Chapter 233: Final Battle of the Wheel of Fire

On the bridge of the Shadow of Sovereignty, Ninglu examined the torrent of information on the video screen.

The Auger Matrix scan results showed that the main star of the Wheel of Fire had two continents.

The continent on the south side was smaller and surrounded by ocean, while the area of the northern continent was approximately five times its size.

The Communication Bead in the ear of Arsena Dunn beeped; he pressed the bead, listened to the report, and his brows furrowed slightly.

The Primarch Attendant raised his Control Staff, lit up the holographic image, and reported to the Primarch.

"My lord, we have received a communication from Lord Leman Russ; he has decided to land on the west side of the northern continent."

"He did not wait for your reply and has already ordered the fleet to begin orbital bombardment to create conditions for the landing."

Ninglu nodded slightly; he was not surprised by this, as the Space Wolves did not like to wait.

He turned his head to look at Hannibal beside him and Suarez and Erlin behind him, and he keenly sensed that their abdomens had grown a circle larger.

Although an ordinary person would not be able to see this change no matter how they observed, he only needed to recall and compare them to a year ago to clearly distinguish it.

"Hannibal, the Second Legion will be responsible for purging the southern continent, how about that?"

If it were Leman Russ or other competitive Primarchs, they would feel angry that Ninglu had assigned the smallest war zone to their Legion.

But Hannibal wore a smile and said elegantly and with slight joy.

"No problem."

Hannibal hurried away with Suarez and Erlin, rushing back to his warship to begin the hunting journey.

Ninglu looked again at the commander of the Morning Star Titan Legion and asked.

"Alex, how many Titans does your Legion have?"

Alex's red uniform jacket was inlaid with dark green rivets, and his shoulder insignia was branded with the Graia emblem, representing his status as a high-ranking commander.

He bowed slightly, his right hand touching his chest.

"Lord Ninglu, the Morning Star currently has one hundred and four Titans."

Ninglu's eyes flashed; the number of Titans Alex mentioned was quite different from the one hundred and fifty-six in his memory of the Morning Star Titan Legion at its peak.

He knew that most Titan Legions only had a few dozen Titans, and only first-line Titan Legions like the Morning Star Titan Legion would have more than one hundred.

Among the Titan Legions Ninglu knew, the Legio Ignis of the Forge World Huangquan Ba Hao possessed more than three hundred, which caused panic within the Adeptus Mechanicus.

Under the auspices of Horus, the Legio Ignis was eventually split into the Dark Fire and the Destroyer King.

Before the Horus Heresy, the Death Skull had about two hundred.

【The Morning Star Titan Legion also reached one hundred and fifty-six before the Great Birthday.】

He looked at the Master of the Forge, who nodded slightly, acknowledging this number.

Ninglu recalled the Graia data in his memory; after the Adeptus Mechanicus colonists established the Forge World, through centuries of effort, their sphere of influence had already expanded to more than twenty star systems during the Age of Strife.

Relying on the resources of these star systems, Graia developed a powerful Titan Legion and established a strong orbital defense system.

The protracted war that the Imperium representatives worried about did not happen, so they rewarded Graia with the right to conquer neighboring Forge Worlds.

【But Graia had only been authorized for a short time and had not yet established the iron belt from his memory, nor had it conquered the dozen or so smaller Forge Worlds in the neighboring region.

Of course, Graia had also not yet encountered the notorious Ripper Titan Legion.

With one increase and one decrease, the number of one hundred and four should be about right.】

While Ninglu was thinking, Alex continued.

"According to the covenant reached, there are thirty-five Titans coordinating with the Eleventh Legion."

"This includes seventeen Warlord Titans, and nine battle Titans and nine scout Titans each."

Ninglu nodded slightly with satisfaction; the Graia people did not deliberately send a large number of scout Titans, satisfying the quantity requirement was enough.

The three types of Titans were the same as the standard establishment of the Morning Star Titan Legion in his memory.

【Strictly speaking, the Morning Star Titan Legion did not send one-third of its combat power either.

I remember that this ancient Forge World has at least three Emperor-class Titans of the Primarch type.

However, ordinary campaigns would not deploy the Primarch type; overall, the Graia side could be considered to have fulfilled the covenant and was a reliable ally.】

Thinking of this, Ninglu said to Alex.

"I am satisfied with this." He then cast his gaze toward the holographic image and tapped his finger lightly.

"There are twelve fortresses on the east side of the northern continent, and this fortress marked with a T has the most powerful defensive firepower."

"The Eighth Legion and Graia will jointly attack this fortress."

Alex did not answer immediately; he cast his gaze toward the video screen.

With the meticulous attitude of the Graia people, he evaluated the defensive power of the fortress.

Alex's brain implants performed a rapid assessment of the fortress area and the number of artillery pieces.

Eighteen seconds later, he said confidently.

"Lord Ninglu, the God-Machines and the Skitarii are enough to capture this fortress."

Seeing Alex's determined tone, Ninglu thought to himself.

【Typical Graia people, observing carefully and firmly believing in the evaluation results; even if the war situation changes, they will not change.

They will generously go to their deaths without retreating.】

Ninglu smiled: "Alex, I trust your assessment."

"But the Wheel of Fire is only the beginning of our coordinated operations; future larger campaigns will require tacit cooperation."

"Lord Ninglu, I understand," Alex replied, "I will fight side by side with the Knight Lord to purge the Xenos fortress."

Considering that the Dawn Knight of Sequence 6 and the Silver Knight of Sequence 3 of the Twilight Giant path were both named after knights, Ninglu named Thierry Vieira the Knight Lord.

Ninglu then issued orders to the other nine Chapters; except for the Third and Seventh Chapters, the remaining ten Chapters would all commit different forces to participate in the final battle of the Wheel of Fire.

When Ninglu issued the order, Alex used his brain implants to organize the intelligence.

On the way to the hangar, he sent the battle deployment to the Kejie and ordered his captains to prepare for battle.

After returning to the Kejie, Alex immediately went to the hangar, where he saw the Titan's crew, ground staff, and deck laborers busy in tension.

Heavy cranes rumbled, hanging down from the deck Dome, lifting giant shells and slender missiles to be sent to the loading area of the weapon racks.

Transport vehicles fully loaded with Fire God bolter rounds sped past him, and artillery operators were systematically calibrating the weapons.

Alex habitually straightened his collar, fastened the brass buttons of his coat, and walked before the wide, giant feet of the Lagosi.

He nodded slightly to the crew members who saluted him and walked toward the armored legs and feet.

Alex followed the steps, walked into the archway leading to the interior of the Titan, and traveled through the winding corridors with low ceilings.

His movements were swift; he had long since engraved every bolt and rivet of the Lagosi into his mind.

Alex could find every hatch and every passageway with his eyes closed.

He walked to the heavy iron door at the end of the narrow passage, where two Graia soldiers on guard were clad in red breastplates and wearing green chainmail shirts.

Each of them wore a skull Mask in the style of the Graia emblem, with shock pistols at their waists and shock batons in their hands.

Alex nodded to the alert soldiers: "Captain, proceeding from the lower level to the middle level."

He then pressed his palm against the panel; after the red light scanned his fingerprint, the green indicator light above the iron door lit up.

The nearby soldier turned the wheel, and the iron door opened.

Following the wire mesh stairs all the way up to the cockpit, he inserted his authentication card into the reader.

Amidst the sound of chimes, Alex walked into the cockpit.

He stood in the center of the ornate chamber under the vaulted ceiling and spoke.

"Command Bridge, Captain Alex."

The floor beneath his feet rippled like water, forming a perfect metal disc that carried him slowly upward to reach the command deck.

Alex walked to the central command chair, sat down, and spoke.

"Technicians, connect me to the system."

Two Adeptus Mechanicus technicians in red robes appeared on his left and right, putting precise signal-conducting gloves on him.

Sensors adhered tightly to his skin, reading his vital sign signals.

Subsequently, the brainwave sensing device was placed on top of his head.

"Prepare to activate the cerebral cortex tentacles."

Alex's neck fixation ring extended from inside the headrest, and metal filaments were drawn out from the fixation ring.

The silver tentacles passed through the corners of his eyes, climbed along the optic nerves, pierced into the cranium, and finally docked and connected with the cerebral cortex.

The cerebral cortex tentacles filtered and diverted the incoming information stream; telemetry data, weapon status, fuel levels, and other data surged in his mind.

Feeling the powerful strength contained within his body, the towering figure of Ninglu flashed through his mind, and he whispered to himself.

"It feels so good to be an avatar of a king."

Alex then issued an order: "Prepare for drop."

While the "Morning Star Titan Legion" prepared in tension, the warships of three Legions conducted an orbital bombardment on the main planet of the Wheel of Fire.

Lances and shells rained down like raindrops onto the Ork world below.

After the orbital bombardment ended, three Primarchs stepped onto the surface of the main planet of the Wheel of Fire simultaneously.

The Space Wolves landed in the west of the northern continent; Leman Russ charged out of the Stormbird first, and walking side-by-side with him were his wolf brothers Freki and Geri.

Following behind him on both sides were Ranok Lashiven and Jorin, respectively.

Flames erupted in the Wolf King's azure eyes; he charged forward rapidly, leaving his progeny further and further behind.

Jorin swung his Power Axe, leaving Sanchez behind, venting his anger at losing his challenge target onto the Orcs.

Ranok Lashiven was even more eager to quell his rage and shame amidst the sound of his chain-axe shredding the greenskins.

The Kejie dropped Titan Drop Vehicles that resembled short, thick pipes.

High-temperature resistant devices operated at full speed, buffering the high heat of friction.

Deceleration thrusters resisted planetary gravity.

The inertial neutralization field protected the Titans inside, and the bolts on the internal braking frame vibrated violently during the impact.

The hatches opened, and the yellow-green painted Titan mechs walked out in groups.

The instrument panels and screens in the luxurious cockpits emitted a blue-green ghostly light, illuminating the Titans.

The control system of the Warlord Titan lit up in Alex's eyes, as if it were a part of his own body.

The Titan's control system emerged in his mind; he clearly knew the Plasma Reactor was on standby, and the energy poised to strike could be awakened at any time.

"Braking system normal."

"Weapons on standby, ammunition fully loaded."

Alex watched the surging green tide, and the Warlord Titan's heavy Auspex allowed him to lock onto the Orks charging toward him.

(End of chapter)