Warhammer: In the Name of Nirvana

[In other words, these Hrud people who are enemies of us are most likely...]

【Humanity? 】

【……】

Morgan was silent for a rare moment.

[Is today some kind of old joke day, Anya? 】

"No, mother."

Standing behind the Lord of Avalon, the voice of the eldest daughter of the original body reporting work was as cold as a machine. In a trance, her capable posture actually had a few traces of the [Soul Drinker] who had long been forgotten by the empire and the world. shadow.

"According to the Imperial and Terran calendars, there are no important festivals in this month: but if according to the intelligence collected by the Ministry of Internal Affairs on various legions over the years, at least three legions and their attached fleets will hold different festivals during this time. celebration ceremony."

【Three? 】

The Primarch became interested.

【Tell me. 】

"According to His Excellency Luo Jia's proposal, today should be the Festival of the Emperor's Word with the participation of all members of the Word Bearers Legion. Our agents lurking in the Perfect City once reported that this is the only construction site there that will stop work. On this day, the Word Bearers will also hold their annual scripture debate to select the long-delayed Chief Chaplain of the Legion."

[Legion Chief Chaplain? Didn't they get elected for so long? 】

Morgan raised his eyebrows. Ever since Malcador revealed to her on Holy Terra that the Emperor intended for her and Guilliman to solve the mess in the Perfect City, Morgan had been quietly reporting to the Seventeenth Legion. Although the core secrets cannot be discovered through infiltration, the daily affairs of the Word Bearers can still be thoroughly understood.

Of course, she will also infiltrate other legions to a certain extent: except for Alpha, Dark Angel, Night Lord and Thousand Sons, the former cannot enter, and the latter three are completely unnecessary.

"Is this..."

Virgo lowered his head and tapped his temples, looking for relevant information.

"According to intelligence, the Word Bearers Legion once had a very excellent chief priest, his name was Erebus, but he disappeared forever during a private operation more than sixty years ago. After that, no Word Bearer will be able to meet Lord Luo Jia’s standard of being the chief in the field of priest.”

【That’s it. 】

Morgan nodded.

Chief Priest Erebus?

There are some unfamiliar names.

[What about the remaining two? 】

"As for the remaining two, according to the legion memorandum submitted by the Ministry of Internal Affairs, we can confirm that the Thousand Sons and Death Guard will have collective activities at this time of year: Lord Magnus will lead his carefully selected Thousand Sons The sub-mages conduct collective meditation to explore the justice deep in the subspace, while Lord Mortarion will conduct meditation and scientific research with his closest Barbarus people, as well as a few Terran people recognized by it. "

【meditation? research? Mortarion? 】

The primarch chuckled.

[I don’t know yet that this brother of mine actually has this kind of hobby: What will he do with his cubs? Are we going to suck the poisonous gas he brought from Barbarus together? 】

"Just one of those things."

Virgo coughed. He seemed to be quite concerned about what he was going to explain next, and it took him a while to suppress the uncontrollable corners of his lips.

"They will take drugs together, drink poisonous wine that is enough to kill, compare who has suffered more in battle and life, and explain the justice of survival of the fittest over and over again: this is the meditation activity mentioned by the senior leaders of the Death Guard."

[Is it quite detailed: The Ministry of Internal Affairs is doing a pretty good job. 】

"In fact, members of the Ministry of Internal Affairs had a special explanation for this: Their lurking and instigating work within the Fourteenth Legion was not foolproof, but the first company commander of the Legion, Typhons, discovered the actions of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Under the premise, he still ignores us, as if it is some kind of hidden goodwill."

"Even the content of these meditation activities was inadvertently leaked by Typhons: he therefore requested an advanced version of the Psionics Scripture that has not yet been released, which is the teaching material you prepared for those senior psykers."

[…Give it to him, but leave him alone. 】

"clear."

Virgo nodded, she knew her mother's attitude towards the Death Guards.

[Continue, Anya: Tell us about Mortarion's...scientific career? 】

"Scientific research work. It is said that Lord Mortarion will take out many of his private collections of [anti-subspace scientific devices] to expose the lies of psychic energy to his descendants. But according to the data collected by the Ministry of Internal Affairs, these His so-called scientific devices should be just a group of spell scrolls and psychic weapons: and in using these things, Lord Mortarion also showed his very excellent psychic talent."

#happy#

"In addition, it is rumored that His Excellency Mortarion will also emphasize the importance and sacredness of the number [seven] to his descendants, asking them to try their best to combine all important units into seven in their daily work. point, he claimed that he could use some scientific means to see the trajectory of destiny and even what would happen in the future on this sacred number [seven]. He called this scientific research result... "

【Numerology? 】

Morgan raised the corner of his mouth and spat out what he had heard for a long time.

"That's right."

Virgo nodded.

"It is said that this kind of numerology was originally a divination ritual performed by the people on Lord Mortarion's home planet Barbarus when they suffered bad luck. Later, the original body discovered that its success rate was very high. High, so I have been promoting it in the Fourteenth Legion."

[In the name of scientific research results? 】

"That's what he said."

[...So, Anya. 】

Morgan took a deep breath. Her shoulders had been shaking uncontrollably since Ania's story just now. Even the original innocent voice of the original gene had a few ups and downs of joy.

[Isn’t today really an imperial joke festival? 】

"No, my lord."

Virgo shook her head seriously.

"According to the calendar of Holy Terra, today is the first day of April. The Empire does not have any important festivals in this month: except that the Imperial government will broadcast the importance of Imperial truth to the entire Holy Terra on this day, warning There are no gods, demons or idealism in their universe, so there is no problem."

[Sounds very festive. 】

Morgan snorted.

[It would be better for me to make a decree after the end of this expedition, so that the Far Eastern Frontier will establish the first day of April as a holiday where you can tell jokes at will: Anyway, my great genetic father looks like That’s what we’re doing. What do you think of this idea? 】

"Um……"

Virgo hesitated.

"I personally feel that it would be inappropriate for you to set up such a festival so soon after Lord Perturabo suffered a great defeat if it reaches the ears of the Iron Warriors."

[Who told you that he lost the fight? 】

Morgan asked rhetorically.

"But the battle report..."

[That’s not called a failure, Anya. It’s just a setback. It’s a strategic shift, making necessary adjustments, and waiting for the arrival of follow-up supplies. But it’s not called a failure: don’t let it slip in front of Perturabo. Oh. 】

Morgan smiled again. She did not stop while chatting, but continued to walk on the ruins of the battlefield filled with gunfire. Behind her was Virgo holding the data tablet, and about ten steps in all directions. Outside, stood the Guards Chief Lana, and the remaining ten [Knights of the Round Table]. Their [Avalon-type] Terminator armor, which was modified from the Imperial Army's Skyhawk Terminator, was specially installed with A huge sword box, containing a sharp blade capable of hurting the original body.

When such a team of thirteen people advance through the smoke-filled ruins, any team of Dawnbreakers or Adeptus Mechanicus approaching them will involuntarily stop and pay tribute to the Lord of Avalon, and there are many of them. The Avalon Auxiliary Army, as well as the human slaves rescued from the alien minions by the Second Legion, were filled with gratitude: they were all guided by the accompanying Avalon officials to board the transport ship parked in low-Earth orbit. When you disembark, you will be the new people of the Far Eastern Frontier.

Since she and Perturabo split into two groups a month and a half ago, Morgan has been doing similar work: Perturabo is pursuing honor in the center of the battlefield, while Dawnbreaker is in the mother of genes. Under the leadership of the leader, he wandered around the human colonies and the world of alien slave owners, practicing his name of "Liberator" over and over again.

This kind of work is extremely easy. In addition, the main force of the Iron Warriors Legion has attracted most of the Pocket Empire's troops to their front. Therefore, after thirty or forty days of battle, the Second Legion's battle losses It doesn't even exceed three digits: even in the ruins of the war, you can still feel the relaxed and cheerful atmosphere.

The Dawnbreakers were rescuing people, cleaning up ruins, collecting loot, and bargaining lightly with the accompanying Mechanicus. They were also carrying out the new order issued by their Primarch: collect all the alien corpses they could find, and pile them up. Go to the same spot and the Spider Queen will be useful for this.

As a result, the alien corpses in front of Morgan quickly piled up, including many powerful lords and warlords. The Dawnbreakers wisely stayed away from here, leaving only those silent guards who had gained Morgan's respect standing around dozens of people. Step away from the place.

In such an environment, the original body can naturally carry out her work while discussing slightly "blasphemous" topics with her eldest daughter.

[So you want to say that the truth of the matter is actually: After dissecting the remains of the high-level Hrud individual handed over by the Pale Rider Legion, Reza's time sages and biological sages boldly inferred that they Is it actually a variant of human beings? 】

"Coming from an unknown time and space, he came to our time and space to escape the war."

[Then they are going the wrong way, and they will have to go at least another ten thousand years. 】

The original body sneered. She obviously didn't believe this nonsense: based on her understanding of the people in Reza, there is a high probability that these are the biological sage and the time sage, two people who are not taken seriously in Reza. Discipline, I want to set up a large-scale academic research project based on this, and just ask for funding from Forge World.

Anyway, under her care, Reza has become rich and powerful in recent years, and has become more arrogant, and has invested more and more lavishly in various weird research projects.

For Morgan, this is not a bad thing. The senior leaders of the Flame Blood Sect still maintain their calmness and do not invest in projects that are too outrageous. Moreover, these scientific research projects are indeed bringing intermittent benefits to the Far Eastern frontier: just For example, the [Emperor-style] tactical cloaks have been distributed to the Guards Corps and the Praetorian Guard Corps. It is a new product developed by Reza based on the emperor's scientific research suit provided by Morgan.

Presumably only this group of lunatics dared to use the knife on a gift from the Lord of Humanity.

But then again...

[I remember that this first-class merit candidate reported by the Pale Riders Legion has already received a lot of memorable achievements: Is this Erwin's god-making activity? 】

The Primarch glanced at the mountain of alien corpses piled up to a height of more than ten meters, and her tone was a little strange: Although Morgan never minded giving endless glory and abundance to the two most loyal mortal forces, the Guards Corps and the Praetorian Guards Corps. supplies, but she also doesn’t want the so-called [personal heroism] to appear in the two mortal armies she relies on most. This kind of thinking is a cancer for any army.

After all, the Lord of Avalon has always held the view that any army needs sufficient [salary] to drive it, but this salary will change with the changes of the times and different locations.

From money to faith, land, ideology, national hatred and family hatred, fear and violence, honor and mission, and even the promise of being indulged in plunder, all armies always need any one or more of the above terms to achieve their goals. as your own driving force.

This is not a shameful thing. You can't let a group of people go to the battlefield without any reason. You always have to give them a reason to fight bloody battles. It may be noble, despicable, or realistic. The Iron Army and the Thief Army The only difference between them is that they have different reasons for fighting, but the characteristic that they need reasons is the same.

The Lord of Avalon is a master who is good at using reasons. She uses generous treatment and boundless honor to ensure the basic morale of her mortal army, and uses higher-level concepts to set goals for them: for example, she has gradually The fictional concept of "Motherland of Avalon" formed, or the cultural identity of "Far Easterners" built around the Far Eastern frontier and Avalon.

Defending the homeland is always the best reason for the military to fight bravely, and there is almost no one.

But at the same time, Morgan will also carefully allocate the [salary] in her hands. She does not want those soldiers at the bottom to act without permission because of their desire for honor, or even cause established facts on their own initiative, so as to force the higher-ups to wipe their butts. This ridiculous phenomenon: Therefore, Morgan has always been very restrained in her god-making activities, but her material rewards are very generous, in order to balance the mentality of these mortal soldiers.

"You mean the company led by Major Klingenberg?"

Virgo flipped through the data pad.

"This company has indeed made outstanding achievements in the past forty years. It can even be said to be the best unit in the entire Pale Rider Corps. However, every one of their achievements has been confirmed by your specially appointed Dawnbreaker observers, including this time. is no exception, and even got the signature of Lord Dantioch to prove it."

【That's good. 】

The primarch nodded, unconcerned.

[Klingenberg: I ​​remember I had dinner with his company? 】

"Twice."

[Tell them to prepare for the third time: This Hrud's remains are indeed important. 】

"clear."

Virgo nodded, while the original body lowered his eyes and began to think about how to make the best use of the bones of this extremely valuable Hrud superior individual after conducting the necessary scientific research and dissection.

[By the way, Anya. 】

Halfway through the thought, the Lord of Avalon suddenly noticed something.

[What about the casualties of the Pale Rider? 】

"According to Erwin's report, everything is within the acceptable range: Although the Hrud's crazy offensive lasted all night, their casualty rate was less than 20%. Among them, the real battle The dead only account for three to four percent of the entire legion, but the casualties in the two Iron Warrior battalions were much greater."

[Dantioch’s? 】

Morgan frowned.

"The situation of Lord Dantioch's Fourteenth Battalion is quite optimistic. The biggest loss was only the destruction of a few tactical squads. However, the situation of the other Seventy-seventh Battalion is very bad. Two of them died in the battle. A company commander, three-quarters of the team's establishment were damaged to varying degrees, especially those Olympian recruits whose death rate was staggeringly high."

"But in his private letter to you, Lord Dantioch still warmly praised the commander of the 77th Battalion, Lord Kelvaren, for his commanding ability. He believed that without Lord Kelvaren With their excellent command, the battalion’s death rate will double again.”

【snort……】

The original body snorted, of course she knew what Dantioch meant secretly.

[I also read that report. Kyle Valen is indeed an excellent Iron Warrior, but he is still an Iron Warrior. He cannot escape the original sin of this legion: this can be seen from his less than outstanding command ability. 】

"You mean, the Iron Warriors' command ability is weak, mother."

Virgo raised her head, and she watched as her creator fumbled around in her psychic rift, and finally took out the [Spear of Love] that looked like it had not been used for a long time.

Although compared with Virgo's initial memory, this emperor's gift has changed a lot now. Some shadows of spears can be vaguely seen, but strangely, the inside of this steel-like material is not It is iron gray, but a color similar to obsidian, exuding a strange beauty.

All this time, the Lord of Avalon has maintained a silent attitude towards this weapon, or gift. None of her cronies dared to ask, not even Virgo: she only knew that whenever dawn broke, When the Legion of Hunters breaks through a world with an alien civilization, Morgan will collect the corpses and souls of the aliens in this world, and then invite the Spear of Love to perform some kind of tempering ceremony. This habit has been maintained for almost thirty years.

Like now.

The primarch picked up the Spear of Love and stuck it into the land that was full of alien blood. It seemed vaguely that countless wailing souls were swallowed alive by this emperor's creation, while Morgan was expressionless. Watching all this with an expression on her face, she had already felt numb to the killing taking place in the sea of ​​souls, and she even had the time to answer the questions from the Virgo behind her.

[Yes, Aniya. 】

The original question nodded.

[Haven’t you ever wondered why the Iron Warriors’ death rate was still horribly high in those battles without Perturabo’s intervention? At the same time, why did my brother Perturabo attack the entire Fourth Legion? That kind of almost micromanaging control? Although this is related to his character, this scene is also unique among all legions. 】

"Because they are incompetent?"

Virgo's voice sounded confused.

[Not all reasons, but at least one of the main reasons. 】

The original body took a deep breath and listened with enjoyment to the wails of countless alien souls.

[You must know that from the beginning, the Fourth Legion was not a legion with superb tactical level. As early as the eve of Perturabo's return to the Fourth Legion, this legion had once been on the forging world of Incadignon. The attack cost nearly 30,000 troops and an entire expeditionary fleet: for the Legiones Astartes, this kind of battle damage was unheard of. 】

[The tragic victory on Incadignon also tells two things: first, there were serious problems with the Iron Warriors' tactics long before Perturabo returned; second, behind a series of tragic victories , their chain of command and background are certainly not intact. 】

[This can be seen from the dismal Terran voices within the Iron Warriors Legion. We can hardly find any representative figures from Terra in the Fourth Legion. On the one hand, it is because they were captured by Petula. Beau gave away everything, but on the other hand, it was also because the Terrans in the Fourth Legion really didn't have anyone who could do anything. 】

[So, although my brother’s round of eleven killing orders was stupid, he came to the conclusion that there is no problem: the Iron Warriors are indeed not a commendable legion. Their record is indeed good, but this is not It shows that their level is superb. 】

[To make matters worse, before my brother understood this, he was eager to restore the reputation of the Fourth Legion with a series of victories, which led him to squander what was left of the Iron Warriors in a short period of time after his return. It's clean. Except for a few high-level commanders, the grassroots command reserves accumulated by the Fourth Army all the way from Terra have been squandered. Without the command of these grassroots officers and veterans, their performance on the battlefield will naturally be... What a mess. 】

[But Perturabo will not give the Fourth Legion enough time to reorganize a new grassroots command system. He has his own solution, which is to rely on his genius mind and monster-like computing power to The chain of control is input to every end of the corps to make up for the corruption of grassroots officers: the disadvantage of this approach is that officers and soldiers will be consumed like numbers on paper, and the vast majority of reserve officers will be They were wiped out in the digital game, which accelerated the rate of corruption of grassroots officers. 】

[Coupled with the high-pressure internal environment and the strict laws that will never make a comeback after one failure, the Iron Warriors Corps will naturally be unable to produce a new batch of outstanding officers, and their tactical level will continue to decline. In this way, Petula Beau had to redouble his micro-management work, which in turn caused the Legion's tactical level to continue to decline. He continued to micro-manage, forming an endless cycle. 】

[So, this is also an important reason why the battle of the Fourth Legion is ugly: because after leaving Perturabo, these Olympians really don’t know how to fight. You see, I dare to let the company of the Dawnbreaker or even the mortal auxiliary legion go. Go it alone, because I have spent more than thirty years cultivating and selecting a team of proven officers, and Perturabo lacks the treasure I have in my hands now. 】

(The breakdown of the chain of command of the Fourth Legion can be seen from a detail in the original work: During the Horus Heresy, how did a Trident under Perturabo direct the battle? He was hiding in the bunker , watching his men die in the sea of ​​​​charges, this is the trident of Perturabo, theoretically one of the most outstanding commanders of the Iron Warriors)

The original body licked the corner of her mouth, her face was full of pride, and Virgo standing behind her was thoughtful, then turned to the data pad and began to record diligently.

"So what you are saying is: the disastrous defeat that the Fourth Army suffered in the Kraken Abyss five days ago was because their tactical level was generally very poor: but that war was personally directed by Perturabo. ?”

【Not only for this reason. 】

Morgan closed his eyes.

[It can be seen from the information sent back by Dantioch and Erwin that the Hrud are a powerful opponent, and the number of Hrud that Perturabo encountered was Dantioch. He could defeat them dozens or even hundreds of times. Otherwise, he would not have lost nearly four digits of armored vehicles and three digits of Dreadnoughts within an hour. The loss of Astartes warriors It is more than 20,000. 】

[If it were my Dawnbreaker Legion that had to bear this loss, I would have planned to stay in the Far East Frontier and not participate in anything in the Great Crusade for the next hundred years: But the thing that makes us admire the most about the Iron Warriors Legion is , despite suffering such staggering losses, they only stopped their offensive. Perturabo still has all the occupied areas firmly in his hands, and he is still unwilling to even ask me for help. 】

"But Tyra already knows all this."

Virgo shrugged. She was obviously quite disdainful of her [biological father]'s stubborn attitude.

"Terra, or the Signer, already knows that the war here in the Kraken Abyss is not going well. Didn't his personal letter just come to you three hours ago: He promised to mobilize a new Astartes Legion as this Reinforcements for the Kraken Abyss Expedition, and I guarantee that their combat prowess will convince you."

"It's a small price to pay."

[But he didn’t say what the price would be. 】

Morgan only felt pain in the roots of her teeth, and she began to doubt whether quietly leaking the defeat of the Iron Warriors to Terra was the right decision: Of course, the Spider Queen did not do this in a big way, and she did not want to quarrel with Perturabo. Shameless.

She just used a little trick to get a senior officer of the Mortal Auxiliary Army who belonged to the Fourth Legion and was [killed] in the previous battle to send a distress letter to Terra: That officer himself is currently in the [Goddess of Dawn] He was having tea on board the ship, he was already old, and the beach and vacation villa in Avalon were waiting for him.

After this letter of distress arrived in Holy Terra, it was "coincidentally" selected by some mortal officials from the piles of Great Expedition documents, and it was given the green light all the way until it reached the desk of the sealmaster.

These mortal officials are naturally the friendships that Morgan forged in Terra: Although the Lord of Avalon did not stay in the throne world of the empire for a long time, she had a very popular Kali named Jonson. Where's the class brother?

And thanks to Johnson's blessing, Morgan had already had close contacts with those [Jonson's friends] on Terra as early as the Randan War. When Morgan returned to Terra, he took some time to have sex with these Johnson's friends. After meeting and talking, and adding the friendship from Avalon, these mortal officials happily became [Jonson and Morgan's mutual friends].

Anyway, there is a high probability that the Calibans will not pursue this trivial matter.

With the help of these friends, Markmaster Malcador received Morgan's message in the shortest possible time, and his reply speed was fast enough to satisfy Morgan: The only problem is that [small price], let The Spider Queen felt very uneasy.

but……

There shouldn't be any problems, right?

The original body licked her lips and comforted herself in her heart: Just as she was discussing and thinking, the mountains of alien souls in front of her had been sucked away by the Spear of Love stuck in the ground. This guy is even better at eating than Morgan himself.

Unlike her daughter, the stern-faced Spider Queen could actually see what the Spear of Love really looked like. Her eyes penetrated the outer steel and saw clearly the simple and dangerous truth inside.

This is a spear. It looks very primitive. It should be a product of the Paleolithic Age or the Neolithic Age: it is made of obsidian. It is neither round nor smooth. Instead, it is everywhere. It reveals an ancient atmosphere of primitive civilization.

On Nuceria, Morgan tentatively asked the Emperor what the truth was about this spear, and the Lord of Mankind only answered her in an almost teasing manner: This ancient obsidian spear is The first weapons and tools the Emperor forged at the very beginning of his life are among the most valuable collections he could ever collect.

…

I always feel that this thing can be used to blackmail a certain canine's millions of wealth.

The Lord of Avalon blinked, and strange thoughts came to her mind. She did not believe the emperor's words, nor did she believe that anything could really be preserved for tens of thousands of years: if the emperor could do this All things considered, he is definitely a living god.

However, regardless of whether the Emperor is a living god or not, and has little to do with Morgan, the Lord of Avalon neither cherishes nor is greedy about the Spear of Love. She just wants to forge it into shape as soon as possible and burn it even more. Many alien worlds refined it from the metal, and then returned it to her genetic father, completing another mission.

The Spider Queen shook her head. She took a second to lament what a bad impression the Emperor had left. Compared to her great and kind genetic father, the handprinter who was half-sentence. Malcador is so kind and understanding.

Simply...

"Mother!"

Virgo spoke, and her voice interrupted Morgan's thinking: When the original body turned around, she only saw her eldest daughter tilting her head, as if she had received some new information.

"Message from the Dawn Goddess."

【explain. 】

"They received an order from Holy Terra: Terra announced that the reinforcements they assigned to us have been confirmed and will be ready to set off in the near future. They will arrive at the Kraken Abyss within a month at most.

【Is it. 】

Morgan nodded. She spent half a second replaying the situation in the northern part of the galaxy in her mind, thinking about which legion was most likely to be the reinforcement sent by Malcador.

[Is it the Blood Angel? Or maybe the Thousand Sons or the Emperor's Children? 】

"..."

【What's wrong? Anya? 】

"...Nothing, mother."

Virgo's voice trembled, and she looked shocked by the answer.

——————

"It's the Imperial Fists' fleet."

"It's Rogge Dorn, here in person."