Emperor's Bane

Chapter 801: The Rise of Horus

"Horus is calling."

"He summoned quite a lot of people."

"The Luna Wolves, Blood Angels, Emperor's Children, and our Dawnbreakers: does a reconnaissance expedition to the northern region of the galaxy require so many legions? Or is our noble Warmaster reluctant to let his beloved Luna Wolves be cannon fodder?"

The crude Avalon accent of Dawu, the captain of the 12th Company, caused loud laughter in the strategic meeting room.

At least that was the case here on the Far Eastern Frontier: taunting Horus was always rewarding.

The descendants of the Spider Queen, especially the older ones, have never forgotten the bad deeds of the Wolf God in his early years. They will certainly recognize the authority and ability of the Warmaster and admit that he is qualified to lead the entire Great Crusade, but that's all.

As for: respect?

"Let's wait until more than ten familiar faces appear in Gastalin before we talk."

Another Terran veteran smiled disdainfully. As a member of the elite Terminator unit, the Lefebvre Knights, he was certainly qualified to mock other Primarchs.

His ridicule was not just directed at Gastalin's false reputation, but also at his private dissatisfaction with the Wolf God: as a veteran who had participated in the Unification War, he naturally had many old friends and comrades in the Sixteenth Legion.

But after Horus returned, he watched helplessly as his old friends with outstanding achievements suffered all kinds of unfair treatment: being ignored by the Primarch, abandoned by the Legion, and bullied by those ignorant Cthunian brats, and they were reduced from the pillars of the Legion to unknown old things.

Such a tragic situation is enough to make any bystander feel grief, not to mention that after Morgan reunited with the Legion, the treatment of the Dawnbreaker veterans was in stark contrast to that of their old friends from the Luna Wolves.

Just imagining themselves if they were not the Dawnbreaker, or if their mother was a second Horus, was enough to make the old men on Terra break out in a cold sweat in the middle of the night: then they would go out for a meal, or take out their homemade statues of the Primarch and mutter to themselves.

No one can tell exactly when the latter habit originated and when it became popular throughout the Dawnbreaker Legion, but now it has become a part of the Dawnbreaker recruits' induction ceremony and will surely be passed down from generation to generation for tens of millions of years.

Unlike her other brothers who had many offspring and eccentric personalities, the Primarch of the Dawnbreakers had both the ability and the inclination to personally review the ranks of each batch of recruits after they had undergone surgical transformation, to greet them face to face and to at least remember everyone's name and appearance in the process.

Correspondingly, the new recruits of the Dawnbreakers will later, under the guidance of their predecessors or superiors and according to their memories, personally create a statue of their mother as their second nameplate in the legion.

Although they are called statues, the shape, size and materials used are all based on personal ideas: some Dawnbreakers, out of personal preference or the customs of their hometown, will also make works as small as necklaces, amulets, rings (wide enough to carve a human face), or as large as room wall carvings.

But no matter what they look like on the outside, the function of these works of art is the same: they are used as alternative shrines and comfort blankets, with the function of listening and being worshipped, placed inside the power armor and private living rooms of the Dawnbreakers, or anywhere else they can be seen.

Dawnbreakers would pray devoutly to their mothers in the morning and evening or before a battle, meditate for a short time or talk about their inner troubles: in the culture of the Second Legion, this kind of private time alone is considered sacred.

There are always people who claim that the statues of the Primarchs built by each battle-brother actually carry metaphysical factors, and that the prayers and confessions made to them can be sensed by the Primarchs: relatively superstitious mortals always disdain this statement, but there are many Dawnbreakers who believe it.

They are willing to believe that they and their mothers are special. Even though most people rarely see their primarch, they still firmly believe in the blood connection, especially the veterans of Terra: they firmly believe that they will never fall to the level of the Luna Wolves.

The contempt for the war commander is a derivative result of this kind of empathy.

At least in the eyes of the Dawnbreaker veterans of the Second Legion, Gastalin's abstract death rate was entirely Horus's own fault: the Cthunian thug had no idea how to properly use an elite force, nor did he know what an elite was.

Morgan was in charge, he would rather promote scum from a gangster background than make use of the veterans and elites of Terra: they were the ones who made the name of the Luna Wolves, and when the Sixteenth Legion became famous, Horus was still working as a pedophile under some unknown leader!
Remarks like these flourished in the Second Legion, influencing generation after generation of emerging Dawnbreakers, and even gradually became part of the Legion's culture: Morgan's descendants would instinctively refuse to accept any influence from the Shadow Moon Wolf Legion.

Whether it is the warrior associations that have become popular in various legions, or the Cthonian culture that extremely advocates ambition and brotherhood and adheres to the principle of helping relatives rather than helping others, as well as the obsession with strange hairstyles such as sky-high braids: these have all been stubbornly resisted in Avalon.

At the same time, similar resistance spread all the way to Nostramo and Ultramar Five Hundred Worlds, along with the common interests of the Far Eastern countries: Konrad personally ordered the abolition of all warrior associations, and Guilliman, after conducting actual inspections, had no intention of introducing them from the beginning.

“Overall, it’s a good thing.”

"At least I have done my duty: the Luna Wolves can ask for nothing more."

Diarmait's fingers pushed back the bangs that blocked his vision for the third time, frowned, and wondered which barber shop he should go to after the meeting to get a haircut: Generally speaking, the Astartes would have mortal servants who would provide for their daily lives, and the Dawnbreakers were no exception, but theirs was a little more special.

The mortal servants of the Dawnbreakers would form corresponding organizations centered around their masters' ships and companies, maintaining daily operations in the form of shops or guilds: for example, half of the shops and public places on the Aurora were actually maintained by them, and the remaining half belonged to mortal auxiliary troops and sailors.

According to the Primarch, this form of communication between mortal servants, and the improvement of their own technical level, can also allow them to develop a close relationship, even without their respective masters to connect, when necessary, they can act as a collective.

Diarmait actually didn't quite understand how necessary this moment was, but since it was the Primarch's intention, he had to do it even if he didn't understand: just like none of the company commanders and officers attending the meeting really wanted to lead the army to support Horus, but who told them that their mother had already spoken?
"According to the Primarch, we only need to send out 5,000 people this time."

Rana sat in the first seat as usual, with Bayar and Char, who represented the Lefebvre Knights, on his left and right. Below him were representatives of the mortal auxiliary forces and the navy, and then it was the turn of the powerful captains: Diarmait and Davout fell to the back.

"That is to say, ten companies."

The Chief Guard's eyes slowly swept over each of his colleagues present. Although he did not say anything more, the Dawnbreaker officers already understood what he meant: including the First Company led by Lana himself, there were exactly nine company commanders present.

but……

"What are you doing?"

Hector, who was sitting next to Diarmait and almost wrapped around him, spoke in a muffled voice. Although he tried his best to lower his voice, the sound still made Diarmait's ears tremble: it was like he was standing next to a Titan that was being activated.

"Mr. Lana: Are you sure we want to mobilize the most powerful companies?"

"Just to respond to the Luna Wolf?"

The conclusion of the 11th Captain aroused silent agreement among the participants. Even Davut, who was always introverted, nodded and looked at Diarmait across from him: Diarmait had just been promoted to captain of the 18th Company of the Legion not long ago because of his meritorious services on Ullanor, Nikaia and the planet of the Assassins.

As for how he achieved his feats on Nikaea...

Diarmait never talked about this.

But in addition to this, in the Dawnbreaker Legion's military system, it is generally assumed that the company with a higher number is the more elite it is: although this does not mean that the newly organized companies in Avalon are weak, but extracting more than half of the strength from the Legion's most elite 18 companies in one go is indeed a rare and generous move.

Just kidding, it wasn't so much trouble when we conquered Ullanor a few years ago.

"First, this is what my mother meant."

Rana naturally knew what his brothers were angry about, and the chief guard just slowly stretched out two fingers.

"The Primarch?"

Bayar nodded.

"Then she must have a reason, right?"

"How should I put it: because our Primarch did not believe in the fighting ability of the Luna Wolves."

The chief guard spread out his hands and winked at the mortal servant beside him. In less than two minutes, a thin stack of documents was placed in front of each participant in turn. The company commanders glanced at them quickly, and expressions of strangeness or gloating appeared on their handsome faces.

Rana was not surprised: because he felt similar emotions in his heart, but his good upbringing allowed him to suppress them.

"As you can see, everyone."

The chief guard's voice trembled a little.

"The Luna Wolves did not perform well in their first campaign as Warmaster after their Primarch assumed the throne."

"They suffered heavy losses in the conquest of the Akhem-Sothoth star cluster: this was originally an enclave conquered by Horus at the beginning of the Great Crusade, but a few years ago it was controlled by a parasitic alien civilization and fell into collective insanity, killing Terra's tax collectors and raising the banner of rebellion."

"Our Warmaster certainly could not tolerate his honor being tarnished like this. Originally, the Space Wolves and Iron Warriors Legions were going to fight alongside him, but Horus finally decided to use only the Luna Wolves Legion: considering that the rebels had been preparing for this for decades, this was not a wise decision."

"But it can save his reputation."

Bayar interjected.

"Primarch, how many years have passed since we last saw a Luna Wolf fighting alone?"

Lana pretended not to hear anything.

"Specific intelligence about this battle has not been sent back yet, but one thing is certain: after spending several weeks sweeping out the enemies on the periphery, Horus and the Luna Wolves paid an unimaginable price in casualties while besieging a huge permanent fortress complex called [Gate 42]."

"Gate 42?"

"Yes, that's its name."

Lana nodded.

"To be honest, the Luna Wolves fought very well in this battle: they first sent out a small force to draw firepower, and the main force took the opportunity to bypass the front line with heavy fortifications and destroyed the alien army's nest before it could react. The actual battle was over in less than two days."

"But despite this, the 16th Legion still paid a huge price. Horus personally led the charge in this battle, and one of his arms was pierced by the aliens' firepower. The main force responsible for decapitation lost a quarter of its troops, and the frontal troops that attracted the firepower were almost completely depleted."

"The Luna Wolves lost at least 42 men in the entire battle, and lost lives at Gate alone. One of the important reasons for this was that the mortal auxiliary troops they had recruited could not keep up with their war rhythm, resulting in a disconnection on the battle front. As a result, a considerable number of the Luna Wolves were surrounded and annihilated by the alien-controlled army."

“The battle lines are disconnected.”

Diarmait shook his head.

"It's a low-level tactical mistake that we would have made a hundred years ago."

“But this is not surprising.”

Dawu put the documents on the table and stroked his bald head with some emotion.

"After becoming the Warmaster, Horus rapidly expanded his military power. It is normal that the troops under his command are of varying quality. At least in the next ten years, they will be more or less the same. Did the Primarch take this into consideration?"

"Yes."

Lana slowly picked up the milk tea with triple sugar in his hand.

"Mother said: You old men and your brothers in battle are all good at what you do. When we fight alongside the Luna Wolves, we don't need to worry about gaining merits. We just need to do our best to maintain our own strength."

"You mean..."

Bayar frowned: he was obviously thinking of something very bad.

"No, not really."

The chief guard quickly denied it.

"Although I don't want to admit it, our Warmaster has indeed changed his character after Ullanor. He is no longer willing to use other legions as cannon fodder. Our Primarch is more worried about the combat effectiveness of the Luna Wolves themselves."

"Why? Did they suffer heavy losses at Gate 42?"

"As far as I know, three members of the Four Kings Council were injured in that battle."

"hiss……"

"Then it seems that I will have to change my opinion of our Warmaster."

"Who says it isn't?"

Lana touched his hairline.

"By the way, there is one more thing." He clapped his hands, drawing everyone's attention.

"My First Company and I will not be participating in this expedition. We have another mission: the Knights of Lefebvre will replace us as the tenth company to participate in this expedition. In addition, the position of leader of the Primarch's guard during this period will be temporarily served by Brother Zavisa."

The company commanders looked at each other.

"Where are you going, Lana?"

Diarmait was the first to ask.

"Is such that."

Lana sighed.

"My First Company and I need to pay a visit to Master Leman Russ's pack."

"You still remember that a few years ago, the Wolf Corps sent a batch of new Space Wolves. Lord Russ wanted them to experience some growth here that does not exist on Fenris. Now, I will take the products to the Sixth Legion and let the Wolf King inspect them."

"That's it."

Hector's voice was still rough.

"That's good too: without you guys, we'll definitely be able to fight more smoothly."

The captains burst into laughter: Knight Lefebvre beside Lana laughed the loudest.

"..."

“How do you inspect the goods?”

In the silence, only Davout was still concerned about military issues: the bald-headed company commander carefully folded the document in front of him and put it into his power armor, obviously preparing to take it back for review.

"How about having these wolf cubs and the old wolves have a biting contest?"

#Happy laughter#

"No, now is not the time."

Lana tapped his temple: There have been too many things happening recently, and it is not easy to find the memory fragments he needs in his drowsy mind.

"It's like this. The 40th Expeditionary Fleet, which has some connection with the Space Wolves, just sent a message asking for help not long ago: they were previously in diplomatic contact with an independent human pocket empire, but the other party not only had a bad attitude but also captured their crew members."

"The commander of the expeditionary fleet believed that he could not defeat the human rebellion that defied the Empire with only the forces in his hands, so he asked for help from the nearby Space Wolves Legion: The Wolf King sent his Third Company, the Eagle Guardian Company of Ogwai, to destroy the traitors who dared to disrespect the Empire."

"According to him, these new wolves we trained must also go with us and fight alongside the Third Company. At the same time, we will use the blood of the enemy to test whether we have trained better wolf cubs."

"Sounds good."

Bayar pondered for a moment.

"Are you going to referee, Lana?"

"I guess they are friendly forces. After all, that..."

"Well, what's it called..."

Lana patted his head.

"Ah, yes: that human pocket empire called the Oramic Jingyuan Federation is not a small character that can be easily dealt with. It can survive the Age of Strife, so it must have its level. My people are also there to cover the bottom line."

"Then perform well."

Bayar smiled.

"Remember not to bring shame to Dawnbreaker."

"You are the ones!"

Lana bit his lip, wanting to refute but lacking confidence: Which of these captains present has not made outstanding contributions? No, these mortals around him have commanded many more battles than him, the chief of the guards, so he really has no confidence.

Feeling frustrated, he could only ask the secretary next to him to pile up more documents.

"Remember to take these back and memorize them before you go on the expedition."

"What are these?"

"A masterpiece of the Ministry of Internal Affairs: the enemies you may encounter in future expeditions."

Having said that, a hint of playful mockery appeared on Lana's face.

"Our Warmaster is really a meticulous person. The route of this joint expedition may have been chosen deliberately. According to intelligence, the area where you will be heading is filled with a large number of human regimes that have diplomatic value. Horus may want to conquer them through words rather than iron fists."

"And then use his diplomatic charm to make our Primarch bow down to him?"

"I think it's tough."

Diarmait looked odd and pointed to the new file in front of him.

"I don't think Horus can have anything in common with the ruler of a pocket empire who calls himself the 'Emperor of All Mankind'."

"Maybe it's just a coincidence?"

Rana is quite open-minded.

"Anyway, as far as we know, the guy who calls himself the Emperor of All Mankind only rules a pitiful planet. The [Human Empire] under his command doesn't even have its own fleet. If he doesn't know what's good for him, I think Horus wouldn't mind making the Emperor, a rare race, a little more precious from now on."

"I hope so."

Bayar bent his fingers and rested them on the corners of his smiling mouth.

"That way, I can tell my other battle brothers later."

"I was there the day Horus slew the Emperor."

"Hahahahaha..."

Even the Lord Chancellor's own mouth was a little tense because of this joke, but he still remained silent until no one present would laugh out loud at this joke again, whether they were Astartes or mortals.

"However, compared to this emperor, the next contestant is more interesting."

Davout was perhaps the only one of all who was reading the intelligence carefully.

"The Kings... the Federation?"

"Is that your name?"

"That's about right. The information about them is not very true."

Rana took a sip of his tea.

"Because it is too remote, located at the edge of the area where the Astronomican Torch can barely shine, we only got information from some wandering traders and the neighboring human world. But what is certain is that the Federation of Kings has highly advanced technology and a territory covering at least thirty-five star systems."

"Highly advanced technology?"

Bayar savored the word.

"So this is the real reason why mother is willing to join this expedition?"

"None of that matters."

Lana shook his head.

"The important thing is: it is said that the Federation of Kings had contact with many alien civilizations in the past era of conflict. It is not certain what kind of contact this was, but one thing is certain, the Federation of Kings has a large collection of alien technology and weapons. It is very dangerous to allow an independent regime that wanders outside the power of the empire to possess these powers."

"Yes, these technologies and weapons are best kept in Avalon: we have more experience."

"Will Horus agree?"

"That's what the mother is concerned about."

Rana's currently empty teacup.

"As for what you have to do, you must obey Hara's orders and take good care of your own lives and the lives of your brothers. By the way, be careful of the guys from other legions, especially those of the Emperor's Children. I heard that the commanders Fulgrim brought this time are Eidolon and Fabius. These two are not reliable people."

"What about the Luna Wolves? Who is the one who can still move in the Council of Four Kings?"

"Unfortunately: Abaddon."

"Oh my god..."

Masks of pain were firmly engraved on the sighing faces of the company commanders.

"Is there no good news?"

"The good news is that it is said that the Word Bearers Legion has also sent an expeditionary force."

"The leader is Anglete: at least he is a trustworthy guy on the battlefield."

"I've heard of him: isn't he taking part in Lorgar's Sacred Blood Crusade?"

"It is obvious: no crusade is more holy than the call of Horus."

"Well, speaking of this..."

Bayar paused.

"Where are Ahriman and Dantiok? Will they come with us?"

"Forget about Dantiok. He and his men were taken away by Conrad's Night Lords less than a month ago to join a new round of ghoul expedition. I hope we can see him again in Salamas."

"As for Ahriman..."

"That depends on whether the [Black Stone Sword] he ordered from Sergeant Trazyn has been forged."

(End of this chapter)