[+Louise, can you see anything?+] Horatio used the Hand of Command to deploy a psychic beacon.
[+Yes, I can see a highlighted… floating arrow? And… my phantom image? What is this?+] Louise looked behind the cover.
[+That's the command beacon I deployed+]
Horatio understood the principle and manifestation of the Hand of Command.
It allowed Horatio to give real-time and extremely precise battle position instructions to individual Soldiers or squads, similar to the games 'Company of Heroes' and 'Men of War', leaving the rest to the Soldiers to fight on their own.
Although it wasn't direct mental control like the Tech-Priest controlling the Skitarii, letting the Soldiers with subjective initiative carry out the commands was more adaptable to local conditions and might yield better results.
[If I really suddenly gained psychic mental control, that would probably be a big problem.] Horatio thought, if that were the case, he would likely be heading to a Black Ship.
Horatio immediately issued beacon instructions to the units he could command. Although almost everyone asked Horatio what it was, he cleverly claimed it was a command phantom obtained from the Adeptus Mechanicus, a new technology unearthed from archaeology.
[I'll probably have to ask Father Lati to smooth things over for me later.] Horatio felt a bit embarrassed.
The Soldiers immediately moved towards the designated positions marked by Horatio, quickly seizing advantageous firing points.
The Blood Angels guarded the gate, and most bullets caused no damage to their sturdy Power Armor, until Roman Roland dodged a melta beam.
Bang! A huge explosion came from the side as a heavily armored mutant, clutching a melta bomb, charged into the Imperial Guard, turning into a rain of blood, with severed limbs and shattered flesh adhering to the pristine walls of the church's outer courtyard.
[+Damn it! They killed the Lieutenant! Who's in command now?+] The frantic shout of a Guard Sergeant came through the comms.
[+I am Sergeant Major Horatio Cochrane, Director of the Imperial Navy, and the Church of the Celestial Woman's Provost. I will take over command+]
[+Alright, that's the only way for now+] Although the Sergeant didn't say it explicitly, his tone indicated that he didn't have much faith in the land combat command abilities of this Sergeant Major from the Navy.
Horatio didn't have time to be angry at the disrespect and immediately took over all defending units.
[+By my authority as Church Provost, I am now taking command of all Church of the Celestial Woman defense units. Repeat, I am now taking command of all Church of the Celestial Woman defense units+]
[+Adeptus Arbites units respond to your call+]
Shayev Arbiter's voice came through the background of massive shotgun fire.
[+I need some Sisters to guard the church interior, 20 Battle Sisterss outside the church, a Leman Russ transport, and a Medical Sister will be under your command. You must hold them back, may the God-Emperor protect you+]
The Great Sister's voice, accompanied by the hymns inside the church, indicated she was performing a sacred ritual and couldn't focus on command.
[+Thank you, Great Sister+]
As Horatio gained more 'unit cards' he could command, after assessing the battle situation, he decided to immediately contract all unit defenses, abandoning the corpse-strewn outer plaza.
Under his command, everyone successively provided covering fire and brought back as many wounded survivors as possible, rather than leaving them outside to be dismembered and slaughtered by Khorne's minions.
Horatio glanced at the 'unit cards' of the Soldiers still able to fight.
There were 30 Hellspawns, with only 3 lightly wounded.
There were still 4 Adeptus Arbites Special Police, all wounded, but still able to continue fighting.
20 Battle Sisterss, one Leman Russ transport, and Sister Arabella.
Three Blood Angels in excellent condition.
But the Imperial Guard's condition was not good; these Soldiers from the Cadian 304th Regiment had been reduced to 112 men, including 20 seriously wounded.
This was all the trump cards he had left. Chaos was spread throughout the planet, and airborne units were busy putting out fires everywhere. Some reinforcements had entered underground from above, struggling through urban warfare, and would likely not be able to push through anytime soon.
The gates of the Church of the Celestial Woman were pushed open, and nearly tens of thousands of people gathered inside.
Horatio's first glance saw the majestic 80-meter-tall holy statue before him.
The golden statue was lifelike, depicting Sanguinius, wearing a golden silent mask, with one foot on the head of a great demon, holding a spear and a sword, while two small angels helped him spread his sacred wings.
But to be honest, although the statue was called the Sanguinius statue,
Behind that golden mask, was it Sanguinius himself, or was it the'Stand User' (Sanguinius' herald), Saint Giliano, Sanguinius' most beloved son, whose mystery even the Blood Angels Chapter did not know?
Horatio didn't know either.
Sister Arabella apologized for interrupting the chanting. At her request, the Great Sister opened the mechanism staircase at the foot of the statue leading to the basement, and seconded half of the chanting Sisters to care for the wounded.
Soldiers carrying stretchers continuously walked through the red carpet in the middle, the groans of the wounded echoing with the hymns.
Some civilians, seeing blood dripping on the red carpet, trembled and closed their eyes, praying for Sanguinius' protection.
"Hold them back!" Horatio's shout was still clearly audible amidst the explosive gunfire.
Using the Hand of Command, he set up two interlocking defensive lines in front of the church steps, with the tall church walls on both sides, forcing the enemy to attack only from the front.
Under the dense barrage of fire, layers of bodies piled up in front of the wide, silvery-white archway, screams and wails never ceased, the barrels of two heavy lumber guns glowed red-hot, and even the Storm Bolter on the Leman Russ transport began to jam repeatedly.
The Guard Soldiers, one rank kneeling, the second standing, with gleaming bayonets fixed to their rifles, formed a human wall behind sandbags, continuously alternating fire on the Khorne anointed charging into the courtyard under Horatio's firing commands.
They killed countless enemies, thwarting wave after wave of assaults from Khorne's dogs, leaving their bodies strewn across the ground, blood flowing everywhere, wailing and screaming, punishing them with the Emperor's wrath for defiling the sacred day, and chastising them for their wanton slaughter and bloody brutality.
As the Blood Pact Army surged to the front line of the assault, after intense exchanges of fire, the brave Cadian Shock Troopers suffered heavy casualties.
Soldiers in the ranks continuously fell, shot, their blood staining the pristine white floor tiles, seeping into the cracks, flowing into the dark underground.
Reinforcements were blocked on the outskirts, engaged in fierce urban warfare with Blood Pact Soldiers hidden in buildings, each step forward costing considerable sacrifices.
Horatio could hear leman russ tanks in the distance firing at buildings and the sound of ammunition detonations after being ambushed.
In an underground environment, it was difficult to get support from large aerial units.
As soon as a Valkyrie hovered, it would be shot down by shoulder-mounted gunners hidden in the towers. Even if Farida killed one, other Blood Pact Soldiers would pick up another launcher, move to a different position, and wait for other incoming aircraft. And they had many launchers, firing from different directions simultaneously, making it impossible to parry or evade.
Many other places were suffering the same plight as the Church of the Celestial Woman. The reserved airborne units were like firefighters, rushing to battles everywhere, exhausted.
The last box of ammunition for the heavy lumber gun positions was also expended, and the scorching hot Storm Bolter burned the Battle Sisterss' hands.
Colors were gradually fading from people's eyes; the world seemed to be left with only the red glow of explosions and the darkness of extinction.
Horatio smelled the strong scent of blood in the air, as if he were in a hell of rust.
Unclean symbols began to emerge on the bloody ground, and psychic readings began to rise, alarming them.
"What the hell is going on?" Shayev Arbiter spat, looking around.
Horatio looked at the ground; blood was slowly forming a strange rune.
It was constantly growing, drawing blood from the dead bodies, gathering it together, no matter whose blood it was.
Horatio couldn't understand the twisted, unclean language on it, but he knew it wasn't a good sign.
He wasn't sure what terrible thing would happen in the courtyard in front of the church, but to be safe, he ordered the troops to begin orderly firing at the surging Evil Cultists and retreat.
The Sister driving the Leman Russ transport reversed to block the steps directly in front of the gate, using its steel body as a sturdy shield to protect the holy temple.
[+Great Sister, I think there's a situation here that you might need to see+]
Horatio said to the Great Sister in a grave tone, looking at the increasingly large crimson rune array on the ground.