The Defense Force's Seventh Regiment, primarily composed of light infantry and heavy weapon teams, was stationed at the Starport.
Although they were equipped with armored vehicles, heavy vehicles were inconvenient to use within the Starport.
Even though the Starport's wide internal passages could accommodate the passage of a leman russ tank or a chimera armored vehicle, the regiment mainly used squad weapons and their Lasguns in combat.
Of course, there were also some conventional explosives, such as frag grenades, krak grenades, and Thermo-meltdown bombs.
If krak grenades were used well, even a tin can could be killed.
In other places, even if this regiment was completely wiped out, they would not have been able to stop the Khorne Warband's raid today.
The Seventh Regiment, totaling seven thousand men, suffered nearly a thousand casualties in today's battle.
More than two-thirds of these were due to the raid by this Chaos Warband.
Although this was an unknown Khorne Warband, with only about seventy Chaos Astartes in total, their equipment was ordinary, and they even lacked Khorne blessings. Yet, they still slaughtered over seven hundred members of the Seventh Regiment in less than half an hour.
Only less than three hundred casualties were caused by the fighting between the Seventh Regiment and the cultists brought by the Khorne Warband.
This outcome was tragic, but it was still the result of the Ash Knights immediately engaging in battle, blocking most of the Chaos Space Marines, and the Blood Angels unleashing their Death Company to quickly eliminate most of the Chaos Space Marines.
If it had only been the Seventh Regiment, they might have won this battle with great difficulty, but the entire Seventh Regiment would have suffered over half, or even more, casualties.
Of course, in the latter half of this battle, Luka had already joined the fight with the Sisters of Battle, even claiming the heads of two Chaos Space Marines.
Now, Luka could also be said to be an individual who had slain an Astartes in battle.
The cost, however, was the deaths of four Battle Sisters.
Although they also wore Power Armor, and often the Battle Sisters displayed combat power not inferior to the Astartes, it must be said that the Battle Sisters themselves were still mortals.
While they underwent a certain degree of physical enhancement, making them much more capable than ordinary grunts, they were still mortals.
Even though the Battle Sisters of the Sacred Rose Convent could use the Emperor's divine arts and display various miracles, they still struggled against Chaos Space Marines.
If Luka had not timely used his psychic power to restrain the squad of Chaos tin cans that ambushed them, even more Sisters would have died.
However, even though Luka restrained these five tin cans and directly slew two of them, four Battle Sisters were still torn apart the moment they made contact.
(Khorne tin cans, no significant mutations, rabbit ears are the most prominent feature)
(Cultists Jakhals, literally jackals or minions, those with Chainsword are already elites)
(Chaos Cultists, genuine weaklings)
These four Battle Sisters were not Luka's pawns; they were living people from this world.
Perhaps it was precisely because of this that Luka was unwilling to see the survivors of the Seventh Regiment directly executed by Kaldor Draigo.
Although he knew that doing so would leave a huge hidden danger, especially when the Great Rift opened in the future, these survivors of the Seventh Regiment would be more susceptible to corruption than others, and they might even directly become rebels.
But for now, Luka did not want to kill them so simply and brutally.
All life is the Emperor's currency; they should not be wasted like this.
Under Luka's command, the sanctus wine was brought over by the Sisters of Battle. Because there were quite a few survivors in the Seventh Regiment, Luka had the Sisters of Battle bring about 500 bottles of 'loyalty.'
On average, each person could get about a cup's worth.
This amount was sufficient for both normal consumption and for identifying heretics.
Luka had conducted some tests, and to have the sanctus wine directly purify a heretic, one cup, or about 150ml, was the minimum dose.
The warriors of the Seventh Regiment were now receiving about that small cup.
But for these grunts, it was an overwhelming honor.
Although Rostov II produced sanctus wine, it was not something an ordinary grunt could afford.
An Astra Militarum soldier's monthly salary was only fifty throne gelts, while a bottle of sanctus wine cost twenty thousand throne gelts, requiring an Astra Militarum soldier to save for four hundred months without eating or drinking to afford one bottle.
And four hundred months, which is roughly thirty-four years, is more than double the service period for the Astra Militarum.
A normal Astra Militarum soldier can retire after fifteen years of service to the Emperor.
Of course, you can also apply for a deferred retirement and serve the Emperor for another five years.
If you can be promoted to an officer, you can stay in the Astra Militarum for a few more years.
But thirty-four years is still a long time, enough to span an Astra Militarum soldier's entire life.
It is conceivable that a bottle of sanctus wine, worth twenty thousand throne gelts, was something these Defense Force soldiers, who weren't even Astra Militarum, could never afford to touch in their lives.
All the soldiers of the Seventh Regiment, overwhelmed, held the small cups that they could completely grasp with one hand, watching the Emperor's daughter pour wine for them.
The rose-colored liquid exuded a rich fragrance, a sweet scent these grunts had never smelled in their lives.
Although the grape plantation was on the planet below, these Defense Force members could not approach it, or rather, no one except the Sisters of Battle and special personnel could now approach the plantation where the holy grapes were grown.
Anyone who approached without permission would be warned and authorized to be shot. If the person ignored the warning and trespassed, then the Ecclesiarchy and the Inquisition jointly authorized that the person had betrayed the God-Emperor and could be shot on the spot.
This authorization to kill even included Luka, the governor.
Theoretically, even if Luka wanted to enter the vineyard, he would first have to find the Great Sister of the Sisters of Battle and could only enter the vineyard with her or other Sisters accompanying him.
As for these Defense Force soldiers? Sorry, they didn't even have the qualifications to apply for a visit.
Being able to gaze at that patch of green from a distance near the valley where the vineyard was located was already the maximum distance they were allowed to approach the holy grapes.
The rich fragrance of the fruit was a scent these Defense Force members could hardly touch or imagine in their lives.
Even though Rostov II had plants cultivated by Ovilia, and the urban environment was comparable to the 3k era, they had never smelled anything so pleasant.
Especially since they knew this was wine blessed by the Emperor.
Luka raised his wine glass under the gaze of all the Seventh Regiment Defense Force soldiers; his glass also contained sanctus wine.
Beside him were the Blood Angels, Deathwatch, and Ash Knights who had rushed over; they also held wine glasses.
"Gentlemen, today you repelled a traitorous invasion with extraordinary courage, and among them were even fallen Astartes who betrayed the God-Emperor! This is an immense glory. You faced a powerful enemy with the fearless courage of mortals. Your glory deserves this cup, so please drink it all. I toast you."
Luka did not say too many words, simply describing their glory today with simple terms before drinking the wine in his cup in one gulp.
After the soldiers of the Seventh Regiment looked at each other, they carefully poured the wine from their cups into their mouths.
Golden flames ignited on the spot.
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The story doesn't end here 😉 The next chapter is already up on Patreon, you can read it here: [patreon.com/TripleCrown07]