Warhammer: Black Emperor

Chapter 279 The Eighteenth Legion, Inheriting the Kindness of Vokan
Commander Cassian Vaughn of the Eighteenth Legion stepped onto the surface of the planet Stevenage III and looked around to find it to be a green world.

The forest stretched as far as the eye could see, with no end in sight.

The identification runes on Vaughn's helmet visor flickered erratically as he spoke to Lucas beside him:
"The report from the head of the Auger Matrix indicates that there are no large settlements in this world."

"But there are many areas of abnormal signals in this world, and the area ahead is the one with the highest abnormal readings."

“Abnormal signal interference Auger matrix also interferes with automatic sensing systems. I think you are better able to find the enemy than we are in this environment.”

The shadows of order are more perceptive than they are.

“Lord Vaughn,” Lucas looked around and pointed to the three o’clock direction, “that direction.”

"Forward!" Vaughn commanded, and the Eighteenth Legion warriors, clad in green armor, marched in the direction Lucas had indicated.

Ten squads of Astartes entered the dense forest.

As the team moved forward, the signal interference became stronger.

The helmet's communication channels were filled with static.

After traveling several kilometers, the Shadow of Order suddenly spoke, whispering, "Alien."

Vaughn slowed his pace and led his team forward. A moment later, he saw a dozen or so aliens.

Their upper bodies were humanoid, wielding weapons, while their lower bodies resembled scorpions, with their raised barbs gleaming with a blinding light.

Vaughn's pupils contracted, and he whispered, "Andres."

The Second Chapter encountered the Xenomorph in previous battles and named it Andres based on the Xenomorph's cry.

They relayed the alien's physiological characteristics to their allies, and Vaughn recognized the alien as soon as he saw it.

"And then there are the humans, enslaved and tormented by the aliens," Lucas said in a low voice, suppressing his anger.

Vaughn gestured for his men to stop, and he followed Lucas forward.

A moment later, he saw several humans ahead.

They were working under the supervision of an Andres, one of the women picking a huge, colorful mushroom with her hands.

She picked an umbrella-shaped, fist-sized mushroom covered in sharp thorns that pricked her hand, drawing blood.

She carefully placed the mushrooms into a jar and continued picking.

Vaughn's eyes were filled with rage, and the woman's face was pale from blood loss.

Blood dripped onto the ground, like water droplets creating ripples on a calm lake.

Vaughn slowly backed away, intending to return to the group and assign tasks.

Vaughn saw that when the woman picked the mushroom again, she accidentally crushed it.

The supervisor, Andres, roared angrily as he snatched the jar, and at the same time, his scorpion tail lashed out from behind, piercing through the woman's body.

Vaughn raised his explosive pistol and fired furious explosives at the alien while giving the order.

"attack!"

Lucas donned the "War Mask," channeling his anger into power, and swung his charged blade, delivering a vicious slash that severed Andres's crab claw blade.

He moved among the aliens, his swirling blades creating a disintegrating force field that emitted a dazzling blue light.

Astartes, clad in green armor, raised his explosive pistol and fired explosives at the alien.

The bombs exploded, and several aliens, unable to react in time, were blasted into a pool of blood mist.

Andres realized what was happening and they brandished their strange weapons, charging towards the Astartes.

An Andres swung a crab-claw-shaped weapon that shimmered with an eerie light, striking the power armor.

A crackling energy field exploded as the crab claw-like blades tore through the power armor.

Lucas smelled a burnt odor and stared at the crab claw blade.

[Energy weapon.]
As he pondered, he parried Andres's crab claw-like blade.

With a clang, Lucas twisted his body, swung his sword, and struck Andres on the head.

Vaughn roared in fury, shaking the forest, and swung his power hammer, smashing it down on Andres.

The pulsating energy waves tore Andres to shreds, which, along with the surrounding dust, transformed into clouds that drifted across the sky.

Vaughn strode forward, his massive body unleashing its immense power upon the alien.

After killing dozens of aliens, there were no more enemies in his sight, but his eyes were still full of rage.

He saw the rescued humans scatter and flee, and said to the technocrat, "Tell them that we are the warriors of the Lord of Mankind."

The technocrat's mechanical tentacles tapped rapidly on the sonic skull, causing runes to flash.

The sonic skull hovered and flew, its loudspeakers emitting booming sounds in the low gothic languages ​​of the various races of Terra:

"Fellow human beings, we come from our home planet..."

The sound array skull plays a recording set by the sage of the Cult of Mechanism. Unlike communication networks, which are subject to signal interference, the electronic mechanical sound plays normally.

When the sound array skull was played for the fifth time, someone hesitated and stopped, asking in broken, strange low Gothic language.

"You...are also...human?" After the tech sergeant locked onto the low Gothic language spoken by the locals, he played the standard audio file used to gain trust when reclaiming the human colony, following standard procedure.

Its contents include the Emperor unifying humanity's homeworld Terra, the Expeditionary Force responsible for reclaiming humanity's colonies, and the Astartes being the army of the Lord of Mankind.

Nearly a thousand Stevenages were stopped by the green-armored warriors and forced to listen to the sound array broadcast.

A pale-faced young man mustered his courage and walked up to the giants.

“You…are Astartes…and also human…”

After listening to the technical sergeant's translation, Vaughn walked up to him. The young man looked at his large face and took two steps back in fear.

Vaughn said in a deep voice, "That's right, we are the warriors of the Lord of Mankind."

"From now on, you will be under our protection."

The technical sergeant translated the legion commander's words to the Stevenichs.

The young man was skeptical, but with a sliver of hope, he pleaded, "Please... save us..."

Upon hearing the request from the locals, as translated by the technical sergeant, Vaughn made a decision immediately.

"We will protect you and take you to a safe place."

Vaughn granted their request, and the soldiers of the Eighteenth Legion escorted the rescued humans on their retreat.

While Vaughn was talking to the rescued Stevenages, Lucas picked up a jar.

[The Andres people are forcing humans to harvest mushrooms, and the area also has unusual signal activity, indicating that they are special.]
Lucas recalled that the 12th Regiment was ordered to attack Tannis and bring back the Nar Tree for the Father of Genetics.

[Perhaps the father of genetics would be interested in this mushroom.]
He hung the jar on his waist and led the team back along the route they had come from.

The Stevenages were initially frightened when they found themselves surrounded by green-armored warriors.

They couldn't help but think that the aliens who enslaved them walked around their ranks to prevent them from escaping.

Some people trembled, and a thought popped into their minds.

These Astartes don't look like humans.

They won't use the guise of saving us to lure us away from our escape and then take us elsewhere to enslave us.
Just as they were looking for an opportunity to escape, Lucas spoke to Vaughn.

"The Andres people are here."

Vaughn shouted, "Guard!"

The soldiers of the Eighteenth Legion immediately raised their grenades and fired grenades at the Andres.

Lucas noticed that the soldiers of the Eighteenth Army were strictly following Vaughn's orders and establishing a defense.

No one made any tactical maneuvers; they held their positions firmly, like a city wall, blocking the surging aliens.

Lucas saw, at eight o'clock, a green-armored warrior facing an attack from the Andresians.

He used a power hammer to smash down several aliens in succession.

But the Andres people were the most numerous in that direction, and they attacked him wielding strange crab-claw blades.

He followed Vaughn's orders, holding the line and not moving an inch.

As he smashed down yet another alien with his Thunder Hammer, the Crab Claw Blade slashed at him.

He fell, but his massive body still stood in front of the alien.

As the Andresian grinned and tore his body apart with his crab-claw blades, the Eighteenth Legion soldiers on both sides expanded their defenses to block the Andresian attack.

[Vorn and his legion, providing shelter to the Andresians, inevitably sacrificed the lives of their warriors as a result.]

They care more about the lives of ordinary people than most Astartes legions.

Vaughn, upon hearing in Sepra Mundy that a "fortress-level energy shield" could protect the entire hive, also showed particular interest.
As Lucas pondered, he saw Vaughn swing his power hammer and charge towards the densest part of the Andresian forces.

He immediately grabbed his power sword and charged forward to fight alongside Vaughn.

The Eighteenth Army Corps paid the price of ten soldiers' deaths to escort the Stevenichs out of the woods.

Vaughn called for a transport ship, and the Stevenages only believed they had been rescued when they saw the auxiliary soldiers.

As the Stevenages shed tears, Lucas also reported to the Primarch.

Ning Lu was not surprised to receive the briefing forwarded by the Sound Array Master.

He knew that the Eighteenth Army Corps, even before the return of Vokhan, cared more about the lives of ordinary people than most other corps.

Vorn led his legions in a defensive battle against the orcs on a planetary cluster near Tarras, facing an overwhelming orcish offensive.

The Legion paid a heavy price to evacuate the population of the three planets to safety.

Even Vaughn himself was killed in action. Before he died, he handed over command to Vaughn, who had arrived on his way.

Of course, he was later buried in Fearless after his death.

[Wokan's kindness was undoubtedly passed down to his descendants.]
Ninglu then saw the colorful mushrooms presented in the holographic image in the briefing.

[The main ingredient for the potion "Master of Tricks," the follow-up to "Apprentice" sequence 8: Multicolored Mushrooms.]
(End of this chapter)