A subtle atmosphere permeated the strategy room.
Although he had to obey Perturabo's commands, Mortarion was not as unhappy as imagined.
Because he was standing here now, standing at the strategy command table, Perturabo told the Death Guard they needed to land at a location in Mining Area 03, coordinating with the Iron Warriors there and the detachment of Graia Tech Guard to conduct pinpoint strikes on a Necron surface structure.
Haha, that was the area Mortarion had pointed out earlier.
Mortarion stared fixedly at Perturabo, waiting for him to utter the next sentence—
"The Iron Warriors will provide air supremacy for the Death Guard here."
Yes, this is it!
Mortarion's raspy breathing sounded from beneath the toxin mask, Hades was certain this brother was laughing.
Don't you dare actually laugh out loud now brother!
Hades had barely "persuaded" these two Primarchs back into the same strategy room, he didn't want unnecessary losses caused by the two Legions failing to communicate information due to the Primarchs' temperaments.
What made Hades feel relieved was that unlike Mortarion, Perturabo seemed to have an iron mask welded onto his face. As if not hearing Mortarion's voice at all, he continued speaking on his own, or rather, issuing commands.
For unknown reasons, the local forces now were far less than before. Although there were still Necron troops surging up from Mining Area 03, these rigid soldiers could only slow the Empire's advance, not preventing them from entering Area 03.
And compared to the enemies on the ground, the threat from space constantly gripped at the fleet's throat, unrelenting.
The Iron Warriors ships were currently in a defensive dispersed formation, while also ready to accelerate to maximum speed at any time.
Perturabo needed more power to deal with the threat from space, so he decided to have the Death Guard be responsible for mopping up some of the Necron ground forces.
The number of Death Guard ships Mortarion now led was indeed not high, so there was no need for naval combat.
Massive amounts of data flowed through Perturabo's nerve fibers. According to data collected by the Iron Warriors, it was very likely the Necrons would appear with a fleet again at Star System 53 of Area 106.
The analysis reports of the Necron ship fragments were also completed. What shocked Perturabo was that everything on those ships lacked autonomy. From the Necron warriors to the ships' command systems, they moved entirely based on command signals from the ground.
This aligned with the information the Iron Warriors had previously collected about this alien race—
Highly totalitarian, the lowest level warriors did not have independent thought or decision making abilities.
In other words, they could try cutting off the ground's connections to the Necron ships.
Compared to their shocking prowess in space warfare, these aliens' ground combat could only be described as middling, nothing new, and not very threatening.
Perturabo needed to gather his forces in space, not on the ground.
After decoding and analyzing the information streams, Perturabo was shocked to discover the source of the information streams was near the area Mortarion had previously pointed out, at Mining Area 03, closer to the enemy's rear.
If they wanted to take that area in a short time, they would need to commit forces again. The Iron Warriors stationed at Area 106 did not have enough strength to take that area in a time frame Perturabo was satisfied with.
Then let the Death Guard go.
Perturabo thought expressionlessly. Although the Iron Warriors could also commit forces to that area, he preferred to allocate his forces to the naval battle.
Then let these Death Guard who had just stood by watching the Iron Warriors do nothing go.
While the two Primarchs with clashing auras stood to the side, Hades was completely focused on pondering Perturabo's plan.
From the previous performance of the opposition, it was very likely the Necrons on this planet had only been partially awakened. Not only were they only fielding the smallest class of ships, but even on the ground, the main component was still Necron land forces of warriors. This hinted that the scale of this Necron splinter force was not large.
The opposition's actions against them could only be described as "dispelling" them.
And to be honest, in front of the Necron ships, the ground was possibly safer. Provided the enemy did not have weapons of mass destruction on the ground.
But right now the control over 106's airspace was still firmly grasped in the Iron Warriors' hands. Even for the Necrons, it would take considerable time to wrest air supremacy as well as deploy weapons.
Based on the information Perturabo provided, Hades guessed there might be structures connecting to the Necron underground networks in that area.
The Necron forces there would possibly be more elite.
But the greatest threat now was undoubtedly not on the ground, but in space.
And the act of allocating forces to that area was also to coordinate with the naval battle.
Hades pondered briefly. He estimated again the Necron forces deployed in Area 03, as well as the corresponding Iron Warrior layout.
Feasible.
But the prerequisite was that the Iron Warriors outside Area 03 must actively coordinate with the Death Guard's attack, obstructing the returning defenders while providing fire support.
Hades quietly opened Mortarion's channel,
"We need some Iron Warriors to land together with the Death Guard."
"Numbers aren't key, the Iron Warriors accompanying the Death Guard must be elites."
"..."
Mortarion was displeased into silence for a moment. Why did they need Iron Warriors coming along with the Death Guard to fight?
Was Hades questioning something?
But the Primarch instantly understood Hades' intention shortly after.
The Iron Warriors might not necessarily come to assist the Death Guard, but they would definitely come to assist Iron Warriors.
(Of course, excluding Perturabo.)
These Iron Warriors were there to make those Iron Warriors on the periphery desperately fight.
Mortarion slowly blinked.
Although the Emperor had told him cooperation between Legions was unbreakable, although the Emperor had told him glory and discipline within the Legions were eternal topics.
In the Emperor's mouth, these brothers of his, the progeny of these brothers of his, were simply quasi-divine like the historians' descriptions of heaven.
But now as Mortarion stared at Perturabo, he realized these were all bullshit.
So it seemed necessary to have some Iron Warriors.
The good news was that ever since Perturabo "admitted" Mortarion's earlier plan, Mortarion's current mood could still support chatting with Perturabo a few more sentences.
"Brother,"
After closing the channel with Hades, Mortarion spat out that word like spitting phlegm. He uttered it unclearly, reluctantly.
"I believe regarding this sudden attack on the area, the Death Guard may need some Iron Warriors to guide us, to help us get familiar."
Perturabo nearly let a look of bewilderment show on his solemn, cold face. But he controlled himself very well.
Perturabo turned his head, staring at Mortarion.
He still tried to see something from this "brother" attempting to mock him.
But the yellowish green fumes completely obscured the little of his face that was exposed. Even with a Primarch's vision he couldn't make out Mortarion's expression.
When Perturabo focused his attention onto Mortarion, Mortarion's familiar toxic stench became even more distinct on his senses.
Perturabo suddenly realized that Mortarion was doing this deliberately. He deliberately used the toxic fumes to sicken his brothers. This damned bumpkin liked to use his foul smell to choke them normal people, and found their reactions amusing.
It was impossible for someone like this to utter kind words.
Perhaps genial brothers like Vulkan or Horus could say these kind words, but this was definitely not something Mortarion would say.
Could Mortarion be hoping to see Iron Warriors inferior to the Death Guard on the same battlefield?
Did this desolate "brother" wish to take recordings of the scene to publicly mock him?
Did Mortarion think he would cravenly decline to deploy troops, afraid to prove his weakness?
Perturabo's voice took on tones of anger. He simply turned around again, refusing to look at Mortarion's nauseating silhouette.
"Dantioch, step forward!"
"You will be responsible for the ground landing battle together with the Death Guard."
"Be sure to demonstrate the resilience of the Iron Warriors."
Beneath the shroud of toxins, Mortarion looked smugly for a moment at Perturabo's head (he was the tallest person here).
Of course he knew Perturabo would interpret his words as provocation. That guy wasn't that nice.
Maybe next time he should straight up omit "brother", that nauseating greeting.
Then Mortarion opened Hades' channel, gloating as he spoke,
"Done."
Now Mortarion believed he could go chop up those xenos with peace of mind.