Cold, hot, numb.

That's how Dantiok describes his current state, and in fact, it could be even worse. Fortunately, this did not prevent him from doing his duty, and his immune system did the same, which made him sweat profusely.

He stood between the trembling deck and the crowd, listening to their protoplasm and the other two protos talking.

"We can't organize an effective offensive and push back." He heard Perturabo say this. "It takes time to get warships out of trouble, and it takes even more time to establish communication with these warships in advance. And Horus won't let us have that time, if he really does what you say. ”

"He will." Vulgan, the lord of the fire dragon, replied hoarsely. "He's not Horus, Peturabo, he's something else, a monster"

Dantiok heard their primordial form sigh softly.

"I don't have the energy to talk to you about this right now, Vulcan. I don't want to quarrel with you at this point in time for a title, but I do feel very unhappy that you have been holding on to this matter. It doesn't matter if he's or isn't. ”

"I know." Vulcan said that the tiredness in his voice could be heard by anyone. "I guess I just can't take it, man, I'm sorry."

"There's no need to apologize." Peturabo said.

With his head down, he tapped back and forth on a datapad, and the sound of dripping was incessant. He had his back to them, so Dantiok couldn't read his expression. And I'm afraid it's useless even if you can see it.

The change in the Iron Lord is staggering, and they can detect it at a glance.

"The battle is decided, and we are about to lose. As a manager, of course, I am the most derelict in my duties. Therefore, you don't have to be sorry for this, just retreat with the fleet, Vulcan. ”

"I can delay them." The Lord of the Fire Dragon said after a moment of silence.

"And then make your legion just like us?" Another person in the communication channel opened his mouth in dissatisfaction. "Don't do such a thing, retreat, Vulcan."

"That's true." Perturabo agreed with Motarian without emotion. "You can't stop Horus with your own legions, fight and retreat, brother. Meet us. ”

"And then?"

"Then we retreated to Robert Killiman's Five Hundred World. We can fight the Whisperers with them and get back to Terra through Mandeville Point there. If we're lucky, we might even be able to meet them in Angrand. ”

I see." Vulcan said.

His voice was very low, and Danteok suddenly felt a sense of empathy. Of course, he couldn't understand what a primordial was thinking, but that didn't stop him from feeling a sympathetic feeling towards Vulcan

He understood that the Lord of the Fire Dragon was most likely disgusted with his powerless self now.

The communication has come to an end for the time being, but the Iron Lord has not stopped. He put down the data tablet in his hand, walked over to the pilot's platform of the special shuttle, and began to manually manipulate it in a neural bundle connection to avoid the huge vines that swayed slightly in the vacuum.

Over the next ten minutes, they passed by three warships in the crunch of the sick jungle, but unfortunately, none of them responded to the call.

No one spoke in the shuttle, and everyone remained silent. Dantiok stood in front of the wide, narrow porthole, and observed the vines at a very close distance.

Frankly, they stung his eyes and made him feel as if he was going blind – could there really be anything in the world that ugly enough?

The light of the stars shone through the porthole on his face, cold and indifferent. Yes, the stars don't care what happens to them.

Dantiok knew that he was being sentimental, and he couldn't break free for a while, but the fourth ship responded to them in time, allowing him to get a little help and return to his normal thoughts.

It was the Cold Iron, a Styx-class cruiser. It was lucky not to be caught by the giant vines, and they quickly boarded the ship after both sides had been identified.

The current leader of the battleship is the lieutenant of the 45th Dalian, Soltarn Wau-Bronn, an expert in siege and defense warfare, known as a stonemason.

"Primordial!" On the bridge, Soltarn hurried over.

His power armor was damaged in multiple ways, the marks of a gang of Death Guard traitors who had jumped to their gang. Soltarn's men of the 45th Company won the victory, but they also paid a great price.

His company commander was killed, and the last third of the Cold Iron was completely cordoned off. He sent a number of servants carrying tanks of promethium liquid into it, intending to inactivate the virus with high temperatures.

It is unclear whether this tactic has been effective, but the fact that no one has been infected in the first half of the Cold Iron is a real deal.

"Report on the battle, Soltarn." Perturabo nodded at him, immediately asked straight to the point, and stood on the podium. As he listened to the battle report, he gave the crew of the Cold Iron an order to reverse course.

At this moment, a blinding flash of fire illuminated the entire iron-gray bridge, and Soltarn couldn't help but stop his voice, staring sideways, the brilliant explosion shining in his eyes.

A battleship captured by those vines had just been destroyed, and it was directly broken in half, and there was no way to fight back. The crew nervously and orderly began to perform evasion maneuvers, allowing it to avoid the possible aftermath of the explosion and activate the artillery position.

The fragments of the ship's explosion will be approaching them due to their huge kinetic energy, so it is better to destroy them early.

At the same time, an overt broadcast signal swept through the Cold Iron's radar. The Lord of Steel accepted it calmly, hearing a voice he least wanted to hear right now.

"I am Horus Lupecar, the Imperial Warlord, and I speak on behalf of those who remain loyal to humanity as a whole"

Peturabo immediately hung up on it, and he understood what it was - a surrender. Horus was already in control of the war, but he was still not satisfied, and wanted to use this method to destroy their psychological defenses.

He knew that this tactic of persuasion would not work for any of the Astarte regiments, but he used it anyway. In the classic Horus Lupecar style, once you really make up your mind to go to war, you will definitely seize any opportunity to push your opponent to the corner.

It's a pity that it doesn't work for them.

Perturabo narrowed his eyes and began to call Vulcan and Motarian.

This chapter is 2k, a total of 6k updates. I wanted to write more, but I seem to have a fever, and I'm all over the body

(End of chapter)