Warhammer: In the Name of Ashes

Imperial Calendar 743.M39, Storm Star Territory, Federman 9, on the plain outside the planetary fortress.

At the edge of the empty wilderness, there is no vegetation except gravel on the cold open land.

Among the heavy dark clouds in the upper atmosphere, the light of the artificial moon occasionally passed through the gaps, illuminating the place not far in front of Calvin.

"One against three." Calvin thought as he looked at the three Astartes slowly walking out of the darkness at the edge of the moonlight.

Under the cold white moonlight, water molecules in the windless air slowly condensed on the armor.

The four people who were approaching each other slowly stopped at the delicate distance of 30 meters. Like the instinct of beasts, they all knew that if they took another step forward, the war would begin.

The moonlight still shines quietly on the four metal statues, and no movement can be seen except for the four long breathing sounds.

Sand...sand...sand...

A sand lizard crawled out of the hole. It was so frightened by the desire to kill that it forgot its original intention of hunting. The sound of fleeing for its life broke the weak balance.

boom!

The two Astartes raised their swords and rushed towards Calvin from both sides. The remaining person behind him raised his storm bolt gun with a grin and shot Calvin suppressively. Explosive bombs.

The two wings outflank and the center suppresses.

The inverted triangle formation was approaching Calvin in the blink of an eye, and only then did he look away from the moon above his head.

There, a dark cloud will touch the edge of the moonlight.

It's now! The silver figure rose up at the moment when the light and darkness changed, charging towards the left!

The sand brought up by the huge force has not yet hit the ground, and the bullets that are following are still chasing the figure in front in vain.

Calvin had arrived first and arrived in front of the Astartes.

"Go!"

With a body that was a head taller than the opponent, the war hammer he swung smashed away the opponent's parry with the huge force of the charge.

Facing the empty door, Calvin bowed and his heavy shoulder armor collided with him. The Asate grunted and then lost his center of gravity. Under the greater force, his heavy body retreated backwards irresistibly.

Explosions from a distance hit the body in front of him like raindrops, and the popping sound of entering flesh could not stop Calvin's progress.

The second person who came later opened his eyes angrily when he saw this. He simply raised the sword in his hand and swung his arms in a circle, intending to cut them off together.

But things went counterproductive. Calvin, who had dealt with him countless times, clearly knew the other party's choice.

Another burst of power threw the heavy body in front of him towards the opponent. Taking advantage of the moment when the other side cleared his perspective, Calvin's eyes lit up with silver light!

discipline!

His right hand pointed in the distance, directed by the psychic lightning, and the Astartes holding the violent bolt gun was knocked down in response!

At this time, the last survivor in front of him had just cut off the remains of his comrade.

With only the last person left in front of me, Calvin's pressure suddenly decreased. He raised his hand provocatively at the opponent, indicating that this one-sided killing would end quickly.

“For The Emperor!!!”

The only remaining Astartes did not lose his fighting spirit. He raised his sword and bravely charged towards his death under the renewed moonlight.

boom!

The confrontation between the scepter and the sword was simple and unpretentious. The first sword under the charge was blocked by Calvin without moving, and the subsequent clashes were closely connected, as if they were just one collision in the first place. echo.

The warrior Astartes' long sword was still swinging at high speed and force, but after losing the initial momentum, victory or defeat was no longer in his control.

The disadvantage of polearms in melee combat is their clumsiness, and there is no trace of this on Calvin.

The exquisite pace conceals near-perfect control of the center of gravity; the huge improvement in martial arts allows Calvin to block the opponent's attack only by relying on the inertia of the weapon itself in addition to the first three blocks.

The attack that was cut head-on with the sword was blocked by the lightly raised staff;

Taking advantage of the situation, the slash to the shoulder and neck was blocked by the shoulder armor that stepped forward:

He took a step back and slashed across his waist, but was knocked away by the tail of the staff that was in position;

After three strikes, Calvin, who finally saw all the opponent's martial arts skills, lost his patience.

It seems that he struck down with a stick, but in an understatement, it actually released the inertia accumulated before.

The opponent's resistance seemed so fragile at this moment. When the long sword collapsed, the wrist holding the sword was also broken by the huge force.

On the yellow-painted Terminator power armor, the cracked helmet and the heavy body flew towards the direction from which it came.

Calvin walked slowly towards the opponent's fallen body, looking down at the strange and familiar face of this Astartes.

"Captain Jutas, is there anything else you want to say?"

"Fight for...the Emperor...! Even if you die...you will not regret it!"

Supported by one arm, the warrior was still trying to stand up. His eyes were lifeless, and he answered dully according to his last will.

"Then, have a good trip!"

Calvin paused the scepter in his hand, and made the final journey for this afterimage in his consciousness.

"call!"

Calvin opened his eyes, recalling the aftermath of the battle just now.

He was the only one present in the huge metal hall with silver-gray as the main color.

The door behind him was opened at some point, and a Gray Knight walked in with standard steps:

"Fortress Lord, Terra's envoy has arrived."

That's right, since 713.M39 of the Imperial Calendar, this is already the tenth year that Calvin has served as the fortress garrison commander of the Gray Knights Chapter in the Federman System.

Thirty years, for mortals, means the aging of a generation. Even for the Astartes, who are known for their longevity, this still means a long war.

The same is true for Calvin. In his original plan, he never imagined that he would stay here for such a long time.

It took Federman 10 years to complete the finishing work on Planet 4.

Since 715, the screening and memory cleansing procedures, as well as the repeated contaminations and rebellions since then, have consumed too much of his energy.

In 718 alone, under his leadership, a full 600,000 of the 4 million Astra Militarum were judged as traitors and were subsequently subjected to purification procedures.

Although the scale of the three subsequent rebellions was slightly smaller, at least 100,000 people were identified as sources of pollution. During the final cleanup process, as many as 500,000 people were buried with these contaminated people.

As of the year 723, there were less than 2.8 million Astra Militarum members who were finally judged to be pure and allowed to return to their home planet.

The war with Chaos was like this. The bloodshed was never limited to the battle. The cleanup after the war was often more painful than the battle itself. This was his personal experience.

But this cannot make Calvin despair. After all, from the perspective of the entire race, this kind of casualty is far from being called a trauma.

This is the advantage of humans as a short-lived species. Their ability to reproduce gives them naturally great endurance.

Even under the internal and external troubles of evil gods and aliens, humans, who often suffered heavy casualties, still used their unparalleled numbers to firmly occupy the position of the largest race in the galaxy.

This is what he learned over a long period of time as a Gray Knight commander:

If he wants to create value for the empire in the longer term, he must learn to focus on the overall situation rather than one individual.

The metal door at the end of the hall opened again, and the golden figure stepping forward caught Calvin's attention.

Behind him were representatives from the Inquisition.

After paying tribute to Calvin, the envoy from the throne room stated his purpose:

"In the name of the Emperor, a ruin of great importance to the Empire has been discovered in this star field. The Throne Court has sent people to rush here. But there are signs that Chaos is also aware of its existence. We need your help. ”

Calvin frowned. The main force of the Gray Knights in his hands had been sent out to perform the mission, and a small number of garrison troops were guarding the fortress under construction at the edge of the galaxy.

At this moment, the only reserve force he has left is his direct team, less than 20 people.

He turned towards the envoy of the Imperial Guard.

"How many people are needed?"

"At least 30, the more the better."

"I only have 15 people, I'll go with you."

The envoy of the Forbidden Army hesitated. He was not sure about the safety of this trip, so he was even less sure whether it was necessary to involve the person in front of him.

"Your responsibilities are more important. Please send the troops you have."

This was the suggestion from the representatives of the Inquisition, and the Adeptus Custodes emissaries agreed in rare silence.

But Calvin had already made his own decision. He looked at the two of them and smiled slightly. Under his white teeth were his firm words:

"Fight for the empire, even if you die, you will never regret it!"

One update.