Emperor's Bane

Chapter 444 Intermission: Iron Warriors

"Steel inside and out..."

"..."

“Steel inside and out.”

In the cold air, there was a long sigh. This sigh came from the most tenacious and unyielding man in the entire galaxy, from the most proud heir of the Lord of Steel, from the two Legions of Astartes. Inside, there are bright generals who hold high positions.

"..."

Barabas-Dantioch stood alone in front of his steel desk, facing the star map covering the entire wall, and fell into a long silence: his mood was not as good as outside the fortress. The bright sunshine was so beautiful that even the temperature in the fortress command room dropped a few points.

This war blacksmith, who has just been promoted for less than ten years, has locked himself in the office for more than two hours. The hustle and bustle outside the window tells that even without his command, the Iron Warriors are still carrying out their respective tasks in an orderly manner. There was no panic in the mission: this not only showed his efficiency in running the army, but also allowed Dantioch to immerse himself in his own world, hesitating in the confrontation of entanglement and regret.

In recent years, the youngest war blacksmith has always been like this.

After all: he was doing something wrong.

"..."

The Iron Warrior's hands clenched into fists, and they touched lightly on the most glorious world on the eastern edge of the galaxy. At this time, Dantioch's heart was filled with the feeling of being the heir of Perturabo. , an emotion that should not exist: that is [Pride].

"..."

"Strictly speaking, I remember that this area no longer belongs to the Far Eastern Frontier, but I still remember that we should build fortresses on some of its important worlds. After all, according to the news from further north, Nostramo has also If it is a part of the empire, then this tax road is the most important passage connecting Nostramo and Salamas, and several insurance fortresses should indeed be built on it."

In many cases, the mortal craftsmen who worked with them to build this fortress, or the mortal auxiliaries who fought side by side with them for a long time, would also engrave their names on the underside of the Iron Warriors: from a distance, It was like building a smaller, stronger fortress on top of this already indestructible fortress.

Thinking of this, Dantioch felt a little cold sweat break out in his hair.

Thinking of this, the war blacksmith of Perturabo laughed, pride and joy diluting the melancholy that lingered in his heart: Dantioch left his hometown of Olympia and enlisted to join the more than fifty men of the Fourth Legion. In years, he had almost never felt such sincere happiness as he did now.

Of course, the War Blacksmith has always gritted his teeth when facing Morgan, that is, six thousand people, and Dantioch would not even raise this question to any questioner other than Morgan.

When the War Blacksmith realized that he should stop this trend, the number of Iron Warriors active in the Avalon region had quietly exceeded six thousand.

"..."

Fortresses filled with their wisdom and sweat rose up on the most perfect foundation, and amid the cheers of countless mortals, the last brick was embedded, and every steel warrior who joined the project , can proudly engrave his name on the wall of the fortress: because they know very well that their names will stand with this great fortress until the end of its responsibility in the praise and gratitude of mortals.

The war blacksmith had to admit that this was a novel architectural knowledge that he had never discovered before.

He didn't think so. After all, his battle brothers were all bleeding and sweating, building the greatest castle in the world with their own hands, and most of his time was spent in the office, dispatching so-called data information, and interacting with Avalon. Or Salamas maintains communication: despite this, he still has the trust of everyone. The Iron Warriors love their war blacksmiths, whether they are veterans brought from the Fourth Legion or new blood recruited locally, they They all regard Dantioch as a qualified leader.

Frankly, this recognition pleased Dantioch more than any merit.

The warsmith's fingers tapped on this world that had never been noticed before. He then slid north to the shadow of Nostramo, and groped a little south to Sara. Mas, when he moved towards the darker area in the east, a word [Ulan Huda] marked with the scarletest handwriting, arrived at the center of the circle where these three worlds were united.

At this time, the accompanying Iron Warriors often feel itchy when they look at the outstanding candidates who failed: after all, these candidates can be regarded as good prospects in any legion.

"Just this world, its location seems particularly important, um..."

"Then, after completing the fortress operations on the New Khartoum star, all the civilized worlds in this imperial galaxy have been fully armed. We can go further north: Is that the Tax Road area? "

This is an extremely legitimate and extremely glorious task: the War Blacksmith certainly has no reason to refuse.

"For an Olympian, this is outrageous."

The war blacksmith whispered in a voice that only he could hear. A bitter smile appeared on the corner of his mouth, and his fingertips once again delicately traced every world on the star map: and in most of the worlds, They all have a five-pointed star symbol containing a circle, which means that this world has completed the fortressization, and its planetary fortress is operating well at this time.

In these years, every Iron Warrior living in the Avalon region has actually invested in these long construction plans, running, sweating, toiling, and even being hurt: together they have built a It was a huge achievement, and Dantioch certainly did not dare to take the credit alone. He even doubted from the bottom of his heart whether his so-called merit was greater than that of any of the battle brothers who were laying foundations and measuring data outside.

"That's pretty much it."

…Salamas…

"..."

After all, he didn't know either.

Dantioch laughed again. He rubbed his fingers on the star map and reported to himself the work content in a low voice.

But there is one thing that Dantioch can guarantee.

Dantioch still remembered that it was during that summons that Morgan gave him the power to recruit new soldiers in part of the world of Salamas: At the time, this was just an expedient measure. After all, that At that time, Dantioch had only a few hundred men, which was a drop in the bucket for the defense of the entire Salamas sector.

Dantioch felt proud, and he certainly had the right to be proud: not just him, but outside his office, in this emerging fortress, in the entire Salamas sector, in the people he had just touched and On the land of every world I have ever read, there are countless steel warriors who are either working hard to build or working diligently on duty. They should all be proud of what they do.

All of this comes from the order of the Lord of Avalon: a few years ago, when the Salamas sector was gradually included in the administrative jurisdiction of the Human Empire or the Far Eastern Frontier, the Gene Mother of the Dawnbreaker specially Summoned Dantioch and asked him to give him one thing: Morgan hopes that Dantioch and the Iron Warriors can go to the Salamas sector to help the people there build a complete defense system and establish it in their hearts. It not only boosts confidence in the empire, but also protects against enemies that may invade at any time in the darkness outside the territory.

He knew that this was sincere happiness, and it was also simple happiness: they were doing the right thing, fulfilling their responsibilities, standing side by side, cooperating with the people of the Human Empire, and looking at the fruits of their labor. The location is taking shape day by day.

But what neither Morgan nor Dantioch expected was that in the past few years, not only would Petula pay attention to the situation of his descendants in the Dawnbreaker Legion from time to time, but also according to the Lord of Steel's own [calculations] ], reinforcements and a certain amount of gene seeds were sent from time to time, and Dantioch was holding the gene seeds sent by Perturabo, and what he and his brothers had come down [frugally and frugally], in Sara The expansion operation of the Maas Sector was also extremely smooth.

In other words, at least it broke through six thousand, because Dantioch knew very well that sometimes, when the Dawnbreakers and the Iron Warriors acted together, something like this would happen: the Dawnbreakers were doing things in the local world after the action. A recruitment campaign was held, and several new blood were successfully screened out from hundreds of candidates.

Quite, Sederjets, Kales, Turabraks, Makator, Gurgrad, and the New Khartoum planet where they are now, as well as the worlds surrounded by these worlds. Queen's Crown: Salamas.

Dantioch was well aware of the thirst for talents among his company commanders or team captains, so he very humanely distributed part of the gene seeds in his hands, acquiescing to his subordinates' "acting cheaply" when acting alone.

"..."

After thinking for a moment, the heir of Perturabo took steps and walked around his desk. Arriving in front of the huge star map, which clearly showed the detailed layout of the entire Salamas sector, Dantioch's fingers wrapped in steel kept groping back and forth on the star map. Tapping the names of one world after another, he knew them by heart.

"Chaguarsa."

And this is what Dantioch and the more than 6,000 Iron Warriors under his command took several years to achieve: they traveled to every world in the Pearl of the Far East, beside all civilized cities worth defending. , carefully measure the land, explore data, combine local traditions, and unite the people to create the most theoretically perfect defense system. In those worlds where their own strength is insufficient, they will even leave a certain size of troops. To ensure that the fortress they built can operate well.

Therefore, the War Blacksmith himself is not very clear about how many Iron Warriors are active in the Avalon region. He is also beating the drum secretly. After all, there are all Iron Warriors active in the Salamas sector. For their own tasks, they had not gathered together for a long time to count the number of people in a unified manner.

The warsmith nodded.

"The coalition forces of Lord Morgan and Lord Conrad are in the Nostramo area and will soon pass through Chaguarsa and go south. They may use that as a starting point to attack Ulan Huda: If we continue to build northward If we go to the fortress, we may meet them at Chaguarsa. I haven’t seen Lord Morgan for a long time.”

"Just in time, this time I can go and thank her for the gift she sent last time."

"..."

The war blacksmith touched his aching neck, which was the pain of working for a long time. He was thinking about something in silence, but bursts of children's laughter coming from outside the house interrupted Dantioch's long meditation. The heir of Perturabo frowned almost instinctively, but soon, he shook his head with a wry smile and did not ask, although according to the tradition of the Fourth Legion, when they were building the fortress, let alone These mortal children, they would not even allow any mortals to watch around the fortress.

But now, the situation is a little different: not only are the construction sites filled with a large number of mortals who even volunteer to help, but even on the hills outside the construction sites, there are many who look at these behemoths with curious eyes. Among them, the brave ones even dared to run up to the Astartes warriors, touch those extremely cold armors, and observe these unheard of giants with upward eyes.

After all, since a long time ago, the number of new soldiers recruited in Avalon has far exceeded the number of veterans coming from the Fourth Legion: the ratio is about five to one, and these Iron Warriors recruited locally in the Far Eastern Frontier They will never drive away mortal children rudely. At most, they will place these children at a safe distance.

Dantioch once tried to persuade them to abide by the ancient laws of the Iron Warriors, but in exchange they only received confused looks from these new bloods, and the war blacksmith could not say anything: after all, in addition to these soft-hearted bad habits, these Far Eastern frontiers The boys are indeed the best recruits, the best that the Iron Warriors have not seen in a long time. They were not even qualified to recruit such good recruits before.

not to mention……

The Warsmith breathed deeply: even as he pondered these trivial annoyances, he did not feel angry.

After staying on the Far Eastern frontier for so long, amid the cheers of mortals, in peace of mind, and building so many dream fortresses, even the most taciturn veterans of the Iron Warriors Legion can hardly be like they were during the Fourth Legion. , committed some violent act: both the war blacksmith and his old subordinates seemed to have fallen into a rather strange and peaceful state of mind.

Although each of them knows that this wonderful scene will not last long. They will eventually return to the Yu Legion and the ancient methods of the Fourth Legion. But at least, no one is willing to take the initiative now. This pleasant reality came to break the wonderful time that everyone kept in silence.

The same goes for Dantioch.

"..."

The war blacksmith smiled bitterly and looked at the objects placed on his desk: apart from the necessary office supplies, there were only three additional [personal items].

The first one was a letter from his genetic father: In the letter, Perturabo explained the various battle situations and [victories] of the Fourth Legion in recent days, and also told Dantioch in the usual way, not to He lost face in the Legion of Dawnbreaker, and also very [inadvertently] mentioned Morgan's praise for Dantioch and other Iron Warriors in his letters to him.

The war blacksmith could feel that his father must have been in a good mood when he wrote this letter, and in the heart of his genetic father, the trust in Dantioch must have convinced most of the Iron Warriors Feeling jealous: But despite this, the War Blacksmith still had to face this letter with a wry smile.

After all, almost every time, the war blacksmith would raise his pen, put a decimal point on the casualty rate behind those [victories], and then pass it on to the local steel warriors of Avalon: This became the heartfelt message of the old people. The undisclosed secret became a fig leaf erected for the Primarch in front of new people.

"..."

Originally, this is nothing, but if you look at it together with the item next to it...

The war blacksmith's eyes drifted, and he looked at the four rings on the table: these are the company commander rings in the Dawnbreaker Legion. Only the company commander of each company has the right to own them, symbolizing his management rights over a company. : And the ones placed on Dantioch's table are from forty-six to forty-nine respectively.

There are no these four companies in the Dawnbreaker Legion, and when Morgan handed these four rings to the War Blacksmith, the Primarch didn't say anything, but the War Blacksmith knew very well what the Lord of Avalon wanted to say. What.

And this was also his worry and the reason why he had to keep these four rings.

After all, the War Blacksmith knew very well: he would one day return to the Fourth Legion, but those new blood of Avalon outside the house, those legion recruits they had personally selected to fight alongside them, those who had no interest in the Primarch All their knowledge is covered up by the veterans and kept in the dark by the new recruits.

Are they going back too?

Do they also have to endure the real Fourth Army?

them……

Is it really not going to cause trouble?

……

No matter how the situation develops, it will definitely not be something these recruits can bear.

But what did these recruits do wrong? They were just a group of good guys who fulfilled their responsibilities, maintained their conscience, and had unrealistic illusions about their original body.

"..."

He took another look at the rings.

The reason why the war blacksmith chose to take over these rings from Morgan was for the sake of the new blood: he must always leave a way out for those good boys.

……

He must always provide protection for other people, some of his old friends.

The war blacksmith smiled bitterly as he saw the third item on the table.

It was a death notice, a death notice about the Iron Warriors who died in the Far Eastern Frontier that was about to be mailed to Perturabo.

"..."

War, the blacksmith raised the corners of his lips.

To be honest, after so many years, there have been several batches of reinforcements sent by the Fourth Legion, and the total number is more than a thousand: although in the eyes of the Lord of Steel, this More than a thousand soldiers have now suffered all casualties, but the war blacksmith knows very well that the number of people who actually died in the battle is probably less than fifty.

But so what?

Over the years, he signed death notices, vouching for his position in his father's heart, and the number of confirmed deaths has exceeded 500.

"..."

Of course they are not dead, they are even alive and well, enjoying the cheers of mortals in various worlds in the Salamas sector, building the fortress of their dreams, and serving the empire as much as possible with their own contributions: but Not to become that meaningless number in a meaningless war.

Frankly speaking, when the first old man came to find the war blacksmith, cautiously hoping to become a "killed man", Dantioch was not very surprised in his heart: in fact, he had already expected this. situation.

He just didn't expect that after setting a precedent, [the number of casualties] would be like an avalanche, completely unstoppable. Even the reinforcements who arrived one after another turned a blind eye to this. Many people even After building a castle in the Far Eastern Frontier for several years, he happily added it to the [killed list].

The Lord of Steel, who was far away, was satisfied with this [sacrifice].

"..."

Dantioch smiled bitterly, he didn't even know what to say: the fire of deceiving the Primarch boiled in his heart, which was the most instinctive pain of being an Astartes, but in that tormented heart, the war The blacksmith also already has his own stubbornness.

then.

He took the paper, another deception of the Primarch.

Extremely painful.

Started to put pen to paper.

First, there was a name that he was very familiar with and was still fresh today, and then at the bottom, as the confirmer, Dantioch's own name.

The war blacksmith writes skillfully. He has signed countless such lists and signed his name countless times.

"..."

He could only hope for one thing.

He could only hope that he would insist on signing his name at the bottom.

(End of this chapter)