Warhammer: In the Name of Ashes

"I still don't think we alone can completely seal this place off."

Calvin said to the people here after returning to the bridge.

"It's obvious." Tabers answered affirmatively.

What about our reinforcements? where are you now? Calvin looked in Jin's direction, waiting for his answer.

"The war in Orps has been temporarily suspended. The fleet has been mobilized and organized. The support fleet can reach the star sector node here in five days at the earliest and ten days at the latest."

After Jin once again confirmed the battle status report in his hand, he raised his head and answered to the people present.

"Then if we count it for twelve days, the war there is going smoothly? The speed of their mobilization sounds very fast." Calvin asked.

"It didn't go well, but the fleet's losses were not much. In fact, before the main force of the fleet arrived, the local Alien Tribunal had decided to give up the counterattack on the Lyak sector, and the passage nodes leading there had been blown up." was Kim's reply.

"...This is really regrettable news." Calvin said.

He didn't know many details about the Orpheus War. He only had the opportunity to understand some of the background of the battle decades ago when the Supreme Decree went to the Orpheus sector to support it.

The situation there is complicated, and more than one empire's hostile forces have been found to be active there.

Orcs, aliens, and Chaos all regarded it as their own paradise. Over the course of centuries, they took turns appearing in the Lyak Sector and the other direction of the empire's administrative region centered on the Orps Sector—— The edge of the Hassan sector.

The local defense military forces are unable to cope with this situation and can only retreat in a protracted war.

The reasons for such an anxious and continuous war situation are extremely complex. In addition to the internal friction of the sector government itself, the main problem is the endless oppression of the Orps region by the empire.

In response to pressure from other Imperial battlefields against the xenos in the Segmentum Segmentum, the Imperial government has been drawing forces from Orpheus for fourteen consecutive centuries.

The industrial production capacity of the entire region, which includes four star regions, hundreds of planetary worlds, and hundreds of mining worlds, is being continuously recruited. Under continuous oppression, the local population, both nobles and commoners, was exhausted.

Without industrial output to export, there is naturally no profit. Without profits, there would be no money to invest in local infrastructure and defense, and the defense forces in the sector would naturally become slack.

The local defense force and sector navy generals also expressed concerns about this many times, but under the guidance of the Storm Star domain authorities' principle of obeying the overall situation, they finally chose to remain silent.

There may not be a person named Murphy in this world, but the corresponding rules have not changed.

When something can happen, it will happen.

As the local defense officers were worried about the defense of the sector, the invasion from aliens and chaos finally arrived.

The war began on the fringes of the Lyark sector, with a sudden rebellion by the local governor.

The local garrison and the Astartes Chapter arrived at short notice and quickly put down the rebellion.

However, during the subsequent investigation, the personnel of the Inquisition discovered traces of the dual existence of Chaos and Alien.

Do your best to eliminate evil, otherwise there will be endless troubles.

In the following centuries, continuous rebellions indeed appeared throughout the sector.

The increasingly bad defense situation left the local imperial army no chance to rest and recuperate as they continued to fight rebellions, and they were exhausted.

Under the heavy alarm, the senior leaders of the Storm Star Territory finally focused their attention on this place, but it was still too late.

A large-scale Orc invasion and Chaos pollution occurred simultaneously on more than a dozen planetary worlds in the Lyak and Hassan sectors.

The flames of war all over the place made the imperial soldiers focus on one thing and the other. In the end, under a long-planned ambush, the entire combined fleet of the star sector perished at the junction of the Hassan star field and the Lyak star field. ,

The empire and the enemy's offensive and defensive posture, with all its mobile power exhausted, completely changed at this moment.

But the Empire never gave up here. With the support of the Empire, the Orps sector forcibly recruited 20 million Astral Legions in a short period of time, and several Astartes Chapters were not ordered to go to support.

The new Orps United Fleet was also re-established with the support of the entire Storm Star Territory.

But the national power of the empire is limited after all, especially in 39K, when the entire empire has experienced disasters such as the Great Rebellion, Beast Wars, and the Age of Apostasy. The declining national power does not allow them to spend as much as they did during the Great Crusade.

The new Orpheus fleet did not have many truly large battleships, and could only be pieced together hastily. New ships could be slowly delivered over the next few centuries.

This is where the reinforcements Calvin hoped for came from:

A fleet consisting of one Retribution-class battleship and six Moon-class cruisers had just been built on Reza's Iron Ring, and was received by the Astral Navy and urgently transferred to the direction of Orps.

The war there has reached a critical stage. The entire Lyak sector has been lost, and the existing Imperial Navy is holding on to the only channel from Lyak to Orps to resist the orc attack.

The briefing from the imperial envoy was obviously the most timely battlefield information feedback. With limited channels, Calvin had no choice but to believe it.

Regarding the fall of Lyak, he was frustrated but had no choice, but from another perspective, the support fleet failed to truly participate in the counterattack against the Lyak sector, which was actually a good thing for the war here.

At least after the troops led by Calvin complete their mission of holding on, the reinforcements he can expect to arrive will be a fleet in complete condition.

"Is this our goal?"

Calvin stood in front of the porthole. In the direction of the end of his field of vision, an irregular asteroid hung alone on the outer edge of the galaxy. A large number of broken meteorites and small satellites were bound by gravity to orbit it, forming a ring similar to that of Saturn. The same meteorite belt.

The occasionally visible large ice structures on the meteorite belt prove that a massive collision occurred here not long ago; the distant stars reminded Calvin that the surface temperature here would be horribly low.

What a terrible battlefield, but an ideal one.

Calvin looked at the planet's surface with mixed emotions. The harsh natural conditions made Calvin worry about the combat effectiveness of the troops; but the desolate background minimized the destructiveness of Chaos pollution.

"Judging from the information in our hands, this is it." Jin said behind him.

"So, do you still insist on going down with us? Forgive me for the offense, respected envoy. I have no doubts about your professional skills, but your status as an envoy is your greatest responsibility for this trip."

His eyes were still focused on the planet in the distance, but the topic in Calvin's mouth had turned to Jin beside him.

"This is not a contradiction. Besides, keeping the closest distance to you is part of the envoy's work, isn't it?"

"In this case, I have no objection. But in the following battle on the ground, you may not be able to stay out of it. Please check your equipment. If you have any needs, please contact my adjutant Gavinsti. We will try our best to meet your requirements."

"Your will, then, see you on the ground."

"See you on the ground."

Calvin turned and left the porthole, but the envoy of the Imperial Guard was still looking at the starry sky outside the window. In the distance in the direction of his sight was the direction of Orpheus.

Later, as the Revenant Redeemer approached the meteorite belt in orbit, the two Thunderhawks were quietly released. The target is the wreckage of the hulk that is more than ten kilometers high on the surface of the planet.

"Target confirmed! The hull directly ahead! Signs of energy operation are detected, and the orbital side is requested to crack it!"

"Received! Cracking is in progress! Cracking is complete! Password transmission is in progress, the flight deck has been unlocked, the Emperor's blessing, and good luck."

"The Emperor's blessing!"

The silently flying Thunderhawk ended communications with the mothership before entering the atmosphere.

The driver in front also sent an alert to the Thunderhawk's cabin due to the violent turbulence caused by the upcoming atmosphere.

The red warning light was lit in the dark cabin, and the Gray Knights were prompted to check the status of their weapons again.

In the sight of the Thunderhawk pilot, the space hulks were twisted and interlocked with each other, and the parts of unknown depths were inserted into the ground like a metal building with strange architectural styles, sitting on this wasteland;

Or maybe a malicious, deformed, rusty metal dagger stabbed into the round fruit.

Surprising news emerged. The energy supply to the hull at the top of the "building" had not yet failed. This was an unexpected gain obtained by the auspicious device before entering the atmosphere.

The Redeemer of the Souls in orbit immediately began to crack the targeted permissions after receiving the notification. The later password transmission saved a lot of effort for the Gray Knights to log in.

As the Thunder Eagle flew, the fuzzy hull of the ship in the distance was clearly visible.

No trace of the original painting can be found on the mottled armor. Only the huge metal gears and holy skulls on the gate prove that this was once a mechanical ark belonging to the Mechanicus.

But it is impossible to know whether it belongs to the current Imperial Mechanicus or whether it comes from the Black Mechanicus before it rebelled and fell into Chaos.

The flight deck of the spacecraft was working normally, and the gate was slowly opened with the request to crack the password. The bearings, which had not been maintained for an unknown period of time, made a tooth-aching groan under the servo command of the hydraulic press.

But fortunately, the door still opened smoothly. Before it could be fully opened, the Thunder Eagle descended from the sky and couldn't wait to get in.

"laugh……"

The Thunderhawk landed lightly on the unmanned deck, and the front and rear hatches opened quickly with the release of steam.

Calvin stood directly behind the hatch and stepped out first when the gate landed.

The eight Gray Knights on both sides of him followed the directions on both sides of him, forming a small team of four. They started to observe the surrounding environment while being on guard.

The empty deck was shrouded in darkness, and no sound could be heard except the breathing of the Gray Knights.

The infrared lights overhead and the tactical lights on the guns pierced the darkness, but dissipated feebly not far away.

The dust brought up by the Thunder Eagle on the deck fell silently like snow as it passed through the beam of light.

At the end of the field of vision, only a small amount of emergency lighting flickered on and off in the far corner.

Calvin half-knelt on the ground and picked up a handful of dust. He used the light from the thunder eagle behind him to gently twist it on his fingers. After sniffing it carefully, he found that the dry ingredients had nothing to gain except the fragrance of the soil itself.

As the hatch of the cabin behind the Thunder Eagle fell, three Heavenly Punishment Fear Knights also walked out of the hatch with slow, heavy steps, under the watchful eyes of the four Gray Knights.

There is no other way. If the size of the Thunderhawk wants to carry weapons of this size, it can only be wronged by these steel giants and squat in the more spacious rear cabin of the Thunderhawk in the posture of mortals excreting.

Oh, and our Custodes emissary Jin is here too.

He had just taken advantage of the burst of inspiration to draw a sketch of "The Gray Knight's Preparation Picture of the Heavenly Punishment Dread Knight". Under the silent gaze of the seven pairs of eyes of the Gray Knight, he calmly put away the pen and paper in his hand and leaned against him. He picked up the halberd on the weapon rack and quickly walked to the front of Thunder Eagle to meet Calvin.

Calvin, who heard the footsteps, turned around and saw his figure.

"It's such a nice place. I can even smell the soil from the orchards on the planet I was born on." Calvin said to Jin who walked beside him while looking up at the blurry dome above.

"Indeed, this is at least a good start, right?" Jin said in a relaxed tone.

"Indeed, at least it means that this place is not the target of Chaos. At least we have a safe landing point. Let's go, time is very tight, we have to find that device."

Calvin replied. He issued an order to the entire team through his psychic channel:

"Everyone is here, extinguish all light sources! Prepare the stroller for teleportation, and stand by where you are! The remaining people follow me, explore the formation and move forward! Execute immediately!"

Four of the six Gray Knights in front, wearing optical camouflage cloaks, nodded silently to Calvin and took the lead to quietly walk into the darkness.

After the remaining two gray knights and the four comrades in the rear were in position, they advanced in a hexagonal shape with Calvin and Jin as the center.

This silent war machine started so suddenly and quietly. Their silent understanding and the details of their various positions made even the Imperial Guards, who always thought highly of themselves, moved.

In Jin's eyes, one second the entire team was still and alert to the surroundings, and the next second they began to perform their respective duties and began to change their formations in an orderly manner, exploring and moving forward. And he never heard a single order or communication during this process.

Psychic?

This concept, a natural fit for the Custodes, once again crossed Jin's mind, but with all his well-read knowledge, he had never known of any psychic power that could be used with such luxury on a tactical level.

Or is this what's special about the person next to him?

According to the records of the Throne Court, each Primarch does have their own unique abilities.

Jin once again secretly looked at the giant beside him. The Gray Knight's Primarch was good at psychic powers, and there was really nothing strange about this kind of thing logically.

"Hey, I really want to write it down!"

Jin's hand tightened on the guard's spear, and finally gave up the dangerous behavior of taking down a report openly and openly in front of a Primarch and his Honor Guard.

He decided to use his mind to see and listen as much as possible on the next journey, write down the details of the battles of these unique Gray Knights, and then write it down after returning to Terra.

A uniquely detailed description of the Gray Knights' Primarch and his Honor Guard!

Fresh! First hand!

"Ah sneeze!" Calvin sneezed hugely. With his strong body, he naturally would not suffer from respiratory diseases, which are common to mortals.

He thought about it doubtfully, and then, based on his spiritual premonition, he looked around with suspicion, finally settling on the only guy who was not one of his own.

Feeling Calvin's gaze, Jin's palm holding the spear was slightly moist, and he decided to shift the focus before the incident happened.

So he met Calvin's gaze and asked cautiously:

"Do you always fight like this? I mean, this is different from the Gray Knights I have seen before."

Two in one, updated, please vote.

In addition, thanks to Zhu Xia's privet boss for his support, it was a waste of money.