Warhammer: I don't want to become a stinky can!

Page 173

Seeing that Mortarion's emotions had stabilized after he had confided in him, Hades decided not to offer any more advice. After all, Mortarion had experienced a similar situation before, and the Primarch was able to handle it on his own.

Hades thought for a moment, picked up the fruit he had taken from the moon wolf, and started eating it. He then handed one to Mortalian.

"Eat?"

Mortarian looked at Hades with disbelief, pointing to the fruit, which was so plump and tempting, no wonder it was a fruit the Moon Wolf used to entertain guests.

But in this situation...

"Can you still eat?"

Hades blinked indifferently.

"At least for now, they are good."

Mortalian suddenly realized a terrible truth once again: Hades knew all of this, he knew!

But he can still do all of this without any problems, and he can still eat a fruit with a clear conscience!

For the first time, Mortarian experienced the terror of Hades.

One more chapter to go, wait for me to finish writing.

Chapter 199 Horus is puzzled

Horus stared silently at the spot where Mortarion had just sat. Mortarion's tall, thin figure seemed to still be there, studying the chessboard.

Which step went wrong?

Horus prided himself on knowing his brothers’ personalities well, and even the stubborn Dorne acknowledged Horus’s exceptional talent in interpersonal relationships, but why, why did it not work this time?

Horus reviewed each step he had just taken and realized that Mortarion's anomaly lay in the "mistakes of the past".

Then came the sudden departure, avoidance, and concealment.

Before this, everything was under Horus's control; he controlled the rhythm, and Mortarion gradually released his goodwill under his guidance.

So what exactly happened?

Horus knew that the planet Mortarion had landed on was an extremely harsh environment. Could it be that his brother had made a mistake there that he could not face?

Perhaps he led a failed battle, or perhaps he caused the death of a friend through negligence? Horus could only offer simple speculations.

Horus thought that perhaps he had been too hasty and that dealing with Mortarion might require a slower and gentler approach.

Then we'll change our strategy towards Mortarion next time. Mortarion's somewhat rude behavior just now didn't anger Horus. On the contrary, it made Horus even more eager to bring his brother back onto the "normal" track. Of course, he was willing and had to help his brothers.

This was Horus's good intention, but also Horus's vanity; true feelings and selfishness were mixed together, but the action remained unchanged.

Having figured things out, Horus called Izekel and Seghanus into the house and ordered his servants to remove the unpleasant poisonous gas that lingered in the reception room. It seemed that the chairs and tables contaminated with the gas needed to be replaced, Horus thought with some displeasure, after all, these were the furniture pieces he had personally selected.

Why would his brother add poison gas to his own breathing mask? Horus felt even more curious about Mortarian.

Abaddon and Seghanus entered, and Horus casually inquired about the information they had gathered from Hades regarding the Death Guard.

Unlike Mortarion, the Death Guardian was quite talkative, as described by the two Moon Wolves. Horus couldn't help but think that it would have been better if Mortarion had been like that, as it would have made their conversation much smoother.

The deck of the Endurance.

Horus stood on the Death Guard's gloomy deck, looking somewhat awkwardly at his brother.

Mortarion stood not far from Horus. On the deck, countless Death Guards lined up to welcome him, but Horus's intuition told him that Mortarion had deployed some other beings in hidden places on the Death Guards' deck.

"My brother, what's going on?"

The reconnaissance team from Druun has brought the latest intelligence, but Horus insists on discussing tactics with his brother in person. Mortarion naturally refused this proposal repeatedly, but he couldn't persuade Horus, so he had no choice but to reluctantly agree to the request.

But the premise is that it must be on the Endurance. Mortarian does not want to go to the Blade of Vengeance. Even though Hades repeatedly assured him that the Moon Wolf is fine now, Mortarian still does not lower his bottom line.

At least not now. Mortalian is not yet capable of chatting and laughing with others on a ship that could fall into corruption at any time and that he cannot control.

So Horus stood abruptly on the Death Guard's deck, sandwiched among a group of Death Guards who seemed welcoming but were actually on guard. Mortarion didn't invite him into the Death Guard's strategy room, and the two just looked at each other from a distance.

It was very windy on the deck.

Horus suddenly realized that his brother's character problems were more complicated than he had imagined.

In normal circumstances, even the kindest wolf god would be furious and feel offended by Mortarion, but Horus knew that Mortarion had been quite friendly to him before he asked that question.

In a sense, it was a blunder in Horus's rhetoric that led to Mortarion treating him the way he is now, so Horus held back.

Then Horus saw Mortarion slowly approaching.

"Sorry, my brother, I was indeed a bit hasty last time."

Motalian said reluctantly, but he said it anyway, that from now on he would have to engage in the necessary pretense.

Mortarian didn't like this; he disliked the feeling of being deceived, and he would usually choose to simply refuse to communicate.

Hades's rambling admonitions in the private channel finally stopped.

But Horus was unaware of all this. Mortarion's apology was a good start for the wolf god. Horus laughed heartily and stepped forward to give him a welcoming hug.

"Do not."

Mortarion took a step back, his right hand slightly moving towards the Netherflame at his waist, but the Primarch stopped this instinctive action in time.

"No need, I know your good intentions, brother, I know."

Horus awkwardly gestured with his hands, and Mortarian seemed to realize that his earlier refusal was inappropriate, so Mortarian extended his left hand.

"Welcome aboard the Endurance."

Horus smiled knowingly and extended his hand to shake Mortarion's. Just like the Primarch, Mortarion's hand was cold and rough.

Unlike Horus, who took it as a casual welcome, Mortarian took it very seriously.

Welcome, my brother.

Mortarian looked at Horus, the wolf god, who was still "good" and trustworthy.

But only now; Mortarion cannot afford to mortgage the future for the present.

The defenses leading to the strategy room are in place.

Hades' voice came through the communication channel. Mortarion took a few quiet breaths and decided to bring Horus onto his mothership.

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Chapter 200 Don't think strange things.

"Druen".

"According to the accompanying Mechanicus, this is a civilization planet with extremely high production value, so we need to avoid using weapons that could cause permanent damage to the region in this battle."

Horus glanced meaningfully at the poisonous gas surrounding Mortarion.

"For example, radiation weapons."

Mortarian remained silent, standing at a subtle distance from Horus, a position Horus would not acknowledge as the best for a "fight or flight" maneuver.

A subtle sense of oppression hung over the entire conference room, which Horus attributed to the somber decor of the Death Guard room. There was no decoration whatsoever; bone white and moss green, dim lighting, reminiscent of moss-covered tombstones.

Each Legion's mothership is the best embodiment of that Legion's culture. The Blood Angels' mothership is a paradise of art and beauty, the sacred and magnificent Red Tear; the Ultramarines' mothership is the majestic and glorious Makragora, adorned with Makragora murals; or the Space Wolves' mothership is the Herafunkel, with its wild Fenris-esque style. Each Primarch makes the mothership the best cultural sanctuary for nurturing Legion warriors.

Horus, the Endurance, thought that this, like Mortarion himself, was too plain and somber, permeated with the scent of death.

Horus only hoped that the Death Guard's fighting style wouldn't be so extreme, but now it seems that the probability is extremely small.

Not much information had been released about the Death Guard's first battle, and both Fernus and Vulcan chose to remain silent.

In the battle where he cooperated with Perturabo, the Iron Lord would only curse Mortarion over and over again, and Horus would not get any useful information about the Death Guard.

But this time it won't be like that. After working with the Death Guard once, everything about the Death Guard will become clear.

Apart from the First Legion, the Dark Angels; the Sixth Legion, the Space Wolves; and the mysterious Twentieth Legion, Horus had a general understanding of the combat styles of all the other legions.

"A standard Terran month ago, the Empire received the planet's surrender application. Faced with the Empire's visiting delegation, the planet's rulers chose to join the Empire and signed a preliminary treaty. The rulers would retain their rule, while the Empire would develop the planet into a garden world."

"I don't think that under these circumstances, this human civilization would choose to tear up the treaty and oppose the empire."

Mortarian spoke up, saying that the treaty the Empire had given to this planet was already among the most benevolent, and he couldn't understand why such rulers would always make such foolish decisions.

Horus nodded.

"So the Empire sent out reconnaissance teams again, and their report was that the humans on this planet had been parasitized by some kind of alien that could use psionic energy."

Mortarian gripped his scythe tightly, wielding both alien and psionic powers. He now understood why the Empire had sent the Death Guard to this region of the star system.

The Death Guard will inflict the most brutal destruction on these aliens.

Horus gestured for the Death Guard to display the latest data intelligence on its screen. Electronic lights illuminated the dimly lit room, and some three-dimensional alien figures appeared before the two Primarchs.

Hades gasped inwardly.

It was an octopus-like alien, but far more blasphemous. Bloated, sticky tentacles burst forth from the central fleshy ball, each tentacle bearing sharp teeth on its back, gleaming with an ominous purple light, as if proclaiming its venomous nature.

On the front of the tentacles and on the fleshy ball, countless eyeballs were densely packed together, spinning wildly and blinking.

"Profane things."

"Mortalian said, and Horus nodded approvingly."

This will be a very simple political campaign. They just need to defeat these aliens, in the name of humanity, without involving anything else, and without encountering humans crying to the army demanding that they return their homes.

Often, the Wolf God has to spend time engaging in political negotiations with the defeated human empires, which leaves the Legion in a rather depressed state.

Horus is currently in a relatively relaxed mood because he believes that while the Mortarion may not agree with the Moon Wolves' political methods, those methods are necessary and essential.

For the Emperor, for the Empire.

Horuston paused for a moment, then continued to brief Mortalian on the basic intelligence gathered by the reconnaissance team.

While the two Primarchs were familiarizing themselves with their enemy, Hades stared at the aliens with a chill running down his spine. The shapes of these aliens reminded Hades, who had spent a lot of time surfing the internet in his previous life, of terrible things.

No, I don't want that kind of thing!

Are you aliens even legitimate aliens?

Hades wanted to complain, but the thought of possibly encountering someone being wrapped up by tentacles in the upcoming battles made him feel utterly hopeless.

On the bright side, as an alien, the other party just wants your life.

"These aliens will control humans as their mind puppets."

Horus's voice aptly interrupted Hades's self-deceptive thoughts.

Oh no, these aliens really do have a thing for human bodies. Are we really going to get into some kind of weird story this time?

Ahem, Hades quickly interrupted the increasingly distorted images in his mind and began to recall his impressions of this battle from his previous life.

Unfortunately, Hades did not have much information about this battle in his memory. He only remembered that the main force in this battle was the White Scars, and that the White Scars' think tank, Storm Prophet, played a significant role in the victory of this battle.

Three legions joined forces to liberate Druid: Shadowmoon Wolves, White Scars, and Deathguards.

It's worth mentioning that in the original campaign, Mortarion was a classic example of a terrible teammate; he loudly mocked the Khan's caution as cowardice and criticized the Khan's use of Storm Prophet.

Wait a minute?! So where did the White Scar go? Did the Empire send one less legion?!

Wasn't it only with three Primarchs and Stormraider's Prophet that we barely managed to defeat the final boss?!

Hades screamed silently.

If Hades found out that it was his letter to Macado that triggered the chain reaction, he would swear he would never again stop Mortarion from cutting Macado's scythe.

No, no, no, Hades thought weakly, perhaps the White Scars would provide reinforcements later, and he should maintain a positive attitude towards the Empire.

"So, that's it, my brother."

Horus finished his brief explanation and began to finalize the initial tactics.

"The most concentrated area of ​​psionic fluctuations is Duna, the main city of Druun. It is expected that the leader of these aliens is there, but we cannot directly descend onto the platform in the main city. Some psionic air defense systems are preventing us from doing so."

"Similarly, the effect of fleet bombing will not be very good. Apart from those psionic barriers, the defensive barriers that originally belonged to human civilization are also functioning normally."

“But we can land in the suburbs far from the main city.”

Horus pointed to the flat grasslands on the map.

"There is some kind of psionic device here, but the good news is that its strength is far weaker than that of the main city. We can use firepower to forcibly tear a hole in it."

"So, my brother, what is your opinion? I've heard that the Death Guard is skilled in this kind of combat, which is why the Empire sent you here."

Mortarian glanced subtly at Hades, knowing exactly why the psionicists were there.