User 114514's heroic stand was like a stone tossed into a frozen lake.
Though it sent out massive ripples and briefly lifted the rebels' spirits, it couldn't change the icy tide of battle.
Individual courage, no matter how valiant, seemed so tragic and small before the massive, merciless machine of war.
After losing their precious Hellhound flamethrower tank, the Imperial forces barely faltered.
They responded with even more ferocious firepower. Leveraging their overwhelming advantage in numbers and equipment, they ate away at the rebel positions in the valley inch by inch.
Points A and C fell one after another. The surviving rebel players and AI troops retreated in desperation, until finally, all organized resistance in the valley collapsed.
When the last rebel soldier fell at the mountain pass leading to the plains, a cold battlefield notification appeared:
[Valley region fully captured. Final phase: Plains Assault, initiated.]
The surviving Imperial soldiers dragged their exhausted bodies forward, riding the momentum of victory as they burst from the valley.
What met their eyes, however, was a sight that chilled them to the bone.
Before them stretched an endless wasteland, churned again and again by artillery fire until it was nothing but mud and desolation.
At the far edge of that wasteland stood the rebels' long-prepared final defensive line, a death zone forged from steel and concrete, stretching across the horizon.
This was no longer a scattered collection of fortifications.
It was an endless, interlocking network of trenches! Countless bunkers of reinforced concrete dotted the landscape like poisonous mushrooms.
Behind their dark firing slits lurked who-knows-how-many heavy bolters, laser cannons, and even anti-tank missile launchers.
Barbed wire, tank traps, minefields... they had turned this plain into a meticulously prepared slaughterhouse.
"Oh my God... how are we supposed to fight this?"
Even I Will Carry You, a complete military novice, felt a deep sense of despair after respawning and seeing this defensive line.
Her engineering skills, which had kept her alive until now, were useless here. The rebel fortifications were already complete beyond belief.
What followed was a one-sided, bloody war of attrition.
Imperial soldiers, like moths to a flame, driven forward by commissars and inspired by faith in the Emperor, threw themselves wave after wave into that killing field.
Laser beams shot from the bunkers like dense rain, weaving an impenetrable wall of fire.
Heavy bolter rounds tore charging soldiers apart along with their cover.
Occasionally fired anti-tank missiles turned Imperial armored vehicles attempting to provide fire support into burning coffins.
The fighting reached brutal extremes. The Imperial assault regiments fed into the meat grinder, their numbers plummeting.
Two full-strength regiments, nearly twenty thousand soldiers, were consumed and annihilated at a visible rate against the rebels' solid defenses and concentrated fire.
Corpses littered the field. Blood flowed like rivers. Burning vehicle wrecks dotted the scorched earth like massive tombstones.
Scorchwind and his squad tried to replicate their earlier tactics, but any summoned vehicle crumbled within minutes under the rebels' concentrated anti-tank fire.
Individual skill meant nothing in the face of this scale of trench warfare.
When Imperial forces had been whittled down to just three thousand men, an atmosphere of despair hung over every Imperial player.
Then, suddenly, everyone's screen went dark!
As if someone had hit pause, the deafening sounds of artillery, shouting, and explosions cut off abruptly.
Whether charging forward, shooting from behind cover, or lying wounded waiting for rescue, every player's vision plunged into pure darkness.
"What happened? Did we get disconnected?"
"Is this a bug?"
"Is the game over?"
As everyone wondered in confusion, all perspectives focused on a single figure.
It was that commissar who'd been active on the frontlines the whole time, his greatcoat torn and ragged, his face covered in blood and gunpowder residue.
He stood atop the wreckage of a destroyed Chimera transport, his one remaining arm raised high with his signature power sword. The blade caught the virtual light, reflecting an unwavering determination.
His voice, amplified through some system enhancement, rang out in the ears of every Imperial player. Hoarse, yet carrying a soul-stirring power:
"Yes! Soldiers! You've all seen it! Our offensive has failed! Countless brothers have fallen on this cursed ground!"
His gaze swept across the void, as if he could see every player behind their screens.
"But! Does that mean this is the end?! No! As long as the great Imperium still stands!
As long as the God-Emperor on the Golden Throne still watches over us! We can never give up! Our sacrifices will not be meaningless!"
He thrust his power sword toward that terrifying rebel defensive line, his voice suddenly rising to a roar:
"Warriors of the Imperium! In the Emperor's name, I command you! Cast aside your fear, bury your sorrow!
Turn your final breath and your fury into a blade aimed at the enemy's heart! For our fallen brothers! For the Imperium! For the Emperor!!"
[Final Offensive Activated!]
[Allied forces receive support: Leman Russ Battle Tank, a war beast!]
With the system's announcement, from the darkness behind the valley came a rumbling of treads so heavy it made the earth itself tremble!
A heavy tank, larger than an ordinary Leman Russ, with thicker armor and an absurdly oversized main gun, rolled slowly out of the darkness like a steel god awakening from ancient times.
Its very presence brought a suffocating sense of oppression!
[Allied forces receive support: Cadian Shock Troops (100 men)!]
Squads of soldiers in dark green uniforms, well-equipped and with eyes sharp as eagles, appeared silently on both flanks of the remaining Imperial forces.
They checked their weapons in silence, radiating the cold aura of hardened veterans.
[Imperial artillery will not cease until our soldiers are dead or the position is taken!]
"BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!"
From the Imperial rear, all remaining artillery units, plus the newly arrived ones, unleashed an unprecedented maximum barrage!
Dense shells like a meteor shower, carrying the will to destroy everything, poured madly toward the rebel positions!
The entire plains defensive line was instantly engulfed in endless fire and explosions!
"For the Emperor!!!" The commissar gave the final charge order.
The darkness faded. The screen returned.
All surviving Imperial players looked at that Leman Russ Destroyer standing like an anchor, at those elite Cadian soldiers beside them, heard the unprecedented ferocity of the bombardment, and a frenzied battle lust born from desperation ignited once more!
The final battle had begun!