Warhammer: In the Name of Ashes

"You have no right to recruit us!" Captain Tibers did not wait for the other party to finish, and rejected the madman in front of him. "No! I have the right! The Empire has given me the right to recruit all nearby armed forces!" "It does not include Astartes!" "Okay! It does not include Astartes! But the Inquisition I belong to has a complete agreement with you!" "Then follow the process! We must be authorized by the Grand Master Council!" "But there is no time! Forget the damn process! You must help me!" "I refuse this ridiculous request!" "No! You have no right to refuse! Open your deck! I'm coming!" The communication signal was suddenly hung up unilaterally after this short but fierce quarrel. Everyone on the bridge looked at each other, but didn't know where to start. "Do we have this agreement?" Calvin asked Jules. "Never before, but..." Jules was a little angry, but more helpless. "But we have indeed been condoning this situation." Tibers took over what Jules had not finished. He looked at the small landing craft coming quickly towards the Soul Redeemer from a distance on the holographic screen, and said in a complicated tone:

"I order, open the front deck. In the name of the Emperor, at least give this lunatic a chance to explain."

"Received." As the gate on the front deck was slowly lowered, Calvin could see the arrival of the landing craft decorated with the logo of the Inquisition while hearing the reply from the crew in front.

"Is this what you said?" Calvin meant something.

"Look more, listen more. Don't rush to conclusions." Jules did not answer Calvin's question directly.

And Tabers did not have too many concerns, or he did not know the background of the conversation between Jules and Calvin before.

The veteran with three golden nails on his forehead told Calvin his understanding of the current situation:

"No matter from which angle, the current working method of the Inquisition is different from the original expectations of the Emperor and Malcador. In other words, it is our own connivance that has allowed these mortals who should have been honestly guarding the documents and doing administrative and diplomatic work to take away the dominance of the Holy Hammer Convent step by step."

"Why?" Calvin couldn't understand it even more. Whether it was the status of the Grey Knights or the force they possessed, there was no reason to give in to these mortals.

But he knew he had better ask faster. After all, with the speed of the Inquisition messenger, it wouldn't take too long to get here from the deck.

"Because of you." Tibers looked at Calvin.

"Or rather, because we don't have you." Tibers sighed and added:

"Because of your delay, our personnel are always at a very awkward scale. And this is absolutely inconsistent with the number of people in the Inquisition when the Emperor witnessed it. In the twelve seats of the Supreme Council of the Inquisition, we originally had eight seats."

"But life must go on, and the rule of the Empire and the survival of mankind must be maintained by someone." Jules continued Tibers' words.

"Due to our own incompetence, we failed the expectations of the Emperor and Prime Minister Malcador. In the entire 10,000 years of the Warp time, we finally only took out 1,000 active Grey Knights to return to the Empire." Tibers said.

"1,000 Grey Knights, what can they do? Nothing! It can only barely maintain its basic combat functions! As for supplies, intelligence, screening, trial, and diplomacy, we can only leave it to the four mortal judges who came to meet us at the beginning. And people, especially fragile and short-lived mortals, will change."

Jules made a final summary of this explanation.

Calvin had understood most of the problem after hearing this. This is not a story about the struggle for power. If it were, then facing these weak mortals, the problem would be much easier to solve.

This is a process of erosion of power, and also a process of helpless abandonment of power.

The Grey Knights are destined to lose their seats, because they can barely maintain their basic functions, let alone other management functions?

There is no need to fight at all. In order to ensure the battle with the demons and to protect the lives and interests of the citizens of the entire empire, the Grey Knights will naturally give up these rights that are destined to be difficult to take care of in the absence of meetings.

And the power vacuum brought about by retreating again and again will inevitably end with the mortals taking over again and again.

The first four inquisitors also swore to join the Order of the Holy Hammer under the witness of the Emperor and Malcador. Their purity and selflessness are naturally beyond doubt, but what about the rest?

Perhaps the first generation of inquisitors can still maintain their purity while the founder is alive, but people will eventually die. Astartes cannot escape the fate of dying on the battlefield, let alone those mortals who can only maintain a lifespan of a thousand years even if they spend all the wealth of the empire?

A thousand years is enough to take away the life of any mortal; A thousand years is enough to make any organization composed mainly of mortals become unrecognizable and run counter to its original purpose. This is not a problem that can be changed by one or two special cases. This is the law of nature. This is the curse and blessing that this species has carried since its birth. Under the internal and external troubles of the Empire that have never stopped for thousands of years, the Inquisition has been preserved very well.

At least they remember their mission, and they at least are still fighting for the Empire.

Perhaps their original intentions are not as pure as those of the original founders, who have gone through baptisms and hardships in the world, but can still shine with a heart-stopping purity.

But we can’t be too picky, can we?

These chosen ones know that they will inevitably fall under the abyss for a long time, but they are still willing to spend their lives to defend the destiny of mankind. Even if there are some personal desires mixed in, it is worthy of forgiveness, isn't it?

The Gray Knights cannot complain, the Gray Knights have no right to complain!

This is their duty!

It is their incompetence that makes these mortals have to take their positions and endure all-round torture from body to soul on the front line of the struggle against Chaos for a long time!

Looking at the armed and administrative order of the entire empire, let alone the Astra Militarum, which has a clear exit path (although the probability is very low, but it exists.), even the Astartes have the ability to fight with honor until The right to die!

They will finally close their eyes in glory after fighting hard and return their souls to the throne.

Under the Emperor's blessing, they either fell into eternal sleep, or continued to fight for humanity gloriously in another way.

But what about the Inquisitor? Can there be a good death? No.

In the cold and dark archives of the Imperial Inquisition, in the eight thousand years since its creation, no Inquisitor has ever had a good death.

not a single one.

They either died of murder or died on duty. Either assassinated for fighting local factions, or self-sacrifice fighting against Chaos.

Being able to die on the frontal battlefield is already a great blessing for these mortal heroes who know that they cannot do anything.

Those souls that have been entangled with Chaos for decades or even centuries and eventually become corrupted are the true sorrow of the empire.

Every one is.

Every one of them is fighting an invisible victory against the eternal chaos as a mortal.

In countless battles with the latter, it was ultimately difficult to maintain one's own existence.

Are they sinful? Perhaps at the end of their lives, they did commit unspeakable crimes.

But does their existence therefore lose its meaning? of course not.

Therefore, when these mortals are either violent, reckless, ignorant, or impatient, they feel guilty when they stand in front of these Gray Knights who have escaped from the mortal world.

They are inherently indebted to these people.

It was their incompetence that finally brought these people to their current position.

It was their helplessness that forced these outstanding men, who should have created better value for the empire, the emperor, and all mankind in other fields, to put on military uniforms and stand in front of them.

Maybe they are wrong, maybe they have their limitations.

But who is the initiator? chaos? To blame Chaos?

If not, then the Gray Knights can only be blamed.

Incompetence is the original sin here.

And if one day, the Gray Knights can truly and completely fulfill their missions and obligations, then there will be no reason for these talents to appear.

And this is exactly the meaning of Calvin's existence.

He needs to correct this mistake, whether it is a personal mistake of the current judge or a structural mistake of the Holy Hammer Order in the future.

This is his destiny, he takes it, and he's honored to be called to it.

Late, but sent anyway.