Warhammer: In the Name of Ashes

After Gavins arrived at the bridge, he immediately formed a new temporary command team with Captain Tabers and Mechanic Bishop Klein.

After communicating with the theater commander, Grand Master Aidan, they received permission to return to Titan.

Also returning together were two other strike cruisers that had just completed their missions from the neighboring Efflan system.

It is planned that when the three battleships pass through the Hesus Festival area when they arrive, the battleship Supreme Decree, which is a follow-up preparatory force, will also join them in returning to Titan...

Within two Terran Standard Days, the other two Gray Knight strike cruisers had already separated from their respective battlefields and arrived at the scheduled rendezvous point.

But before that, a supply barge from other strike cruisers in the theater quietly came to the loading and unloading deck of the Revenant Redeemer, and after staying for 6 standard time units, it quietly and mysteriously sailed away from the Revenant Redeemer.

As the "temporary" commander, Gavins knew nothing about this. He just stayed in the command seat in the center of the bridge and quietly performed his basic functions as a commander.

After a brief communication between the three ships and confirmation of the command sequence, with the Revenant Redeemer as the central flagship, the remaining two strike cruisers will be deployed in an escort posture at a later position on the left and right.

The small fleet of three strike cruisers began preparing to leave the current war zone and return to Titan.

The engine of the Revenant Redeemer has started first and started outputting power.

It will lead the other two strike cruisers to the Manzeville Point located in the interior of the Efflan system for a subspace jump, and then sail through the subspace to reach the Hesus Festival area as soon as possible to rendezvous with the battleship Supreme Decree waiting there.

As the fleet sailed towards the jump point, Gavins sat on the command seat in the center of the command platform on the bridge, looking at the scenery out the porthole directly ahead.

He was confused by the information contained in the traffic order he had received previously.

"Did the reserve team evacuate first? Or is the Supreme Edict coming for us? I think if it is just for escort, this is not necessary." He asked Tabers on his left.

Tabos had no intention of hiding it. He looked at the battle deployment situation in the galaxy in the holographic projection in front of him, and explained to Gavins:

"That's not the case. In fact, the battles in these two galaxies are now at an end. In view of your command sequence problem, the information you received has a certain lag. In fact, the frontline troops have begun to evacuate."

As soon as he finished speaking, the navigator in front of the command podium had already sent out a signal that he had arrived at Manzeville Point and was about to enter subspace navigation.

"The end? I only see the dynamics of the four troops including us now."

Gavins also turned his attention to the holographic projection in front of him. He pointed at the symbols of the three strike cruisers on the projector that were still suspended above the planet where the battle area was located. He looked back at Tabos and asked:

"So what happened to these three ships?"

"Them? They have some separate missions that need to be completed, and they are probably still waiting for the final instructions." After hesitating, Tabos decided to truthfully tell what he knew to the "temporary commander" who had never assumed the responsibility of a leader. official".

"What mission? May I know?"

As a new officer, Gavins was very curious about the new information authority he was in.

But he still knew that his name as "commander" was prefixed with the word "temporary", so the limited and high-density information was destined to be impossible to completely open to him.

When he asks about some topics that he feels are sensitive, he will still carefully confirm whether his authority is sufficient in advance to avoid embarrassing situations.

And Tabers' answer caught him off guard. The other party's answer did not dwell on his authority. Instead, the specific information made him feel extra heavy as a front-line combatant who had never assumed command authority.

Tabers put it this way:

"Of course you can know. In fact, it can't be hidden from you. If you want, just go and look out the window. Before we leave here, take one last look here. There are some scenery that you can never look at again if you don't look at them. It’s not here…”

Just like this, at the last moment before the Revenant Redeemer entered the subspace, Gavins followed the guidance of Tabos and saw the three real planets in his sight, and all he saw was that the entire planet was melted. scene.

On the corresponding planets below the three strike cruisers, the same scene is happening at this time:

A huge ring of fire that can be seen with the naked eye in space is rapidly spreading from scratch on the planet, from small to large.

At the center of the ring of fire, there is even more intense prominence-like lava that is violently spewing upward from the earth's crust.

The shock waves generated by the violent plate movement brewed and exploded, and then followed the previous ring of fire and spread to the entire planet...

Gavins stood up suddenly from the command seat. The servo inside his Terminator power armor hummed in protest at the violent movement, but he could no longer care about it.

He looked at the destructive scenes taking place on the three distant planets in front of him, and a dry voice came out from his mouth like a moan: "Double...polar cyclone torpedo...extinction order?"

At the same time, the communication signals of the entire fleet also captured the encrypted announcement that resounded throughout the galaxy and even the sector:

"In the name of the Lord of Mankind! In the name of the High Lords' Council of the Human Empire! In the name of the Inquisition of the Human Empire! I, the High Inquisitor of the Demonic Inquisition, Terlinka Lyudmila, solemnly announces under the gaze of the God-Emperor that the following three worlds will be subjected to the most severe punishment! The list of punishments is: Ifalan Hive World No. 1! Ifalan Agricultural World No. 5! Ifalan Hive World No. 15! Every inch of the Empire's territory was hard-earned! The people of the Empire have worked hard to build their own wealth for the God-Emperor! We are incompetent and cannot defend against the enemy from outside; we... No wisdom, this is the only way to save the rest. After this battle, all the blame is on me. I am the High Inquisitor of the Demonic Tribunal, Terlinka Lyudmila. I am willing to accept the "hundred-year investigation" initiated by any colleague on the decision I made in this battle. If there is any negligence, I am willing to take responsibility for it, accept the judgment of the Empire, and the excommunication of the High Court! This judgment will take effect immediately! Time... "

The high-pitched and sad voice of Inquisitor Lyudmila from the Demonic Tribunal still resounded on the encrypted channel of the section, and this declaration was also spread through this channel to all planets, starports, hives, warships and other places where the Empire's forces are still fighting in the SATA section.

After listening to this declaration, both the Astartes warriors fighting on the front line and the manufacturing directors in the rear forge worlds stopped their work silently.

They silently looked at the invisible place in the distance, where there were three worlds that originally belonged to the Empire, and countless people of the Empire on them were abandoned.

But this is necessary.

The issuance of the extermination order is never a joke.

Being able to make such a choice itself means that the war situation here has deteriorated to the point where even the highest commanders in the war zone are helpless. Or, the cost of saving this planet has been proven to be far greater than the planet itself.

The ending of the extermination order is no joke, and any judge who issues the extermination order will be responsible for his decision to the end.

If anyone can prove that her order is unnecessary in the next hundred years, then what awaits her is the most severe punishment from the empire - the excommunication order.

Therefore, every judge who is forced by the situation to formally list the extermination order as an option needs to have great will and awareness, and his every decision affects the life and death of one or even several planets.

Here I borrow a sentence from the original book:

"There is no room for weak-willed and hesitant people here. Only through firm actions and beliefs can mankind survive. There is no sacrifice too big to bear, and no betrayal too small to tolerate." - Doctrine of the Heretic Inquisition Think Tank, Chapter 28 "Extermination Order"

py, a friend's book, please recommend it. If you are interested, you can go and have a look.