Warhammer: I am the Hammer of the Empire.

Chapter 266 This is a Ritual

The Master Chief was in the depths of a cathedral ruin near the area he had taken back with his life, and he was lucky enough to find a small wing that was still intact.

The triptych on the stained glass is still intact, and the ritual candles stand on their pedestals, as if waiting for a priest to light them, which the Master Chief took as a sign that he had chosen to conduct his worship here .

Now his left hand has been completely replaced by a temporary prosthetic body. Such disabilities are rare among interstellar warriors. Superhuman metabolism can allow them to repair many irreparable losses for mortals. When suffering from disability, fearlessness and death are their normal choices.

Medical cold compresses would have redeemed his body, but the ensuing raid on the Chaos Wizard made the wound worse again, and he had to face the apothecary's proposed cutting operation and this metal limb he was not used to.

Fortunately, he survived. Only three days after the war, his eyes recovered miraculously. Although many important structures were damaged, the greatest help from the pharmacist was only 60% of the normal period. Eyesight, for the most part, is still adequate.

People in this era are always praying for forgiveness and mercy, hoping that the Emperor can get them out of the sea of ​​suffering, but now it seems that the Emperor will only use his power in his busy schedule for the Empire, so everyone thinks that the Emperor is cold, rational, Ruthless and great, it is an honor to be favored by him.

It just takes a little bit of miracle and reality to set off a frightening chain reaction, and it's hard to judge the reality value of that madness in this religious age.

The same is true, being favored makes the Master Chief very confused. The silver sun overlooking the empire from the sky, the god of war in golden armor, the father of the empire, the mentor or powerful leader of mankind, his tenderness makes this The soldiers survived.

But he didn't understand it, and the emotion it brought was not the complicated gratitude or piety that people think in their hearts, but a sense of responsibility.

He inserted the falcon blade into the soil, knelt on the ground, and gently pressed his head against the hilt of the sword. He had knelt here for more than two hours like a penitent, and this was the first thing he did after his recovery. .

He didn't want to re-communicate with the emperor, nor did he pray for great power, but just thinking calmly, thinking about everything about his life and future, and also thinking about the hatred towards himself and heretics.

He was ashamed of committing those irredeemable actions at the moment before, at the end of his life. He was cast for the prosperity of the empire, and every nerve unit of him should think about how to devote himself to the empire!

He was ashamed that his desire to survive was driving him to lose his composure, and he subconsciously thought about whether those things could be more optimized. Although in many cases it seemed force majeure, this experience made him particularly terrified.

It turned out that I was so powerless and afraid of death. When the darkness that belonged to him came, I didn't have any holiness and honor in my mind, but lived on...

It had never occurred to him that his fate was in someone else's hands, not the Emperor's, and he found himself scrutinizing his every thought, deed, and word.

But now, he was so close to the Emperor, at least the appearance of the Emperor in the mortal world, the solemn expression of the Lord of Humanity in the painting that survived the war made him calm his mind.

Eventually, he focused his thoughts and sank into a meditative state, during which he dissected every scrap of information he collected, analyzing it from every angle.

Now the Master Chief opened his eyes and looked up, fierce determination in his noble countenance.

"Thank you for your guidance, Emperor," he intoned. "Thank you for your clarity, Primarch, and I will never fail you again."

He stood up, his bones and body were already cracking, the feeling that the body and head were no longer connected was scary, but the Master Chief didn't care, this had nothing to do with his superhuman ability, but at this moment he no longer Not sticking to the slogan of living to death, but now he has really died.

An hour later, the Master Chief called his war council in the cathedral's lower vestibule, the dilapidated hall, rain dripping on the ruined windows and through the shattered holes in the high ceiling.

Those waters turned into dirty mist and drifted in the air, the pain that those heresies brought to the city still did not dissipate, and the fat fly that adapted to those toxins and relied on corpses wandered in the still air, its eyes had become It was bright red, as if it wanted to taste the flesh and blood of a living person, but when it flew in front of the space fighters, the loyal mortal servants smashed the bug with tools that could be found everywhere, leaving behind the dark Gothic bricks of the church. Brown stains.

Stained glass creaked underfoot as the Master Chief, and the [-]th Company Commander, Technical Sergeant, Apothecary, and their Senior Sergeants gathered.The two Dreadnought battle brothers, the company's most precious ancestors, were also present, the most powerful mobilization of the Empire's dedicated men on the battlefield.

The Master Chief's many honors and this action made him respected by relying on the belief of the battle group and the illustrious military exploits. There is a distinction between command and combat, and each brother is crucial.

The space fighters are small in scale and highly dense in composition, and they are very united while their combat power is concentrated. Therefore, they form a combat power that surpasses the same number of people, just like they call each other. After the superman operation is completed, they are physically very close brothers.

The Master Chief now pointed his finger to his chest and said. "These two hearts were once stagnant. It was the brothers and the loyalists of the Empire who brought it back. It was the heretics, the abusers of sorcery and the energies of the Warp, and the dissatisfied ignorant."

"Dear Imperial Soldiers," the Master Chief called. "We have suffered at the hands of heretic invaders, but that is now over, and we will defeat them in the Emperor's name and pledge to cleanse the world of every trace of their filth."

Several of his sergeants pounded their fists on their breastplates in salute, while one dreadnought let out a near-explosive rumble, shouting "Yes, yes!"

The person who was put into the coffin due to death was forced to sleep by the technical sergeant after roughly getting used to the power, and the anger was preserved before it was completely dissipated. For a long time, his hatred for many aliens and heresies began to ferment, like an altar that makes people unable to Accepted, the wine of wrath or murder.

"The emperor is with us, Master Chief, what is your specific plan?" the fourth company commander asked.

"They believe in the four gods. We are sure that those filthy people, based on the current war situation, bombed the city with viruses and strengthened their spiritual powers. According to my inference, the Lord of the Plague is this army core, then they represent what the cultists essentially have to offer."

The Dreadnought is well-informed, he said right away. "A pious offering," he said with disgust. "They tormented the planet and its inhabitants like a man lighting candles in an imperial sanctuary."

"That's right, so they need the astropaths as the core of the sacrifice, the carrier of the emperor's great power, no matter how weak it is, it is a real light, and the astropaths are also the foundation to ensure that this world is isolated and helpless."

"So, they are like this..." the company commander muttered. "There is only one possibility!"

"You said they wanted to summon demons?!" The pharmacist shouted, and his fuss was not excessive. In the vast border of the empire and the time it lasted for thousands of years, demons invaded only a handful of times, and each success brought quite a bad situation.

"No, I'm not sure, what they're craving, perhaps demons," said the Master Chief, "or some other evil that no sane mind can conceive. In any case, the Astropaths will be the last offerings, it seems. It seems logical that the blood of the heart will be stamped with the contract."

"In the name of the throne!" said the fearless mech brother. "If this is true then heretics are using this entire world as their altar of sacrifice. The consequences of such a gigantic ritual will undoubtedly be disastrous."

"Exactly," said the captain. "Now you understand why we cannot continue a war of attrition with an enemy like this, which is exactly what they want."

"We must resolve the battle swiftly and decisively, and eliminate them before they can take the souls of the people of the Empire to complete their lives."

"I ask again," said the pharmacist. "What should we do? Impulse has already made us almost fail. If it weren't for the Sergeant Chief's self-sacrifice, we wouldn't even be able to take down this astronomical fortress. They outnumber us, even if there are people from the Empire joining our troops."

"Our losses during the attack were considerable, and even with Baptismal Fire backing us up, I think we were under enormous pressure to defeat this enemy."

"Don't deny the suffering, we will cross, the problem is not this, I got the support of the locals during this period, the Loander Heavy Infantry Regiment, the 44th Regiment, they are good at local combat, and have a lot of information about the former strongholds." Sergeant officer Talk for a long time.

"And they gave me information. In the old city area, there is a place to dissipate the heat of the heavy spear. To be precise, it is its battery."

"An anti-ship light spear? There is only one place in the whole world that has that thing..." The company commander's mind flashed through the places he hadn't captured. Although he could attribute the responsibility to the Master Chief's risk of death, he knew that only 50 interstellar Soldiers can't take it anywhere.

"That's right, that passage can reach the underground of the anti-orbital fortress. We only need to find a way to lift the ground to sneak into the interior and close the void shield. At the same time, the Imperial Guard can also bomb the opposite side with the ground-shaking cannon we captured. As long as the space fighters They can serve as front-line personnel to withstand the enemy's initial attack and attract the attention of large troops, while a small number of elite soldiers can sneak into the enemy's interior to destroy it." The Master Chief emphasized.

"Based on the standard Terra day, the Dreadnought can't be connected through the pipeline connecting the whole city, then." The technical sergeant calculated.

"72 hours..." He reported an accurate number, which is 72 hours in a standard Terra day. This is the time that the peripheral troops need to bear. During this period of time, they will try their best to contain the enemy's attack...

The fearless mech warrior said. "It's not easy, but we've seen much harder."

"Live to die, it is in line with our will." The Master Chief naturally began to plan the infiltration operation, but the Fourth Company Commander suddenly interrupted his actions.

"Why, do you think you can hold such an important position now? Give me your team, and I will go."

The Master Chief replied subconsciously. "But you are the commander!"

The company commander replied. "You have demonstrated your greatness and responsibility, and proved your will to win. Now, you are also the commander. Secondly, didn't you settle the score with that mortal heretic general?"

The Master Chief glanced at his arm for a moment. "I…"

"I'll go, needless to say, what you need is to take revenge on the frontal battlefield, use explosive orders, use honor, and use command." The company commander has changed a lot during this time, and some people even think that he is gentle, but many people don't realize it His feelings for his brothers have always existed. On the contrary, it is because of Skadi's experience that he can show his emotions so directly now, and it also makes the veteran more attractive.

By the Emperor, the Master Chief looked at the cracked rotten wood seat and switched on his communicator.

"The 154th Infantry Regiment of Loander, the 44th Heavy Infantry Regiment of Loander, in the name of the Emperor, I, the Destroyer Eagle Chapter, Brother Astartes, the rank of non-commissioned officer, as the acting command, temporarily dispatch you to participate in the defense of Loander War, can you obey the transfer?"

"Are you ready to serve the Emperor?"

The radio answered quickly. "Always, my lord, always!" was the answer of the Jesk captain and the infantry colonel, and they always did, because Roander never falls!
"Excellent. What I'm asking of you is no easy task, Captain, but it must be. You must mobilize all your remaining forces to join the main force in a diversionary attack before we launch the assault. Lure them and divert them as best you can. hold most of their forces."

"That will cost us dearly, my lord," Jeske said. "Many of my soldiers are sick or wounded, our ammunition stocks are low, and if the enemy responds on a massive scale, we will not be able to sustain their wrath for long."

"I understand," he replied. "While your troops engage the enemy, we'll quickly move into position and capture the shield generators of the fort, and they'll lose their ability to defend against bombing, so you can let them taste the bombing. "

"Yes, my lord."

The Master Chief heard something in the captain's voice, maybe it was courage, maybe it was timidity, but the victory here is too important, as long as the people of Loander do their part in the name of the emperor, that is really important.

"Sergeant," he said. "What is the enemy's visibility on our oracle?"

"Still interfering," replied the sergeant. "And theoretically, they'd be able to hide themselves like they did during high-altitude reconnaissance before, but we've had scout squads in areas where the enemy mobilized to confirm that after the Battle of the Astrobasic Fort, the traitors appear to have tightened their grip on the near ground Blockade around Orbit Fort."

The Master Chief nodded, then spoke again to the Jetsk channel.

"Captain Jesk, get your troops ready to attack after 6 hours of standard Terra time, and next company commander, I wish you good luck!"

"Understood, brother," said the company commander easily, raising his hands in salute.

Be ready for everything, the Master Chief muttered silently. "Then get ready, brothers, we're going to fight again, and this time, it's all or nothing."

(End of this chapter)