Warhammer: The 11th Primarch - The Black Emperor Chapter 260: Medusa’s Cruel but Limited Competition

dusa System, dusa IV, the Oraanus Rocks.

Storm General Amadeus DuCaine, forr commander of the Tenth Legion stood upon the mountainside.

His Mark I Thunder-pattern armor was repainted in the black of the Iron Hands, its pauldrons draped with chains of alternating black-iron and white-iron links.

A row of iron spikes jutted from the back of his gorget up over his skull, symbols that he had survived countless trials to be accepted into the Clan Sorrgol.

DuCaine had embraced dusa's culture of competition. Stripped of his armor, he fought in brutal contests, erging victorious and becoming chieftain of Sorrgol.

As clan-chief, he now wore new armor. His cloak was the clan's banner itself, woven of tallic threads and heavy silk, inlaid with slabs of onyx, obsidian, and sapphire as weight and ornant, its center emblazoned with the silver sigil of Sorrgol.

The Oraanus Rocks stretched hundreds of kiloters north to south, ford of ultra-hard diorite. DuCaine stood on a slope, instructing his warriors:

"Boys, our doctrine is a balance of concentrated strikes and all-round assault, war fought at extre speed…"

Gabriel, now acknowledged as one of the Sorrgol, stood only ten ters away. He had grown used to DuCaine addressing young warriors as "boys," even "girls." What might be insult elsewhere was here taken as camaraderie.

Unlike other Iron Hands or the ten warrior clans of dusa, DuCaine treated neophyte as children to be cared for, trained, and raised. He alone did this among them.

"Our duty on dusa is to guard this sector, every system, every outpost, every mineral site."

"Like this diorite beneath my feet, unique to dusa, a precious resource."

Gabriel's golden Garuda had helped locate a rich vein of diorite, earning him five tons of it. He had analyzed it: a pri representative of crystalline intrusive rock, a major component of granite, which when specially treated ford iron-crystal, a material the Iron Hands used in place of stone.

When the day's lesson ended, DuCaine laughed:

"Boys, dismissed, go eat."

Then he approached Gabriel.

"Has Adams found a new site?"

Adams had previously uncovered two ancient ruins, developed jointly by Clan Sorrgol and Gabriel. His finds brought relics of lost technologies, and in driving off rival clans' warriors, he proved his might and command, securing his swift rise as clan-lord.

Now DuCaine trusted none could surpass the grim Death Lord in unearthing ancient ruins.

"Adams has pinpointed the location. Word will co soon."

DuCaine laughed aloud.

"Excellent news!" He took a platter from a servant and handed it to Gabriel. "Eat your fill, we'll march, and claim what's ours."

The plate held black-worms, a local delicacy. Though called worms, they were actually algae that, once fried, resembled insects.

Gabriel remarked: "Before dusa, I'd never seen algae that could draw energy from atmospheric friction."

"That's dusa," DuCaine said proudly. "Unique in all the galaxy."

After their al of at and black-worms, DuCaine looked to the sky.

"The lads tell the Iron Moon is near. For dusa, today is a day of terror."

Gabriel's comm-bead chid. He listened, then said:

"We must move now, strike down the beasts at the ruins. You wouldn't want to be caught in battle once the Iron Moon arrives."

"Of course," DuCaine bellowed to his clansn: "Boys, move out!"

Colossal steel land-crawlers, each over a hundred ters long, rumbled forward, drawn by teams of Yaluk-beasts.

Yaluk resembled a blend of great cats and primates, towering several ters tall, broad-shouldered, long-ard, their bodies thick with black fur and manes.

Sorrgol warriors pressed the ignition runes inside their crawlers. Arcs of electricity lashed out, striking the beasts. With a roar of pain and fury, the Yaluk surged into a frenzied run, hauling the steel leviathans forward.

Ten kiloters on, alarms shrilled red across DuCaine's console.

Gabriel read the sigil: a cogwheel rimd with teeth, a skull set at its core.

"Avini!"

"Santor's Avini," DuCaine muttered, recalling Gabriel Santor. Unlike others, Ferrus Manus had favored him, his first dusan to undergo gene-forging.

"Storm and Hamr!"

DuCaine was used to dusan ways: when clans t, their first greeting was artillery fire. Manus himself encouraged this rivalry, believing competition forged strength.

The Avini opened fire first, their land-crawlers unleashing dense bombardnts. One shell smashed into a Yaluk, bursting it into bloody mist. Others hamred Sorrgal crawlers, tearing rents in armor.

When the barrage ceased, DuCaine gave his order:

"Raise the storm!"

Sorrgal guns thundered in reply. Shells converged on a single Avini crawler, flipping the hundred-ter giant into the air. Flas blossod inside, and a massive armored figure forced the hatch, an Astartes of the Tenth Legion, staggering from the blaze.

Gabriel frowned, silent.

'Though I strive to understand dusan culture at my lord's command, this brutality is hard to get used to.'

'Lord Manus and my Lord differ utterly, it is unthinkable that my lord would sanction such savage contests among his people.'

He forced his attention back to DuCaine's tactics. Under his command, crawlers advanced in turn, one drawing fire while others struck, then pulling back before destruction.

'Not "Storm and Hamr," but akin in spirit.'

Gabriel noted the thod on his data slate.

For ten volleys the duel raged, Sorrgal gaining the upper hand. Avini were first to break, withdrawing in disciplined fire.

One unlucky Legionary perished in the flas, along with ten Avini clansn, eliminated by dusa's harsh law of competition.

DuCaine did not pursue. Rivalry had limits, bound by restraint.

Another thirty kiloters, and they reached the target mountains.

.....

If you enjoy the story, my p@treon is 30 chapters ahead.

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