Chapter 432: Phoenix Ashes
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With the wailing wet rales that sounded more like the bellows of a patient with a fever than the roar of the engine, and the creaking and tooth-grinding friction of steel bones on the bodies of the dead; some strangely swollen and uneven airborne drop pods, Thunderhawks, Predators and Land Raiders, twisted combinations of steel and rotten flesh, began to emerge from the gray-green clouds that floated on the ground like a nightmare towards anyone who was unfortunate enough to encounter them.
Now, after the first company of the Death Guard Legion cleared the front of the battle line for them with the hatred of the World Purifier Army's attack on life, they began their formal full-scale attack.
This was the organization of the first company from the ancient legion period. Even if we don't count the ships that twisted and expanded in space, the huge number of demon engines, the filthy miasma of the warp, the various variants of the Plague Drones, and some beasts bred from Chaos Eggs and other strange and deadly weapons they brought, they also had a full complement of 1,000 Death Guard warriors.
In addition to the two powerful warbands they brought with them this time, the Nurgle believers' military strength and numbers have theoretically formed a ratio of almost two to one to the Iron Hands, which were formed under the guidance of the Astartes Codex.
If Medusa's current intelligence shows that there are only seven clan companies and a small number of new recruits available, the ratio is almost three to one.
The timing of the Death Guard and their allies' arrival on the battlefield was so coincidental, and they penetrated the system defense so quietly. If it is combined with the previous betrayal of Lakuan colluding with Hammonk and Karagul, it is hard not to think that there may be a connection.
This also made some of the originally neutral Iron Hands more suspicious. But there is no time to discuss and interrogate these at the moment. The warriors and dreadnoughts of Hammonk and Karagor were required to be forcibly implanted with additional control modules and equipped with a large number of bombs, ready to be used to break up the enemy's line as needed - yes, due to the suspicious behavior of their clan commanders, these warriors were not trusted, so such treatment was considered appropriate in the simulation calculations at this time.
Hastam Hammonk, who was still imprisoned in the Iron Council, was immediately unplugged from his cable connecting the fortress's simulated sanctuary (Note 1) and the Council's mind when the attack was discovered.
The power reactor energy of this Iron Captain was also unplugged, leaving him with only a small battery that was barely enough to operate the life support system. For Hastam, whose body was more than 95% mechanical, he now not only became unable to move, but also prevented him from using his unclean voice and thoughts to disrupt the thinking of the Iron Hands commanders.
Medusa's Mortal Auxiliary Army - These unfortunate mortals suffered heavy losses in the poisonous gas attack of the Purgatory Army just now. The Iron Hands, who noticed the vicious weapons used by the other side and immediately readjusted their defense and attack calculations according to the situation of the First Plague Company, did not know that the Nurgle believers had something worse waiting for them.
The iron and ceramsite hatches, which were unnaturally rusted by the strange energy of the warp, opened one after another. From the thunder eagles and transports that exuded the power of decay and decay and seemed that they should not even be able to move, waves of huge and stinking enemies slowly walked out.
The muzzles of the rusted bolt guns continued to spew out gun flames, and the bullets were full of plague or contagious bile. The Nurgle warriors slowly entered the attack position with the demon engines and plague beasts around them, and began to advance towards the defense line regrouped by the Iron Hands.
Unlike the Separatists and the Purifiers, whose bodies have not changed significantly, the Plague Warriors of the Death Guard look like a sick and deformed afterimage of their past glory.
Black and red rotten intestines overflowed from the belly of the tattered power armor, hanging in an orderly manner on the edge, fresh maggots were actively tumbling happily in their power armor, and fat plague flies were flying around them, playing a buzzing music.
Although each Death Guard seemed to be unable to be alive or have any strength to raise a gun and shoot, they were so unclean that they constantly taught everyone around them how beautiful the blessing of the benevolent and happy father was, but in essence, they were still Space Marines who had undergone complete surgery and training, and the skills and strength needed in the war had not disappeared with the blessing of their bodies.
The Purifiers and the Separatists began to move, taking their demon auxiliaries in different directions, and now, the front of the Iron Hands' battle line was the Death Guard First Company, which was constantly advancing and attacking with the ruthless and tenacious efficiency unique to the Legion ten thousand years ago.
The clan commanders of the Iron Hands soon discovered that this was the most difficult group of Death Guard they had ever encountered.
The armored cluster firepower barrage that the children of Medusa had always been proud of and usually invincible would be detonated prematurely by the cloud formed by the plague drones and the rot worm swarm, or because the shells fell into the soft sockets formed by the overly wet and sticky flesh shells and failed to trigger.
In the past experience of fighting against Chaos, the flamethrowers that were extremely effective against Nurgle's warriors performed poorly in the thick corrosive acid mist and the thick liquid blocks that began to fall from the sky——
The Medusans, who had never seen such "rain" falling from the sky, were surprised to find that the eternal black clouds in the sky of their hometown began to show a strange yellow-green light, and poisonous plague raindrops began to fall from them.
The battlefield auspicious instruments screamed desperately. They detected some kind of high-energy subspace warning signal. Even if they only "perceived" it from a distance, these unfortunate machines began to rot and rust horribly and quickly, as if they had been stored in some abandoned doomsday place for a long time.
A huge ancient black shadow was slowly descending in the orbit above their heads, pouring the blessing from the kind father into the dense atmosphere and clouds of Medusa.
That was the plague chaos ship Terminus Est, the blessed place of the kind father, the flying sanctuary of Nurgle, one of the most terrible legends and the most vicious terrors in the empire, and the despair omen of all planetary governors and galaxy lords.
In this nightmare-like quagmire, there is a figure holding a sickle and with thick black smoke coming out from behind, appearing in the poisonous miasma in the center behind the front line.
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The Conquest Hall of the Lakuan Clan shut down all non-essential energy sources and quietly flew over the silent watch stations and Mechanicus research worlds.
These once powerful flying stations and planets are now silent.
Their fate is unknown, but the dense and cloud-like subspace reaction signals may indicate something.
Under the order of "Ferrus Manus", they now use an uncommon route to go straight to Medusa, trying to cut off the attacker's retreat to reduce the pressure on the front battlefield.
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"What?!"
The young Fulgrim shouted. Although he was allowed by the noble Primarch to sit in on the meeting, his rude behavior in front of the throne of Ferrus, who was now praised as "the Great", still attracted the unceremonious lock of the sights in the bionic implanted prosthetic eyes of the Iron Hands.
"You decided to prioritize sending new soldiers to the ground to occupy a landing site?! But that's behind the Death Guard! There's a high concentration of corrosive gas and plague below! You're not sure if their power armor can defend against the chemical gas that melts flesh and blood! The concentration of the plague virus obviously exceeds the defense limit of ordinary designs! And why are the new soldiers of the Dovk clan also included in it?"
He pointed at the three-dimensional war zone star map in the center with an angry expression and enlarged one of the scenes. It showed that the originally desolate and dead ground of the planet - well - you can't say it hasn't become full of vitality, the green-brown mud is bubbling, and the corpses of the defenders are rolling, as if to breed some "strange" "life".
"At this time, calculations show that this can reduce the losses of the regiment by 2% to 3%, while the success rate is still high." An Iron Father responded indifferently, "Our forces will be invested later, so that the greatest strength can be used where it is most needed."
"Why? Just for that 2% loss rate?! Aren't those your new recruits? Isn't fresh blood the future of a legion... a regiment?"
Another Iron Father then stood up to answer his question.
"It is true that people who do not understand often say that we are cruel. But we have truly evaluated the military and resource value of all those who seek help. We despise those who are too weak to expect to survive on their own. We will also be cursed by countless sympathetic people. But people do not understand. We can choose to save only those who can make us or them stronger, so as to save and accumulate the greatest strength and make full use of it where it is needed. Of course, we can also choose to waste our strength on self-expanding benevolent missions, but be powerless when preparing to stop the enemy's final blow. In this case, who is more cruel in terms of the result? In the end, we came to the conclusion that we should leave everything to our mechanical calculations to get a logical solution."
"You..." Fulgrim bit his mother-of-pearl-like teeth, his face flushed, "Then let me go to support them!"
"What?"
"I'll take people to support them! If it fails, I know what your plan B is, you can drop a bomb to turn me into dust." He sneered, "Isn't this just what you want?"
The silver giant sitting on the mechanical throne frowned his thick straight eyebrows, "You take people? Where did you get the warriors?"
The cloned phoenix pursed his lips, but finally suggested, "My Phoenix Guard. They are in the cell, I can command them, and the equipment is ready."
He looked around, the expressions of the commanders of the Iron Hands were all covered by implants and steel, but obviously, the atmosphere of suspicion and distrust became more and more intense.
The communication data between the silver giant and the golden Garuda was quickly exchanged.
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Old friend, were you so impulsive when you were young?
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I'm not sure. But I envy him, Gorgon. If, I mean if, all of us brothers were on Terra, as the original trajectory might have been, we grew up together, went to the stars together, and fought together. Perhaps many of us would be more impulsive like children than him before growing up.
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It sounds... very happy.
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... Yes. But that's just a possibility.
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So, are you going to advise me to refuse his offer? He will most likely die.
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I will advise you to agree.
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I thought you would say "no".
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"No". This is his chance, Gorgon, and he saw it right. I am going to give him that chance.
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I see.
"As you wish."
The vehement protests of the Iron Hands were silenced by their Gene-Father.
"Make your preparations, a swarm of new recruits and heavy servitors will be with you on the drop deck."
The young clone Phoenix exhaled and nodded.
Fulgrim hesitated before he walked out of the hall.
He turned around.
The new mechanical eye that Ravus had just replaced shrank behind his equally new eyepiece, and he sneered unconsciously. The muscles of this expression were slightly painful: You see, the Fallen are weak, and a traitor is a traitor. He must want to find an excuse...
"I'm sorry."
The bright and burning phantom of Fulgrim, who had moved everyone in the Chemos Wilds in the past, suddenly spoke at a fast speed but brightly and clearly.
His lavender eyes looked at everyone in the hall sincerely and regretfully.
"I still don't think I'm wrong and should apologize for it, but maybe this is the last chance. The battle stories I've read about the ancient times tell me that if there's something, you should speak up in time, because you don't know if you'll be here next time."
"So, my apology is only for my ambiguous speech that led the topic to a heated part, and my need to clarify. I said that to you at the time, I just wanted to point out that we are both pursuing the path of perfection in our physical existence, but perhaps we have all begun to deviate to the opposite extreme. I don't want to question the loyalty deep in your soul. But even if your heart is as hard as iron, you must be careful that the quantitative change of the flesh will bring about confusing qualitative changes. The measure to prevent abuse is to be vigilant and strictly restrained from the beginning. Maybe I'm not qualified to say this, but..."
The Purple Phoenix Ashes shook his head as he spoke. He laughed at himself, stopped talking, and then turned and left here, going to the prison on the lower deck to summon his remaining ancient phoenix sons to make the final preparations before the war.
The Iron Hands watched the young phoenix leave in silence, and no one responded.