Warhammer: Black Emperor

Chapter 804 "Shadow of Order": The speed of the armed mastodon is nearly six times that of the "Dark Angel".

The system where Heliossa is located is a binary system, and in addition to it, there is another inhabited planet—Amad.

Unlike the mountain world of the Awen people—Heliosa—Amad is classified as a grassland world in terms of topography.

In the Haven family castle, the "Dark Angel" Grand Master Luther, dressed in black robes, stood in the shadow of the curtains, looking down at the training grounds through the polished windows.

The training ground is divided into three areas:
In the nearest square training ground, a squad of five knights raised their arms, their muskets spewing black smoke as projectiles flew toward the target.

Behind him, the second row of knights watched as they made their final checks.

The third row of knights loads ammunition, and the fourth row cleans the gun barrels.

Next to the shooting range was the sword training ground, where pairs of knights in plate armor bowed to each other.

The outermost training ground is close to the grassland.

Similar to the ancient Terran hieroglyphs, they wandered around the edge of the training ground.

Bonanott reminded Luther of Oduruq, while Ahmad reminded him of his homeland, Caliban, which he had sworn to protect.

The knights of this world are similar to Caliban before the Emperor appeared.

Although they rode elephants instead of warhorses, they meticulously maintained their muskets, manufactured ammunition, and practiced swordsmanship.

“Lord Luther,” the patriarch of the Haven family, who stood behind him, said respectfully.

"I'm ready. We'll launch the attack in four hours."

"grown ups……"

Luther slowly turned around, stared at Bonanott, and said succinctly.

"explain."

“I only have 1,580 war elephant knights under my command,” Bonanott said worriedly.

"The Falk family has ruled Amad for over 2,500 years, and they have at least 19,000 war elephant riders."

"Their fortresses also have laser turrets, which can kill dozens of knights with a single salvo."

Luther's bulging neck muscles, a result of the artificial modification, twitched. "No need to worry, you will see real war elephants."

"Steel behemoth".

[A steel behemoth.] Bonanott left the room with a puzzled look in his eyes.

Luther took the communicator from his waist, turned on the sonic channel, and contacted Bukayo Arshavin, the lord of the Third Warband of the Shadow Order.

The Black Emperor instructed him to devise an attack plan in Amad and dispatched the Third Battle Group to provide assistance.

Luther was quite surprised by this. Bukayo was renowned during the Great Expedition, and his Third Army was famous for its ability to fight siege battles.

The Third Regiment and its auxiliary forces in its main recruitment areas—the "Modian Iron Guard"—were equipped with armored vehicles on a large scale.

The number of armored vehicles in the Third Battle Group is comparable only to the main tank battalion of the "Iron Warriors", the heavy armored clans of the "Iron Hands", and the Fourth Battle Group of the "Ultraman".

Bukayo even spearheaded the attack in the "Battle of the Turks," tearing apart the Randan alien defenses.

His achievements during the expedition are often compared to those of Howard Finder of the First Chapter, Azekelle Abaddon of the Shadowmoon Wolf, Sigismund of the Imperial Fist, and Radoron of the Blood Angels.

Bukayobi served as the deputy commander of the "Dark Angels," but he did not win comparable honors, and his prestige was even higher.

[Besides the Black Emperor's favor, there should also be the reason of testing new equipment—mastodons.]

Heliossa is a mountainous world, not suitable for heavy tanks.
Luther knew that the Mastodon had begun to be deployed to the various Astartes Legions, and that this new steel behemoth's transport capacity far exceeded that of the Rhino troop carrier, the Land Raider, and even the Spartan assault tank.

Its transport compartment can carry forty Astartes wearing standard power armor, or twenty Astartes monks and two Dreadnoughts.

It is equipped with a Void Shield, and its defensive capabilities are far superior to those of other vehicles of the same class.

Due to the limited production capacity of the casting world, each legion can only equip a small number of them.

When Luther received the report three years ago, the Dark Angels had already equipped themselves with 61 Dreadwings, more than most Legions, but the Order of Shadows had more than 350.

He knew that this was not a priority supply for the Eleventh Legion by the Empire; in fact, the Empire had not supplied the "Shadow of Order" for a long time.

As the Great Expedition progresses, the pressure on the Seal Bearer, Makado, grows ever greater.

He reached an agreement with the Black Emperor: the Empire would provide some standard construction templates, and the "Shadow of Order" territories would manufacture the necessary weapons and equipment themselves.

The "Ultraman" with its five hundred worlds, the "Iron Hand" closely connected to Mars, and the "Iron Warriors" and "Salamanders" skilled in creation, all replenish themselves to varying degrees, but none are as large as the "Shadow of Order".

The Black Emperor's worlds, such as Triken and Firestorm Star, have production capacities comparable to those of the Forge world.

Although Ironwing's forging lords, as the First Legion, surpass many other legions, they cannot compare to these five legions.

Most of the equipment for "Dark Angel" is supplied directly by Terra, rather than from the Forge World.

It includes weapons and equipment that the Emperor granted to the First Legion for secret use, and some of the technology exclusive to the Ironwing can also be forged from them.

[The speed of the "Shadow of Order" armed mastodons is nearly six times that of the "Dark Angels."] Luther thought to himself.

He gathered his thoughts. "Bukayo, I'm ready."

“Luther, my chapter will arrive on time.” Bukayo’s calm voice completely soothed Luther’s chaotic thoughts.

……

The Bonanotte knights, standing beside their armored war elephants, saw their patriarch approaching, accompanied by a black-robed giant.

“My lord, I have prepared a mount for you; it is the most docile and obedient one.” Luther glanced at the respectful Bonanova and said nothing.

He leaped lightly, his massive body slamming onto the back of the war elephant.

Uh...

The war elephant nervously shook its trunk and twisted its body.

The "Corrupted Baron" squeezed his legs together, and the war elephant was welded to the spot, unable to move.

Snapped!
Luther patted the war elephant's neck, his legs relaxed slightly, and his muscles trembled.

The war elephants slowly stepped forward.

Bonanova was speechless; Lord Luther had actually tamed the war elephant so quickly.

Luther's gaze swept over the middle-aged knight nobleman, recalling the scene of riding side by side with Ryan Eljonsson in the forest.

"You weren't even born when I learned to ride a horse."

"My lord is mighty!" Bonanok leaped onto his war elephant.

"set off!"

The Bonanok knights, clad in red and white armor, leaped onto their war elephants and began to steed them.

bang bang bang...

The war elephants strode forward with heavy steps.

At the end of the endless green meadow, the castle came into Luther's view.

The ground rumbled and trembled as a troop of war elephants, clad in white armor, galloped towards them, raising clouds of dust.

The leader's white armor gleamed in the sunlight. "Bonanova, without the Knight King's decree, you dare lead this group..."

boom!
A gunshot rang out, and Bonanova deliberately fired a warning shot that missed the target.

"The era of Falk's rule is over."

"Today, the white elephant flag will come to an end."

"Go back and tell your master."

The white-armored war elephant knight snorted as he watched the approaching red and white war elephants and turned them around.

"The red and white flags will be crushed to dust."

He crossed his arms and gestured toward the castle.

A dazzling beam of light suddenly shot up, ionizing the air and producing a crackling sound.

Thick laser beams from five war elephants lined up side by side swept across the red and white war elephants.

A beam of light swept past, and the legs of the four armored knights walking side by side evaporated along with the broad backs of the war elephants.

Another beam of light swept past, and the five war elephants' thick forelegs disappeared with a loud bang, the unbalanced elephants collapsing to the ground.

The knights, legs taut, gripped the reins tightly, struggling to control their war elephants.

Bonanova looked somber; he was still thirty-four kilometers from Falk Castle.

Thirty-four kilometers into the death thirty-four kilometers, his family's war elephant knights will suffer wave after wave of laser cannon fire, and by the time they reach the castle, few will remain.

Bonanova gazed at Lord Luther's imposing figure, thinking hopefully.

[Sir, is there any way?]
As he was thinking, he suddenly saw Lord Luther look up.

Bonanova followed Lord Luther's gaze up at the sky and saw dark shadows suddenly appearing in the air.

The dark figure drew closer, its jet of air shooting straight up the grass, scattering grass particles everywhere.

Amidst the deafening roar, one after another colossal steel structure came into view.

Bonanova's eyes widened as he saw four dazzling beams of light shoot onto the steel behemoth, creating ripples of dark light, like the thin mist that blankets the grassland after rain.

The massive steel structure remained completely undamaged.

[Is that the steel behemoth Lord Luther spoke of?]
Two beams of light, as dazzling as stars, suddenly shot up, and a colossal steel elephant spewed out two pillars of fire.

Boom! Boom!
Amidst the explosions, two cracks appeared in the fortress of the Falk family, which had never fallen.

[A terrifying steel behemoth.]
Bonanova numbly and instinctively patted the war elephant, following behind Lord Luther.

The steel behemoth rolled forward, mercilessly crushing the war elephants into blood, staining the ground red.

It stained his vision red.

The white war elephant burst into Bonanova's eyes, and the bloodlust suddenly faded.

Lord Luther leaped high into the air, his massive body obscuring King Falk.

boom!
With a loud bang, white armor shattered, and war boots slammed onto the back of the war elephant. Lord Luther stood proudly upright.

Amidst the smoke and fire, after receiving a message from Bukayo that he had taken over the Falk family's ranch, Luther took the black potion bestowed upon him by the Black Emperor from his waist and drank it all.

(End of this chapter)