How can a retired savior be considered retired if his price drops to 40,000?

Chapter 420 It's too dangerous for Tianshi to go out alone, let's take this black knight with us
Everyone held their breath, staring at the epicenter of the incident, at Chapter Master Thun who lowered his head humbly and the battle flag still flying proudly behind him, and at Dorn's face, which, even though old and wrinkled, still revealed unquestionable majesty.

No one knew what the Primarch was thinking. Even those who knew all the previous events had no way of guessing when facing that face that was as calm as if it was carved from rock. Did Captain Thun's actions on behalf of the Phoenix Sons Chapter make Dorn happy? Or was it simply seen as an act of usurpation? The Primarch did not show any signs that could be used for others to make judgments. He just bowed his head slightly, spent a few short seconds, and made a simple inspection of Thun and his bodyguards, and then spoke:

"Okay." His voice was also emotionless, "If you insist."

"I insist." Toon's voice trembled with excitement.

"Then raise your head and come to the sand table." The Primarch ordered without hesitation, as if the Sons of the Phoenix had always been his successor. "There happens to be a difficult task here."

Captain Toon immediately obeyed the order and stood up. When he moved to the side of the holographic sand table, he was still a little dazed: he thought that in theory, there should be some other transitions between the two events, but in reality, there were none. Even in the few seconds when he was slightly dazed, Dorn had already begun to explain the briefing of this mission to them:
"Since the enemy's airborne landings began, the core fulcrum of planetary defense in the northern continent of Macragge has changed hands three times." As the Primarch explained this, the holographic sand table also projected the target of this battle, the battlefield environment around the Peralis Orbital Defense Fortress and the parameters of the building itself. "In order to attack our orbital defense forces, the Iron Warriors did everything they could. A battlefield communication before the defenders were completely destroyed showed that they even deployed Predator-class Titans on the battlefield. But after capturing this node, the traitors did not destroy the orbital macrocannon array."

"They want to surround the point and attack the reinforcements," Captain Thun responded. It was not difficult to see. "They want to further weaken the manpower on the surface of Macragge, which has become weak due to the chaos."

“True,” Dorn agreed. “And most of the Imperium’s Titans are kept in orbit, and the few that were on the surface at the beginning have been entangled in other battlefields. There is no doubt that even if I know this is a trap, I will need someone to recapture the Peralis Fortress and restore its operation, but neither Guilliman or I can currently provide equivalent war engines or firepower. This is likely to be a difficult challenge with no chance of survival.”

It sounded like a hopeless battle, but Thune, like any qualified Space Marine, was not afraid: "As you command, my lord. The Sons of the Phoenix will put an end to the enemy's unrealistic fantasies and themselves."

After obtaining more detailed information related to the mission from the sand table, Chapter Master Thun saluted the Primarch and left with his entourage. However, his departure did not take away the dissatisfaction caused by this series of actions and events to other members of the Chapter in the hall. This kind of dissatisfaction that was close to reality was like a dark cloud hanging over the entire hall. The reason why no one expressed an opinion on it was only because the person who made the decision and issued the order was their Primarch, Rogal Dorn, who miraculously returned under the guidance of the Emperor.

Even if no one spoke, the Primarch who was also in the hall could naturally feel this atmosphere. Unfortunately, Dorn usually ignored such emotional issues, as it was before and now. He believed that as time went on, the Sons of Phoenix would always prove themselves through successful missions one after another and the honors they won on the battlefield again and again. Regardless of whether this chapter could be reborn from the ashes in this battle, their so-called "qualification" did not need to be determined by Dorn's evaluation - because there were indeed people on this planet who were more suitable to make an evaluation on this matter than Dorn.

As if nothing had happened, the Primarch quickly skipped over the previous episode in the sinking air pressure in the hall, reduced the scale of the sand table projection, and returned to the overall battle situation. The red dots representing the enemy's position were like annoying flying insects, clinging to the green topographic map, and the jagged battle lines made the battle situation still look very unfavorable to the Empire.

Almost at the same time after approaching the orbit, Perturabo launched an attack on all cities and facilities on the entire planet at the same time - he did have the manpower and brainpower to carry out such a complex multi-line operation. This made the communication network that was barely rebuilt on the battlefield full of voices calling for help or requests for support. But now that the orbit was blocked, both Guilliman and Dorn were very stretched to the limit in terms of the forces they could mobilize. Under such circumstances, only the most important and urgent requests could be responded to quickly, and more people seeking help had to watch the enemy in front of them advance step by step in anger and despair without any response.

However, the criteria for determining what requests are "important and urgent" is indeed in the hands of the Primarch.

"Captain Velan." While zooming in on a certain city on the sand table once again, Dorn named a name that no one present had expected. "I need you to lead your men to Illyrium for support. The fall of this city is a foregone conclusion, but the Ultramar auxiliary forces fought very bravely. Your mission is to support and gather these mortals, preserve the Empire's manpower on the ground battlefield, and lead them to retreat in the direction of Magna Macragge. No matter what, we cannot give up the firepower of this armored regiment."

Weilan was startled by the sudden roll call. He walked up with a little trepidation, forcing himself to think about the problem in front of him. He looked at the parameters on the sand table. It was similar to what Captain Thun had seen before. It could be said that only the terrain was credible. The accurate record of the garrison forces in the city remained before the unexpected raid. Later, the increase and decrease based on this number according to the battle situation appeared contradictory due to poor communication and the chaotic acquisition of some unknown intelligence. In addition, for the same reason, the intelligence assessment of the types and numbers of enemies was also quite vague.

There were too many uncertainties. Although Velan, who was forced to take the position of the head of the regiment, could read the battlefield quickly, he did not have the experience and ability to quickly weigh the pros and cons and make decisions among so many uncertainties. But things had come to this point, and he could not say that he was incapable, so he could only bite the bullet and answer: "Yes, sir."

"Do you have any questions about this mission?" Dorn seemed to sense that the young Chapter Master was in poor condition, and was willing to show a little rare tolerance for this. "If you have any, you should raise it before setting out on the mission."

This rare tolerance may not have been properly understood. After the Primarch's questioning, Velan lowered his head obediently: "It's nothing, sir. Even if it costs me my life, I will definitely complete it properly."

To be fair, even if the information is very vague, this is not a very difficult task - especially on Macragge now. This is why, when Velan and Thun, as a Chapter Master who was not "very optimistic" by other Chapters, received the task directly from the Primarch, the other Chapter Masters were far less dissatisfied with Velan than with Thun. A simple task like gathering the remnants means that it is only natural that it is completed beautifully, which means that it will not bring too much honor and surprise. Obviously, facing a Titan with only three or four Space Marine companies is a completely different matter.

If Velan was not the Chapter Master, but just a sergeant with command of a tactical squad, he might be able to more calmly and rationally realize what he needs to do: even considering the current number of people in the Celestial Lions Chapter, this is not a mission that really requires them to go all out. But in the current situation, the excessive tension caused by meeting the Primarch directly and the fear of gain and loss caused by thinking that he is not worthy of the position have indeed affected his logic and judgment.

"I hope so." Dorn nodded, not dwelling on the topic any further. "Also, Sigismund."

"Here." The black knight, who had been silently acting as a background, took a step forward. "You will temporarily act with the Celestial Lions." The Primarch said, "The legion that just suffered a defeat needs a symbol so that they can quickly boost their morale - and also to take my place and see the situation on the front line with your own eyes."

After these words were spoken, the atmosphere in the hall towards Captain Vilan suddenly became sinister again - especially in the direction of the Black Templar.
-
"Don't worry too much." Before boarding the Land Raider temporarily provided by the Ultramarines, it was Sigismund who spoke first, and comforted Vilan in such a dry way, "Our gene father must have made such a decision for his reasons, we just need to obey his orders."

Vilan didn't know what to say, and only nodded timidly before hurriedly boarding the vehicle. Being noticed by a legend like Sigismund who lived ten thousand years ago, and even starting to work together by chance, was an extremely honorable thing no matter how you put it. Unfortunately, now that the matter had come to an end, Vilan couldn't feel the slightest bit of joy. His heart was completely filled with panic after a series of ups and downs since arriving in Macragge.

Normally, they should use transport planes to quickly reach the battlefield, but the current situation is that there are no "safe" air routes in the air, and there are not enough fighters to escort the transport planes. The only consolation is that thanks to Macragge's sound infrastructure that is much higher than the average level of the Empire, the speed of land armored forces on standard roads is also very fast, and the efficiency of the mission will not be slowed down too much - the premise is that the Iron Warriors have not had time to cause any serious damage to the road network.

The Celestial Lions sent out three tactical squads and a fire support squad this time, and (for Sigismund's sake) borrowed matching armored forces from the Ultramarines of the Hera Fortress. After leaving the hall where the Primarch was, Vilan's mind, which had been blocked by his nervousness, began to turn again. This was just a simple evacuation mission, he persuaded himself to complete it with a normal heart, and there was no need to make everything so serious.

That being said, even if he repeatedly tried to focus his thoughts on the mission itself, he would always fail. There was not much space in the Land Raiders, and therefore, Vilan's eyes could not avoid Sigismund's carved armor. Repeatedly, walking with such a legendary hero was a symbol of great honor, but this honor made Vilan feel uncontrollably uneasy now - together with what he had heard from the Black Knight before, about the temporary disposal of the Celestial Lions by the "Imperial Saint", Vilan felt dizzy as if he was in an illusory dream.

They got too much. Even Vilan didn't want his warband to be disbanded, the number to become a gradually dusty footnote in the historical records, and he and his brothers to be packaged and merged into another warband that also inherited Rogal Dorn's genes, forced to accept another paint on the armor, another culture and tradition, and give up all their own past. But it shouldn't be in this form.

As a generation of Astartes who was bred after the era when the Chapter and the Inquisition were at odds, Velan's approach to things was inevitably more cautious than his predecessors. No matter what he did, he preferred not to alarm other forces in the Imperium, especially other departments outside the old Astartes Chapter that had already had ties with them. Moreover, this experience that was far from glorious and the fragmented current situation of the Chapter made him unable to raise his head in front of his Primarch. These days, everything he experienced on Macragge really made Velan very nervous.

"You still have a lot of concerns." Amid the roar of the vehicle engine, Sigismund's voice seemed to come from a very far away place. This hero from ten thousand years ago showed a great degree of patience in front of Vilan for the first time, and even repeated in a softer way the question that his gene father had asked not long ago but did not get a direct answer: "If you want, you can also talk to me. Although I have no direct relationship with your warband, I have the blood of Lord Dorne flowing in my veins just like you. You can simply treat me as an older brother and tell me what is bothering you."

Weilan laughed bitterly: "You are joking, sir, how is this possible?"

This is indeed impossible. Even if it is not in the Imperial Fists, Sigismund's name is still a household name. But at least, when this brilliant legendary hero appears in reality, everyone can easily see that he is just an Astartes in essence. Even though he is also covered with a lot of halos due to the legendary experience, the natural distortion of the storyline due to the long history, and various propaganda needs, when he and the so-called "command" members of the Tianshi Regiment squeezed in the carriage of the Land Raider, the close distance made it easier for people to see through these blinding whitewashing and see the essence of Sigismund as "just an Astartes".

At least, Vilan felt that it was much easier to straighten his tongue in front of Sigismund than in front of the Primarch.

This may also be due to "Sigismund has no direct relationship with the Heavenly Lions", but at least, when he made up his mind to speak, Vilan did not think clearly about why he chose to confide in the Black Knight instead of his own Primarch: "... I don't know how to describe it, my lord. All of this makes me feel flattered, but... why is it us who have experienced such a failure? Are we really qualified to get it - the honor of traveling with you, the simpler tasks specially assigned by the Primarch, the special care of the Imperial Saints - all of this?"

This was a strange question for Sigismund, but fortunately, he had become accustomed to such strange questions to a certain extent and had mastered some methodology for dealing with similar incidents - of course, the specific effect was questionable:

"Don't think too much, because in this regard, it is not you who decide whether you are qualified or not." The Black Knight's argument was quite cruel and went straight to the point: "Lord Dorne thought you were suitable for this mission and that I was suitable to go with you, so we are here together now; Ms. Fujimaru and I both believe that your regiment has not committed any faults that should be dismissed, and we happen to have the ability to interfere with it to some extent, so we took action. It's that simple."

This is a very frustrating fact, and when it is pointed out, it immediately becomes even more frustrating. As a son of Dorne, Willan can accept such an overly straightforward statement, but he can't help but show a little frustration in his expression: "But if... it's nothing."

He did not finish his words, and thought that the topic would end there. However, Sigismund could now fully guess what he wanted to say after receiving intensive training in understanding the implicit meaning in the non-existent experience:
"I can understand that you are essentially afraid of failure, afraid that your mistakes will disappoint all these gifts and the expectations of others." The Black Knight said, "Although no one will actively admit it, this is also a very common fear among Space Marines. It's just that the mission is about to begin. Before that, you should try your best to adjust your mentality - although when you think you have done something well, you may not really do it well; but if you think you will definitely not do it well from the beginning, then you really can't do it well."

These words did not make Weilan feel better, but at least, they successfully forced him to cheer up. He really had to put his thoughts back on the mission itself: because of poor communication and too much vague intelligence, there must be many parts in the whole process that require them to improvise.

Regardless of whether Sigismund decided to intervene in the command of the Celestial Lions, the legendary saint was indeed watching his every move. Vilan really didn't want to encounter any kind of failure in the next action, to prove that he and the warband would not disappoint the expectations placed on them by others. Therefore, he had to follow the Black Knight's advice and clear his mind through meditation as soon as possible, and adjust his mindset -

——No matter what, he has to grit his teeth and do his best.

(End of this chapter)