Chapter 187 Helpless walking alone and an unexpected letter.
After passing through layers of ruins and trudging on the muddy tundra for an unknown period of time, Calvin, led by Taros, came to a ruin at the edge of a woodland.
"It doesn't look like it can work." Calvin said, looking at the melted and twisted metal on the position where the main turret base used to be.
"Yes, but there is more here." Taros replied, and then walked from the edge of the tundra to the open space in front of the woodland.
"Command!"
With a vigilant shout, at least three sights locked onto the figures of Calvin and Taros. Two for the former and one for the latter.
"Before dawn." Taros replied calmly.
Both of them had already noticed the sentinels of these mortals.
In Calvin's eyes, the alert triggered at this distance should be more of a ritual or respect in front of an Astarte like Taros.
Sure enough, three mortals in defense uniforms stood up from the bunkers and bushes and greeted Taros.
"Sir! Lord Spencer has returned three hours ago. You are the last one." The leader of the three reported to Taros.
"I understand. You have worked hard."
Taros gave routine encouragement to the three sentinels. In places they could not see, Taros's vision was patrolling inadvertently.
The night wind caused by the temperature difference between day and night blew gently, and the branches in the woods rustled. In the night sky a hundred meters away, there was a dark red eyepiece nodding gently, which was the real vigilance here.
Watching Taros's interaction with mortals and the secret communication with the Astartes in the distance, Calvin was not in a hurry to show his presence.
He carefully observed these details to adapt himself to the war atmosphere here as soon as possible.
Although these mortals' guards were not meaningful in his eyes, they were still worthy of respect.
As for the full lock of the Astartes' bolter in the dark, he pretended not to see it.
After finishing the communication with several sentinels, Taros turned and signaled Calvin to follow.
On the way forward, he seemed to ask Calvin casually.
"While everyone is here, let's introduce you to them. By the way, I haven't heard your name yet..."
"Calvin. Grey Knight Calvin."
Calvin smiled and answered. He could sense the other person's expression and breathing, and even his heart rate and the dilation of his pores.
He was curious about this death watch that obviously had a story, but he was not in a hurry to reveal the answer.
After passing through several ruins, the two came to the back of the abandoned watchtower. In a hidden room, Talos opened a secret door.
The dark corridor opened in front of the two. Facing the poor quality air and the dim light, Calvin understood how these resistance fighters survived.
Talos, who was beside him, had just stood up. He whispered to Calvin:
"Welcome to Gabriel, this underground world that temporarily belongs to us..."
In the orbit of the planet Amara, the capital of the central government of the distant Orpheus star region, the gate of the battleship Supreme Decree was slowly closing.
From the hatch of the Thunderhawk that had just landed, Grey Knight Silver Blade Grand Master Aidan was walking down the alloy steps with a gloomy face.
"How did the meeting go?"
The welcoming captain of the Seventh Company, Jules, saw that his old boss and old partner looked ugly, and he knew that this was another meaningless argument.
But whether it was for the interests of the empire affected by the war situation or for the rights of the regiment itself, he had to ask such an expectant question.
But Aidan did not reply to him, but just looked at him coldly and continued to walk into the warship with the accompanying champion swordsman.
"What the hell are you talking about!" Jules was anxious. This is not working, but give me a word!
Jules was the first to arrive.
After the news of Calvin's disappearance was reported to the Grand Master Council, he arrived in Orpheus within a month of the incident under the emergency dispatch of the Council.
After taking over the authority of the existing troops and the nearby intelligence nodes of the Inquisition, he devoted himself to the work of finding Calvin.
Aidan arrived a little later.
Due to the worsening of the war, the Grey Knights could not withstand the pressure of the Inquisition and had to shift their main focus to the chaos infiltration incidents that continued to occur within the star zone.
If there were no powerful people coming in, they would completely lose their autonomy under the pressure of the senior members of the Inquisition, and the secret search for Calvin would be completely stopped.
His weight was absolutely enough. As a member of the Grand Master Council, Aidan naturally had the power of the Grey Knights Chapter in the highest seat of the Holy Hammer Convent when he was away.
As a Lord Inquisitor who is theoretically the highest-ranking in the Demon Inquisition, Aidan has absolute hierarchical suppression over the Inquisition here.
But legal principles are legal principles, and they can only play a role in most cases.
And this role does not include the Grey Knights blatantly refusing the call of the Inquisition and ignoring the war in Orpheus.
Fortunately, the two Grey Knights' senior officials did not come empty-handed.
The arrival of two batches of 150 Grey Knights and five strike cruisers in reinforcements not only eased the tension in the rear of the war zone, but also finally enabled them to secretly carry out continuous searches under the pretext of adjusting mobile forces.
But the result was still disappointing.
In the past ten years, they have searched all three administrative regions that Orpheus still controls, one large and two small. Even the seventeen semi-independent small star regions on the periphery have been searched thoroughly.
But the trace of Calvin disappeared without a trace, just like a soul thrown into the subspace.
Neither the Inquisition nor the prophets within the Chapter have any conclusions about Calvin's whereabouts.
There is no other valid information other than that he is alive.
Living is the only comfort in Aidan and Yule's hearts.
But if they were just alive, the two of them would not be able to imagine how the first batch of legion recruits would view old people like them three years later.
How to explain to them? Could it be that I was lucky enough to witness your father’s disappearance?
What do the recruits think?
What do the veterans think?
What will those Inquisitions who have chosen to sit on the sidelines think of their massive expansion in recent years?
What is the future of the Chapter?
What about the "Legion Plan" that has taken the battle group nearly ten thousand years to accumulate and is being intensively planned?
Is it possible that it was stillborn like this? This is the last hope left by the Emperor for mankind!
A mountain of pressure rested on their shoulders, but they did not dare to complain.
It's not that there aren't other high-level officials who want to come, it's just that the empire already has so many war zones.
Today, when only apothecaries are left on the home planet Titan, mobilizing two senior leaders of the battle group and nearly one-third of the mobile forces for a mere Orps battle zone is already beyond what the Gray Knights can do. To the extreme.
"As usual, now the governor has been confirmed to be extinct. The Orps family, which has no future, can no longer suppress the people below. The nobles and bureaucrats are endlessly wrangling, and the central and local governments are "risking their lives." They are fighting for power, but they are still afraid of death and insist on catching us..."
Seeing Yule who was about to become furious, Aidan stopped and sighed and said to him.
"So, our infiltration reconnaissance plan has been denied again?" Yule reached out and grabbed his hair and said feebly.
"Yes, the two high-ranking judges threatened each other with death. If we leave, they will commit suicide and die for their country." Aidan said helplessly.
With his rank, he can actually ignore the orders of the Inquisition. As for the local nobles, he can't even see him in person.
But the war situation was like this, and he was not blind.
Today, Orpheus is like a centipede, with a huge body that is eccentric and has constant problems.
The nobles in the center are full of greed and have no regard for the life and death of local political districts;
The local governor is like an independent king, clinging to the power in his hands and spending every penny.
Aidan sometimes wonders how this place has survived to this day and has not been exterminated, and what is the reason for warriors like him to travel thousands of miles to come to the battlefield here to sacrifice their lives and shed the last drop of blood.
Empire! This is the Empire!
I don’t know what the emperor’s expression would be like if he saw the current empire...
"What is this!"
Yu Le grabbed the few hairs he had left and shouted angrily at Aidan.
"I don't care! We have already searched through the existing star areas. If there is nothing, there is nothing! The only thing left is the enemy-occupied area! I must go there, even if I die, I will die there!"
He almost begged and looked at Aidan's old face covered with white hair:
"Imagine it! If Calvin is surrounded by enemies and waiting for our rescue, how desperate he will be! I can die, but he cannot die! The hope of the Chapter and the Empire lies in his Body! Are you just watching this happen and not taking any action?"
"I..." Aidan looked at Yule's plea and finally sighed.
He calculated the strength of his troops with difficulty, and then said to Le:
"You can go, but not too many people. One cruiser, 50 people, that's all. Don't bargain with me! There won't be one more bullet!"
"You said it! It's a deal!"
Yule jumped up from where he was overjoyed, and then gave Aidan a fierce hug regardless of the eyes of the crew in the passage.
"You guy..." Aidan smiled helplessly, feeling the strength of his comrades in his body.
How many years have passed since they partnered in the Eighth Company Silver Blade.
The guy in front of me is still the same as the first day I saw him, full of inexhaustible enthusiasm and sincerity like a little sun.
After landing on Aidan's body, Yule's excitement was beyond words.
As he turned around and walked towards the barracks to gather his troops, he turned his head to say goodbye to Aidan.
But as soon as he took two steps, he faced Gavins who was running all the way.
Boom!
Two heavy powered armors with equally heavy bodies collided hard.
"Hiss" Yule rubbed his forehead without a helmet. The red mark on his forehead clearly showed that it was a masterpiece of a Crusader helmet.
The initiator was still sitting on the ground in a daze.
"Speak!" Aidan reminded Gavins with a serious face.
It is definitely no small matter to allow this champion swordsman to run all the way.
The latter was reminded by Aidan after a period of dizziness, and finally recalled his mission.
He grabbed the support on the wall beside him and stood up, then said loudly to Aidan and Yule:
"I received an urgent notice from the Brotherhood of the Prophet! Calvin's location is secured!"
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