Alexander stood rooted to the spot, but after a few seconds of observation, he realized that the church had changed significantly from before.
The overall architecture had become more slender and elongated, with patterns of the Emperor, skulls, angels, and roses carved into the walls. The bricks and stones that formed it were a strange intertwining of crimson and bone-white, giving the entire church a peculiar beauty.
This church was clearly not the one Alexander had seen before.
Instead, it had been torn down and rebuilt on the original site.
"This church was rebuilt by our Order of the Sacred Rose," Sister Adelaide introduced to Alexander.
"This time, we eliminated all possible sources of corruption, and mixed crimson soil from Baal and the ashes of deceased Sisters into every brick and stone. Now, this is a church entirely dedicated to the Emperor, and our outpost against the enemies of mankind."
Saying this, Sister Adelaide pushed open the heavy doors of the church, gesturing for Alexander and Reyna to enter.
Inside, the church was dim and gloomy, filled with the scent of incense. A holy statue of the Emperor stood amidst the incense, looking down upon a hall that hardly resembled a sacred place.
Deliberately controlled lighting bathed the entire hall in a thin gloom. Countless metal cables snaked across the floor, connecting numerous screens of various sizes, control panels, meters, servitors, and communication devices. Busy people moved among these instruments, like schools of fish swimming in a mechanical ocean.
A faint, indistinct scent wafted to Alexander's nose: the adrenaline of tense people, the metallic stench of machinery, and a blend of some kind of oil.
Alexander's gaze passed a few veterans discussing around a map and some Lyttin attempting to steal a veteran's flask, settling on two men in the center of the church hall.
One was General Drost, with his faded short hair plastered to his scalp, one eye an bionic, and the other a pale purple pupil characteristic of Cadian.
The other… was cloaked in a crimson robe emblazoned with gear symbols, beneath which was a body so taken over by machinery that little flesh remained.
That was a Tech-Priest accompanying the army, currently engaged in a heated argument with General Drost.
"Commander Drost, allow me to repeat myself."
"The shadow of the swarm approaches. the machine spirits are more sensitive to danger than humans; they are unwilling to operate normally."
This Tech-Priest, whose physique was so robust he looked more like an Astartes, emphasized:
"I need more time to re-establish inter-system communication and exchange."
"But it's absolutely impossible now. I need to appease these machine spirits; they are greatly displeased—hmm?"
The Tech-Priest suddenly paused, looking strangely at the flickering data on the screen.
He instinctively placed his hand on the communication device before him, attempting to sense the machine spirit within.
General Drost's gaze was also drawn to Alexander and Reyna as they pushed open the door.
"Father Shahorik, I'll discuss communications with you later."
General Drost looked at Alexander and Reyna with his purple eye:
"I have more important matters to discuss."
Saying this, General Drost stepped forward, reaching out to pull three chairs over, gesturing for Alexander and Reyna to sit down.
Alexander sat down and observed the veteran from Cadia with interest.
This commander had led wars for over half a century, and his Cadian troops had earned the nickname: Drost's Urban Elite.
The origin of this title was General Drost's considerable skill in fighting within the complex streets of a hive city.
Verdia city was the battlefield he had chosen.
Alexander observed the commander with interest.
"It's quite uplifting to see the governor of the Lower Nest."
General Drost glanced at Reyna, then his gaze fell on Alexander, saying in a relaxed tone:
"The governor of the Upper hive wasn't pleased to see me; he fobbed me off with a servitor for half the day."
"I guess he didn't give you the PDF either," Alexander said, a slight curve to his lips.
"Of course not. He's hiding with that PDF in some underground palace I don't know where."
General Drost nodded helplessly:
"When I asked him for troop cooperation, he actually recommended I come to you."
"Even so, he tried to use various linguistic tricks, constantly hinting that you are a dangerous heretic, a cultist, and an enemy of humanity, just very well disguised."
"And that for the sake of the Imperium, he had to report you, his former collaborator."
At this point, General Drost paused.
The commander's gaze swept over Reyna, then settled on Alexander:
"But it seems there's some truth to what he said… an illegal psyker? And not a weak one, it seems."
Reyna immediately tensed up, quickly stammering, "I haven't fallen to Chaos; everything I do is for the Emperor—"
"Reyna." Before Reyna could finish, Alexander interrupted her.
Alexander glanced at General Drost before him: "He's a Cadian; he knows how to tell if you've been corrupted by Chaos."
"A Cadian, indeed a Cadian knows how to tell if one has been corrupted by Chaos."
Drost couldn't help but laugh. He took an lho cigarette from his pocket, lit it, and said with a wry smile:
"On my sixth birthday, my father and his comrades, in cooperation with an Inquisitor, successfully completed their previous mission and thus earned a half-day leave."
"He and his comrades decided to celebrate my birthday. My father asked me what I wished for?"
General Drost smiled:
"What dream can a Cadian child have? Of course, it's to strike down the Emperor's enemies sooner."
"The Emperor granted my wish. A Black Legion warrior—perhaps his teleportation went awry—was stuck in my kitchen wall."
"My father and his comrades raised their weapons, and the neighbors joined the fight before support could arrive in time."
Listening to General Drost's words, Reyna felt a slight tightening in her heart and whispered, "I'm sorry for what happened to your father…"
General Drost paused at her words, giving Reyna a strange look: "No, I may have forgotten to mention that my father and his comrades were both Kasrkin."
"Their previous mission was to work with an Inquisitor to banish a Greater daemon of Chaos."
"Yes, as you might guess, before reinforcements arrived, that Black Legion warrior had already been executed by my father and the neighbors."
"The only seriously wounded person in the fight was me. I got one eye pierced by the rubble kicked up when the Black Legion warrior fell."
General Drost rubbed his bionic eye and said:
"And I shot that Black Legion soldier six times, only hitting five."
"So the birthday party was canceled, and my father gave me a good beating."
Reyna listened to this story, full of bizarre details, with a twitching mouth.
For some reason, she felt that in General Drost's story, Greater daemons of Chaos and the legendary Black Legion seemed like common cannon fodder.
Was the war on Cadia really that intense?
"In any case, that governor Augustus is probably scared out of his wits."
General Drost sighed:
"Two loyal servants of the Imperium, Augustus actually tried to teach a Cadian how to judge Chaos corruption."