“Chaplain Innocent has the most combat experience of the command staff in our task force, next to myself. Though I anticipate this to go smoothly if the Astropath can get us within weapons range, there is always the chance that something will not go right. In that case, I want him here, in command of the Repraehender. He will not panic. He will remember the Index, and we will do well with him coordinating.”

All of what Kairo said was true, even if it was more rationalization than justification. Kairo did not care for the wild-minded chaplain in direct combat situations, and his presence among a shaken population of Imperial Citizens, especially on a crusade like this one, could prove to be a bad bit of Imperial relations. “I will be leading the strike force down to the planet. If hope that we can achieve simultaneous engagement, hit them everywhere it hurts and crush them before they leverage their numbers to our disadvantage.”

Thus would Interrogator-Chaplain Innocent IV take command of the Repraehender for the operation after issuing the rites of battle to all the marines aboard. Infiltrate the kill cruiser and sabotage it to its destruction while taking back mission-critical strong-points on the planet itself. It was a simple plan.