Chapter 770 Bahram blames himself
The siege of Hades Hive is over. Although there are still a large number of greenskins remaining inside the hive, it is only a matter of time before they are eliminated and dispersed without their leader.
After the war, one thing will happen immediately, one thing that every commander least wants to face.
Count the casualties.
Originally, this matter was done by the political commissar Yarik, but the two years of siege had completely exhausted his energy. When Soshyan saw the other party again, he could no longer recognize the full man. The old man with white hair is the high-spirited political commissar of the past.
Yarrick's body was almost completely collapsed. Even if the green skins didn't attack him, after a while, his body functions would completely decline and he would die.
Even after he was sent to the medical cabin, he did not wake up until a week later.
As a last resort, Soshyan took his place.
In fact, there is no way to count the specific casualties in a short time, because the losses are too heavy. According to rough statistics, the surviving soldiers and civilians of Hades' hive city are only 100 million, and the original hive city had More than three billion people.
As for the Space Marines, the Star Knights were lucky. There were no casualties among the recruits, only a few were injured, and they were minor injuries.
However, the Blood Angels suffered considerable losses. Four of the ten warriors who came to support were spilled on the battlefield, and the whereabouts of the team leader's think tank were unknown, and there was a high probability that the situation was in danger.
This made Soshyan feel very guilty. It was precisely because of his strategy that the Hades Nest suffered such a huge loss, and that Yaric struggled to sustain it for so long.
Although the nest city was defended, he did not feel the slightest joy of victory.
While he was busy dealing with the aftermath, an unexpected person suddenly found him——
At that time, Soshyan was handling official business in the governor's residence, and the recruit Bahram suddenly Although it was a bit strange to request an audience with him, Soshyan dispersed.
Hearing heavy footsteps stopping outside the door, Soshyan put down the data tablet and whispered:
"Come in."
The door opened, and Bahram saluted. , then walked to the red carpet of the house, and then knelt down on one knee in front of Soshyan in his unexpected eyes.
The light from the candle swayed on the resolute lines of the recruit's face, and gave his black hair a deeper golden glow.
“What’s wrong?”
Soshyan's surprised words passed through the room like an executioner's blade across a whetstone.
Bahram was silent for a while before answering. He lowered his head, as if he was thinking about how to express his meaning in the most concise sentence.
"I killed a battle monk."
He said slowly, his voice low but still calm.
Soshyan did not respond.
The recruit then raised his head and met his fiery gaze with the Chapter Master's calm gaze.
“I killed the think tank of the Blood Angels Chapter, Callistarius.”
Soshiyan did not act very surprised, because he already knew from Armin , it was Bahram who last saw the think tank.
"Recruit, can you tell me what happened?"
Bahram nodded and recounted everything that happened that day word for word.
Half an hour later——
There was silence in the hall. Bahram bent his head as he recounted what he had experienced.
After finishing speaking, he raised his head and looked directly into Soshiyang's eyes.
After listening to everything, Soshiyang was silent for a moment, then sighed softly and said:
"You already know what Black Rage is, right?"
"Yes, the company commander told me afterwards." Soshyan stared at the recruit's face, and then realized that the other person's face had the same firm lines as his own, and also had black eyes and black hair—— Their commonality is not limited to the genetic inheritance from the original body, they are from the same world.
"What do you think of this curse that plagues the Blood Angels."
"That's unfortunate."
"But what you don't know What's more, each original body has its own special power, and Sanguinius's power is precognition. He already knew that he would fight Horus, and he also knew that he would die in this battle, but He still chose to do it.”
"But"
"This is the choice of the Sons of Sanguinius. The moment they became Space Marines, they ran towards death at a speed far exceeding that of others. This was foreseeable. Even though They have so many flaws, but they don't see them as a shame, because they are the only ties they have left to their dead Primarch."
"But if I hadn't said that. Those words"
Before Bahram finished speaking, Soshyan raised his hand to interrupt him.
“I have only one question for you. If you and the Callistarius brothers reversed roles, what choice would you make?”
Bahram was speechless.
“Your silence is the answer.”
Soshyan said with a smile:
“You have no crime worth confessing, I believe Callistarius Brother Si did not make that final decision because of the stimulation of your words. Your actions are an achievement that you should recall with pride. You saved thousands of civilians from death and terror."< br>
“But that is a think tank. If my language were not so strong, maybe——”
Bahram shook his head and said:
"The empire needs warriors, even more so now. The loss of even an ordinary battle monk is an extremely serious failure, and I should be solely responsible for it."
"No, you are wrong, the empire needs humanity."
Soshiyang corrected him seriously:
"This is a very important reason for our existence. , to protect all mankind, no matter how humble their status and identity. Another point, you are right, a battle monk is precious, so those civilians who were saved will never forget that their lives were saved by a In exchange for the Emperor's warriors, those children will grow up to be strong and upright people in their future lives, and will remember the dangers that threaten the Empire and know that they must always be on guard."
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Bahram thought about the Chapter Master's words but said nothing.
"As long as we continue to devote ourselves to victory, the future of the empire will be safe. If some of us die because of this - even you and me, there is no need to mourn. This is our mission. You should not use Blame yourself for this, we all must endure these inevitable things, we are the Emperor's angels of death, we stand side by side with death."
Bahram remained silent,
"This. This is a difficult lesson, a lesson that you must review all the time. Those who may be sacrificed in the future are the comrades who accompany you day and night."
After speaking, Soshiyang stretched out his armor-covered hand. hand.
Bahram froze for a moment, then grabbed it and pressed their palms together—more like a brother's handshake than a warrior's handshake.
“We are the torch that lights up the darkest moment of mankind, and this dark moment is now. May you and me burn brightly and never waver, but we will use this to commemorate those warriors who sacrificed and the future. The lives we saved."
"Chapter Commander, I understand."
The confusion on Bahram's face disappeared, and only determination remained. He nodded and stood up. .
“However, you still need to provide the place where Brother Callistarius died. Although the gene seeds cannot be recovered, at least we can return his relics to Captain Dante.”
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"I have reported it to the company commander as soon as possible. He is taking people to-"
Just as he was talking, the emergency communicator in the hall suddenly rang.
Soshyan walked over and pressed the button, and then Armin's nervous voice came out.
"Chapter Commander, emergency situation."
"What is it?"
"We found no body of Brother Callistarius!"
(End of Chapter)