Chapter 170: Purgation Protocol — Sector Beta
The gear was issued. Beneath the white, coarse-cloth robes of the Ecclesiarchy was a layer of high-grade rubberized environmental suits. The robes themselves were adorned with the "Mark of Sanctity," and the Avian-Pattern Rebreathers (bird-masks) were fitted with specialized filters infused with blessed charcoal and stimulant-spices to keep the spirit sharp.
Once the squad was armored, the Canon-Preceptor moved among them. He held a brass censer and a stack of Sanctified Purity Seals. He pressed the red wax onto their pauldrons and the receivers of their weapons, his voice booming with a rhythmic, hypnotic authority.
"Warriors of the Throne, the Master of Mankind walks with you! He shall shield your spirits from the rot and your minds from the lies. Strike without hesitation! Purge without mercy! The Emperor's world shall not be desecrated!!"
[HUD NOTIFICATION: TACTICAL BUFFS APPLIED]
Aura of Conviction: +20% Fear Resistance.
Sanctified Ordinance: Melee and Las-attacks deal 10% bonus damage to Warp-tainted targets.
The squad let out a collective roar of "LOYALTY!" and stormed out of the Cathedral toward the transport yard.
Kian Voss led the column, looking like a high-tier heavy specialist. He hauled his Heavy-Barrel Lasgun and the fifteen-kilogram battery pack, his secondary 30mm Bolt-launcher slung across his hip. He carried several tins of Purgation Salve and flasks of Sanctified Amasec.
Behind him was the Purgation Detail:
Voss Guard: 15 PDF regulars (Lasguns).
Water Guild: 11 enforcers (Shotguns).
Ministorum Crusaders: 10 Greatsword-Deacons, 10 Maul-Priests, and 10 Staff-Preachers.
Support: 2 Relic-Bearers hauling a mobile Imperial Shrine, and 8 Shield-Guards.
They boarded the Cathedral's private armored transports—heavy, gothic trucks plated in silver-edged steel. Reno led the way in his Survey Crawler.
Kian noticed that the Canon had brought Sister Theresa along. She sat beside the priest, clutching a small, golden mobile shrine to her chest. Her eyes were wide with a mix of terror and fanatical purpose.
"Sister," Kian rumbled through his bird-mask. "When the triggers start clicking, you stay behind the Shield-Guards. This isn't a classroom."
Theresa nodded silently, her knuckles white as she gripped the relic.
The Canon looked at Kian. "Warrior of the light, lead us to the source. Where do we begin the excision?"
"We hit the Mid-Hive Filtration Plant (Sector Beta) first," Kian decided. "The contamination there is shallow. It's the 'Tutorial Level.' We clear the easy ground, harden the men, and then we descend into the 'Boss Room' at the Alpha Reservoir."
The Canon nodded. "A logical deployment. Proceed."
The convoy roared through the Mid-Hive. The streets were a vision of total societal failure. Laborers were smashing hab-windows and lighting fires. It was impossible to tell who was a "Looter" and who was a "Cultist." In the eyes of the Ecclesiarchy, they were all simply "Obstacles."
The Canon watched the chaos through the vision-slit, letting out a heavy sigh. "The times are dark. The children of the Emperor suffer when the light is obscured."
Kian was surprised by the old man's empathy. He's not just a fanatic; he actually gives a damn about the cogs.
"The gate!" Reno shouted over the vox. "Sector Beta Hub in sight!"
The trucks ground to a halt before a massive perimeter wall. This was the primary water-processing facility for ten billion Mid-Hive citizens.
Reno scrambled out of his crawler and ran to the master-terminal. The ten-lane iron gates groaned as the Machine Spirit recognized his Guild-cipher. The doors slid open, but instead of a silent industrial plant, they were met by a sea of people.
Thousands of citizens were wandering the vats. They weren't employees. They were commoners in tattered rags, their faces masked by that same, eerie, "Nurgle-Serenity."
Reno's brow furrowed. "Oi! What the hell is this?! This is restricted Guild property! Unregistered elements, disperse immediately!"
The crowd turned as one, their vacant smiles widening. A woman at the front, holding a tinkling bell and a bundle of rotted leaves, stepped forward.
"Oh, welcome, travelers! Have you come to taste the Bountiful Flow? Our Father has provided a gift... the water is sweet, the rot is kind..."
The Canon-Preceptor's expression shifted instantly. The "Kind Old Man" was gone, replaced by a mask of absolute, divine fury. The Battle-Priests behind him snapped their combat-shrouds into place.
Kian pointed at the woman. "Yeah... you're done. You just insulted the High Management. Prepare for a terminal audit."
The Canon stepped off the truck. Each strike of his brass-and-steel staff against the floor-plates left a small crater in the marble. He stopped three paces from the woman, staring into her milky, corrupted eyes.
"Woman," the Canon whispered, his voice vibrating with a psychic weight that made Kian's HUD display a 'Distortion Warning.' "By whose authority do you preach in this sanctuary? Who is the 'One True God'?"
The woman giggled, her bell tinkling. "The Lord of the Harvest, of course! The Grandfather! The Emperor is but a withered—"
THUD.
Kian's eyes twitched. He hadn't even seen the movement.
The Canon had swung his metal scripture-staff with a speed that defied human biology. It was like the frame-rate of reality had skipped. One moment the woman was speaking; the next, she had been flattened into a horizontal "meat-pancake" against the floor, her skull and torso reduced to a spray of biological paste.
"SACRILEGE!!" the Canon roared, his voice shaking the heavy pipes above. "HOW DARE YOU UTTER SUCH FILTH IN HIS DOMAIN!!!"
The forty Battle-Deacons took the shout as a "Kill Order." They exploded into motion, wielding their two-handed greatswords and heavy mauls with a fanatical frenzy.
"Boss," Egghead whispered, standing beside Kian. "Should we... do something?"
"Stay back," Kian commanded, checking his ammo. "Let the pros handle the first wave. We're the clean-up crew."
It was a slaughter. The "Bountiful" cultists had the numbers, but they were unarmored and mentally suppressed. The Battle-Priests moved like dervishes of steel, their blades raking through the crowd.
Kian noticed something strange. The Canon-Preceptor was standing in the center of the carnage, not even swinging his staff anymore. He was simply shining. A faint, golden aura of Imperial resonance was radiating from his armor.
It was a passive AoE (Area of Effect) buff. Any Poxwalker that got near him began to smoke and shrivel. But for the civilians who were only "Mentally Infected," the light acted as a cure.
Under the weight of the "Divine Radiation," the mental filters of the crowd began to shatter. Thousands of "Bountiful" worshipers suddenly gasped, their eyes clearing as they realized they were standing in a water plant covered in blood and filth.
They saw the giant priests in bird-masks hacking their neighbors apart and screaming about "Purification." The "Garden" was gone. The nightmare was back.
The survivors shrieked in pure, animal terror, leaking waste into their rags as they scrambled to escape the "Sanctified" blades.
In the wake of the High Bishop's fury, Sector Beta was being drowned in a red tide of repentance.
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