Chapter 104 03.0103: "Scarlet Ritual" (First Order Request!)

[+Louise, can you see anything? +] Horatio used the Hand of Command to lower a psychic beacon.

[+Yes, I can see a bright...dangling arrow? And...my shadow? What is this? +] Louise looked behind the cover.

[+That is the command beacon I released+]

Horatio understood the principles and manifestations of the conducting hand.

It can help Horley give combat position instructions to individual soldiers or teams in real time and with great accuracy, just like in the games "Men of War" and "Company of Heroes", and leave the rest to the soldiers themselves.

Although it is not a direct mental control like the technical priests controlling the Crusaders, it can be played as a first-person shooter game.

But if we let the soldiers with subjective initiative to carry out the work themselves and adapt it to local conditions, the effect may be better.

[If I really suddenly have psychic mind control, that would be a big problem.] Horatio thought, if that were true, he would probably end up on the Black Ship.

Horatio immediately issued beacon instructions to the units he could command. Although almost everyone asked Horatio what it was, he cleverly claimed that it was a command shadow obtained from the Mechanicus, a new technology discovered by archaeology.

[I'm afraid I'll have to ask Father Latti to smooth things over for me later.] Horatio was a little embarrassed.

The soldiers took immediate action, moving toward the designated position marked by Horatio and quickly seizing the advantageous firing point.

The Blood Angels guarded the gate, and most of the bullets were unable to cause any damage to their sturdy power armor until Brother Romain Rolland dodged a thermal melta ray.

Bang! A huge explosion came from the side, and the mutants in heavy armor rushed into the Imperial Guards holding the melta bombs, turning into a bloody rain, and the remains of limbs and flesh stuck to the holy church's outer wall.

[+Damn it! They killed the lieutenant! Who's in command now? +] The guard sergeant's hoarse shouting came from the communicator.

[+I am Chief Petty Officer Horatio Cochrane of the Imperial Navy and the garrison officer of the Cathedral of the Goddess. I will take over the command+]

[+Okay, this is the only way for now+] Although the sergeant did not say it explicitly, from his tone, it can be seen that he was not optimistic about the land combat command ability of this sergeant major from the navy.

Horatio had no time to get angry at the other side's disrespect and immediately took over all defensive forces.

[+As the church garrison officer, I now take over the command of all the Tiannu Church garrison troops. Repeat, I now take over the command of all the Tiannu Church garrison troops+]

[+The Ministry of Justice troops respond to your call+] Inquisitor Javert's voice came from the background of the huge shotgun fire.

[+I need some sisters to guard the interior of the church. Outside the church, 20 combat nuns, a rhino troop carrier and a medical nun will accept your leadership. You must stop them. May the Emperor bless you.+] The voice of the elder sister came out along with the hymns in the church. She had to hold a sacred ceremony and could not take care of the command.

[+Thanks, Sister+]

As Horatio was able to command more and more soldiers, after examining the battle situation, he decided to immediately shrink the defense line of all troops and abandon the outer square where corpses were strewn all over the ground.

Under his command, everyone took turns to provide cover and brought back as many injured survivors as possible, instead of leaving them outside to be dismembered and slaughtered by Khorne's minions.

Horatio glanced at the soldiers on the 'soldier card' who were still able to fight.

There were 30 Hell Sentinels, and only 3 were slightly injured.

There are still 4 special police officers from the Ministry of Justice, all of whom are injured but can still continue to fight.

20 battle sisters, a Rhino troop carrier, and Sister Arabella.

Three Blood Angels in excellent condition.

But the condition of the Imperial Guard is not so good. The number of soldiers from the 304th Cadia Regiment has been reduced to 112, including 20 seriously injured.

This was all the cards he had left. Chaos was spread all over the planet. Air transport troops were busy putting out fires everywhere. Some reinforcements went in from the ground and were fighting street battles with great difficulty. It might take a while for them to be able to push through.

The door of the Tiannu Church was pushed open, and nearly tens of thousands of people gathered in the Tiannu Church.

At first glance, Horatio saw the 80-meter-tall statue in front of him. The golden statue was lifelike, depicting Sanguinius wearing a golden silent mask, stepping on the big devil, holding a spear and a sword, and two little angels helping him spread his holy wings.

But to be honest, although the name of the statue is the Statue of Saint Gilles.

But who is behind the golden mask, Sanguinius himself, or the 'Stand-in' (Sanguinius's Herald) whose secret is unknown even to the Blood Angels? Or what about Sanguinius's beloved son, Sanguinius?

Horatio didn't know either.

Sister Arabella was sorry for interrupting the singing, and at her request, the head nun opened the mechanical staircase leading to the basement at the foot of the statue and borrowed half of the nuns who were singing hymns to take care of the wounded.

Guards carrying stretchers kept walking through the red carpet in the middle, and the groans of the wounded echoed together with the hymns.

Some civilians saw blood dripping on the red carpet, trembling all over and closing their eyes to pray for Sanguinius' blessing.

"Stop them!" Horatio's shout was still clearly audible amid the burst of gunfire.

Using his commanding hand, he set up two staggered lines of defense in front of the church steps, with the tall church walls on both sides, so the enemy could only break in from the front.

Under the coverage of dense fire net, corpses fell in layers in front of the wide silver-white arch, screams and wails were endless, the barrels of the two heavy logging guns were red and white, and even the wind bolter on the Rhino armored vehicle began to jam constantly.

The guards knelt in one row and stood in the second row, with bayonets hanging from the muzzles of their guns. They formed a human wall behind the sandbags and, under Horatio's command, took turns firing at the Anointed of Khorne who rushed into the courtyard.

They killed countless enemies, thwarted the attacks of Khorne's minions one after another, leaving their corpses scattered all over the ground, their blood flowing, their howling and screaming, punishing them with the Emperor's wrath for desecrating the sacred day, for their indiscriminate killing of innocent people, and their bloody brutality.

As the Blood Pact rushed to the front line of the assault, the brave Cadian Blitzkrieg suffered heavy losses after a fierce exchange of fire.

Soldiers in the queue were shot and fell to the ground continuously. Their blood dyed the white floor tiles red, seeped into the cracks, and flowed into the dark underground.

The reinforcements were blocked on the periphery and engaged in fierce street fighting with the Blood Pact soldiers hiding in the buildings. Every step forward would cost a lot of sacrifices.

In the distance Horatio could hear Lemanus tanks firing at buildings and ammunition exploding in ambushes.

The underground environment makes it difficult to get support from large air units.

As soon as the Valkyries hovered in the sky, they would be shot down by the shoulder-mounted gunners hidden in the tower. Even if Falida killed one, other Blood Pact soldiers would pick up their guns and move to another position to wait for other fighters to fly in. Moreover, they had many guns, which were fired from different directions at the same time, making it impossible to parry or evade.

There are many other places that are suffering from the same predicament as the Church of the Goddess, and the reserved air transport troops are running around fighting like firefighters.

The last box of ammunition in the heavy lumber gun position was also used up, and the hot wind bolter burned the hands of the battle sister.

Colors are gradually disappearing from people's eyes, and the world seems to be left with only the red light of explosion and the darkness of extinction.

Horatio smelled the strong smell of blood in the air, as if he was in a rusty hell.

Unholy symbols began to appear on the bloody ground, and psychic readings began to alarm.

"What the hell is going on?" Arbitrator Javert spat and looked around.

Horatio looked at the ground, where blood was slowly drawing a strange rune.

It was growing, draining the blood from the dead and pooling it together, no matter whose blood it was.

Horatio couldn't understand the twisted, unclean language, but he knew it was not a good sign.

He was unsure what terrible thing might happen in the courtyard in front of the church, but to be on the safe side, he ordered his troops to begin firing in an orderly manner at the influx of cultists and then retreat.

The nun driving the Rhino troop carrier backed up and blocked the steps opposite the gate, using her iron body as a solid shield to protect the temple.

[+Sister, I think there is a situation here. I'm afraid you may need to take a look.+] Horatio looked at the growing bright red rune array on the ground and said to the Sister in a stern tone.

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(End of this chapter)