Chapter 408 War Chess (Part 2)
“When the City of God travels on earth, it calls traveling companions from all the peoples in the world, regardless of differences in laws, systems, and morals. As long as they love Him, then It points to the peace in heaven." - "The Book of Lorgar"
Malcador walked into the room where Morse and the Emperor were holding his eagle scepter.
No matter in terms of age or appearance in the secular sense, the Imperial Chancellor is undoubtedly an old man who will be respected in any race and culture, but when he is in the same room with the two people in front of him, When he was walking, he was not sure whether his steps could not help but become lighter and his mood swings became richer.
Well, he thought, after so many years, he should have admitted it long ago: If you don’t delve into the experiences and thoughts hidden deep in the soul, just looking at the many surface phenomena of an individual’s existence, The palm bearer himself is the oldest among them. Even if Waldo is included, the situation will not change at all.
"How's it going?" Makado walked to the big table and looked down at the mess on the table. Some of the original chessboard shelters were destroyed by two unruly chess players and turned into small piles of dust on the table, flying in the air flow driven by their sleeves.
He noticed that the decorative angel statue in the center of the table had also been destroyed, and the emperor's golden psychic energy turned into little bits of debris, blending with the dust.
As for the ending of the second Primarch, like Craftsman Morse, the Palmist also pieced together the whereabouts of the entire legion as the battle progressed.
They all believed that the Emperor knew better, even though the Master of Mankind far away on Terra may not really know the whole story - but the Primarch, as the only twenty precious creations in the universe, the Emperor It is impossible to erase the existence of any one of them for no reason.
At least, based on Malcador's understanding of the Emperor, he still didn't think that a Primarch...who was behaving like this now could reach the bottom line of being completely wiped out.
"Now?" Morse turned his head. "According to the Terran chronology, we have just pushed it to the year 854."
The craftsman and the emperor are now standing on both sides of the table, supporting the edge of the table and leaning towards the ongoing battle. The former took a step back, took his hands away from the edge of the long table, flexed his fingers ceremonially, and introduced the situation to Malcador.
“Ran Dan suffered a severe blow in the first quarter, mainly led by the Luna Wolves. In the following quarter, they established more reserve teams to regain the Attempts to capture the planets by the imperial fleet were unsuccessful.
“At this stage, the alien angel family we faced was more flexible and showed obvious behavior of obeying the unified dispatch. They are preparing to detour their forces from the west and south sides in an attempt to attack the defense line built by the Iron Warriors. "
His hand covered the side of the table. There was currently nothing in the direction he was pointing, but Malcador could imagine the war scene that took place at that time. He nodded slightly.
"At the same time, an unexpected group of angels intends to set out from the 177-54 area on the northwest side to attack our flanks and achieve a auxiliary assault on the defense line. If they succeed, the two battalions of the Iron Warriors will Suffer heavy losses, and the area from the 52-61 line in the middle may become a breakthrough for a roundabout attack on our main force. After removing the intercepting detachment, the entire line of advance and charge will be opened.”
Malcador tilted his scepter to the table, and the eagle on the tip of the scepter stared at the area pointed by Morse, "The danger has not come."
"Thanks to the news from the Dark Angel." The Emperor said , he pulled the rosewood seat under him forward a short distance, sat down slowly, and placed his hands quietly on the edge of the table.
"Yes, for strategic reasons, Leon El'Jonson shared with Perturabo the signals of Randan's attack that he had obtained from his own sources - he even skipped Horus Luperkar directly contacted the Lord of Iron."
"Where did their contradiction come from?" Malcador sighed, his old face tilted towards the Lord of Humanity. It means something.
The Emperor picked up a retired Luna Wolf chess piece on the low table next to him, played with it in his hands, and carefully observed the painting level of craftsman Morse.
“In short, after corresponding changes in the deployment plan, the Iron Warriors are ready to hold on.
“They first strengthened the use of bunkers in the natural environment of this galaxy, and then Bringing in a fleet of destroyers from around - I know this looks like a fleet of Kratos tanks on this table, and aircraft in reserve - referred to here by tosDios , concentrating a large amount of firepower on Section 56 in order to defeat the enemy's plot in defense.
“Since the characteristics of each Randan Angel family are different, we cannot calculate the accurate enemy configuration. Therefore, Perturabo chose a set of the most secure configuration strategy, giving priority to consuming the enemy’s attacks. force, and then turn to the offensive to crush the enemy's family group."
"Another victory for the Iron Warriors," the Emperor said, his words containing expected recognition.
"A very reliable legion, isn't it?" Morse couldn't help but smile and nodded towards Malcador.
The Imperial Prime Minister had to nod in agreement with a silent sigh. In recent years, Craftsman Morse's preference for Iron Warriors has gradually lost the last trace of cover. Although this is reasonable, it is sometimes a bit disturbing. People’s teeth are sore.
“The Iron Warriors stood firm, and the remaining three legions strengthened the deployment of firepower in different directions after formulating the training plan. The main force marched to the north. The command post was located in the Vengeful Spirit Command Hall. The command designated it as the Wandering Temple." After the Emperor mentioned the special place inside Lorgar Aurelion's fleet, there were inevitably some unnecessary movements on his lips. "The headquarters designated it as the Iron Plains in the rear. No. "
"Anyone who is willing to make military suggestions can submit their ideas to the senior commanders of their respective legions, and finally they will be integrated by several serving warsmiths and then presented to the Primarch's table. The rest of the ideas will be stored for files," Morse said. The Luna Wolf chess piece in the emperor's hand rose quietly under the tug of the golden runes, flew to the table, and joined his companions.
The emperor did not stop him, but gave him a brief helpless look in return.
"As time went on, the cosmic tide in this star area changed to a certain extent, and both sides once again adjusted and assembled their troops. Another family of Randan Angels appeared, and their awareness of military deployment was stronger, which gave the imperial fleet more strength. The attack brought greater obstacles - not to mention that they were already too deep inside the Ran Dan Empire.
"Whether there is a problem with the supply line, this does not necessarily require Ran Dan's alien action, or it is a certain strategy. A large-scale attack in this direction may cause part of the military strength to be crushed, and then the advantage of the entire situation will gradually tilt to Ran Dan's side.
“At the same time, through the exchange of information and high-intensity exchanges, our three legions: the Luna Wolves, the Word Bearers and the Iron Warriors, have also discovered the existence of a family of Silver Angels. , but the purpose and behavioral logic of the other party have not yet been determined.”
Some Silver Angels that were crushed in the previous simulation reappeared on the table as phantoms, and were destroyed with the merciless artillery fire of the Imperial Fleet. In the void war.
This is the most mobile unit on the entire table, but it is also the model with the weakest armor. Even though they seem to be wearing a silver carapace, it later turns out to be just some kind of crystal-like decoration. , rather than the actual armor structure.
"Beautiful unlucky guy, right," Morse shrugged. "I can think of some unkind comparisons, but I will never describe them in front of you."
"You'd better say it, Morse," said the Emperor.
"Well, I think the silver is more pleasing to the eye than the previous gray and yellow paint," Morse replied, "This is what you asked, my lord."
In the pocket In the shadow of his hat, Malcador assessed Morse's words, trying to discern whether they contained any hidden hints of mercy or intercession.
The attempt failed for him, and as for the Emperor, the Lord of Mankind simply said: "Your taste is confusing."
Morse shrugged his shoulders, took out a golden-skinned chess piece holding a power hammer, and then a Primarch chess piece with blond hair like a lion's mane, and raised them above the table.
“Lorgar Aurelion approached Leon El’Jonson without hesitation and raised a serious question: The paths of the Dark Angel and the Silver Angel should have intersected many times, why did they not? Never heard anything from Leon?
" His question was more doubtful than questioning, but Leon still appeared deeply offended, and his displeasure only aroused Aurelion's anger. dissatisfied. This time, Horus mediated the relationship between the two, telling them to put the Emperor's will first. "
"Horus," the Emperor repeated Horus's name.
"Yes, Horus, he was saddened by Leon's words for a little half a year. But people always move forward - oh, sorry, he is a Primarch," Morse put down the Primarch chess piece, walked around the table until he reached the side of the long table, and continued his narrative.
"Leon promised that he would share more information and further stated that this was what he intended to do and was not forced to do so by any Primarch. Regardless, no one ever questioned his abilities or his influence on Keeping his promise. The Dark Angel's record, even if full of doubts, still won the respect of his brothers."
"After that, one battle after another continued, and the Dark Angel's behavioral logic continued. Some changes have occurred - they have returned to large-scale legion operations and no longer travel through the subspace, as if they were guided by some kind of void." Morse stretched out his hand and drew a new deployment line on the side of the long table. , redeploying all the Dark Angels behind the new deployment line.
A few years ago, during a break from work, he and Magnus finalized the rules of this war chess game, and gradually improved them in subsequent updates. And Morse tends to believe that it doesn't hurt to let go of the rules sometimes.
“But they seemed to intend to attack concentrically in a certain direction in order to eliminate a specific family line. The Iron Warriors cooperated with them and established deep and echeloned defenses in important directions, and the troops gathered until they were threatened The more likely areas, and the four legions were planned respectively, the main combat forces at each stage, the location where the battle will take place, and the best time to switch from defense to offense."
On the table, as Morse narrated, the Space Marines' chess pieces moved closer and closer to the Randan alien backfield, and the casualties on both sides became more obvious.
Even though both chess players are constantly adding more chess pieces to the table through means outside the rules, and using language narration to emphasize the new entry characteristics and features of each model unit With different halo abilities, on the low table next to them, the chess pieces symbolizing the deceased who had retired were still accumulating rapidly, overlapping each other and lying in the bright light golden light in the palace.
"This is our current situation, Malcador." Mors bowed to the Imperial Chancellor with a polite and exaggerated bow, showing that he had completed the introduced task, and then fell back comfortably into the rattan In the soft chair, he folded his hands and looked at the new chess player with interest.
Makado rubbed his scepter with his fingers and sighed softly.
"The chess game continues." The Emperor said, sending his reminder, stood up from the rosewood chair, and returned to the chess table.
Machado had to take over from Morse. The simulation between the Emperor and Morse has reached a point close to reality, and the round has reached the fifth round. As for the remaining few decisions, even if he has not yet received the latest war report, it is not difficult to follow the original plan. It can be inferred from their military strength and character.
Strengthened defense or attack instructions, the use of bunkers on the table, movement, rush, shooting, carefully adjusting the direction of each army, Malcador and the Emperor are focused on this game In the game.
"There are no mission rules," Morse suddenly said, sending a cold reminder casually, "The only chance of winning is to clear the opponent's army from the table."
The Prime Minister of the Empire met the eyes of the Lord of Humanity, and then he lowered his scepter against the long table, with the wings of the eagle resting on the edge of the table.
The Chancellor speculates on the theory of probabilities and numbers—not just the probabilities of this dice game, but also the probabilities of the Emperor's unique commands.
He didn't think the Emperor would use reinforcements to widen Randan's invasion field, but that would be a mistake. A group of Silver Angels appeared close to the Space Marines without cooperating with the Dark Angels; due to the existence of the one-inch principle, Malcador had to consider how to destroy them in advance.
The best mobile force is the Dark Angels. The Prime Minister pushed a group of Ravenwing motorcycles forward and took the lives of the Silver Angels.
When he realized what he had done, Malcador couldn't help but raise his head and observe the Emperor's expression.
He found that the other party became more engrossed, looking at the situation on the table intently. His dark fingers with neatly manicured nails are set off by each bright chess piece.
The Emperor stared at this wide desktop with the Milky Way as the background, and his next decision was still the movement of the Silver Angels - in order to gain the bonus of rapid-fire combos, another team of Silver Angels The Angels moved closer to the other Randan families on the front lines, but this also exposed them to the sight of Leon El'Jonson and the other legions.
The Silver Angels did not come close to the Space Marines, but they were within six inches of the Dark Angels; if they exploded after death, enough fatal wounds would be suffered by these depleted team members to bury them all together.
What's more...
After a reverse movement, Malcador announced another shot at the Silver Angel.
When he made this decision, he found that his heart twitched quietly, but the Dark Angels had already opened fire, and in front of the other three legions, they buried the evidence of their secret communication with the alien existence in Ion's body. in the beam.
"One step closer to victory, Malcador," Morse said from the side, "clear out all enemies, respected Prime Minister. I believe this will also be the choice of the Dark Angels. The core is approaching, and it has arrived. Time to exterminate unnecessary collaborators. After all," he smiled, "they have fought twice."
Malcador glanced at the middle of the chessboard again, even though there was nothing there... no. There once was a statue of an angel there.
The Emperor abandoned the strict restrictions of large rounds and stages. More Randan Angels came from different directions, staring at the front line occupied by the Iron Warriors with their small teams, preparing for the next round of attack. . The Silver Angels were also selected from the reserve team and infiltrated into the limited battlefield in no man's land.
Malcador seemed to be able to see the observation and guidance services of the Iron Warriors running around, the Void Station defenses were organized, and engineering operations were ongoing. Everything was based on precise mathematical calculation models; the Word Bearers' The Legion swarmed the battle lines in large numbers, with the Luna Wolves and Dark Angels carrying out every deadly mission.
The universe trembled in silence, explosions roared in nothingness, the bombardment of heavy artillery and the vibration of engines were like the torrential rain that Terra had not seen in many years, hitting the vast and dark universe.
“Shoot.” The Emperor spoke, and his choice was unexpected by Malcador. "Strength twelve, a group of thirty-six attacks, against Flame Wing."
In the end, the Silver Angel still targeted the Dark Angel.
"My lord?" Malcador asked softly, his expression becoming more serious.
The Emperor looked at him and nodded softly, a smile crossing his face. Under the circumstances, this was cold encouragement.
"Of course they will, Prime Minister," Morse said, holding a paper book and a slender golden pen in his hands without looking up. "Had the Second Legion been willing to be slaughtered, the Silver Angels would never have existed in the first place."
"Continue, Malcador." The Emperor said, his tone so calm, but Malcador had already seen The choice that Leon El'Jonson will make - this is undoubtedly the foreshadowing that Morse has made from the beginning, but the craftsman will leave the last chance to make a move in the hands of the master.
"At the beginning of the battle, the Firewings' designated primary targets included the Silver Angels," the Imperial Chancellor said, repeating the protocol Morse had laid down for the Dark Angels at the beginning of the battle. "Accordingly, I receive a plus one to the hit result. "
He then pushed the Firewing squad forward with the Leon El'Jonson model, and with an easy charge roll, locked into melee combat with the Silver Angels.
"At the same time, I gain an enhancement that increases the number of attacks by one," Malcador announced, his voice lowered. "Leon El'Jonson saw the advantage, and he chose to march."
The Emperor raised his hand, and the spiritual energy swirled like a trickle, and suddenly brushed across the table, bringing the Silver Angel and the Flame Wings together. All the models were wiped away like fly ash.
"According to the rules, we will die together." The emperor said, lowering his eyes.
"My Lord?" Malcador's heart beat faster, and a shaky feeling hit his nerves. He opened his mouth and found that his words were becoming uncontrollable. "Really..."
"Hey, Emperor!" Mors shouted dissatisfied, "You can't just turn this model into a pile of ashes just because you didn't paint it with your own hands. "
Malcador turned his head and subconsciously looked at the craftsman who had sat upright in the wicker chair, trying to discern whether Morse was really confused or confused, or even some other emotions. , or just like he and the emperor usually did, talking about some topics for verbal banter.
He didn't get an answer. There was no unnecessary expression on Morse's face, and the notes and pens in his hands were put away at some point.
When the Imperial Prime Minister turned his gaze again, the wooden chair opposite the long table was empty.
(End of this chapter)