Warhammer: Black Emperor

Chapter 401 Peturabo: The plasma gun I created will definitely shock Nimrod.

Galaxy D-1504, located in the outer region of the Milky Way's center.

Inside the Hearthgulch tunnels, which were even larger than Terra's hive, Noni issued orders over the communications channel.

"The oracle system has detected at least one squad; I'm going to attack them."

"Third squad, it's your turn to lead the charge."

"Fifth squad, prepare to provide support."

"..."

"Listen up, squad leaders, time calibration. I need you to launch the attack precisely in fourteen minutes." His company-wide broadcast stopped.

Noni was a ruthless leader who preferred squad designations to the names his troops gave themselves.

In the past, he would refer to the Third Squad as Barnett...

More than one captain said he had changed, that he was consciously mimicking the Primarch.

Barnett's squad was on the front lines. The captain knew his company commander was testing him, but he was more concerned with proving himself to his new comrades.

This squad had suffered heavy losses earlier, with more than half of them killed in the battle against the Skots.

The high casualty rate put increasing pressure on the Iron Warriors, and his fellow warriors resented him for being an outsider who lived in place of the others.

Doubts circulate about whether he, who wasn't born in Barnet's Hive, can lead the team to continue their journey.

As a veteran from another squad, he needed to earn everyone's trust after being promoted to captain.

"Forward!" the captain roared, issuing the order precisely on time, not a second too late.

He was strict with himself and made no mistakes whatsoever.

"Attack!" He fired first, and the Iron Warriors unleashed a dense barrage of bullets at the Skots.

The Skots raised their Aita-Kahn plasma guns to retaliate, rapidly heating the liquid hydrogen fuel into plasma, which was then contained within the gun by a powerful magnetic field.

When the Skot pulled the trigger, the magnetic field expanded and opened, ejecting plasma through a linear electromagnetic accelerator that resembled a solar flare in appearance and temperature.

The unique Aita-Kahn-type hydraulic cooler sprays out a mixture of coolant that rotates rapidly within the cooling circulation channel, and then immediately expels excess heat through the exhaust port, like smoke billowing out by the furnace.

The steel warriors formed an assault formation, while other squads advanced, charging towards the passageway in threes and threes.

The assault team charged toward the passage guarded by the Skots. During the charge, one soldier was struck by several blinding beams of light and staggered to the ground.

The other two Iron Warriors didn't stop. They rushed into the passage, swinging their Thunder Hammers and slamming them heavily onto the ground.

The Skots were thrown away by the shockwave, and Barnett's squad quickly followed and occupied the passage.

"Deploy the tarantulas!" Barnett's squad leader shouted.

Three steel warriors quickly ran to the entrance of the passage and began to deploy the dual-laser tarantula sentry guns.

The fire support team pursued the remaining Skots, and the Iron Warriors, wielding plasma guns, fired more than a dozen beams at the enemy.

A blazing beam of light shot onto the Skotian's void suit, and a dozen streams of molten flame melted the gold alloy.

As the Skoth, along with his Voidsuit, burned in the flames, orange warning runes lit up in his visors.

The Iron Warrior knew that his weapon had reached a critical temperature.

A plume of overheated steam spewed out of the ventilation duct and onto the Mark II power armor.

Although the Empire's plasma gun regularly expels excess heat through emergency cooling pipes and exhaust vents, heat still accumulates inside the gun body.

The auxiliary military considers being selected as the squad's plasma gunner a dubious honor, because while the weapon is likely to survive overheating, the user is often less fortunate.

For support troops, an overheated plasma gun is almost always fatal, and can even detonate in extreme environments.

The Astartes push the limits of their own resilience by using hydrogen in a "higher quantum state" than the standard Imperial models, and their power armor provides them with protection, allowing them to use plasma guns more safely.

However, they still need to use plasma weapons carefully to avoid clogging the exhaust ports or causing the coils to break due to high temperatures.

The Iron Warrior changes weapons to prevent the orange warning rune from turning into a red danger rune.

He switched to a bomb pistol and fired while waiting for the plasma gun to cool down.

The Iron Warrior raised his explosive pistol and fired. He saw the Skots still retaliating with plasma guns; their weapons had fired earlier and were still firing. [The Skots' plasma guns are more stable and secure than the Empire's.]
The steel warrior recalled the longer prayers he offered before the battle, compared to those offered by other weapons.

He had to screw the hydrogen cylinder into place precisely because the unstable ammunition could easily spill or contaminate the plasma inlet.

Removing hydrogen cylinders after the war is even more dangerous. This task is usually not done by him alone. A technical sergeant or technical priest will perform a long binary prayer to ensure that no plasma leaks from broken seals or incorrectly closed valves.

That would cause him to lose several fingers, or even burn out a hand.

[The father has already disassembled the Skot plasma gun, hoping he can find the secret to its manufacturing.]
While the plasma gunner was pondering, the laser cannon beams joined in the firepower suppression, helping the Iron Warriors gain the advantage in firepower.

"Report, mission accomplished," the captain reported in the company channel, while the squad members further constructed defensive fortifications around the Tarantula sentry gun.

The captain watched their actions and knew that this was the biggest change for the Iron Warriors.

Through their previous battles, they had become accustomed to taking on the heavy responsibility of building fortifications after completing their missions.

They will develop every conquered world into a hub for future colonies and a waypoint for the Legion's supply fleet; this is the standard war strategy for the Iron Warriors lineage.

This is both their responsibility and their greatest reward in the brutal battle.

In one corner of the Hearthstone Fortress, the fortress's cannons and the sentry guns deployed by the Iron Warriors roared as they launched their attack on the Skots.

Every shell struck precisely into the charging Skot ranks, and the Skot fell in droves.

The perfectly coordinated fire control system came to a halt after the Skotian lines were completely broken.

Perturabo's electronic "dreadlocks" detached from the tactical network, and for him, the battle was over.

He has perfectly broken the enemy lines, and now it is his offspring's turn to prove themselves. They must do a good enough job and annihilate the remaining enemy within twenty minutes.

Perturabo walked to the workbench, where three Skot plasma guns and a gun he had made himself were placed.

His mind raced, calculating and comparing every manufacturing parameter of the firearm.

The plasma gun I personally manufactured will be completed soon.

It will definitely be a work of art. Nimrod and Magnus would never have imagined that while I was commanding the battle, I also dismantled and mastered the secret of how the Skots manufactured plasma guns.

I'm going to build two plasma guns and give them to them; they'll be amazed.
A smile appeared on Peturabo's face, and the surrounding Iron Warriors immediately felt the oppressive atmosphere ease.

Out of the corner of their eyes, they glanced curiously at the father of genetics. Peturabo, sensing the gazes around him, immediately stopped smiling.

He walked to the lab table and his hands moved quickly.

Twenty-two minutes later, footsteps were heard.

Fricks, the war blacksmith, a company commander, with the blade of a trident, enters the room.

His gaze swept across every corner of the room. Unlike before, in addition to the three war blacksmiths who were specially favored by the Primarch, the members of the Primarch's Council of Advisors, and the trident banner, there were three new battle flags in the room.

The father told them that this was an award he was giving to the three companies outside of the Trident for their outstanding performance.

But what puzzled Fricks was that the three new battle flags were not evenly distributed; two of the battle flags were on the left side of the Prototype, and there was also an extra battle flag in the middle.

The way the fortress was suspended, and the non-architectural style it underwent after the Iron Warriors occupied it, reminded him of the Primarch's palace on Lord Nimrod's Shadow of the Order's genetic archetype.

[Could it be that Father is imitating the architectural style of Lord Nimrod's palace in order to understand the art of asymmetry?]
Frix knew he wouldn't get the truth from his father, so he suppressed his curiosity and spoke up to report.

"Father, the Skots' counterattack has been crushed, and my company has suffered forty-nine casualties."

Peturabo hung the hydrogen canister on the gun and looked up.

"My company commander."

"You should defeat the enemy within twenty minutes, summarize the battle report within one minute, and have one minute to walk from the outside into the fortress."

“Fricks, you just met the standard. I hope you can do better next time.”

Fricks breathed a sigh of relief; meeting his father's standards was already a considerable achievement.

"As you wish, Father."

　PS: Chapter 2 is not finished yet, it will be scheduled for 21:33.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)