Warhammer: Start with a dog.

Chapter 449 Colorful Space Warriors (4K5)
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Thirty standard points before the siege battle of Karan-Gol begins.

Somewhere near the position of Soltarn's troops.

"What do you think of them--what are these people like?"

Uriel Ventress - or rather, the former captain of the 4th Company of the Ultramarines, whom we should call Filhammer, who is currently on the territory of Medlengard, was lying behind a rock bunker, sharing the scene detected by his eyepiece auspex with the other party, and using the communication beads to ask for the opinion of his loyal friend and deputy, Sergeant Pasanius Lesani - the big man who currently goes by the alias Anverk.

"If you ask me, it's definitely not some glorious event that you found them here." The blond sergeant muttered, his hand moving on his weapon, as if he wanted to perform some imperial etiquette for a moment, but he held back and began to stroke the pendant on the rosary on his chest - that was the farewell gift given to them by Reverend Brother Julius on the Destiny Steel.

When Captain Soltan saw the two items, he said nothing, but told them to cherish the two rosary beads. Pasanius felt that Captain Soltan had underestimated him. Of course, he would cherish such a gift from a priest brother - the priest brother also had the great face of their gene father - especially in this place. Cherishing it was like grasping the last link between him and his hometown, the chapter and the Emperor's light.

There was one more thing he had never told anyone. Pausanius had not been able to completely put behind him the cold pain brought by the strange sickle that cut off his arm for a long time - it was something too deep, the wound it caused might have penetrated into the human soul, and the strange feeling of death that the lifeless metal penetrated into his arm made him shudder - he clenched the rosary, and a warm power penetrated into his soul through his power armor glove like the palm of a living person.

The small gift given to them by Reverend Brother Julius radiated warmth in his palms.

A sharp pain in Pausanius' chest pulled him back to his thoughts. The wound of the Imperial Double-Headed Eagle that he had repeatedly carved there had not healed yet - but he had not further cut open the flesh on his chest to deepen it due to the intense battle in recent days. He did this to remind himself not to indulge in the overly good atmosphere of Captain Soltarn at the moment - they were Ultramarines, and they had their own death oaths to fulfill.

The sergeant looked at his captain worriedly behind his helmet visor.

Uriel Ventress adapted to Soltarn's team faster than Pasanius. It could even be said that it took him only a few minutes to accept his new name and new paint. When he walked out of Soltarn's meeting room, he looked like a lieutenant of the "Silver Skull" - but what Pasanius found even more terrifying was that he witnessed with his own eyes his best friend, the former Guardian of Ultramar, the captain of the 4th Company of the Ultramarines, Uriel Ventress, wearing new power armor, mixing with the "Iron Warriors" lurking brothers who had washed off the blood and oil on their bodies, removed the excessive spikes and superfluous machinery and joined them. He looked so... sociable.

He should find a chance to talk to Ventress about this. Although it is very likely that Ventress could convince Pasanius with a few words, as he had done many times in the past, the big sergeant would still choose to do so as a friend rather than a battle brother, just as he followed his commander without hesitation when he knew that Ventress would be stripped of his honor and thrown off the Garan Stone beside the Hera Falls or exiled from the chapter to perform a death oath.
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Uriel Ventries had no idea what Pasanius was thinking.

He was now focused on their mission, and didn't want any discordant notes to disrupt the normal rhythm in this rare dawn.

Really, it's good enough, hopefully enough, isn't it? He comforted himself, hoping to start to focus his mind, to take his eyes off the walls of Kalan-Gol that were constantly oozing blood and the slaves crying and being beaten, enslaved, and even buried in fortifications by the Iron Warriors guards. Just looking at the scenes happening here and on this planet, it was as if the filth had penetrated into his heart, making his mind gradually lost in a kind of numbness, and gradually becoming cold and hard.

Think about something else, Uriel, think about it, ever since they met the Destiny Steel and the Silver Skulls, things have gradually taken a turn for the better.

He turned to think.

They originally viewed this journey as a one-way journey of atonement, just as its name had been when it was issued: the Death Oath.

But now Uriel Ventress began to consider it as a return mission so seriously as never before. His ambition was both big and small: he wanted to complete the mission entrusted to them by Chief Think Tank Tigris and Chapter Master Calgar from this devilish planet and retreat with his companions.

Even though they now possessed war machines, a whole warband and auxiliary troops, this matter actually had little hope, but Ventress still grasped the current situation like a drowning man grabbing the last floating object in his hand, so he appeared to be particularly flexible and humble - it must be said, considering that the charges he was convicted of were largely caused by being reported for not complying with the provisions of the Astartes Code, this verdict was really in line with his character to some extent.

The former 4th Captain of the Ultramarines and temporary lieutenant of the Silver Skulls' 2nd Company was now thinking rapidly in his mind.

No doubt, the longer they arrived in Medlengard and the longer they stayed here, the more they learned, and the more incredibly complex and abrupt the secret mission they had been given became.

Across the space and time of the entire galaxy and the Eye of Terror, how did Varo Tigris, with his mere human power, accurately know what was going to happen, was happening, and would definitely happen in a certain fortress on Admiral Medlengard? In other words, can someone with this ability still be called a "human"?

He collected his thoughts.

The Chief Librarian has proven his worth and loyalty in many military operations. He should not consider these. The first priority is to execute and complete the Death Oath mission. Is the Onfalos evil spirit they encountered on the road part of the whole thing? Does the devil have a back-up plan? They don't know.

But the people on Medlengard did know the name of the Omphalos evil spirit, and he was surprised that they knew a lot about this man-eating demon. Many of the factories they attacked had a square-like platform full of flesh and blood. It was said that as long as enough lives and souls were sacrificed, the Omphalos evil spirit could be summoned to serve them, and the owner of Kalan-Gol was one of the largest employers of this demon train. Soltarn told Ventress that after they captured Kalan-Gol, they might be able to find more people to ask for details.

Moreover, the situation on Medlengard is also very complicated. There is no honor or credibility between the Iron Warriors and the Demons. New conspiracies and plans are constantly being staged, and more complex and long-term intrigues are constantly advancing. Many ancient demons and chaos gods are feasting in the chaos.

In this situation, it is difficult to see who is using whom. Perhaps Soltarn's mission is not as simple as he said (after all, anyone with eyes can see that some Iron Warriors are really too Iron Warriors, and Soltarn is really much higher than them), but Ventress swore that he would not allow himself and his companions to be used by any evil.

Despite the dangers that surrounded and confronted him, he always felt the Emperor's will being carried out through him, and his chest was always filled with the flames of courage and honor.

And then, or now, he still feels that a part of his body is so empty.

Uriel had learned about the deeds of many battle heroes in the halls of the Hera Fortress, and had listened to countless generous and inspiring sermons by the battle priest brothers. They always described the divine power of the Emperor as a torch, a beacon, a true light, burning brightly, brighter than any star, illuminating the way in front of people and dispelling the darkness in everyone's heart. They always described the glorious virtues of those heroes, each of them was pure, from soul to flesh, from inside to outside, without arrogance, doubt or weakness from the heart, without any stains questioned by the outside world.

So that's why Uriel Ventris can blend in naturally among those "Iron Warriors" without looking out of place.

Now, without that burning fire in his chest, he had been judged and expelled from his Chapter, driven from Hera Fortress under the gaze of his battle-brothers, disowned by his homeworld, stripped of all past honours and marks of battle, his past life and worth as a soldier completely taken away, no longer the hero his people needed, no longer the role model in the eyes of his warriors. In those darkest moments, he also had to tend to Pasanius's emotions - the big sergeant, though steadfast, had sometimes looked as fragile as glass since the attack of the metal god of the dead. Uriel had to appear more confident and stronger than his friend - the miraculous event of meeting Brother Julius of the Destiny Steel had undoubtedly given them great courage halfway through the journey, allowing them to persevere to Medrengard. But where was the fire and light promised by the priests in his hour of desperate need for the Emperor's light? He could not feel the Emperor's light every day on this demonic world they had been exiled to.

At that moment, a haze that looked like red, blue or purple emerged from the bottom of his gray eyes.

A certain spot on his chest suddenly became hot, and he could feel its heat. Uriel had to twist his neck to try to move the rosary slightly away from its original position.

"I don't know, but I think we should check it out."

Uriel heard Pasanius' answer and nodded, his eyepiece covering his gray eyes which were now shining with a little white and gold light.

"Then let's go over and see what's going on. I think I saw more than one familiar chapter emblem. They shouldn't be in that form, and they shouldn't be here."
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The two former Ultramarines took cover in the winding crevices of the rocks and cautiously approached the group of warriors who were also watching them warily.

Soon, the two warriors in silver-gray armor who left the camp alone found themselves surrounded in a small broken rock basin or crater, with at least ten grenade launchers or other weapons pointed at their vital points.

"We don't want to argue. Who am I talking to? Is there anyone here who can answer me?" Uriel tried to speak in an Ultramar-style friendly manner.

This attitude and tone, which were very characteristic of the Ultramarines, may have attracted the attention of someone on the other side. A warrior wearing mostly mottled white, with some parts roughly patched with captured iron plates and fillers, slightly exposed half of his body from behind the stone. A blue eagle's head was painted on the grayish white primer of one of his shoulder armors, and a crude "X" was drawn on it with red paint.

Pasanius's sigh rang out in Ventress's communication channel: "White Archon..."

“Who are you?” the other man asked cautiously, holding his metallic bolter tightly, the muzzle still pointed at the curious visitor. “You don’t act like Ultramarines. Ultramarines won’t mix with those Iron Warriors.”

"I am Filhammer, this is Anverk, we are from the Silver Skulls Chapter, perhaps you have heard that we are both sons of Guilliman. This is the White Archon?"

"I am Jaffar of the White Archons - I was. I know the Silver Skulls, but what are you doing here? Why are you hanging out with those traitors? Have you fallen into the same trap?"

"Was? Then what are you doing here? Didn't you betray me?" "We are not traitors!"

Uriel sighed. Pasanius really cared about this. He put his hand on the sergeant's arm guard and patted it.

And Jeffrey stared at them with his head tilted, like a hawk.

"We are renegades who have drifted here, but we are not traitors. We rely on looting and killing Iron Warriors to obtain survival supplies. There is obviously going to be a big war here, and we are here to see if we can find some supplies in the chaos." He said bluntly, "But based on our observations over the past few days, you two are doing more than just serving these newly-risen Iron Warriors, especially you, Fellhammer. I see that you are clearly the right-hand man of the new lord. Perhaps we should capture you and strip you two of your weapons and equipment, and then kill you two traitors."

"We are not traitors!!" Pasanius shouted, holding his head high. The sound of metal colliding nearby became more obvious.

"How to prove it?"

"We've already discovered you," Uriel pointed out calmly. "If we were as evil as you think, we could just bomb this place into ruins from a distance. If you're not a traitor, perhaps you could consider talking to us."

"That doesn't mean anything, but." Eifer tilted his head again, "You and this group of new Iron Warriors really haven't changed much, your habits are very neat, and you have a lot of combat discipline."

The former White Archon Space Marine asked in a certain direction, "How do they smell?"

A gruff voice replied, "It smells a bit alarming, but otherwise it's fine. Very nice smell, very typical Son of Guilliman. More like those rigid blue men than you smelled, I'd say."

And another, more husky voice also answered, "There is no sense of chaos... They have some kind of guardian power in their chests - not from the throne, but not from the God of Chaos either."

Ventrus and Pasanius exchanged a look of surprise and thought of the rosary on their chests.

Did Reverend Brother Julius…really just look like that holy man?
"Well, let's hear if you have the ability to speak eloquently."

As these words were spoken, more footsteps began to be heard from the surrounding gravel and shadows.

And Uriel's eyes widened in amazement at the many brilliant colors he saw.

(End of this chapter)