Warhammer 40K in a box

Chapter 558 Judge Warren

The piercing highest-level combat alarm instantly resounded throughout the entire ship! Crimson warning lights flashed wildly, staining the entire bridge with an ominous crimson hue.

The alarm was still echoing when the main sensor array captured a menacing silhouette, like a predator bursting from the deep sea mud, suddenly tearing through a huge blind spot near the entrance of the ruins, a shadow formed by complex frozen spacetime folds!
Its mass characteristics and unique energy readings were instantly highlighted by the identification system: a Luna-class cruiser that had undergone a thorough, almost brutal, modification.

The original sleek lines of the Imperial Navy were brutally covered with layers upon layers of heavy, densely engraved atoning scriptures and the holy seal of the Inquisition, making the shape bulky and oppressive.

The massive, faintly glowing red insignia of the Inquisition, the letter "I," stood like a blasphemous beacon in the darkness, branded onto the bow of the ship.

The ship's sides and belly are covered with massive laser cannon arrays, macro gun barrels, and multi-tube torpedo launchers. At this moment, these deadly weapon ports are flashing with an ominous, blinding light, brimming with energy to the extreme.

Most striking is a massive, multi-barreled laser cannon array below the bow. Its focusing lens is like a cold, judgmental eye. A thick, high-brightness targeting beam has been fired, clearly piercing through the turbulent energy currents ahead. Like an invisible noose, it is firmly locked onto the midsection of the "Iron Will" ship, which is cautiously navigating through the rift!
"'The Blaze of Purification'! It's the flagship of Inquisitor Qasim Warren!" Guterres's deep voice rang out in the ship's combat channel. The servo mechanism of the adamantite-covered power gauntlets emitted a low, powerful, pressurized hiss, as if the giant steel fist was eager to strike.

The main communication screen on the bridge was suddenly filled with blinding white light and jumbled static electricity, then forcibly stabilized. The image of the bridge of the "Purifying Fire" forcefully cut into the center of the screen, with the figure of Inquisitor Qasim Warren standing in front like a judge before a courtroom.

He was clad in a judge's armor as black as night, the surface of which was etched with intricate religious texts, images of crucified saints, and skull emblems symbolizing purification and judgment.

The heavy, scarlet lining peeked through the gaps in the armor, like congealed blood.

On the shoulder armor, the huge, pure gold insignia of the Inquisition reflected a cold, unforgiving metallic luster under the cold light source of the bridge.

His face was not simply arrogant, but rather a mixture of absolute authority, cold scrutiny, and a deliberately displayed, profoundly sorrowful "compassion."

He spoke in a reinforced high Gothic voice, strong enough to penetrate any background noise, his booming voice resounding throughout every corner of the bridge of the "Iron Will," carrying an undeniable, overwhelming pressure that sought to utterly crush the moral compass of the other side: "Honorable Death Watchers! Stop! Immediately stop your steps, blinded and driven by lies and blasphemy!"

Warren's voice was deliberately slow, carrying a condescending warning, as if instructing lost lambs: "The noble mission you bear, the mission to hunt down aliens, is now being tainted by the shadow of Rostov! What you are following is not the divine will of the Emperor, but a false command issued by him for his own selfish desires!"
You have ventured into forbidden territories where the Emperor's glory has never shone, and have been exploring sealed, forbidden knowledge that should not be touched!
Such acts are the most utter blasphemy against the sacred boundaries of humanity! This is not the conduct befitting a monk of Astartes! Nor is it the very purpose of the Death Watch!

His tone suddenly rose, becoming incredibly sharp, each syllable like a poisoned javelin, filled with the naked force of accusation.

His sharp gaze swept across the screen, as if trying to pierce through the electronic barrier, nailing every word to the soul of every Deathwatch member on the bridge, especially Felus: "I, Warren Qasim, with the eyes of the Holy Inquisition and with the judgment authority personally granted by the Emperor, have seen through the heinous crimes of heresy committed by Rostov and the forces behind him!"
They have betrayed the Emperor's light and secretly colluded with corrupted sages within certain forging worlds on Mars! They are committing acts that blaspheme against the divine will of Om Messiah!
They actually dared to... dared to use heretical technology that was absolutely forbidden, and to create forbidden mechanical artifacts!

"Attempting to usurp the sacred domain of Om Messiah with superhuman strength and challenge the unshakeable core tenets of the Mechanical Codex!"

Warren's arm shot up, his fingers, covered in black armor, pointed straight at the screen like unsheathed swords—precisely pointing to the spot where Ferrus stood on the bridge of the "Iron Will": "Look! Open your eyes and see clearly! Right above you on the bridge, that body gleaming with an ominous silver-gray luster! This is the irrefutable proof of Rostov's blasphemy!"
This thing is absolutely not a sacred mechanical creation bestowed by Om Messiah! It is a 'blasphemous creation' forcibly pieced together by them using the most blasphemous and darkest technology to twist pure human flesh and blood and melt forbidden alien alloys!
Every inch of its steel, every cable, is steeped in blasphemy against the sacred laws of the Golden Throne! A utter rebellion against the core tenets of the Mechanical Codex! It is the embodiment of heresy! It is filth that must be purified!

After a brief, suffocatingly oppressive pause, Warren's voice transformed into a final, unquestionable, divine judgment, like a cold anvil striking down: "By the supreme authority of the Holy Tribunal! By the ultimate power of purification that I wield!"
I hereby order you: Immediately shut down all engines and propulsion systems! Disarm all ships and personnel! Surrender unconditionally!
Hand over immediately the heretical creation of Rostov—that silver-gray blasphemy—along with all the forbidden knowledge you have stolen or attempted to steal from this place!

Your ships, your personnel, your souls... and that 'creation' must all undergo the most thorough and merciless examination and purification by the Inquisition!
"Resist this order—" His voice suddenly rose to its highest point, filled with destructive fervor, "that would confirm that you have been completely bewitched by Rostov's heresy and are willing to become accomplices in betraying the human empire and the Golden Throne!"

When it receives... the purification that will reduce everything to ashes! The fire of cleansing will burn away all impurity!

The massive laser cannon array on the bow of the "Purifying Fire" suddenly became even more dazzling, its charging light turning from pale blue to incandescent white, poised to fire.

The raging energy currents in the rift seemed to become even more restless under the declaration of this judgment, with arcs of dark blue and purple electricity leaping wildly across the surface of the "Iron Will" shield, emitting an even denser hiss.

(End of this chapter)