Warhammer 40K in a box

Chapter 322 The Silent Nun Squad
While the flames of the orbital bombardment briefly purified the surface, they failed to eradicate the threat of the green-skinned creatures hidden deep beneath the ice.

These stubborn spores, like a relentless plague, continuously spewed out from the ice fissures torn apart by artillery fire. They trampled over the charred corpses of their companions, emitting deafening battle roars in the rising mist.

Moreover, the human fleet's saturation attack on the ancient ruins tore open an even more fatal wound.

The Kroc energy, which was originally sealed by the thick ice layer, is now bursting out through the crisscrossing ice fissures, and an eerie green light is pulsating deep within the glacier.

Inspired by this primal force, the orc tribes within a radius of hundreds of miles went into a frenzy, converging on the ruins from all directions like sharks smelling blood.

The ice field trembled under the trampling of countless orcs' feet, and from a distance, the entire snowfield seemed to be writhing—a green wave even denser than before the bombing was forming.

On the way, Chen Xi stared at the tactical holographic projection, his face ashen. The blue light from the bridge reflected on his taut face, making the furrows between his brows even more pronounced.

His order to bombard the ice field has been completed, and the green tide on the ice field has been blasted to pieces, but at a cost—the cracks in the ice layer have widened further, and Kroc's power is leaking out at an accelerated rate.

The green-skinned creatures emerging from the ice crevices were even more ferocious than before, their muscular bodies wreathed in eerie green light, as if they were controlled by some ancient will.

"We can't delay any longer..." Chen Xi muttered to himself, tapping his fingers on the command platform as he pondered a solution.

He knew, of course, that the safest course of action was to send a large army to storm the ruins, but the reality was that the surface of Kherson III had become a meat grinder.

The number and combat power of the Orks far exceeded expectations. Ordinary Astral Army legions were simply no match for them, and the Blood Knights had just suffered heavy losses in the bombing and were unable to organize an effective attack in the short term.

Unless he can mobilize ten million Astral Army soldiers or several thousand Astartes warriors to fill the gaps with human lives, a frontal assault would be tantamount to suicide.

“While orbital bombardment will accelerate the leakage of Kroc’s power, it can at least delay its awakening,” Chen Xi calmly weighed the pros and cons.

The lessons of the War of the Beasts are still fresh in our minds—a single beast forced the Imperium to send Primarch Vulcan to exchange for a weapon, and Croc was even more terrifying than a beast!
If it were to break free of the ice, the entire subsector would become the starting point of its WAAAGH frenzy.

At that time, not only the entire Mariupol sector, but probably the entire Solar System and even the entire human empire will be swept away by the green tide.

After all, that was the ancient Krok, and no one knew just how terrifying its combat power was, given that this group of creatures was comparable in size to knight mechs.

"Do you really want me to go to the Terra Palace and drag that old bastard who's been sitting on the toilet for ten thousand years out of bed and beat him up?" Chen Xi sneered and shook his head.

The Emperor cannot intervene, and he himself does not possess Primarch-level combat power.

His current access level is only V, and he has used all the points he invests in the Psionic War General Titan. Now Chen Xi has no off-the-board tricks left.

To deal with an enemy of Kroc's caliber, his authority would need to be raised by at least two levels to allow him to unleash the Primarch.

So right now, if Kroc really does awaken, the only solution is—an extermination order.

Chen Xi's gaze was icy as he looked at the planetary model of Kherson III.

If it really comes to that, he will not hesitate to issue an extermination order and burn the entire planet to glass.

Even... to take it a step further, we could directly activate the subspace engine and teleport Kherson III above the Throne World of the Necromancers, letting Kroc and the Necromancer Dynasty fight each other. "But it's not that far off yet." Chen Xi took a deep breath and looked back at the tactical projection.

Currently, orbital bombardment has temporarily halted the Greenskins' offensive, but they must be stopped from continuing to excavate the ruins.

"Give the order!" He looked up sharply, his voice cold and resolute: "All fleet firepower lock onto the Icefield Rift and bombard it to the saturation! At the same time, mobilize all available forces to build a defensive line around the ruins. We must not let the greens get any closer!"

Although with Chen Xi's current power and status, throwing an Extinction Order into a Death World is not a big deal, and no one will hold him accountable afterward, an Extinction Order is not something that can be thrown away at will.

Putting everything else aside, the ground troops must be withdrawn first, and the dome over there at the Sea Hare must be properly dealt with, right?
These things all require time to process, and time is what humanity lacks most right now.

The green tide surged, and the power of the ancient Krok continued to leak out. If Chen Xi wanted to buy time, he had to find a way to seal or sever the connection between the greenskins and the Krok.

This means severing the WAR force field link between the two.

Fortunately, it's not something that can't be done.

During the War of the Beasts, the Empire once relied on the power of the Silent Sisters to sever the link between the beasts and the WAR field, thus depriving them of the WAR field support of their massive orc army.

Coincidentally, Chen Xi happened to have a small group of Silent Sisters under his command.

Although it started as just two Silent Nuns who came with the black ship—one of whom was still an apprentice who had not yet completed her training—this special force has taken shape over the years.

The original Silent Sister, through her secret connections with other Silent Sisters and her discovery and recruitment of the Untouchables in the Rostov subsector, successfully expanded this special force into a complete squad.

In addition to this formal five-person team, there are several apprentices undergoing rigorous training.

They were taught how to control their "blank" traits and how to become a deadly weapon against psionic threats on the battlefield.

All in all, Chen Xi now has more than ten Untouchables under his command. Although the number is still not large, it is already a force to be reckoned with.

If this force were deployed to the front lines, Chen Xi would be no better than the previous team of combat nuns, since the Silent Sisters weren't much better at fighting than the combat nuns.

Their main role is to exert a powerful suppression of psychic energy.

If a dozen or so Untouchables attacked together, let alone ordinary psionicists, even a powerful psionicist like Mephisto would have to stand still.

So Chen Xi quickly arrived at the area specially marked out on the black ship and found the Silent Sisters who were training.

"I need your strength." Chen Xi didn't mince words and stated his purpose directly.

“We have anticipated this moment, and we will fight for you.” The lead nun, Silent Sister, gestured to Chen Xi in sign language, while an apprentice beside her provided simultaneous interpretation.

(End of this chapter)