Louise cut her palm with a knife and squeezed the blood into the bowl.
It was then that Horatio noticed a slightly concave scar on her palm, the result of a burn.
Horatio recalled the girl who pulled him from the flames eight years ago; her hand had also been burned by a red-hot iron rod.
[Could they be the same person?] Horatio wondered, looking at the scar on Louise's palm.
He wanted to know, but the current situation was clearly not the time for reminiscing; the vaccine's expiration date left them with little time, and there was no time to waste.
A Medical Sister then used hemostatic gel to treat Louise's wound and used the power of faith to promote her muscle repair.
She used the blood to temporarily create some short-acting antidotes, which she injected into the Battle Sisterss.
[+ First, we need to use Hellguns and Hot-Shot Lasguns to weaken its external ceramite defense. It would be best if we could kill it, but if not, I'll try to stuff high-explosive grenades in and blow it up while Sister Arabella distracts it. +]
[+ Horatio, that's too dangerous. I'm the leader, I'll go. +] Louise took off a high-explosive grenade.
[+ You are the only hope against the ship plague, Louise. One of my missions is to ensure you survive. +]
Horatio snatched the grenade from her hand: [+ That's the plan. +]
[+ What are you squabbling about, you brats? You're so noisy! +]
Sergeant Major Valina, who had been mostly silent, suddenly snatched the grenade from Horatio's hand: [+ You don't even know how to blow things up. Watch closely! This is how you blow up a Space Marine! +]
She skillfully removed all the grenades from her body and bound them together with wire to form a cluster grenade.
No one spoke again; everyone silently saluted her.
The Battle Sisterss quickly recited a prayer for each vanguard, wishing these warriors of the God-Emperor a victorious return.
[+ Commence assault! +]
The door to the stasis pod opened, and four squads, along with four Battle Sisterss, rushed in from all directions.
It was at the moment of entry that Horatio clearly saw the Plague Marine.
Due to mutation, its helmet had only one large eye, and its body was massive and corpulent, at least three meters tall. It wore barely recognizable MK.2 Power Armor, was covered in oily green, and was incredibly filthy. Even through his respirator, Horatio could vaguely smell its stench.
The moment the door opened, despite the Plague Marine's sluggish movements, it was still a Space Marine. It reacted immediately, raising its gun and firing.
[+ Find cover! +] Horatio shouted, pulling Louise behind the nearest corridor pillar.
The boltgun in the Plague Marine's hand fired, each shot accompanied by the spray of foul, yellow liquid.
A vanguard was hit by a bolt round the moment he rushed through the door; his carapace chest plate shattered, his upper body instantly exploded, and he fell to the ground.
On the data slate, one life signal disappeared, leaving only a dim gray.
[+ Fire! +] The vanguards on the upper level unleashed lasers at the Plague Marine at maximum power.
This corpulent Space Marine was far more agile than they had imagined. It dodged some of the lasers with its movements, and even when hit by Hot-Shot Lasguns, which penetrated its ceramite armor, the thick layers of fat beneath the armor blocked the laser's penetration.
Only Sergeant Major Valina seized the opportunity, using a plasma gun with concentrated fire to melt a section of its flesh-fused armor on its abdomen.
BANG! The Plague Marine raised its gun and blew off the head of a vanguard on the second floor, blood splattering on Valina and staining her goggles.
[+ He'll kill all of us before we can gravely wound him, Sister, hold him in place! +] Valina shouted, twisting open the cooling vents on her gun to accelerate heat dissipation.
The Medical Sister began chanting, and a blinding flash erupted in the center of the stasis pod, like an oversized stun grenade.
This move indeed pinned the Plague Marine in place, shaking its head.
Valina seized the chance, slapped the detonators of all the grenades, and agilely leaped down from the second floor.
She charged towards the Plague Marine, and with astonishing arm strength, like throwing a discus, she hurled the cluster grenade at the Plague Marine. Her entire set of movements flowed seamlessly, clearly indicating prior combat experience against Chaos Space Marines.
But this Space Marine, blessed by Nurgle, seemed to have other eyes. It instantly raised its boltgun and pulled the trigger.
BANG!
The bolt round exploded, grazing Valina's vambrace, shattering it and exposing the bone beneath the flesh.
Even so, the Sergeant Major gritted her teeth, not uttering a sound.
BOOM! The violent explosion shook the entire deck, and Valina was also knocked down by the shockwave.
[+ No, he's not dead yet. We underestimated his vitality. +] Louise murmured, looking at the flames.
Amidst the smoke and fire, Horatio saw the tall figure still standing.
Armor plates constantly shattered and peeled off its bloated body, intestines hung out with mucus, and putrid flesh melted, sizzling and dripping onto the ground, but it simply wouldn't die.
[+ Louise, drag Sergeant Major Valina back to safety. +] Horatio made a swift decision and rushed out of cover.
[+ Where are you going? +] Louise tried to pull Horatio back, but her fingertips only grazed his back armor.
'+ Activate: Precognition Shard +'
'+ Activate: Power Fist +'
'+ Activate: Psyker Harmonization +'
'+ Energy: 0 / 7 +'
'+ Psyker: 2 / 7 +'
'+ Corruption: 4 / 7 +'
'+ Soulfire: 11 / 80 +'
[Damn it, even though I really don't want to fight those stinky cans in close combat! But I have to give it my all.]
Under the cover of smoke, Horatio pulled out the Chainsword left by a previously fallen Battle Sisters.
It was stuck in the fungal growth, and long-term maintenance with holy water had temporarily prevented it from being corrupted by Nurgle.
This time, Horatio harmonized with the Medical Sister's faith power, coating the Chainsword with a faint glow.
To Horatio's relief, he now had a power akin to psyker abilities, but it did not increase corruption.
Because this was the Emperor's unique blessed power; though it was a psyker ability, it was the psyker power from the Emperor himself.
BANG!
Horatio used the Precognition Shard to dodge the area the Plague Marine had pre-aimed, and shattered bolt fragments scraped against his armor.
The Battle Sisterss and vanguards collectively concentrated fire on the Plague Marine, knocking its boltgun to the ground.
[+ Sister Arabella, please! +]
A faint golden light appeared in the Battle Sisters's hand, and the surrounding psyker energies surged.
"Ugh!" The Plague Marine clutched its head, its other hand pulling out a curved short blade that constantly dripped mucus from its waist.
Vroom—the surging sound of the Chainsword echoed throughout the massive chamber.
Horatio activated the Chainsword; its machine soul was already eager to avenge its previous owner, furious and restless.
[+ Everyone, immediately begin purifying the stasis pod! +] The Battle Sisters shouted.
Horatio was engaged in close combat with the Space Marine, and firing would easily hit him. Apart from the Battle Sisters wielding a Chainsword who moved closer to the Chaos Space Marine to assist Horatio, everyone else immediately began the purification work.
The Chainsword and the short blade clashed, producing dazzling sparks. Although the Plague Marine was wounded, it was as if its flesh had not fallen off; its movements were still swift.
Its rusted short blade, when clashing with the Chainsword, surprisingly did not break, and its twisted blade was incredibly sharp.
Slash—
Just a moment too slow in retracting his sword, Horatio's vambrace was cut open like soft clay, almost piercing his close-fitting combat suit and the skin beneath it.
Mucus clung to his carapace armor, beginning to grow fungal growths like excrement, corroding his armor.
Horatio felt disgusted, gritted his teeth, and retreated to deal with the mucus.
Other Battle Sisterss provided timely support, distracting the Plague Marine, allowing Horatio to seize the time to regroup.
"O Mighty Emperor, your humble herald here implores your cleansing power…"
The Plague Marine suddenly looked at the Medical Sister, who was performing the purification ritual with the power of faith, intending to interrupt. Horatio seized the opportunity to attack him. The Chaos Space Marine tried hard to dodge but was still struck in the stomach by a sword.
The overwhelming stench caused Horatio's respirator filter to nearly fail and clog. The strong, pungent smell was practically raping his nasal cavity.
He endured the stench and swung his sword again.
[+ Mission… aborted. Emergency… retreat! Chaos… Space Marines have seized… the bridge, attempting Warp… Jump… All personnel… retreat! +]
Suddenly, everyone's channel received a fuzzy communication from the fleet. This was a Psyker Harmonization communication with the highest anti-interference capability; each such message meant the sacrifice of a precious Astropath.
Rumble—
The sudden tremor made it difficult for everyone to stand steadily.