Warhammer 40k: Shattered Steel Soul

(music playing)

The war eagle flies in the sky as fast as a shooting star.

A lightning flag hangs on the window, and beyond the flag is a pasture, with several cows and sheep grazing on the grass.

Quiet. There was not a breath of wind in the pasture, and the grassland was very quiet. Is it nighttime? No way of knowing. Airy and spacious, with dark gold lighting. Everything is calm except for the symbolic flight of the eagle.

As the light gradually dimmed, two male voices sounded, deep and conveying sadness.

Voice 1 (thick and deep):

"The hunter in the tent is our great khan."

"His name is Chagatai. He returned to our grassland yesterday..."

"So we waited outside the tent."

silence.

Voice 2 (worried):

"They've been sitting here all night...no response..."

Voice 1:

"Yes...he brought his brother with him."

silence.

The light is on the tent. Saw two figures sitting opposite each other. Incense burns in a bronze censer.

A tall and strong man removed the gold edge of his neck guard and untied the leather hairband of his black hair. Black hair spread over the ivory white armor.

Opposite him sat another man, slightly shorter. Wearing a dark blue robe, he closed his eyes and was immersed in thinking.

(music stops)

——"Chagatai Khan: Song of the Eagle"

Magnus walked into the signal reception hall of the Wan Zhang Ray. His appearance barely stopped the servitors and operators from being busy. Those oil-coated machines hummed, smoke spread out from the gaps between plastic and metal inside the detection array and the meditator, and the viscous liquid flowing in the pipes seemed to inject a hot pulse into the entire room that was in constant motion.

He is not familiar with this place, and machinery and technology are definitely not areas he is proficient in. But he had to come here today.

"I am Communications Officer Murray, Lord Primarch." The mortal communications officer held the communications receiver and crossed the pipes on the ground. His movements were as fast as the floor was hot enough to burn his feet through his boots. "We are analyzing the signal. origin of!"

Magnus raised his palm, a brief gesture that soothed the communications officer's anxiety. "What's the result now?"

"Coming from the edge of Ultramar, we are still locating. The composition of this signal is different from all the signals that can be received before. We are not sure who can create this kind of alternative signal. I promise, sir ! The broadcast circuit and communications unit never received it!"

Magnus thought briefly before speaking. He didn't need to emphasize a meaningless dignity through silence, so the length of his thinking was limited to two mortal blinks. ɱ

"The unknown draws the boundaries of the known, and the emergence of boundaries means room for expansion. Beyond the boundaries are the choices of progress or destruction, but now someone has taken the first step." Magnus said, "I have not Question the abilities of anyone here, crew, because I know less about this signal than you do."

The light in his unobstructed single eye changed, and finally settled into a color like liquid molten gold.

“I have entered the ocean of meditation,” he said, his voice adding an emphatic joy to each syllable, “catching a flash of interstellar communication in the light and shadow of the etheric ocean. I have learned nothing, but this hall is Flashing for this signal. Why do you think that is, Murray?"

"A...signal you didn't detect?"

Magnus smiled. The warmth in his eyes almost set the communications officer's soul on fire.

"A cosmic signal not based on the Warp," the Primarch emphasized. "Can you imagine, communications officer?"

"Very unusual, Legion Commander."

In the original training cage dedicated to the original body, Angron put down the dismantled fighting servitor. The latter replaced the chain saw of the arm and the exposed piston. When it fell to the ground, it added a crisp knocking sound to the dull sound. .

The Primarch opened the door of the cage and stepped out. It slammed behind him.

"Yes, my father," Kahn answered. "The instruments are counting, but the astropaths know nothing. Their senses have failed."

"Failure?" Angron repeated, "Their minds are intact, and each heart is beating in overlapping loss and curiosity. Our astropaths and navigators are both unscathed. This is not a failure, Ka kindness."

He moved his fingers and picked up the towel hanging beside the training cage to wipe away the sweat.

"The signal comes from the border of Ultramar. It flashes periodically in all directions and the intensity is very stable." Kahn said, showing a thoughtful expression.

Angron would have liked to see him show more personal emotion, and there was no point in pretending to be cold and machine-like in front of a Primarch who could communicate with anyone else's mind.

“Not only the most sensitive cutting-edge signal receivers, but more than eighty percent of available signaling equipment captured the clear jump in parameters at that moment when the signal began to flash for the first time.”

He was silent for a while.

"I think it was a broadcast, my father."

"I believe you are right," Angron said, looking farther away than the walls of the Resolute Resolve.

"And Perturabo must have received this signal. If the Iron Blood has not sent an astrological message within an hour, we can believe that this is what he did."

"Did the Iron Blood send Star Language?"

"Leave professional work to the right person." In the Ironblood workshop, Robert Guilliman stood behind Perturabo. Even though his brother was busy observing various complex parameters, he was rarely able to keep quiet. Of course I understand this truth, Connaught and Euton both taught me not to put all the responsibility on my shoulders..."

"But why was that lighthouse lit? Of course, brother, I am by no means blaming you. Although you and I have differences on the Pharos Lighthouse, I know that you respect Ultramar's autonomy." Guilliman was eager. As he spoke, words appeared one after another with a hint of Ultramar accent.

An accident in his home would certainly worry him, but it would not make him lose his mind and blame the brother he had placed his trust in.

"I can't contact my other self right now, Robert," Perturabo said, keeping his emotions in check. One end of the cable was like a dark cable connected to several control boards, making him seem to be the master of this room. "But my scattered will has not returned. This shows that everything has not been derailed."

"In addition, the influence range of this signal has been calculated. Except for the first radiated signal, which was almost close to Terra, subsequent stable signals are limited to Ultramar and the surrounding small-scale star areas, and will not affect navigation. Or other normal things to cause harm, Roger Dorn, you're here."

Robert Guilliman turned to look behind him. Dorn put down his hand, and the sound of his knuckles tapping the door frame merged with the sound of the analyzing machine switching disks.

"What's going on, Perturabo?" Rogal Dorn asked, walking steadily to Perturabo's side and checking the scanner's sight glass.

"The other me was testing the workings of the Pharos lighthouse, but the lighthouse suddenly lit up completely." Perturabo made room for Dorn to accommodate the other primarch without involving his connected nerves. The location of the cables, "see the data yourself."

Dawn quickly read the numbers scrolling on the screen. "How many planets were affected?"

"Depends on how many habitable planets Ultramar has."

"An optimistic estimate is that there are at least hundreds. They were alerted... No." Guilliman said, paused, and a new idea entered his mind.

Now that the light of the beacon has shone across Ultramar, Macragge should not give up the opportunity. If he can prove that the lighthouse is controlled by the Ultramarines, even if the lighthouse goes out, this will be an eternal proof of his hidden capital and goodwill.

"They are awakened." He stepped forward and walked to the other side of Perturabo, thinking about something that was still in its infancy and saying no more.

——

"We are similar. Your essence is bound to the shell, we are imprisoned in the outer skin. It is our only connection. It is enough for us to focus on each other. Free us and you will be rewarded. We will search for our parts in the galaxy. Them They will regret betraying us."

Perturabo studied the shadow of the quantum network before him, observing its spiral shape.

A disembodied figure, floating in tones of brass and turquoise, imposes a humanly comprehensible image on the structure of Perturabo's mind derived from human society: arms, legs, head, and Golden-green torso. When the creature speaks, its mouth glows.

"You belittle the Emperor, not knowing that he is not the god of the human race; you use words to boast of your greatness, but I see a broken and broken creature; you compare me to me, but I see no similarity between us. The only thing you've done is show me a fantasy, and I don't see the value in that."

Zahurash's anger is reflected in the vibration of every particle, lacking the stimulation of chemical hormones. This may not be called anger.

"Look. Look. The lighthouse is shining. For you. For us."

Suddenly, time seems to pause, and space expands to the edge of infinity.

Perturabo seemed to be standing at an endless crossroads. Every node in the vast network in front of him was shining brightly. More than a thousand different and colorful pictures appeared around him at the same time, and they were replaced at a high speed all the time - —Thousands of different shots, each person in the painting captures a common signal, like a messenger traveling through time and space, stable, bright, and shining from the depths of the universe.

In each different scene, Perturabo saw countless different emotions.

The first is fear. A pair of fearful eyes stare at the instrument that reacts suddenly, fearing to face a civilization that is enough to create such a strong signal across the galaxy. Then came doubts. The hearts of scientists from different planets accelerated, running between machines and recording every parameter excitedly.

In different cultures and backgrounds, more people have not yet reconnected with other civilizations after the deep storm of the old night, immersed in bone-chilling darkness and spent one thousand-year period after another in a chaotic lost place. Perturabo saw the dancing light in their eyes, and every point of light reflected human beings' desire and awe for the unknown.

In rare scenes, scholars who are still able to observe the starry sky are realizing the meaning behind everything they have experienced: what they see is a pattern they have never seen in many years of observation, that is, there are still people in the universe. waving to them. Their excitement and anticipation were enough to overwhelm all fears.

While the ruler Zahurash was satisfied with its power, Perturabo saw thousands of emotions of the entire human race unfolding before him. He realized that he was being attracted by these pictures, even though dangerous aliens still had to be dealt with, but at this moment, an absolutely unfamiliar emotion suddenly rose from his heart.

He savored human excitement, curiosity, and even worries and doubts, realized the subtle connection between himself and the universe, and felt that he was becoming a small node in the universe, closely connected with everyone.

When he was taught that he was only a mortal, he tried his best to deny it. However, in this strange and wonderful moment, an unprecedented sense of connection pulled him into this group.

He tried to digest the significance of this moment, knowing that these images, the expressions of all these people, would become part of a grand epic that would reunite Ultramar, and indeed the entire human world, as one.

The impact on Ultramar when the Pharos Beacon was illuminated may have been a morning star-like microcosm of the sun's glow that illuminated the Warp.

Everything is on the line. He thought of these words again.

He closed his eyes, then opened them.

"Do you control the Pharos Lighthouse, Zahurash?" he asked.

"They built lighthouses. Instruments built by betrayers. We were bound to provide energy." Zahurash's voice became a steady rumble, its pride projecting in the fixed expansion and contraction of the particle cloud, "Once we break away . A thousand times more powerful. The God of reality is us.”

"If you break away," Perturabo asked, "will this lighthouse still function?"

"Eight shards, we eat the others. The others are not eaten. Stupid! Want to take advantage of the betrayer's mountains? We can give more. More."

"Meaningless signals prove nothing," Perturabo said to Zahurash's radiance.

Zahurash's anger shook the entire mountain range, but the bound fragments could not even carve a fatal gap into the black stone. This makes its anger comical.

"The last time!" Zahulash's quantum cloud kept changing in a dazzling way, "What do you want!"

"Give meaning to the signal, Lord Zahurash," said Perturabo. "Show me this last thing, and I and my companions will change your situation."

——

"The Empire awaits."

Morse compiled what the Pharos Lighthouse was broadcasting to all of Ultramar, wondering just how much Perturabo had done while he stood there, motionless as a stone statue.

The next moment, he looked to his right.

"You're here?" Morse was a little surprised. "Me? Are you free? Where is your fleet? Aren't you on an expedition?"

"This place is on the way to the expedition." The visitor said calmly, "The vision has never been so clear."

He turned his head, his black hair hanging out of the golden armor relief: "The light of the lighthouse shines like day, so I came here looking for a way."

"Let me guess, you just came to see Robert Guilliman to see when he would return to Terra. Then you were attracted by the light of the lighthouse that Perturabo was toying with?" Mors asked.

The emperor smiled and said nothing.

Morse wanted to say a few more words, and Perturabo suddenly woke up from his frozen state: "Morse, there is a place here that can be used for energy supply -"

The unknown god-like thing has awakened. He persuaded Zahurash to work with his companions to change its situation, and prepared to work with Morse to find ways to make full use of this powerful energy or strengthen the seal. The emperor suddenly appeared in front of him, letting his second half The words dissipated in shock.

"A fragment," the Emperor said slowly. "let me see."