Warhammer: Start with a dog.

Chapter 757 Horus's attempts at acting cute really don't work, do they?
-
"Why would you choose to land in the airdrop capsule? There's absolutely no chance of a comfortable landing experience. You could have chosen to take my Stormbird to the surface; one Stormbird would be enough to fit all of you."

"This atmosphere, which generates storms and lightning as soon as an object approaches, cannot guarantee safe flight even for Stormbirds, right? But we at least know that the Emperor's Son's drop pod did not have an easy time either, but the passengers inside landed alive and were still able to fight."

"The Horus-specific Stormbird is in excellent condition, with more power and more shields." — And as long as you're on it, even if all four engines fail, our clients will definitely find a way to prevent you from crashing, Perturabo thought to himself.

"Hmm... okay, but I still choose the airdrop capsule."

"why?"

"Because I rarely have the opportunity to personally experience the ride in an airdrop capsule?"

"..."

"Can't you?"

"Why didn't you think about trying it out when you were on the Ironblood? You can try out whichever model you want, as many times as you want!"

"Who would bother taking a pod for no reason? We're already here anyway."

"...Let me reinforce the legs of the LOGOS and the entire external spinal cushioning for you immediately before you go to the hangar. I will have Loken check your safety latches for you."

"Oh! You're so considerate of my darling!... Uh, I'm sorry, I really can't hold you like this and pat your head... Maybe you could put on your wolfskin cloak and then act all cute...? Ugh... I'm sorry, baby! I... I don't think so..."

"...I'll get to it right now. Let's resolve this quickly, I've had enough... I said don't try anymore! Don't forget whose face you're wearing!!! Get out of here!!!!"

--------

Luke Sadiri walked at the back of the group of six.

Like Loken, the 13th Company Commander did not belong to the Legion warriors known as the Sons of Horus who resembled the Father of Genes. Instead, he had the appearance of a native of Krona, with pale skin, blond hair, blue eyes, and a few freckles.

But beneath his often cheerful exterior lies a formidable warrior, and in terms of combat and command alone, he is frequently mentioned alongside the chief company commander, Abaddon.

Therefore, those who know him well can understand why he was chosen by the Iron Lord this time—at least the Iron Lord's eye for talent is indeed impeccable.

Of course, from his personal perspective, he was proud that his reputation had spread to other legions, but he also had some reservations about the Primarch coming to his own legion to make it his home.

“Hey, Gavial.” He put on his helmet and quietly used the internal communication. “Why do you all listen to him like this? I mean, the four of you are the Council of Four Kings, you should be by the Commander’s side all the time.”

"Don't ask so many questions now. We might have time after our triumphant return. Sadiri, all you need to know is that if the four of us, especially Abaddon, are working obediently under Lord Peturabo, then you'd better follow suit."

Loken, without looking to the side, replied softly.

They had just landed, and although there was no unexpected turbulence or shaking, they were unbelievably safe.

The fifteen people were divided into three drop pods. As they approached, the defensive atmosphere of the mysterious planet did indeed produce thunderstorms and gales as before. However, for some reason, the storms and eddies coincidentally threw the three drop pods into the same valley. So, although they lost contact with the high-altitude fleet, they quickly regrouped.

Now, the team is passing through a plain of red soil with extremely high iron content, as requested by the Iron Lord. The sky above is completely obscured by thick, pure white clouds, the lower part of which has unsettlingly dense, papillary shapes, as if lightning could be triggered at any moment.

"Ugh, I don't like this."

"The Lord of Steel!" the Iron Lord shouted, and stopped in his tracks. Loken looked up and saw that they had reached the edge of a vast, greyish-white grassland made up of giant, enormous herbaceous plants.

Each blade of grass was as thick as an adult's thigh, rustling in the radiant winds of this planet, making the distinctive "rustling" sound of the dense grasslands. It was indeed a peculiar sight. Astartes, with his immense height, seemed like a tiny person who had entered the legendary grasslands of giants.

The contrast between the grassland, which resembles snow mixed with coal ash, and the red soil is quite visually appealing. However, if most of the grass roots are embracing black larvae the size of human heads, and these larvae form dense, tumor-like clumps on the grass stems, making a sucking sound as they sap, then it will send chills down your spine.

Regardless of whether the other Astartes felt their hair stand on end, the person walking in the middle of the guard was now covered in goosebumps.

“Please allow us to burn them for you, my lord,” said the leader of the tyrant terminators, two of whom were armed with flamethrowers.

This was the first time Loken had heard the Iron Warriors speak, and Togden whispered beside him, "I thought their tongues had all been cut out by their masters."

Despite his disgust, the Iron Lord shook his head. "These larvae do look disgusting, but they don't attack unless provoked. Besides, their internal fluids are corrosive and can damage weapons and power armor. Just leave them alone for now."

The four company commanders, apart from Loken, all showed a look of surprise mixed with a hint of wariness: Why did the Iron Lord seem so familiar with this creature?
“Of course,” they heard the Primarch add, “There are just too many of them. This isn’t our job. We should let the main force come later to burn them.”

"Please give your instructions, sir."

“Hmm… let me think… this place… should be pretty close.” The Iron Lord muttered, then turned to one of his guards and asked, “Has the signal receiver picked up the Astartes Legion’s call?”

"There are some ambiguous fragments, but they are very blurry, sir. We need to make more adjustments or get closer to the other party. The radiation here is very high, and the lightning in the sky is too active, affecting ground communications."

"Hmm, not surprising at all. What's a little annoying is that we haven't encountered any attacks yet... Let's just wait here."

The five Shadowmoon Wolves communicated with each other in the internal channel in Krona, a habit of theirs that served as a reassuring whisper.

"What exactly does he want now? To bring us here to walk?" Abaddon's voice was still laced with anger, clearly he had been holding it in for the whole journey. "If it weren't for the War General's demands, I would have definitely turned against him!"

"The Warchief has told us that we must obey all the Iron Lord's orders, fulfill all his demands, and respect him here. Azeroth, there is no benefit to us fighting amongst ourselves here. It will only benefit potentially dangerous enemies."

"Of course I know, what I want is to fight! To fight powerful enemies to my heart's content! He's not wrong about that."

“We should at least find the other missing people, instead of just wandering around aimlessly here,” Torgarden interjected. “Although I personally wouldn’t mind if a successful rescue didn’t encounter any enemies.”

“I’ll ask the Iron Lord,” Loken sighed inwardly. “The Commander assigned me to be in charge of contacting him.”

“That must have been very kind of you, Gavial,” Asimand said.

“My lord!” Loken stepped forward and gave the Lord of Steel a salute with the eagle emblem. “May I ask you a question?”

"what?"

"What are we waiting for...?"

A series of loud explosions came clearly from a certain direction on the other side of the grassland, and the sky there seemed to be startled as bright and fierce lightning began to strike down.

"Yes." The Iron Lord's voice held an undisguised elation. "This is what we've been waiting for—positioning! Maximum marching speed!"

(End of this chapter)