Warhammer: I don't want to become a stinky can!

Page 109

Balasin had examined the legion commander's layout multiple times; it was a tactic that seemed insane, in short—

There is no room for defense.

There is no possibility of retreat.

This is not the kind of tactic that Barasin had ever seen any legion adopt.

If they fail, and if they do not take control of the enemy's supreme ruler immediately, then the Death Guard, surrounded by layers of galactic defenses, will face their doom.

The entire attacking legion will be annihilated in isolation.

This is unbelievable.

Mortarion rejected the Empire's proposal to seal off and shelve the civilization, declaring that he would put the civilization to trial using only the Death Guard forces.

Prior to this, the Imperial Army's assessment of this civilization indicated that at least three legions and substantial logistical support would be required for the Empire to win a war of attrition against it.

But Mortarian rejected it.

No need for a war of attrition; a desperate gamble, a risky approach—and death arrives as promised.

"We won't land, platoon leader."

Mortarian spoke slowly.

"The Fourth Knight will personally attack Protachus and bring death to the ruler."

Vox stepped forward, raising his fist in salute, and looked at Mortarian. The legion commander gestured for him to speak.

“I have no intention of offending you, gentlemen.”

"Company commander, I'll say it again, I don't mean to offend you, but you're from Terra."

Vox said.

"If you were born in Barbarossa, you would know that such battles have indeed existed. Every day there was no defense, only offense, because defense was never effective. Our only survival strategy was to gain the upper hand."

He paused for a moment, then corrected himself.

"As long as Lord Mortalian is with us and proves to us that we can win, we can survive. If you are going to die anyway before the Lord arrives, you'd better die on the offensive. The dream is simple: maybe you can take an enemy with you to hell."

"All Barbarosians swear to follow Lord Mortarion to the death, for we already know that our inevitable end is death, so we might as well die in the attack."

Balasin remained silent.

After a long pause, he nodded.

“I understand, thank you, Vox.”

A hissing sound rang out from under the gas mask, and Mortarian smiled with satisfaction, but quickly regained his composure.

A message from a mortal crew member rang out on Mortalian's channel.

Led by the Fourth Knight, the fleet began to slowly leave the warp and appeared at Mandeville Point in the Galaspa system.

The plasma drive gleamed, and the fleet began its predetermined fate.

Death is on its countdown.

Mortarian took a deep breath, his breathing mask humming.

Then, he opened all communication channels.

"My Death Guard."

He says,

"When I first met you, I called you my indestructible blade."

I assured you that justice would follow, and that we would personally preside over it.

I swear misfortune will follow us to hundreds and thousands of worlds.

Today, misfortune will befall the first of them.

Humanity suffers in Galapagos. The Knights rule this empire, which is as corrupt as its subjects.

Justice demands destruction.

Abandon all thoughts of kindness, for kindness is the plaything of cowards and the lie of tyrants.

Today, the blade will fall on the neck of tyranny. Nothing can stop our actions. No enemy can stand before us.

Death is a truth that awaits everyone. We walk with death; we are one with death.

Now, let misfortune and justice become one.

Remember to read the author's words.

This article is not v.

the reason:

It's poorly written.

The original text, "The Pale King," has been quoted and modified.

(Source: Bilibili column. Many thanks to the translator, Ting. Thank you so much...)

Vox's words are the original quote from Carrastyphon.

Mortarian's final speech is quoted verbatim. (It was so cool, I really don't know how to write it out myself.)

I apologize again.

Readers, please refrain from publicizing this.

The extra chapter will be released later, don't wait.

117 Galaspa (middle)

117. Galaspa (Center)

Death has already flown across the Galapa star system. He spreads his wings, he sees the price, but he remains unmoved.

Death cannot escape itself.

The enemy's planetary defense system rapidly and silently unleashed massive amounts of torpedoes and ammunition upon them; this pocket-sized civilization, nestled in a remote corner, had accumulated an unimaginable amount of ammunition.

But they didn't know what they were attacking.

Their scanning system detected a fleet rapidly heading towards their home planet. The giant flying objects at the top and outer ends of the fleet, along with their plasma thrusters, were identified, raining down bullets.

Just as Mortarian had thought.

That wasn't a Death Guard ship, but rather an asteroid collected from various places, roughly fitted with plasma thrusters, and operated by technicians from the Fourth Knight.

The Death Guardians have very little time to prepare, so the plasma thrusters on these asteroids are only enough for them to move in a straight line.

This is enough.

The opposing fleet finally reacted, and a massive number of warships headed towards the Death Guard. The warships, known as "surveillance fortresses" and "firepower platforms," ​​had deep, dense cannons.

The first concentrated fire began, but it was clear that neither side could achieve a flanking maneuver.

Suddenly, a cruiser broke away from its formation and passed directly through the outer asteroid defenses. It stood in the center of the Death Guard fleet and fired in all directions.

"Keep the queue."

Motalian said,

"All frontal artillery positions are facing the enemy."

The ship was quickly torn to shreds, but it did not retreat an inch before its death.

This further confirms Mortalian's speculation about the Knights.

Retreat is not permitted.

Realizing the victory brought by the first fortress, more and more surveillance fortresses broke away from the ranks and rushed into the Death Guard's fleet.

Amidst the intense barrage, the asteroid began to disintegrate. Sensors embedded in the rock layer faithfully recorded this process and sent a pre-programmed command to detonate the massive bombs that the Death Guard had planted behind the asteroid!

The planet exploded instantly, and on the Fourth Knight's return screen, brilliant bright yellow waves gently swept across the dark void.

But Mortalian knew that it was an explosive wave powerful enough to destroy a light cruiser.

The asteroid's scattered fragments hurtled toward the nearest enemy ship, and a meteor shower rained down on the enemy forces.

On the well-defended surveillance fortress, the planetary rain only left slight scratches.

But they successfully detonated the enemy's firing platforms. One platform was destroyed in its own ammunition explosion, and the aftershocks of its death also engulfed the other platforms. Death began to spread throughout the starry sky.

At the same time, Mortarion ordered the destroyers on the second layer of the fleet to attack the fortress that had stormed into the Deathguard.

Those were all old, decommissioned destroyers, remotely controlled; Mortarion had granted them the right to die.

The remotely controlled destroyers charged suicidally toward the enemy ships, unleashing torpedoes and artillery fire, while simultaneously ramming into the enemy's belly, like a sharp blade.

But the surveillance fortresses rammed by the fireships did not retreat. Giant metal structures, broken off by the impact, clung to them. Inside the fortresses, secondary explosions caused by the Death Guard attacks echoed through the ships, and countless lives were being lost.

But it still ignited its last plasma thruster.

It can still bring death to the Death Guard.

The other two surveillance fortresses sensed its behavior, ignited their engines, and dragged their shaky bodies toward it, heading straight for the Death Guard's heavy cruiser "Tombstone".

The engine, accelerated to its maximum, began to vibrate rapidly, causing the ship's beams to break apart, and a series of explosions began to erupt on the surveillance fortress!

The surveillance fortress's engines were stretched to the limits required for the ship to reach and repel the intruders; they were beyond repair, but because the engines were still running, no one even considered trying to shut them down. And so, death became inevitable—

The plasma drive exploded.

A burst of energy shone brightly in the void, its dazzling silvery-white color causing those who looked directly at it to be momentarily blinded.

Amidst the immense, stellar-like heat, the three surveillance fortresses silently evaporated and vanished.

The explosion shattered more asteroids on the outer edge, and the entire fireship was engulfed.

The heavy cruiser USS Tombstone went almost directly through the epicenter of the explosion.

When people observed it again, the plasma engine that had been burning with blue-purple flames had been extinguished, and a huge gap was clearly visible on the port side.

In a place invisible to the naked eye, in Mortalian's imagination, the air above the tombstone was rapidly rushing into the void through the gap.

Its main artery had been slashed, blood gushing out, and it glided through the corpses of a fleet, propelled only by inertia.

The Fourth Knight received a communication request from Captain Lavas of the Tombstone.

"Turn on the channel."

Motalian said calmly,

Lavas's voice, tinged with pain, traveled through a sea of ​​static electricity.

"We have very little strength left, sir."

He coughed out the words with difficulty, but Mortarian would remember every single one of them clearly until his death.

"We can no longer keep up with the fleet's pace, and now our responsibility is clear."

The breathing mask hissed, and he calmly looked towards death.

"Let more people die before the end of the world comes, Captain."

"We will. They will learn to fear us before they perish."

The Tombstone stole from the ranks. Isolated and helpless, it became an alluring target for the Knights.

Mortarian stood there, on the tactical platform of the Fourth Knight, watching the Tombstone struggle and shed its death amidst the enemy's siege.

He noticed that Balasin frowned.

"Don't tell me the Twilight Raiders aren't familiar with sacrifice, platoon leader."

"The Tombstone has 115,000 crew members. They will die soon, and many more will die before the Fourth Knight reaches its objective. There is nothing to regret or lament; this is the price of war, nothing more."

“I have no doubt about the necessity of the sacrifice,” Barasin said.

"But my question is, can we afford to lose the tombstone number?"

"You can ask. The answer is yes, we can and must bear everything that can bring us victory."

"Including death."

“The tombstone still has power. If we slow down, we can preserve its power as part of our formation.”