Warhammer 40: Doom

Chapter 276 Fatal Flaw
A casual remark by Felus touched upon Doom's most frequently used tactic: "encircling the point and attacking reinforcements," a tactic he had employed since the time of Noor.

From Nur's Greenskin Wars and the first battle against the Psionic Sand Lizards in the Void to the battle between Spinning Horn Morse and Randan, all these battles were about besieging a point and attacking reinforcements.

An extremely old, yet highly effective, classic tactic.

“It works well.” Doom chuckled, answering why he frequently used the unified tactic: “There are no outdated tactics, it’s just about using the right tactic in the right place.”

He kept clicking on the holographic projection, planning the attack, while saying, "Blocking the point and attacking the reinforcements, the great unity of the race is very effective against any race with a 'home planet mentality'."

"Just as the idea of ​​'being reluctant to leave one's homeland' is deeply ingrained in human thought, you and I are both genetic archetypes, still deeply influenced by our mother planet. Nur and Medusa are extremely important beings within us."

Ferus did not refute, but agreed with his brother's words: "Just like those star nobles, who, upon learning that Terra was still under human control, spared no effort to return to their home planet and exhausted their wealth to purchase a piece of land."

"The birthplace of humankind has also become an unbreakable shackle around the neck of the human race."

"In the dark age of technology, Terra was also the object of contention among various forces. All human regimes wanted to bring Terra into their fold and be crowned 'Lord of Mankind' in the birthplace of humanity."

"Only the most powerful warlords or rulers can have a place above them, and countless powerful figures have fallen on the road to hegemony."

Ferrus was deeply impressed and became much more talkative, unlike his usual quiet nature.

“Yes,” Doom sighed, “Terra and humanity have become an inseparable whole. Terra represents humanity, and humanity is Terra. If we lose Terra, humanity will become wanderers scattered among the stars, unable to unite again.”

"Any regime with ambition and ideals that loses its legitimacy and legal basis can never unify humanity."

At this point, Doom couldn't help but think of the Eldarin, the race that dominated the universe for 60 million years before finally falling to the jaws of Slaanesh.

They were powerful and arrogant, but could never rise again, because the Eldar had lost everything.

The homeworld and everything symbolic were destroyed by the Slaanesh, all the Eldar gods perished, and the surviving Eldar were no match for the task at hand.

The Eldar have too many branches, their culture is extremely fragmented, and they have lost their main symbols and gods, making it impossible for them to unite the highly specialized Eldar.

"If Terra were ever besieged," the topic returned to its origin, Doom asked Feralas with a smile and a hint of mockery in his eyes, "wouldn't you go to its aid?"

This is a very sensitive issue. If it were said by someone else, they would be immediately pinned to the ground and convicted of treason.

When spoken by the Primarch, it is a prediction of crisis, containing sharp wisdom of war.

“Terra cannot be besieged.” Feralus stiffened his neck, looked up at his brother, his expression somewhat stiff, and said in a deep, warning voice, “You’d better not say such things, lest you give others something to gossip about.”

Felus was alarmed by his brother's audacity and spoke up to remind Doom to say less of these kinds of things in the future.

Terra is under siege?
It is unimaginable for ordinary people that the current human empire, like the rising sun, is slowly rising in the Milky Way, clearing out all the opposite sexes and uniting the lost humanity.

The siege of Terra is something that ordinary people would find difficult to accomplish; only the Primarchs have the right, the ability, and the legitimate reason to rebel, and even to reach Terra's doorstep.

Judging from the current state of the Empire, there is no Primarch other than Doom who has the power to rebel.

His words, spoken while he possessed the prosperous Nur constellation and remained independent of imperial oversight, inevitably sparked much speculation.

"The Morlock guards and clan leaders must undergo brainwashing to forget this memory once they return to the Ironfist."

Felus spoke sternly, his eyes filled with unwavering resolve, warning the genetic offspring: "I don't want any third party to know what my brother just said!"

“We understand!” The Legion warriors stood at attention, their armor rustling as they took note of the Primarch’s warning.

"No need to be so tense. I don't care about gossip or anything like that." Doom waved his hand dismissively. "We're getting off-topic. We're dealing with a war."

“Gossip is a fearsome thing…” Felus shook his head and whispered seriously, “Rumors can ruin a person.”

Having said that, he stopped discussing the issue and focused his energy on tactical planning.

This matter concerns the cooperation between the two legions, so the plan must be meticulously detailed to prevent mistakes from arising in the chaos and affecting the friendship between the legions. "My lord, Victor requests an audience." A gentle voice rang out, and Sophia's figure appeared gracefully, bowing to Felus.

Ferrus, this rough and tough man, was quite reserved about Sophia's appearance and quickly responded to the local Medusa etiquette for ladies.

Seeing his clumsy appearance, Doom suppressed a laugh and said, "Please come up quickly, it seems he has made some discoveries."

Viktor asked Iron Man to capture filarial worms to support some of his conjectures, and now he's requesting an audience, which must mean he's made a technological discovery.

Before long, a chubby figure appeared on the bridge, with the mechanical appendages behind Weapon Master Victor holding a potion and a filarial worm container respectively.

“My lords,” Victor said with a hint of excitement, bowing slightly before raising the jar in his hand, “I have made a new discovery that can support your operations.”

Doom, however, looked grave and suddenly interrupted, "Is it safe?"

The seemingly unrelated issues went straight to the heart of the matter, revealing the most direct concerns.

It's not hard to guess what Victor sent; it's most likely some kind of biological weapon developed to target the weaknesses of filarial worms.

Biological weapons are the most unstable, easily inducing mutations and causing organisms to undergo new positional changes.

Safety and stability are the most basic requirements for biological weapons. If these two points are not met, the consequences will often affect the users.

“Very stable!” Viktor said excitedly, lifting the filarial worm container and explaining, “My team studied filarial worms carefully and discovered that they have a fatal flaw originating from the species itself.”

"Ghanaian filarial worms are not afraid of mosquito bites, but their nerve tentacles interfere with the special anesthetic fluid secreted by mosquitoes when they are collecting blood, causing uncontrollable convulsions and spasms."

"What are the specific principles?" Firus respects science, knows a lot about science, and is very interested in technological warfare.

“My lord, please look at this.” Victor stepped forward, inserting his mechanical appendage into the bridge terminal, and demonstrated the underlying principles to the Primarch.

A complete human nervous system appears on the holographic projection, showing the entire process of filarial parasitism in detail, gradually unraveling the mystery.

“Filarial worms can envelop and devour the human nervous system, replacing it with themselves, and eventually completely taking control of the host.”

Viktor smiled broadly, marveling at the wonder of natural evolution: "But there are subtle differences between humans and filarial worms; what humans can resist, filarial worms cannot."

"Mosquitoes are native to Terra, co-evolved with humans, and have followed humans into the stars."

"Many gene segments in the human genome can resist the anesthetics released by mosquitoes, but filarial worms cannot; they have no resistance to mosquitoes."

The holographic image changed again, revealing two double-helix DNA strands, highlighting the difference between humans and filarial worms.

The human genetic structure contains code left over from billions of years of evolution, which constitutes everything that enables humans to survive on Terra.

The genetic structure of filarial worms is very simple, which allows them to mimic the genes of other organisms, but they lack traces of natural selection.

The offspring's survival mostly depends on humans.

Humans are the hosts of filarial worms and also their "microbial protective suit." The aliens hide in the human body and resist the vast majority of microorganisms in nature.

Mosquitoes are different. When they collect blood, their mouthparts pierce sensory nerves, and the injected anesthetic causes the filarial worms' antennae to spasm.

“This is an innate biological defect,” Victor said with disdain as he looked at the trembling filarial worms in the container. “It can’t be compensated for by one or two mutations.”

As the saying goes, "One's environment shapes one's character." In the original ecosystem of the world beneath our feet, there were no mosquitoes. The intelligent organisms that evolved from local organisms naturally do not have gene segments that resist mosquitoes.

“I understand.” Ferrus listened attentively and came to a relatively simple conclusion: “Mutation is the development of branches on the original basis to adapt to changes in the environment, but it cannot create something from nothing.”

“Yes, sir,” Victor continued, “mosquitoes are an invasive species. They occupy vacant ecological niches in the local area and crush other organisms.”

(End of this chapter)