Emperor's Bane

Chapter 567: Night of the Wild Wolf
"I never think that one person is qualified to be another person's hope."

"I never thought that seeing others as hope would be a smart move."

"Putting your future on the ability and goodwill of others? That's the same as bowing your head and tying your neck! Only a coward would choose this method in the face of difficulties: true success should come from the flow of blood on your hands. A person who only begs for mercy does not deserve victory."

【That’s a solid point, bro.】

Morgan smiled, and her voice conquered the farthest galaxy.

When her fleet was about three Terra standard days' sailing distance from the Marginal Ark Cluster, the Spider Queen used the ship's holographic projector for the first time to contact the two blood relatives she was about to meet.

Morgan deliberately moved this instrument in front of his silver throne, preparing to have a long talk with his brothers in a relatively more comfortable posture: in the empty throne room, apart from the cold air, there was only the sound of Virgo and Ophiuchus talking in low voices in the laboratory at the back.

The two star maids were inspecting their new sisters. This was originally Morgan's job as a mother, but as Morgan had more and more responsibilities on her shoulders, the workload became bigger and bigger, and it became difficult for her to concentrate on these trivial matters.

As a result, not only has the production of Star Maids come to a halt, but even the daily maintenance has been handed over to the older daughters. Morgan even specially adjusted the emotional parameters of each Star Maid to prevent them from having more negative emotions when interacting with each other.

Although Morgan's worries were just groundless at the moment, after seeing the friendly and caring daily lives of the Primarchs created by the Emperor, the Spider Queen believed that it was necessary for her to take precautions before any disaster occurred.

【After all, it is precious personal property. 】

[Like this thing.]

With that, the Primarch adjusted her projection equipment herself, then waited patiently on the throne for four minutes before her two blood relatives appeared one after another: considering the inevitable lag in inter-sector communications, the Emperor's three children were extremely punctual.

The first to arrive was Angron. He and his World Eaters Legion were the only troops currently stationed on the battlefield of the Marginal Ark Cluster. In fact, the 12th Legion had already been involved in this war several years ago. After they were sure that they could not conquer this goal alone, they began to request assistance from other military forces of the Empire.

The Void King was obviously staying in a safe rear command fortress, and the crimson light formed a bright image of him: Morgan could see the neatly combed hair, the clean and tidy armor, and the carefully placed skull carvings, which together made Angron a strange guy.

Noble Savage.

Anyone who sees Angron now would probably have this thought in their mind: Morgan couldn't help but speculate so.

On Angron's armour, the emblems of the World Eaters could be vaguely seen, not in a prominent position, but still carefully cared for: next to them were some reluctant records of honour, all of which were victories achieved by the Primarch and his warriors.

In stark contrast, Leman Russ's projection looked very crude: for some reason, the Wolf King and his legion did not move with Morgan, but lagged behind. They had just jumped out of the warp, and the gray holographic projection of the Fenris people stood beside the table, emitting flickering light and white noise from time to time.

Leman Russ was ten times rougher and more brutal than his kinsman Angron. His iron-grey armour was covered in nicks and pits, and his wild long hair was scattered in the black hide of a huge wolf. The skull he had taken as a trophy was casually hung around his waist, next to his sword, which was covered in cold runes that intrigued Morgan.

When the two Primarchs appeared in front of the Spider Queen one after another, an interesting thought flashed through Morgan's mind: if one only looked at their current appearance, no one would believe that Angron was a gladiator who struggled in the mud on his home planet, while Leman Russ rose to the top and became the king in his ice and snow kingdom.

What is their nature? What is their experience? What is their current image and obsession? In front of this galaxy, it seems that it never matters. The galaxy changes their appearance at will: what kind of weirdness will it shape them into in the future?

Morgan was thinking.

Then, after a brief greeting, the three of them got down to business and discussed the target of their next expedition: The first small topic was naturally the fourth legion to participate in the war, the Thousand Sons, about which there was no definite news until now.

When Leman Russ asked his fellow gladiators whether they had sent any letters to Magnus and whether they were angry at Magnus' silence, Angron gave the same answer he had given at the beginning.

"Am I to understand that you don't count on Magnus?"

The Wolf King's projection kept flickering, but his voice was very clear. Morgan could clearly hear that he was happy about Angron's criticism of Magnus: but the Void King obviously didn't think so.

"I am indeed unhappy with Magnus's actions, but that's all."

Angron shook his head.

"In fact, after I sent him a call for help for the second time, he wrote back to explain why he couldn't come immediately: from that moment on, I no longer counted on his reinforcements. The subsequent eleven requests for help were just regular routines. The rules of war set by Terra required us to do so."

This sentence made the other two Primarchs fall silent. Holy Terra did have similar rules, requiring Primarchs whose war progress was slow to request reinforcements. This was to prevent some Primarchs from delaying the battle for their own pitiful self-esteem: it's just that no one has ever seriously followed this rule.

But Angron... well...

It's not surprising.

He really obeyed Terra's orders: if we ignore his daily self-willed behavior, after all, this [Lord of Nothingness] was unwilling to take the initiative to find solutions for the Emperor or Terra. Even if he knew that there was something wrong with the order, he would just turn a blind eye and carry it out.

[Then you don't need to send any more messages to Magnus, Angron. He just contacted me three days ago and promised that he and his legion would join this expedition: they will arrive within a month at most.]

"As if we still need his legion now."

The wolf king grinned.

"How many people can he bring out? I remember a few years ago, his Thousand Sons Legion won a fierce victory on the Kamenka Triplanet, repelling the Greenskin Empire entrenched there: the All-Father gave him the order himself, and two years of bloody battles wiped out one-tenth of the Thousand Sons' strength, and an entire Legion of the Standing Titans."

[Don't say that, Ruth. I only brought more than 10,000 people this time.]

[How many of you do you have? ]

"I brought the entire World Eaters Legion with me, which currently numbers more than 80,000."

"Some of my Space Wolves had to participate in other foreign missions, so I only brought more than 60,000 people, compared to more than half of the VI Legion: but I still have a Grand Company that will come with the fleet of the Thousand Sons Legion."

【That's enough.】

Morgan nodded.

[Although we didn't bring many mortal auxiliary troops, considering that this place is not far from Riza, this problem is actually not a problem: I will write a letter to the technical saint of Riza immediately, and their troops should arrive faster than the Thousand Sons. ]

"Riza?"

Angron didn't say anything after hearing this, but Leman Russ on the other side secretly raised his eyebrows: he was very sensitive about Morgan, this powerful ally.

"Those Forge Worlds? It won't be easy to convince them to send troops, Morgan."

[It’s really not easy.]

The Spider Queen nodded haughtily.

[But fortunately, Riza has never had the habit of rejecting me.]

[I don't need to convince them, I just need to show them my will. ]

[By the way, Angron, do you have any offensive power at hand now? ]

“Yes, but not enough.”

[Then I'll ask them to bring a Titan Legion with them.]

[Brother Angron, do you think we need one hundred or two hundred? ]

"..."

This wonderful sense of heroism made the other two primarchs fall into silence at the same time.

"I thought Guilliman was the only one who would talk to us like this."

Leman Russ's odd tone caused Morgan to glance at him. [Guilliman would add another zero.]

"……Too."

Ruth smiled.

"So what do you think of our next opponent, Angron?"

"Please wait a moment, both of you."

The Void King nodded, then he turned and headed towards a corner of the room.

"Bring the documents here, Captain of the Fourth Company."

Angron's request was met at the fastest speed. Morgan looked at the captain of the fourth company who walked into the screen and felt that he looked familiar: Angron obviously trusted this man very much. Although he did not show it on the surface, the details in his gestures could not be concealed.

And this fourth company commander...

No, it should be Kahn.

The Spider Queen blinked. She recognized the stubborn and determined face.

[This little guy looks like he's going to have a great career under your leadership, brother.]

Morgan teased, and Kahn turned toward the Lord of Avalon and bowed his head in salute.

[I remember the last time I saw this little guy, he was still the captain of the 8th Company? ]

"That was decades ago, my sister. Over the years, some captains have died in battle, and some have proven incompetent. Kahn got this position based on his real talent and many achievements. It was not me who recognized him, but the Red Sand Council, which was composed of the elite warriors in the legion."

Angron's voice was flat, as if he was commenting on an insignificant piece of porcelain, but Morgan saw it clearly: when he mentioned Kahn's great achievements, the Void King would unconsciously puff out his chest, just like any father would do.

That's pride.

The Spider Queen and the Wolf King looked at each other tacitly without saying anything.

"Ah, I found it."

Angron coughed lightly.

"The Marginal Ark Cluster is a loose federation of six star systems. The actual rulers are the Phoenix Court, which is composed of their kings and interstellar leaders. They are all civilizations left over from humans. The geneticists of the Mechanicus told me that the genetic baselines of these people have become diverse due to isolation, and are significantly different from the original genes of humans, but these differences are within an acceptable range."

【Have you ever thought about persuading them to surrender? 】

"I have been doing this. Two galaxies surrendered directly, but the remaining four galaxies rejected my goodwill. Moreover, they spent a lot of money to attract a large number of mercenaries, including greenskins and Ark pirates. This is why this war has been delayed for so long."

"In fact, the wars over the years have been more tortuous than you can imagine. I used fighting and negotiation to force two star systems to surrender, but the remaining two star systems have always refused to surrender. The Ivan star system is very powerful, and their home star Heliotha is not a target that a legion can deal with. The other star system has excellent psychic power. This is why I have been asking the Thousand Sons Legion to join the war. My think tank troops have suffered heavy losses."

"Well, you don't need to worry about this problem anymore, Angron."

Leman Russ grinned.

"The one standing before you now is the second most powerful psyker in the Empire. She alone is much more reliable than the entire Thousand Sons Legion. Instead of waiting for that fellow Magnus, why don't we just take care of that psychic star system and then get rid of Heliotha?"

"worth considering."

Angron nodded cautiously, a gesture that made Morgan secretly impressed.

Look, whether it is his current cautious and thoughtful look, or the words that just came out of his mouth: negotiation, fighting and talking, forced surrender, and goodwill, none of them seems to have anything to do with Angron at the beginning, but now it is so appropriate, lingering around the King of Nothingness.

The Milky Way is truly amazing.

Before Morgan could continue his sigh, Angron and Leman Russ discussed the next plan in a few words: they casually slaughtered thousands of lives in the two galaxies with words, and mentioned the massacre and bloody deterrent effect without any hesitation.

"If you don't want your precious offspring to be involved in such a distant war, then we only need you, Morgan: destroy those damn psykers and ensure that our path ahead is unobstructed."

The wolf king raised a hand and made a promise to his blood relatives.

"Angron and his World Eaters will lead the frontal assault, while my wolves and I will smash directly into the enemy's headquarters, working together from the inside and outside to tear apart their defenses. We will completely destroy these people, and let their cities and civilizations disappear in flames."

"Wouldn't that be too cruel?"

Who would have thought that this rebuttal came from Angron's mouth: he was not feeling sympathy for his enemies, but was pointing out very realistic issues of interest from a calmer and more objective perspective.

"The world and civilization here are still of great use to the Empire. We can completely overwhelm their psychological defenses and make them accept the many terms proposed by the Empire. At worst, we can bring those stubborn resisters to other worlds and let them atone for their sins."

"It's not impossible."

Leman Russ clearly did not want to argue these issues with his brother.

"Compared to these, I am more looking forward to the banquet after the victory."

He smiled heartily.

"The three of us will definitely be able to take care of this system before Magnus arrives. By then, we should have a good time together, and so should these cubs under our command. For the All-Father's sake, there aren't many opportunities to fight side by side like this now, brothers."

"Aren't you afraid that this might lead to a massive duel between the Astartes?"

Ange snorted, but Leman Russ didn't mind at all.

"I wish I could, brother."

"Or, we should hold a grand gladiatorial contest to select the best warriors from the three legions. I can't wait to see my Wolf Lord compete with battle masters like Bayar and Ahriman. Maybe we can also include Kahn next to you?"

"..."

Angron said nothing, but he was clearly interested in the spectacle.

"You mean: a gladiatorial contest in which the champion swordsmen of the three legions will participate to determine the strongest among them? This is indeed interesting, Russ. The warriors under my command will definitely not refuse."

[Rather, how many Astartes could refuse such an opportunity? ]

"Who says it isn't?"

The wolf king panted excitedly.

"I even thought of a corresponding name for this grand banquet."

【Appreciate further details?】

"We can hold this Blade Festival on my [Heraculfen]. As for the name of the festival, it should be appropriate to the location and take into account the style of my battleship. So, what do you two think..."

"How about Night of the Wild Wolves?"

(End of this chapter)