Warhammer 40: Shattered Steel Soul

Chapter 409 Gathering
"In their fanatical irreverence, they delight in exposing their crimes." - The Book of Lorgar

An Iron Ring Robot was moving hurriedly along the corridor of the Spirit of Vengeance. Even without an anti-gravity module installed, it was able to move at an almost floating speed and stability, passing through one blockade door after another and quickly arriving at the briefing room of the Spirit of Vengeance.

This place has become the latest strategic information aggregation center. The Primarchs have given up on having senior commanders and military advisers among the Space Marines screen intelligence, and instead read all the intelligence documents that have been initially screened and translated by loyal mortal clerks themselves in order to obtain more comprehensive original information and thus better gain insight into any clues in the ongoing war.

Perturabo had already upgraded the basic holographic projection equipment, although he privately began to think that this should actually be the area where Ferrus Manus excelled.

Efficient projection equipment unfolded thousands of documents one by one on different levels of surround surfaces, avoiding overlapping of texts in perspective, and scrolling at a faster speed that the Primarchs could capture and understand, and pausing and zooming in for further discussion when necessary by any Primarch or Space Marine officer present.

When the Iron Ring Robot entered the briefing room, the image captured and recognized by the camera module was a complex picture of everything moving in a tense manner:
Floating documents were flying all over the sky like a blizzard. Bright and dense light beams intertwined into an intricate silk web. Each end of the silk thread was tied to the lives of several legions, hundreds of Space Marines, and even more mortal assistants. Almost one-fifth of the power of the Imperial Expeditionary Force depended on Ran Dan. At this moment, one end of this giant web that involved countless lives had lost balance and was drooping from a metaphysical level.

"Any results?" asked a Luna Wolf. The Iron Ring mecha identified the other party: Cyjanus, a Space Marine highly regarded by Horus Lupercal. His close interactions with most of the other Space Marines present were quantified by digital evaluation and received high scores.

According to the pre-set rules, the iron ring allocated a part of the monitoring channel to that corner. It quickly identified what Sejanus and another Luna Wolf were discussing, which was about the progress of several battles within the Luna Wolf Legion.

After filtering through its internal logic, the iron ring classified the whispered discussions around it into different audio tracks one by one and continued to perform the task it was assigned.

"You are here," Lorgar Aurelion saw it first, and the golden-skinned Primarch immediately turned around and stretched out his hand to the iron ring. In order to keep his movements convenient, he changed his usual robe into a long coat with sleeves close to his arms.

The Iron Ring moves its mechanical arm within a limited range. When it was first created, it was not just for combat. The region that had the greatest influence on its birth might be Macragge. Under this premise, it is not difficult to guess what kind of tendency the functions of the Iron Ring robot will show.

A data-slate was handed to the swift Primarch. Aurelion took it and together with Horus beside him, he projected the message Perturabo wanted to convey.

"According to Terra's timing, on the evening of the 29th, the Silver Angel reappeared over the 38th Galaxy. At the same time, the Rangers and Raiders of this family began firing at the Imperial Fleet for one hour and thirty minutes. We immediately retreated to avoid further losses..."

Iron Ring turned the camera near the shoulder blade mechanical bone and pointed it at the serious face of Horus Lupercal.

Ever since the Dark Angels' Legion Master led the Flamewings and Silver Angels into close combat and disappeared in that group of base-like planetary systems, the remaining three fleets have fallen into a further state of tension, and the most worried among them is Horus Lupercal, who has no choice but to lead.

The commander of the war, the first Moon Wolf to return... The Emperor's trust weighed on his shoulders, and his own emotions and desires also resisted the possibility that the Second Primarch might not be the only Primarch who would meet an unexpected disaster in Randan.

After Suye's contemplation, the Lord of the Shadow Moon Wolf regained the initial eagerness after entering the inner side of the Randan Outpost. Teams were transported by airdrop capsules to the surface of the planet, which had been confirmed to be a large-scale flesh and blood structure, looking for the footprints left by the lion.

And Lorgar Aurelion, his lips moving softly from time to time when no words were needed, silently prayed for the Lion.

Now, they were all certain that Lion El'Jonson's understanding of the Silver Angels must be better than any of them, and comparing this group's current counterattack over the entire span of time, it could also be deduced that it was most likely an assistant to the Dark Angels - a mystery that was destined to never be made public since it was discovered.

But the two sides have already entered a destined confrontation, and it becomes meaningless to pursue the earlier issues, not to mention that Horus Lupercal himself does not object to the Lion's decision to use the aliens.

All past conflicts were eliminated in the concern for blood brothers, even though the impact they had brought would exist forever.

Regardless, they looked forward to Lion El'Jonson's return.

The Iron Ring Robot automatically walked to the wall of the briefing room so as not to block anyone, and sent everything that happened here to Perturabo on the Iron Won through various cameras and audio.

The Lord of Iron returned to his desk again and sat down for several days without getting up.

With several times the number of legions and several times the number of enemies, this battle was more exhausting than the Battle of Satrada Abyss several years ago. Perturabo was completely immersed in the torrent of command, leading the defense of the four fleets against various attacks on their rear lines to ensure that the imperial soldiers deep in Randan had the opportunity to concentrate on the most urgent task at hand, which was to retrieve Lion El'Jonson.

This forced him to hand over the combat command of the Silver Angels to Horus and Lorgar, and leave other tasks to his war blacksmiths - if there were not enough people, he would let the Iron Ring do it.

"The 55th Squadron is under attack," said a Dark Angel next to Sejanus, who was wearing full armor and facing away from the Iron Ring, disrupting the Iron Ring's automatic identification system. "No contact at the moment."

"... prepare to compile a death list," the Moon Wolf whispered, as if by not raising their voices they would not alert anyone, or anything that might signal misfortune.

"On the 28th, the Randan angels of family number 596 launched two fierce attacks on the eastern flank, but failed to break through our defense line..."

"On the same day, the 27th Provisional Joint Force, which included Warsmith Nador and the Third Battalion, the Word Bearers Bone Seance Chapter, and the Luna Wolves Squads 77 to 79, annihilated the last remnants of the Randan Angels of Family 462, but also suffered a fierce attack at the same time. The Bone Seance lost more than a quarter of its strength..."

"On the 27th, the 554rd Company repelled attacks on the space defense line. The line was breached in the IW- block, and the two planets were lost one after another. The Randan aliens immediately went to the ground to reproduce and replenish their members, and requested extinction weapons..."

The thinker module built into the iron ring automatically began to perform simple calculations and counting, counting the personnel losses that were being updated in real time in this hall.

The two Primarchs began to discuss some tactical details. Perhaps it was a piece of intelligence scrolling across the screen that gave them a new association. The specific content was something that the contemplative array of the iron ring machine could not deduce. No matter how sophisticated the machinery was, it could not match the Primarch's brain.

"Perturabo," Lorgar Aurelion called the name of the ring's owner, and the ring moved the steel components toward the primarch. "Contact him for us, will you?"

The iron ring connected the line, and the request was approved immediately. The robot's eyes lit up with the same green light as the Iron Wing's power core - the latest modification, symbolizing that Perturabo was listening.

"Here, in the area occupied by the Silver Angels, the advance team has opened a gap large enough to allow more Space Marines to enter: the regional clearance of the flesh and blood structure has been completed, and the temporary camp has laid the foundation for our power. Now is the best time to launch a rescue attack." Lorgar said, pulling a star map on the holographic screen in front of Tiehuan's eyes, pointing his finger upwards as if holding up one of the planets, "Before finding him, no more harmful weapons are allowed to be used."

Horus continued, "We should send more troops and quickly attack the mountains with the highest biomass concentration on the planet's surface before the Silver Angels destroy our fortresses and strongholds again."

The iron ring's vocal organs begin to work, the incoming nerve signals are decoded into digital signals, and then emitted through synthesized mechanical sounds.

"I agree," Perturabo said. "Let the Eighth Battalion join the fight. When will we launch the regional offensive?"

Mechanical calmness concealed all his emotions, but if he were here in person today, the two Primarchs would be surprised to find that the Primarch of the Iron Warriors, as his name suggests, maintained an astonishing, mechanical calm in his terrifying rationality.

"In three days," Horus replied, "assemble at the station."

"I agree," Perturabo said again, and the communication was lost.

Horus and Lorgar looked at each other. After getting Perturabo's approval, this decision agreed upon by the three of them almost became the best choice that the Imperial Fleet could confirm.

The Wolf Shepherd God sighed, walked to his seat, picked up the data pen, and began to plan the next battle plan.

Countless data and documents swirled around in the time it took him to write, messages in different colors fell colorfully along the vertical direction of the holographic screen, and the marks of crimson and black-grey flowed like blood flowing with the embers, continuing to flow amid the Space Marines' incessant whispers and communications.

After a while, the report sent to Perturabo's desk was completed.

"Take it, iron ring," the wolf god pressed his temple and murmured something in Cosonia. This time, judging from the tone, it was not the declaration of war he had emphasized before, but almost a tired prayer. "Bring it to Perturabo."

It was not easy for the Iron Ring robot to reach Lupercal. Aurelion took over the work of the Wolf God and handed it to Iron Ring.

"The faithful shall be saved," the true-speaker said solemnly, in a voice as light as a hymn, and every syllable seemed to be greased with oil, frankincense, and blood. "He has given us hosts and a willing spirit to uphold us, and our hearts will rejoice in him, because we have trusted in his holy name."

-

Jack is not a person who dwells on the past, and continuous high-intensity battles are enough to make people forget most emotions that are not related to the war itself.

Shortly after he returned to the Moon Wolves and participated in group operations, he was promoted to a small position - because his squad leader died in a battle, and his upper body was blown away by an alien light spear and scattered all over the place.

In the following years, his teammates started to die, not too often, but all in all, half of the team had lost their lives.

Therefore, Jack decided to cherish his current vice-captain, Gregory. The first reason was that Gregory was an excellent fighter, and the second reason was that this was the best person he could find to chat with recently.

"Lion," Jack muttered, before the transporter took off from orbit, repeating over and over again the name of the Dark Angels' lost Primarch in the war, "Lion, Lion El'Jonson..."

"Why do you shout so affectionately?" Gregory asked. "He is not your father."

"That's our uncle too," Jack shrugged, "I wonder why it was him."

"It's simple, because only the First Primarch is at the front," another Luna Wolf replied, "those silver creatures can't rush to the back and grab our father from behind the dining table."

"No, I'm wondering... why he's on the front line," Jack said, "or why he's in such a hurry to fight with only one-twelfth of an angel's wing... well, I can't explain it. I'm just curious."

"You've been paying attention to him, indeed," Gregory said, studying the scratched paint on his bolter.

"I've seen him," Jack replied.

"Oh?" Several wolves shouted in surprise, and their helmets turned around one by one.

"Tell me more about it, Jack." Gregory was in high spirits and reached out to touch Jack's arm. "Why have you never mentioned it before? Could it be that you saw him from several kilometers away, so there is nothing to say?"

"Oh, I talked to him." Jack slapped Gregory's hand back, "Close up. But I don't want to talk about that incident. It's not very interesting."

"Is he as strict as the rumors say, to the point of scaring our captain?" Gregory asked probingly, trying to feel his battle brother's mood through his helmet. "Well, then we won't ask about your sad story, dear Jack."

"It's nothing. Lord Lion El'Jonson is actually a good person, but he is strict with aliens. That's okay too... all traitors who are tainted with heresy will be burned in the flames." Jack laughed and deliberately made an exaggerated cross on his chest.

"Ah, it's the Word Bearers' trick again..." Gregory said with a smile. The hatch suddenly opened with the sound of airflow. He changed the subject and said, "Our partner is here?"

Between the open doors, an iconic shoulder armor inlaid with an iron skull and decorated with yellow and black stripes was revealed in the light. Without any words, the identity of this legion was clear.

(End of this chapter)