Warhammer: Start with a dog.

Chapter 530 Hong Suo's Mouth,
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The atmosphere in the Cadian coalition's headquarters inside the Clave Fortress is tense and turbulent.

To be honest, Ursacar E. Creed was certainly a great commander, and his talents spread among his own regiment and lower-level soldiers.

But before this time, the most people he had ever commanded were just a few regiments, and his wisdom and courage were only known among mortal armies.

So in fact, not only do the young staff officers waiting outside the office of the Supreme Lord in the command center all have unconvinced expressions of "I can do it too, you lucky reckless man" on their faces, even now in the entire Cadia - there are more than tens of millions of soldiers, vehicles and more than half a dozen different forces - many of the decision makers among them do not really intend to obey the orders of a so-called Supreme Lord who took office because all the senior military noble commanders before him were dead.

Just like now.

"Didn't the Space Wolves monks say they were going to the north to intercept the airdrop pods that landed there? There are also those Dark Angels who are clinging to their crashed cruiser! Any new news?!" Creed raised his glass and found that the Amasek in it had been drunk long ago.

"Not yet, sir." Garlan Kyle came over, and Creed raised his glass to him. "Right now our entire area is being severely disturbed. Outside, it's because of the chaos radiation brought by the thing above our heads. There is a serious shortage of psykers, or almost none except those of the Inquisitors. Inside and near the city walls, it's because of the void matrix that Sage Coran unfolded for us. It protects us, but it also interferes with all longer-distance transmission methods and facilities that require the use of psykers. We can only rely on radio oral reports, visual observations, and photography to conduct reconnaissance of the situation there. The report I received is that the reconnaissance aircraft squadron has set off, and each one carries a camera and film at the tail."

"Well, if we are lucky enough, we will be able to get the actual situation there tomorrow. Anyway, I sincerely hope that the emperor on the throne can bless these good boys and girls with his divine power. - There is still some ice in this wine glass that has not melted. Look, Kyle, it is so big! I guess it needs so much Amasek wine to dissolve it properly. Or maybe, a little less will do."

"You can't drink anymore, and you smoke too many cigars," his adjutant pointed out bluntly, "Your doctor has protested many times. He said that if you continue to stay up all the time, smoke and drink like this, it would be more meaningful for him to resign and go to the front to treat the wounded."

Creed put down the empty glass with regret. The ice cubes hit the wall of the glass, making a crisp bang sound.

"And what about the catching of the robbers and murderers in the city who printed those incorrectly sized certificates?"

"The report from the fifth squad of the fourth Kashejin regiment said that they have made some progress, but they need to assist in the defense of the eastern wall next, sir. So now two squads of the second Kashejin regiment are taking over, but they are not very happy to do this because they want to go to the front line to kill the enemy."

"I understand," Creed stroked his stubbled chin. The smell of cigar smoke and Amasek stained the front of his uniform. "But the public security in the urban and factory areas cannot continue like this. Riots caused by hunger will break out."

"So they are still tracking us, sir, but the terrain is too complicated, the enemy is constantly moving, and there are high-powered transmitting stations. The number of Kashejin's team is still too small. - Why don't you wear your refraction field necklace around your neck?"

"It's better to continue the investigation than to do nothing at all. At least we can drive them away, right?" Creed shrugged. "That field generator is too heavy, and its buzzing sound gives me a terrible headache." He pointed to the long table beside him, where there was a rather large pendant. It looked much rougher and bulkier than the refractive field generator that an officer of his rank could obtain. Obviously, this was a standard product of the Cadia Internal Guard, not a good product passed down from generation to generation by military nobles or obtained from somewhere else.

"But it can at least protect you. You shouldn't have taken it down." Garlan Kyle said with a hint of reproach. He walked around the sand table and said, "Some of the scattered enemy troops that have crossed the defense line outside the city have begun to deploy artillery. According to our observations in the past two hours, there must be traitors lurking in the city. There is no doubt that the artillery commanders will report to them -"

An unusually sharp whistle came from far away.

The two men here were both veterans who had been through many battles. They fell to the ground at the same instant, but the shell landed very accurately.

It exploded above a corner of the room.

Damn it——

When the flag-bearing sergeant of the Supreme Castle spat out a mouthful of gravel from his mouth and climbed up despite the buzzing in his ears and the uncomfortable vibration, a huge fear began to loom in his heart: a corner of the small building of the command office was blown down, and the place where Creed - the Supreme Castle Lord Creed had just been was buried under a large amount of concrete stones, as well as fragments of equipment and furniture.

The sergeant let out a roar, rushed there first and started digging.

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"What happened to their commander? Where's the communication system? Why haven't we received any response after so long? Is the efficiency of the empire's combat communications really so low? How can they command so many troops to fight?! I've had enough! Hong Suo! I've had enough of this horrible hell of inefficiency and counterintuitive blind fanaticism! What kind of hellhole is this! I never dreamed that I would be in such an empire!"

Lord Robert Mercury Guilliman's blood pressure was now fully raised, his aura was like a tide, and golden and red light surged around him like a wave, as if sweeping away all the evil spirits within dozens of feet. Of course, it seemed that he himself, who was standing at the center, was still unaware of it. Hong Suo politely shifted his gaze away again.

"...Perhaps something unexpected happened in the middle of the process. This is quite common in such a chaotic battlefield and command hierarchy. Besides, what this galaxy lacks the most is change and unexpected things, isn't it, my Lord?"

"What about these sons of Dorne?" The primarch, wearing red armor and holding a huge axe, turned around and pointed at the eighty-eight skulls of the Black Templars that were neatly stacked beside them, which could cure obsessive-compulsive disorder... Oh, a small mountain of tall unconscious bodies. This horrific record has caused the friendly forces around them to leave and look for more suitable opponents, instead of blindly approaching the War God Champion who had not chopped enough skulls and was looking around angrily for something to chop.

"We can't just leave them here, can we?! We have to contact the city and take them in. Next, we have to find a way to help the Cadia garrison defend this place without being too obvious. Although you told Hestia to take the Indomitable and start jumping immediately if the situation seems wrong and leave us alone, but..."

"But he is more likely to choose to stay and find a way to teleport you back, right? Then this amount of time will not be enough for us to escape, and we and the Indomitable will be wiped out by Abaddon's fleet." The Master Alchemist had an expression of "as expected".

"Alas, my descendants always protect me like this... Sesara... I don't know what happened to Hill later... Besides, no matter how many traitors we kill here, if we don't find a way to contact the other side's commander and enter the headquarters to obtain all the battlefield intelligence, we will definitely not be able to influence the outcome of the entire battle. War needs heroes, but the battlefield is made up of more mortals." "Well, even if we contact them, what happens next, sir?" The pharmacist remained calm. After all, the infirmary, cafeteria and various gatherings of the Destiny Steel were quite challenging. "How do you plan to convince the other side's commander that you are here to help them instead of being Abaddon's accomplice to trick them into surrendering?"

The Thirteenth Primarch hesitated for a moment. "I have myself and some ancient codes and authorities that should prove my identity."

"What level?" Hong Suo asked.

"Of course it's Primarch-level! In theory, it should be able to take over any army consisting of a sub-sector or sector fleet!"

"It sounds good, but my lord, this is a mortal army from nine thousand years later. They listen to you as if they were listening to a myth," the warsmith commented fairly. "If there were more Astartes in certain chapters here, especially more of your offspring, then your authority and code might be more useful, because the inheritance from you or your cousins ​​of your good uncles is purer and more receptive to the sudden appearance of the Primarch. It's just that unfortunately in the war zone we are in now, the Astartes Adeptus is mainly composed of the Dark Angels, Space Wolves, Black Templars, and some people from various injured and lost chapters - we don't even know which chapters are mixed in. Maybe there are Alphas too."

"Lion has always been a respectable brother, and Russ... Russ is at least impeccably loyal, and I think his descendants are the same. They shouldn't reject friendly forces, right? As for Dorn, as a Royal Guard of Terra, his descendants' integrity, reliability, and strategic ability are even more important..."

The Iron Warriors' Master Alchemist looked at Guilliman quietly, while reaching out and patting the ceramic steel shoulder armor of the unconscious Marshal Amaleki beside them.

Guilliman's confidence was dampened: things had changed, and it was not appropriate for him to apply the impressions of his brothers and Astartes nine thousand years ago to the present. The strange situation he had witnessed in recent days had begun to teach him that he could not imagine anything happening now in terms of "they are reasonable and rational".

"...Well, you're not trying to tell me that because nine thousand years have passed, the Imperium's mortal armies can now ignore the authority of a Primarch? I am Guilliman, Thirteenth Son of the Emperor, Primarch of the Ultramarines Legion, Lord of the Five Hundred Worlds of Ultramar, and a seat will be reserved for me at the banquet at the Royal Court of Terra."

"Of course not. I have no intention of questioning your identity and honor," the Master Alchemist bowed his head respectfully, "but we do not have a 'loyal' Primarch recognized by the Empire, the Ecclesiarch, the Inquisition, and other authoritative organizations, my lord."

Guilliman frowned his forehead, which was covered with scripture tattoos. "The Primarch himself is a miracle, Honso. Perhaps you have been with Perturabo long enough that you are not too surprised and awed to see me. But in most cases, not everyone can face miracles like me and my brothers. As long as I walk in, gather them together, cancel my illusion camouflage in public, reveal my true face and announce that I will take over the defense of this place..."

"Then you will be considered a well-known great demon, a Chaos wizard in disguise, or an ambitious conspirator who is trying to take advantage of the opportunity to overthrow the empire, or even all of them. I bet that the members of the Inquisition's Heretic Order and the Order of the Holy Hammer will not listen to you at all. They will take out their guns and shoot you first. - Oh, you see, it suddenly occurred to me that this is also a way. As long as you announce to everyone here that you intend to establish the Second Empire, maybe a large number of Imperial Inquisition fleets and their lackeys will suddenly appear from some corner, with the purpose of annihilating traitors like you and me. In this way, maybe they can also drive away Abaddon's fleet. But this is a bit Ficardian. I think it may not be enough for them to throw an extermination order here."

"…What second…what empire! It doesn't exist! How could I have such thoughts when I knew my father was still alive?! This is ridiculous!! Watch your words! Honso! Also, will the Inquisition watch its friendly forces die and only serve its own paranoid goals? Will such a ridiculous and pathetic thing really happen?!"

"Based on my experience of leading troops to rob... the Imperial worlds I've passed through, the chance of this happening is not even less than 50%. The most significant difference is whether the one who issued the Extermination Order is the Confraternity of Heresy, the Confraternity of the Hammer, or the Mechanicus - why don't you try this? I think this is a real idea. Don't worry, since these are fragments formed by the overlap of reality and the warp, I can take you away when the Extermination Order is issued. But I can't do anything about the Inflexible and the people on it..."

"Then this method..." The Thirteenth Primarch hesitated for 0.1 seconds, "...don't mention it again unless you are at your wit's end."

A polite but slightly approving smile appeared on the Master Potion Master's face. "Yes, sir. I will record it."

"We can't wait any longer." Guilliman looked around and judged, "More and more Black Legion members are landing here or marching inward. They will advance to the outside of the fortress itself. It will be too conspicuous for us to stay here with so many Black Templars. This half bastion loses its defensive value when the number of besiegers reaches a certain level."

"That's right, sir. I saw that the local garrison above has begun to retreat in an orderly manner back to the outer wall of the fortress under the organization of the officers. They are well-trained."

"The quality of the local garrison here is the most normal behavior I have seen in all these days. It is really comforting. There are still people with normal logic in this crazy hell dream."

"So these sons of Dorne..."

Guilliman's thoughts were interrupted by the sudden arrival of visitors. The two men's keen hearing distinguished the special sounds of the tracks and engines of the large vehicles used exclusively by the Astartes from the artillery fire, shooting and various noises: a highly mechanized Astartes force was heading straight towards them.

"Dark Angel?"

"Unlikely, your Excellency. They never left the cruiser they crashed in."

"Space Wolves?"

"Hard to say."

Robert the Red-Scorched Guilliman sighed and took up his greataxe once more.

Hong Suo's face, which was covered with a polite fake smile, showed a genuine look of surprise the next second.

(End of this chapter)