Warhammer: Start with a dog.

Chapter 373 Flawless and Perfect...

The Relentless Flame is the flagship of the Ghorda Dynasty. This modified cruiser was created approximately forty centuries ago in the shipyards of the famous forge world of Ryza as the only prototype of the Ignis-class heavy cruiser.

However, this experimental ship was later deemed too expensive to maintain, and was ordered to be retired and sold. It had been wandering in the hands of various people for at least three thousand years.

Ten centuries after she was last seen in the real universe, she now remains a space hulk at the SR-651 Shipbreaking Yard in the Chronos Expanse, awaiting her final fate.

But then she met her current mistress, Lady Elspeth Gorda. So even though her machine soul was difficult to appease and prone to temper, the Ruthless Flame always had an extra tolerance and care for the lady who gave her a new life with a lot of wealth and a long period of repair.

Just like now, the Relentless Flame noted with worry that a figure that should not have been brought onto her magnificent and proud deck was now becoming increasingly impossible for her to ignore.

But she felt a deep sense of powerlessness: she could get angry at the captain, technical officers and navigators, but she could not influence the decision of the female lord.

The Relentless Flame could only continue to watch in apprehension as events unfolded on her decks, while her plasma engines were reported to be becoming more temperamental and unruly.

However, even among the famous dynasties of Rogue Traders, the Relentless Flame is a very impressive and awe-inspiring ship.

Because her standing crew numbered nearly 100,000, and the owner, absolute mistress, and ruthless executioner of this veritable little mobile city was Lady Elspeth.

This female lord, who took over the trading rights of her dynasty as the last and only heir after retiring from the Imperial Navy, is well-known throughout the sub-sector for her ostentatious display of wealth and pursuit of beauty, as well as her ruthless and violent methods used against people she dislikes or those she considers to be heretics or enemies. In the recent "Big Mouth Opening Festival" festival banquet, the extravagant and unique entertainment and banquets she provided left a deep impression on the guests.

This year was no exception. She accidentally but fortunately locked onto this year's "main course" and successfully captured him with a disposable cubic mini cage from an unknown planet outside the Chronos Expansion Zone - as simple and easy to use as the mysterious aliens who "voluntarily sold" it to her, but unfortunately it was disposable.

Her Mechanicus allies had begged her not to use it - "This item contains the sophisticated technological secrets of time and space! You can't just waste it on an ordinary cyborg who might be a Space Marine!"

But she refused, because it had to hit the target in one go, and she had to be 100% sure that it wouldn't cause any commotion, and only this device would be suitable for that.

What's more, that goal is so beautiful and perfect.

Originally planning to steal the waiter with a generous smile in the "Delicious and Nutritious" restaurant, but when Ms. Gorda saw the target who had just stepped into the passage at the port window, she immediately knew that this gorgeous, sparkling purple and silver gem was the ghost fire flower she wanted this year.

She used the precious device and got what she wanted.

At first, the female ruler of the dynasty thought that her means of inflicting pain had worked. It seemed that the Astartes were not as unshakable as rumored, and she was indeed very confident in the psychological pressure caused by the alien punishment techniques she had practiced on countless unfortunates.

But Ms. Gorda began to realize that there was a slight chance that her carefully laid plans might go irritatingly wrong.

But... this Emperor's Angel of Death is truly beautiful.

His figure was taller and slimmer than the Astartes that the Lady had glimpsed from afar in her distant and unspeakable travels or outside the secret battlefields. His face was more delicate than anyone she had ever seen, especially when he raised his amethyst eyes and raised one eyebrow, there was even a strange enthusiasm and innocent vitality in it.

Even the female lord who was accustomed to having a twisted sneer and a mocking expression welded on the corners of her mouth sometimes had to admit that perhaps the gods had given some people the gift of innate charm from the very beginning.

There was the sound of chains. I shall go see him again, she thought, and left her bridge, not noticing the nervous glances exchanged by her officers and aides.

------

"So you were planning on making me the main attraction at Discovery Day or the Maw Opening Festival, right?"

As he said this, Lucius leaned elegantly on the long sofa armchair that was the favorite of the female leader of the Ghorda dynasty.

"Oh, the God-Emperor," thought Lady Elspeth. "He looks like a large, dangerous, gleaming, silver, winged cat, but there is no creature as dangerous as him. Holy throne, he is dangerous and fascinating. How could there be a Space Marine like this? The power of the God-Emperor could create such a fascinating creature!"

Thinking of this, she walked forward and answered him. "That's right, so you should behave well. At this year's Big Mouth Opening Festival, I will be the absolute protagonist and the one being praised, because I will show you at the banquet - my well-behaved and beautiful prey, my new guard, and the 'main course' of the banquet. I will use you to entertain others at the subsequent banquets."

"Oh, throne, with all due respect, this sounds very... fantastical. Madam, using me to 'entertain' others? Is that what I think you mean?"

"It may not only mean what you think it means, but there may be more meanings."

The female lord's stern and cold grey eyes were fixed on the beautiful Astartes' every move. His wrists and ankles were now shackled for the most ferocious xenos, and the xenotech collar around his neck combined with forbidden Mechanicus creations could ensure that if he tried to attack his mistress, his head would be blown into fireworks starting from the neck.

However, after being told the purpose of this thing, the person concerned did not care about it. Instead, he touched the collar curiously, with a strange pleasure, and praised them for their ideas.

This abnormality initially made Ms. Gorda feel a little more uneasy.

But the depths of the Kronos Expanse and the Halo Cluster are not for the faint of heart, are they? Besides... he is so beautiful, so perfect. As Ms. Gorda thought about this, her eyes were drawn to Lucius lying there.

On the other hand, on the Relentless Flame, except for the worried and irritable machine spirit, people who can observe these fluctuations with the eyes of the warp can see that what they see is completely different from what ordinary mortals see with their naked eyes, which is something that even the female lord cannot fully experience.

The astropathic choir of the Relentless Flame and her navigator were speechless, or rather horrified, by what they saw.

Uneasy intercoms and whispers circulated among the group, but no one dared to raise the point with the cruel and indifferent Overlord who was clearly obsessed with her new captive.

One fact made those who tried or intended to oppose Lucius feel terrified from the bottom of their hearts. Although he was a captive, he cleverly persuaded the lady lord to believe him more now than her loyal servants, officers and assistants. What's more terrifying is that those who opposed Lucius began to succumb to his charm not long after.

Without Lady Gorda noticing, everything on the Ruthless Flame had quietly changed.

Obviously, although the veterans of the Legion who were busy with their work in "Delicious and Nutritious" were certainly wrong, someone was also having a lot of fun because of this unprecedented and fresh single-player experience.

Therefore, when the Emperor's Children and the Moon Wolves "finally" remembered, or rather, when the body of a certain Iron Lord finally remembered that it had such a special collection and began to look for it, they were surprised to find that an Astartes veteran had actually disappeared on an outpost space station, and most likely - had been kidnapped.

(End of this chapter)