"One more thing."
Hades looked at Finus, his eyes looked very harmless, as if he was testing whether Finus could accept this.
Finus stared at Hades with a puzzled frown, waiting for his next words.
"Uh... well... In addition to being a soulless person, I also have some special abilities in mechanical manipulation."
Finus stared calmly at Hades's mechanical brain.
[I am not surprised. In fact, before boarding the ship, I did not expect that the Mechanical Sage would have a certain status in the Order of Silence—I think you mean his proficiency in machinery and his expertise in mechanized warfare?]
Finus showed his hands covered with steel. He was also a skilled man in steel.
Hades blinked, and raised his right index finger slightly on the armrest of the chair.
!
Fenus suddenly leaned forward, and the Lord of Medusa saw clearly that several small green lightning bolts were tumbling from between Hades's gauntlets.
In a trance, Fenus felt that his armor system seemed to have a faint resonance with those electric arcs, which made the Primarch spend a little attention to check his armor system.
"Actually, it goes a little deeper than that."
Hades stood up and looked at Finus thoughtfully.
"The Order of Silence does not have as many mechanized troops as the Iron Hands. Can you allow me to go to the Iron Hands Legion for a demonstration?"
Finus nodded slowly, still staring thoughtfully at Hades' hands, even though the lightning was long gone.
————
If Mortarion was a pragmatist, so was Fenus, as can be seen from the two Primarchs' Glorious Queen.
The Death Guard's Endurance was like a mourning girl in a torn sack, while the Iron Hands' Iron Fist was even more unadorned. While the Death Guard would hide the pipes and engines in the walls and floors, the Iron Hands chose to expose them directly - or rather, in the eyes of Fenus, these mechanical creations were decorations themselves.
Perhaps in the eyes of others, this is a manifestation of the Iron Hand's inhumanity and weirdness, but for Hades... The ubiquitous steam, the smell of oil and metal fills every corner, the engines and pistons roar on the edge of the wall, and mechanical life is everywhere.
This is simply... hot!
Hades decided to give the Iron Hands' mothership ninety-nine points, and the remaining one point was used to distinguish the Iron Hands from the Death Guard.
Of course, this does not mean that Hades decided to include the Iron Hands as his "Nth spiritual homeland". The reason is simple. The home planet of Fenus is as bad as Barbaros, and the flowers growing from Medusa are even worse - at least Hades cannot fully appreciate them.
Although Hades, whose half head was made of metal, seemed no different from the Iron Hand standing guard for them in the corridor at first glance.
Hades's eyes swept over the warriors inconspicuously. As far as he could see, no one was "intact". They all showed signs of mechanized transformation.
Among the dozen or so legions, the Iron Hands have the highest degree of mechanization. This admiration for machinery, or rather, contempt for the weakness of flesh and blood, has become one of the legion's creeds. An Iron Hand trusts machinery more than his own flesh and blood. They will selectively replace their own flesh with machinery, little by little - until they can no longer bear any more engines and cables.
This kind of thinking is obviously extreme, and in the Warhammer universe, the most taboo thing is extreme thinking (although those who are not extreme will most likely not survive in the early stages). If Chaos really wants to, this is certainly a gap that can corrode the soul.
If there is time, Hades hopes that everyone present will not be so extreme, but there is no time now, and his presence can ensure that the Iron Hands will not be corroded, so... The Iron Hands, which has the highest degree of mechanization and even the bodies of the legionnaires have been transformed by machines, will be the best comrade-in-arms to match Hades' physical side.
Even when he boarded the Iron Fist, Hades could already feel the beauty of the abundant mechanical ensemble. They were welcoming him as if they were welcoming an old friend who had returned long ago.
Hades remained silent, as Fenus walked beside him, and Hades had to restrain his own black domain and the authority of the Void Dragon. But even so, every time Hades lifted his feet to walk, green arcs of electricity would still light up under his magnetic boots, connecting with the metal floor.
What Hades didn't know was that the Iron Hands warriors he was dealing with felt their spirits and metal bodies tremble as he passed by, but these warriors all attributed this to the credit of meeting the Primarch in person.
Finus strode into the training room. According to Hades' request, various types of Land Raiders and Poison Blades were displayed here. In an inconspicuous corner of the training room, Hades even saw the Iron Spike intelligent iron man unique to the Iron Warriors.
The torrent of steel in the training room was divided into two opposing parts. As long as the Primarch gave the order, the smoke and artillery fire would ignite.
Hades briefly looked around the field, then he chose to stay in a defensive trench in the rear.
According to the style of the Iron Warriors, the first round would probably be indiscriminate fire suppression, and Hades would not need to show up. This could be seen from the fact that except for a few necessary repair personnel and mobile personnel, the rest of the soldiers on the battlefield were in vehicles and trenches.
Anyway, it was just a cover-up. Hades smiled and turned to look at Finus who was following him.
"Let's get started."
Hades said softly, and the next moment, sweeping darkness accompanied by lightning descended into the small trench.
Finus's voice sounded almost synchronously with the artillery fire that sounded a moment later. The floor of the entire training room was shaking violently. Although they were all practice bullets, their lethality should not be underestimated.
"BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!"
Bright flames exploded and both sides began to bombard each other. Hades could feel that some vehicles had been judged to be "scrapped".
[There was no simulated air combat this time. Generally speaking, the Air Force will play an important role in the first round of bombing.]
As if to prevent Hades from imagining the Iron Hands as some kind of old-fashioned ancient or World War I army, Fenus's voice echoed slowly in the darkness.
Finus' eyelids twitched. He crossed his arms and stared at the emerald arcs shining around him. Finus was shocked. He didn't hate this feeling, but...
Finus clenched his fist.
[I think these darkness and lightning are not the same abilities? ]
Lord Medusa asked abruptly. The reason was simple. Although the electric arc did not disgust him, he did feel nauseous and powerless when he was shrouded in darkness.
"That's right."
In the darkest fog, a few emerald green fluorescent dots flickered, and Hades' voice came from there. He sounded very happy.
"Darkness is the trait of the soulless, and these arcs..."
Hades paused. He couldn't just say Void Dragon.
"It's my authority on the mechanical side."
[authority.]
Finus frowned and repeated the word.
[I took it you weren't a psyker? This looks like psyker.]
There was silence on Hades' side, but soon Hades answered Finus' question.
"I misunderstood the term, but you see, Fainus, physical universes can have their own magic - it's called science, of course."
Finus frowned. He wanted to ask something else, but the shaking ground stopped at this moment. The charging radio waves shuttled through the channel, and a light laugh came from the darkness, which sounded like a sigh.
"It's hard for me to describe it. You'll understand after watching it once."
The darkness rolled,
“You can witness it.”
At first, those tiny arcs of electricity crackled in the gaps between the tracks and the ground, flashed between the triggers of guns, and then the metal began to resonate with it.
Finus took a breath quietly without leaving any trace.
As if assimilating, those tiny emerald green arcs like static electricity spread like a spider web from the trench closest to them. Metal and machinery are their best conductors, and as the lightning spreads, these tiny guys begin to become more dazzling.
Finally, those who were concentrating on the battlefield discovered the arcs of electricity that were everywhere. They looked around themselves in confusion and surprise, at the metal wrapped in lightning.
"Everyone on the Red Team, this is my ability. Don't be surprised. I will assist you in the battle."
Hades' voice sounded from the channel in time, but Fenugreek knew that in addition to the red side, he also saw the same arc on the blue side.
After the electric arc had basically covered the entire field, the first drop of silvery-white metal dripped out from under the damaged tank fender.
Hades closed his eyes. He "saw" the two armies fighting in front of the first line of defense. Countless binary data streams were roaring. He heard the blue side's radio waves, the data of the metal creations in the soldiers' bodies, and the whispers of those machines.
That's fine.
Hades held the sickle in one hand and stretched out the other hand, and the lush green light broke through the gloomy darkness.
The electric arc suddenly burst out!
The blue team's channel was instantly covered with violent noise. The tank engines on the front line made a dying roar, and then their tracks began to slow down. The soldiers who were advancing steadily with guns in hand suddenly paused, and were "killed" by the red team who seized the flaw in an instant.
At that moment, Fenus felt like his heart had stopped beating.
He opened his eyes wide and looked in disbelief at the data that was coming back frantically from the front lines.
The blue team's electronic systems were basically scrapped, which meant that the overall command came to nothing. Even the vehicles that relied the least on sophisticated systems were scrapped. According to feedback from the casting masters who were still struggling on the front lines, the cables and metal components at key points of these vehicles were melted by the silvery-white liquid metal.
This is not the end yet. Even the metal devices in the soldiers' bodies began to report errors. No... no no no, this is too horrible.
People's behavior was like they were infected with an electronic virus, but that was not the case. What really affected them were the lightning and inexplicable silver-white metal that existed between the machines!
If it was an electronic virus, they would have ways to defend against it, but this, but this—
Why does such an outrageous ability exist
Finus felt his brain begin to tremble. He checked the data closely, hoping to find an exception. Then, the Primarch discovered that the blue side's iron spike and iron ring robots were the ones with the smallest reduction in efficiency. After that, there were still some sporadic vehicles whose efficiency remained above 80%.
On the other side, the Iron Masters of the Red Team who were repairing the damaged vehicles discovered that the vehicles had been covered with silver-white metal and repaired before they could start repairing them, leaving only pale green arcs flashing from time to time.
Finus swallowed silently. At this moment, the overall performance evaluation of the red team was 120% or above of the usual level.
The Primarch slowly tuned up the communication channel between him and the Blue Commander. As expected, he heard a rational but unbelievable voice on the other end, and the end of the Heir's words was trembling slightly.
Finus took a deep breath. How many secrets did his father still hide? It was hard to understand...
[… That’s enough.]
Finus exhaled a foul breath and stared at the darkness at the other end in silence.
Perhaps only the efficient Finus Manus could immediately understand what this meant. In a short period of time, the enemy's mechanized forces were destroyed to less than 40%... If it happened unexpectedly, it would be enough to directly reverse the outcome of a battle.
But deep down in his heart, Fenus realized that Hades' ability would be the best weapon against mechanized troops - and of course, the best aid.
No one... No one... At least Finus himself did not want to be hostile to such a being. The Primarch could already feel the collapsed hearts of some blue warriors. The Iron Fist that they were so proud of had now become a burden.
Fenus heard a relaxed inquiry coming from the darkness.
The Primarch sighed loudly.
[I said, enough is enough.]
Fenus raised his voice, and the next moment, the darkness dissipated instantly, and the lightning splashed to the ground like the last falling rain and disappeared without a trace.
He saw Hades looking at him expressionlessly, and lightning seemed to have just struck in his black eyes.
Finus swallowed imperceptibly.
Then, he saw Hades smile in a seemingly "honest" way, and Hades scratched his head while smiling.
"I'm sorry, I seem to have startled some of the soldiers. Perhaps I should have explained this in advance, but I haven't seen so many beautiful mechanical troops in a long time, and I couldn't help myself."
Hades looked at him with a smile and opened his hands.
“… That’s about it?”
Hades said uncertainly. He blinked and snapped his fingers as if he had thought of something.
"Why don't you end the exercise now? I still have a little control left. I can take this opportunity to repair your car or something, but it can only be silver-white. I don't have the ability to change colors."
Finus took a deep breath, and then he took another deep breath.
[Perhaps you can go and look at the warriors you scared, and then tell them in detail how to cooperate with you in the battle.]
Finus said leisurely.
Although the Iron Hands advocate a brutal competition system, any warrior who shows weakness or fear will be immediately challenged by other warriors who hope to rise to the top, and his status will plummet.
But... Fenus thought about his shock just now... Lord Medusa decided to forgive his descendants for their mistake this time.
Finus remembered what Hades had said before. Yes, Finus thought, his wording was not wrong. This was already... another existence.
He stared at Hades, who was debugging the channel and was eager to try his suggestion. For some reason, Finus felt a strange sense of security.
Although he always claimed that he liked dealing with machines, at this moment, Fenus hoped that the other party would behave more like a human.
Big chapter, 4.2k, no more, good
(End of this chapter)