The stench of corpses filled the wasteland of Galaspa, and near the hive, corpses had already piled up into small hills.
A large hole was clearly visible on the bloated nest, with wisps of smoke floating out from time to time.
Mortarion watched his two brothers step off the shuttle in silence, and he slowly pursed his dry lips.
Originally, each returning Primarch would be led by his brother Primarch who brought them back one step further to learn how to become a qualified legion commander and gradually integrate into the Empire.
Originally, it was Horus who was going to lead Mortarion, but by chance, it was Malcador who completed Mortarion's integration into the Empire.
Mortarion did not have much contact with his so-called biological brothers.
But he was able to distinguish the two who came through Malcador's previous descriptions of the various Primarchs.
The figure walking in front was shorter, wearing a distinctly different black steel armor. However, this complex and sophisticated power armor did not cover his hands, but instead revealed his silver-white steel arms. The metal looked tough enough to be flawless.
Mortarion caught this detail, and he must be Finus. According to Malcador, this was a person who was born in the world of death like him, and he pursued rationality and efficiency to the extreme.
This is good news, Mortarion thought.
Because of his previous understanding, Mortarion realized that he was not satisfied with all of his brothers. In those obscure and evasive descriptions, Mortarion decisively grasped those brothers that he might dislike.
For example, he has a brother who uses psychic powers, and he is puzzled by the pursuit of glory and splendor by most of his brothers.
But now it was Fenus who came, Mortarion thought, and he hoped that his brother could judge the Death Guard's achievements fairly. After all, this would affect the Empire's future positioning of the Death Guard and the battlefields to which they might be summoned.
And behind his brother, Finus, an extremely tall figure walked over silently.
A rather large man, the elder brother was taller than even Mortarion, and he looked wider than three unarmored Mortarions stacked together.
Mortarion had never seen anyone taller than the Emperor.
Mortarion felt himself tense for a moment, but he forced himself to relax, keeping his eyes fixed on the second comer.
A question briefly popped up: why didn't the taller person walk in front
The thought quickly passed away.
The emerald green armor was carved to look like dragon scales. Because of the cleverly carved angles, even in the dim daytime of Galasper, brilliant light shone on his armor.
Unique pure black skin, fire burning in his eyes.
That must be Vulkan, Mortarion thought silently.
According to Malcador, Vulkan was a benevolent Primarch.
Mercy? Would he understand the mercy of Mortarion's death? Would he assess the Death Guard with mercy
Mortarion didn't know, he just stood there silently, waiting and welcoming his two brothers to come.
Beside him, the death shrouds also stood silently, but he knew that there was one person missing in this line.
Mortarion felt uncomfortable about being judged by others, and he felt himself getting irritated again, but his uneasiness was mitigated by the fact that he was meeting two brothers who looked good for the first time.
However, he later realized that he was wrong, very wrong.
As they got closer, even someone as slow-witted as Mortarion could sense that something was amiss.
The visitor remained silent, and Mortarion even saw a hint of moisture in Vulkan's flaming eyes.
Mortarion's heart suddenly stopped.
The misfortune has begun.
"Hello my brother, nice to meet you."
"Fenus Manus, Lord of Medusa, Legion Master of the Iron Hands."
Fenus motioned for his guards to stand down and extended his iron hand to Mortarion.
"Mortarion, Lord of Barbarus, Legion Master of the Death Guard."
"Nice to meet you, too."
Mortarion muttered beneath his breathing mask.
His voice was hoarse and rough compared to his brother's firm and rich voice.
They shook their hands, but the other side's hands were strong and firm.
Then Mortarion slowly turned his gaze to Vulkan and extended his hand as well.
Vulkan smiled reluctantly, but took the hand Mortarion extended.
"Vulkan, a Nocturne, leader of the Salamanders."
The Fire Dragon Lord's body temperature was very high. Even through the power armor, Mortarion could feel the burning sensation like lava.
They quickly let go.
"I looked at the statistics of the Death Guard in this battle."
Finus in front of Mortarion took a deep breath, and stared at Mortarion with his deep eyes, as if he was restraining something.
"But I still want you to introduce us to this battle of the Death Guard."
Mortarion blinked slowly, something didn't feel right, but he decided to go on, telling his two brothers about the victory of the Death Guard.
The Lord of Death turned sideways to give his brothers a clearer view of the mountain of corpses.
Vulkan's figure swayed.
"Those were the rulers of Galaspar's tyranny, but they're all there now, every single one of them."
"Tyrants oppress the people, treating them as their real estate, and oppressing them from generation to generation."
“But now, the oppression is gone.”
"The Death Guard uprooted the Galaspa system's management system, not even the tiniest cell escaped."
"We destroyed Galaspa's regime in one day."
Having said that, Mortarion felt a little relieved. His Death Guard did not let him down, and he also did not let his Death Guard down. He eradicated the tyranny.
"Brother Mortarion, may I ask you a question?"
Vulkan's voice rang out,
Mortarion turned his head and looked at Vulkan in confusion, but the shadow of his hood covered his eyes.
"What are those people moving on the mountain of corpses?"
On top of the densely packed pile of corpses, those ragged little dots moved slowly.
At first, Vulkan thought they were locals stripping wealth and clothing from the corpses, but he stared for a long time and saw that those people did not remove any jewelry.
“They’re counting.”
Mortarion's voice sounded casually.
“The oppressed need to feel for themselves that the oppression is gone, and they need to stand up for themselves.”
"so?"
Vulkan was puzzled.
"So I asked them to count the bodies of the tyrants, so that they would realize that the heavy oppression was over."
Vulkan choked completely.
He couldn't understand, he couldn't understand. He tried hard to understand this brother. He heard that Mortarion came from a dim death planet, so, was this the custom there
“Have you asked the locals what they want?”
Vulkan asked one last question carefully, but Mortarion's response overwhelmed him.
"?"
What's there to ask
These ragged men had no way of realizing Mortarion's ideas, and the Death Guard had so much to do that he had no time to do them.
What, talk to a local? He might as well go sit in the infirmary for a while.
Vulkan completely collapsed. The dragon spoke slowly but firmly.
"Brother, Brother Mortarion, you cannot replace one tyranny with another."
Mortarion paused.
Is Vulkan saying that the Death Guard is a tyranny
They clearly brought liberation, and Mortarion even let those people witness the tyrant being hanged with their own eyes.
tyranny
He hasn't done anything yet, why blame him.
Suddenly, Mortarion realized that his brother was known for his kindness. He breathed a sigh of relief.
That was too kind of him, Mortarion thought.
If Vulkan were also on a death world like Barbarus, he wouldn't think so.
However, Finus spoke. He turned his head and looked at Vulcan comfortingly. Vulcan nodded, indicating that he was fine.
"So, man, is this what you wanted us to see?"
"Let's not talk about words like tyranny. I think Brothers like Guilliman might be interested in this, but I really don't pay much attention to it."
"I mean, if you know you've purged all of Galaspa's administrative staff, where are you going to find replacements for them?"
Mortarion choked for a moment, then spoke slowly:
"The Empire will send administrative agencies. They have already sent the tax department."
Finus smiled slightly, but his frown did not relax.
"My brother, we do have slightly different views on the Empire's taxation, but I think you know that the Empire cannot send so many administrative personnel to a giant hive region like the Galasper region in a short period of time."
In fact, except for some major planets or extreme star regions, on most of the conquered planets, the empire only sent the tax department there, and then symbolically inserted a few administrative departments, and left the rest to the natives of the original planet.
Mortarion was silent. He really didn't pay attention to the administration of the hive after that. He just knew that the factory here was no longer operating.
But that's how it is in war, isn't it
"Death Guard can be managed by the locals."
“I hope this is a feasible approach.”
Finus spoke mercilessly,
"But on this planet, with the highly specialized education system, I don't think you can find a large number of administrative talents in the short term."
Mortarion said no more, retreating quietly beneath the shadow of his hood, but he knew that he was not defeated.
"This is my first time doing this. No one told me that in addition to wars and victories, the Legion also had to worry about these mortal affairs."
"But the Death Guard's war performance is not so satisfactory, my brother."
Finus continued to pursue Mortarion, trying to tear him apart with his words.
"The fleet suffered too many casualties. Moreover, the Death Guard's casualty ratio in this battle was shockingly high, even when compared to other battles."
The Death Guard lost more than 10,000 men in this battle, although most of them were new recruits.
Finus looked at his brother in front of him with dissatisfaction. The poison gas and the torn cloak covered most of his brother's body, making it impossible for him to see Mortarion's reaction.
Could it be that this newly returned brother has a similar attitude to that of Perturabo towards his own legion and descendants
Mortarion in front of him moved, and poison gas drifted into the air as he moved.
"These were necessary sacrifices to liberate this region."
He spoke hoarsely, and Finus noticed that his brother's voice was too hoarse, like a pebble that had been soaked in acid. But given their physical constitution, it should be difficult to leave long-term permanent damage.
"Have you really liberated this place?"
Finus spoke. He really didn't understand this brother's strange thinking, avoiding the important issues, but the data and reality were there.
Is he blind to the huge sacrifices
So far, based on Mortarion's behavior, Finus has analyzed that Mortarion attaches great importance to some ideological "values".
But it was not the pursuit of glory in the ordinary sense. He deliberately chose Galaspa for the sake of pursuing glory.
After all, no matter from which dimension this battle is measured, it cannot be described as "glorious".
Finus knew that people like his best friend Fulgrim would pursue perfection and glory on the battlefield and win every war beautifully.
But he was ashamed to draw parallels between their previous battles and the present one, that of Galaspar.
Pointless battle.
Finus thought.
Huge sacrifices and losses will result in the capture of a galaxy that cannot immediately provide production capacity for the empire, and the empire may even need additional support here.
The items on both ends of the scale are not equal.
Why didn't his brother give up this place, let the empire surround this star field, and then join forces with other legions to attack when the empire needed it
Before this evaluation, in order to examine his brother's battle results comprehensively and without omission, Finus checked all the data and information in detail.
It is clear that there are at least three pocket kingdoms suitable for the Death Guard to attack in the nearby star field. Mortarion can easily deliver the Death Guard's first battle speech on their scenic main stars.
"My brother, based on reality and post-war data evaluation, I believe that this battle is not suitable to be recorded in the history of the empire."
According to the imperial custom, after a legion battle, the victory would be recorded in the history books by historians and publicized throughout the empire.
Legions that achieved hard-earned victories and performed exceptionally well in battle were further rewarded, sometimes even directly from the Emperor.
But not all battles are like this.
Those battles that were dishonorable or resulted in heavy losses to the legions and were not glorious would be hidden and disappear in the vast history of the empire.
Obviously, such a battle, as the first battle of the Death Guard, a battle that left an impression on other legions, was not suitable for publicity.
Finus was also thinking about Mortarion, after all, some of their other brothers were not so tolerant.
He looked at Mortarion, who had been standing silently without saying a word since a while ago, and the poisonous gas slowly dissipated.
"you-"
You cannot insult the victory of me and my Legion, you are only trying to steal the fruits of the Death Guard's victory and measure this war by your so-called standards.
In war, the only criterion is victory or defeat. Don't use those cumbersome standards you defined to restrict us and steal our victory.
Mortarion was familiar with the ugly faces of these people. When he was still weak enough, his adoptive father would always assign him various tasks. Every time Mortarion completed them, he would say completely opposite judgment criteria.
Just like now.
They won the victory, but will they be judged by enough mortal officials after the war? !
Mortarion's vicious words, defending his own honor and that of the Death Guard, are about to be sprayed like poisonous gas -
Behind him, there was a sudden commotion in his death shroud.
In front of him, Finus and Vulcan stared at him with some confusion.
Then Mortarion stopped talking and turned back.
Hades, fully armed and wearing the Death Shroud Armor, stood in the queue. On his left shoulder was the emblem of the Death Guard, and on his right shoulder, the emblem of the Cult of Mars was clearly visible.
Hades took a slow step forward, feeling as tired as if he had just walked over a mountain.
He clasped his hands together on his chest and gave the Sky Eagle Salute.
"I'm sorry to bother you, sir, but I have completed the data you asked me to collect."
What data
Although Mortarion was happy to see Hades awake, he was also sorry for not being able to visit him.
But now all these emotions, including the anger just now, are surrounded by inexplicable doubts.
Mortarion's face was full of confusion, but fortunately he was wearing a breathing mask, so Fenus and Vulkan did not see his puzzled expression.
However, Hades did not give Mortarion time to react and continued speaking quickly.
When Finus and Vulkan saw that Mortarion was not angry or scolding the Death Shroud for interrupting his conversation, they thought it was Mortarion's arrangement and did not say much.
"A secondary survey report on the distribution and production capacity of Galaspa Hive has been completed, and a preliminary assessment of the population structure and original division of labor has also been conducted."
"The Mechanical Sages have also analyzed this."
"The conclusion is that Galasper is suitable as a recruitment planet for the Death Guard. Your previous doubts can be dispelled."
He had not considered Galasper as a recruiting planet—
"So that's how it is?"
However, Finus's words interrupted Mortarion's confusion.
Fenus's gaze fell on Hades, and he looked at the Martian Cult label on his shoulder armor, thoughtfully.
If it was sent to Mars when the Death Guard was first established, it should not be able to get the Martian certification badge now, right
But Finus quickly focused his attention on what Hades had just said.
If his weird brother wanted to use Galasper as a recruiting planet, then his behavior would be more explainable.
At least it is much more reasonable than for the sake of "liberation".
After all, as a giant hive world, Galaspa also has the resources to produce large quantities of weapons and ammunition, and it has a large population and abundant resources.
Normally, the Empire would not give this kind of world to the Legion because they are simply too wealthy.
But the difficulty of attacking this galaxy means that the Empire will not touch it.
If they ignore the blockade and insist on attacking and capturing this galaxy, the Death Guard, which has suffered heavy losses, can apply to the Empire for this galaxy as a conscription galaxy.
Could it be
Finus gave Mortarion a meaningful look.
Did he deliberately clear out all administrative personnel to increase the difficulty of acceptance by the imperial administrative agencies so as to better absorb the resources here
I didn't expect such foresight.
Generally speaking, among the Primarchs who returned at the beginning, except Guilliman, few people started planning the Legion's recruitment sources and supply areas so early.
And Finus also knew that his brother Mortarion's home planet, Barbarus, seemed unable to support a large population.
So what Mortarion did just now was to prevent them from seeing his intentions and report them to the imperial administrative agencies
I see
No, Fenus thought, the Primarchs actually don't like the Imperial institutions very much.
"I see. I misunderstood, my brother."
Finus said,
"We are all brothers, don't worry."
"Can I ask a few more questions about your intention to use Galasper as a recruiting planet?"
Mortarion before him was silent.
Hades' voice sounded, as hoarse as Mortarion's, but sonorous and powerful.
"Sir, Lord Mortarion, who is busy with the affairs of the Legion, has entrusted this matter to me. Please let me answer your questions."
"good."
Finus was not the kind of Primarch who would dwell on these things, so he simply threw out some of his confusion about the structure of Galaspa and the composition of its star fields.
To his delight, as a technical sergeant, the other party answered his questions one by one with concise summaries and rich data.
"Okay, very good."
"I am pleased to meet such an excellent Death Guard Tech Sergeant. What is your name?"
"I am the Death Guard, Hades."
Mortarion watched in silence as his two brothers boarded a shuttle in the distance. After a roar, the judge left.
Just now, it was Hades who was answering the questions from Finus and Vulcan.
Mortarion was confused and even a little annoyed at first, but he soon realized that his two brothers' attitude towards him had changed.
Especially Vulkan. When Hades "inadvertently" proposed to search and rescue children to facilitate the future education of the Death Guard, the search and rescue team had already set off. The originally dark Vulkan was simply glowing.
Obviously, apart from using Galasper as a recruiting planet, everything else has not changed, so why is their transformation so drastic
But Mortarion didn't care about having one more planet to recruit soldiers, so he listened to Hades' answer in silence.
Mortarion blinked and looked back at where Hades stood.
Hades must have mastered some unspoken evaluation criteria and learned the rules of those games.
Is this taught on Mars
He was about to ask—
However, on the other side, Hades watched in a daze as his nose began to bleed. The huge amount of calculations and data input just now made his brain hot.
In the chest, I felt like a second heart was bleeding.
God knows what a shock it was for him when he just woke up and heard Mortarion going to meet Fenus and Vulkan.
He was even wondering if Vulkan would fight Mortarion.
Without caring about anything else, Hades hurried here based on his memories of other primarchs in his previous life.
Faced with the pharmacist who came to dissuade him, Hades decisively threw him to his back and ran away after learning that walking a few steps or having a small fight would not allow him to enter the Fearless realm.
At the same time, he directly contacted Garo, Vox, other former company commanders, and Enrique, asking them to send him all of Galaspa's data.
Hades also bluntly instructed Vox to help him investigate.
The good news is that Galaspa is a really good recruiting point, and he managed to fool them.
Hades looked at Mortarion who was still confused and even wanted to ask him a question.
Mortarion, you fucking—
"Bang!"
Hades, unable to hold on any longer, fell to the ground.
Wait for me to sort out the book reviews and send out a single sheet
(End of this chapter)