Chapter 346: Garaspa on the Tip of the Tongue
Galaspar once belonged to a superior knightly order, but later evolved into an ownerless ruin, with a broken ground and a brown roof. The yellow and dark green poisonous gas billowing from the dense fog are like a dirty shroud, piled up in an unreasonable manner.
When Mortarion took Sanguinius and Horus Luperkar from afar and set foot on the land of Garaspar's main nest again, these corpses were still piled up everywhere. , sorted, stacked and counted by the workers of the Empire.
Several hills of corpses about ten meters high are like pustules on the earth, waiting for the force of nature to decompose and reconstruct them.
The poisonous gas used by Mortarion greatly slows this process, but nature will eventually overcome everything humans have imposed upon its existence.
At the same time, Mortarion noticed with displeasure that there seemed to be some kind of worry hidden behind the perfect smile of Archangel Sanguinius.
"You used poison gas?" Sanguinius said worriedly, biting his lip with his teeth.
"Efficient." Mortarion said, his voice dull through the respirator, "They die faster."
"Using the kind prepared by the Ministry of War "?" Sanguinius asked.
“No, I mixed it myself.”
Horus coughed in a low voice, "Just looking at the color, you can't actually see much difference. Is it more toxic?"
"Far more powerful." Mortarion sneered, " I told you that I provided the official poison wine for my legionnaires, Horus."
"Uh, right, and what?" Horus asked.
"This can enhance their resistance to the military poison gas inside the Death Guard, and is more conducive to fighting in high poison gas concentration environments."
After Mortarion finished speaking, he found that Horus and Sanguinius exchanged a cryptic look that seemed to contain a secret. He doesn't understand what this means and is resentful of the secret that lies between them.
"What do you think about this?" he asked.
Sanguinius shook his head: "This is a massacre caused by poison gas and artillery fire."
"This is the Barbarus way of dealing with overlords and tyrants." Mortarion Said, "The Captains you sent out to explore various parts of Garaspa will come to the same conclusion."
The Lord of Death discovered that when Sanguinius heard him mention the Captain, his There was a slight change in his expression, and there seemed to be a potential embarrassment hidden in it.
Horus Luperkar, more perceptive than Mortarion, reached over his wings and rested his hand on Sanguinius's shoulder.
"We understand, Mortarion, we understand what you are doing here, it is a bit..." he chose the right words, "cruel, but the Empire needs one or more troops who are good at annihilation. The Ninth Legion I also know the need to do so, I think."
"I've heard about them." Mortarion thought of the rumors he heard during his time studying on Terra. A ruthless army with some bad reputations, looking very different from their Primarch.
To be honest, after meeting Sanguinius, Mortarion found it difficult to believe in the authenticity of those rumors, just as he simply did not believe in one of the classic rumors about Perturabo - —The non-existent mentor.
"And I have heard of you," Sanguinius sighed softly, "and I believe we can learn many things from you. We all do."
He breathed After taking a breath, they looked around the environment they were currently in. They were located next to a hill of corpses. Some mortals were dragging corpses and handing over reports to each other to count the number of deaths in this area.
"Can you tell me why you think Galaspar deserves a ruthless slaughter?" He looked at the mortals who were counting the dead, and seemed to want to say something else, but hesitated.
This made Mortarion even more dissatisfied. He didn't like others to show hypocritical cover-up in front of him. The more dazzling they were, the more unbearable they were.
He might as well be as candid as the Emperor, Mortarion thought.
"Before I do that, I want to know what you're worried about," Mortarion said, not giving an inch. "What have I done to the city?"
He doubted Sanguinius had ever been confronted like this, after all the angel's wings were quivering uneasily.
"No, it's not the way you fight that worries me," the angel said.
"That's why I did this? I didn't leave any tyrants on the planet, no prisoners, no prisoners. Does this make you feel uncomfortable?" He asked, because the Holy Gilles' face did look uncomfortable.
"Excuse me, do people here have the habit of writing history books?" Horus asked.
"The Knights of Galaspar have internal records. They have preserved a large amount of ancient technology and culture, as well as narrative archives." Mortarion said doubtfully, "Read them and you will understand why I To bring down judgment on this planet”
"Then it seems you don't have to worry," Horus smiled, tapping Sanguinius's back lightly with his elbow, "There are files to record the experience."
"It's not detailed enough. "Sanguinius whispered, "For them, the file is too pale."
"This is enough to explain the sins of the Knights."
"Actually, we don't mean this. Horus said awkwardly, glancing furtively at Sanguinius.
"Is there a problem with the body count here?" Sanguinius asked cautiously, refusing to appear more anomalous.
Mortarion nodded to the mortals who were working, and a sergeant came over. After understanding the needs of the Primarchs, the sergeant said: "There are deviations, but the missing figures are within the error range, my lord."
"Missing?" Sanguinius muttered.
"Don't worry, this kind of large-scale statistics will inevitably have some deviations," Horus comforted.
"No," Sanguinius said, "I must know - have any red-armored Space Marines been here before?"
The sergeant was confused: "Yes, my lord. They came here and asked us how Lord Mortarion made military decisions. They wanted to learn. When we couldn't answer, they left."
Are the Blood Angels really here to learn their fighting methods?
Mortarion was surprised, and suddenly felt that Sanguinius's light was no longer so dazzling.
But Sanguinius seemed even more nervous.
"Leaving in which direction?" the angel asked. "What to do?"
"They asked if there were any living prisoners, and we said there were no, so we didn't know what the Space Marines were doing. About 120 degrees, the team consisted of about fifteen people. The speed is difficult to estimate.”
"Sorry," Sanguinius said hastily, "I'll leave first."
With that, before his brothers could stop him, Sanguinius spread his wings and flew away, passing through the remnants of the war. The thick smoke left in the direction pointed by the sergeant.
“What happened to him?” Mortarion asked blankly, not knowing why.
Horus showed an awkward smile: "There is something I might want to thank you for, my dear brother."
"What is it?"
"You left no one alive," Horus said seriously.
"Ah?" Mortarion asked dully through the respirator, "But doesn't the Imperial truth instruct us to treat humans well?"
Horus meaningfully said to Mortar Rhian dusted off the accumulated dust from his brass armor.
"You gave them one less chance," he whispered, his voice controlled so that only the two of them could hear it. "After all, living is fresher."
(End of Chapter)< br>