Chapter 301: Lucan: If I Say You're a War Hero, You're a War Hero
With the order given, the Blood Ravens immediately began to withdraw, taking the STC fragments and the heavily wounded Gabriel with them.
Lucan once again focused on the battle before him. The Dark Eldar's resistance was fierce, and reinforcements were constantly pouring in from nearby sectors. But Vect was now caught between a rock and a hard place. With the arrival of Lucan's main force, Kerrigan had used the Hive Mind to access all of Abathur's knowledge of the undercity. Having taken root there for years, Abathur knew the terrain better than the Dark Eldar who had lived there for centuries. Every ruin, every secret passage was clearly mapped in his mind.
Now, Abathur's Swarm was launching relentless assaults, ignoring casualties and using their numerical superiority to form an encirclement around the Dark Eldar in coordination with Kerrigan. He himself, along with Burns and the other survivors, had already bypassed the main Dark Eldar army and successfully rendezvoused with the Dynasty's forces.
When the survivors saw the armies of the Imperium truly arrive, it felt unreal. Some laughed, others cried. They had thought they would die here, but now, the hope of survival was truly before them.
In Lucan's presence, Abathur showed sufficient humility. "Lord! Abathur will serve you!"
"You have done well, Abathur," Lucan praised him. "After this is over, an even more arduous battle awaits the Swarm. Your opponents will be creatures similar to the Zerg. When the time comes, I will need you to display the full extent of your bio-technology!"
"The Zerg will be the pinnacle of evolution!"
"I hope you are right. Go find Kerrigan. Coordinate with her to complete the encirclement of the Dark Eldar."
It had been almost three years. Seeing Lucan again, Burns felt the urge to cry. Argus, who had arrived with him, looked at the man before him with curiosity. He had heard many legends about this mortal. He had never imagined that his assault on Commorragh would be on such a grand scale. He could truly feel the power of the Mongorte Dynasty. When his own Chapter had entered Commorragh, they had rescued their target and immediately retreated.
"Lord Lucan," Argus said, his voice a respectful rumble, "Techmarine Argus of the Salamanders Chapter, Third Company, thanks you for our rescue."
"Argus, you are the pride of humanity," Lucan replied warmly. "You held out in Commorragh for so long and defended the honor of mankind. You protected so many humans; you are worthy of the name of the sons of Vulkan. Take the other two wounded Astartes and retreat for now. When we get out of here, I will immediately inform your Chapter that you are still alive. The Dynasty and the Salamanders are very much aligned in our philosophy of protecting civilians. I believe we will have many opportunities to cooperate in the future!"
After arranging for Argus and the remaining several thousand survivors to be evacuated to the rear, Burns and the other Dynasty survivors knelt before Lucan.
"My Lord," Burns said, his voice choked with emotion, "Burns has completed the mission you gave him."
"You have done very well, Burns. You have excellently fulfilled your duty. Your wife and daughter miss you very much. They have asked me about you more than once. Your daughter will be graduating from the Loyalist Academy next year. With her excellent grades, Rebecca will save a position for her by her side. You have fought for long enough. I will have someone escort you back to the Stellar Pioneer. You do not need to participate in the coming battle. All you need to do is go back alive and receive everything you have earned."
Hearing Lucan speak of his family, tears streamed down Burns's face. But soon, his expression hardened once more.
"No, my Lord! Please allow me to participate in the coming battle! Many of my brothers died at the hands of the Dark Eldar. I absolutely cannot just watch from the rear!" Burns thought of his comrades and of Stella, who had died in the Harlequin attack. At this moment, all he wanted was revenge.
"Impossible. Obey my order, Burns," Lucan commanded firmly. "Your other comrades in the Dynasty will collect this blood debt for you!"
Ignoring Burns's protests, Lucan had him taken to the rear. To die out of hatred in a situation where they had such a massive advantage? Who would he complain to then? The battlefield was ever-changing. Even if Lucan sent troops to protect him, he couldn't guarantee that no accidents would occur.
And besides his genuine concern for this loyal soldier dying just before the dawn, Lucan also had a selfish motive. Burns was a hero he needed to promote heavily when he returned to the Dynasty. Such a rare and inspiring story was hard to come by. A mortal hero who had fought a hard, chaotic war behind enemy lines in the dreaded city of Commorragh for two years, not only protecting a large number of humans abducted by the Dark Eldar but also killing a great many of them in guerrilla warfare.
This was a story far more inspiring to the masses than any tale of the Astartes. As for whether he had relied on the help of the Zerg and three other Space Marines, the Dynasty's propaganda department would "embellish" it reasonably.
The great war hero, Comrade Burns, displayed heroic fearlessness, loyal reliability, and tenacious fighting spirit in his struggle behind enemy lines, making an outstanding contribution to the victory in the assault on Commorragh. We call on all commanders and soldiers to learn from his noble quality of dedication and his combat style!
Lucan knew that humanity sometimes needed heroes, especially in a world like Warhammer. The Zerg would not offer an opinion, and he didn't think the three Astartes would argue with him over this matter. As for the other survivors, Lucan would give them enough benefits to ensure their cooperation. Even if they wanted to expose the truth, they would have no opportunity. The Warhammer universe had not yet invented a universal public network. Lucan, who had complete control over communications and propaganda, could turn fiction into fact. Public opinion had no power here. And besides, it wasn't all a lie, was it?
At Lucan's firm insistence, Burns was taken to the rear.
As one Dark Eldar position after another was eliminated, the space for them to survive in the undercity grew smaller and smaller. With Abathur's reminders, the location of Vect's forces was becoming clearer. To guard against the Zerg, who could attack from anywhere by phasing through walls, the Dark Eldar had to set up their main camp in a relatively open area. Only there could they deploy enough troops and leverage their technological advantages.
In this part of the undercity, there were very few such open areas. Lucan had already sent their locations to Norris and his Ghosts for final confirmation.
To Lucan's surprise, the fastest advancing force was now Ferrus and his Iron Hands. They were at the very forefront, charging and killing. These fanatics were, it seemed, venting the rage they had accumulated over the ten thousand years since their father's death. With their full-body cybernetic modifications, their firepower was absurd. The battlefield dominance of a thousand humanoid gun platforms was on full display.
Unlike many Chapters who were using the nano-med guns provided by Lucan to perform large-scale Primaris upgrades, very few members of the Iron Hands had undergone the procedure. It wasn't that they didn't want to, but their extensive mechanical modifications had left them with too little flesh to accept the upgrade. One could even say it was unnecessary. Their survivability and combat effectiveness had already been sublimated through endless mechanical modification.
This modification process also meant that the Iron Hands had an extremely high neophyte mortality rate, but the battlefield survival rate of their veterans was ridiculously high. Since they had little flesh left, if a part was damaged, they just replaced it. This resulted in the proportion of veterans in the existing Iron Hands being absurdly high. Every one of them was a powerful warrior, hardened by countless battles. Their strong manufacturing capabilities also meant that the Iron Hands had an unusually large number of Dreadnoughts. And with the SCVs, they could now use these sacred relics even more recklessly.
This was the first time in ten thousand years that the sons of Ferrus had fought alongside their Primarch again, and they fought with an extraordinary frenzy. From time to time, an Iron Hand would return to the rear, receive simultaneous treatment from an SCV and a Medic, and then immediately rejoin the battle, like a perpetual motion machine.
Ferrus, as a human Primarch, and with the psychic powers he now displayed, had become the primary target of the Dark Eldar. He drew a large number of enemies. Powerful Wyches and arena champions were constantly being dispatched to assassinate him. Psychic powers were a recognized taboo in Commorragh. Even Vect, the Overlord, if he were to use psychic powers wantonly, would be dragged from his position in a heartbeat. No one could protect him.
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