Warhammer: In the Name of Ashes.

Chapter 622 The Beginning of War

"How's the morale here?" Calvin asked Talos.

Although it was reported in the battle briefing, he still wanted to get first-hand information from the commander.

"Very good!" Talos replied, straightening himself up.

"The mortal troops are very determined to resist... and very loyal to the Empire!"

"Ah."

Loyalty… Calvin glanced at Talos and understood the reason for his last sentence.

After all, this is the richest war zone in the Empire, and he believes that the will to resist is strong. As for loyalty to the Empire... Given the current ruling mode of the Empire and the influence of the Mechanicus on Gothic, if you really want to be serious, I'm afraid someone will have to redefine the scope of the "Empire" with him.

In other words, the loyalty in this world is different from that in his previous civilization. The loyalty here is more like a contract, a conditional transaction that must be respected.

There is true unconditional loyalty, but it mostly exists only among the followers of the Imperial Church, or among this group of Grey Knights.

Talos's emphasis on explanation was probably more due to the considerations of the Inquisition behind Calvin.

Calvin did not comment on this. After all, these veterans of the Luna Wolves had only settled down not long ago. As the saying goes, you need to ask for what you need. Loyalty will surely be a valuable quality that they need to prove for a long time.

The Storm Eagles in the clouds were still moving forward, while the escorting fighters around them had reached the edge of their defense zone.

  Through the porthole, Calvin saw the fighter plane sway a few times towards the Storm Eagle he was riding, then it left the combat position and began to return;

And in the clouds below and above their heads, another group of fighter planes painted with Imperial livery appeared and took their places.

"Whose troops are these?" Calvin's mind moved slightly, and he noticed the gazes of the Grey Knights behind him.

The newly joined fighters were also gently shaking their fuselages, paying tribute to their departing comrades. Everyone present had superhuman vision, and could see the honorary liveries representing the kill records on the newly joined escort fighters.

This was clearly a more elite force, and they were very young. Their sharp and vigorous postures almost overflowed with pride and vitality.

And this vitality from mortals is exactly what the Grey Knights desire but cannot reach... and what they guard with their lives.

"The 35th theater is also one of the core theaters predicted to be chosen by the enemy as a landing site." Talos's stiff face relaxed a little, and he introduced the Primarch with an expression that could barely be called a smile.

"Oh, the code starting with 3, is it an agricultural area?" Calvin asked.

"Yes, Your Highness. Please look down." Talos untied the locks on his body and stood beside the Primarch. Sutherland and the other Grey Knights also looked in the direction of his finger.

Passing through the clouds below, Calvin saw the vast wilderness below, and at the junction of the great plains and the foothills, there were dotted strips of buildings built against the mountain.

  "This place is not far from the star port and is close to the ocean." Talos explained:

"The Adeptus Mechanicus took this place into consideration and adjusted the soil quality when integrating the continental plates. Therefore, this place is not only a famous natural wine estate in the Gothic Star Zone, but also a famous resort in the entire galaxy due to its special products and mild climate."

"That's great," Calvin replied with a smile.

Unlike those manor worlds based on excellent native environments, this place close to the forging world obviously has a better industrial foundation. Coupled with its own environment and climate, the prosperity here allows Calvin to slightly feel the meaning of life in his previous life.

More developed infrastructure...

A more stable living environment...

A better education system...

A more abundant source of material...

He could almost imagine that outside the base of these escorting soldiers outside the fleet, there must be girls they loved waiting eagerly.

If we raise our vision a little bit higher, everyone living in the entire wilderness should live a prosperous and happy life.

This is the taste of civilization, and it is also a rare pure land in the territory of the human empire.

Calvin even had an idea to bring the Grey Knights here to rest for a while after the war, so that these children who had given up too much of themselves could understand how beautiful the things they dedicated themselves to and protected were.

However, things never go as he wishes, and the enemies of the empire always use cruel wars to remind him and tell him that the mere existence of some people is a sin.

"emegency notice!"

The atmosphere in the rear cabin of the gunboat had just calmed down when someone spoke in the front cab. Calvin's heart sank. Couldn't they even wait until they landed?

But before he could think about it, the Death Watch in the driver's seat in front of him had already read out the content of the battle briefing:

"Fifteen minutes ago, the signal from the main energy reactor of the Peregrine V disappeared. The last information received on the data link was that they were targeted."

"Repeat it again..."

The death watch on the driver's seat was still repeating, but the cabin in the rear was completely silent.

"They can't hold on," Sutherland said, pointing out the fact that no one wanted to hear.

Pesma V is a permanent fortress and one of the last support points of the entire Pesma outer defense. The importance of its main reactor is self-evident. The fact that it could be hit shows their situation.

What is more serious is that once the defense line centered on Pesma V is lost, it will be like a huge wound being torn open in Pesma's orbital defense system.

  This points to a grim fact - based on the planetary rotation period of Pesma, the enemy fleet can get a five-hour attack window every thirty hours!

Five hours! In front of an Astartes Legion!

"Turn!" Calvin raised his hand to signal.

"Not going to the front line?" Sutherland asked.

  "There's no time!" Calvin raised his hand to activate the projector in the center of the cabin and explained to him:

"With Mortarion's style, once an attack is launched, the combination of punches will not stop until the target is completely achieved!

I even suspect that the troops that will land on Pesma have already assembled! We don't have time to go through the procedures. We need to go directly to the defense line closest to Pesma Five, the sooner the better!"

"Indeed!" Talos nodded in agreement. He also had experience fighting alongside former Death Guards and had sufficient understanding of Mortarion's command style.

The impression left on him by this taciturn demigod was precisely the gambling nature and madness hidden beneath his paranoia.

  Once he finds the opportunity, what awaits his enemies will definitely be an attack at all costs, as well as madness that will make other Primarchs stare in awe!

People born in the year of the dog will not let go once they bite.

——This is the evaluation from an unnamed Primarch of the Space Wolves.

And considering the Death Guards were particularly tenacious among the Astartes, Talos was no longer willing to think about it...

"And in Mortarion's style..." Calvin pondered as he looked at Pesma's three-dimensional imaging, and finally highlighted several mountain ranges with strong anti-aircraft firepower in red.

In the surprised eyes of Talos and Little Calvin, he said with great certainty: "He will definitely make a big deal!"

……

Well, it has been nearly ten days since I resumed updating. I always want to explain it to everyone, but I don’t know where to start.

I haven't been updating because I'm not in good physical condition and I've been mentally drained. Although I've never stopped learning and summarizing, I finally mustered up the courage to update again after three months, and I do have a different understanding of my achievements and subscriptions.

I don’t want to write something that I don’t like just for the sake of updating. I really don’t want to show you something that I am not happy with myself.

So, I want to say here to all my friends who are still reading this that I will still try my best to write and will still work hard to continue telling this story.

But I want to give you the best, but my physical condition, the sporadic inspiration, and family matters make it impossible for me to guarantee updates at a fixed time.

Ultimately, this is a problem of my ability and I have no reason to shirk my responsibility, so I would like to say sorry to all the book friends who are still reading.

And, I'm back.