Emperor's Bane

Chapter 627: The Current Status of the World Eaters
"We found the real thing this time."

"A brand new battle moon, unscathed: if it could be brought intact to the Far Eastern Frontier, both our Primarch and our friends on the Forge World of Ryza would surely rejoice."

"But the only problem is that a few greenskin warbands have made their home on our battle moon. Although this treasure was indeed made by them, this behavior has undoubtedly violated the sacred sovereignty of the human empire over the entire galaxy."

"So, a clean and efficient special military operation is necessary: ​​we must take back this sacred land and the treasures on it that have belonged to human civilization since ancient times, give civilization and enlightenment to these beasts, and take away the battle moon as a negligible reward."

"So: What do you think of the writing of this post-war summary report, Mr. Kahn?"

"..."

Faced with the inquiry, the World-Eater remained silent.

He stood there, concentrating on checking every detail on the battle star map. The pale blue light made the Son of Angron's face look particularly cold. Only after he finished did Kahn turn his head slowly, and then narrowed his eyes in displeasure.

Davout's head hit him.

"I didn't know you Dawnbreakers would be on the same page as the Word Bearers."

"What a cruel accusation."

The sharp tone and undisguised sarcasm are enough to make any descendant of the Primarch suddenly angry and draw his sword to defend the honor of his father and the Legion: but the bloodline of the Spider Queen may be a rare exception, after all, they have never been known for their bad temper.

In fact, one of the biggest stereotypes that outsiders have about the Dawnbreakers, who are also Astartes, is that they have a good temper that is highly similar to that of the Salamanders, but with some slight differences in details: no one will deny that the Dawnbreakers are powerful warriors, but their blades are always difficult to pull out.

This style, which is out of tune with other legions, is one of the reasons why the Spider Queen's reputation for weakness has been criticized. Although weakness is not a purely negative evaluation for a Primarch, after all, Vulkan, Lorgar and Sanguinius have all received similar nicknames, but this negative factor is particularly prominent in Morgan.

Perhaps it is because of the mysterious nature of the Spider Queen herself that her few features are extremely eye-catching to the outside world, making her extremely famous and no longer surprising: at least the Dawnbreakers walking in the galaxy are no longer surprised by this. They have learned to restrain their temper on similar issues, rather than actively or passively being dragged into endless honor duels one after another.

At least, the 12th Captain of the Dawnbreaker Corps standing in front of Kahn, Lord Davout, who had a broad Mediterranean head, had long learned to face the sarcasm of others with a smile: this gentle attitude made the aggressive Kahn a little uncomfortable. He withdrew his gaze and continued to indulge in inexplicable worries.

"So, how do you Dawnbreakers plan to capture these battle moons?"

After thinking for a moment, Kahn decided to return to the topic of war. This was the only thing he could talk about with others for a long time, and the only thing that could allow him to temporarily get rid of the chaos in his heart and concentrate his attention.

“The division of labor is very clear.”

Davout's voice was brisk, as if victory had already been firmly grasped in his hands: the strong military force behind him and the not-so-difficult greenskin remnants surrounding the Battle Moon gave Morgan's descendants such great confidence.

"Your World Eaters fleet and landing team will be responsible for dealing with the remaining greenskin fleets surrounding the Battle Moon. The fortifications above will be handed over to our mortal auxiliary forces. If you are worried, you can send people to help. We, the Dawnbreakers, will use the tactical space created by the mortal auxiliary forces to directly cut into the core of the Battle Moon. Our psychic life instruments have confirmed that the greenskin leader is here."

Psychic Life Instrument...

Kahn frowned slightly. This was another new thing he had never even heard of. This situation seemed to be particularly common recently: ever since the Emperor was preparing to divide most of the land in the galaxy among his descendants, and the actual locations of the fiefs of the Primarchs were quietly leaked, almost every legion began to have some new things that Kahn had never heard of before.

Although up to now, there are no truly high-tech products among these so-called new gadgets, but the signs of each legion taking different paths adapted to local conditions have already appeared: Kahn did not condemn this behavior in his heart, because his World Eaters Legion was the same.

Before the Ullanor Expedition began, the Forge World that cooperated with the 12th Legion presented Kahn with a brand new product: this virtual screen that can be directly implanted into the left eyelid is simply named "Counter", which can calculate how many opponents its World Eater master has killed in a battle.

But what was really important was that this instrument had a powerful alarm function. It could always remind the World Eaters' warriors of the marching routes planned before the war, or the new directions planned by the upper-level commanders. And when these bloodthirsty warriors fell into madness due to excessive slaughter, or delayed the next combat operation, the counter would use noise and tingling to calm them down.

So it is a counter, but what we really pursue is the absolute efficiency behind the numbers.

But up to now, Kahn has never triggered the alarm in this counter: his strong self-control is more reliable than a cold machine. Even the bloody storm in Ullanor could not shake this, not to mention the small scene in front of him.

He did not deny Dawnbreaker's plans.

"Just do as you say."

Kahn simply nodded, with a bit of respect in his tone: although he had no connection with these Dawnbreakers, the Gene-Mother of the Dawnbreakers had made a great contribution to their Primarch, so the World Eaters generally had a good impression of everything in the Far Eastern Frontier, and they were even willing to suffer some losses in getting along with them.

Moreover, Angron had asked his sons to try to make some changes in the Ullanor Expedition: for example, trying fleet combat, which the Legion had never been good at before, or even just to accumulate more experience. Naturally, Kahn had no reason to refuse.

"I brought thirty-five capital ships and the best boarding team in the entire World Eaters Legion. We can handle the naval battle without any problem. But is it really okay for you to leave the entire front battlefield to the mortal auxiliary army? I don't deny their fighting ability and willpower, but you should at least leave an emergency force, right?"

"I only brought three companies with me, so three hundred men will be enough to command the front."

Captain Davout's voice was filled with a confidence that was unbelievable to Kahn.

"Okay, it's up to you. But if you can't hold on any longer, remember to have your mortal servants send us a telegram for help: For the sake of Lord Morgan, the World Eaters are still willing to fight for the Dawnbreakers, even if they are just the mortals in the Dawnbreakers."

"I have heard."

Davu nodded, and the reflection on his head made Kahn unable to open his eyes.

"I heard that the Twelfth Legion's war code requires that the legionnaires fight for the sake of mortals: any World Eater, at any time, must not refuse to save the oppressed. If he dies in battle, his brothers and the Primarch will take over his cause. If he chooses to join the oppressors, the nobles in the legion will hunt him down to the ends of the earth, and the Primarch and his brothers will spurn him forever."

"This is an iron rule."

Speaking of the rules of war set by Angron himself, Khârn's voice was cold and ruthless. "No one will break them."

The Dawnbreaker standing next to him narrowed his eyes in amusement.

"You seem to get a little emotional when you mention Lord Angron, Karn?"

Kahn was silent for a while, and then he told the truth in a self-destructive manner.

"I am his First Captain, and his Aide-de-camp, but now I am in Ullanor, the northernmost part of the galaxy, leaving my Primarch in the south: I have never been so far away from my Primarch, and never been away from my duties for so long."

"Relax."

Davout patted Kahn on the shoulder, pretending not to notice the latter's annoyance.

"You should believe in the Primarch's ability, but it is normal for an aide-de-camp like you to have such anxiety. Our Legion's Lord Lana is also like this. When he is sent out by the Primarch to perform official missions, he always gets particularly irritated. He always worries that no one can carry out the Primarch's will like he can or stay by her side to protect her."

"I'm different from him."

Kahn shook his head firmly.

"My concerns are real. After I left the Primarch, the World Eaters Legion I was in really lacked a person who could temporarily take my place. My brothers simply could not fulfill their responsibilities. They were loyal but incapable. Margot might be good, but he still has a long way to go before he can grow up."

(Margo: In the original novel, she was the captain of the 18th Company of the World Eaters. After Angron asked the entire legion to be branded with the Butcher's Nails, she led some of her followers to resist Angron's tyranny, intending to force him back to Terra to be judged by the Emperor. She was subsequently killed by Kahn.)
"Lana said so too..."

Dawu complained quietly. He felt that these guys, as well as the attendants or company commanders of each Primarch, were always similar in character: they always felt that the Primarch would become less safe when he left them, and in many cases they would passively and indirectly despise the abilities of their legion brothers.

Such people are often hated, but other brothers will admire them very much.

but……

"You became the captain of a company?"

Dawnbreaker was a little surprised.

"I'm sorry, but I remember that the World Eaters didn't suffer any great losses during this period. What about those Terra veterans ahead of you? Shouldn't the captain of the first company be Sir Gale?"

"They have other responsibilities."

Kahn waved his hand, silently calculating in his mind the time when the last follow-up fleet would arrive: only when all the ships were in place could they start the next battle plan, and counting down in his mind for the next important thing was a habit that Kahn had developed before he met the Primarch again.

"You should know that the Emperor gave our Lord Angron a new fiefdom in the south of the Milky Way, but Lord Angron prefers to call it the Red Sand Protectorate: it is a very vast land, spanning the two boundaries of the Storm Segmentum and the Far East Segmentum. In the east, it is connected to Guilliman's Five Hundred Worlds, and in the west is the garrison area of ​​the Raven Guards. The northern outpost reaches the Great Vortex area and is a neighbor of the Salamanders."

"However, Lord Angron has no interest in ruling the territory, and we lack corresponding governor allies. We can only transfer the veterans who participated in the Unification War on Terra to the reserve force, and then select talents for ruling from the mortal servants. After all, these veterans have personally participated in the process of the Empire's establishment of rule on Terra, and they can still provide some valuable suggestions."

"Aren't you also a Terra veteran?"

"My talents are not here. Before Lord Gale was transferred to the reserve, he personally recommended me to Lord Angron to take over the position of the captain of the first company left vacant after his retirement. The Legion Council unanimously passed this proposal, which happened a few months ago."

"Well, congratulations."

Dawu nodded, but he was thinking about something else.

Reserve?
Of course Davout knew what the word meant. For a soldier, it was nothing more than a transfer from the front line to the rear. If it were in the past, Davout would never believe that this word could be associated with Astartes warriors, but Sir Morgan seemed to have done a similar experiment decades ago.

Didn't Terran veterans like Marshall and Hawthorne transfer to the reserve to stabilize the Far Eastern frontier? How come the various legions and Primarchs are now just imitating Morgan's original actions? As for what kind of impact this imitation will have on the entire Astartes Group...

"Well……"

Davout couldn't think of it.

But it can't be a bad thing: ruling the mortal world is not a trap.

Dawnbreaker thought for a while, until he realized that Kharn had left, the fleets of the World Eaters had all arrived, and the Dawnbreaker's mortal auxiliary forces were ready to go: Son of Morgan shook his head in confusion, forcing himself to enter a state of war.

"Tell our mortal legions."

Before the war began, Davut specifically conveyed the Primarch's personal orders to ensure that every mortal auxiliary army could hear them with their own ears.

"Tell them to restrain their ranks even in war, and not to lose themselves in massacres and so-called cleansing activities: no unit is allowed to carry out massacres without authorization, and no one is allowed to leave a message of terror similar to the Word Bearers Legion in this land."

"That's right: even towards greenskins."

"Tell them that they are the proud Wehrmacht of the Far Eastern Frontier."

"Rather than those disturbing so-called Crusaders under the Word Bearers."

(End of this chapter)