Warhammer: In the Name of Ashes

"where is that?"

As one of the Astartes' signature ways of appearing, airborne strikes have obviously attracted the attention of other high-ranking officers.

Grand Sister Margarita, who wore a bloody rose logo on her burqa, turned back to ask the representatives of the Defense Forces as soon as she saw the "iron rain" falling in the sky.

"Zone C, the visual distance should be between defense zones 117-119."

Hohenthorne flashed through his mind and saved the equally confused Commander of the Defense Forces from the Battle Sister's questioning.

"We will go to support immediately!"

The Sisters' enthusiasm for battle was worthy of their name of "Bloody Rose", but due to various concerns, Hohenthorne still prevented her action.

"It's no longer necessary," said the Captain of the Imperial Fists.

Taking the data plate from the guard behind him, Hornthorne pointed to the schematic diagram of the defense zone division of the Home Defense Force and explained to the leader of the Battle Sisters:

“That’s the edge of the fortress group’s air defense network, and it’s out of the direct fire range of the fortress group;

Without the rapid response support of heavy artillery, the static defensive defense regiment cannot stop the first wave of company-level battle monks..."

"So we can only watch their sacrifice?"

"I'm afraid that's the case. This is a long battle, and we need to concentrate all our efforts to block the enemy from outside the Holy City."

"We can fight back!"

"We can't!" Hornthorne interrupted Margarita's speech and looked at the angry Battle Sister seriously:

"Once out of the absolute air defense fire circle surrounding the Holy City, any troop assembly above a company level will surely be targeted by a targeted attack from orbit!

What do you want me to do to ensure the safety of our ground troops?

What do you want me to do to ensure the concealment of tactical operations?

Are we going to use the few remaining fighter planes in the Air Force?

That is our last trump card to deal with the enemy's surprise attack! "

"The Battle Sisters are not afraid of sacrifice!"

Margarita responded tit-for-tat to Hornthorne's roar, but the Imperial Fists Captain's next words caused her to fall into shameful silence.

"What about the inner city? What about the inner city of nearly a hundred square kilometers?

Of course I don't doubt your courage, but what about the defense of the inner city?

You have already lost a sacred object once. What guarantee can you give that no one else is lurking in the holy city now? "

All the high-ranking officers fell silent. In the suffocating silence, the logo representing the Defense Force on the data board was slowly extinguished.

Boom!

The white light flashed from the thunder across the sky, illuminating the trenches and trenches on the ground for a moment, and then dimmed instantly.

The muffled sound of thunder broke through the pouring rain, making the ears of the soldiers in the muddy trenches hurt. Well, if there are any surviving soldiers.

Unfortunately not.

60 kilometers southwest of the holy city, defense number C-107.

The 65th Motorized Infantry Regiment of the Home Defense Force is on a position 1 kilometer wide and 3.5 kilometers deep.

Nowadays, apart from the broken walls and the corpses of soldiers who resisted until the end, all that is left are the curled metal parts of tanks and logging guns, which are still burning stubbornly in the pouring rain.

puff……

The pale blue steel boots were like an icy millstone, crushing the angry head of a certain political commissar;

Under the dim light, these steel giants covered with snake scales were indifferently using their bolt guns to execute scattered survivors on the battlefield.

In a certain fortification in the center of the position, the communication device was still rustling. It's a pity that his master has been killed in the first wave of precise attacks by the enemy, and is destined to be unable to respond to these calls...

Thirty minutes had passed since the airborne strike. Normally, it would have been just a training session for the soldiers after lunch. But for the soldiers of the 65th Motorized Rifle Regiment of the National Defense Forces, time has frozen at this moment forever.

"Shasha... the eagle's nest is calling the saw viper... the eagle's nest is calling the saw viper..."

In the Astartes team's communicator, communication signals from above the orbit are being connected. After the communication array captures the specific location of the ground troops, the noise in the channel is rapidly weakening.

"This is the Sawlin Viper. Please tell me when you receive it."

Among the advancing Chaos Space Marines, an inconspicuous soldier stopped. The "officer" leading the team in front turned back and signaled, and continued to move forward after receiving the former's permission.

"The detection array shows that there is no sign of support for the warthog in the nest. Abandon the hunting plan and stay on standby. Please repeat after receiving it."

"Understood, give up the hunt, stay lurking and wait."

A few Astartes were standing guard with a vague presence. The soldiers repeated the orders in a low voice and at the same time issued the latest tactical instructions on the data terminal installed on the arm armor.

The Astartes who were marching in the front began to hide on the spot, and the team members responsible for finishing behind turned around and moved closer to the airdrop pod loaded with ammunition and supplies.

Within a few minutes, the entire company completed the equipment replacement for latent operations relying on the material reserves delivered together.

Before the retaliatory artillery fire from the direction of the Holy City arrived, they disappeared into the vast rain.

——

Move time back a few minutes.

As Hornthorne tortured the soul of Sister Margaret, there was a corner in the distant City of Divine Grace.

Mechanic Priest Farias, who had just completed the identity verification, trembled all over and encountered an inexplicable system crash.

"Data anomaly..."

"Data self-check..."

"The main system is normal, and it is suspected that there is interference from external data sources..."

Looking at the green data stream in the artificial pupil membrane, the priest who came all the way from the Forging World of Underworld No. 8 stopped downloading the access rights to the inner city database and fell into a strange silence.

This body has been in its hands for hundreds of years, more than ten years since its recent use.

It has never encountered similar data errors in this body, and naturally has no experience in dealing with similar problems.

This visit to Ophelia 7 was purely impromptu. After all, in its long life, there have been countless battles over a certain sacred object.

But no matter how many times similar dramas are performed, it can still arouse its special attribute called "Leziman" that is completely different from its peers.

As for that sacred object...

In his eyes, he doesn't have much desire to collect.

After all, as an ancient race with a long history, there is no shortage of similar or more precious items in his collection.

So what are the treasures that are truly worth collecting in the wash of time?

As a collector who considers himself to be quite tasteful, the Mechanical Priest, tentatively called Farias, is currently looking with interest through the layers of steel in front of him at the Emperor's Angels stationed there. direction.

"Wait a minute, wait a minute..." He whispered to himself.

renew.