After Sabourin and the others officially launched an attack on the cult stronghold, those mortals died in the hundreds, and every organization that tried to resist was hunted and slaughtered mercilessly.
Although they killed the cult's leadership immediately, they underestimated the number of cultists around them.
Every time one is killed, more will take its place.
Although Sabourin mobilized the few guards and security officers in the camp, their effect was almost useless. Facing the cultists who began to riot gradually out of control, they could only block a few streets in vain.
The only order Sablin gave them was to seal off the entire area and prevent anyone from escaping.
The atmosphere in the refugee camp had become very tense, like a powder keg. He was determined to suppress this Chaos sect as quickly as possible, and this task could only be carried out by five soldiers of the 11th Company.
They move at an almost frantic pace, and once a group of cultists is eliminated, a new target is identified.
And the targets are not limited to cultists. In fact, no one who drinks the contaminated water in this area will survive.
Strictly speaking, everyone in the designated area must die!
"The enemy is not our opponent at all, brothers."
Li Lin sneered in the communication channel:
"If there are any Imperial Guards here, then these tasks should be given to them. They are really overqualified to deal with this group of enemies who are severely inferior in weapons and skills."
"The regular troops are on the front line. We are the only ones here. Stop talking."
Through the messy piles of garbage, small orange dots of flames could be seen in the distance.
Sabourin sent a signal to the Space Marines under his command, and the four warriors instantly disappeared into the predawn darkness, scattering to surround their unknown enemy.
"Sablin, I still don't understand."
Li Lin was still complaining. He squatted down and was completely immersed in the shadow of the shack.
"Why did the company commander send us here? We can obviously kill stronger and more heretics on the front line, those traitors of the Black Legion."
"The situation on the front line will not change for a while, but the people behind the front line have begun to dedicate themselves to the God of Darkness, which will threaten the battle situation at the front. This alone proves that this mission is very important. .”
"Okay, so why didn't Bahram come?"
"I'm not good at comforting him after coordinating with those mortal bureaucrats. I can only leave it to him. We are only responsible for killing, but we can't solve this problem just by killing. The mortals here are frightened. Those who have not yet surrendered to Chaos may mistakenly believe that we want to purge them because of rumors, which is also not allowed to happen."
"If they are really scared, they won't have any extra thoughts. Have you forgotten what the company commander said, fear is the best weapon. I think the mortals here are not afraid enough. Maybe we should do something-"
Sabourin looked ready to answer his old friend when a series of clicks came over the communicator, telling him that the team was in position.
He emerged from the viscous darkness with his bolter in hand and shouted:
"Right now!"
In an instant, a burst of bombs shocked the believers, and nearly five hundred believers chose to hide in a looted store, which was the strongest building nearby.
But this so-called solidity is vulnerable to real violence.
Figures in armor rushed out of the darkness, and the violent blooming of muzzle flares heralded bloody killings.
Sabourin took aim with his bolt pistol and fired shot after shot in single-shot mode. Six men fell one after another, their screams mingling with the cacophony of gunfire and cries of death.
Everyone was screaming.
The powerful beams of weapons emitted illuminated the pained faces, and other warriors also used their own weapons to fire at the madmen who had betrayed the Emperor, many of whom had been ordinary farmers and citizens not long ago.
But there is no such thing as innocence in this galaxy.
Li Lin laughed and fired repeatedly with his heavy bolters, destroying what he considered the demon's followers, though few of them were armed.
Cultists, because of the way they spread, tend to stay in family units, so those Emperor's Angels who fight against renegade Space Marines, Greenskins, Tyranids, and countless other horrors from across the stars are torn apart with equal force. Women and children, as if they were the greatest threat the Empire had ever faced.
Ruthless, but necessary.
After about a minute, Sabourin stopped firing, his weapon hanging limply at his side.
"Ceasefire."
Except for Li Lin, none of the battle brothers heard his orders clearly.
"I said ceasefire!"
After Sabourin raised his tone, the warriors' weapons fell still in unison, hanging casually on either side of the user.
Then Sabourin took off his helmet, disgust etched across his stern, pale face.
The hideout had been turned into a slaughterhouse, where men, women, children, entire families were slaughtered, their bodies broken like roasted meat on a skewer.
The others also took off their helmets, their faces like Sabourin's bright mirror.
The loss of innocent life is a regrettable but often unavoidable part of any operation involving the Imperium, especially the Astartes.
The outbreak of war raises many unsettling decisions about who lives and who dies, and Space Marines will often willingly sacrifice civilians and less capable Imperial personnel if it serves a tactical purpose or gains some advantage over the enemy.
But facing the massacre caused by his own hands, Sablin still felt a little——
Not fast.
"It's all solved."
Li Lin walked over and bumped Sablin's shoulder. The other party sighed softly and put on his helmet again.
"Mark this place and let people clean it up later. Their souls will be judged no matter what, but at least let their bodies have a destination."
"You're getting sentimental again."
At this moment, Sablin's communicator suddenly rang, and unexpected news came from it.
"What? Fire?"
Sabourin quickly rushed out of the store with his team, only to see that the sky about a kilometer away had been dyed blood red by the flames.
As the fires raged, strong winds blew through the dense, flammable camp, causing the fires to spread quickly, engulfing not only trees and bushes, but also the settlements within.
Trapped on the road to hell, panicked people abandoned their camps hastily, sacrificing their homes and possessions to save their lives.
But what they see is not salvation, but bullets.
The guards faithfully carried out Sablin's orders and never allowed anyone to leave the blockade.
With the help of strong winds, one side of the huge refugee camp quickly burned into a sea of flames. Since most people did not know that the Astartes were carrying out their mission, many people regarded this fire as a signal.
The news quickly spread with alarming speed, and soon it turned out that tens of thousands died in the fire, tens of thousands died in the blades and bolts of the Space Marines——
Many people are convinced that the great purge of the empire has begun!
