Warhammer: In the Name of Nirvana

It took Jonson ten Terra Standard Hours to complete his plan.

The war started because of him.

The Lord of Caliban personally led the army, and his knights followed closely behind him. This army was protected by dozens of torpedoes or landing drop boats, constantly flashing through the endless darkness of gunfire. , drew a blurry and deadly golden spot, starting another hunt for Caliban's behemoth, and also starting the final chapter of Randan's siege.

The personal conquest from the Lord of the First Legion was like a horn that was too short but that no one could ignore, allowing the armies of the Human Empire to take the lead in the general offensive in advance. Countless elaborate plans were made for the Primarch's sense of war. And to give way, the various efforts of a certain Lord of Avalon behind the scenes is something that will be subconsciously ignored by everyone.

The Dark Angels consciously acted at the same time as their Primarch, and the Dawnbreakers soon received temporary orders from their genetic mother. As for the mortal auxiliaries with these Primarch blood descendants as the core, they were also like Like a hastily started gear, it took action.

Although this front against Ran Dan's home planet spans the outer orbit of an entire planet, it maintains amazing coordination under the full control of the Spider Queen: five minutes after Zhuang Sen's personal army set off, even if Even the fringe mortal armies also received specific orders, and countless armies were mobilized in this way to ensure that the Calibans would not go too far alone.

Hundreds of warships that were too late to line up became the first vanguard to break through the outermost atmospheric defense system of the planet. One-third of them will be turned into ashes under the attack of air mines and long-buried missiles under the surface. A pile of burning scrap iron, along with millions of lives on it, fell into the atmosphere. The remaining battleships would become the sharp wings of the human army, defeating the last fleet of the Ran Dan Empire and covering the sky. The sun cast its shadow upon the doomed world below them.

After the mortals had done all this, the real battle between the Primarchs and the Astartes began.

The battle started on the uppermost ring of steel in low-Earth orbit and ended on another ring of steel. The sound of screams and weapons firing filled the thin atmosphere, just like a dark night filled with mist. The light emitted by those treacherous stars that are so shadowy that one cannot find their bearings.

Zhuang Sen's beast-like judgment remained as accurate as ever. His pro-army troops were like daggers piercing flesh and blood, strangulating the throat of Ran Dan's defense line in one fell swoop. What followed was a full ten Terra standard hours. Destruction, outflanking and massacre, until the Lord of Caliban eliminated the last opponent in sight, and began to continue to expand his victory with great enthusiasm.

Outside of Jonson's field of vision, within the same ten Terran standard hours, more than a hundred battles and conflicts were taking place alternately around the alien empire's last high-altitude orbital defense system. The bloody sacrifice of a soldier, or the fighting and collision of millions of troops, happened day and night, spanning the eighth and ninth days of the war.

Lord Caliban's assault was like the most successful throat-cutting operation, actually killing the last bit of resistance of the Randan Empire in the void, but it would take the Randan army spread across three rings of steel to Complete destruction is far beyond what can be achieved in one assault.

That requires bleeding, a lot of blood, until the metal walls are dyed scarlet, until the originally peaceful depths of the void echo with disturbing brass horns.

The best Dark Angels and Dawnbreakers bleed in this huge steel tomb, falling with thousands of times their opponents, and their deaths, together with the gradually subdued sound of firefights, made this dying triple steel The ring fell completely into deathly silence, and finally became a dead city in the void with the lights extinguished.

Steel is dying, the sky is burning: whether looking down or looking up.

And Leon Jonson.

Couldn't care less.

——————

"I think……"

"I need soldiers, supplies, a fleet...and a new combat goal."

Zhuang Sen spoke the order in a tone of voice that no one could hear clearly, but there were no subordinates beside him. The lion noticed this, but his words still did not stop, but they were deeper. , like a kind of raving talking to oneself.

A groan sounded at his feet. It was the last twisted curse issued by the last guard in this fortress, an elite Randan Overlord: This miserable alien fought against the original body for three rounds before being defeated. It was knocked to the ground without mercy, and before that, it had killed at least two Dark Angels.

The Primarch of the Dark Angel Legion glanced at his opponent, then swung the lion sword in his hand and chopped off the ugly head: this was the ninetieth Randan Overlord he had killed in these ten hours. Now, as the armies of the Human Empire gradually surround the last homeland of these aliens, the resistance they have to face is also unprecedentedly crazy.

Whether it was Ran Dan's overlord who could stand up to the veterans of Terra, or the wizard who randomly stimulated psychic powers as a one-time bomb, or those powerful and extremely unstable experimental weapons, they were all defeated by Ran Dan. The Empire entered the battlefield against humanity, and when these violent and unintelligent forces accumulated into millions or more, they were enough to threaten the entire Knights of the Dark Angels.

Zhuang Sen knew this, but it was not enough to stop him. With his sleepless and leading actions, the core nodes in Ran Dan's defense network were finally broken, and the follow-up forces of the Human Empire were able to rush in and start. Ravage the alien home planet itself.

The Lord of Caliban captured a giant void fortress comparable to a satellite, two asteroid space stations filled with missile platforms, killed three Warmasters of Randan who could barely fight the Primarch, and slaughtered at least forty million Alien elites armed to the teeth, and motley crews a hundred times that number: Such achievements even shocked another Primarch entrenched on the Indomitable Truth.

And as for the price...

Zhuang Sen raised his head, and through the huge, twisted portholes of the alien fortress that were completely soaked in blood, he was able to see clearly what was happening in the void: the last Randan battleship lost its orbital defense system. After being protected, they were torn apart mercilessly. The briefly rampant air defense vitality on the alien home planet also gradually disappeared in front of the approaching human army.

The scheduling ability of the Lord of Avalon is always worthy of the greatest expectations: in just the blink of an eye, more than a thousand human warships entered the combat position in an orderly manner, completely surrounding the entire planet. At the same time as the shadow that covered the sky and the sun, it also cast equally terrifying cannonballs and flames.

This is exactly Johnson's meritorious service: if it weren't for the keen grasp of fighter planes by the Primarch and the Dark Angels, as well as the ten-hour fierce battle that followed, the human fleet would not have been able to break through Ran Dan's air defense system so easily and defeat the enemy. Fire reaches the alien homeland.

Once again, Caliban's brutal sense of smell rewrote the course of the war.

Jonson even felt proud of it: fleeting pride.

Because in the next second, he heard the footsteps of his son: it was not clear, even sticky footsteps, which naturally reminded people of those scattered on the floor, gradually drying out, hardening, and being constantly The trampling ended up in a swamp of blood that was like a smelly quagmire, and the steel boots slipped involuntarily when stepping on it.

When these boots move, their soles, which are covered with skin and intestines, will rub against the ground, eventually making a sharp creaking sound: in this war, this is simply a normal sight. Even Jonson's feet were like this.

The Primarch's thoughts trembled for a second because of this too realistic imagination. He frowned, turned around, and stared at the approaching warrior with emotionless lion pupils: That was a warrior he had some feelings for. He was a strange warrior, but the various coats of arms and decorations on his body showed his importance. Therefore, the Lord of Caliban used a gesture to signal his five hundred people to let this inexplicable knight in.

"What's the matter?"

The original body opened its mouth.

"This fortress has been cleared, Lord Primarch. Knight Commander Aled and I have just counted the losses and reorganized the troops, and are now waiting for your next order."

The knight's voice was a little unfamiliar, which made the Primarch couldn't help but carefully observe the armor and coat of arms of the visitor to identify which knight he belonged to, or which position he belonged to, or which mysterious order he was an agent of.

This is Jonson's privilege: after Lord Caliban simplified and transformed the originally complex Heavenly Army system of the First Legion, he is the only one who can control the entire Dark Angel Legion. Although the Lion King He is not familiar with the face of every Dark Angel, but he can identify which organization and class in the Legion is standing in front of him through the smallest differences in armor and coats of arms, thus commanding the entire First Legion. , and master all the secrets of the Dark Angel.

This is something that only the Lord of Caliban can do. Neither the Emperor nor Morgan can do it: although the Lord of Mankind can send the entire First Legion to death at any time, he has never been interested in understanding it. These are complex systems that have been passed down for hundreds of years. Although the Spider Queen can temporarily dispatch the entire Dark Angel Legion for Jonson, the biggest basis for this mutual trust and co-governance is that Morgan will never explore the real secrets of the First Legion.

"You wear the coat of arms of the Commander of the Fourteenth Knights, but you are not him."

The Lion King looked up and down at the heir standing in front of him, frowning.

"I remember that the Knight Commander of the Fourteenth Knights was Slade. He was one of the first members of the Legion that I knew. I personally appointed him as the Knight Commander of the Fourteenth Knights: Where are the others?"

"Has been sacrificed, sir. Just five hours ago, he died from the self-destruction of the alien wizard during the battle for Hall C144."

The primarch's brow did not relax.

"It's a pity, Slade is one of the best Terran warriors I know: but I remember that if Knight Commander Slade died in the battle, then Narmottar, Kleve and Theodore would Taking his place in turn: where are they now?”

The Primarch's words pointed to a terrible result, and standing in front of him, the current Knight Commander of the Fourteenth Knights, lowered his head slightly, and an unspeakable sadness was wandering in his eyebrows. .

"Sir, in the past eight Terran standard hours, the Fourteenth Knights relied on your orders to launch a cleaning operation against the alien's second ring of steel, aiming to eliminate the elite armored troops deployed there by Ran Dan. .”

Johnson nodded.

"Yes, this is indeed my order, and I still remember that just half an hour ago, you reported to me that you had completely completed this order."

"We have indeed completed it, sir: but we have also paid a huge casualty. In order to fight against Randan's alien experimental weapons, Knight Commander Slade led a commando team composed of officers and elites from the Knights. Although the operation to decapitate the enemy command was successful, the casualties were high.”

"How many?"

Zhuang Sen scanned the orbital bombing situation outside the porthole again, and there was a hint of indifference in his emerald pupils.

The temporary knight commander lowered his head.

"all."

"Knight Commander Slade, high-ranking knights Narmottar, Kleve and Theodore, as well as one hundred and forty-four Terran warriors and Gramaya warriors, have all died in this operation. Le: Please forgive us for the huge price we have to pay for this, my lord, but this is the best way we can accomplish our goals."

"After this huge sacrifice, we were able to kill all the alien mobile forces in the second ring of steel, destroy their oxygen supply devices, and eliminate tens of millions of alien defenders at once, and according to your order According to the rules below, after being arranged in order, I temporarily assume the position of Knight Commander of the Fourteenth Knights."

"..."

Zhuang Sen was silent for a moment, and finally he gave a very simple reply.

"You accomplished your mission."

"This is good."

"……May I have your name?"

"Gabriel, my lord."

The Primarch nodded, and he recognized the name: it was a very popular name in a certain area of ​​Caliban. Among the Caliban knights he knew, there were no less than twenty people with the same name. name.

"Are you a Caliban?"

"Yes, sir, more than half of the warriors of the Fourteenth Knights were originally from Holy Terra, but they have all been sacrificed in this operation and a series of previous wars. Now only Cali It’s a classmate.”

"..."

These short words caused the Primarch to fall into a moment of silence. He recalled the information about the Fourteenth Knights in his mind, but only captured a pitiful few words: In the past ten years or so, The fragments of the Fourteenth Knights that appeared in his mind were surprisingly consistent: they were nothing more than him recruiting elites from this Knights again and again in many special operations.

If he remembered correctly, this knightly order originally only had Terran warriors and a few warriors from Gramaya, with Caliban's recruits as supplements, who gradually entered after each huge battle loss: Unexpectedly, now, One of the main knights in this legion is actually the only Caliban.

As the genetic father of all Dark Angel warriors, in Jonson's heart, he does not think there is any essential difference between Terrans and Calibans. However, out of practical considerations, Jonson also issued an order. : As long as there are Terran warriors, command positions will be held by Terran by default.

"..."

The original gene was silent for two seconds. An emotion similar to [sigh] flashed through his heart without leaving even a trace. When his eyes focused on Gabriel again, , only the coldness needed for war is left.

"The Fourteenth Knights have done a great job. Gabriel, you temporarily serve as Knight Commander, regroup your troops, receive supplies, and return to fighting condition: How many warriors do you have left?"

"Compared with before the war, it is still 30%."

"Bring them all."

The Primarch waved his hand.

"The next landing operation also requires your participation, waiting for my instructions."

"Understood, my lord."

The acting knight commander lowered his head, and his voice became like his genetic father, so cold that no one could hear any more emotions. As the Caliban warrior retreated, the primarch's eyes He briefly moved into the hall and looked at the five hundred people who were still silent and cleaning the battlefield.

…

No, it should be called the Three Hundred People.

The Lion of Caliban looked at the warriors guarding him. These Dark Angels were the first Terran veterans to set foot on the land of Caliban and recognize their Primarch. Jonson had also already Getting used to it, marching into the battlefield with these first warriors of his.

In fact, as early as after the Battle of Tarkos that had been forgotten by everyone, the so-called Five Hundred People had already become unworthy of their name, but the Calibans were accustomed to calling his battlefield guards this way, the Primarch. It’s not that they didn’t think about restoring their formation, but the pursuit and extermination battle that followed lasted for ten full Terran standard years, and seamlessly connected with this tragic massacre: when Jonson looked at him again When there were five hundred people, he had already lost less than half of them.

Countless silent faces that were familiar to him have disappeared. He can't even remember which battle they died in, or which star. The only trace that can prove the existence of those soldiers is the symbol of their duty. The coat of arms with glory was also placed on the surviving five hundred people at this time, waiting for the day when it would be opened again.

"..."

Zhuang Sen lowered his eyebrows. At this second, a pair of emerald-colored pupils shone with a light that no one could see clearly. It was a light that had never appeared before. It was looming and appeared in an instant. passed away, but left real traces in the heart of the Primarch.

Even Zhuang Sen himself didn't realize that in that light, there was the aura from a certain spider queen. This aura made even the most savage behemoth moved by the tragedy in front of him: although this touch only lasted a brief moment. .

The next moment, he was back to his original state.

Jonson is still Jonson, the cold and ruthless Lord of the Dark Angels. He knows what he needs to do, and he also knows what he will pay for it: he doesn't care.

At the very least, when he once again opened personal contact with his Avalon blood relatives, in his mind, there was only the fanaticism and bloodlust for the war in front of him.

"I've got it sorted here, Morgan."

[That's good, Jonson. 】

On the other end of the communication, the Spider Queen smiled for a long time. It was a real smile.

[Now that it has been resolved, I think you'd better return to the Indomitable Truth as soon as possible: We have seized all air supremacy, and the landing operation is about to begin. As the commander-in-chief of this war, you must not be absent. 】

"I know, I'll go back right away."

Even across the void, Caliban could still feel the most genuine joy coming from Avalon, so he lowered his head while ordering his heirs to gather their troops and prepare to return to his flagship. , and continued to maintain contact with Morgan.

"Is there any problem with the landing operation?"

[It won’t go well anyway. 】

Morgan's voice was a little low. At this time, she was staring closely at the image projected by the holographic bird servant in front of her. It was the scarlet reflection of Randan's home planet, telling the power of this alien empire's capital city.

[Their defensive power is stronger than we expected. At least so far, I have not seen any weak points: especially the palace, which has some unexplainable position. My psychic strikes are against it. It has no obvious effect. 】

"What about the Void Shield?"

[Throughout the entire world, brother, layer after layer, I don’t know how many years of accumulation, it is more complex and bloated than the bureaucratic network of the Ministry of Internal Affairs on Holy Terra. At the very least, with these battleships we have on hand, it is possible It will take a long time to blast them into pieces. 】

"What you're saying is that the scale of the landing battle was bigger than we imagined."

[Yes: I suggest that we wait until Leman Russ and Luther arrive, the four fleets merge, and then carry out the landing operation, it will be safer. 】

"That's too late."

Lord Caliban didn't hesitate.

"Our operation is a blitz. If we delay it here for a day, more variables and uncertainties will arise: Morgan, gather all my descendants together and use the instructions I gave you to order them all. Assemble.”

"I'm going to make a temporary reordering of them, and then immediately start the landing operation in this world: We can't give the aliens more time to prepare. You go urge Russ and the others to hurry up, and I'll attack first."

【……】

[This will cost you a lot, Johnson. 】

"..."

"I know."

"But it's my duty."

"It is also the duty of the Dark Angels."