Forty Dusk Raiders

Chapter 42 40. Dusk Raiders

Endurance.

Now.

Hades trailed behind Mortarion as they strolled down the narrow corridors, taking their time, not rushing to their next destination.

Mortarion walked in silence, giving Hades space to think.

Hades, meanwhile, was still pondering Mortarion's recent words.

Even though these veterans from Terra had all sworn allegiance to Mortarion, Mortarion would never grant them his trust easily.

This wasn't just Mortarion's paranoia. In fact, veterans in every Legion experienced friction with newly arrived Primarchs and recruits.

Take the Ultramarines of the Thirteenth Legion, for example. Their Primarch, Guilliman, disapproved of the Terran veterans' overly violent methods. Or the Raven Guard of the Nineteenth Legion, where Corax disliked the Terran veterans using the Astra Militarum as bait in war.

If a Primarch possessed enough personal charisma or political savvy, the integration of the old and new elements of the Legion would be easier.

A prime example of this was the Thirteenth Legion, the Ultramarines. Roboute Guilliman constantly used his wisdom to guide the veterans onto a new path.

Or the Ninth Legion, where the saintly Sanguinius saved a group of vampires on the verge of corruption.

But there were also less positive examples… such as the Fourteenth Legion, the Death Guard.

Mortarion's approach was simple: use his outstanding war intellect and methods to force these veterans to submit.

Then, send them out on high-casualty missions to bleed out the old guard and replenish the Legion with his own men.

Some stubborn veterans would cling to their past glories, volunteering for suicidal missions.

Others would choose to completely trust their Primarch, letting go of their past achievements.

In fact, if you looked at it from a different angle, not from the perspective of integrating old and new elements, Mortarion's methods were perhaps a more efficient approach.

This allowed him to insert his own people into the Legion in the shortest amount of time, maximizing his own power.

Some might not understand this, because hadn't these Terran veterans already declared their loyalty to Mortarion? Why the need to expand his power?

In reality, it wasn't so much loyalty to the Primarch himself, but rather that the veterans chose to be loyal because the Emperor had ordered them to.

These Dusk Raiders veterans from Terra had mostly witnessed the Emperor's own solemnity and glory. The Primarch, to them, was merely a gift from the Emperor.

With a Primarch, the entire Legion would become stronger, but even without one, the Legion was still operating in its own way.

What's more, Mortarion's return was relatively late in the Great Crusade. After Mortarion, only Angron, Corax, and Omegon had yet to be found.

This led to a sense of independence in the Dusk Raiders' minds.

The Dusk Raiders of old, unlike the Twelfth Legion War Hounds who still envied the glorious return of Guilliman and Sanguinius, the Fourteenth Legion had long realized that a Legion could do very well without a Primarch.

In fact, the original Fourteenth Legion, the Dusk Raiders, even had a mindset within the Legion that—

What could a Primarch even do? The Fourteenth Legion without a Primarch could accomplish the same things as those armies led by Primarchs.

The most extreme veterans even felt that the Primarch was nothing special, watching mockingly to see if the Primarch could really improve the Legion.

The veterans always held their heads high; they had the capital to be proud.

These veterans, who had endured most of the war on their own, quietly marched through the universe. While other Legions cheered for the return of their Primarchs, preparing for grand welcoming ceremonies, the Dusk Raiders fought silently in the corners of the galaxy.

When Sanguinius knelt before his sons, when Guilliman of the Ultramar Empire reforged the glory of the Ultramarines, when Dorn led his vast and perfect pocket empire back, those Legions whose Primarchs had not yet been found could only watch from the sidelines.

Some Legions envied, hoping their Primarch would be as noble as Sanguinius, as glorious as Guilliman, as proud as Horus.

No Space Marines didn't yearn for the father connected to their gene-seed.

They hoped their Primarch was the best, the most unique, that they could be led to become the most glorious.

But there was always an exception.

Such as the original Fourteenth Legion, the Dusk Raiders.

They had their own culture, their own history.

When the attack point of a planet silently rotated to the border between light and shadow, the Fourteenth Legion's general offensive had just begun.

Riding the twilight, they launched a large-scale ground assault on the enemy. The dim and charming light blurred the Space Marines' gray power armor, and the ancient and traditional Albian Tactics still played their role in the universe.

They were the heroes from Terra, the Emperor's strong right arm.

Therefore, they had earned themselves a unique title—the Dusk Raiders.

They had their own pride.

What was even more intriguing was that the Dusk Raiders' prideful independence, silent stubbornness, and lack of reliance on superiors, in some ways, were worthy of Mortarion's sons.

The Primarch's tall figure was still strolling in the Endurance's corridors. Hades looked at Mortarion, wondering how he was really getting along with these veterans.

Personally, Hades was more inclined to hope that the old and new legions would integrate well.

Firstly, Hades respected these veterans who had spent their lives in the military. Secondly, a legion with a large number of veterans was often more powerful in combat.

Thirdly, if Mortarion was determined to betray, these veterans from Terra would be the last loyalists within the Death Guard.

Sometimes, thinking about things could become difficult because you were always unwilling to face those problems head-on.

Hades knew that although he had successfully broken one of Mortarion's inner demons, when it came to fate... Hades preferred to have a backup plan.

As for Typhon, Hades would find a way. If he could be persuaded, he would try.

But if it really didn't work...

——Then he would kill him.

But Hades was worried that even if he killed a future traitor, would there be a second traitor, or a third?

Even if there were no traitors, would Mortarion still be tricked into ascension by Nurgle?

Moreover, even without Nurgle's scheme, in the original timeline, Mortarion would have chosen to betray because of Horus's persuasion.

As of now, killing Alien Lord Nac'Lare was just the most minor detail in the entire vast process of Warhammer's destiny.

As a tiny member of the race, how much of a splash could Hades make?

The future was too treacherous, and individual strength was too insignificant.

Based on the current information, Hades was unable to make his own conclusion on the next step.

To flee? To fight? To turn the tide? Or to hide in fate?

The mysteries surrounding himself were already full of doubts.

Hades needed to see more, he needed to think more.

He would find his answer.

Happy reading ω

Book recommendation! A 40k big-head start, currently without a system or cheats. Finally, there's a new Warhammer novel! Go for it! (_)