Word Bearers, the Primordial Evil

The broadcast in the rest cabin sounded, requiring all Space Marines to assemble in the auditorium. Fu Qinghai felt that this "all Space Marines" did not emphasize any specific legion, naturally including himself, so he put on his helmet, grabbed his weapon, and walked toward the auditorium.

In the hall, the Ultramarines in their uniform deep blue armor were lined up neatly. Fu Qinghai, standing in the last row in his white armor, still appeared very conspicuous.

The target for this operation was the Word Bearers Legion.

Word Bearers, Erebus, the primordial evil... Fu Qinghai thought to himself.

In the Horus Heresy, the massive event that nearly brought the Imperium of Man to its knees, the Word Bearers Legion was the instigator, the original and primary villain.

The Word Bearers were a cultist legion. While the Emperor was vigorously promoting the "Imperial Truth," they were busy engaging in religious worship, viewing the Emperor as the incarnation of a god. During the Great Crusade, they were busy proselytizing, and their efficiency in conquest and pacification was very low. After the Emperor ordered the Ultramarines to destroy the Perfect City, they held a grudge against the Smurfs. Their backstabbing of the Ultramarines in the Calth System after their betrayal caused the Smurfs to suffer heavy losses, not to mention the destruction and slaughter of the Ultramar Five Hundred Worlds during the concurrent Shadow Crusade.

The blood feud between the Ultramarines and the Word Bearers had not faded even by the 41st millennium.

Let alone at this moment.

After listening to the mission briefing in the auditorium hall, Fu Qinghai found the team he was assigned to—Stinger Tactical Squad.

"Hello, sir, I am Qingshan, from the White Scars Legion Falcon Brotherhood." Fu Qinghai saluted and greeted.

"Hello, warrior of the White Scars. I noticed that you are also a sergeant. We are of equal rank, so you don't need to call me sir. My name is Gult Ricardo; you can just call me Gult." Gult pointed to the sergeant insignia on Fu Qinghai's breastplate and said.

"Understood, Gult."

The very name of the Techmarine specialty indicated that anyone serving as a Techmarine was at least a sergeant. When Fu Qinghai completed his apprenticeship under Master Kunto, Ogedei had granted Fu Qinghai the rank of sergeant, though with the limited number of Space Marines on the Dagger, Fu Qinghai did not yet have the authority to lead troops.

"Although our squad did not receive the glorious task of serving as the spearhead unit, we have been given another important mission. Captain Vlahos will personally lead our squad as a reserve force to participate in the orbital drop operation," Gult explained to Fu Qinghai.

Fu Qinghai nodded, noting that although Stinger Squad had not caught the vanguard, as a tactical squad commanded personally by the captain, their status within the company was not low.

Gult handed over a tablet and said, "You can first take a look at the tactical briefing prepared based on information sent back by the forward scouts. More detailed intelligence will arrive after the spearhead units land."

Fu Qinghai reached out to take the tablet, his fingers swiping across the screen as he carefully read the tactical briefing.

On an unfamiliar planet, the initial intelligence available from scouts and auspexes was limited, consisting mainly of the tactical planning laid out by Vlahos.

The Ultramarines would split into various squads to storm the transport ships, and after sabotaging the target areas, they would decide whether to continue attacking to capture the ships or teleport back to the Sotharan cruiser.

The tablet only displayed the mission objectives for each squad, but after a quick scan, Fu Qinghai clearly understood the tactical intent of Captain Vlahos—first, disable the power systems or flight control systems of the three transport ships, which was a mandatory objective, and then seek further results depending on the situation.

After committing it to memory, Fu Qinghai handed the tablet back to Gult.

Fu Qinghai asked, "So, Captain Vlahos's tactical goal is to prioritize destroying the power sources of the three transport ships so they cannot take off?"

Seeing that Fu Qinghai understood Vlahos's tactical intent after just one glance, Gult was somewhat surprised. He nodded and subconsciously said:

"Oh, I thought the White Scars..." Before he finished speaking, he realized he had spoken out of turn and fell silent.

Fu Qinghai was not angry and said calmly, "Sergeant Gult, although Chogoris is a feudal and backward savage world, the White Scars are not a legion of barbarians. Our tactical literacy might be much higher than you imagine."

Gult scratched his head in embarrassment and said, "Sorry, I haven't had the experience of fighting side-by-side with the White Scars Legion before, so I had some misunderstandings."

Unlike the Emperor's eldest son, the First Legion, the chivalrous Dark Angels Legion; the Emperor's most favored son, the perfect model, the Emperor's Children Legion who held the Emperor's personal eagle emblem; or the most efficient conquerors, the Luna Wolves and the Ultramarines, the White Scars were a relatively mysterious legion to other Astartes legions and the citizens of the Imperium of Man.

Many Space Marines, based on the information that the White Scars' homeworld, Chogoris, was a planet with technology only at the black-powder weapon era, concluded: this is a legion of barbarians, just like the Sixth Legion, the Space Wolves.

It was not the same; the Wolf Legion was truly savage, savage yet loyal.

But the White Scars Legion possessed a rich and long-standing historical and cultural tradition and spiritual belief; they were fond of incense, calligraphy, and poetry.

It was just that they disdained to explain these things to others.

The Ultramarines placed great importance on pre-battle information gathering and analysis, then formulated detailed and thorough combat plans based on that information.

In contrast, the White Scars, long positioned in the roles of scouts and pathfinders, might have more experience in dealing with encounter battles than the Ultramarines.

Fu Qinghai accepted Gult's apology; it was nothing major, and there was no need to be thin-skinned.

At this moment, on the bridge of the Sotharan, the holographic projection in front of Vlahos displayed the bust of a burly man in white armor with a scarred face. The man spoke in his hoarse, booming voice:

"Vlahos, do you need us to send men to land with you?"

Vlahos shook his head and said, "Not for now, Ogedei. I will call for support from the Dagger when necessary."