Warhammer: Empire Reboot

"You only need to know one thing, nun."

"We are the shadow cast by the Emperor in this darkest hour. We have no names, only a mission."

The nuns fell silent.

Lawson had originally planned to forcibly conscript the four battle nuns, but he knew it would be difficult. Space Marines and battle nuns were two completely parallel lines within the Imperium's vast bureaucracy. Space Marines were highly autonomous military independent forces, while nuns only obeyed the orders of the Cardinals of the State Church or the Archnulls of a religious order.

Even if he is the leader of the top-tier battle chapter, he has no authority to issue administrative orders to requisition or incorporate battle nuns.

In this messed-up universe, the only ones who can forcibly conscript nuns are usually the Inquisitors of the Inquisition who hold the rose signet.

If he were to pull out a gun and point it at Katarina's head, and, as the supreme commander in wartime, order them: "You are conscripted, now under my command, follow me."

Therefore, there is only one possible outcome.

These four nuns would not hesitate to detonate the molten grenades on their bodies, choosing to perish together with him.

Because in their extremely rigid doctrines, any attempt to strip the state church of its independence or to forcibly command the nuns is considered a desecration of the emperor.

Using force to intimidate these religious fanatics is not only ineffective, but will also have the opposite effect.

Lawson sneered inwardly. To deal with fanatics, one must guide them with logic that is even more fanatical than theirs.

“Sisters, take a good look at your own situation now.”

He intends to use a series of chilling logical flaws to completely destroy the nuns' trust in the ruling class of this planet.

“Tell me, Sister Captain.”

Lawson stopped and looked down at Katarina: "How long have you been escorting this sacred relic through these Lower Nest ruins?"

Katarina frowned. Although she didn't know what the other party was up to, she still answered coldly, "Seventy-two standard hours. We were ambushed by the Greenskin Fleet in orbit. The transport ship was damaged and forced to make an emergency landing here."

"Seventy-two hours..."

Lawson repeated the number with amusement: "For three whole days, the oracles array on this planet Obulus could accurately detect even a fly flying through high orbit! There's no way they couldn't have missed your distress signal!"

"Then, answer me."

"How many Valkyrie transports did the governor of the Spire District, the First Nest City, send to pick you up? Where are the Ministry of Justice's riot control forces responsible for maintaining planetary order? And where is the PDF elite armored battalion stationed in Middle Nest?!"

Faced with this barrage of questions, Katarina was instantly stunned.

The twin sisters, Sera and Sena, turned pale, and the youngest, Vera, instinctively clutched the hem of her dress.

Lawson's words struck at the deepest point of doubt that had been lingering in their minds for the past three days.

Nothing at all.

For three whole days, they screamed for help on the communication channel, explaining that they were escorting an extremely precious sacred relic of the state religion.

However, aside from the initial few perfunctory replies that they were coordinating, the command center in the Spire district completely cut off contact with them.

They were left behind in the ruins of the lower nest, facing alone the green-skinned orcs and the Chaos cultists emerging from the sewers like a tsunami.

The twelve battle nuns were killed in action, leaving only the four of them.

"This...this may be because the battle was too intense, and the governor had to shrink the defensive line in order to protect the power hub of the nest city..."

Katarina gritted her teeth, trying to explain it all using the strategic terminology commonly used by the Imperial army.

Lawson let out a cold sneer: "Does shrinking the defenses require physically cutting off the frequency bands of communication base stations? Does shrinking the defenses require locking all the automatic defense fire networks in this block offline?"

"Stop using those self-deceiving excuses to numb yourself, Sister!"

Lawson began to broaden his reach, dragging down the entire privileged class on the planet:

"Don't think that only that cowardly governor of the Spire District has problems. Use your eyes, which are used to seeing heretics, to see the truth about this planet!"

"How did the Greenskins' fleet break through the orbital defense platform so easily? I saw it clearly when I landed. Those expensive macro gun arrays weren't even overloaded by the Void Shields before being destroyed by the Greenskins' boarding torpedoes! Did they not know how to fire, or did someone lock down the fire control system beforehand?!"

"And look at the lower lair! Why did the Water Purification Guild and the Corpse Disposal Guild of the Third Lair immediately seal off the supply lines the moment the war broke out? Was this merely due to the greed of merchants?!"

Katarina's breathing became extremely rapid.

Battle nuns are a group that is extremely insecure and naturally inclined to doubt everything.

Their doctrines told them that the entire universe was full of heresy, and any act of disloyalty was a betrayal of the Emperor.

When Lawson connects these tactical errors and bureaucratic corruption with a highly persuasive logic.

Katarina's fanatical mind automatically completed the final deduction that best fit the nun's logic!

"what do you mean……"

Katarina's hand gripping the sword hilt trembled violently: "We...we've been betrayed? This isn't just a defensive failure?!"

"This is no ordinary alien invasion!"

Lawson delivered his meticulously crafted final conclusion, completing the reshaping of the nuns' worldview:

"This is a sacrifice orchestrated by both insiders and outsiders!"

"The ruling class of this planet, whether it's that governor, the corrupt nobles in the spire, or those bloated monopoly guilds, they have long been corrupted by something! It could be a conspiracy by gene thieves, or it could be a secret chaotic sacrifice!"

"They are using these mindless green-skinned orcs to deplete and purge the true loyal forces on this planet! Including those low-ranking PDF soldiers who shed their blood on the battlefield, and you, the Emperor's most loyal daughters, and that pure relic in your hands that is enough to terrify any heretic!"

"They left you here to kill you with a borrowed knife!"

These words were like the last straw that broke the camel's back, completely shattering the nuns' psychological defenses.

At the same time, it ignited the fervent rage deep within their souls, a rage capable of burning everything!

"Those damned heretics! Those maggots who stole the power of the empire!"

The twin sisters Sena's eyes were now filled with pure killing intent: "We sacrificed eight sisters to protect the sacred relic! And they just watched us bleed from inside the spire!"

"Apostate! This is the most unforgivable crime of apostasy!"

Sister Vera, the novice, also stood up from the ground. She even forgot her fear of the four steel giants in front of her and only wanted to throw the planetary governor into the stake.

Katarina took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the surging blood in her chest.

Her sharp eyes were fixed on Lawson; at this moment, the way she looked at Lawson had completely changed.

Who exactly are you?

Katarina's tone now carried a clear sense of awe: "Why did you descend upon this cursed planet?"

Lawson knew the time was right.

"As I just said, we are the shadow cast by the Emperor in his darkest hour."

Lawson stepped forward, completely enveloping the four nuns in his shadow.

"We didn't come here to be mere mortal officers, to fend off a few green-skinned beasts. We came here to uproot the deep-seated corruption and heresy that permeates this planet!"

"but……"

Lawson's tone carried a perfectly measured hint of helplessness and strategic consideration: "In the shadows of the Empire, without the guidance of the Star Torch, without the direct authorization of the Grand Inquisitor of the Inquisition, if my troops were to open fire directly on the legitimate governors and nobles of this planet, we would be considered rebellious warlords under the Empire's legal system."

“We don’t care about reputation, but we cannot allow the Emperor’s punishment to tarnish the stigma of rebellion.”

Lawson lowered his head, his eyepiece looking directly into Katarina's eyes:

"That's why I need you, battle nuns."

"I don't need you to charge into battle as my soldiers. I need you as witnesses to the Emperor and as sacred overseers of the state religion!"

"Bring your sacred relics, stand within my ranks. I, in the name of supreme force, will launch an unprecedented united holy war, a divine audit, in this fallen world!"

"We will examine their loyalty together!"

"If they are innocent, I will bow my head and apologize to them; but if they are full of sin, if they cannot prove their innocence before your sacred relics..."

Lawson abruptly drew his master-level power sword from his waist, its blade pointing directly at the ravaged land outside the church:

"Then I will carry out the most severe wrath of the state religion on your behalf, on behalf of those dead sisters!"

Lawson almost applauded himself for his brilliant impromptu speech.

This narrative of the Holy Auditor cleverly avoids the awkwardness of not having a legitimate designation or authorization from the Inquisition. More importantly, as long as the Emperor's daughter is on his side, he has obtained an unlimited license to have the power of life and death over everyone on this planet.

He claimed he didn't know who the heretic was, which means everyone on this planet is a suspect!

If he dislikes a nobleman, he doesn't need to find an excuse; he can simply use the pretext of investigating heretics to raid the nobleman's house with the nuns.

The most ingenious thing is that with the Battle Sisters endorsing it, this banditry that originally belonged to warlords seizing power would appear to outsiders as an absolutely legal and sacred operation to eliminate heretics, led by Space Marines and witnessed by the State Sisters!

Those ordinary civilians and PDF soldiers at the bottom of society will not only not resist him, but will even follow him to overthrow the nobles who usually oppress them, driven by religious fanaticism!

This is Lawson's profound understanding of the religious psychology of the Warhammer universe, as a veteran bandit who ruled the earth for hundreds of years.

as predicted.

After hearing Lawson's declaration, which was filled with blood and fury.

The eyes of the four battle nuns were completely red.

Their bodies trembled violently from extreme excitement and that sense of sacred mission.

The initial doubts?

All of that was thrown to the winds in the face of the noble goal of finding the traitor who betrayed the planet and cleansing heretics with blood—a goal that was perfectly in line with the nun's teachings!

In Katarina's eyes, the unidentified giant in strange power armor was no longer a suspicious danger, but a true angel sent by the Emperor to save them and grant them the power of revenge in their most desperate moment!

"grown ups……"

Katarina took a deep breath. Then, she knelt on one knee, clenched her right fist, and slammed it heavily onto her breastplate, performing a highly solemn salute of the Church of England knight:

"We are an abandoned and isolated army, but our faith has never been extinguished!"

"If you are willing to become the sharp blade that cuts off the source of corruption on this planet, then we, the four remaining nuns of the Order of the Martyrs, swear by our souls to stand shoulder to shoulder with you as your witnesses and as the executors of the divine audit!"

"We will carry the saint's finger bone and march in your ranks. No matter what lies ahead, whether it be mountains of knives or seas of fire, or the fortresses of apostates, we will witness your wrath until every inch of filth on this planet is completely burned away!"

Behind her, the twin sisters Sera and Sena, along with the novice sister Vera, also knelt on one knee and shouted in unison:

"For the Holy Emperor! For the Holy Audit!"

Lawson looked at the four nuns kneeling before him, the red light under his helmet visor flickering slightly.

"very good."

"Organize your equipment and take your sacred objects."