The words of the Burner were relayed to Karaan, who in turn conveyed them to Dante, ever vigilant in the war council chamber. The operation to reclaim the outer walls of the fortress officially began.
The Blood Angels, the Weepers, the Crimson Angels, and the Blood Drinkers—the first companies from five chapters in total, save for the Crimson Angels' leader, all joined the assault. The exception for the Crimson Angels was due to their leader's refusal to come to Baal's defense; only a few warriors, defying his orders, had arrived to protect Baal. These warriors, regardless of rank or experience, had been formed into the Crimson Angels' first company under Dante's deliberate design. Regardless of Baal's fate, the Crimson Angels would have a formal record of participation in Baal's defense, sparing the chapter from any moral condemnation by either the survivors or the victors.
Joining the battle were fifty Dreadnoughts, a range of armored vehicles, fighter craft, and transports—of course, with the Burner among them. As the assembled forces prepared for deployment, an unexpected figure joined the assault: Dante, who had been injured earlier during Licat's destruction of the Void Shield, stood among them. His true, aged face was revealed as he walked to the front of the formation, mask in hand. Witnessing the Blood Angels' revered commander, unmasked, gave pause to all; the meaning of his presence, unmasked, was profound. As a hero who had led his chapter for a millennium, guiding them through untold peril, he had always upheld a visage of strength and resilience before others. Today, in this moment, there were no divisions between Blood Angels or their successor chapters. All were sons of the same mother planet, Baal, united in battle.
"The plan is straightforward," Dante declared. "Seek out and annihilate any Zerg synaptic creatures. If we succeed, the swarm attacking the inner wall will be thrown into disarray, allowing us to reclaim the territory beyond the walls, even the land of Baal itself."
"By the blood of Sanguinius!" The gates opened at Dante's command, cannons fired from the inner wall's artillery batteries, clearing a path through the horde beyond, and the strike force surged forward.
With Dante personally leading, morale surged among the warriors. Free from the disruption of bio-bombardment pods, the artillery batteries offered steady fire support, while the presence of the Burner enhanced the force's combat prowess. For those on the front lines, it was an intense, harrowing battle, even with cannon and Burner's aid; they had to face the Zerg warriors and more fearsome beasts in direct combat. Yet tactically, it was an unremarkable but effective engagement—one by one, the synaptic creatures of the swarm were decapitated.
The swarm cut off the strike force from the inner wall, which still suffered attacks, as the strike force pressed through a Zerg-mired wasteland. However, over time, the plan bore results: though the number of attackers did not visibly lessen, some among the swarm grew erratic, some even standing idle on the battlefield, teetering on the edge of collapse.
…
As the Baal Defense was waged, the Battle of the Hades System also intensified, the war reaching Hades III—Feros' homeworld. The other two planets in the system had been completely overtaken by the Iron Men, whose relentless advance steadily tilted the war in their favor. Though the Zerg evolved stronger forms, they could not adapt as swiftly as the Iron Men's armament upgrades.
Viewed from orbit, the drained ocean beds appeared like two seas clashing: one, a writhing mass of Zerg; the other, an even greater multitude of Iron Men. Every ten minutes, Iron Men would modify their armaments or themselves for even greater lethality, perhaps enlarging magazine capacities, extending firing intervals, or altering mobility—all to counter each wave of Zerg evolution.
Any Iron Man advancing on another world would be a terror unmatched, an unstoppable machine of slaughter. The relentless adaptations had even birthed terrifying new forms. One such monstrosity now carried Requiem as its "passenger."
This hulking Iron Man, thirty meters tall, moved on six mechanical legs, wielding four unique weapons with its four arms, with over a hundred small automated turrets bristling over its massive frame. Known as the Exterminator, it advanced slowly over the plain, unleashing barrages of fire with every step: blasts capable of turning a kilometer of ground into molten slag, ordnance that detonated two kilometers above to rain down explosive shards, and beams of light piercing even the mountains beyond. Most formidable of all was the main cannon.
When fired, Requiem sensed a surge of radiation, the flash nearly overwhelming its sensors. A blazing orb formed at the cannon's mouth before arcing through the air, crossing dozens of kilometers in a slow, lethal descent. For a moment, nothing happened upon impact. Then, a blue dome of energy rose five kilometers high, consuming all within. When the light faded, nothing remained but a perfectly smooth crater five kilometers wide.
Even such devastation barely thinned the Zerg masses, though in that dome's radius, billions perished, swiftly replaced. However, the Exterminator's true strength lay beyond its weaponry. Its entire frame and path left behind noxious residues and intense radiation, dissolving Zerg on approach before their genetic adaptation caught up. Only the hardiest avoided the Exterminator, lest they fall to genetic collapse.
Requiem observed its brethren tearing through the Zerg lines, pressing toward the synapse creatures. A Tyrant appeared within its sights. Seven kilometers. Requiem's body began to melt and reshape into a four-meter-long cannon, while its head detached and ascended for aerial recon, calculating the path to its prey. Resources converged into a shell, printed and loaded into Requiem's form, which fired with a thunderous blast.
The shell's thrusters ignited, accelerating it toward the Tyrant, who, before it could even see its attacker, exploded in a rain of flesh. Other Zerg paid no heed, surging forward to devour the remains before the nanite swarm arrived.
**Emergency Order: Deploy to Baal.**
The message appeared before Requiem; it knew this directive came from the Mother of all Iron Men. As an Iron Man, Requiem was compelled to comply. Before setting out, it undertook an essential, meticulous measure for its journey: fabricating an Imperial Aquila emblem and affixing it to its chest.