In the Strategic Room of the Battleship Harbinger of Agony, a group of Chaos Warlords were discussing how to attack the planets controlled by the Imperium of Man.
"The Mahjong Warband? I've never heard that name before?"
Kasaar, the Commander of the Nameless Warband, looked at his partner across from him with a questioning expression.
Kasaar had been an Alpha for over five thousand years.
He was well-informed, but he had never heard of such a Warband.
However, Kasaar wasn't entirely sure.
For some reason, the Nameless Warband had been trapped on a daemon world for over three hundred years until recently discovered by Slaanesh Lord Krucias.
Krucias hired them to do a job, offering to rescue Kasaar and his people, along with a ship, as payment.
Thus, they arrived here.
Besides Krucias, several other Warbands were also participating in this operation.
One of them was particularly noteworthy: a Warband named Mahjong.
They were the ones who provided the intelligence for this world.
Their Commander introduced himself as Gaviel Loken, a veteran of countless battles, formerly an unremarkable Horus' Sons.
"Are you an omniscient being?"
Gaviel Loken, clad in black, spiky power armor that completely enveloped him, spoke in an unfriendly tone.
"You are just a hired thug for Krucias. What right do you have to question me?"
"Even a thug like me can beat you until you're picking up your teeth." Kasaar threatened, "So, you'd best watch your words."
"Your Primarch was just as unyielding in front of Dorn, and in the end, his head was chopped off."
Kasaar was stunned for a moment upon hearing this.
Then, enraged, he drew his bolt pistol and aimed it at the other's head.
However, the warriors of the Mahjong Warband didn't humor him; they also raised their weapons.
A few even brought out Annihilation Bombs, relics from the Dark Age of Technology.
If detonated, the entire battleship would cease to exist.
They used the bombs in their hands to threaten the nearby Emperor's Children warriors, forbidding them from approaching.
"You can shoot. We'll all die together." Loken smiled, showing no fear, but rather a hint of anticipation.
The faces of the other Chaos Warlords from different Warbands changed dramatically, cursing him as a madman.
"This matter should have nothing to do with us, right? Why are you trying to drag us into striking first?"
Krucias, dressed in ornate armor and seated at the head of the table, spoke, feigning innocence.
"You shouldn't have allowed such a person to join the operation in the first place." Loken looked at Krucias, pointing at Kasaar, "Yet you let him join without our permission and allowed him to question me freely."
"Who knows whose side you'd be on if a fight broke out? So, why don't we all just die together?"
"You are an ally. Do you suspect I would move against you?" Krucias stared intently at Loken.
"Emperor's Children slaughtering allies isn't exactly news." Loken didn't give the other side any face, directly exposing their flaw, "If you want to cooperate, stop with the nonsense. Otherwise, let's just part ways."
"Don't think there's a third option. If these bombs detonate, everyone will have to report to the Chaos Gods."
"Alright, let's put this behind us. Let's focus on our common enemy." Krucias turned to Kasaar, "If you still want me to fulfill my promise, then bear with it."
Kasaar's face showed anger, but after much thought, he chose to back down.
Thus, a conflict was temporarily quelled.
Everyone shifted their attention to the target star system, beginning to study how to breach the Imperium's defenses.
"Nameless Battle Group, it's time to discuss your mission: to infiltrate that planet and seize the beacon that can guide Warp navigation."
Krucias opened a data projection interface, displaying the situation of the target star system.
An optical projection also opened synchronously.
The target planet was densely surrounded by orbital stations and weapon platforms, like a city wall.
The defenses were extremely strict, with various powerful weapons capable of instilling despair.
"Sons of Dorn always love building fortresses. Ten thousand years have passed, and they are still the same."
"Even in the void, they want to build a fortress."
Kasaar shook his head as he looked at the scan report.
"Their heads will never learn that offense is the best defense."
"Unlike Alpha, we are always learning, everywhere, all the time."
"Forgive them. These stubborn, stinking stones still consider loyalty to the Emperor an honor. It must be said, it is a very tragic thing." Krucias said.
"We will attack from here." Loken reached out and pointed to a spot.
"The defensive firepower here could tear us apart instantly. We should attack from the rear." Kasaar said.
"The rear is a trap." Loken said, "It's specifically designed to lure in those who are unaware. The Imperium has installed a super cannon on the rear, capable of firing once every hour, and a single shot could destroy our fleet."
"Are you joking?" Kasaar said, "If the Imperium had such powerful artillery, they would have already purged us traitors."
"They didn't before, but they do now." Loken's tone was calm, "Attacking from the rear is a dead end."
Just as the two sides were arguing, Krucias's chief sorcerer rushed in.
"A violent storm has erupted in the Warp, and a powerful Warp entity is about to enter Reality."
No sooner had he spoken than an indescribable savagery arose in everyone's hearts.
Some slaves began to kill each other.
"Khorne?" Krucias's face showed fear, "Is it Khorne's messenger?"
In the void, a shocking rift appeared, and crimson light gushed out, as if Reality had been gashed and was profusely bleeding.
Blood boiled, and countless daemons formed in the sea of blood, lunging at the Imperial fleet.
The Conqueror, its control reclaimed by Angron, appeared before everyone.
This powerful Gloriana-class battleship made an invincible entrance, exuding immense pressure.
Immediately upon its appearance, it destroyed several Imperial warships.
Like a sharp scalpel, it cut through the Imperial defenses and headed straight for the target star system.
"We can't hesitate any longer."
Krucias lowered his voice, "We will attack from the rear."
"I hope you won't regret it." After saying this, Loken said no more and chose to step aside.
Krucias smiled, as if everything was under control, "Relax, we have the Ark of Omen at hand. Even if there's a super cannon, we can withstand it for a bit."
"But if we're not fast enough, that beacon will definitely be snatched by the World Eaters."
The Imperium of Man was becoming increasingly powerful.
They allied with various races, built the Webway and Star Gates, and established a complete system of faster-than-light travel.
The Warp, on the other hand, was heavily suppressed. If not for the Great Rift, the forces of Chaos would have long since been utterly defeated and driven back into the Eye of Terror.
But if things continued this way, the defeat of Chaos was only a matter of time.
To reverse this trend, various Warbands were actively collecting ancient artifacts to counter the Imperium of Man.
The Canticle Engine was an artifact left by an ancient race. It could act as a beacon like the Astronomican, emitting a guiding light beam.
Its only drawback was that the range of this light was far inferior to the Astronomican.
However, if it could be captured, combined with dark rituals, it could corrupt every planet radiated by the beacon's light.
"Kasaar, don't disappoint me. You must seize the Canticle Beacon." Krucias placed his hopes on Kasaar and his people.
Alpha warriors were best at doing this kind of thing.
"Remember your promise." Kasaar said, "We will bring back the Canticle Beacon."
......
Roar!!
Angron stood on the battleship's hull, roaring.
His voice defied the laws of Reality, spreading rapidly through the void and echoing in the ears of everyone on the battlefield.
"The great Angron has descended upon the battlefield."
The daemons and World Eaters entering the battlefield cheered.
The next second, a beam of light pierced through the stars.
The super cannon Loken spoke of truly existed.
Kasaar, who had just boarded a landing craft, preparing for an airborne assault, swore that he had never seen such a massive beam of light in his life.
It was at least a hundred kilometers in diameter.
One shot blasted towards the Conqueror, illuminating the entire void.
When the beam disappeared, the Conqueror was nowhere to be seen.
Angron and his flagship were banished back to the Warp. They had appeared for less than three minutes, and their curtain closed so hastily.
"I remember Angron wasn't this fast before?"
"My goodness, what kind of super tonic did the Imperium of Man take to be so fierce? One shot took down a Daemon Primarch."
"Boss, do we really have to continue with the mission?"
Kasaar's subordinates also widened their eyes one by one.
Just one shot, and a Daemon Primarch was banished.
Was the Imperium of Man that powerful now?
"I think Loken was right. Maybe we should change the plan."
Kasaar had some regrets.
"Don't be afraid. The Imperium of Man's super cannon needs an hour to charge for each shot. We have a complete chance to get through."
Krucias spoke, encouraging Kasaar to continue with the plan.
Kasaar: "......"
Does your Fulgrim know you're this brave?
Did you see the power of that cannon just now? One shot took out a Daemon Primarch and threw him back to Khorne's home.
Besides, even if they lose their main cannon, can't they use their secondary cannons to hit you?
"This deal is too much of a loss."
Kasaar even wanted to break the contract.
This was literally a suicide mission.
Of course, Kasaar ultimately couldn't break the contract.
Because they lost too quickly.
When the Ark of Omen and fleet commanded by Krucias entered the range of the defensive firepower,
the Mahjong Warband, which Kasaar had found suspicious, revealed its true colors.
They immediately seized control of Krucias, the Slaanesh Lord, and took over his flagship, the Harbinger of Agony.
This allowed the Imperium to easily win the void battle.
Immediately after, a large number of Imperial Fists warriors used teleportation for boarding actions.
They killed resistors, suppressed corrupted slaves, and easily took control of all the warships.
Kasaar and the other Alphas, who had just managed to escape from the daemon world, were all captured before they could achieve their grand ambitions.
"You are absolutely right, offense truly is the best defense."
The leader of the Imperial Fists was Captain Dathorian of the Fourth Company.
He had heard Kasaar's assessment of the Imperial Fists.
"Who exactly are you?" Kasaar looked at the mastermind behind everything, Gaviel Loken of the Mahjong Warband.
When the other party removed his helmet, Kasaar found that a Hong Zhong was still stuck to his face.
"I am Hong Zhong of the The Sitting-and-Forgetting Dao." Hong Zhong did not conceal his identity, "I originally wanted to save some effort and trick you into dying directly, saving some energy. Who would have thought you actually had some brains, and even had Angron block a planet-killer shot for you."
"Why do this? You could have just eliminated us directly? Why go through so much trouble??" Kasaar saw the combat power of those Imperial Fists warriors.
In fact, they could easily defeat all enemies they encountered without any strategy.
"It's fun." Hong Zhong's tone was calm.
Kasaar: "......"
"Are you Tzeentch-worshipping lunatics?"
"You spent so much time and effort, just for fun??"
"Otherwise?" Hong Zhong shrugged, "You are too weak. Simple crushing and annihilation are meaningless now."
"If we don't find some fun, how do we pass the time?"
Kasaar looked at the strangely dressed Imperial warrior in front of him with complex emotions.
"You are simply a bunch of madmen."
"You are more evil and terrifying than daemons and the Gods."
"Thank you for the compliment." Hong Zhong said, "We will continue to strive for more."
Kasaar: "......"
These people were insane.
.........
On the other side of the galaxy,
the Players of the Space Huskies compared the inventory list and found that half of the goods in the warehouse were missing.
"Someone embezzled funds?" Bald Donkey looked at Pig Head Strong, Zack, and other Battle Group veterans.
"Not necessarily. Everything is managed intelligently now, there's no reason for this to happen??" Pig Head Strong shook his head.
"Let's check the surveillance." Dou Zong suggested.
"I support that." Zack nodded.
They checked the surveillance and found that every time they entered the Warp, the surveillance equipment would be interfered with.
After the interference ended, everything was perfectly normal, only the supplies were gone.
After investigation, they discovered that the source of the interference was a battle-axe.
"This thing ate our supplies?" Bald Donkey looked at the battle-axe, full of confusion.
"I remember this battle-axe was a reward given to us by the Space Wolves. It's called 'Blackmane's Gift'." Dou Zong stroked his chin, "It was made by the tech-priests of the Blood Ravens in commemoration of Wolf Lord Ragnar Blackmane."
"Wait." Pig Head Strong hurriedly called a halt, looking at Dou Zong, "You said, who forged this battle-axe?"
"The tech-priests of the Blood Ravens Battle Group." Dou Zong repeated, puzzled.
"I think I might have found the reason for the missing supplies." Pig Head Strong looked at his companions, "The operations team is really ruthless; they didn't even spare the Blood Ravens meme."
"The Blood Ravens meme? Are you saying our equipment was stolen by Blood Ravens?" Bald Donkey looked puzzled, "How could they cross such a long distance to steal our things?"
"The problem might be with this battle-axe. The Blood Ravens Battle Group might have unearthed some special ancient relic that can use the battle-axe as a coordinate. When the battleship enters the Warp, it opens a special domain, connecting our warehouse with their ships." Pig Head Strong said.