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Zhang Ge conveyed his intention to enter the Chaos ship to the others, only to be met with disapproval from High Canoness Heloise.
She felt that it was too dangerous at this moment, believing that they should first clear out the majority of the enemies surrounding the ship. Otherwise, if they entered the vessel and the enemy's anti-air network recovered, it would be difficult to retreat.
As a commander, he should not take such risks; he could send someone else in his place if it were necessary.
While this was indeed true—despite it being what Zhang Ge wanted—he countered her argument by citing a lack of time.
By the time they had completely won the battle, the enemies would have regained their composure. Inside would be not only Chaos Space Marines but also numerous daemons, alongside various automated defenses—likely Daemon-possessed Weapon Systems. It would be exceedingly tough for their forces to push back in.
In the relatively confined spaces of the ship, where numerical superiority and heavy armor would not be as effective, the piecemeal reinforcement tactic would enable even a single Chaos Space Marine to defend a corridor indefinitely.
As for whether or not a commander should take part in the fray, strategically, it shouldn't be Zhang Ge's decision. His combat power, compared to Amilia's, couldn't be described as a lifesaver; it could at least be considered gilding the lily.
The issue was that within the Imperium, it has always been considered perfectly orthodox for commanders to personally lead into the most dangerous battles—after all, the Emperor himself charged onto the Vengeful Spirit to slay Horus. No commander could claim greater status than the Emperor, could they?
Historically recorded accounts wouldn't include the incident of Horus supposedly defeating Saint Gilliam and then engaging the Emperor in three hundred rounds; otherwise, it would risk creating a dissonance—one that praised the Emperor as divine while simultaneously portraying him as struggling against a traitorous puppet of the Dark Gods.
In more detailed histories, the records would show Saint Gilliam battling against Horus amidst a sea of enemies, ultimately falling victim to the foul tricks of the four Ruinous Powers.
Then the Emperor would arrive, delivering a grand speech as he crushed both Horus and a multitude of enemies; however, it was the underhanded tactics from the four gods that led to the Emperor's prolonged engagement.
In less responsible accounts, this part was glossed over entirely.
Overall, unless one were a direct participant, Horus's own might was perceived by the people of the Imperium at the level of a standard Primarch. No matter which faction's narrative you examined, historical records were unanimous that the Emperor would not be compared with a traitorous puppet of the four Ruinous Powers.
This naturally led to the next question: why didn't the Emperor simply wait for reinforcements and send a pair of Primarchs to confront Horus?
The answer, of course, was that he, as the Emperor and the commander of humanity, wished to personally engage in the most dangerous battles, unwilling to let others bleed more than necessary.
This led to many individuals recklessly seeking to charge ahead, always citing that "the Emperor did it too."
If one considered the overall situation, not participating in a nearly certain fatal mission of significant value was entirely rational. However, under the Imperium's millennia-old traditions, it was also not inappropriate for commanders to wish to participate personally.
Regarding Heloise's later remarks, Zhang Ge didn't provide a fitting counter but instead said:
"I find myself at a crossroads with two paths: one is perilous, but reaching its end would elevate the entire campaign to the climax of an epic, while the other is safe but only leads to mediocrity. High Canoness Heloise, would you choose the latter?"
Before she could respond, fearing she might agree for some reason, Zhang Ge hurriedly continued:
"Amidst many miracles, I have arrived at this point. If the Emperor is watching me, please allow me to display the courage deserving of it."
With his words spoken, even the most fervent of the Canoness could no longer dissuade him.
However, this led to an unexpected consequence; after a brief silence, Heloise replied:
"Alright, then I will go with you."
"Ah? You should stay behind to command…"
The latter part of his remark was swallowed back down, seeing the look in her eyes.
Oh no, I've raised the stakes too high; I can't back down now.
"If we all go, then who will…"
Zhang Ge was about to ask who would command, only to realize that there was indeed someone else who could handle it—and that, in terms of steadiness, they might be even more competent than he was.
That would be the former deputy regimental commander.
Blocked from continuing, Zhang Ge could only swallow the remainder of his thoughts and hope this new member wouldn't suddenly come into play at a critical moment.
Once the transfer of command was complete, Zhang Ge led a small group of elite troops, turning down several corners until they reached a straight highway that had been taken and converted into a temporary airfield.
There, a dozen Valkyries and the twelve Archeopters from earlier sat quietly. These aircraft would carry Zhang Ge and his squad, over a hundred Veteran Astra Militarum Troopers, and more than sixty Vanguard Troops, as they prepared to take off and rush toward the Chaos Escort Ship.
The captain of the Chaos Space Marines wanted to cover much of the hive city with Warp Corruption in just a few hours; the ritual they were conducting would surely have a core external object sustaining it.
Executing a setup in just a few hours to not only contain the other Warp entities drawn here but also maintain the separation between the Warp and the material universe over such a vast area was impossible, even for a captain.
And of course, that external object couldn't have been casually dug up from the pinnacle of the hive; it had to be something within their warship.
Thus, the target for these nearly two hundred elites was to locate that core object and destroy it.
Zhang Ge and five others, along with seven veteran soldiers, were assigned to one of the Valkyries.
As he stepped into the crew cabin, which had been dimly lit by an emergency red light due to the electromagnetic disturbance, bright white lights suddenly illuminated the space. The screens in front of the pilots, which had either gone dark or reported errors, all began rebooting one by one.
The previously troubling sounds of mechanical engagements quieted down, as if the electromagnetic environment outside had suddenly ceased to exist.
Of course, Zhang Ge was oblivious to these anomalies as he sat down in one of the seats, reaching up to secure the safety bar before tightening his harness.
The cabin door, which should have been sealed by someone close to the entrance after the disconnection, now began to close automatically and slowly, the external sounds gradually diminishing until, with the aircraft's good sound insulation, it fell into silence.
As the door fully closed, a large amount of liquid was pumped into the cabin through pipelines from the ground crew.
This liquid was designed to counteract the overloading effects of high-speed maneuvers; ordinarily, this task would be handled by the aircraft's electromagnetic field generator, but given the current electromagnetic environment, the equipment had malfunctioned. Not wishing to be turned into a pancake, they had to sacrifice some cargo capacity.
The ground crew had no knowledge that this aircraft had returned to normal, and the pilots, taking precautions, decided to load it in anyway, so they did not stop the process.
In this situation, the liquid gradually filled the cabin, encroaching upon Zhang Ge's breath, causing him some discomfort until the sensation of weightlessness from the aircraft taking off brought a degree of relief.
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