Starting from the Planetary Governor - Chapter 927

Chapter 919, Tomb Container

a whole force of Chaos Space Marines, painted black and gold, led by three Corrupted Dreadnoughts that had completed the targeted demolition of the tomb’s container, charged into the church.

Their arrival was so sudden that no one noticed their advance until they breached the wall. Consequently, only the two nearest guards arrived. They offered little resistance, their Power Claws, coated in corrupted slime, ripping through the soldiers’ chests, swiftly slaughtering them.

Then, before anyone could react, they swiftly broke through a sealed entrance, blasted it open, and descended into the church’s basement.

At this point, Tulsa and his men arrived and were met by the remaining Chaos Space Marines.

While commanding his troops to engage them, he was also puzzled by the enemy’s bizarre actions. Why

were they attacking here?

When he first heard about these Chaos traitors entering the church, he was quite nervous. He had no idea how many of them there were, nor what other plans they might have. If the church were lost, and the rear center lost, the already precarious human defenses would become unstable.

Setting that aside, their core objective was to defend the church. Even if the other defenses were still intact, what good would it do if the church was lost? It

would still be a failure!

But why were these Chaos Space Marines heading directly underground?

Having guarded the church for quite some time, Tulsa was well-versed in its structure. He knew that this underground passage led to a crypt.

Having a crypt beneath the church made sense. However, in this hive world, many lower- and middle-class people typically lived in coffin-sized spaces, making burial in such a place impossible. Those who could be buried in the crypt beneath the church, if not the rich and powerful, were at least from the middle class and above.

They had previously conducted a thorough inspection of the crypt beneath the church.

On the one hand, it was a defensive requirement. At the very least, they had to avoid any oversights. What if a crypt contained a passage leading to the outside world, creating a loophole in the defenses? Wouldn’t that be a disaster? After inspection, they discovered that it was indeed there, having been completely sealed off beforehand.

Another reason was that the order from Command, while demanding their utmost defense of the church, also informed them that the Chaos enemies seemed to be searching for something. Seeing as they had headed straight for the church after landing from orbit, it was very likely that this something was inside.

Therefore, they had to search diligently.

However, the term “something” was too broad. After searching the entire church, they found nothing that would warrant the Scourge Fleet going to such great lengths to search for it on a whole world.

Of course, this was perfectly normal.

If that “something” was so obvious, the Alliance wouldn’t have been so confused about what they were looking for after so long.

However, based on current intelligence, it’s highly likely that the “something” is inside the church.

This is the very reason for their utmost defense of the church.

Combined with the Chaos traitors’ direct attack on the catacombs, isn’t it possible to conclude that the “something” is actually there? It’s just that they hadn’t been able to detect it before.

With this in mind, Tulsa made a decision.

The enemy couldn’t succeed.

He summoned every available Space Marine, and under his personal leadership, twenty-eight Bamboo Lizards, backed by a company of mortal soldiers, launched a desperate assault on the enemy.

The mortal soldiers, manning heavy bolters, small plasma cannons, and direct-fire rocket launchers, launched a fierce assault on the enemy’s bunkered defenses.

They didn’t aim to inflict significant casualties, but at least they wanted to temporarily suppress the Chaos Space Marines blocking their path with

their firepower, thus safeguarding Tulsa’s advance.

They succeeded.

Tulsa’s roar, accompanied by the scent of burning incense, exploded!

He was once a Chapter Chaplain of the Bamboo Lizards. After suffering a serious injury, he chose the latter, given the choice of a Dreadnought Iron Casket or a Primaris transformation for a chance of survival.

He had fortunately survived the ordeal of his Primaris transformation and, upon returning to the Chapter, he didn’t continue his role as Chapter Chaplain, but instead became a Commander, mentoring the many Primaris recruits assigned to the Chapter.

However, while no longer a Chaplain, some aspects of his fighting style were inevitably influenced by his long career as a Chaplain.

The scattered incense was one such example.

During daily prayers, the incense, imbued with the power of faith, did indeed weaken traitors while also providing a heightened mental boost to his own warriors.

Upon encountering the first Chaos traitor, Talsa could even see the buds growing in the crevices of their armor, shrinking slightly from the incense.

Clearly in pain, their movements slowed for a moment.

Seizing the opportunity, Talsa swung his Power Staff, inscribed with atonement prayers, and slammed the traitor into the supporting column. The Judgment Fire at the staff’s tip ignited the buds growing in the Terminator’s armor, terminating it with a single blow.

Tulsa’s combat prowess remained formidable, especially after his Primaris transformation.

His proactive attack attracted the attention of several Chaos Space Marines. They trained their bolt pistols on Tulsa, while others charged with raised chainswords.

Undeterred, Tulsa fought back from the spot, using his mace to counter the melee.

His Iron Knight Terminator armor absorbed much of the damage, leaving him only slightly injured.

Meanwhile, his battle-brothers, taking advantage of his charge, joined the fray.

Nine Chaos Marines were responsible for the interception. They were exceptionally skilled, veterans who had survived the brutal battle. However, facing three times their number, all Primaris, the Bamboo Lizards, they were unable to mount a comeback and were ultimately annihilated in the bloody close combat.

The Bamboo Lizards suffered five casualties

, two of whom died at the last moment.

When the last Chaos Space Marine felt completely powerless to stop the enemy, he frantically opened a metal box, emitting an unnatural glow. Three unholy mines, tracking heat signatures, launched out and exploded at close range.

While killing himself, they also took the lives of two Banyan Warriors.

After losing five warriors, Tulsa, with only twenty-three remaining, remained unwavering.

He commanded his troops with unwavering determination, continuing the advance.

However, determination and caution were not mutually exclusive.

The catacombs were an unfamiliar environment. Although they had explored them before, they quickly stopped caring about them after sealing off the other entrances. No defenses were deployed, and at best, some wounded soldiers or supplies were temporarily stored in the catacombs.

Now, the enemy had occupied the area.

The fate of the wounded and medics previously in the catacombs was self-evident. Once the entire catacombs were under their control, they would undoubtedly deploy a full defense.

The catacombs were quite large, and their most notable feature was the relatively narrow passageways. There were numerous forks, side roads, and corners. In such an environment, a rash advance by the attackers would be highly vulnerable to ambush and serious losses.

Talsa’s forces were extremely limited: only twenty-three Space Marines and a company of infantry. With such a configuration, Talsa could not afford any failure.

A single mine at a corner, resulting in several casualties, would be too much for Talsa to bear. Furthermore, a heavily ambushed ambush could very well lead to total annihilation and defeat.

In such a situation, he had to be extremely cautious.

Fortunately, he did have some tricks up his sleeve.

The company’s technical sergeant, receiving his orders, stepped forward and launched several special drones.

Meanwhile, Tulsa fumbled to pull the data crystal from his belt and plugged it into the tactical terminal. Then, as the drone, which had been released earlier, began its work, the holographic projection of the catacombs deep within suddenly illuminated.

The areas scanned by the drone appeared to be, at least initially, free of major problems.

This drone represented a new manifestation of Alliance technology. If there was a Chapter particularly adept at “crafting,” the Dragonblood warriors were a distinct exception. The Banyan Lizards, as a member of the Dragonblood, shared a similar tradition.

The “holographic battlefield construction technology” represented by this drone was something they had also participated in researching.

In the current environment, this technology was beginning to prove particularly useful.

The drone encountered no major problems along the way, and the holographic image of the catacombs on Tulsa’s tactical panel became increasingly clear.

Tulsa was a little surprised.

He hadn’t expected this drone to be able to construct such a detailed and rich tactical map.

He had assumed it would be attacked mid-route, thus prematurely ending its work. Tulsa had already prepared for this, and would provide as much information as the drone could, at least enough to give them a clear idea of where they were headed.

However, the drone provided far too much information.

He concluded that this was likely because the invading Chaos Space Marines themselves were limited in strength. After deploying their forces to defend the underground entrance, they didn’t have enough remaining to deploy a comprehensive defense throughout the catacombs.

If that were the case, that would be excellent news!

Of course, Tulsa couldn’t expect anything more.

The drones were still exploring the path, but that didn’t prevent Tulsa from commanding his troops to enter the catacombs.

While they passed through areas already scanned by the drones, they proceeded cautiously, constantly checking every corner and every path, fearing the enemy might possess some unusual magic or hidden traps that hadn’t been detected.

They continued their journey without encountering any trouble, even after they had covered a considerable

distance. This proved that the drones’ scans were relatively reliable.

But just then, Tulsa heard the tech sergeant’s scream from the other side.

He quickly stopped the entire unit and asked, “What’s going on?”

“Captain, look!”

The tech sergeant handed over the tactical panel.

The holographic projection showed those ancient devices the staff had never mentioned—countless bronze pillars entwined with quantum circuits, surrounding a coffin-like container. Dark red energy was now seeping from the cracks in the coffin.

“What…what is this?!” Tulsa asked, frowning.

“I…don’t know.”

Tulsa received no answer, but he didn’t expect a clear answer.

No one knew what it was, but based on the intelligence and clues he had previously gathered, the so-called “thing” was probably this, right?

At this thought, the holographic display suddenly went dark, and a red exclamation mark appeared as a warning sign.

Apparently, their drone had finally been discovered and eliminated with a single shot.

He gritted his teeth and said, “Push faster! We need to hurry!”

They all sped up, their inspection of the surroundings less thorough than they had been at the beginning.

This also brought them a punishment – not far from their target, they were attacked from the side.

The enemy was not strong, there was not even a Chaos Space Marine, just some Chaos believers. But when they attacked with a crazy mentality and risked their lives, and detonated the bomb, Tulsa’s troops still suffered considerable damage. A lizard warrior

and an infantry squad fell.

However, with no time to spare, Tulsa could only command the troops to continue advancing.

According to the information just seen, they may not have much time left.

The Chaos wizards surrounding the bronze coffin-like container seemed to be close to completing their work.

………………………………

Try to finish one more chapter before dawn.

(End of this chapter)