Chapter 329: The Enemy's Movements
Khârn and his retinue of World Eaters walked along the grand processional way toward the bridge of the Conqueror. Hooded Tech-priests knelt along the sides of the path.
Their binharic canticles wove the names of the warriors into their hymns, singing praises to the darker aspect of the Omnissiah they revered.
The World Eaters strode quickly, their heavy footsteps drowned out by the ship's violent tremors.
On the corridor's viewing screens, fleets of warships clashed. Rams, macro-shells, torpedoes, and lances tore at each other's defenses. Below, through clouds momentarily dispersed by explosions, the sprawling fortress line of Cadia, stretching from the southern hemisphere to the equator, was visible.
Though distant, it remained magnificent and unconquered.
Khârn, Regent of the World Eaters and the Oath-Breaker, nodded slightly to these Magi through the lens of his chosen傀儡.
Khârn's affection for the Mechanicum was as scant as his regard for daemons, but right now, they were useful tools. These locusts, whose greedy nature remained unchanged even after embracing the darkness, possessed the machines, supplies, and surplus manpower needed for this war.
Therefore, showing sufficient respect ensured that their most fickle and inscrutable ally would choose to offer their full support.
"Lord Regent."
A female Magos stepped forward to greet him.
The title brought Khârn an unusual sense of comfort.
" The Cult of the Creator welcomes you," she said.
"This is entirely superfluous," he replied.
"It is merely a formality. I assume the Iron Lord has already assigned you tasks. This is a waste of efficiency."
"We have received them," she said. "The list is long and detailed. However, while our resources are abundant, they are not infinite."
Khârn frowned. He understood what the Magos was implying.
His voice lowered, carrying a hint of threat.
"I believe our Lord of Iron has made it clear that this is a generous contribution to his cause, a necessary expenditure to achieve strategic objectives."
"Yes, he did convey that through ciphers and clever encryption," the Magos paused. She did not worship Perturabo, and with powerful backers behind her, she lacked some necessary reverence. "He is quite fluent in our language."
"..."
Khârn roughly understood the Magi's stance.
If the war front failed to find a breakthrough, they would refuse further investment.
"I am here precisely for this matter," Khârn said decisively. They did indeed need a breakthrough.
Frankly speaking, expending thousands of Astartes just to take one bastion meant that even if the enemy stood still and let them attack, it would take decades to conquer Cadia.
Even seeking a glorious death, he found the current situation somewhat intolerable.
"Thank you, Lord Regent."
Receiving the response, the Magos immediately bowed. Khârn strode past her without stopping.
"Lord Perturabo!"
A massive holographic projection of the void battlefield rotated slowly in the air.
Warsmiths busied themselves under the Iron Lord's direction.
Khârn was no expert in void warfare, but he could see that under Perturabo's personal command, the Iron Warriors were not losing the battle for air superiority over Cadia.
Especially compared to the catastrophic losses on the ground.
Noticing Khârn's arrival, the Iron Lord looked up immediately.
The busy Iron Warriors visibly froze, as if their brains had suddenly disconnected.
"..."
Perturabo's silence was deafening.
But he was evidently used to it.
Compared to those fickle and inscrutable allies, these obedient sons, though still not very useful in the Iron Lord's eyes, were at least not disgusting.
Perturabo made a concise hand gesture, signaling he was resuming command, then sat his heavy frame back onto the unadorned iron throne and looked at Khârn.
Face-to-face communication was primitive, but given the massive amount of authority Perturabo had to expend just to maintain fleet comms superiority, it had become the most reliable method.
Because daemons had become unreliable. Under the threat of Ramesses, the Formless Lord, the fleet's reliance on daemonhosts for communication was plagued by false information.
It seemed that going to that warp theme park, from which no one had ever returned to describe the sights, was far more threatening than becoming fuel for a daemon engine.
And their allies were the same.
"What do you have to say, Khârn? I hope you do not bring bad news like Fulgrim."
The Emperor's Children, their most fickle and inscrutable ally.
Fulgrim's return had gathered over fifty thousand Emperor's Children and a massive fleet centered on the Gloriana-class Pride of the Emperor, including 18 battleships—enough to rival the combined fleets of several sectors.
But this force was currently hiding in an asteroid belt near the Eye of Terror, concealing a secret weapon excavated from a relic world, showing absolutely no intention of contributing.
Just like their Chaos masters.
Accustomed to low-risk, high-reward ventures, they seemed unadjusted to losses, so they continued to watch and wait, battling their inner greed.
Khârn thought of the Dark Mechanicum Magos who had just probed him on the bridge.
He looked around, then at Perturabo, and asked.
"Does Fulgrim intend to renege on the deal?"
It was an irrelevant question.
For a moment, Khârn could clearly hear the breathing of the surrounding Iron Warriors slow down.
He shrugged indifferently.
The Regent had never had much respect for certain Primarchs. Perhaps out of respect for power, he would show obedience when seeking their help, but he never hid his disdain for their character.
He had resisted the ravages of the Butcher's Nails and the temptation of Chaos power, reuniting the scattered World Eaters into a Legion once more.
He looked down on Angron, so naturally, he looked down on Fulgrim.
"If he dares, I wouldn't mind killing him again," the Iron Lord replied flatly, making one involuntarily believe he would actually do it.
"Then I will lead the charge," Khârn stated simply, ending his probe of the Primarch.
He truly needed a leader with sufficient resolve. He had to consider if this would be the only chance in his lifetime.
Then, ignoring their fickle allies, he submitted his report.
"This is my observation report. It roughly determines the soul-collection range of those lords and their influence on various Chaos rituals."
During this time, the Regent of the World Eaters had been continuously funneling troops to the surface via small warp portals, sending most of his pure killing machines to their deaths.
"Lord Arthur's influence range is the smallest. It shrinks further in areas of high warp activity, but its intensity is the most terrifying; even the Chosen find it difficult to escape his domain. The largest range belongs to Lord Ramesses. The soul reclamation around Cadia seems to be centered on him and Lord Karna."
"As for Lord Romulus, he is mysterious. Under the protection of the Macragge's Honour, preliminary estimates suggest it is related to his observation distance."
This was the return Khârn received for sacrificing nearly ten thousand lives.
He submitted a series of combat recordings, mostly collected from the wargear of fallen frontline warriors. Most featured Karna and Arthur. From the dispelled spells and the peacefully fallen warriors, one could roughly gauge the Primarchs' areas of influence.
Truth be told, Khârn envied the deaths of these warriors from the bottom of his heart.
Unlike the daemons' fear of death, he felt that eternal sleep was a dream ending.
Suppressing the urgency rising in his heart, Khârn concluded.
"Therefore, Lord Perturabo, surface sacrifice is almost impossible to achieve."
No one was stupid. Upon discovering the characteristics of those four, almost any commander with a brain knew that the old Chaos method of fueling war with sacrificed souls was no longer viable.
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