Warhammer 40k: Shattered Steel Soul

"The light in my soul makes me love, explore, and search for wisdom itself. But they have your holy name in their mouths, but there is no existence of you in their hearts, and they make all kinds of ridiculous arguments about you and the world you created. Alas. , you, my love, my mercy, the life from which I draw my strength, the life of my soul, where are you?" - "The Book of Lorgar"

Even the Primarch of the Fourth Legion, the Iron Lord who is deeply trusted by the Empire's power center, the Lord of Olympia, the leader of the important sector under the Empire, the main force in the construction of the underground network of the Terra Palace, the son of the returning Emperor, and Perturabo, the main architect of Terra's defense system and a close friend of Terra's Praetorian Rogal Dorn, rarely had the opportunity to reach the Square of Heroes in the center of the palace, where he could see the marbles built by the Masons' Guild for the Imperial Primarchs. statue.

The reason is very simple. The construction of this huge circular square in the palace has only started in recent years, slightly before the Association of Memoirs took into account the level of precision and quality required to build a statue of the Primarch. Even though the stonemasons worked day and night. Thinking about it, he kept swinging the hammer, and now he only made a base for the statues of several original bodies, as well as the prototype of a huge white marble statue.

As for Corax, Jonson, Khan and others who have just returned in recent days, it can only be said that at least their bases marked with Roman numerals have been prepared in advance.

When Perturabo arrived at the Square of Heroes, a Primarch was strolling around the square, looking up at the empty base on a tall stone pillar. Perturabo immediately recognized the identity of the figure from behind, or in other words, the more likely identity.

"Alfaris," Perturabo stepped forward and looked at Alpharius or Omegon's reflective head, "Theoretically, it seems that you have not returned to Terra."

"Yes," the Primarch of the Twentieth Legion acquiesced to the title of Perturabo, and turned around from under the blank pillar marked with twenty, "Father did not invite me to come here today, Perturabo. Out of curiosity, I came here today.”

"You are adding trouble to the work of the Imperial Chancellor again," Perturabo said bluntly. The existence of the twins has always been a source of trouble in Terra-related construction work.

"I have done nothing, my brother," Alpharius nodded slightly to him, "I have only come to see my pillars and to see you again. Look, Perturabo, look back and pay attention to these Statue, what happened?”

"If I look back, you will disappear immediately," Perturabo said with experience.

"But you don't have to stop me from disappearing. As I said, I came here just to see how this incredible thing happened among us." Alpharius said, adding all his emotions All hidden beneath a calm exterior, like a ghost that doesn't really exist. He turned in front of Perturabo and left along the corridor of the Palace of Terra.

Perturabo surveyed Alpharius' vanishing shadow, knowing he would get no more answers from it.

He turned around and, as Alpharius said, observed the towering stone pillars one by one. In order to reflect the noble identity of the Primarch and to be commensurate with the majestic size of the entire Imperial Palace of Terra, which covers the entire Himalayas - and this is not including the outer temple, each statue is made of hundreds of tons of white marble. Carved, incompletely carved statues are even heavier.

Perturabo observed the standing prototypes, capturing the charm of the Primarch he knew from the cold stone statues. Even if it was just a prototype, he could still recognize Fulgrim's radiant appearance, Rogal Dorn's stone-like seriousness, Konrad Curze's coldness hidden in the darkness, and Horus Luperkar's allure. Eye-catching vitality and charm, etc.

Within the human empire, the top mortal craftsmen devoted their minds and even souls to this important undertaking. This gave Perturabo a rare opportunity to recall the second son of the tyrant he had met in his childhood. If he had survived, To this day, Perturabo believes that he will be a part of this great cause.

He retracted his wandering thoughts and noticed an empty pillar. It is like any empty column, with a serial number engraved on the base and high above. But it seems that this pillar should not remain vacant...

"Perturabo." A voice sounded behind him, gentle and courteous. Even though Perturabo had never heard this voice or had any personal contact with him, he still recognized him immediately.

"Lorgar Aurelion," Perturabo responded, looking towards the source of the voice.

The Lord of the Word Bearers was very similar to the image he had imagined, but paler, with lines of golden cuneiform across his skin accentuating the purity of his smile, and his violet eyes strikingly bright. , reaching an almost mysterious level. He reminded Perturabo of a stone tablet that had been feverishly engraved with prayer texts, the physical heat of which made the body too fragile.

However, if all these superfluous mental and temperament effects are excluded, and only in terms of facial contours, the Primarch's natural appearance itself is actually the most similar to the Emperor himself. Even Horus Luperkar Far inferior to him.

Lorgar came up to him and looked at him curiously but not sharply.

"Come near," he whispered softly, "and he came near. Then Joseph fell on his brother's neck and wept. [1] I am glad to see you today, dear brother."

"Same as you, Aurelion," Perturabo replied, choosing his tone.

Lorgar held out his hand to him, and Perturabo shook his hand briefly. Aurelion's palm was soft and slightly warm. It was a hand that had never been fought, and had almost never worked.

Some time ago, his chance encounter with the Word Bearers in the hive gave him a complicated thought about the Seventeenth Legion: He undoubtedly recognized the goodwill shown by the Word Bearers Legion to the people, but hidden behind their The thinking behind the behavior appears dangerous at every turn.

Relying on religious dogma is like picking flowers from a cliff with your bare hands. Only the bold and lucky have the authority to pluck them correctly.

But the Emperor never stopped their faith, so Perturabo remained silent about it.

Inappropriate and excessive accusations can easily push a person from one extreme to another. Perturabo understands this clearly and never wants to be the one to destroy the faith of others.

"Do you know why father asked us to come here today, Perturabo?" Lorgar asked calmly, simply expressing his doubts. This kind of doubt only stayed at the level of confusion. It neither really aroused his emotions nor made him doubt the emperor's decision-making. All he wanted was an answer, and whatever it was, he embraced it.

"That pillar," said Perturabo. "Pillar number two."

Lorgar raised his head and looked up at the stone pillar belonging to Primarch No. 2, and the luster of the stone pillar was reflected in his clear eyes.

"He has no stone sculpture," said Lorgar. "His pedestal is just a pedestal."

But Primarch No. 2 had returned to the expedition team decades ago. His pedestal should not be as empty as that of the newly returned Primarch.

The Man with the True Word lowered his head again, with a kind of worry in his eyes: "Has he been abandoned by his father? What happened to him that made him willing to abandon his father's kindness and commit the crime of Sodom? ? Or did he fall into a crisis that we knew nothing about and had to destroy the relationship he had with his father? "

"I have heard nothing about him recently," Perturabo said, briefly reviewing the information related to the Second Primarch with Lorgar.

They still remembered the information related to Duncan Aho, such as his name, but looking back now, they discovered that in recent years, the Second Legion seemed to have disappeared throughout the galaxy.

Lorgar shook his head: "We just need to wait for Father's decision. I think, since we are ordered to wait here, then when we see the empty pedestal and have these questions, it must be that Father wants us to be prepared and ready to listen. Spiritual.”

He smiled and added: "My scions reported to me that they saw you, Perturabo, when they were doing alms in the hive. I thank you for your tolerance of them, brother."

"No need, Aurelion. They did not break any Imperial rules in my presence."

"Your humility is worth learning, Perturabo." Lorgar said, looking over Perturabo's shoulder, he saw the arrival of another Primarch.

"I take you to be Leon El'Jonson," said the Truespeaker, "my father's firstborn."

Perturabo turned sideways and observed another blood relative he met for the first time.

The newcomer's blond hair hangs down like a lion's mane, his back is straight, and he is majestic. A dark purple cloak with gold edges hangs down his shoulders, wrapping a hard and tall body that is covered in human-shaped armor. There is only a majestic coldness in his stern green eyes. Every observation he makes is a review of the world, and the trajectory of his thinking is hidden under his resolute eyebrows and no one is allowed to explore.

Russ was very secretive about the entire search for the Emperor's eldest son, and he publicly stated that this was not because of any hidden secrets hidden in Caliban, but simply because he did not want to embarrass the Leon.

The Wolf King's public provocation was never responded to by the Lion King himself. Combined with Russ's consistent character, Perturabo initially thought that maybe Leon himself was broad-minded - after all, he was the eldest son of the emperor. Perturabo subconsciously Have the same expectations for him as Horus. But at the moment when I saw the Lion King, all my guesses shrank to the same intersection.

The First Primarch scorned the point of competing with Leman Russ over a matter of honor.

"Who are you?" Leon said.

"Perturabo," the Iron Lord introduced himself, choosing the simplest words to avoid any ambiguity or unnecessary misunderstanding of emotion, "the Fourth Legion, Primarch of the Iron Warriors."

"I am Lorgar Aurelion, from Colchis, leading the 17th legion of the Word Bearers." Lorgar nodded to Leon, with an almost imperceptible distance from his attitude towards Perturabo. . Perturabo wasn't sure which one of his actions had pleased Lorgar. Was it the building of infrastructure for worlds that resonated with the True Sayers?

"Father has ordered you to gather here," Leon said, "and he has ordered me to wait here. I am Leon El'Jonson, Primarch of the First Legion."

After the words fell, Leon no longer said anything, but stood silently on the spot, his eyes fixed on the two strange brothers. It's hard to guess what he's thinking.

After such a long absence, Perturabo felt unable to adapt. Perhaps he had spent too much time with the easy-to-talk Primarchs recently, which had worn away his will to treat others coldly. When he suddenly encountered two Primarchs with unpredictable moods, he was not sure how to deal with them.

"The Emperor has summoned us to the Forum today not just so that we can admire each other's noble statues," said Perturabo. "And none of us understands the missing statue of Primarch Two. . I calculated the similarities between us and came to a conclusion: whether it is my Iron Warriors, Aurelion's Word Bearers, Jonson's Seraphim..."

"Dark Angels. I named them." Leon said.

"...Leon El'Jonson's Dark Angels, or Luperkar's Luna Wolves who are about to return here, are both outstanding legions under the Emperor's command with numerous achievements and outstanding military achievements. I have to wonder, what will happen next? The mission we are about to accept requires the military force of the Legion as a guarantee.”

"You have to chase the enemy, five people have to chase a hundred people, a hundred people have to chase ten thousand people, the enemy will fall under your sword. [2]" Luo Jiazhuang said solemnly, "Only the will of the father."

Leon nodded and pulled the cloak closer to himself.

They briefly talked about some topics, and could feel the strangeness to each other, and this strangeness was not easy to eliminate. Even if they were not Primarchs, they would be natural monarchs, generals and demigods everywhere. For their respective prides, only real actions, military or otherwise, can help build deep friendships.

The few people didn't wait too long, and the golden aircraft that the emperor rode landed alone. There were no mortal attendants, honor guards, or even Custodes. The Emperor came here almost alone. On his left was the gray-robed Prime Minister holding the eagle scepter. On his right was Horus Luperkar, the son of the First Return. He followed closely beside the emperor with a solemn expression.

"Father." Perturabo simply showed respect to the Emperor, Lorgar's expression was more pious, and Leon's expression was deeper.

Horus walked from the Emperor's side, his grace unchanged, and smiled generously at each brother, but there was a layer of dim tiredness behind the smile.

The Emperor nodded slightly. Imperial Prime Minister Malcador held his scepter and walked step by step towards the center of the Square of Heroes, stepping under the gaze of the giants.

"In 839.M30, six of our planets in the Cape Moss came under attack. A xenos force established outposts there and plundered humans from our planets to build their war satellites. This was greatly offended. The dignity of the human empire.

“The First Legion originally wanted to go to the outpost to launch an attack, and at the same time, it took the opportunity to reorganize the Seraph Army troops that had been reorganized after combat consumption and cancellation of the organization, and to engrave the new order of battle system into the combat blood of the First Legion. At that time, another Primarch located near the Rotary Point, Duncan Aho of the Second Legion, took the initiative to apply to participate in the cleansing campaign of the outpost. "

When mentioning the First Legion, Malcador briefly moved his gaze to Leon, but he received no response.

The Prime Minister continued: "With the help of the empire's naval superiority and the assistance of the forging world Shana, the Second Legion was unstoppable. After retaking several outposts, it then penetrated into the inner side of the galaxy, destroyed the war satellites, penetrated into the Spiral Prime, and destroyed the aliens. The fortress was reduced to rubble, a gaping hole left in the alien's outer defenses, and his exploits would be remembered by the Imperium."

"In 844.M30, with the approval of the Imperial Ministry of Interior, the Second Legion continued to penetrate deep into the Alien Empire, intending to completely eliminate this dangerous alien threat. But this time, unfortunately, after a fierce and bloody battle, the Empire again No message has been received from the Second Legion."

Horus nodded: "The disappearance of an entire legion is an unacceptable loss. In the past few months, I was ordered by my father to search for traces of the Second Legion, but outside the battlefield, apart from the relics and debris of the war, , the Shadow Moon Wolf found nothing. In order to prevent further unnecessary losses from going deep into the enemy camp under unknown circumstances, the 16th Legion chose to return to Terra to report the military situation."

Malcador sighed deeply, his old body seemed to have lost a lot of energy in an instant.

"This is your next task, warriors," the prime minister said. "That alien empire is named Randan."