Chapter 669 Siege
Standard Terra Calendar, 942.M41
Planet Armageddon, Main Continent, Hades Hive
Mel Gomes The lieutenant colonel followed the messenger through the maze-like twists and turns of the traffic trench and headed towards the personnel shelter.
Along the way, he saw many busy nest residents, mostly women and children, constantly carrying some metal scraps.
After questioning, he learned that these scraps would be transported to a temporary arsenal to produce crude weapons and ammunition. Considering that this was already an upper-level hive, but he saw so many civilians, it was obvious that the commander of this place had already Moved civilians to safer locations.
There is no doubt that this will definitely infringe on the interests of the upper class nobles in the nest, and Mel Gomes can't help but believe in the rumor a little more.
After walking south along the supply channel for a while, they arrived at a wooden house with a closed door. The guards around them turned a blind eye to the people approaching, and the messengers read on the rune panel on the door frame. A four-digit code was entered and the door hissed open.
Mel Gomes quickly entered without waiting for the people inside to invite him, and the door behind him closed again.
Subsequently, the colonel of the Auxiliary Army of the Astral Knights Chapter found himself standing in a dark room. The walls of the room were dirty, there were several pieces of tattered furniture, and four sets of heating coils. Evenly distributed at the four corners of the house, they hummed in an effort to combat the chill in the air.
The upper nest is no better than the lower nest. Because of the altitude, it is very cold most of the time.
Mel Gomez took off his cloak and scarf and hung them on hooks knocked into the dirty frozen wall. The heavy pressure of taking off the coat made him feel relaxed all over, but it Being outside did give him enough warmth and protection.
Countless times since landing, Mel Gomes has felt incredible things time and time again.
"If you want to sit down, please feel free to do so, Colonel."
In the middle of the room, a figure stood, under the dim oil lamp, seeming to be studying a detailed map of the hive city. .
Mel Gomes pulled a wooden chair that was about to fall apart from the small table in the middle of the room and sat down carefully, fearing that the thing would suddenly collapse under his buttocks. Until the chair fully accepted his weight, he Then he took off his big-brimmed hat and placed it on the dirty table, and took out a shiny silver wooden comb from his pocket.
As he was accustomed to do every time he took off his hat, he combed his oiled black hair with a wooden comb, reaching behind his ears with each stroke.
The figure turned his head and purred from his throat when he saw this.
Maier does not think that he is vain. He believes that maintaining a good personal image is a necessary condition for fulfilling one's responsibilities. This is probably a kind of self-respect.
“I didn’t expect that the first reinforcements to come were the Astral Knights and Chapter Master Soshyan. Is this the Emperor’s blessing?”
The man's voice was hoarse, but his tone was very relaxed, as if he had put down a heavy burden.
“I almost thought I wouldn’t be able to hold on any longer.”
“Commissar Sebastian Yarek, Master Soshyan often mentioned you, he praised you as a A great and dedicated warrior with a fearless heart."
"That's really ridiculous. The last time I saw the Soshiyan Chapter Commander was twenty years ago."
Mel Gomez looked carefully at the man who turned around. This guy was like half a beast. His black beard was messy and was obviously in urgent need of some wax, and his hair was only a little better than harvested crop stubble. , the leather-like tough face has several minor scars, distributed on the forehead, left eye and jaw.
All in all, the colonel concluded that if the other party took off his political commissar uniform, he would look just like a thug from the lower hive.
"Would you like something to drink, Colonel?"
"I can do either, some coffee if you have it."
"Just black tea? . ”
Then, a waiter appeared, and Alex just raised his chin towards a cabinet behind him.
"Okay, let's get down to business. What did Captain Soshiyang ask you to bring?" "First of all, he sincerely admires your actions of holding on to the nest for a long time, and commends you for your outstanding performance in this war. Show yourself and you will get a lot of medals in the future."
"Medals."
Yarrick shook his head and glanced at his chest, which was already hanging there. More than a dozen.
“In the three-month defensive war, I lost at least 3 million soldiers and more than 500 million civilians were killed. I don’t deserve such congratulations at all.”
Mel Gomes was stunned for a moment. In fact, considering the fierce battles he had experienced in the past, in a battle of this level, this number was simply frighteningly low. After all, any large-scale battle in the empire was worth tens of millions. Casualties - Soldiers only, civilians are rarely counted.
But from the tone of this political commissar, it is obvious that he is really angry about the battle losses?
"Your reaction really surprises me, Commissar, I would have thought you would be satisfied with the score, repelling an Greenskin assault of that size with just a few militiamen? You should get a medal."
Yarrick smiled, if the bark that broke out of his mouth could really be called a 'laughter'.
"You obviously have no idea how fucked up things are here, no one briefed you on the way here?"
Mel frowned.
"Perhaps you can explain it to me better."
"We are outnumbered, our equipment is in poor condition, our supplies are completely self-sufficient, our food production plants have lost all their raw materials, There is no more energy available for them to continue producing. Almost all the animals in the hive have been eaten. After a while, we may have to consider cannibalism. The only thing that brings hope is my belief in the Emperor. ."
Yaike sniffed, and the scent of the teapot attracted him.
“I thought you could bring enough supplies and personnel.”
"The sky is full of green-skinned fighters. I am very lucky to be here this time."
Mel Gomes also felt a little helpless when he said this. The command was originally dominated by Space Marines. There is indeed a plan for large-scale air support, but perhaps because they were caught off guard by humans from the air during the Battle of Gray Desert, the greenskins learned wisely and built a large number of fighter jets like crazy.
On the human side, due to the special system of the empire, fighter planes are under the control of the navy. Only the orbital defense station has a small number of fighter planes, but those fighters cannot even make a splash when thrown into the atmosphere.
Therefore, after losing air supremacy, the large-scale aerial supply plan could only be declared aborted.
"But it really bothered me to hear these depressing words coming from a commissar. I rarely tolerate pessimism. In fact, I firmly believe in the power of the Emperor and in good faith. With command and morale, there is no goal that Imperial soldiers cannot achieve, and I certainly need not remind you of my authority.”
Faced with words that were almost threatening, Yaric just looked back at the colonel fearlessly.
"Really, what authority has been given to you by the Soshiyan Chapter Commander?"
Mel Gomes frowned, he did not want things to come to this point.
In fact, not long after Soshyan obtained the command of the planet's armed forces, a large number of complaints accusing Yarrick of killing the hive nobles were also sent to him.
Based on his understanding of Yarik, Soshyan did not think that the political commissar was a cruel and indiscriminate murderer, let alone believed that he would betray the empire, but since there were such rumors, he had no choice but to Not making a statement.
The task undertaken by Mel Gomes is, on the one hand, to bring his password and subsequent deployment, and on the other hand, to find out the truth of the matter. If Yarick really failed in his duty, or if there is someone else, For serious violations of the rules, Maier will use the teleportation beacon he carries to summon a team of Space Marines to carry out punishment.
It's not that Soshyan is cold-blooded, but that there is no room for mistakes on the battlefield, especially in such a critical position, he would rather take extra precautions.
(End of this chapter)