Warhammer: Starting as a Planetary Governor

Chapter 777 - 776: Rogal Dorn: Talk. Now. Where’s the Main Chaos Force, and When Does the Full Assault Begin?!

"Horus has spent ten thousand years feeding the fire of his vengeance. That fury is enough to set any wall or fortress ablaze."He will never let this go so easily. He is most likely preparing something even more terrifying..."

Rogal Dorn's expression was grim. He had crossed blades with Horus before and knew exactly how formidable he was.

Ten thousand years ago, during the Siege of Terra, that bastard's rebel armies had already pushed the Imperial defenders to the brink.

Now he had returned in an even stronger form. He was bound to unleash utter carnage upon Holy Terra.

No Imperial commander believed that Chaos's current offensive was the full extent of its strength. What they were seeing now was no more than an appetizer.

Under those circumstances, Horus and the Chaos Gods remaining still only made things more alarming.

Dorn could feel the heavy atmosphere hanging over the command hall.

The commanders were anxious, all of them waiting for Chaos's real strike to begin.

More than that, they feared they might fail to hold the Iron Wall and betray the expectations placed on them by the Savior, the Emperor of the Imperium.

Truth be told, Dorn had begun this campaign full of confidence. With the terrifying strength of the Iron Wall's garrison, he had believed dealing with Horus would be easy.

Judging from the size of the Chaos coalition they had initially detected, the Imperial defenders had enough strength not only to hold, but to sally out and wipe the enemy out altogether.

But the Savior's commanders, those serving under that elder brother of his, had repeatedly advised Dorn, Terra's supreme defensive commander, not to act rashly.

The Iron Wall had to remain fully committed to defense. Ideally, they would hold until the Savior and the Imperial grand army returned, securing a true and decisive victory.

Little by little, Dorn had been infected by that same mood of tension, until he too began to feel that the commanders were right.

Whether Horus or the Chaos Gods, they were among the greatest minds and most dangerous beings in the galaxy and the warp.

If they had dared launch an invasion and escalate the war to this scale, then they had to possess some method of breaking through the Iron Wall.

Without quite realizing it, the Lord of Iron Bulwarks had adapted to the New Imperium's way of thinking and its style of warfare.

They did not fight battles they were not sure they could win. Stability came first. They did not gamble with the life and death of the Imperium.

Put simply, they were cautious, then more cautious still. If they did not hold a success rate above ninety percent, then the battle was considered dangerously uncertain.

"We have to identify Horus and his traitors' objective, and locate the position of the main Chaos force. Otherwise the situation will only keep turning against us."

Dorn gazed at the maps and intelligence projections woven through the air.

He searched for every possible clue, trying to uncover the hidden plot and the concealed armies of Chaos.

Especially any large-scale sorcerous formations that might threaten the Iron Wall.

Since none of the Iron Wall's defensive sectors were currently in danger of falling, some areas were facing such light pressure that it was practically retirement duty.

A few had even requested permission to transfer some of their manpower to support other brother sectors.

For safety's sake, all such requests had been denied.

Given those conditions, Holy Terra Command hardly needed to direct the front lines at all. Almost all of its effort had gone into searching for Chaos's hidden schemes and main force.

But the harder the commanders searched, the more alarmed they became.

No matter how they searched or scanned, they found nothing.

Horus and the Chaos Gods had hidden everything far too well.

It was terrifying.

Fortunately, their efforts were not entirely fruitless. At the very least, they had made a breakthrough in gathering intelligence.

"Corwin, have you obtained the information we need?"

Using the authority of the supreme commander, Dorn linked into the Grey Knights' channel and asked the Grand Master of the Seventh Brotherhood about the progress of intelligence extraction.

"My apologies, my lord. We are still in the process. Please grant us a little more time. We will get the result you want."

Corwin offered a slight bow and answered in a grave tone.

But it was obvious he was not in a good mood.

"If you require anything, request it at once."

Dorn clearly noticed that as well, but he did not press too hard. At a time like this, patience mattered even more.

After a brief exchange, he ended the communication.

Meanwhile, deep inside the Iron Wall, Corwin's expression worsened the moment the transmission cut off.

The Grey Knights Grand Master drew in a deep breath, turned around, and said with clear dissatisfaction, "The supreme commander is pressing us. Make them talk. Quickly."

Even as he spoke, the pitiful howls of Chaos creatures could be heard from nearby.

Their screams echoed through the large, gloomy interrogation chamber, enough to make any servant of Chaos shudder in fear.

The Inquisition and the Grey Knights had assembled a torture detail, hoping to pry useful intelligence out of their Chaos prisoners.

"Speak. Are you going to talk or not? Where is the main Chaos force?"

A hulking Grey Knight ignited holy psychic energy in his hand and slapped a Thousand Sons warrior strapped into a heavy blackstone interrogation chair across the face twice in a row.

His tone was vicious as he demanded answers, beating the prisoner while questioning him without pause.

The Thousand Sons warrior was being struck so fast he did not even have time to answer.

Slap slap slap slap slap.

"Spill every secret you have!"

Not far away, a Grey Knight Terminator's whip blurred into afterimages.

The lash had been mixed with sanctified bone ash and special curses. Every strike left the Death Guard warrior torn and bloodied.

Worse still, one of its restorative effects caused his corrupted flesh to regenerate into purity before the next blow.

It doubled the suffering.

"Grandfather, I'll talk, I'll talk! Typhus once said in private that the Death Lord had never truly earned Grandfather's favor, and that he probably cried in secret inside the fog all the time.

"He also said Mortarion was nothing but a skinny scarecrow sitting outside the garden gate and sobbing!"

"Clerk, write that down...

"And who asked you about that? Keep talking. What other secrets do you have? About this campaign!"

The Grey Knight Terminator whipped even harder, beating the Death Guard warrior until he howled.

In another section nearby, several Purifiers were interrogating Chaos daemons. Psychic arts and holy light made the creatures scream and weep openly.

Elsewhere, more Chaos warriors and daemons had been strapped to an assortment of torture devices and subjected to ruthless questioning.

Many of the machines were things no one had ever heard of before. The Inquisition's Torture Implements Research Institute had fully unleashed its wisdom and creativity, reducing the servants of Chaos to pain and terror.

Many of the methods were even tailored to the target.

For example, when dealing with masochistic servants of excess, they administered high-potency sedatives to erase all sensation of pain.

In short, the New Imperium's interrogation techniques had advanced again. With new technology and holy psychic force now in the mix, very few Chaos beings could endure such extreme questioning.

Corwin gave the chamber only a brief glance and continued deeper down the corridor.

Higher-ranking Chaos entities were held farther inside, and they offered a better chance of giving up useful intelligence.

As he neared the inner interrogation chambers, the concentration of Chaos corruption and sacred psychic force in the air both grew thicker.

"I'm telling the truth! I have no more plans, no more secrets!"

"Coward! I'm hiding nothing. I don't know anything. Untie me and face me in single combat if you dare!"

The roars of greater daemons rang out, but their voices trembled. It was obvious they were enduring unimaginable agony.

"Hmph. These slaves of the Dark Gods have hard bones, I'll give them that. They still won't talk. Keep escalating!"

Corwin swept his gaze over the greater daemons under torment, and his face darkened again.

He refused to believe they could not be made to talk.

These greater daemons, especially the Weavers under the Changer of Ways, had no reason not to know something about the main Chaos force.

Even if they did not know the exact location, they had to know something relevant.

In full view of everyone, a Weaver standing four or five meters tall had all four limbs and its long neck locked down with blackstone restraints. Its entire body was being prodded with an alloy branding iron suffused with sacred psychic power, and it screamed in agony.

Beside it, a high-order Imperial Knight built specifically for interrogation gripped a Bloodthirster and forced its head down into a pool shimmering with sacred psychic energy.

It was basically the same as drowning the thing in a cesspit, and the Bloodthirster thrashed in misery.

"Will you confess or not?

"Do you really want to suffer even more? You can scream your lungs out, and no one is coming to save you!"

A Master Inquisitor sweated profusely as he worked, almost spending himself dry. This was more exhausting than killing daemons on the battlefield.

But no one dared relax for even a moment.

The Iron Wall needed enemy intelligence if it was going to hold the line properly.

That was their duty.

If the interrogation division gained nothing useful from all this questioning, then it would be a serious problem.

That would be their shame.

And if, because of poor performance, the Department of Administration cut their budget later, then what?

That was why everyone involved in the interrogation detail had to pry information out of the mouths of the greater daemons.

"Changer of Ways!

"I've already confessed. I confessed everything. I held nothing back. I have no secrets, no plans left!"

"You expect me to believe that, you damned Tzeentch daemon? Your lot lies better than anyone. You're trying to mislead us!"

"It's the truth. This time there's no deceit. The Loom of Fate itself can testify to my sincerity..."

"Stubborn liar. All lies. Are you going to talk or not?!"

Caw caw caw.

Under the merciless attention of every imaginable torture device, the Tzeentchian Weaver let out miserable birdlike cries.

It felt endlessly wronged.

This was one of the rare moments in its entire life when it had actually told the truth.

It had even confessed the carefully prepared plan.

So why did the interrogators still refuse to believe it?

The greater daemon of Tzeentch was genuinely beginning to question its entire existence.

The Chaos Gods had only sent this many troops.

How were they supposed to conjure an entirely new army out of nowhere?

The Imperium had already scouted the situation clearly enough, yet these people still insisted on interrogation.

Was this not just a deliberate excuse to torture the servants of Chaos?

Then the Weaver saw a hell-missile slowly rising beneath its rear, angling upward toward a place it very much did not want it to go.

Any greater daemon of Tzeentch knew exactly how gruesome and unbearable that method of interrogation and execution could be.

"No, no, please, I beg you..."

Faced with that sight, the Weaver immediately began trembling all over. Its long neck twisted like a rope. Its massive bird feet went weak and turned inward.

It used every shred of its intelligence trying to stop what was about to happen.

"I... I confess, I confess!

"Praise the Savior. In the name of the Changer of Ways, everything I say next will be true!"

At last the Weaver completely broke and began shouting out a panicked confession.

"Horus, that Dark Emperor, is cunning and deceitful. He really has concealed a massive Chaos army.

"But no one knows where it is. We only know it will appear at the critical moment and shatter the Imperium's iron defenses."

At that point it no longer cared whether the claim was true.

It just wanted the torture to stop.

No one wanted a weapon like that shoved into a daemon body.

Whether there really was such a force or not, it had to confess first and survive second.

After that, the Bloodthirster broke too and confessed under torment.

It claimed that Horus had hidden a Chaos army including eighty-eight Bloodthirsters.

The creature passed out sobbing the instant it finished confessing, showing none of the famed resolve expected of a greater daemon of Khorne.

That alone was proof of how terrifying the New Imperium's interrogation branch had become.

No matter how hard or stubborn a being was, once it came in here, it would talk.

Once the two Master Inquisitors had gathered the new intelligence, they emerged from the interrogation chamber.

The two exchanged a look and gave each other a solemn nod, as though they had accomplished some glorious sacred duty.

There was mutual admiration in their eyes.

"Praise the Savior. They finally confessed!"

When Corwin received the intelligence submitted by the Master Inquisitors, he could not help but smile.

They had successfully completed their task and had not failed the Savior's expectations.

At the very least, their future budget was safe.

He immediately contacted the Lord of Iron Bulwarks and submitted the intelligence.

...

Holy Terra Command.

The atmosphere in this core zone remained taut.

"So it was exactly as we expected. Horus really did conceal a Chaos army, waiting for the right moment to destroy us..."

As Rogal Dorn read the intelligence submitted by the interrogation division, he visibly relaxed.

Now that made sense.

Otherwise he would not have felt at ease at all.

And it was not just him. The other command personnel also relaxed upon receiving the report.

The gloom that had hung over them earlier was swept away, and morale rose considerably.

The unknown was always the most frightening thing. What commanders feared most were unknown and uncontrollable factors.

It was simple logic.

The Iron Wall defenses around Terra were an enormous fortress mass. There was no way Horus and the Chaos Gods would attack something like that with only the pitiful number of troops they had shown so far.

It made no sense.

From Holy Terra Command's point of view, if Horus dared attack, then he had to have confidence he could win.

Following that line of reasoning, he must have hidden his main force somewhere, planning to use it for some devastating move.

Now that command had proven their earlier suspicion right, everyone felt far more secure.

Otherwise the war would have felt far too vague and uncertain.

"Horus really knew how to hide them. He concealed a full eighty percent of his forces.

"If he launches a sudden strike with that hidden Chaos host, it will cause us serious trouble."

Dorn's face remained hard and severe, but he could not help letting out a cold laugh.

Judging by the newest manpower intelligence, the difference between the Chaos armies and the Imperial defenders was no longer especially large.

That meant a hard battle was coming.

"The next question, then, is how to locate the army Horus hid.

"Pass it to the reconnaissance forces. Search with everything you have for the concealed Chaos troops!"

Dorn gave the order.

Once the main Chaos host was located, he planned to draw it into a decisive battle.

At present, the entire Solar System was deeply linked to the warp and was suffering constant Chaos corruption.

Even with the blackstone suppression network easing the corruption, this core star system would not endure forever. The longer the battle dragged on, the worse it would be for humanity.

In some areas of the Iron Wall, abominable warp-flesh and tissues had already started growing from the structure.

Yet after waiting a while longer, Dorn still received no report of the reconnaissance forces finding the hidden Chaos main army.

That only made everyone more anxious.

The defenses remained strong for now, but as long as the main Chaos force remained unaccounted for, the Iron Wall would continue to face enormous risk.

Still, the reconnaissance forces had not come up empty-handed.

They had found traces left by Horus.

A special Chaos frequency.

It could be used to establish contact with him and project a virtual image.

"If we can't find him, then we'll have to work from Horus himself. Establish the link. I want to have a word with that traitor."

On Dorn's stern face, there was no effort whatsoever to conceal his hatred and disgust for the Dark Emperor.

He intended to provoke Horus, stir his anger, and lure out the hidden main force under his command.

It did not take long for the Librarians to construct the projection-related sorcerous formation and establish contact with a Chaos temple somewhere out in the void.

Hummm.

As the ritual array turned, Dorn's projected image was cast into the void.

...

Chaos temple.

This command hub of the Chaos coalition, the throne hall of the Dark Emperor, was under crushing tension.

They had committed all their forces and were gritting their teeth through one final offensive, trying to break Sector Eight of the Imperial defense and trigger every arrangement they had prepared.

The more Horus and the other Chaos beings fought, the more numb they became.

No one could have imagined that while they had been tunneling through the warp and advancing in secret, the Imperium would suddenly build an Iron Wall of this scale, as though it had simply grown out of nowhere.

It gave Terra an enormous defensive advantage and made the situation much harder than expected.

"Almost there. Almost."

Horus's voice had turned somewhat hoarse. The strain of high-intensity command had left his face looking hollow and faintly worn.

To break the line, he had even deployed his own Dark Justaerin, using every force he could possibly bring to bear.

Fortunately, everything was still moving according to plan.

The war remained under his control.

Suddenly, Horus sensed something.

He lifted his head, and a cold smile slowly spread across his face.

(End of Chapter)

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