Warhammer: Don't Call Me the God of All Machines

Chapter 814 Luther: Even Inferior to Ryan

Adam's mind processor ran for a fraction of a second.

In a mere instant, he understood the feasibility of the Danteok Plan.

With the decisive battle on the western front approaching, the Ork have been on the defensive since the Battle of Harad. If humanity can directly annihilate the "Beasts" on the battle planet, they will secure victory in one fell swoop.

News has come from the southern front that the Primarch has led his army to conquer Skullshatter and is now advancing toward the heart of the Orcish Empire.

They don't have many opportunities left.

Danteok wants to restore the glory of the Steel Legion, and Adam wants to present his father with a dazzling gift; they must take the beast's head before the Imperial army can.

This might sound a bit unrealistic, after all, Luther has Dark Angels, Space Wolves, Iron Hands, and some Raven Guards under his command, plus those Space Necromancers, making him far stronger overall.

However, they are not without a chance. After all, relying on the dimensional space mastered by Danteok, they are fully capable of appearing on the battlefield with unimaginable mobility.

Each star god controls its own dimensional space, though some are stronger and some are weaker, and some are larger and some are smaller.

Zahurash, the ruler of the stars that Danteok possessed, was not considered a powerful being among the stars, but even the weakest star god is still a star god, and he has all the necessary attributes.

"What we need to do now is patiently wait for the right opportunity."

"When the Ork are bogged down in war and all their attention is drawn to the Imperial Expeditionary Force and the Necromancers, that will be our moment to strike."

Adam was filled with excitement as he imagined the scenario described by Danteok.

"In that case, we should be even more prepared for war."

“When I present the head of the orc warlord to my father, he will be very proud.”

……

Just as Danteok had predicted, after thwarting the Ork ambush at the Battle of Harad, Luther led the Astartes Legion in a pursuit, reaching a region of space known as the Blackrock Rift.

According to intelligence gathered, the Ork warriors' battle planet on the western front is located within this star system.

Battle Planets are the highest-level war fortresses of the Ork, and their numbers are far fewer than those of Battle Moons. Usually, only "Great Warlords," or "Beasts," Ork are entitled to possess them.

Luther ordered all his Astartes legions to immediately advance towards the Blackrock Rift.

The reason this galaxy is named after the Black Rock Rift is that there are a large number of natural black rock veins within it.

Blackstone naturally possesses the ability to amplify or suppress warp power. Under the management of the Ork, the blackstone veins in this star system have long been shaped into a state that amplifies psionic energy.

This is why the Ork's battle planet chose to be stationed within the Blackrock Rift area.

Thanks to the amplifying properties of Blackrock, Greenskin Spores within the Blackrock Rift can reproduce at a much faster rate, and the newly born Greenskin Boys are much stronger and smarter than those born elsewhere.

The Orcish food chain is clearly pyramid-shaped, with more strong green-skinned boys breeding and selecting more elite Orcs such as big guys, super-heavy armored leaders, and great skill masters.

Consequently, there are even more entities like the Killing Canned Food, the Hairy King Kong, and the Ancient Giant Garbage.

Destroying the Ork in the Blackrock Rift is undoubtedly an extremely difficult task.

However, the greater the risk, the greater the reward. If the Orks in this region are wiped out, the situation on the western front will completely turn in favor of humanity.

"This battle will be the most significant victory of my command career."

“Even during the Great Expeditions of yesteryear, I never commanded so many Astartes legions on my own.”

On the command bridge of the Dark Angels' flagship, the New Caliban, Luthor sat on the central throne, muttering to himself.

Luther is the chosen one of Caliban. If Ryan hadn't descended from the sky, Luther would have been the most likely person to unify this world of death.

Luther's encounter with Lane was both his good fortune and his misfortune.

When Luther found Lane in the jungles of Caliban, their relationship was closer to that of father and son.

Luther gradually taught Lane human language, culture, morality, and combat skills, transforming him from a beast into the leader of Caliban.

Later, after Ryan became the leader of the Order of Order, their relationship became more like that of brothers who fought side by side through life and death.

Together, the two unified the various chaotic knightly orders and joined forces to conquer the giant beasts on Caliban, completely eliminating the threat posed by them.

As for the Emperor's arrival in Caliban with the First Legion, after Ryan returned to the Empire, Luther underwent Astartes modification.

He was too old to survive the full transformation surgery, so he could only become a half-Astartes after the gene seed was implanted.

By this point, biologically speaking, Luther had become Lane's son.

The Primarch's brilliance completely overshadowed Luther's extraordinary talent. Even after he became the second-in-command after Ryan, no one would compare him to the Primarch anymore.

Even those who praise Luther say things like, "Luther is Lane's left hand."

After all, in everyone's mind, even the most powerful mortal should not be evaluated alongside the Primarch.

This is an injustice to mortals and a contempt for the original entity.

However, Luther did not think so; he never believed that mortals should lose to the Primarch.

Luther had been working quietly behind the scenes. He hadn't undergone the full modification surgery, so his strength and size were smaller than the other Dark Angels.

However, this outlier in the First Legion managed to overpower the vast majority of the Dark Angels with his extraordinary swordsmanship and combat awareness.

Aside from exceptional individuals like Arachios, Astland, and Kouswayne, Luther has never had a rival.

He was eager to prove himself in order to gain the power to command troops in battle.

Unfortunately, Ryan didn't think so. He still believed that Luther's best position was to assist him peacefully, rather than to fight on the outside.

The Lion King did not understand Luther's heart, nor did he understand what this Caliban, who was like a father, son, teacher, and friend, truly desired.

Later, Luther was suspected by Ryan and was directly banished back to Caliban by the Lion King to recruit and train new soldiers on his home planet and stabilize the situation in Caliban.

Only Luther himself knows how difficult those years were.

He teetered on the brink of collapse.

As the homeworld of the Dark Angels, Caliban bears the heavy responsibility of recruiting new blood.

However, even if the threat of the giant beasts is eliminated, this planet will still be a dead world and cannot support too many people.

The Dark Angels' repeated conscription has led to a near-complete shortage of teenagers on the planet. Coupled with the rampant expansion of the Mechanicus on Caliban, vast forests and grasslands have disappeared, turning into foundries that spew thick smoke.

The people of Caliban were furious about the situation, and rebellions broke out frequently. Luther's loyalty was almost on the verge of collapse at that time.

He and many of the Caliban were disgusted with the Empire, having lost everything in the war.

However, after the siege of Terra ended, Lion King Lionheart suddenly returned to Caliban.

Luther never dreamed that the arrogant, stubborn, and clueless Ryan would take him to a secret room known only to the two of them as soon as he returned to Caliban.

Inside the secret room, Ryan made an unprecedented change.

He sincerely apologized to Luther and reflected on the mistakes he had made.

Luther still remembers every word Lane said, even every pause and the slightest expression:
“I’m sorry, Luther, my dear friend. I should never have doubted your stance, nor should I have rashly banished you back to Caliban without hearing your confession.”

“I overlooked your thoughts and forgot that you, like me, are a Caliban knight who needs honor and dignity.”

"Caliban's code of chivalry never taught me arrogance and conceit, but I gradually became blinded by victory after victory."

"I naively thought that I was the only one who could shoulder the great responsibility bestowed upon me by the emperor."

However, those who achieve great things always gain widespread support when they act righteously and lose it when they act unrighteously. When my companions dwindled in number, I should have known that I had lost the hearts of the people.

"The hearts of men, the hearts of ordinary people, can determine the fate of an army, an empire, and a race. I only understand this now."

"I hope my apology and plea for you aren't too late. I can't lose you, Luther, I need you."

Luther of Caliban had never seen his Ryan say such a thing.

This unruly First Primarch, just as the name he gave himself suggests: Lion, Son of the Forest, is at the top of the food chain wherever he is.

He left outsiders with only absolute strength and ruthlessness, always hiding his most delicate emotions deep in his heart, only allowing himself to savor them gently.

This is the most normal behavior for wild beasts. Even the most dominant beast will attract countless ambitious enemies to challenge and plot against them after revealing its weakness.

Ryan's ability to confide these thoughts to Luther goes against his animalistic instincts, revealing his most vulnerable side.

Luther could even swear on the name of his shining father, Ryan, that after hearing Ryan's heartfelt words, all the resentment and anger in his heart vanished.

This is fucking ridiculous, who can handle this?

Ultimately, deep down, Luther still believes that he is Lane's father.

This is Luther's pride, and it's where he will never back down—he is the father.

There's no such thing as a grudge that lasts overnight between a father and son. All he was waiting for was for Ryan to back down and apologize. Nothing else mattered.

Luther was also terrified. At that point in time, he had been abandoned by Lane on the homeworld to continue his work, while the native people of Caliban were extremely dissatisfied with the Primarch, and there were even some foreign Chaos cultists spreading chaos.

After repeated crackdowns, he realized that the fertile ground for these cults was the overburdened people of the Kaliban.

It is because they are disgusted with the empire and disgusted with the endless exploitation that they give those chaotic cults another chance to start over.

If the Empire were to learn of Caliban's current situation—that the people strongly oppose the Empire and that cultists are inciting chaos and corruption—then Caliban would surely face the Empire's judgment, and perhaps even be led by Ryan himself in the purge.

By then, even if he doesn't want to rebel, his subordinates will force him to.

It might only take a slight moment of hesitation for Luther to make a decision he'll regret for the rest of his life.

Fortunately, Ryan returned and stopped everything from getting worse.

Luther's adjutant stood by like a statue, observing Luther's expression out of the corner of his eye, secretly astonished.

He had never seen Luther show such...compassionate behavior before, which was rather incongruous for the old knight of Caliban.

However, despite his thoughts, he remained silent.

Garland's ability to rise to his current position is not only due to his exceptional skills, but also, most importantly, to his ability to keep secrets.

For the First Legion, this is even more important than individual combat ability.

"Command the Steel Hands as the vanguard, the Space Wolves as the flanks, and the Raven Guards for rapid mobile support."

"Our Dark Angels fleet will follow closely behind the Steel Hand, and once they break through the Ork defenses, we will immediately launch an infiltration operation."

"Be careful to keep a safe distance from those space zombies. These aliens won't care whether they hit our soldiers when they fire. It's good enough that we can maintain this state of non-interference."

Luther issued orders one by one. His shrewd war command skills allowed him to command large-scale operations without any sense of constraint. Everything was so casual and natural.

In his hands, even the entire Astartes Legion was merely a pawn on a chessboard.

His job is to take control of the overall situation, send the most suitable troops to the most suitable battlefield, and then hand over specific command authority to the front-line commanders.

Luther didn't consider himself a micromanagement master like Peturabo, capable of issuing the astonishing order to move the machine gun muzzle five centimeters to the left. He was a commander, and the tasks of a commander and a general are vastly different.

Of course, Peturabo's terrifying command precision makes it easy for him to perform such meticulous operations.

However, just because Peturabo can do it doesn't mean that those below him can.

When Peturabo's commands cannot be executed 100%, oversights and errors naturally arise.

These are mistakes that the Lord of Iron cannot tolerate, and he will then shift all the blame onto the executors and execute them all.

In the vast void, countless space warships of all sizes were arranged in an orderly fashion according to their respective formations.

Their engine nozzles release dreamy, deep blue contrails. When countless contrails shimmer in the field of vision, any human being will be awestruck and mesmerized, experiencing a visually stunning impact that sends chills down their spine.

These warships still largely operate in legion units, and Luther has no intention of forcibly breaking up their organization.

Firstly, Luther's control over these legions is far from sufficient to allow him to arbitrarily reorganize their structure. If he were to act rashly, it could very likely provoke strong dissatisfaction from those brother legions.

Especially the Raven Guards, after all, back when the Primarchs had not yet returned, the Nineteenth Legion served as cannon fodder for the Shadowmoon Wolves under Horus's command.

At that time, the Raven Guards trusted and relied on Horus even more than they did on the newly returned Corax.

Even though Horus clearly treated them as his own loyal vassal army, they were happy to accept it.

So later, Corax sent those Raven Guards who were inclined towards Horus directly to the Ghoul Stars for an exile expedition.

Secondly, these warships have adapted to the original combat mode, which allows them to exert their original combat power.

"The reason I sent Iron Hands ahead is because these crazy Medusas are just too uncontrollable."

“I have received similar reports more than once on the battlefield against the Orks. Those Iron Hands completely ignored the Space Marine companies that were in trouble.”

"Even a warband of the Iron Hand clan remained indifferent when other clan warbands were in danger."

Luther was furious at the Steel Hand's behavior.

In some ways, he was still that somewhat old-fashioned Caliban knight, his mind still imprinted with chivalric creeds and virtues.

Iron Hand's cold-blooded actions aroused great dissatisfaction among Luther and the other Brotherhood Legions.

How could he possibly place such an Astartes Legion behind the lines?
Moreover, the Steel Hand is the legion most adept at using high-powered weapons for concentrated fire coverage, and their warships are even more outrageous in terms of the density of advanced technology than the Dark Angels.

“I think this arrangement might be exactly what those Iron Hands want,” the adjutant chimed in at the opportune moment.

"The Vanguard battlefield role means that they will face the most formidable and tenacious enemies and suffer the most devastating blows, which gives them the opportunity to find their own weaknesses and replace them with machines."

"Even if they die in the war, they will think that they are not strong enough and cannot adapt to the survival of the fittest."

Luther was speechless at the madness of these steel hands.

The supreme commander couldn't help but mutter to himself, "Fighting alongside a guy like this feels even worse than with Ryan."

"Although Ryan may do things that make your blood pressure soar, at least he will definitely achieve his strategic objectives."

"With Felus gone, and no one capable of reuniting the Steel Hand, the Tenth Legion will eventually destroy itself."

"Ignore them and let them advance according to plan, opening up the Ork front."

Luther's plan proceeded smoothly, with the Iron Hands' warships fearlessly charging towards the densely packed Ork warships and the defensive fortifications built in the Blackrock Rift space.

The Orcs protect their battle planet very closely; even the sun of this star system is surrounded and encircled by numerous Orc artifacts.

They looked like simplified versions of Dyson spheres, only much sparser. Luther deduced that these things might be used to protect the sun from human attacks.

"Could it be that those expeditionary fleets on the southern front frequently used the sun as a suicide weapon, giving these Ork people psychological trauma?"

Luther recalled some battlefield reports he had seen before and couldn't help but think to himself.

The Iron Hand warships had already begun firing upon the Ork warships.

Even among space warships of the same level, the Steel Hand Legion's firepower was about 20% to 25% stronger than that of other legions. The dense light spears destroyed many orc warships like a rainstorm, causing a commotion among the enemy.

Furthermore, the Steel Hands' space battleships have a unique advantage in rapid information processing, and their macro cannons have a hit rate above the Imperial average.

This is why the vanguard of the Steel Hand achieved a fairly good exchange ratio with a smaller number of warships.

Faced with the precise shots of the Steel Hand, the Orc warships were reduced to a series of lighters exploding into dazzling fireworks.

“They played well, but unfortunately, they could have done better,” Luther murmured with a hint of regret as he stood on the bridge of the New Caliban.

As the saying goes, too much rigidity leads to breakage, and too much of a good thing is bad. The Steel Hand's overly aggressive tactics caused its casualties to rise immediately after the Orcs used their numerical advantage to close the distance between them.

They are like self-destructive weapons, killing the enemy while dragging themselves down to hell.

Seeing the humans' fierce approach, the Orcs no longer hesitated and immediately sent up two battle moons.

When the massive battle moon charged menacingly toward the Iron Hand, even Luther held his breath in fear.

These savage creations of the Ork have a size advantage that humans cannot match.

In a war of firepower, human warships simply cannot compete with these celestial-class vessels.

"Do they still want to take everyone down with them?" Luther watched as a fleet of steel hands charged toward one of the battle moons in what appeared to be a suicidal attack.

This action immediately provoked a counterattack from the Battle Moon, which wielded its gravity-woven whip, lashing it wantonly at the Steel Hand's warships.

Even the sturdy adamantite dragon bones were twisted and deformed under this destructive force, and the steel hands and their mortal auxiliary troops mounted on them were naturally killed or wounded.

A steel saint watched all this indifferently, without the slightest emotional fluctuation in his heart.

He sat on his throne and immediately began issuing orders to the other Iron Hands.

"Activate the extinction protocol and release the relics stored in the Vault of Oblivion."

Numerous Iron-Handed Space Marines, their faces equally cold and their bodies covered in extensive mechanical modifications, chanted binary prayers as they began to awaken the sealed forbidden weapons.

Their appearance was more extreme than most mechanical priests, and their demeanor was closer to that of pure machines.

Then, the creation known as the Cabinet of Oblivion slowly emerged from the warship guarded in the center.

It opened its seal amidst devout chanting, and a miniature sphere resembling a black hole emerged from it.

As soon as this miniature sphere appeared inside the warship, the surrounding warship armor, engines, and even the bodies of the Steel Hands began to vibrate rapidly.

Even the bodies of the Iron Hands could not withstand such extreme vibration and instantly turned into flowing liquid.

Invisible shockwaves spread outwards from the warship, and the wreckage torn to pieces by the gravitational storm also rapidly decomposed within the shockwaves.

When this shockwave reached the nearest battle moon, the shield on this colossal object, made of waaagh energy, suddenly collapsed and shattered in the resonance, and a large number of Ork were blown into a bloody mist by the backlash of psionic energy.

"That's a shockwave weapon?" Luther, aboard the command ship, watched the devastating scene on the battlefield and felt a chill run down his spine.

The Dark Angels' vault also contains similar weapons, but none are as powerful as these.

Shockwave weapons are a special type of weapon left over from a dark age of technology.

It can unleash shockwaves that ignore all defenses, and this weapon was often used by the madmen of the Dark Ages when cleaning up complex planets.

Clearly, the Steel Hand's vaults concealed far too many destructive weapons, and now they were finally revealing their hand.

The massive celestial body of the Battle Moon, with a diameter of over four thousand kilometers, began to slow down in the void like a cracked egg under the destruction of the invisible shockwaves.

Its surface metal armor was easily torn apart, and then it was thrown into space near the battle moon amidst the shock, forming a special structure resembling a cloud.

Hundreds of millions of Orcs were killed instantly, their flesh turning into green blood mist. Even the most tenacious spores were crushed into dust by an invisible force.

Towering flames erupted from the interior of the battle moon, spreading along the fissures that stretched for hundreds of kilometers.

Anyone with eyes can see that this battle moon is completely finished.

Next, it will completely disintegrate into space debris in the explosion as its structure collapses, becoming a pile of space junk.

The various Astartes Legions looked at the Iron Hand with a mixture of fear and admiration. Although these crazed Space Marines had done things that were terrifying, their loyalty to the Emperor was unquestionable.

Each of the sons of Feralus is like a dangerous, molten powder keg, ready to explode and destroy everyone at the slightest provocation.

The Iron Hand squadron was also destroyed by the residual power of the shockwave weapon, and its destructive power finally began to decrease as it continued to spread to the second battle moon.

The energy shield of the second battle moon shattered, exposing its true form to the void.

As if the Steel Hand had anticipated this situation, another small fleet of ten cruisers charged toward Battle Moon.

Luther gripped the armrest tightly. Did the Steel Hand have a second shockwave weapon?
As the vice commander of the Dark Angels, Luther is extremely sensitive to dangerous relic weapons that are not under his control.

If it weren't for wartime, he might have already personally visited the Steel Hand to discuss with them how to use these dangerous weapons with caution.

The small fleet of the Steel Hands, braving the Ork's dense anti-aircraft guns, missile defense systems, and Waaagh energy lightning, delivered one of its core warships right in front of the Battle Moon.

These warships frantically launched torpedoes, but before these torpedoes could even enter their kill range, they were destroyed by the Ork's frenzied counterattack.

Sparks of fire erupted continuously from the thin atmosphere of the battle moon, and shattered torpedo fragments burned fiercely in the atmosphere, crashing like meteors onto the orc fortress and weapon systems on the ground.

The Orcs roared with immense excitement as they plunged into this blissful war.

These humans are just too waaah! Even though they are now on opposing sides, the Ork resonated with the madness displayed by the Iron Hand.

They threw themselves into their positions without hesitation, remaining completely unaffected even as the violent explosion spread through the atmosphere and shattered their eardrums.

The torpedoes launched by the Steel Hand had almost no effect. Even without the protection of the energy shield, the Ork's dense firepower was enough to stifle the enemy's attack.

But some lucky ones manage to reach the ground. The thermal generator on the surface of the warship's torpedo melts through the hundreds of meters thick metal armor on the surface of the combat moon, and explodes after entering the geological layer.

A violent mushroom cloud rose directly from the surface of the battle moon, but these Ork, born from fungal spores, disliked this mushroom cloud.

The shockwave and extreme heat blasted a huge crater into the surface of the battle moon, but compared to the whole, it was just like an inflamed, festering pimple bursting open.

However, the orcs' joy was short-lived. The three remaining Iron Hand warships in space showed no sign of slowing down and charged directly toward the Battle Moon.

As the ten-kilometer-long spaceship swooped down toward the battle moon, the orcs on the surface could only see the sky above them suddenly turn black.

Even the fiercest barrage of firepower could not stop these giant warships.

The Steel Hands perished in the flames with unbridled fervor. The three cruisers, like bayonets, plunged into the surface of the Battle Moon, piercing through the hundreds of meters of thick metal armor, leaving only their stern engines exposed.

Millions of Ork were killed instantly by the shockwave from the impact. However, when they struggled to crawl out of the ruins, they found that the Iron Hand's warship had been swallowed up by a huge, ever-expanding black sphere.

It was not a black hole; no super-strong gravitational response similar to that of a black hole was detected on the Battle Moon.

However, even if it wasn't a black hole, the battle moon was constantly disintegrating under the engulfment of the black sphere, and the mass of the celestial body was directly annihilated and converted into energy.

Under the corrosive influence of this annihilating energy, the Battle Moon also met its doom, and all the Ork people vanished into nothingness amidst their agonizing struggles.

(End of this chapter)