Emperor's Bane

Chapter 617 Dorn's Brain Upgrade

"Apparently, our brother Jonson has just left his post. Perhaps he wants to go to the front to relax. And if I am not mistaken, his duties should be taken over by another relative of ours, the silver-haired queen who rules the entire Far East."

"How do you know, Horus?"

"Practice makes perfect, that's all: I've been following these two for a while."

Everyone knows that when the Wolf Shepherd God starts to smile, his sea-green eyes will naturally reveal a reassuring smile, which will not only promptly soothe the impatience of the person he is talking to, but also add a layer of gentle authority that makes people have to believe in the reassurance.

Yes, this may sound incredible, but it is true: in many cases, Horus does not even need to open his mouth to speak, to debate, or to talk endlessly to convince the person standing opposite him. He only needs to let his amber pupils flash lightly in his sea-green eyes, and add a smile, and he can convince anyone he talks to.

Even if that person is the most stubborn brick known in the entire galaxy.

"You seem to still have some doubts, my most reliable Dorne brother?"

"No, Horus."

Dorn, the Primarch of the Imperial Fists and the Emperor's chosen Lord of Invert, simply shook his head and ended the topic with the shortest possible words: he had never turned his eyes away from beginning to end, and neither his body nor his soul had ever wavered.

"I'm not interested in this, but I can understand your approach. Between brothers, collecting information about each other out of curiosity and mutual learning is tolerable. But if you go a step further or harbor evil intentions, that's another issue."

"But I believe you will never do that, Horus."

"thanks for your trust."

The Wolf God nodded, temporarily leaving the war in front of him and lingering on Dorn for a moment: the strategy hall of the Spirit of Vengeance is its most magnificent place, enclosing the ubiquitous light like a palace, but all these lights combined are far less than the towering golden armor on Dorn.

In the light of the strategic hall, it gleamed with the same color as the Empire, as strong as its master, and the symbols of the iron fist and the eagle made Horus feel very gratified: at the thought of being able to forge a friendship with such a brother, the wolf god couldn't help but curl up the corners of his mouth, and his next words were completely from the heart.

"Believe me, Dorn, your trust is priceless to me."

"And I will not let you down: not in the past, and not in the future."

"I swear……"

"No need."

"If you really want to do something, no words can do it."

"I never believe in promises, and I rarely trust oaths."

Dorn still did not look back. The war in front of him had taken away his soul: the giant strategic star map specially ordered for the Ullanor Expedition occupied an entire wall of the hall, and could accommodate three Emperor's Bane Blades vertically. Every corner of the Ullanor Crown System was marked in great detail on the star map. Standing here, he could better grasp the direction of the entire war than standing anywhere else.

Dorn and Horus are the two owners of this strategic star map. After Sanguinius and his legion went to the front, Mortarion stubbornly marked out a war zone for himself to be directly responsible for. Only the Imperial Fists could reach the most comprehensive cooperation with the Luna Wolves.

At the front, Abaddon and Sigismund were discussing how to capture the next fortress, while in the rear, Horu and Dorn had already set their sights on the next line of defense: despite working together, the mode of cooperation between the legions was still just the common shift system.

For example: this line of defense is under the charge of the Imperial Fists, and then most of the Imperial Fists warriors will take a break, while the Shadow Moon Wolves will be responsible for the strategy of the next line of defense, and after the strategy is completed, the Imperial Fists will take over: although this mode is not the most efficient, it is stable and ensures that all warriors can remain in the best condition when they launch an attack on the Crown World of Ullanor.

Although it was said to be inefficient, the results were actually very brilliant: one day after officially advancing into the Ullanor system, Horus and Dorn had worked together to dismantle one-third of the greenskin defense line in front of them, and even the number of greenskin ships destroyed by them was already too many to count.

As the follow-up troops of the Human Empire continued to arrive, they found themselves as if they had entered a beast-themed cemetery, and in front of them, the two main attack legions never stopped advancing.

As for the Blood Angels and Death Guard, although they also mobilized all their troops, neither the three-axe charge tactics of the Ninth Legion nor the slow infantry strategy of the Fourteenth Legion were suitable for joining the cooperation mode: the personality problems of the two primarchs were actually trivial matters.

"I kind of miss Chagatai."

Horus smiled bitterly.

"It's a shame, he's on the opposite side and seems to be adjusting well, I'm really happy for him."

"It's time for him to have some new friends."

Dorn did not speak, but nodded silently. He could hear that the Wolf God was sincerely blessing his brother, and this sentence reminded him of the previous question: after giving his most trusted fleet commander Jonald the battle order to continue the attack, the Invites took the initiative to ask Horus.

"Horus, you didn't really answer the question I asked: how did you know that Jonson had left his command and that Morgan had taken over his mission? Although we have been in constant contact with each other, Jonson obviously would not send me such useless information."

"He certainly didn't."

The Wolf Shepherd God snorted first.

"I don't think the Lion of Caliban would tell me even if he had to."

"But it doesn't matter. From their progress in the past five hours, we can perceive the truth of the matter. Dorn, take a close look at the star map: this is the progress of the Eastern Front Legion at the beginning of the war, and these are the new developments we observed and sent by them every hour since then."

"Did you find any problem?"

Dawn just thought about it.

“The breaking point is different.”

His voice was decisive.

"Although at a glance, the speed of the Eastern Front's offensive has not changed: we have completed one-third of the strategic advance, and their progress is comparable, with even fewer casualties than ours. However, if you look closely at the details of the war, you can indeed see that the two were the work of two different people."

After saying that, Dorn first pointed to the circles representing breakthrough points on the first star map. They were all in the most tricky positions, highly efficient and extremely dangerous. As long as one of them was mastered, the course of the entire war could be easily rewritten. However, as long as one was not careful, the vanguard troops responsible for attacking these positions would definitely be surrounded, or even in desperate situation.

"That's Jonson's style."

Horus nodded.

"He never cared about sacrifice: at least not a little sacrifice."

"We all do, don't we?"

Dorn's question caused the Wolf God to fall into silence.

"Look here again: Although the Eastern Front Corps' latest tactical advance is still highly effective, they have obviously become much more cautious. Breakthrough locations that require more bloodshed have been ignored. Instead, they have launched a coordinated offensive like a wave: using dazzling, eye-catching "Lingchi" instead of the hammer that hits the target with one strike. The speed may have slowed down, but their casualties have plummeted in the past few hours."

"Yes."

Horus smiled and nodded.

"We only need to look at the casualties to know which blood relative this style belongs to."

"Is her army still short of men?"

Dorn frowned, while Horus, standing nearby, briefly recalled.

"From what I know, it should be more than 70,000 but less than 80,000. Compared with other legions, it is indeed weak. It is said that the reason why Morgan agreed to participate in the Ullanor Expedition was to ask the Emperor to allow her to conduct a new round of conscription near Holy Terra."

“This is an overreach.”

The Invite shook his head.

"But the Emperor agreed."

Horus was quite open-minded and even told a rare bad joke.

"You have to understand her, Dorn. After all, Morgan's Dawnbreakers are the only legion that is still mainly composed of Terrans. If the source of recruits is taken into consideration, the Emperor should have classified Divine Terra as a recruiting world for the Dawnbreakers. Otherwise, it would be too unfair."

"She already has the entire Far Eastern Frontier!"

“But it’s not enough: not nearly enough.”

Horus rarely spoke in defense of her distant relatives in Avalon.

"And fiefdoms are no longer a sensitive topic. Hasn't the Emperor already decided to give Invit and its surrounding areas to you to manage, making you the lord of the entire northern part of the Storm Segmentum, while helping the Sun Segmentum resist attacks from the south?"

"That's what he said."

When this topic was mentioned, the Lord of the Imperial Fist was in a trance for a rare moment.

"Before the Ullanor Expedition, the Emperor summoned me specifically for this matter."

"He told me that the Storm Segmentum is an area that the Empire lacks control over, and there are only three legion home planets in the entire segment: My Invert is located in the north, while Corax's Redemption and Mortarion's Barbarus are far to the southernmost end of the Storm Segmentum, so he could only give the defense of the north to me."

“That’s good.”

The wolf shepherd sighed.

"You should take a look at the Pacific Star Region. There is only one home planet of the Word Bearers in the entire region."

"Where did your father give you?"

Dawn frowned slightly.

"A lot: so much that it worries me."

"With Invit as the core, it includes Taran and Ophelia VII, Necromunda, and High Valia, etc.: to the east is the Great Vortex, and in the far west is an industrial world called Krieg. In total, it occupies one-fifth of the entire Storm Segmentum."

"It's ok."

Horus recalled the galactic map he had seen in the Imperial Palace on Terra.

"I heard that the Emperor intends to let Terra's mortal lords directly govern the entire Solar Sector, most of the Pacific Sector, and two-fifths of the Storm Sector. As for the division of the Hazy Sector and the Far East Sector, there is no final decision yet. But there are only three of you in the Storm Sector, and the territories you control should be roughly the same. Terra's power in the Storm Sector is twice that of each of you."

Dorn did not reply. He was obviously not interested in the topic of ruling. Horus asked more questions with interest. "So, my brother, how do you plan to rule such a vast land? I heard that Leman Russ plans to set up a governor's palace on his Fenris: this is really a bit unexpected. What about you? A governor's palace or a kingdom like mine?"

"neither."

Apparently, Dorn had already thought about this question: although he didn't like it.

"One military zone is enough: I don't think this thing will last long."

"Invert Military District?"

The wolf-god whispered the name but did not stop the work at hand. When he turned his head and seemed to be concentrating on the next assault on the front line, Horus' brows were unconsciously furrowed: What did Dorn mean by "not long"?
Does he know any inside information?

The Wolf Shepherd God doubted for a moment, but soon despised himself in his heart.

He actually wanted to doubt Dorn?
Are you crazy!
After the self-doubt, there was a long period of depression. Only monotonous orders and endless war reports filled all the thoughts of the two Primarchs. Silence and brief conversations lasted for two hours, until they broke through another line of defense and left the Blood Angels and Death Guard slightly behind: for the sake of caution, even Dorn agreed to wait a little for the two brother legions on the flank.

"Has the Emperor's Fantasy not come in yet?"

"We still need to work harder. After all, the subspace environment of this galaxy has become very unstable because of the green-skinned psychic boys. There are too many greenskins here. Their weird thinking network has turned the subspace projection of Ullanor into a pot of boiling soup. You must also know the size and side effects of the Emperor's Dream, Dorn."

"If we rush in rashly, our fleet might be affected. Father plans to find a breakthrough point in the greenskin fleet and inflict side effects on these beasts. We only need to wait for half an hour at most. This is the guarantee that father just gave me."

"That's good."

Dorn nodded, and at this moment, the routine report of the Eastern Front Legion was delivered: Horus just glanced at it and raised his eyebrows in surprise.

"Great!"

"Jonson and his men directly annihilated an entire fleet of greenskins in the siege just now, tearing a hole in the battle line. The White Scars and the Emperor's Children are now filing in, and the Dawnbreaker fleet is right behind them. If we don't speed up our progress, we will be left behind by them."

The Wolf Shepherd God smiled, with no worries at all about falling behind in the competition.

On the contrary, Jonson's excellent performance seemed to make his rival Horus happier.

Dorn also looked at the report.

"Did the Dawnbreakers accomplish such a feat with just their own fleet?"

"Don't forget, Morgan brought at least 2,000 warships this time, while your Imperial Fists only have 1,200 warships in total. Dorn: Never underestimate the strength of the Far Eastern Frontier. What they lack is really only Astartes warriors. Moreover, we all know that this is far from the [limited strength] of the Eastern Front's military."

"I know."

Dawn gave a rare smile.

"You told me."

"Whatever number of warships Morgan has, Guilliman must have more: perhaps twice as many."

“I’m already pretty conservative.”

"That's right: that's it."

Lighthearted laughter lingered around the two war commanders, but such harmony soon disappeared with the launch of the next offensive: the Primarchs looked at the star map with serious expressions, looking at the direction of the flashing red, which was the breakthrough point for attacking the next line of defense of the greenskins, and their proudest sons gathered there at this time.

When Horus whispered Ezekiel's name, Dorn was also there thinking about Sigismund's next tactics, and both of them looked unhappy: Admittedly, the two captains had achieved unimaginable results in the past day, but at the feet of these glories were piles of corpses, which was enough to make the Primarch feel painful, the loss of the Templar and Gastalin.

"I heard that you lost a quarter of your Templars in the previous attacks?"

"Sigismund is leading the remaining Templars forward."

Dorn looked normal.

"He'll break through the next line of defence in half an hour's time: it's not solid."

"I think it will be Ezekiel."

Horus smiled, his desire to win was stirring inside him.

"It is well known that the Luna Wolves are the best at decapitation and assault in the Empire, and it is also well known that the Gastalin are the best at decapitation and assault in the Luna Wolves. Ezekel is the best of the Gastalin, and he has never let me down."

"I take a different view."

The Lord of Invertus did not take into account that his words had made Horus frown deeply. He just thought about the necessity of this sentence for a short while, then quickly changed his perspective and thought about it, and then pointed to the red dot on the star map with confidence, and his words were as sharp as the blade of a Templar.

"Horus, I have carefully studied your Gatatarin tactics and collected as many of their past battle records as possible: the Gatatarin did have brilliant results, but that was based on several failures and heavy losses. The truly fatal problem is that, apart from beheading, this unit does not have any tactical diversity."

"The same goes for your legion."

"What do you mean?"

The Wolf God very reluctantly maintained a smile on his face. He was well aware of Dorn's sharp words, which was the only reason why he did not fly into a rage at the moment: but it was definitely not Horus' style to just sit there and listen to a brother accusing his own legion.

"literal meaning."

Dorn did not yield: just like his conducting, there was no pause.

"Think about it, Horus. When the names of the various Astartes Legions flash through our minds, we naturally think of their characteristics: the Dawnbreakers are good at advancing and retreating together with their auxiliary legions, the Night Lords are unmatched in those disorderly street fights and melees, and the Iron Warriors of Perturabo are famous for their precise calculations and legendary courage."

"But when people mention your Luna Wolves, what is the first characteristic that comes to mind? Is it their decapitation tactics? But every legion is good at decapitation tactics: whether it is my Imperial Fists or Jonson's Dark Angels, their success rate in boarding operations is no lower than that of the Luna Wolves. This universal method cannot become the foundation of the Sixteenth Legion."

"Actually, bro."

Dorn's words were like knives.

"Speaking of the Luna Wolves, their greatest feature is that their genetic father is named Horus. This is their greatest and most prominent feature, and the reason why they can compete for the title of the strongest legion. If you mention their specific tactics and specialties, I'm afraid most people can't explain it."

"This is the situation you are in: I say this after careful consideration."

"..."

Horus frowned. He wanted to refute Dorn's words, but after thinking about it, he could not refute anything. He could only turn back to the topic about Abaddon: at least Ezekiel was under his control.

"So you just mentioned Ezekiel..."

"He's a representative, a symbol of the overall problem of the Luna Wolves."

Dawn sighed.

"We all know that Abaddon has a smart brain. He is definitely not stupid. But why is it that, whether in past battle records or in the subconscious of all of us, Abaddon's mind is not trustworthy? What exactly caused this? Horus, have you ever thought about this question?"

"..."

At this moment, the Wolf Shepherd God's voice had become a little strange.

"You feel……"

“Is this my problem?”

"Do not."

Dorn shook his head firmly, and before the Wolf God's expression could ease, he quickly added: Both his expression and his words were so sincere.

"Trust me, brother: I would not point it out if it were not a fatal problem: my experience with Perturabo has taught me that I am not a perfect critic, and if the problem were tolerable, I would not be here complaining to you."

"But the reality is: the problems displayed by the Luna Wolves are unbearable."

"but……"

"It's not your problem."

"This is a Luna Wolf problem."

"..."

Horus...

Horus was speechless.

The light from the strategic star map cast his eye sockets and face in shadow, and illuminated part of his eye sockets in deep red. That was the news that the front had successfully broken through: the empire's eastern and western fronts were still moving forward in parallel, they had cleared half of the Ullanor galaxy, and the greenskin's crown world was just around the corner.

The war was still going on. The defense of the Ullanor orcs had been defeated by the human army and was gradually falling apart. But at this moment, Horus found that he seemed to need a savior more than the Emperor Ullanor.

Fortunately, the Wolf God does have someone who can save him.

Just as the atmosphere of cooperation between the two Primarchs was gradually falling to a low point because of the unpleasant conversation just now, a light spot as shining as a star suddenly appeared on the strategic star map in front of them: the light spot was as big as the helmet of an Astartes warrior, illuminating most of the room in golden color.

The two looked at each other, and the original gloomy atmosphere had disappeared.

Instead, there was a smile.

Because they all know it.

The Emperor's Fantasy has arrived.

(End of this chapter)