Warhammer: In the Name of Ashes

"How is the morale here?" Calvin asked Talos.

Despite what was reported in the battle briefing, he wanted to get the information first-hand from his commander.

"Very good!" Talos straightened his body and replied.

"Mortal troops have a strong will to resist...very loyal to the Empire!"

"Um."

Loyalty... Calvin glanced at Talos and understood the reason for his last sentence.

After all, this is the richest war zone in the empire, and he believes that the will to resist is strong. As for being loyal to the empire... with the current governance model of the empire and the influence of the Mechanicum on Goth, if he really wanted to be serious, someone might have to redefine the scope of the "empire" with him.

In other words, the loyalty in this world is different from the civilization in his previous life. The loyalty here is more like a contract, a transaction that is conditional and must be respected.

There is true unconditional loyalty, but most of it only exists among the believers of the Imperial State Church, or their group of Gray Knights.

Talos's emphatically explained was probably more due to the considerations of the Inquisition behind Calvin.

Calvin was noncommittal about this. After all, these veterans of the Luna Wolves had just settled down not long ago. As the saying goes, whatever is lacking, just mention it - the word loyalty will surely be a valuable quality that they need to prove for a long time.

The Storm Eagles in the clouds were still advancing, while the escorting fighter jets around them had reached the edge of their defense zone.

Through the porthole, Calvin saw the fighter plane swinging toward the Storm Eagle he was riding on a few times, then immediately leaving the combat position and starting to return;

And in the clouds beneath their feet and above their heads, another group of fighter planes spray-painted with imperial livery appeared to take over their previous positions.

"Which troop is this?" Calvin's mind moved slightly, and he noticed the sights of the Gray Knights behind him.

The newly joined fighters are swaying their fuselages in the same way. They are paying tribute to their departing comrades. Everyone present had inhuman eyesight, and they could all see the honorary paint job on these newly added escort fighters that represented their kill records.

This is obviously a more elite force, and it is very young. Under their sharp and vigorous postures, there is almost overflowing pride and vitality.

And this vitality from mortals is exactly what the Gray Knights long for but cannot reach... and protect with their lives.

"The thirty-fifth war zone is also one of the core war zones that is predicted to be selected by the enemy as a landing site." Talos's stiff face also softened a little, and he introduced the original body with an expression that could barely be called a smile.

"Oh, the code starting with 3, is it an agricultural area?" Calvin asked.

"Yes, Your Highness. Please look down." Talos unlocked his body and stood beside the original body. Sutherland and other Gray Knights also looked in the direction of his finger.

Through the clouds at his feet, Calvin saw the vast wilderness below, and at the junction of the great plains and the foothills, there were dots of strip-shaped buildings built along the mountains.

"This place is not far from the star port and is close to the ocean." Talos explained:

"The Cult of Mechanicus took into account the location here and deliberately adjusted the soil quality here when integrating the continental plates. Therefore, this is not only a famous natural wine manor in the Gothic sector, but also relies on its specialty products and mild climate to become a There are famous resorts throughout the galaxy.”

"That's really good." Calvin replied with a smile.

Unlike those manor worlds based on excellent native environments, this place close to the forge world obviously has a better industrial foundation. Coupled with its own environment and climate, the prosperity here gave Calvin a slight sense of the meaning of his previous life.

More developed infrastructure…

A more stable living environment...

A better education system…

More generous material sources...

He could almost imagine that outside the base of the escorting soldiers outside the fleet, there must be girls who fell in love with them waiting eagerly.

And if we raise our horizons a little further, people living in the entire wilderness should live a prosperous and happy life.

This is the taste of civilization, and it is a rare pure land in the territory of the human empire.

Calvin even had the idea to take the Gray Knights here to rest for a while after the war.

So that these children who have given up too much of themselves can understand how beautiful the things they dedicate and protect are.

However, things never go as he wishes, and the enemies of the empire always use ruthless war to remind him and tell him that the mere existence of some people is a sin.

"emegency notice!"

The atmosphere in the rear cabin of the gunboat had just calmed down when someone made a sound in the cab ahead. Calvin's heart sank, couldn't he even wait for the landing?

But before he could think about it, the Death Watch on the driver's seat in front had already read out the content of the battle briefing:

"Fifteen minutes ago, the signal from Peiwei's main energy reactor disappeared. The last information received on the data link was that they were hit by a targeted attack."

"Repeat it again..."

The death watch on the driver's seat was still repeating, but there was silence in the cabin behind.

"They can't hold it anymore," Sutherland said, pointing out the fact that no one wanted to hear.

Peiwei Wu is a permanent fortress and one of the last supporting points of the entire Pestma's peripheral defense. Needless to say, the importance of its main reactor. The fact that it can be hit itself illustrates their situation.

What's more serious is that once the defense line centered on Persian V is lost, a huge wound will be torn open on the orbital defense system of Pesma.

This points to a grim fact - that is, based on the planetary rotation period of Pesma, the enemy fleet can get a five-hour attack window every thirty hours!

Five hours! In front of an Astartes Legion!

"Turn!" Calvin raised his hand to signal.

"Not going forward?" Sutherland asked.

"No time!" Calvin raised his hand to activate the projector in the center of the cabin and explained to him:

"In Mortarion's style, once the attack is launched, the matching combination punch will not stop until the goal is completely achieved!

I even suspect that the subsequent troops used to land on Pesma's homeland have completed the assembly! We don't have time to go through the procedures. We have to go directly to the defense line closest to Persian V, the sooner the better!"

"Indeed!" Talos nodded in agreement. He also had the experience of fighting side by side with the former Death Guards and had enough understanding of Mortarion's command style.

The impression left by this taciturn demigod was precisely the gambling nature and madness hidden under his paranoia.

Once he finds an opportunity, what awaits his enemies will definitely be an attack at all costs, and a madness that will make other Primarchs look at him sideways!

A dog will not let go once it bites.

——This is the evaluation of an unnamed Primarch from the Space Wolves.

And with the particularly tenacious characteristics of the Death Guards among the Astartes, Taros is no longer willing to think about it...

"And in the style of Mortarion..." Calvin pondered as he looked at the three-dimensional imaging of Pesma, and finally highlighted several mountains with strong anti-aircraft firepower in red.

In the surprised eyes of Taros and little Calvin, he said with great certainty: "He will definitely do a big job!"

...

Well, it has been nearly ten days since the update. I always want to explain it to everyone, but I don't know where to start. .

My physical condition is not good, and my spirit has been exhausted. These are the reasons why I haven't updated. Although I have never stopped learning and summarizing, I have the courage to start updating again after three months, and I have indeed had a different understanding of grades and subscriptions.

I don't want to write something that I don't like for the sake of updating. I really don't want to show you something that I am not satisfied with.

So, I want to say to all the friends who are still reading here that I will still try my best to write and continue to tell this story.

But I want to give you the best, and my physical condition, the occasional inspiration, and the trivial matters of the family make it impossible for me to guarantee to update at a fixed time.

This is ultimately a problem of my ability. There is no reason to shirk it, so I want to say sorry to all the book friends who are still reading here.

And, I'm back.