Chapter 135 The Night Before

"You can spend more time elsewhere instead of wasting it on these mortals."

This was a suggestion from the Inquisition's representative stationed on Titan II a long time ago when these mortal troops were just established.

This is not a discriminatory suggestion, but the heartfelt words of these experienced Inquisitors.

After undergoing highly mechanical transformation and life extension surgery, their life span has been freed from the hundred-year limit of mortals, but it is difficult to reach the almost infinite life span of Astartes.

Unable to enter the sky, unwilling to return to the mortal world, is a sad and true portrayal of this group of people.

They cannot give up their mortal feelings and memories like Astartes, but they still have to endure the destined love, hate and separation.

So when this lonely old Inquisitor, who has lost all his emotional sustenance in time, saw Calvin's behavior, he couldn't help but give him such advice:

"Since you have entered the sky, please don't have too much contact with mortals. It's not good for you or them."

The old man's advice was of course well-intentioned, but unfortunately Calvin was not as simple as he imagined.

Calvin, who has lived two lives, has a more thorough understanding of himself. He may not know how to deal with these people who are destined to leave.

But since they and he are on the edge of the order that may not exist tomorrow, he has the obligation to let these mortals who are enemies of chaos for the order behind them know that their efforts have always been remembered and their existence will not be easily forgotten.

"I can do that, but I prefer to be with them."

This was Calvin's answer at the time, and it was also what he had been doing since he took over the position of the castle lord and received the first batch of mortal auxiliary troops.

No matter where they came from before, no matter what abilities they have, since they are willing to take up arms again after living a peaceful life, they deserve Calvin's respect.

You know, once they respond to the call of the Grey Knights, it means that they must face Chaos in the next battle, and the price of this is that they are destined to be used as battlefield consumables.

This black and gold uniform representing the Holy Hammer Order of the Inquisition looks luxurious and solemn, but the heavy fate behind it is really not something that everyone can bear.

The old man did not persuade Calvin again. He knew that in this country with too many smart people, there must be some fools.

The Empire needs Prometheus-like wisdom and courage, but Sisyphus-like burden and persistence are equally valuable...

"My comrades, you should know that we are facing a war with no retreat."

This was the first sentence Calvin said to all the officers present after he entered the command room.

No slogans, no passionate mobilization.

Calvin believed that these soldiers who had lived in mediocrity for more than ten years and were still willing to respond to the call of the Inquisition did not need these.

All he had to do was to clarify their mission and significance and point out the worst situation they would encounter.

And these people did not disappoint him. His words at the beginning did not receive any wavering eyes from these veterans.

These soldiers wearing the black uniforms of the Inquisition were all survivors after fighting against Chaos.

Since they were still willing to stand here, there was no need to doubt their will and their determination had never changed.

They just asked Calvin with silent eyes where the enemy was.

Calvin was very satisfied with this reaction. This was the attitude he needed:

Not a heroic spirit or an angry declaration. But a firmness that remained calm despite knowing that he was going to die.

As Calvin waved his hand, the largest screen behind him was lit up, and the goal of their trip - the map of this nameless and desolate world was displayed on the screen.

"The map comes from the latest feedback from the front. Considering the time difference of interstellar communication, the error is about one week. Our goal is to prevent these chaotic bastards from causing more damage before the navy fleet led by the Imperial Guard withdraws from the Orpheus battlefield and arrives..."

Calvin stood in front of these veterans, most of whom were over 100 years old, and talked about their combat goals and timeline.

The video receiving equipment under the podium worked in the rustling low-frequency noise, transmitting his posture and words to the military camp in the cabin below in real time and synchronously. All the soldiers who were preparing for war also stopped their work and joined the ranks of listening.

They were either bending over their backpacks, or sitting on the camp beds counting their ammunition, or gathering on the playground with their squads, or praying for their unknown relatives in the distance.

But at this moment, each of them stopped what they were doing and listened to the voice from the bridge.

They knew that it was this person who reactivated them from the remote abandoned planet; it was this person who did not deny their existence because of their mortal identity.

It was this person who was willing to tell them the meaning of his battle before the war for those who were destined to be cannon fodder most of the time; it was this person who was willing to call them comrades.

"I will lead my compatriots to land first, and open the basic landing field for you after finding the target. After that, the task of defending on the spot is your responsibility."

After Calvin finished talking about the complex environment on the planet and the corresponding combat equipment recommendations, he put down the laser pointer in his hand and said to everyone present.

"You need to hold the predetermined defense line until the last second before zero o'clock. There are no reinforcements and no follow-up replenishment. Is there any problem?"

"No!"

"Okay, then collect weapons and equipment according to the predetermined plan." Calvin looked up at the huge mechanical timer on the wall, calculated in his mind and said:

"There are still 16 hours before the start of the battle. I hope you can come up with a specific action plan as soon as possible. What do you want to say?"

While looking around, the commander with the number 1 in the lead said:

"Since this battle is mainly for defense, we want to take away all the automatic firepower turrets in the arsenal."

"Approved!"

"We also need mines and kinetic weapons." Another officer also said,

"Approved! Anything else?" Calvin continued to ask.

"The first landing should be armored units, and their tanks can be used as fixed turrets."

"Thermal weapons and incendiary bombs! Those Nurgle cubs will like this!"

"It is best to temporarily install front blades on the tanks, so that we can build fortifications as soon as possible!"…………

With Calvin's encouragement, everyone expressed their suggestions, and Calvin accepted them all and approved them all.

After summarizing the specific list of supplies, he looked around the entire command center and said:

"Supplies, I will give you, weapons and equipment, as long as they are in the warehouse on the warship, I will also give you all. So in the next action, I don't want to see requests for retreat, I don't want to see the data of casualties and losses reported, I just want results! Can you do it?"

"Your will."

With a simple response and a series of Sky Eagle salutes, Calvin turned and left the command hall.

There are still complicated pre-war preparations waiting for him in the Grey Knights' barracks, which is his main battlefield.

"How is the choir preparing?"

Communication with his compatriots is much simpler. Calvin saved his worries about their morale and combat effectiveness and asked directly about the issues he cares about most.

"The Psychic Choir has just rested from the active interference in the subspace and can now enter the ceremony preparation stage."

This is the news that Gavins just received from the bridge.

"Not fast enough, urge them again. We must ensure that they are in place within three hours. We only have twelve hours of ceremony time at most. We can't waste it here."

Calvin said without thinking. He ordered Gavins to urge the bridge again to get the choir members in place as soon as possible.

"But that will cause permanent damage to the choir members..." Gavins said with some embarrassment.

"Damage? That's better than death. If the ceremony I want is not in place, I will ask them to pay ten times the price for each additional death list! Tell the cantor, it's time to fight to the death! As long as you don't die from singing, sing to death!"

"Yes!" Gavins turned and left, and began to contact the bridge while walking out.

"How many 'baby carriages' were brought out in this operation?"

Turning his eyes to Golden, Calvin continued the previous topic.

The 'baby carriage' he mentioned is a weapon and equipment unique to the Grey Knights, a humanoid war machine composed of adamantium, ceramic steel and a compact and powerful plasma reactor.

Or you can also understand it as the size of the Holy Shield type dreadnought power armor, enlarged to a state beyond 10 meters.

In the Grey Knights' armed sequence, its official name is positioned as "Sky Punishment Dread Knight".

With a weight of 45 tons and a height of more than ten meters, it can barely be compared with the smallest human incarnation of the machine god Ohm Messiah - the Knight Titan.

But the actual combat direction is different from the Knight Titan. This humanoid weapon controlled by a Grey Knight wearing a full set of power armor through a neural guide has a reaction speed far exceeding the Knight Titan and a more violent and powerful melee ability.

Its positioning from the beginning was not a large vehicle of the opponent. Its original intention was to effectively kill those huge demon individuals whose size specifications far exceeded that of mortals.

Therefore, it is different from those knights who bear firepower strikes on the second line most of the time. Long-range fire support is only a task that Tianfa Dread Knight occasionally undertakes.

But you can't underestimate the strength of its firepower. After all, this is a platform that can theoretically carry heavy incineration weapons that can only be used by tanks and Titans.

Any enemy who underestimates his long-range firepower will pay the price under the attack of the heavy incineration weapons on his arms.

Not to mention that this level of ion reactor can already bear the burden of the psychic amplification device. The psychic power of the high-level Gray Knights it carries is more effective against demons after being amplified.

Yes, every Gray Knight who is allowed to drive this equipment is at least a high-level member above the Paladin.

So whether it is close combat or long-range psychic strikes, he can let the demons facing him know what real destruction is.

In a sense, it is not an exaggeration to call this thing a special version of the Gray Knights' humanoid Gundam.

Whether it is close combat or long-range, it has no hard shortcomings. Even the natural cumbersomeness of large weapons has been fundamentally solved by the unique precision transmission ability of the Gray Knights.

Calvin was very satisfied with its combat capability, but there was one thing he couldn't complain about: its outer armor layout:

The cockpit of the front torso of the Heavenly Punishment Dread Knight is exposed.

Because of the compact space, after a fully equipped Grey Knight has been installed, there is really no place to install armor in his limited space.

In other words, any Grey Knight driving this thing can enjoy a 180-degree panoramic view of the front while being completely exposed to the enemy...

"Isn't this just a large baby stroller?"

Calvin privately mocked the designer of this thing for this reason, and this "nickname" was quickly spread to the entire Honor Guard under his promotion.

This is also the origin of the previous conversation.

"Three, one for each strike team." Golden held back his smile and answered Calvin's question.

Glancing at Golden, Calvin did not pursue the details. He raised his hand to contact the bridge:

"When will the internal structure diagram of the wreck I want arrive?"

"Soon." Tabers' voice came from the headset.

"The power of the auspicious instrument of the intelligence collection ship is still insufficient, and there is only this ship near us. Among the detection results at a safe distance, only the outermost structural diagram has been confirmed to be valid."

"Send me as many as you can, and we'll talk about it when the follow-up arrives."

After saying this, Calvin cut off the communication and refocused his attention on his surroundings.

"How is the team's preparation status? Report the status of the power armor!"

"In good condition! Only the shoulder armor of Brother Fair has some problems, and new parts have been replaced."

"Where is the ammunition?"

"The maximum meets the six bases, psychic bullets, armor-piercing bullets and conventional warheads 2:0.5:0.5, the psychic line is in good condition, and psychic ammunition can be switched at any time."

This is Tariq's voice.

"Hormone reserve?"

"Fully loaded 15, all members confirmed that the replenishment has been completed."

"Power backpack?"

"All members confirmed that the charge is more than 90%"

……………………

Calvin checked the details one by one in his mind, and Calvin still confirmed them one by one without getting tired of it, just like the eve of the exercise in his previous life. This feeling of being both a father and a mother made him feel kind and familiar.

Unlike the previous life, they will face a real and more brutal battlefield.

His sense of security did not increase with the preparation of supplies and equipment, but decreased as the number of items on the list decreased.

How many brothers can be brought back safely? Calvin did not dare to think about it, nor did he want to think about it.

He knew clearly that for their profession, worrying about casualties was a luxury.

These comrades who had gone through many selections and stood in front of him after a hundred years of battlefield training did not need him to think so.

In this universe, sacrifice is no longer a rare thing for humans, and even more so for their group of people. In the eyes of the Grey Knights, sacrifice is a beautiful destination.

Because that means they can finally stop this eternal expedition, and stop to enjoy their own sleep in the quiet night.

But he is still worried, but he can't tell anyone about this feeling that sounds luxurious and ridiculous.

This is the biggest difference between him and the people here, and it is also a manifestation of the goal he has always pursued.

This empire, this race, has shed enough blood. If he wants to change this, he should start now.

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