness for those who dwell in Chaos. Even dying twice is better than betraying the Emperor. You made the wrong choice. Your flesh will be erased, your soul will be banished. Go die, you shameless traitor.”

Sicarius pulled the trigger, and the flame from the grenade launcher flashed.

The woman in front of him was turned into a pile of flesh by the powerful explosion.

Any mercy shown to the chaos traitors was an insult to the loyalists who had died.

The other kneeling chaos servitors met the same fate. The Space Marines either shot them with their assault grenade launchers or attacked them with their power fists, powered weapons, and fists.

Soon, all that remained in the place where the traitors had knelt were crimson bloodstains and broken bodies.

The artillery position was conquered, and the Plague Marines lost their anti-air capabilities.

Stormbirds, Thunderhawks, and other battlefield-appropriate aircraft were deployed, quickly piercing through the plague cloud and bombing the surface while deploying Space Marines.

Unyielding mechs, heavy tanks, Knight Titans, and Emperor Titans were also thrust into battle, pouring out even more terrifying firepower. The Plague Marines had no chance to resist.

The tide of battle was rapidly turned by Guilliman’s lead Space Marines, with victory tilting towards humanity.

On the other side, the Plague Marines and cultists flooding into the fortress continued their final slaughter.

Gurl stood in the fortress ruins like a massive sculpture.

Its armor was covered with fat plague flies that buzzed as they were disturbed by its movement.

In front of it, piles of corpses had been stacked, covered in a multitude of flies.

Its subordinate was pouring some special plague liquid, using it to summon the power of Nurgle.

Gurl looked at the despairing humans in the distance, who were screaming. He smiled, “We’re almost there. The ritual in the warp is about to be completed. Guilliman will find out he can’t do anything, and this planet will belong to Nurgle, and so will those selfish souls.”

“Protect the civilians, let them head west,” Jian shouted. His personal guard opened fire with carbines and grenade launchers at the enemy, killing the plague zombies.

Even if the defenses collapsed, Jian had prepared for death, but he did not engage in suicidal attacks. Instead, he did his utmost to protect the civilians and tried to get them to safety.

Hundreds of men and women in tattered and dirt-streaked Imperial Guard uniforms, with Jian at their center, were doing their best to resist the enemy.

Their skin was pale and waxy, marked with scars from the plague and war. Every man and woman knew that even if they didn’t die on the battlefield, they would still suffer and die from the aftereffects.

Yet their faces remained steadfast, and even though they knew their time was near, they showed no fear.

“Praise the Emperor.”

In the midst of the battle, a voice filled with pain and release rang out on the chaotic battlefield.

A female soldier, overwhelmed by plague zombies, uttered her final prayer and pulled the pin of a high-energy grenade.

The deafening explosion instantly engulfed all the zombies and traitors within a radius of a dozen meters.

Countless flesh and blood splattered like a blood rain.

“May you rest in peace, may the Emperor have mercy on your soul,” Jian silently recited as he continued to fire his laspistol at the advancing plague corpses and cultists.

Fighting and retreating at the same time.

“No!”

“Hurry, Andy, run like you used to, run like the wind.”

A child’s terrified cry mixed with the pained voice of an old man reached Jian’s ears.

Jian followed the sound and found an elderly man desperately clinging to the leg of a cultist. Beside them, a young boy with a fractured skull lay in a pool of blood.

A young girl sobbed as she staggered forward, trying to escape.

Damn beasts! Furious, Jian turned his gun on the cultist and, at the same time, ran over to pick up the little girl.

Jian didn’t know why he was doing this. He was well aware that even if he saved the girl, it would only prolong her suffering.

Boom! An explosion resounded, and the two soldiers beside Jian were instantly blown to pieces.

Two Plague Marines appeared on the battlefield, their grenade launchers reaping the lives of surviving soldiers.

As former Angels of the Emperor, their combat strength was beyond doubt, and ordinary people had only one fate before them when facing these formidable foes: slaughter.

With heavy footsteps, behind the two Plague Marines, an unrelenting war machine, infected with the flesh and blood of Nurgle, followed closely.

Jian watched in despair as the Plague Marines and the flesh-and-blood unrelenting advanced toward his dwindling troop of soldiers.

His team was absolutely incapable of standing up to these terrifying opponents.

Plague Marine: “Foolish servants of the False Emperor, embrace the blessings of the Grandfather.”

Before he could finish the sentence, the Plague Marine was surprised to see a growing shadow on the ground.

Puzzled, it raised its head and saw the pupil’s instantaneous dilation.

A giant, wielding a burning golden sword, descended from the sky and cleaved it with a single swing before it could react.

“I have arrived!” The giant roared, a cry that echoed clearly throughout the entire battlefield.