Warhammer 40k: Ours Journey

Chapter 66: Lackeys of the Xenos!

The meat-grinder of a battle lasted for nearly thirty minutes. As the last xenos fell, the welcoming ceremony formed from a purple tide finally came to an end, leaving behind over a hundred thousand corpses.

The high ground they had chosen to deal with emergencies was now level with the ground, which had been filled in with the bodies of the xenos.

"Tally the casualties. Cleanse the battlefield. Remember, leave no survivors."

Stepping out from the defensive perimeter, Romulus looked at the carpet of flesh and blood before him. The skull of a Genestealer was facing him, its eyes locked on Romulus, as if trying to burn his image into its mind.

SQUISH!

An iron boot crushed the head, sending a spray of deep purple ichor.

"My Lord, what manner of xenos is this?" Orlando asked, pulling his gaze from a sundered void shield as he diligently performed his cleanup duties. Although Romulus's timely reaction had kept their casualties to a minimum, the fearless nature and dangerousness of these unknown xenos had left a deep impression on him.

"They are the vanguard of a far more terrifying xenos species," Romulus replied. "They expand their population by corrupting the genes of other living beings."

The current situation on this planet was likely very complex, if Genestealers could invade the Spire-Hive so easily. Those so-called Imperial nobles were probably... at this thought, the transmigrators exchanged a glance. It was hard to say how many beings on this planet could still be called human.

Romulus then pointed at the dead Genestealers. "For example, these xenos. A significant portion of them, or their parents and grandparents, were once human."

The moment his words fell, almost every Imperial human present looked on in shock, which was then replaced by a boundless fury.

"My Lord!" Catching the key point of Romulus's words, the Black Templar Chaplain's eyes almost instantly erupted with the fire of rage. "Are you saying these creatures can defile the sacred genes the Emperor has given us?!"

Xenos that could defile human genes.

A single sentence was enough to send all the Imperial high command present into a frenzy. For the leaders of an Imperium that had an extreme obsession with racial purity, to the point where even their equipment had to be gene-locked, such an existence was absolutely unacceptable.

Creak—

A strange sound came from the elevator winch in the Mechanicus Temple. Everyone immediately aimed their weapons at the swaying cables. As the chains rose, however, it was not the enemy that arrived this time. The Imperial noble who had been in contact with Cawl had finally arrived, fashionably late.

"Thank the heavens, reinforcements have finally arrived."

She was an exceptionally well-presented Imperial noblewoman. Her voice was gentle and affable, seeming to hold a certain magical quality. She walked forward without any guard, completely exposing herself and the cultists behind her to the muzzles of their guns.

'God-Emperor above, these damned xenos, and our poor compatriots dominated by their evil faith, have actually slaughtered so many humans. Our flowers were broken before they could even be presented.' As her feet stepped onto the flesh and blood of her pathetic countrymen, hot tears flowed from the noblewoman's heart.

"Please forgive me, my Lords. Due to the cruel reality of the situation, I was unable to prepare a welcoming ceremony befitting of your esteemed status," she said, hurrying forward, a near-perfect smile on her beautiful face. A large group of cultists followed behind her. They unrolled a red carpet with gold-threaded patterns on the path and placed fresh flowers, even distributing fruit to every Imperial Guardsman with perfect etiquette.

Everything seemed normal.

But everyone felt that something was deeply wrong. However, the Imperial noble's identification code was genuine.

"Please allow us to welcome you, my Lords. We have prepared a holy communion for you in the Governor's palace."

The allied forces tightened their ranks, cautiously observing the cultists. These people were wrapped head to toe in black and purple robes, revealing only a pair of eyes filled with an unreadable emotion. Their clothes were embroidered with a strange religious pattern, which from a distance looked like the silhouette of a four-armed figure embracing the galaxy.

"Sister Arabella, what faith is this?" the Chaplain asked, frowning, a feeling of instinctual unease washing over him.

"It appears to be a branch of the Imperial Cult?" Arabella replied with some hesitation, after observing the iconography. "But I recall that Pierdra Prime has a convent of the Order of the Bloody Rose. Those sisters... are known to be quite zealous. They would not recognize a branch sect with an unknown lineage." And as a Canoness, it was impossible for Arabella not to recognize a branch of the Imperial Cult with a clear and ancient lineage.

Seeing this scene, the transmigrators, who had been expecting it, decisively raised their weapons.

"Kill them all."

SLASH—

With a speed almost invisible to the naked eye, Arthur swung his sword and took the head of the Imperial noble. The gentle smile on her face froze. Her head rolled across the floor and was swallowed by the pile of corpses, her golden wig falling off. The cannon fire that followed instantly enveloped the welcoming procession.

"Filthy xenos. Tell me everything you know," the Inquisitor said, grabbing the head of a cultist. Beneath his robes, his head was a mass of pale pink skin, completely bald.

"Lackeys of the xenos! You will all be cursed! And you, the xenos who delude humanity—" The cultist, his body half-torn apart by a bolter round, endured the pain, spat at them, and then fixed his gaze on the Astartes around him. "The wrath of the God-Emperor will fall upon your heads!"

His shrill cries finally ceased as a neurotoxin took effect, leaving a group of people frozen in various poses by his words.

The sheer audacity!

The Sisters and the Black Templars were trembling with rage. After fighting for so many years, after spreading the faith for so long, this was the first time on an Imperial planet that they had been called xenos and heretics to their faces.

By a xenos-worshipper!

"They have infected the high command of this planet," Orlando's voice was low, barely suppressing his fury. To cause such a severe infestation, this was no ordinary xenos.

"Archmagos, is the surface detection system deployed?" Romulus asked, his voice grim.

"Signal calibration still requires time," Cawl replied. He too had realized the gravity of the situation. This planet, besides Chaos, seemed to have something even more troublesome.

"We need to move quickly. At the very least, we need to find a secure base of operations. Also, Archmagos, I request that you produce a genetic testing device capable of distinguishing between xenos and humans," Romulus advised cautiously. "It is imperative that the landing parties be tested three times a day."

"Understood."

A Skitarii cohort collected some of the more intact xenos corpses, placed them in a sealed container, sterilized the exterior with high-temperature purifiers, and then sent them up to a Stormbird.

Watching the swarms of shadows once again pouring up from the lower levels of the temple, Romulus commanded the troops to form a defensive line again.

"Have half the Stormbirds return for resupply. Prepare to receive the second wave."

(End of Chapter)