Warhammer: Start with a dog.

Chapter 440: Mantis Catches Cicada
The Eye of Medusa, a massive armored core fortress built deep beneath Medusa after the fall of Ferrus Manus, is also the main data exchange and storage center for the Iron Hands Chapter - in other words, their main computer room.

The Iron Council's most formal meetings and most important decisions will be held, discussed and passed here. Now, in this conference hall which has the legacy of ancient theaters and all kinds of incredible technology, everything seems to be in order and silent.

But the discussion center connecting all the iron fathers sitting on the iron thrones who are still able to perform their duties normally is now actually very lively.

+Our command and communication control lines to the front are still occupied by the hateful rebels. Unknown cracking time... The dissatisfaction of the machine spirits has never been so high. Ferrus, my head hurts! +
+Be careful not to overheat your cerebral cortex, the thought chip will cook the neural proteins in the cerebral cortex. The fighting style of these reinforcements is definitely not that of any Iron Hands clan company, where did they come from? +
+We have not received any notification of any Imperial fleet preparing for or currently passing through the Medusa route, and we have not actually requested assistance from any additional forces. +
+That's right, we can handle it ourselves. Hell is other people. +
+Wait a minute, the code signal of the Rakuan Clan's Hall of Conquest appears at the edge of the Iron Moon's scanning blind spot. +
+It seems that Lakuan has returned to support us. It seems that they have decided to prioritize clan honor. The Astartes who may be reinforcements and the one leading them... Wait, who is that? ! What is that? ! No, do not step on the ground of Medusa with your vicious and dirty traitorous feet! The hand of Ferrus! It's him! It's him! The murderer who killed our father! How dare he appear in our sight! +
Many of the most ancient Iron Fathers let out a terrible roar of data fever in their circuits as they took in the attire of the tall figure who had fought against the First Chosen of Nurgle, the most active Legion Master of the Death Guard (not really), the Lord of the Terminus Est and the lair of the Destroyer Flies, the terrible Typhons.

+ How dare you... How dare you show up on the ground of Medusa! Hateful! Hateful betrayer! Damn murderer! +
+Shame.+
+This is the ultimate insult to every blessed relic and every drop of Ferrus blood we have. +
+Kill him.+
+I want him dead.+
+The Lakuan clan has committed such a depraved act. I take back my advice. There is no need for us to discuss any additional measures against them. +
+Be careful of the Lakuan, they used their Hall of Conquest to successfully raid Medusa during the Morai Sundering. +
+We will not make this mistake again. Let us open the Gorgon Forge Vault and kill them all. We may die together, but the Iron Hands will still stand on Medusa.+
+KILL! KILL! KILL! +
+Immediate decision: whether to launch "The Infinite Dark Source of Saint Manpark", "The Blood of (DATA EXPUNGED FOR NOT SHOWN)" and "The Covenant of Oblivion (DATA EXPUNGED FOR NOT SHOWN). In addition, the soldiers and vehicles of the Chapter within the same range will be recognized as acceptable losses. They will be recorded as Chapter Martyrs, and their names and battles will be gloriously engraved on the iron crystal stone tablets of the Antarctic Fortress. +
+Agree.+
+Agree.+
The Iron Fathers present at the meeting could hardly wait to cast their specially made fine steel ballots - more like small metal ingots than "ballots" - into the collection tubes specially installed on the armrests of their thrones. It was simple and practical. Humans have been using similar methods since the ancient ostracism. For the Iron Fathers and the followers of the God of All Machines who are also roaming in the ever-changing data stream, physical voting is more efficient in preventing cheating.

For the current resolution, silver ingots represent yes and bronze represents no, although this is an anonymous vote, and these ingots will fall into the tube when voting, and then flow through the pipes and separators into the logic scale in the center of the hall.

+Execute now, but we do not have certain permissions of the Hammonk clan.+
+Since the Hammonk clan's accusations are closely related to Lakuan, then pull out Hastam Hammonk's brain and spine and use them as a repeater to crack their treasure vault code. +
+Is this some. +
+He won't die if you pull it out anyway, so be careful not to break the tubes that inject nutrients and keep him alive. Summon the pharmacist and prepare Hastam's Forge Chain (Note 1)! Connect his brain to the locks of the Hammonk Clan Treasury and the Fearless Relic Vault! +
+When will the command of the front line be…+
+Eye of Medusa reports data breach - communication requested. +
+It must be some kind of trick, reject it and build more logical defenses. +
Behind his breathing mask, Kadan Stounus studied the name of the person who requested to communicate with him through a private channel that had not been activated for a long time: Malkan Ferros.

His former mentor, one of the most prestigious of the Iron Fathers, and the key figure who had performed the ritual of renunciation of the left hand for every recruit entering the Iron Hands for thousands of years, the betrayal of Malkan and the Rakuan clan would undoubtedly be one of the worst blows to the Iron Hands since the Morai Schism five thousand years ago.

Originally, just like that time, the Iron Council came together and was able to finally obtain the optimal solution in the calculation for the Sons of Ferrus.

But this time he was not sure, because he saw the culprit who had committed the most serious and despicable crime, the genetic father of the Iron Hands, and caused them to spend ten thousand years in an increasingly sharp contradiction between pain, hatred, despair and hope.

Fulgrim.

Although many details are different from the Dark Prince's Ascended Demon Prince, such as he has no extra arms and has normal legs.

But a Primarch like him with inadequate equipment could not disguise or hide himself in the Iron Hands' big data monitoring. Moreover, his data had long been passed down from generation to generation - patiently preparing for the opportunity to kill him.

As a result, Fulgrim landed on the ground of Medusa like a moth to a flame, and appeared in front of all the Iron Hands. He insulted all the blood of Ferrus, but he was destined to shed blood on Medusa today and sacrifice blood to Ferrus.

And Malkan Ferros, Master of the Forge, the Iron Father, was the Iron Hand who colluded with Fulgrim.

This absurd combination of words almost felt unreal to him.

This is the truth that the Iron Hands recruits' trial at the Rock of Ouranus constantly reminds every Iron Hand: Don't trust anyone around you, not even your brothers.

Malkan's private communication requests were repeated so rapidly that even the ruthless data could almost show his anxiety.

Do you want to connect?

Listen to what the traitor says?

Perhaps Malkan Feroth would tell him a completely different story?

Another perfectly logical story that Cardan Sturnus would be happy to hear, such as that he deliberately lured Fulgrim to Medusa to kill him while pretending to lead the way.

This was a very tempting idea, and one that was more in line with the Malkan style that Cardan knew.

No. This was undoubtedly another sign of weakness, just like the prelude to what happened on the ground in Isstvan ten thousand years ago.

No. Kadan Stunus would not make that mistake.

The weaknesses and defects in Ferrus and human genes will be corrected by his descendants.

Kadan Stunus cut off the communication request and watched as Hastam was pinned to the ground by maintenance servitors and pharmacists, who forced open his armor and exposed the damp, hot, and dwindling organic matter inside.

They cut the wires from his brain to his mechanical organs, implanted senses, and weapon systems, leaving him in safe mode, and then new biological plugs and interfaces were inserted into his forge chain, making Hastam essentially a living wetware they used to crack the key to the Hammonk clan's treasure vault. Hastam was one of the oldest and most combative Iron Hands among them. Like Cardan, he relied on his inner beliefs to survive the turmoil in the Highlands, but ultimately could not escape the call of Chaos.

How sad.

But this is the result of being tainted by chaos and betrayal.

As one of the ultimate quick solutions they intend to use, the "Source of Infinite Darkness of Saint Manpark" is about to be taken out from the clan treasury and released.

Although they have not been able to fully understand its structure and working principles over the years, it is a pity that this treasure may never be reproduced.

But a miniaturized black hole with a self-destructive mechanism that can be released onto the battlefield is definitely enough to deal with any blind enemy within range, even if it is a Primarch or one blessed by evil.

Medusa will win.

Holy Ferrus Manus.

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The "Sons of the Phoenix" silently and actively participated in the various teams they were assigned to. Although they were few in number, their rich combat experience and their ability to predict the Plague Marines' predictions miraculously allowed them to kill many enemies and save many friendly forces - their success in avoiding the Chaos Traps and strange weapons used by the Sons of Mortarion was eye-catching.

They are as nimble and maneuverable as dancers. Their Blade Storm has great lethality and can escape quickly. Combined with the Iron Hand's incredibly accurate long-range fire support, they are definitely a frustrating and counterproductive opponent for the slow-moving Death Guards.

Amid the countless ongoing dances of death, the surprisingly tall figure standing against the Lord of the 1st Company of the 14th Legion was particularly eye-catching.

He was wearing a huge battle armor of the same off-white color, with purple and gold decorating his shoulders and knees. He held a long sword burning with flames, and a silver helmet with golden wings that concealed his face but could not hide his perfect footwork and swordsmanship.

Typhons, who encountered an extremely unexpectedly powerful enemy here, was extremely angry and roared loudly.

"You! You and your flattering god! You have betrayed your class! Fulgrim! Are you, like Mortarion, still stubbornly refusing to comprehend the greatness of the gods?! Well! Since you are here! Then I will let you feel the power of the loving father! Add another trophy to the garden of the glorious reborn god! Anyway, there is already a Primarch there, you can go and keep him company! Unable to appreciate the beauty and mercy of the gods! You are both weak! Just right!"

The flaming sword drew a graceful arc in the air, and severing a bone nozzle of the Destroyer Fly Nest as mercilessly and effortlessly as a hot knife cutting through butter. The Destroyer Plague Flies that were bred and stored in the nest, these tiny demonic creatures, suddenly exploded and rushed towards the attacker like crazy, and were then ignited by the platinum flame on the blade, burning in the air and falling to the ground, their insect-like multi-segmented limbs struggling towards the sky, and finally burned into harmless but burnt blue smoke.

"Who is on the same level as you? Don't be so arrogant, son of Mortarion." A beautiful but contemptuous voice came from the breathing grid under the golden wing helmet. At the moment when the swarm of plague flies rushed over, the young phoenix had already distanced himself. After burning the swarm of demon creatures to death, he waited for an opportunity to attack again, while dodging three consecutive heavy blows from Typhons' scythe soaked in the juice of Nurgle's plague crucible - this scythe called "Man Reaper" is indeed a truly damaging weapon, and even Fulgrim, who is holding a flaming sword, has to temporarily avoid its edge.

But it was obvious that since Fulgrim's words were quite sharp towards his two foster brothers, he would not let them go idle when facing the enemy.

"Surprised? Oh, after all, not every Primarch has a rebellious descendant like you who feels that he is qualified to sit on the same side as your gene-father and even thinks that he is the one who should command the legion. Your god has made you work for him for so many years, but my pale brother is still more favored by Him than you. No wonder you always mention him - when it comes to pride caused by such extreme self-confidence, you and Fabius must have a lot in common. Perhaps I would suggest building an arena and putting the two of you in it, where you can go head to head with each other. Just by comparing your resentment, arrogance and arrogance, you two might be able to fight forever."

The mocked First Captain was furious. He took a heavy step forward and raised his hand towards the "Fulgrim" whose aura was too pure but not strong enough, intending to use the same trick again - few people realized that although Karas Typhon had always been wearing Terminator armor and was proficient in various weapons and combat, he was actually a very powerful psyker who had never been properly trained and his potential had not been developed.

This suppressed talent grew in power after he converted to the god of corruption and rebirth. Typhons tasted his own anger and accumulated strength. His existence began to cast a twisted shadow like a yellow-green oil film on the surrounding environment. He was going to teach this pathetic and frivolous Primarch who only knew how to enjoy himself during the siege of Terra a lesson, and preach the truth of the father. The words of truth would make his psychic sorcery more invisible and deadly.

"All living things are immortal."

The next moment, something happened that made all the people present and spectators change color with horror for different reasons.

The dead, following the eternal truth of the loving Father, began to rise again from the muddy swamp.

(End of this chapter)