Chapter 203: Medical Room... Again
Outside the medical room, Branka took a deep breath, glanced at the two behind him, and after the trio exchanged nods, Branka pushed the door open and walked in.
"Hades, how's your recove—"
He was cut off mid-sentence when he saw two people crowded around Hades's bed, the three of them chatting enthusiastically.
"Ah, Branka? And Vorx and Garro—you've come to visit me!"
Hades's warm voice rang out.
"Io, Lerna—this is Captain Garro of the Seventh Company, that one's Branka, and Vorx of the First Company. Don't be nervous, they're all easy to talk to."
"Don't just stand in the doorway—come in, everyone! These two are part of the latest batch of Barbartus recruits—this is trainee apothecary Io, and Lerna, who is currently in the Second Company."
With Hades calling them over so energetically, the three visitors had no choice but to walk in.
Garro remained stoic and expressionless as always, Branka looked like he was barely restraining the urge to knock Hades's head off, and only Vorx gave a gentle but slightly awkward smile.
"If we'd known you were in the middle of a conversation, we wouldn't have picked now to visit," Vorx said.
"Ah, no worries. Leo just finished with me, and now he's letting his apprentice Io take over for a bit, so I thought I'd have a little chat."
Io bowed respectfully to the three senior Astartes. "If the Lords have matters to discuss, please don't mind us. We'll take our leave."
Then the trainee hesitated slightly, clearly reluctant but still said, "Lord Leo has instructed that no food be given to Lord Hades, so please don't bring any into the medical room."
"And if Lord Hades requests to go to the cafeteria, please deny such a request."
"Huh? But we just agreed earlier that I could go to the cafeteria!" Hades exclaimed.
Io quickly averted his gaze.
That was just a stalling tactic—he couldn't outright refuse someone of Hades's rank, so he had to buy time until Leo returned.
The good news was that Hades and his friend Lerna were chatting so happily that Io didn't even need to try hard to keep him occupied. Lerna had always been this way—loud and carefree, even back on Barbarus.
"Yeah, Io! Weren't we just talking about bringing something for Lord Hades—"
Io jabbed Lerna in the side.
Don't drag me down with you, you idiot!
Lerna, however, looked at him in disbelief, as if saying, You're lying? Seriously?
Watching this, Vorx felt his smile start to crack.
"We will abide by that rule," Garro said sternly, interrupting the bickering between the two recruits.
"Understood. We'll be going then," Io said, nodding and preparing to leave—
"Greetings! I'm Lerna!"
Io felt a cold sweat forming. Lerna had zero awareness.
Io seriously had no idea how this guy had developed such a personality.
Just as Branka was about to scold them, Hades chimed in helpfully, "Vorx, remember these two. In this batch of new recruits, I've got a good feeling about them."
Vorx silently took note.
Back then, when Hades had said similar words to Lord Mortarion, the subject had been him. And now, Vorx was already the highest-ranked Barbartus-born Astartes in the Legion besides Hades himself.
"Understood."
"Thank you, Lord Hades!"
Lerna shouted loudly, then turned and quickly gave Hades a hug before grabbing the now-frozen Io and bolting.
Hades gave a sheepish smile.
"Haha~ who'd have thought we'd have such cheerful warriors among the Death Guard."
They didn't seem like recruits grown from Mortarion's geneseed at all.
Hades couldn't help but rant internally.
If he didn't know that his geneseed was still sealed in the cold vault, he'd seriously start to wonder if he was their progenitor.
But geneseed wasn't supposed to alter personality traits, right???
Vorx nodded, smoothly picking up where Hades left off. "A warrior's personality is still influenced by their life before becoming an Astartes. And honestly, having a few more extroverts in the Death Guard isn't a bad thing."
"I've taken note of Lerna and Io."
Vorx and Hades shared a glance—everything that needed to be said passed silently between them.
"Bold of you to say it out loud," Hades grinned.
"I've been keeping an eye on those two since the beginning. Their selection metrics were impressive. Besides—Branka, who was it that took me to that meeting room where Garro and the other captains were talking?"
Branka coughed a few times. "You pick things up fast, don't you."
Hades wore a look of justified confidence and, with practiced ease, held out his hand.
"What are you doing?" Branka asked suspiciously.
"Food?"
"You think we'd bring someth—"
Before Branka could even finish, he saw Vorx pulling out a food-grade ceramite ration block from his power armor, clearly hesitating whether or not to hand it over.
"Hades… since the apothecary has already given orders, maybe we shouldn't—"
"I know my body better than anyone! Leo's just using this as an excuse to mess with me. Hand it over!"
Hades made a move to grab it.
"No."
Garro stepped in calmly and took the ration block from Vorx's hand, placing it aside. Hades immediately deflated.
"Get some rest," Garro said with a tone that brooked no argument as he firmly pressed Hades back onto the bed.
"Yeah, yeah… no food, and the three of you show up—don't tell me you really came to check if I'm dead or not."
"Hades… that's not a fair way to put it."
"You really think so poorly of us?" Vorx added.
Hades raised both hands in a gesture of mock surrender. "Okay, okay, I was wrong. I misjudged you all. Clearly, you're just here out of the kindness of your hearts, visiting a wounded brother-in-arms recovering in a bed. Too bad you rushed over and forgot to bring anything for the poor patient."
"Tsk, tsk— the standards of this Legion are slipping, slipping I say."
Branka felt himself tensing—his fists clenching on reflex.
This really was how Hades normally interacted with them, but when he thought about what he saw on the battlefield… a stark, jarring sense of dissonance cleaved through his mind.
Vorx and Garro felt it too.
"We came to check on you and to talk business."
Garro's tone was level. "We just came from speaking with the Primarch."
Hades instantly sat up, his expression turning serious. "Alright. Hit me. What is it this time?"
"You."
That made Hades freeze. He blinked in disbelief. "Huh?"
Vorx and Garro exchanged a glance.
"Hades, was the Drune campaign the first time you used your ability on a wide scale?"
Hades thought back. "If we're talking about my time in the Death Guard, then… yeah, that was the first time I deployed the Black Domain in a direct battlefield."
"Then, who have you told about your ability?"
Hades paused to count. "The entire Zero Company. The soldiers from the Seventh who fought with me this time. The three of you. Mortarion. And two members of the Mechanicus."
He didn't mention the Custodes or the Sisters of Silence.
Hades caught the flicker of hesitation on Vorx's face, just as he was about to speak—only for Garro to cut in first.
"Hades, for the sake of the Legion's internal safety protocols, we hope to fully understand the nature of your ability and establish contingency measures."
Hades was struck speechless.
His mouth opened, but no sound came out.
So… his performance on the battlefield really had shaken Garro and the others.
Logically speaking, it made sense. From the standpoint of Legion security, someone like him should be kept in check. The Space Wolves and White Scars had similar procedures in place for their Librarians and psykers.
But understanding it in theory was one thing. Voluntarily offering to be restrained was another. And being confronted about it like this… was something else entirely.
Hades let out a long sigh. "As you've seen, you can think of me as a particularly powerful Untouchable. I can control the size of my anti-psyker field—that's about it."
"But from what we know," Garro said, "Untouchables shouldn't be able to directly knock people unconscious, let alone kill them."
"That's because they're not strong enough."
Hades answered irritably.
Why can't some monstrously strong Untouchable show up already, then he wouldn't have to explain all this himself.
"The human soul is also part of the Warp," Hades continued. "Untouchables—well, I might be a special case—can suppress or eliminate the Warp within a given space. And once the Warp is eliminated, the soul dissipates. A body without a soul… is just a corpse."
When he finished speaking, the three in front of him visibly fell into synchronized silence and deep thought.
"Does your ability have any limitations?" Garro asked. Even with psykers, unless one was highly skilled or performing very basic feats, there was usually a need for chanting or some time to establish contact with the Warp.
"No," Hades replied with a shrug. "Other than the strength of the field diminishing with distance."
As he made the gesture, the three of them suddenly felt a wave of cold dread wash over them—only to vanish just as quickly. Hades had just briefly activated his anti-Warp field.
Branka swallowed hard.
'This is even more unreasonable than psyker powers.'
'And this guy… with powers like this, he still spends every day trying to slack off?!'
For a moment, all three of them looked at Hades with considerably more complicated expressions.
"Then what would you recommend as a countermeasure against yourself?"
Hades looked helplessly at Garro.
'He's too straightforward…'
Even Garro seemed to realize he'd rushed the question. He didn't meet Hades's gaze and instead awkwardly stared at the wall.
"Uh… currently? Nothing, really."
"If it's an extremely powerful psyker, my ability could be suppressed. But let's be honest—the Death Guard probably doesn't have psykers on that level."
"And if someone tries to attack me physically… well, if I'm on the verge of death, I might instinctively drag half the ship down with me in a psychic detonation."
All four fell silent at once.
Then Hades let out an awkward laugh. "Uh… hahahaha. Yeah, doesn't really sound like there's a good solution, huh?"
"But," he said, tapping the metallic side of his cybernetic skull, "the Emperor personally installed a failsafe for my ability. So you don't need to worry too much."
Of course, what Hades didn't say was that the Emperor's failsafe had already become unstable—and that it was now reinforced by Tarasin, the Warlord of Wargame Collectibles.
"And besides," Hades said seriously, "I'm the last person who wants to see any of that happen. So if I ever feel anything going wrong, I'll jump straight into the Death Guard's trash chute and eject myself from the Endurance."
"Ughhh…" Branka let out a long groan. "So in the end, we came away with basically nothing!"
"Uh… I could move my office and quarters to the most remote area of the Endurance?" Hades offered sheepishly.
Branka rolled his eyes. "Brilliant idea." The veteran stepped forward and gave Hades a solid punch. "You brat. I trust you. So you better not screw this up."
"If you go off the rails, I'll be the first one to take you down."
Garro nodded silently. "I understand your situation now, Hades. And I appreciate you being willing to talk to us about this. I'll give it further thought once I return."
"I hope you won't take it the wrong way—former Captain Barasine entrusted me with these responsibilities, and I must fulfill them."
Hades nodded. "I get it, I get it. Garro, don't overwork yourself either. If anything's bothering you, you can always come to me."
Branka slapped Hades on the back, hard. "Forget that for now. First go talk to the soldiers you scared half to death!"
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