Warhammer: Start with a dog.

Chapter 444 If the signal from the Emperor is not good, we can help pick it up (4K5)
The Yoranite captives looked in despair at the iron warriors lined up silently before them.

The slaves behind continued to attack the people in front who had stopped, trying to escape from this cannibalistic sweatshop, until they saw what was outside, and then they screamed and fled back to the demon forging workshop they had just escaped from.

At that moment, Lieutenant Colonel Leonid heard the broken question uttered by the most pious and loyal Sergeant Elad: "God Emperor, have you abandoned us?"

He himself opened his bloodshot eyes wide and stared at the Chaos Astartes in front of him, with deep hatred and resentment, wanting to engrave them into his soul in an instant.

These Iron Warriors remained silent, but their guns were equally steady, and no one knew when the first bomb would be fired.

In the few seconds of terrifying silence, the wind like the wails of the dead blew across the desolate surface of Medlengard soaked in the blood of slaves. Behind the fleeing people, there came the sound of footsteps with steam hissing and evaporating the flesh and blood on the ground, and the slave owners' pretentious laughter.

"Look who's here. I didn't hear I had any new visitors today."

Obex Zakayo emerged from the demon factory he managed. The Chaos overseer held a chainsaw axe in one hand and the muzzle of his bolter was slightly pointed downwards. Heat was rising from his body as he stood alertly opposite the group of visitors.

"Where are my guards?" he asked bluntly. "Whose subordinates are you?"

Leonid held back the severe pain that surged up from deep inside his body. His body must have been eroded by cancer cells. No wonder he felt strange when he saw them. So these scum guarding outside were not in the same group as this bastard? That made no difference, and it even meant that the bad luck of the Yolan people had hit a new low in this matter.

For a moment, he even hated certain specific people so viciously as never before: If these uninvited guests had not arrived here at this time, wouldn't it mean that he and his soldiers might have a glimmer of hope to escape?

The Iron Warriors on the opposite side remained silent, but they were still orderly and restrained, as if they were waiting for someone's orders.

This abnormal discipline and silence not only made mortals uneasy, but also the slave owner who was also an Iron Warrior began to become suspicious, and he raised his weapon vigilantly.

"So who are you working for?" He asked again with a growl from under his visor. More hissing steam and black oil spurted out from the breathing grid. "My forge serves the lord of Kalan-Gol. You'd better not think that I am alone."

This time there was finally some movement from the other side.

The ranks of the Iron Warriors parted, and a figure stepped out.

"The current lord of Karan-Gol? Well, obviously, a fortress like this would not remain without an owner forever. If you are familiar with this lord, I would be very interested in learning more about him, Oubex. Of course, it doesn't matter if you don't tell me."

The moment he saw this figure, Lieutenant Colonel Leonid of the 383rd Yolan Dragoon Regiment even thought that he was hallucinating because he wanted a miracle too much.

This figure, who clearly appears to be the leader of the Iron Warriors, is just so... Imperial.

The newcomer was wearing a simple yet powerful suit of power armor. Its shape seemed similar to the Mark VI at first glance, but upon closer inspection it was different from the same type worn by some Chaos Astartes. Lieutenant Colonel Leonid couldn't tell.

But he could definitely recognize the silver breastplate, which was painted in a different color than the Chaos Astartes (both were metallic but theirs looked more "silver"), the human skull decoration representing purity, the cloak made of normal materials (meaning it did not contain any human elements), the golden ribbon and golden service spikes that were similar in style to those he had seen on the Imperial Fists.

As a defender of the Heart of Hydra, he had the honor of resisting the attack of the Iron Warriors together with the yellow-armored Astartes a few months ago. The Imperial-style power armor was as conspicuous as a moving target on this demon planet. The lieutenant colonel admitted that a new surprise was growing on the edge of his anger.

Only then did the lieutenant colonel realize what he had just found strange: although the armor of these Iron Warriors was relatively old and dilapidated, they were all very clean. Their owners had tried their best to reduce the number of unnecessary cables, twisted hoses, various spikes and any decorations with a sense of distortion and madness on their armor to a minimum - meaning that mortals could stare at them for a long time without feeling dizzy and nauseous.

The Chaos Slave Master behind him made a sound that resembled surprise for the first time.

"Soltarn? Old stonemason? What a rare visitor." The slave master of the factory narrowed his eyes, as if assessing the equipment of the visitor he recognized. "It looks like you just returned from hunting outside the Eye? Has the Primarch returned to his palace? I haven't received any relevant news, and the Iron Blood has not appeared over Medlengard. And where did you get this advanced power axe? A reward from the Primarch?"

"It's me." The Astartes on the opposite side responded calmly, but did not answer other questions. The coldness in the old soldier's mechanical voice through the respirator was like ice water brushing across Yolan's cerebral cortex, making him suddenly sober up.

"Long time no see, Oubex. It seems you haven't been out much recently. Have you been supervising the forge here?"

"Production capacity, Soltarn, production capacity, the fortress is pressing hard, but now the demons have escaped, and the factory has to stop working." The slave owner pointed ahead and made a circle around him, "These slaves are useless. I'm about to summon the ghost of Omphalos to send them to the bloody arena of Kalan-Gol."

"The Ghost of Omphalos? Are you sure you can still summon it?" The Iron Warrior known as Soltarn seemed to recall the name seriously, and the few words that leaked out of their conversation made Leonid realize that the seemingly normal power armor and weapons on the newcomer might have come from a recent loyalist Astartes victim.

"Ah." Oubex grinned and pointed at the remaining dead slaves in his factory. "Drive them to its platform. Once they have enough blood, they will be able to summon it naturally."

The thought of these Chaos cursed ones killing and plundering the loyal Angels of the God-Emperor, combined with the scattered, desecrated bodies of the Imperial Fists Brothers at the fortress gate they had failed to defend, coupled with the memory of his failed final mission, fed Leonid with a doubled regret and an uncontrollable hatred that filled his soul.

He subconsciously reached for his power sword on his belt, but found nothing - then he felt a strange gaze and a voice sounded in his brain.

+Don't move, kid. +
Leonid's nostrils burned, the cancer caused by the poison that the Yorans had been tricked into taking was still developing, blood gushed out of his fragile and broken veins, and his brain was buzzing with the pressure of the psychic communication as if someone was stirring it with an iron rod. This is a wizard! An evil Astartes wizard! They failed before the final attack because of sorcery and demons! That guy... is all... headless... He saw Captain Eshara being turned into a... by that bastard... that Chaos Lord in front of them...

A severe headache, dizziness and nausea swept through the fugitive's body. He hunched over and grabbed his throat tightly with both hands, almost trying to tear open his trachea.

+...Hmm...? Very interesting memory, a witness. Looks like I'm in the right place. But now, stop your fantasies. Don't move. +
So the lieutenant colonel looked out of his own eyes in horror, like a person desperately beating on the soundproof glass inside a container.

He watched his body stop its terrible spasms and twitches, and as the enemy stared at him, he lowered his hands meekly and slowly walked to the side, forming a neat line. Even Elad and the others did the same - except that his companions' eyes, which were also desperately showing fear, made Leonid clearly realize that they were in the same situation as him.

"I noticed that this factory has stopped operating due to the departure of its power source. Its furnaces and forge hammers have gone silent. Well, since these slaves are no longer useful, you might as well hand them over to me, Obex."

The slave master held the handle of his weapon and slowly stepped back, signaling his mutant artificial heads to slowly gather together with weapons in hand and engineering machinery, but Soltan still stood there without moving.

"What do you mean? Old stonemason, don't think that just because you've lived here long enough, you can take these blood and flesh resources from me at will. Everyone knows that your useless backer Felix is ​​dead. He was blown to pieces, and that bastard Hong Suo took the opportunity to take over. And you, all you can do is hammer and build some stone houses and tear down broken walls. For ten thousand years, you have been hiding in your little stone nest with our pathetic first company commander, dreaming about your pitiful days in the past when you served the false emperor!"

"Thank you for reminding me of Felix's death, but I know he is dead. He died in the Heart of Hydra several months or years ago." The Iron Warrior opposite him was still calm. "And I also know that Honso should have become the lord of Kalan-Gol after him, and recruited me to serve him. Before we left, he also left his deputy to take care of the fortress for him. But your tone now is not polite, so who is sitting on the throne of Kalan-Gol now?"

"It's Tolamino," the slave owner, who had sensed something was even more amiss, began to move himself behind the factory bunker. "Lord Tolamino and Berossus jointly attacked Kalan-Gol after your hasty departure. Onyx, the adjutant left by Honso, died with Berossus. In the end, Berossus's remaining warriors and Honso's remaining men all followed Tolamino. Now the factories, farms and slaughterhouses in this area are under his rule. - Where are my guard brothers! What have you done?! Why haven't they come yet?"

"Well...thank you for your detailed gossip information, it's very helpful. So, Oubex, you can go meet your brothers now."

"What..." The Chaos Astartes, who had concealed himself well, stared at Soltarn in front of him. He remembered clearly that the old stonemason's ability was only useful when the Chaos Lords were interested in his stone craftsmanship, so he would not be afraid of him. He had the blessing of the God of War, and the God of War had no regard for this kind of sorcery that lacked offensive power.

There was a noise in Obex Zakayo's chest, and the sound of the ceramic breastplate breaking and the hissing of steam became louder, because a sharp and thick stone spear protruding from his back pierced him from back to front like a lance.

The Iron Warrior Slave Master looked down in shock at the rock spear tip that was almost as wide as his ribs that was sticking out of his chest. It was covered with his own blood, but more of it was black and dirty grease, and it was also emitting hot steam, as if the place where it had just pierced out was more machinery than flesh and blood.

"You..." Then Obex fell to the ground like a broken machine. The mechanical arms behind him twitched and waved wildly due to the last neural electrical stimulation signals, swinging energy whips around and making the mutant artificial heads around him roll on the ground and wailing.

The fallen and broken body of the Chaos Slave Master was like half a wall, blocking the way of the slaves who had not yet escaped from the factory. Many people ran to the door and saw the Iron Warriors lined up outside with guns raised, and they began to cry again.

"Ah, it's a mess." Soltan, known as the "Old Stonemason," shook his head. "Philharmo, or can you do me a favor anyway?"

"I'm not a professional at this," protested an Astartes from the ranks beside him, but he stepped forward to inspect the body of the fallen Iron Warrior for his superior.

Leonid's soul looked out through his dull corneas at what was happening.

The armor of this newly appeared Astartes was slightly different from those of the surrounding people. It was cleaner and of a newer style. It was obvious that its owner had done his best to maintain it in this environment, but it was still not as neat and bright as the power armor of the Imperial Fists he had seen on the Heart of Hydra.

In addition, it was also painted silver-grey, a color more similar to the armor paint of their wizard leader than that of his companions. ——Perhaps this was a lieutenant who was deeply favored by his leader.

The Astartes known as Filhammer half-crouched down, carefully spread out the remains of the Chaos Warrior who had just died, and reached in to dig around - then he retracted his arm, shook off the black and red things stuck on his gauntlets and arm armor, and shook his head, "There's nothing usable. His seeds are unusable. Inside... um..."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm not a pharmacist, but." Filhammer paused, reached in again, grabbed something on the dead Obex's chest and pulled hard, then they saw a mass of flesh wrapped in scarlet tentacle-like tissue and black stuff being pulled out and thrown on the ground. Leonid's soul wanted to vomit in his mind, and he prayed for the mercy of the God-Emperor. He swore that he saw some black stuff in the moving mass of flesh, the same as the one that had just devoured other people in the factory -

Soltan sighed, then raised his finger. The lifeless ground began to flow creepily, and the rocks came alive, squeezing each other and began to crawl downwards. After dozens of seconds, there was nothing on the ground here. There was no strange piece of meat, nor the body of the killed Obex. It was as if the brutal monster had never existed in this world.

Leonid felt cold all over, and in an instant he figured out where the Iron Warriors who were originally guarding here had gone.

The lieutenant colonel began to scream in his heart. What kind of evil Iron Warrior had they fallen into? How long would this nightmare life on this devilish planet last? God Emperor! God Emperor! If you can hear me! Please save us!
As if hearing his fervent prayers, Soltan turned towards him, the four golden service studs on his brow reflecting the light of the sky like burning white phosphorus.

"Ah, it is difficult for the sound to reach Him here, but you are lucky that you will be serving me next as part of our noble and merciful Father's answer to your prayers."

I don't need your and your evil god's damn reply...

Before the last thought was over, slave Yolan finally fainted from the pain and happiness.

(End of this chapter)