Warhammer 40k: Shattered Steel Soul

"You are never willing to blame yourself for the evil things you do, but blame Him and the world." - "The Book of Lorgar"

Perturabo let the mechanical arm behind him put the data tablet back on the table, gathered the manuscript papers and pens that were gradually piled up on the table, and at the same time thought about the text message from Leon El'Jonson.

The King of Lions was unusually generous and shared the information he obtained during ground exploration with the other three Primarchs as soon as possible, and the answer he gave, although not expected, was also in line with logic.

They all know that the Randan alien will incorporate the consciousness and organic matter of other life forms into its own body through some form, and use this to expand.

Then, there is no doubt that a stronger foreign consciousness - such as the Word Bearers, whose fanaticism is within the entire Space Marines, and which may only be matched by another religious order of their own - can defeat a weak original Randan consciousness. It's very possible.

However... Perturabo continued to think, and the quill rested on the rim of the water glass for a moment.

The moment before the pen tip touched the water, he noticed the movement of his right hand and immediately removed the pen as if nothing had happened, dipping it in the right place with ink.

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However, first of all, how did Leon manage to track down a lone consciousness across half the planet? Judging from the information sent back by assault team member Kroger, they did not send any information to Al Jonson at all.

Could it be that the First Primarch had followed their signal back through the radio waves emitted by Perturabo's surveillance device, which he had accidentally designed to be too powerful?

No, this shouldn't be possible.

The Lord of Iron casually made a sketch of the interior decoration on a new piece of paper, and the theme was chosen as the Wandering Temple a few hours ago. This will help him stabilize his inner state.

The second question - a question that unintentionally entered Perturabo's heart, about the Randan alien species itself.

Since their consciousness can be defeated, how did they develop the basic source of consciousness that can ensure their own victory in the first place, instead of being reduced from hunters to prey, destroying themselves in the process of devouring them?

Two questions lingered in the Iron Lord's mind at the same time, and he allowed himself to think about the time of a painting first.

The solemn and solemn scene of the church is enhanced by a large number of orderly lines and a large perspective composition. Even if it is just a casual essay, the atmosphere and basic painting skills reflected in it are enough to dwarf almost all painters in the galaxy. .

This is why Perturabo doesn't like to show his paintings in front of mortals. He doesn't need to exchange this gift for the admiration of others.

The Lord of Iron put the last stroke on the paper, outlining the rising flames of the four candlesticks next to the icon one by one. He was slightly nervous due to Lorgar's attitude, and for a brief moment he doubted whether the number "four" had something to do with him.

"I know you haven't left." He put down his pen, rubbed his temples, and said to the air.

"You guessed it, Perturabo," Morse said graciously as he emerged from the air. He was sitting in his chair, lying on his back in a way that was not good for his cervical spine, writing on the data pad with an electronic pen. some text.

Perturabo was not sure whether it was the report Morse would bring back this time as the emperor's messenger, or some other essay.

"Aren't you in a hurry to leave?" asked the Iron Lord, "I thought you were really busy."

"It depends on who you're comparing it to," Morse replied, sitting up a little straighter in his recliner. "Looking for me?"

"They are curious about you, Mors. Aurelion, and Horus."

Morse raised his electronic pen, "I hear you, Lord of Iron. By the way, the church is well painted."

"You must be changing the subject."

"Obviously I'm preventing you from exploring a question that you are obviously very curious about, so I decided to serve as the envoy of Terra and ask the Lord of the Fourth Legion how your next round of attack plan will unfold."

"If you want to see," Perturabo extended the robotic arm and flipped each claw on the front end horizontally to lift a stack of documents on the table that was more than a foot thick from the bottom.

"Oh, let me guess, is this a table of contents or an index?"

"When would I formulate such a long battle design? That is equivalent to abandoning the subsequent changes in the actual situation." Perturabo retorted, "This is the next issue of internal reference, including some basic combat concepts adapted to the Randan front. , the reference application of the method, including the command system of the orbital support force, the principles and basic methods of using different ammunition, artillery preparation and support on the front, artillery support plan for infantry located within the depth of the enemy's defense, etc. "

With a satisfied look, he glanced at the thick document held up by the mechanical claws. The sense of accomplishment brought by writing it was better than drawing a perfect painting. "As for the plan itself, it is expected to arrive at the detection site in the next five years." You can know the core of Ran Dan, and then start cleaning from the core to the three untouched outer sides.”

"Do you hope that Ran Dan is a large hive that can lead to the collapse of the group if the core is destroyed?"

"This is indeed our reasonable hope, otherwise the battle for the remaining three quadrants in the star cluster will be as time-consuming and resource-intensive as our current battle against the first quadrant." Perturabo said, referring to the Iron Warriors he wrote The test copy of the internal data is placed back on the desktop.

"There is still patience," Morse replied, turning the electronic pen in his hand, "What a long battle, attack-death-exploration-occupation, I see a cycle, and for the entire empire..."

He clasped his fingers to stop the pen's rotation. "This is not an urging, Perturabo. No one will question the Primarch, let alone four. Even the Emperor is not in a hurry."

"I know," said Perturabo, "So what identity did you have when you walked beside the Emperor?"

Morse raised his eyebrows in surprise: "When did you change the topic?"

"Now." Perturabo said, and at the same time, he sent the internal reference document of this issue to the Iron Warriors internal channel, and called on the mortal clerk to print a certain number of it.

Morse thought for a while, "I told you, after telling the whole thing, I will never be the embarrassed one. But considering the personalities of the two people who are curious now, they will not Love the answers they are exploring.”

"You can just talk to me."

"No." Morse lay back in the chair, covered the data pad on his chest, and closed his eyes. "But you can ask, how about it be a guessing game?"

Perturabo did not answer immediately. He frowned slightly because he received a new summary of casualty information. At the same time, in this batch of reports, he received another application to cancel the squad mode and rejoin the legion-level frontline operations. Report.

This is not an isolated case. But this time the applicant was the 23rd Team, which had a great record in the past.

"Why doesn't Horus like it?" He asked first, while unfolding the report in his mind, and retrieved the data information of the Kroger team again, adjusting his thinking, and facing this situation in a more emotional state. The sentiment implicit in a report.

"Why does Horus dislike it? The reason is simple. Why doesn't Horus like Malcador? Why does he dislike Waldo? It's all the same. He doesn't know who I used to be, so he can't be like me. Think of me like Malcador," Morse shrugged, "Oh, luckily I sided with Horus on the matter of the Mortal Council. I'm so lucky."

"Lunar Wolves, sometimes I do feel that this legion is more emotional." Perturabo said, part of his mind immersed in the communications recorded by Kroger's auxiliary system, listening to the moon with his own ears. Every little change in the wolf's tone of voice.

"The essence of every Legion is based on the coexistence of sensibility and reason," Morse commented. "You can feel their emotions, and it is sensibility that makes them Space Marines - because anyone who is rational enough can I know that I shouldn’t completely immerse my limited life in the abyss of eternal battle.”

"No," Perturabo raised his head, "They..."

He paused for a while, and then continued: "Express the side that is similar to mortals to the outside."

"Really?" Morse was noncommittal. He turned the electronic pen in his hand half a circle. He suddenly raised the data pad and wrote two lines of words on it. His eyes stayed between them, and the expression on his face did not fluctuate at all.

Perturabo attached the request with the responses they would need, and began preparations to reorganize the two warriors into their companies and to promote Kroger to the rank of squad leader.

As for Hammer, Perturabo thought for half a second and gave him a promotion.

"Any more questions?" Morse asked, looking away from his notes.

"What about Lorgar Aurelion? What could make him unhappy? He has an unusual amount of concern and respect for anyone close to the Emperor."

Perturabo said, noting that Leon El'Jonson refused to join them even after the ground campaign was over. Instead, he moved his fleet and headed straight in a specific direction.

Perhaps disclosing the Legion's movements to them was the last remaining friendship left to them by the Dark Angels.

"I remember that you read a lot about the history of Ancient Terra, my Iron Lord, otherwise you wouldn't know the story of the two wolves." Morse said, his voice sounded a little joking, "Although because of the unpleasantness when building the city, I am Roma has always had strong opinions, but sometimes what they say makes me very interesting.”

He delved into his past memories, reminiscing about pleasant little disputes. These memories are surprisingly clear, proving that an older person is indeed more likely to remember stories from earlier in life more vividly.

"They seek worldly things and forsake heavenly things. What do these detractors of the law say about the Savior when they reject the judgment of heaven and implore me - The Donatists appealed, although this sect "I'm afraid Aurelion is also a heretic in his eyes now," Morse said with great enthusiasm when mentioning these topics, "Guess what the emperor responded to this petition?"

"Criticism." Just by looking at Morse's attitude, Perturabo could guess some snippets of history.

"He burned the petition," said Morse easily, "and said that we mortals had no right to judge the bishop; and that if they intended to appeal, it should not be submitted to the courts, but left directly to God, to do their divine review.”

Perturabo gave a brief smile, "It follows the canon, literally."

"Let them live in a vacuum, don't let the world taint their faith." Morse shrugged, "Many believers call Rome an evil kingdom, but some of them support the continuation of Rome. 'Rome is the end of all things. The last human kingdom before, the respite given to the Roman Empire would delay the upheavals that would grip the world.'"

"The end of the world?"

"Then build a new one or something." The craftsman said, "But if you have to ask, I think Terra ended long ago. The thing now is probably some kind of suspicious gold-encrusted rotten corpse. About the New World Aurelion should know that - by the way, did I mention that he almost has the same name as a Roman emperor? This makes me even more curious about the origin of your name."

"You are in conflict with one another, your Rome and your Church."

"Sometimes combined with each other." Morse sneered.

"It sounds like you know a lot of interesting things that are barely preserved in any of Terra's great libraries."

"Because that was a story from 30,000 years ago, and we can't even figure out the history from a hundred years ago." Morse laughed.

"So, you hate religion?"

Morse tilted his head and glanced at Perturabo. "It is stipulated in the Edict of Milan that all others should be allowed to practice their religion freely and without restriction. This was certainly to ensure the stability of the monarchy, but why would denying the sacramental life of the church be detrimental to the rule of the empire? "

"Citizen." The Lord of Olympia gave the answer easily. Maybe not everyone can notice that for most of Perturabo's life so far, he has been the master of a not-so-small political system. .

Morse raised his lips: "Let's make a simple assumption. We all know that people have things they want and things they don't want. Right - you can actually continue to multitask at the same time. If I delay your work , I might as well go back to Terra to report on my duties.”

Perturabo took his drawing paper again and superimposed a new silhouette in the center. The first subject he chose to paint was Aurelion - even if it was just a dark figure, bowing reverently before the icon of the Emperor.

"tell him.

"What they did here was make a noun definition, calling the place with the former as heaven, and the place with more of the latter as hell, and then added a theory of divine command, saying that the moral law was established by Him."

"A decree?" Perturabo raised an eyebrow.

"Essence is more basic than decrees. They didn't fundamentally change anything, Lord of Iron. They just built an explanatory framework and created a set of formulas to analyze the world. While limiting the perspective from which people observe the world, they also provided A basic transcendental perspective.”

Morse paused, "He provides an inspiring law to those who have a limited perception of the world, and also to those whose perception of the world exceeds the interpretation that this framework can provide, or who are simply hostile to this framework. , a perfect object of ridicule.”

“Teach people from what angles they can view the world?”

"With whatever justification anyone who created the angle needs."

"It's like calling psychic energy numerology." Perturabo put down his pen and smiled.

"Exactly," Morse said, "a very fitting metaphor. It's not even a lie, it's just... another framework, I think, that's particularly limited, particularly dogmatic, and particularly doesn't like to be broken. Earthly City To the City of God, to Rome to the Church, the two interpretive frameworks and attendant power systems are always separate from each other, and always try to encroach upon each other.”

The screen of the Thinker next to Perturabo lit up.

The Lord of Iron was distracted again, put down the drawing of Morse who was secretly extinguishing the candle next to Lorgar's back, and went to receive the latest astrological communication news. At the same time, he said: "Maybe Lorgar knows nothing about Rome. You know, Morse, he won't think there's anything wrong with your origins."

"But he will certainly hear my side," Morse joked. "Perhaps the day when we two become one will come only after Revelation, brought by the angels. Then I will acknowledge them." The interpretive framework is closer to reality.”

"Oh," said Perturabo in an odd response, "don't take the oath yet, Morse."

"how?"

"The First Legion just made a subspace dive and surfaced - almost immediately." Perturabo reviewed the information at hand.

"Damn the speed of warp time," Morse said, "and what?"

"Now the Dark Angels are fighting the Angels."