The counterattack lasted for three hours.
When the last Orks mech was blasted into molten slag by the main cannon of the Cold Front Tank, and the last Orks escaped back outside the breach, the sun was already setting in the west.
The battlefield suddenly fell silent, save for the sounds of burning flames and the groans of the wounded.
We finally won, albeit somewhat by a narrow margin.
Leo slumped onto the ruins and took off his helmet.
Sweat soaked his hair, and his face was covered in blood and soot.
He looked into the distance and saw Lynn jumping off the Cold Front Tank and walking towards him.
Their eyes met.
Lynn gave a hearty smile, walked over, and extended his hand.
Leo grasped it, " Leo St. Garus."
" Kerry von," Lynn replied.
"Well done! Without you guys holding out for those ten-plus hours, I'd be here collecting your corpses."
"You too," Leo said sincerely.
"Of the nine governors I've seen, you're the first to personally go to the battlefield."
"Maybe it's because I'm a bit stupid," Lynn joked.
They both laughed.
Suddenly Lynn jolted, feeling something biting his shoulder.
"What's wrong, Your Excellency?" Leo asked, puzzled.
"Haha, it's nothing..." Lynn smiled, trying to reassure Rena in his mind.
Hammond then walked over, his right arm simply bandaged, with blood seeping through the bandage.
He saluted Lynn: "Governor, thank you for your support."
" Commissar Hammond," Lynn returned the greeting.
"You fought bravely with your Brontë Longknives; the Imperium will remember your sacrifice."
After a brief exchange of pleasantries, the generals gradually gathered around.
Everyone was injured, but they were all full of energy.
Lynn scanned the crowd and said, "Clean up the battlefield, tally the casualties, and send the wounded to the field hospital in the rear."
Let's have a meeting tonight.
The temporary command post within the Forbidden Wall, originally a reinforced warehouse, is now furnished with long tables and chairs.
On the table lay a simple meal: synthetic protein blocks, starch paste, and a few bottles of wine brought from the main hive.
The atmosphere, however, was very lively.
The generals took turns toasting Lynn and offering him compliments.
Lynn responded to each question with a humble yet authoritative air.
He knew that there were only two truly crucial people among these individuals.
Leo and Hammond.
After a few rounds of drinks, Lynn put down his glass.
The noise gradually subsided.
"Gentlemen," he began, his voice not loud, but everyone heard him clearly.
"I have two purposes for coming to the Forbidden Wall this time."
Everyone looked at him.
"First, we need to understand the specific situation of the Orks in order to prepare for a protracted battle."
When fighting Orks, time is never measured in days, but in months and years.
We must be prepared to hold our ground for the long term.
People nodded; that was common sense.
"Second," Lynn continued.
"I want to win a real victory to get Brevis back on his feet."
You all know the atmosphere in the main hive right now: nobles are fighting amongst themselves, commoners are starving, and everyone feels that the Forbidden Wall will break down sooner or later.
His gaze swept across everyone's face.
"I want to change this mindset, and to do that, I need your cooperation."
"Governor, please speak," Leo was the first to speak.
"I will fully support Brevis as long as it's for him!"
Hammond nodded. " Brontë Longknives is at your disposal."
Other generals echoed his sentiments.
Lynn smiled, "Alright, then I'll tell you about the next steps."
He pulled up the tactical hologram and pointed it at the gap in area C8.
"Fixing the gap will take time, and the Orks won't give us that time."
So my idea is..." He zoomed in on the image.
"Instead of fighting them head-on at the breach, we'll rebuild an inner wall behind section C8."
Discussions arose in the conference room.
"This, Your Excellency, isn't it a bit too much to build a new Forbidden Wall instead of using the existing one..."
"A waste of time?"
"Your subordinate dares not."
Although no one continued the discussion, their eyes said it all.
Only Hammond immediately grasped the essence of Lynn's plan.
He smiled at Leo, and Leo immediately understood what he meant.
Since Hammond thought it was feasible, he chose to believe Lynn.
Finally, the three core members reached a consensus and chose to do as Lynn said, and the others wisely kept quiet.
Lynn then looked at the two knight pilots sitting in the corner.
"However, my plan might require the Knight's help."
Leo immediately replied, "Knight Aiden is fine, right, Aiden?"
The knight in the corner, a middle-aged man with a scar on his face, sighed helplessly:
"Since the young master has said so, what can I do?"
Because he knew that even if he disagreed, Leo would force him to agree.
Everyone laughed, but the laughter quickly stopped.
Because the other paladin who came with the Vanguard, Quinn St. Garus, did not laugh.
He simply leaned against the wall, arms crossed, a faint sneer playing on his lips.
Everyone noticed.
Lynn saw it too, but he just smiled and raised his glass:
"That's settled then. We'll discuss the detailed battle plan tomorrow. Everyone, get some rest tonight."
The banquet continued, but the atmosphere became somewhat awkward.
Late at night, Lynn returned to his temporary lodging, a reinforced shipping container.
He locked the door, drew the curtains, and then took a Dataslate from his luggage.
The screen lights up and plays a blurry video.
Thanks to Rena's reminder, the Inquisitor is not monitoring him for the time being.
So he chose to watch something interesting at this time.
The footage is shaky, indicating the person filming is clearly moving at high speed.
The background is a daytime battlefield, filled with smoke, running soldiers, and Orks.
The camera was fixed on a beautiful figure.
It was a woman dressed in a form-fitting silver armor, the surface of which rippled, obscuring her silhouette in the air.
Suddenly, to avoid the " Killa Kan " that crashed into her, she was confronted by a " Dreadnought " designed for Gretchin.
He flashed behind a Orks boy, who was squatting on the ground rummaging through his companion's corpse, searching for valuable teeth.
The scavenger seemed to notice something amiss behind him and looked up.
A green blade of light flashed past, so fast that it left only an afterimage.
The scavenger's body was split in two, his corpse falling to the left and right, his internal organs spilling out onto the ground.
The surrounding Orks were stunned for a moment, looked around, and then were melted by a laser fired by Leman Russ Russ.
But the silver figure had already vanished.
The scene shifts to two Allied soldiers hiding behind cover. One of them points to the spot where the silver figure had just appeared, his mouth agape as if he's about to shout something.
Then their heads exploded simultaneously.
It appears to have been pierced by some high-speed flying object, but no bullet trajectory was observed.
After the body fell to the ground, black flames shot out from it, quickly scorching the flesh and blood, thus concealing the cause of death.
The video has ended.
Lynn watched it seven or eight times, especially the frame where the woman's figure appeared.
He zoomed in, and zoomed in again, until the pixels began to blur.
The armor's design was unfamiliar; it wasn't Imperium equipment.
But that optical stealth effect, and the sleek lines...
" Aeldari," Lynn muttered to himself, "It should be some kind of stealth light armor from the Craftworld Aeldari."
He looked again at the fleeting green blade of light.
" The Ynnead's Scythe, the weapon of the Ynnead Warriors."
Finally, the deaths of the two soldiers were silent and precise, and their bodies were later burned to cover up the crime.
"It should be Shuriken Sniper Rifle, along with Psychic Power that allow for teleportation and manipulation of black flames."
Lynn narrowed his eyes.
"The typical style of a radical Inquisitor, willing to use any means necessary to achieve their goals, including the use of heretical weapons and Psychic Power."
After watching the video several more times, Lynn noticed something interesting.
Lynn fixed the image on the breastplate.
There was a badge there, blurry due to the cloaking field interference, but its general outline was still discernible.
A rose, red and silver in color.
"Red and silver roses." Lynn quickly recalled some information about the interior of the Inquisition.
There are several main factions within the Ordo Hereticus, the oldest and most "orthodox" of which wears Rosette as its emblem.
They adhere to the ancient Inquisition code, insist on using "orthodox" methods to purify heretics, and are extremely opposed to the use of Xenos technology and Psychic Power.
"An orthodox Inquisitor," Lynn stared at the blurry figure in the image.
"Yet they wore Aeldari armor, used Aeldari weapons, and employed Psychic Power."
He slowly leaned back in his chair, a playful smile curving his lips.
" Inquisitor, you're hiding quite a few secrets, hehe..."