Soshyan never thought that when he returned home one day, he would be greeted by a funeral.
All the way down from the landing platform, he looked back only once, in order to watch the Thunder Eagle take off in a burst of dirty smoke and fly into the clear blue sky.
There were more than ten aircraft taking off and landing around. After the soldiers left the cabin, they lined up and started to walk off the platform. Everyone's face was very heavy, because the monastery fortress was raided by the Dark Eldar had been decided by each of them.
The company commander informed them.
After many years of expansion, the monastery fortress is now far from a fortress. Even cable cars and railways have been built on the original mountain road, and many box-like carriages move along the wide paved road.
Paved tracks extend along the main roads outside the monastery fortress, and trams run along seemingly endless cables. The wheel wells of the trams are equipped with sharp-toothed wheels that can snap into the track.
The grooves on the monastery allow these vehicles with their own power sources to move around. This prevents the air around the monastery from being polluted by engine exhaust and noise. Instead, it is replaced by the tearing sound from time to time and when the carriages switch tracks and pass fixed points.
A clicking sound.
These metal vehicles that ply the main roads come in a variety of sizes, from small passenger vans to huge trailers and three-decker freight trucks.
But only the servants and auxiliary personnel of the Chapter can ride on these vehicles, and these are basically built for them to increase their work efficiency.
After walking through the Avenue of Glory, which only Space Marines can walk, Soshyan arrived at the entrance of the monastery fortress, where Elena, Armin and others were already waiting.
Elena was wearing a simple black mourning dress, and her face could be seen through the black gauze hat. Her flawless skin and black hair could not hide the worry in her eyes - no matter how young she was.
The beauty was overshadowed by the sadness that occupied her eyes.
The servants had already set up the torches, and in every corner were piles of tall ritual candles, images of the Emperor, paper offerings, and resin badges.
Occasionally there would be the sound of a whip lashing, but that might just be the sound of cables.
Looking at Armin's face mixed with guilt and self-blame, Soshyan sighed, feeling as if someone stabbed him in the chest.
And before his eyes, sorrow also surrounded the Tenth Company Commander, as if everything that made him up and made him who he was had been taken out and then destroyed.
"Chapter Commander, I..."
Perhaps for the first time since becoming a Space Marine, Armin's tears welled up as he sobbed, and he could not stop them even if he wanted to.
"...I failed to fulfill my responsibilities."
Soshyan stepped forward and grabbed the other person's arm.
"Then remember this regret and repay those corrupted aliens ten times in the future!"
Armin nodded, his tears disappeared, leaving only a strong desire for revenge.
"I certainly will!"
Soshyan patted him on the shoulder and walked towards the door. He needed to see those dead soldiers with his own eyes.
Twenty-seven people, this is the final number.
When he came to the morgue and looked at the rows of corpses of recruits, Soshyan's expression almost became distorted.
It was not that his subordinates had died before, and some occasions were much more serious than this. However, the simple and cruel death of these new recruits made him feel extremely guilty.
Soshyan could only barely resist the constant indignation and accusations in his heart, where a voice kept accusing him of everything that happened.
At the same time, in his heart, he once again saw what the great prophet of the Spirit Race had said to him -
Comoros seems to be eyeing you.
But he never fully heeded this advice and almost forgot about it - until it was too late.
"I'll make all the bastards responsible pay!"
Soshyan swore to the dead soldiers:
"must!"
"Chapter Commander..."
Suddenly, a strange voice came, and Soshyan turned around and saw a recruit with a bandage around his neck looking at him.
After thinking for a moment, he recalled that this recruit was named Jacob, and he was one of Gray Marrow's adaptors.
"...Ms. Veronica saved us."
Jacob hesitated for a moment, then continued:
"She's a psyker, but it's not important. Without her we might all be dead."
As he said that, he looked back at the recruits standing behind him, and then looked back at Soshyan.
"We will definitely rescue her! We owe her a life."
Soshyan nodded slightly.
"Yes, but now, let us send these brothers on their last journey."
The funeral of a Space Marine is not complicated. After paying tribute to the fallen, the warriors escort them to the tomb of the Chapter.
The mausoleum is deep underground in the monastery fortress. During the construction of the surface buildings, skilled craftsmen carved out many tombs and passages, and the soldiers walked heavily through a row of tombs prepared for them.
In addition to the tombs, there are also some sculptures here. Their figures are frozen in the moment of fighting ugly stone demons or aliens. This is also their only tombstone, from Dakia to the Eye of Hell, from Armageddon to the Pain Star.
Nearly a hundred battle brothers have been buried here in just a few decades.
Soshyan walked behind the Chapter Chaplain Chief Yazdan. The Chaplain wore full black power armor, his face hidden under a bronze skeletal helmet.
As a Chaplain, he is also the guardian of the undead of the Chapter, just as he is the guardian of the souls of the living.
Behind Soshyan, the combat brothers carried the coffin, inside which lay the remains of the fallen recruits from the 10th company. They were all covered with pure white shrouds.
The funeral procession walked through the tomb in silence. There were niches carved out of the rock formations on both sides of the extending wall. Each one contained a helmet or a weapon. The inscriptions visible on the floor recorded these armors.
and which warrior the weapon came from.
Finally, they came to a large tomb, and Soshyan led the team into it. There were many empty pedestals.
"Honoring the holy and pure Emperor of Mankind, battle brother Cirillo Aaron of the Tenth Company once faced fierce and stubborn enemies, was not afraid of strong enemies, exhausted all his ammunition, and died in a bloody battle."
The chief priest's voice was low and solemn, echoing throughout the tomb.
"...Destroy the enemy with a bare sword, take death as a festival, the emperor has mercy, guard the king, the world is endless, the war is endless, the throne is on top, thousands of ministers have the certificate, the loyal soul and heroic spirit, eternal immortality."
Yazdan continued to recite, and all the soldiers lowered their heads. Behind them, the young recruits listened carefully to every word of the priest, trying to figure out the meaning contained in the eulogy.
About two hours later, the head priest concluded with a memorial prayer, and then the machine slave with a white shell closed the lid of the sarcophagus, filled the gaps with soil, and at the same time turned the direction of part of the sarcophagus - this was to allow the deceased to
Can find the way back to Terra and set foot on the path to the Emperor's arms.
"In His name and grace, you will rest here until the Throne calls the fallen warriors to serve Him again."
The last words of the pastor are read to the deceased, which also represents the end of the funeral.
Finally, Soshyan said:
"Praise the Emperor, our decisions are nothing but reflections of His will, as it should be!"
"This is how it should be."
Everyone immediately resumed chanting, and the candlelight around the tomb flickered faintly——