Warhammer 40: Doom

Chapter 119 Airdrop Pods Like Rain

Just you wait and see, my brother!

Ruth's rough and wild voice came through the communication channel as he rapidly issued commands: the Wild Wolves' fleet was converging on the Herafnkel.

Under Doom's swift command, the support legion's warriors immediately sprang into action, quickly assembling on the capital ships and handing over command of the surplus warships to Russ.

Where's the tongue?

Upon seeing the Primarch's gaze, Locke immediately replied, "Bring them up right now!"

Even before the Primarch arrived, the Warhounds, following instructions from the Star Language, captured and interrogated the psychic sand lizards in the Edge World.

He suddenly knelt down, along with the warriors of the War Dog Legion: "I'm sorry... sir, the Legion's interrogators didn't get any information out of us."

Locke's voice was filled with frustration; the Warhound Legion had failed the Primarch's expectations: "They would rather die than utter a single word, preferring to be tortured to death."

"It's not your fault. There are plenty of tough guys in the galaxy who would rather die than submit."

Doom did not blame the Warhound Legion Commander; it was a trivial matter, and he had many ways to get the Xenomorph to talk.

Locke and Kahn breathed a sigh of relief. The Primarch's leniency far exceeded their expectations, and the Warhound was even prepared to accept punishment.

"You didn't come away empty-handed. At least you've shown us that the alien race has deep bonds and wouldn't easily betray their own kind, right?"

With a kind smile and an extremely serious tone, the Primarch said to the Warhounds, "We can make a big deal out of this, can't we?"

The leaders of the various legions on the bridge were amazed by the Primarch's magnanimity.

Their bodies trembled slightly beneath their power armor; the unintentional encouragement from that great being deeply moved the Legion warriors.

"My lord..." Locke was so excited that he was about to kneel down, but Doom raised his hand to stop him: "There is no need for that. Keep your energy on the battlefield."

"We will never let you down!" The warriors of the war dogs pounded their breastplates with a resounding thud, their determination ringing out powerfully.

As they were talking, a steel cage was carried up by the legion's soldiers, inside which was imprisoned a yellowish-brown sand lizard.

Its sharp claws scraped against the steel, making a hissing sound, its huge vertical pupils constantly scanned the area, and it kept sticking out its tongue to probe the air.

Doom saw the Xenomorph in its entirety: three meters tall, capable of walking on two legs like a human, with short but powerful lower limbs and strong, long upper limbs with four fingers for gripping weapons.

The sand lizard has a strong and powerful body, protected by thick bony scales, and a brightly colored dorsal fin on its back.

"Humans..." Its cold face was filled with disdain, and saliva dripped from its sharp mouth as it spoke in a dull human language: "I... will not say... anything."

Having long enslaved humans, the sand lizard naturally knows some human languages, and it remains proud even in its cage.

Its eyes reflected the imposing array of the Gothic bridge, saw the solemnly standing humans, and also the enormous figure on the throne.

The sand lizard's vertical pupils contracted sharply, and it didn't even dare to look directly at the giant. It continued to utter syllables in broken language: "I will not... submit to you!"

"you!"

Kahn stepped forward, ready to reprimand the sand lizard captives, but saw the Primarch raise his hand.

"Do not get angry with a beast. Destroy its culture, exterminate its race, and completely erase it from the memory of the universe."

Doom spoke of the judgment of a race in calm language, as if he were recounting something trivial.

The sand lizard struggled in its cage; it clearly understood the human arrangements regarding the species.

"Ariman, read its memories and find the location of the alien homeworld."

"Yes! Sir."

Ahriman from the Fifteenth Legion responded solemnly to the Primarch, walked up to the Sand Lizard, and closed his eyes.

As he moved, the superhuman soldiers on the bridge clearly felt an invisible force connecting them to the sand lizard.

The alien's body was convulsing; it trembled under the mental invasion, yet it curled up into a ball, instinctively adopting a defensive posture.

Ahriman, clad in red armor, withdrew his psionic powers and said somewhat cautiously to the Primarch, "My lord, their race has a mental barrier; forcibly invading it will lead to its death."

"Cough~cough~humans...powerless." The alien continued its mockery, ridiculing humanity's powerlessness.

"Is it enough to just let down your guard?" Doom nodded slightly and asked Ahriman calmly, without blaming him.

“Yes, sir.” Ahriman nodded heavily, though somewhat apprehensive.

"Beast." Doom sat on the warship's throne, calling to the caged beast: "Raise your lowly head and face me."

The sand lizard sensed the contempt and angrily raised its head to look at the tall human on the platform.

"Hmph!" Doom snorted coldly, his eyes meeting the alien's gaze instantly. The suppressed killing intent in his mind pierced straight towards the sand lizard through his eyes.

All the ordinary people on the bridge knelt down, sweat pouring down their faces like rain.

The Space Marines didn't blame them; the Primarch's sudden release of killing intent and rage made their hearts pound uncontrollably.

Engulfed in boundless rage, the killing intent instantly pierced its brain's defenses. It jerked itself up and fell backward, its genitals spurting out yellow fluid in shock.

It curled up in a ball, its tail tucked behind its arm, its scales rubbing together nervously. The Primarch's majesty swept across the bridge like a storm.

Ahriman seized the opportunity and immediately used mind-invasion techniques to obtain information about the alien race.

"My lord, I know everything."

After a few breaths, Ahriman bowed to the Primarch, and the power armor's servo system hummed due to overload.

As he perused the sand lizard's memories, he experienced its primal terror, and his sweat triggered the power armor's purification alarm.

Ahriman walked to the bridge command platform and, after a series of operations, quickly located the alien homeworld among the stars.

"Notify the fleet to proceed to the alien homeworld."

Doom immediately ordered his troops to set off, like a sharp dagger piercing straight towards the alien homeworld.

"The rest of the intelligence should be reported in writing, and I will review it at any time."

"Understood, my lord."

"Russ, I'm going first." Doom opened the holographic projection to say goodbye to his brother, whose fleet was entering warp space.

“Be careful!” Ruth warned earnestly. He knew his brother’s tactic was a crazy move to land directly on the alien homeworld: “The Space Wolves’ fleet will blockade space.”

Doom nodded, then shut down communications, and the ship entered subspace for a brief intergalactic jump.

The Eastern End Star Region—the Salz System. This is how the psychic sand lizard named this region, a high-density star system.

Ahriman quickly compiled the intelligence and displayed it on the data panel for the fleet to read.

When the flagship of the Warhound Legion, the Glory Queen, leaped out of the warp and into the real universe, the main planet of Salz was right below.

The previous fleet has already dispersed throughout the system, constantly scanning the entire system to obtain the intelligence needed by the Primarch.

The aliens' home planet is a gentle, lush jungle world.

The fleet's oracle quickly completed the scan, then compiled and sent the data, and the entire galaxy appeared before the holographic command console.

"The warships will attack them, drive the alien warships away, and deliver news of our arrival to their society."

Upon seeing the images in the galaxy, Doom quickly made a decision to have the fleet drive away the alien warships and leave their system.

In order not to present an overwhelming advantage, Doom specifically dispatched destroyers to attack the Sand Lizard's rock warships.

In the jungles of Salzburg, alien nests stand tall, their massive reactors releasing plumes of water vapor that nourish the dense forest.

Compared to the Empire's unrestrained exploitation, the Xenomorphs understand how to coexist harmoniously.

There are six alien nest cities in total, and the bird divination instrument also discovered that a large number of human slaves exist in the nest cities.

"Here, use plasma bombardment to clear the surrounding jungle."

The city Doom chose to attack was not far from the alien capital, deep in a dense jungle. After clearing the jungle, there was an indefensible plain.

The Primarch's will was quickly given, and a destroyer adjusted its posture, its macro cannons firing continuously from its sides.

The alien city quickly raised a psionic shield to defend against the fleet attack from space.

The plasma plume crashed down, piercing the green jungle city like a divine punishment from the apocalypse.

Faced with the purple psionic shield, Macro Cannon relentlessly attacked, engulfing the alien city with scorching plasma.

Doom knew it was useless. The sand lizards had strong psionic talents, and when they gathered together, the psionic resonance they generated could be superimposed. The city's psionic shield was a manifestation of their gathering.

When the destroyers ceased their bombardment, the green jungle nests remained, but the surrounding jungle had been vaporized, presenting a kind of crystalline desert.

"Are the warriors of the war dogs ready?"

The Primarch inquired over the communication channel, his voice calm and composed, yet his seemingly ordinary inquiry carried an inexplicable air of authority.

"We are always ready to fight for you!"

The communication channel responded with Locke's suppressed roar; they had already retreated from the bridge and entered the drop pods to await orders.

"Thirty thousand war dogs were divided into three waves and carried out precise orbital airdrops to seize facilities on the city's outskirts."

"The Titan Legion will airdrop into my designated positions to act as mobile fire support platforms and cover the Space Marines' advance."

"Orbital drop initiation!"

With the Primarch's command, the fleet's warships aimed their flanks at the alien homeworld, and the first batch of 2,500 drop pods, under the cover of the fleet's firepower, rained down on the alien homeworld like a meteor shower.

(Author's Note)

　1. Regarding the Primarch's image: The Primarch's image is varied, and I am using the one that is more commonly recognized.

　　2. Primarch's height issue: I changed the Primarch's height a bit; the Wolf King is normally not as tall as Valdor.

　　3 refers to the Emperor's permission for Nur to coexist with the Empire rather than be incorporated into it. There are many backers involved, so I've reinterpreted this through the interaction between the Wolf King and Doom (actually, it's just filler!).
　　
　
(End of this chapter)