Warhammer: Start with a dog.

Chapter 496 What interests him more than Muka is...
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Hestiaan's inhuman howl, echoing beneath the dome, faded as the wave of flame died out.

When it was all over, Oranto was the first person to stand up straight in the central cathedral where the command center was located.

The reactor core explosion was too close to the central tower of the star fortress, so that the entire Indomitable was shaken to a certain extent. Fortunately, the fortress finally survived with its incomparably powerful reactor and the efforts of the Hestian brothers...

Hestia!

Orlanto stood there, and with his superhuman mind, he didn't know for a moment whether to turn around to check the miserable state of Hestia's brain that might have been burned, or to run to check if there were any surviving battle brothers on the wall where the explosion fell - even though his reason was boiling in his mind and screaming to tell him that the most likely possibility was that he would lose both.

But when he saw Inquisitor Sibia getting up from the ground holding her bleeding head, he breathed a sigh of relief in his heart: if a mortal without a helmet could still survive at this moment, it would undoubtedly be seen as a good omen.

So he turned away.

Then the veteran sergeant of the Fifth Company froze in place: Technical Sergeant Hestiain was still in his seat, his body twitching like a broken servitor, as if it were a torture device rather than a mechanical throne, and wisps of green smoke continued to emerge from the many cable interfaces on his body.

Orlanto smelled the smell of burnt flesh and rubber in his nostrils. One of Hestiaan's two servants fell to the ground, still holding tightly an overloaded cable that had electrified half of his body. The other flew out due to the impact just now, and smashed his temple on the protruding brass corner of the equipment table next to him. The air was filled with the smell of fresh blood that stimulated his superhuman nerves.

"Hestian?! Can you hear me?! How much of the defense system is left?!"

The Tech Sergeant showed no reaction except for twitching.

But at this moment, Sibia reached out her hand to Oranto in horror, grabbed his arm tightly and shook it to draw his attention back. The sergeant turned his head almost impatiently to yell at her, but he immediately understood the despair written on the inquisitor's face.

He saw Brother Artorion, a venerable elder and warrior, whose fearless weight and his iron-footed lock should have been enough to keep him alive, but whose severely deteriorated mind might be worse than they feared.

Hestiaan was a technical sergeant, able to inspect and repair the mechanical parts of star fortresses and dreadnoughts, but he was powerless against the physical, mental and spiritual parts. The apothecary brother of the Fifth Company was now serving on Macragge with the other half of the brethren.

Oranto saw that Artorion's ultramarine armored body weighing several tons began to move shakily, passing through the entire space of the Heroic Cathedral, which served as the command center, and rushed out of the door. The ancient war cry echoed in the fearless loudspeaker, "For Macragge! For Guilliman! Courage and honor! First Company! Kill these bugs!"

"We can't let him rush out like this! He'll open the gate too!" Sibia shouted. "There are enemies outside!"

"Then who are you going to stop him with?!" Oranto stood up and looked around. Most of the people here were sent flying or crashed into something because of the shock just now. He was the only one who was summoned back by Artorion. The remaining forty-seven brothers and more than six thousand auxiliary troops were all outside - except for the technicians in necessary positions, the rest of the combatants were at the scene of the spacecraft crash just now.

He tried to call them repeatedly, but perhaps the ionizing radiation caused by the severe disaster, the chaotic gas clouds, or something else interfered with the communication, and there was silence in his company channel, so quiet that it was terrifying.

Now the only Star Fortress guards who are still capable of fighting here may be him, Artorion and Inquisitor Sibia.

With this thought lingering in Orlanto's mind, he rushed to the nearest control console and began frantically checking anything still usable and the status of the Indomitable.

The situation was a thousand times worse than he had expected.

Obviously their enemies were prepared for the collision just now. Oranto saw that the edge of the landing area dock was surrounded by a large number of shuttles and supporting ships, and the heavy artillery had set up their own simple defensive positions.

Now there are enemies pouring out of all these things.

Ultramar is dozens of light years away.

Due to the special nature of the Indomitable, no distress signals would be received and no one would know where they were now.

But perhaps before the end of everything...

"We have to get out of here." The Inquisitor came to his side with a pale face. "Hurry, I need your help, Sergeant. Follow me."

“I am not going anywhere,” he told her sternly. “If you wish to seek shelter or a lifeboat, go ahead, Inquisitor. We are Ultramarines, and it is my duty to see Brother Artorion to his glorious end.”

Even as they were talking, Fearless raised the iron fist he had received from Calgar and began to pound on the exquisite and heavy door of the command center cathedral. As he pounded, the door began to deform and crack. The smoke, ozone, fire, and the smell of flesh and blood outside seeped into the circulating air of the cathedral. People could see the gunmetal armor, weapons, and countless red eyepieces outside.

Some of the awakened wounded mortals began to cry softly, while others began to recite prayers to the Emperor or their last rites.

"No, it's not." Inquisitor Sibia Monsrat, the third seat of the Tarassa Inquisition, told him, "Don't you always think that members of the Inquisition should not be here? And we have been sending people on duty here, just like you. You are wondering why there has always been half a company stationed here, doing nothing, always sailing, neither hunting any heretics or aliens, nor any missions to complete, but you can't leave here and play your due role in other battlefields where you are needed, right?"

"I didn't," Oranto denied.

"You have." Sibiya stared at his face. "I can see that. Sergeant, my training in the Inquisition also includes observing Space Marines. Now I will tell you why, and after hearing this secret, you will come with me immediately."

A chill of foreboding ran up Orlanto's spine and his stomach began to sink.

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It's not that Kadaras Grendel dislikes the beauty of architecture and craftsmanship, but at the same time, he can't give up the pleasure that fighting and killing bring him. In the past, although he had to serve others, the position of Chief of Arms has always been considered a backbone class.

When Thortann brought them the news and vision of his father, Grendel was willing to join the Earth Ruler. Just kidding, now that all the tridents of the Iron Warriors have left, this kind of authority and the conquest promised by his father are exactly what he needs. And later, the life in the Olympia Military Academy established by Thortann, well, although he felt that it was somewhat suspicious of dulling his axe, on the other hand, this kind of vacation was indeed what he deserved, right? After all, he had been wielding weapons for the false emperor, the corrupt empire, the primarch, the legion, Horus, and even the dark god who had always wanted to devour him.

It was a pity that he still ended up in this place and situation because of a momentary blood rush. Become a warrior of Honso and fight for him! This half-blood... Never mind, Grendel is not one of those brainless berserkers. Honso saved his life from the feet of the hell beast and promised to take him to find his father, so enduring being ordered around by this guy is just a job. After all, the fighting intensity that the master of potions can provide him now...

He actually likes it very much.

But he didn't like the latest task that Hong Suo assigned to him.

There are no head-on glorious battles of the old days, only the latest cunning schemes of the Iron King's favorites.

However, when the Arms Commander and his subordinates, who were ready for battle, surrounded the deformed and bulging adamantium alloy door that was punched by the Dreadnought's power iron fist, his thoughts changed slightly. Originally, he thought that there were more Ultramarines to deal with, but a Dreadnought... was indeed a very difficult opponent to deal with in this kind of terrain, but Grendel was not without experience in killing Dreadnoughts.

He tightened his grip on the axe and checked the energy magazine capacity in his favorite pistol one last time.

The Dreadnought roared, seized upon a plaque of adamantium gate carved with the heroes of the Chapter, and tore it off, dropping it to the ground with a loud noise, and now the hunters outside could see the old warrior staring furiously into the cameras of their auspex.

The gadget that Hong Suo gave him before he set off, which he named "One shot of wind knocks down", made the military chief very disdainful: although this arrogant bastard is indeed a great doctor, he is a bit too ignorant to brag that "this medicine can knock out a Terminator or a Dreadnought just by spraying it on the face". Who does he think he is? Dreadnought pilots can indeed be anesthetized through biological pipes or amniotic fluid tanks, but this kind of fast-acting anesthetic separated by thick ceramic steel and filters is unheard of. Hong Suo made it seem like he had knocked out many Dreadnoughts - what a joke, where did so many Dreadnoughts come from for him to experiment with?

In the end, the problem would still be solved by steel and force. The military commander had ordered his men to prepare as many ancient shields, iron halos and other defenses as they could find and install them here. He also filled the place with the medicine bottles that Hong Suo gave him, and finally prepared many huge chains, hooks and iron nets for his future captives. He had just checked, and so far, his mission and preparations had been completed perfectly.

Grendel grinned, revealing a wild smile, but before carrying out the next task, he first wanted to enjoy a hearty battle with this Ultramarines Dreadnought.

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Adalic Vanners thrives in the now chaotic shadows here.

The shadows cast by the hanging pipes were his slide, the darkness left by the broken lights was his lounge, and his tall body in power armor seemed to be nothing, moving between light and darkness like a thin piece of dust, contrary to common sense.

Even in the Raven Guard, not everyone can learn the art of shadow stealth, as it relies heavily on the indescribable talent in Clarks' own gene seed. Vannas, who is able to serve as the fourth captain and shadow instructor, is undoubtedly one of the best.

Now, he was following silently behind the hurried steps of the Inquisitor and Sergeant Orlanto, who brought with them all the men and women willing to resist that they could find, less than a hundred people in total. These soldiers were holding all the weapons they could find, leaving behind a series of crude fortifications, such as overturned cargo boxes, stacked furniture, and closed hatches... Following layer after layer of winding iron ladders, they finally all went down to the depths of the fortress directly below the central cathedral used for command.

The raven's purple eyes stared at Orlanto, who showed a look of betrayal the moment he saw the reactor core, and Sibia, who began to command her long-awaited technicians to activate the secret weapon hidden here by the Inquisition.

Then his attention turned to the core of the real energy source that maintained the fortress's reactors, gravity generators, warp engines and other devices.

A thick, high-strength crystal column sealed by countless engineering artifacts and psychic spell runes.

It was one kilometer high, hollow, and filled with compressed energy like a thunderstorm. It was surrounded by a perfectly circular hall of the same height. Countless lines and arrays that were still flashing spread out in all directions from the ground and walls. Through the thick crystal glass engraved with spells, the Raven Guard recognized what was wrapped in a violent vortex of the Warp. This was a lie that Maneus Calgar had concealed from his regiment, and it was also one of the purposes of Hongsuo's visit.

A demon.

Lord Macragge declared that he had slain the demon lord once and for all in glorious combat.

Mka.

It was not killed by him and the First Company as Calgar claimed, but was imprisoned here, in the reactor core of the Indomitable.

This is the truth behind why a powerful fortress like the Indomitable is stationed with Ultramarines and Inquisitors, and has been making random jump voyages around Ultramar.

The Raven Guard felt like laughing out loud.

But he was professionally trained, so he held back and continued to observe the actions of the remaining guards who were busy below.

It was not until the contents of the secret cabinet hidden by the Inquisition next to Muka were confirmed by Wannas himself and he felt that he had sufficient confidence that he sneaked back from the shadows and began to contact Hongsuo.

"I found it," he told the Warsmith, "and there's a bonus surprise. You're going to like it."

"what?"

"An Iverson Assassin," Vannus replied. "The Inquisitor has a dormant Iverson Assassin hidden here."

As expected, he heard Hong Suo's sudden enthusiastic response. Apparently, the news confirming the existence of Mka was not as interesting to the alchemist as the latter piece of news.

"Keep monitoring and make sure they don't get in touch with the people outside. I'll be there soon after I deal with the others."

(End of this chapter)