Warhammer 40k: Shattered Steel Soul

"Although I am ugly and full of gloom, I still try my best to pretend to be docile. I like pain, but I don't like the pain that goes deep into my heart. Because I don't really want to suffer these kinds of things, but I just like this kind of hearing. torture.

"This is my life, but can it be life? Your love overshadows me, but I am wallowing in sin! My Lord, I once strayed from you. How will your punishment be reconciled? How do my sins compare?" - "The Book of Lorgar"

After Lorgar Aurelion agreed to Perturabo's request, he discovered that among the four ring-shaped seats, the surface of the exquisitely cast warhammer engraved with unsolved runes quietly surged with an unreal universe. Waves and energy travel and weave in the engraved circuit, lingering invisibly between the interface between the hammer's surface and the air, and converge into an almost luminous sacred light on the hammer's handle.

69𝓈𝒽𝓊𝓍.𝓃ℯ𝓉】

He curiously observed this strange power emitting golden light, and felt that the ripples of his thoughts seemed to be faintly touched. Unlike the clarity and clarity of spiritual enlightenment experienced when reading scriptures, the outflow composed of this spiritual force is more physical and perceptible. His hand unconsciously touched his chest, trustingly opening his heart to the power emanating from this place.

"It seems I no longer need to advise the esteemed sons of the Emperor to stop resisting the psychic fields here," Morse said with surprise embedded in his words.

His eyes glanced at the war blacksmith sitting next to him casually, and then continued: "Before I begin, I want to introduce the cause of this matter to you.

"I am not someone who likes to expose other people's secrets, but in the process of reading memories, it is inevitable that some particularly memorable fragments in the mind of the person concerned will first appear in the outer layer of consciousness and attract the reader's attention. Therefore, I came across this scene by accident.”

He stretched out his hand, palms spread upward, and his fingertips pointed at the holy hammer in the center of the platform.

"Perhaps it will look familiar to you," Morse said with a smile, and Perturabo looked away helplessly.

Behind the Iron Lord's iron seat, a folded servo mechanical arm stretches outwards and wraps around to the front.

Perturabo tapped the data pad: "Sit tight, we will go to that scene next."

He nodded to Dantioch: "Come too, Barabas."

"Yes, father." The war blacksmith's hoarse voice sounded slightly uneasy, and he sat down with his hands on his legs in a polite manner.

Perhaps Barabas Dantioch was trying his best to recall how many things he had done in his more than two thousand years of life that deserved the attention of the Father of Genes; or perhaps with his thinking ability, he had already concluded that Answer.

Lorgar closed his eyes.

For a brief period of time, he seemed to be falling backwards, falling rapidly along the pull of gravity, while his mind was freed from the constraints of gravity and floated freely until it intertwined with a more stable and magnificent rising world. , integrated into a more powerful and extremely vital spiritual space.

He smelled the smell of steel, cold and merciless, mixed with a slight smell of rust, and the aroma of various oils stored in the fuel tank and soaked in the mechanical joints.

And rain. A heavy and humid atmosphere enveloped the world, gray clouds gathered high in the sky, and the damp and cold air seemed to squeeze out water vapor that soaked clothes. The perception of the world is limited by the rain clouds between the dense invisible curtains, reducing everything to a limited distance, making people look more inside themselves instead of paying attention to the chaos outside.

This kind of intertwined feeling was extremely rare in his life. Lorgar Aurelion immediately confirmed the location of this place, and the touch of enlightenment in his heart once again touched his cheek.

He opened his eyes and found himself standing in the middle of an empty square.

The ground of the circular square is smoothly spliced ​​by multiple pieces of steel, with a radius of about two hundred meters. It is framed by a circle of yellow and black stripes near the edge, and the outer edge is divided into the shape of gears.

Under the gears, the machinery hummed low and eternally. Countless silver-gray steps cut into geometric shapes floated slightly, with no direct fixation to each other. They were only stabilized in the center of the gray sky by anti-gravity technology, forming a A long set of stairs to the sky extends upward from the ground hundreds of meters below, spirally connecting to the top floor. Decorative columns are spaced at intervals along the edge of the wide steps, hiding deadly mechanical spear and artillery arrays.

In the center of the square stands a towering steel giant.

The main body of the colossus is made of steel, and some of the patterns are inlaid with other precious metals as ornaments. The long hair composed of steel cables is decorated with a yellow and black crown. An eagle is embedded in the center of the crown. The huge heavy hammer was easily held in the palm of the giant statue, and the silky iron wires on its surface imitated the arc of electric light, as if it could trigger thunderous thunder with just a single lift towards the sky.

Next to the giant statue, two smaller statues of prophets stand on the left and right. The carved old men have solemn expressions and cannot be blasphemed. They seem to be serving the central giant statue, or giving advice and guidance to the people who come to worship.

In front of this group of statues, there are offerings offered by recent pilgrims, such as individual soldiers' anti-side armor mines, the latest models of servo manipulators, a lightweight unmanned platform with a Kevlar fiber shell, and a short-wave radio equipped with an external antenna. Radios and other metal objects were piled neatly at the foot of the giant statue.

"Steel Altar." Luojia admired sincerely, his eyes flashing brightly, and his whole person seemed to be given new vitality.

He turned around and saw his brother beside him. In his opinion, Perturabo himself was a hundred times more perfect than the steel colossus.

"The planet number here is WB-004. I arrived here during my cruise shortly after returning to the Great Crusade and saw your statue and the chosen one you preached for, Perturabo."

Dantioch's armor moved, then became dull and still, as if he didn't dare to make a sound.

Lorgar opened his right arm and walked towards the edge of the Gear Square. It took him dozens of seconds to cross the distance of more than 200 meters, walking lightly.

"When I arrived here, I almost misunderstood His will at first. I mistakenly thought that this place was a heretical sect. It was like misinterpreting the nature of the God of Machines and refusing to fully acknowledge the Machine Kingdom, which was also one of His aspects. But what they said was The Gothic language spoken slowed my movements, while their descriptions of the Holy Emperor of Terra sent eager hints to me.

"So, I followed them to this steel altar to witness the core of their faith - the god of steel and craftsmen, the evangelist of the God Emperor's Great Crusade."

Perturabo's face was tense and the corners of his mouth were straightened. He followed Lorgar and walked towards the edge of the gears of the platform. The whole world was slowly emerging at the edge of his vision.

Arrays of countless aircraft and sensors hover over the steel jungle city below, while signal cables extend outward from the middle and lower floors of the steel altar like a spider web. The layout of the complex is themed around the number four, with large metal building shells drawing symbolic drawings on the ground.

Everything glowed with a clean iron-grey luster, reflecting a subtle light in the dark clouds.

Luojia continued to speak nostalgically.

"I'm glad I didn't make a big mistake, my brother. The first moment I saw this icon, I recognized you. Your hammer, your form, your signature colors. You exist in Before you were born, your will inspired the entire WB-004 world.

"To this day, I still recall that distant day. I was honored to witness your Iron Holy City, Perturabo, back then. If it hadn't been for the existence of this planet, I would not have been able to go as far as I did on my path. As determined as I am today.”

Lorgar humbly turned around a few steps away from the edge of the gear and nodded slightly to Perturabo. Behind the man who holds the truth, the entire city, built on faith in steel and craftsmanship, is like a firefly in the void, glowing with a silvery gray light.

Perturabo's masseter muscle twitched. From behind, Morse and the war blacksmith slowly approached them. Dantioch rarely feared anything, but Morse believed there must be a reason why the Warsmith was acting more slowly than usual.

"Have you never thought about why this city... believed in me before I was born?" the Lord of Iron asked in a deep voice.

Lorgar smiled confidently and spoke, as if he was facing a test: "The Iron Church has been passed down for more than a thousand years, which makes me realize so clearly that His eternal wisdom will always be there before and after. Before there was a world, , He retains mercy for thousands of people.”

He paused and held out his hand to Perturabo. The wind in the rain ruffled his white robe.

"He chose you because you are on the same journey as me, right? You are the only one who truly understands me, my dear brother?"