Warhammer 40: Doom

Chapter 134 Negotiation? Negotiation my ass!

Doom is the king who rules over the stars, and his abilities are beyond doubt. Ruth, who seems barbaric, also has extraordinary abilities.

The two of them worked together and eliminated the psionic sand lizard within 72 hours, which was incredibly fast.

Horus wanted to test his two brothers' abilities.

He had some ulterior motives.

Apart from Doom, each of the Primarch's offspring, as sons of the Emperor, inherited some of the Emperor's traits.

Horus Lupecal inherited the emperor's desire for conquest and ambition.

This was his instinct: to understand his brothers' abilities and to plan how to get along with them.

Doom and Ruth chatted, drank, and ate, but their main topic never touched on the war.

Horus felt it was time to take the initiative.

Fortunately, he had prepared for this situation.

While outwardly conversing with Doom, he "inadvertently" stretched out his legs under the table and gently touched the button that was placed there.

This is a specially treated button; it is very quiet and difficult for the original gene to detect.

A glint flashed in Doom's eyes as he sensed the unusual movement, a sound so faint it was almost imperceptible.

He remained outwardly calm, glancing at Ruth to know that he hadn't noticed.

Doom immediately understood that Horus wanted to draw the two of them into this vortex.

"How are your negotiations going?" He then changed the subject, no longer engaging in casual conversation, but actively initiating a topic.

Since there's no way to avoid it, let's take the initiative and seize complete control.

Ruth's movements slowed for a moment, but he concealed it without a trace, appearing completely unconcerned.

He believed that Doom must have discovered something.

Horus's heart sank. Doom's timing in bringing up the topic was clever and unexpected.

He was somewhat doubtful whether his little trick had been discovered.

"Not ideal." Horus, though harboring some doubts, remained outwardly unmoved and shook his head regretfully.
"Their demands are too much; I will not accept them, and the Empire will certainly not accept them either."

"Rights, resources, independence."

When it came to serious matters, Horus, in his uniquely amiable voice, slowly recounted his recent experiences.

Doom and Ruth said no more, listening quietly to what he had to say, while also knowing the trouble Horus was facing.

"They are not sincere; they want more and more."

In the end, Horus summarized the negotiations in a way that was both sharp and infuriating.

"Negotiation? Negotiate my ass!"

Ruth was furious after hearing this. He roared as he stood up, baring his sharp fangs: "No more negotiations! It's time to punish them!"

"If the wolf pack were here, they would surely teach these insects a lesson: the Empire's conquest of the stars is not just talk."

It must be said that Ruth's acting was quite good; her angry expression was flawless.

While expressing his anger, he implied that the legion was not around, thus showing that he was powerless to provide support and urging Horus to let go quickly.

Doom nodded, though not as vehemently as Ruth, his tone was much stronger: "If we can't talk, we'll fight. We must punish them to make an example of them."

"The empire has never been stingy with its power, and it has used its iron fist to discipline those who disobey."

The two, one a scholar and the other a warrior, both expressed their determination to launch a powerful attack.

The meaning is clear: the only legion here is the Shadowmoon Wolves. If Horus doesn't take their place, who will?

“Horus Lupecal!” Horus suddenly called out his name, looking seriously at his brother: “Do you need me to summon the wolf pack to help you?”

When Horus said this, he seemed genuinely enthusiastic, but he was actually putting Horus on the spot.

Even with ancient technology, do a few human worlds really need two legions to attack together?

Horus's proactive attack left him unable to respond, and he immediately refused: "No need, I am already planning the most reasonable way to attack."

Horus finally understood that his two brothers had never intended to show off their skills or abilities from the beginning.

"really?"

“We’re here to observe and learn,” Doom immediately said, revealing his true intention: “to learn from you the tactical application of Astartes.”

Doom spoke the truth sincerely, completely thwarting Horus's plan to sink the people into the water.

His reasoning left Horus speechless.

Doom and Ruth returned one after the other, and before they even got to know the Empire, they were ordered by the Emperor to exterminate the Sand Lizards.

Doom was alright, as he received formal military training in Nur, while Rus was completely self-taught.

They dealt with the sand lizards swiftly and decisively, without employing much military skill, relying entirely on their Primarch abilities and the sand lizards' racial characteristics. "I understand," Horus thought to himself, deciding to learn more about them later.

Seeing that Horus's attention was on Doom, Horus slowly sat down and glanced at Doom: "How was my cooperation?"

The two used a combination of moves to distance themselves from the situation.

Although they didn't know Horus's plans, the two tacitly agreed that he was definitely up to no good.

Again, without leaving a trace, the button was pressed again.

Abaddon stopped as he approached the banquet hall. He looked down at the data board he was holding, his brow furrowed in confusion.

The Father of Genetics gave the instructions: upon receiving the order, enter the banquet hall and cooperate with the performance to involve the two Primarchs in the war.

He doesn't understand what the two signals mean.

After hesitating for a moment, he chose to leave, and the unexpected occurrence indicated that the plan had failed.

"My legion will launch an attack in five hours, and you may come to the bridge to watch."

Horus immediately put aside his regrets, adjusted his mindset, and prepared for battle.

He also invited his two brothers to his bridge to learn professional Astartes tactics.

As the son of the first to return, he did have the responsibility and obligation to teach the brothers who returned later some of the combat experience of their predecessors.

“We are eager to learn from you.” Doom responded with a warm smile, though he made some subtle gestures, after all, the three of them were blood brothers.

"Tell your little brat to bring me paper and pen, I need to write this down carefully," Ruth growled in his loud voice.

With a brain that can remember everything it sees, the original gene has no need for pen and paper to record things; he did this to show respect.

Horus was greatly encouraged, and he straightened up, feeling the deep sense of responsibility of his "elder brother".

"I'll go downstairs to prepare first; you're welcome to visit freely."

He gave a shout and was the first to leave his seat, ready to fight a brilliant battle that his brothers would remember.

Doom stood up to politely see him off, while Ruth crossed his legs and waved casually.

"Let's go, let's take a look around the Soul of Vengeance." Doom called to Ruth, ready to give the warship a proper tour.

“Hey you,” Ruth stood up and pointed to a Shadowmoon Wolf warrior, “show us around your glorious warship and tell us about its illustrious past.”

The two followed behind the Space Marine as they traveled through the Soul of Vengeance, listening to the Marine's explanation.

He explained in great detail, as if he wanted to make sure he understood every pipe and every doorway on the warship.

Doom and Ruth nodded from time to time, noting down the various positions of the warship.

Time passed quickly. The Space Marine was clever; he chose a well-planned route, with changing scenery along the way, and led the two Primarchs to the bridge at the last moment.

The bridge is large, with a black hall decorated with gold lines, giving it a simple, solemn, noble and unpretentious feel.

Doom's Doomsday Warriors stood solemnly among them, as did Ruth's guards.

Horus was already waiting, seated on his throne, waving to them.

There is a high-backed seat on each side, which was specially brought in for the two brothers.

"Aren't they going to surrender yet?" Doom sat down and quickly assessed the situation.

A massive fleet slowly approached, and the core world of the Human Alliance raised a barrier, covering the entire planet, as if determined to resist to the death.

"They want to use the planetary defense system to force our fleet to retreat."

Horus patiently explained, controlling the holographic image to continuously display battlefield details.

"The existence of the Void Shield renders many tactics ineffective, which is why Space Marines must land and fight."

As Horus slowly explained, he shook his head, realizing that the fleet's firepower was no longer of any use.

Doom nodded in deep agreement; the existence of the Void and various shields did indeed render many traditional tactics ineffective.

No commander would abandon their firepower advantage and instead send infantry to fight to the death.

The emergence of shields perfectly solved the problem of firepower advantage, forcing interstellar warfare to require landing operations.

With a multi-layered planetary shield system stacked on top of each other and powered by a super-large plasma reactor, it's somewhat unrealistic to think that you can break through the shields with orbital bombardment.

In addition, with the planetary defense system and the giant cannons that can attack space warships, the planet is like a hedgehog.

You can't touch it, you can't budge it.

"The only purpose of warships is to hunt down enemy warships, gain absolute air superiority, and then safely land on target planets."

“That’s pretty funny.” Ruth picked at his eye and offered his unique perspective: “We’re like barbarians piloting spaceships, hacking and slashing at each other on the surface of a planet.”

(Brothers, I've been corrupted by chaos! May the War General remain healthy forever, and defeat the false emperor!)

(My loving father blessed me, and snot and drool flowed from his nose.)
(End of this chapter)