Warhammer: In the Name of Ashes

A low-key but by no means simple meeting ceremony was held in the atrium auditorium of the Revenant Redeemer.

Every Orpheus noble who was lucky enough to participate will never forget the scene he saw at that time.

Under the bridge of the Revenant Redeemer, the location that was originally used as a library of forbidden knowledge was transformed into a huge palace and auditorium.

Passing through two huge doorways more than a hundred meters high, engraved with the imperial double-headed eagle emblem, a decagonal hall composed of nine high walls and ten columns appeared in front of everyone.

The nine high walls are all made of white gold metal, nearly 100 meters wide and nearly 300 meters high;

Eight of the high walls are engraved with stories about Calvin and the past Gray Knight Grand Masters slaying evil spirits.

The high wall of the front porch is engraved with a golden imperial double-headed eagle flying with its wings firmly grasping the rising silver sun.

That meant that Calvin's rights were granted by the emperor.

In the center of the silver sun is the symbol of a sharp sword inserted in the center of the holy book.

This was the former mark of the Gray Knights Chapter, and together with the newly added silver sun on the periphery, it happened to be the current logo of the Gray Knights Legion.

On both sides of it, there are two slightly smaller emblems carved:

The famous symbol of the Inquisition with the Roman numeral "I" with a skull, the main color of which is composed of the red of blood and the gold of the empire. While demonstrating authority, it also does not forget to declare its human purity;

The unknown lion and thorn gears on the other side only have the understated simplicity of brass. They are the exclusive emblems of the more secret Order of Omen.

The Holy Trinity, the imperial (divine) right of kingship, and the contents of the heraldic array are complex and precise.

It not only clearly expresses the sacredness of the source of Calvin's power, but also clearly shows the composition of the power in his hands.

And this complexity itself is another symbol of rights.

If there is a scholar who is proficient in imperial heraldry and theology present, he does not need to identify the specific meanings of those coats of arms one by one. He can clearly know just from its specifications:

This kind of complicated specifications and levels have exceeded the specifications that the high lord of the empire, who is the top mortal man, should have;

Apart from the Emperor himself, this level of emblem can only be owned by legion leaders who have expanded territory for the Empire during the Great Crusade, killed and robbed the lives of thousands of people in the Imperial world, and wielded great power.

And these leaders have another familiar name within the empire - Primarch.

This is not all of this emblem. Countless halberds and broken swords have replaced the position of the national religion angel in this level emblem. (Or maybe this location shouldn’t be owned by the state church in the first place?)

Their two huge wings made of steel and sharp blades spread out around the legion emblem and extended downward, reaching towards the throne below in a lifting posture.

The sacred runes engraved on each of these weapons represent the existence of the Gray Knights who have sacrificed in silence in the past nearly ten thousand years.

The end of the wings extending downward is the huge metal throne that stands on the nine-step high platform.

On this throne, which was made of fine gold and had countless thick cables extending back from the base, a giant was sitting on it. (Actually, it was the hall where the Psychic Titan was released. The throne they saw was the driver's seat of the modified Psychic Titan.)

A giant scepter-like hammer made entirely of psychic crystals was flashing with dazzling spiritual light and was casually erected next to the throne by its owner.

His sacred face was obscured by the spiritual light mist, and only a laurel wreath carved from blue psychic crystal could be seen on his short silver hair. His face could not be seen clearly, but it happened to be in front of everyone. The eyes show different faces.

The white-gold giants stood on both sides of the throne, and the mechanical priests from the Order of Omen stood beside the throne.

The ice blue-edged halberd is held tightly in the hand, and the sword emblem on the armor comes from the same door as the relief on the high wall;

The power ax and power staff engraved with the lion's gear emblem of the Order of Omen also echo the lion emblem on the wall, guarding their monarch with their allies.

Further down are more giant figures, forming two wings of the crowd watching the ceremony:

Hundreds of veterans from the four Astartes Chapters, clad in Terminator power armor, stood silently behind their battle standards, once again adding color to the wings of the throne;

Further away, the judges of the Imperial Tribunal, wearing different shades of red robes of their respective monasteries, quietly faced off from a distance with the generals of the Tindaros Army wearing black and gold uniforms on the other side.

What a sacred scene it was!

What a cruel beginning it was!

Juan and the few nobles who were lucky enough to meet him looked at this mythical scene, and their hands and feet were so frightened that they became sore.

Every place in this hall is so sacred and cold, and every detail is exquisite and full of meaning beyond the imagination of these indigenous nobles;

And the nobles with a little knowledge can clearly understand that in such a huge and sacred space, not an inch of space is reserved for weak mortals like them!

But in fact, in a sense, this is the cruelest truth about the universe to human beings:

The enemies the Emperor and his Empire faced were powerful and extraordinary.

Countless aliens and demons constitute the sepsis and sores on the decaying body of the empire;

Countless conspiracies and the malicious gazes of the gods have made the empire the lord of the galaxy, but it is always on the verge of fragmentation and struggling.

The enemies of the Imperium were so powerful that the Emperor went to great lengths to forge human blades.

Even if these tempered weapons and souls have gone through many difficulties and dangers, it is just for a chance to stand in front of the enemies of the empire and fight fairly.

Mortal Soldiers, Astartes, Custodes, Primarchs;

Astra Militarum, Imperial Navy, Inquisition, Adeptus Mechanicus, Order of Omen;

All of this represents the empire's revenge and roar against its enemies for thousands of years.

Among these sequences representing human armed forces, except for the Astra Militarum represented by the Tindaros Legion, there has never been a position that truly belongs to civilians.

"Hey, why are you here?"

The solemn voice descended from high places, making these mortals who had been entangled in interests their entire lives frightened and at a loss as to what to do.

Yes, why did they come?

For the cause of empire?

Or for the fate of the citizens of the empire in the sector?

Or is it for hatred of heretics and aliens?

Do they dare to say that?

Do they dare to face an existence that can penetrate their rotten bodies and look directly at their rotten souls?

So, what can be said?

That they came for rights?

To say that they have been captured by power, and now only lower animals have the same instinct for food, attracted by the aura of power?

Do they dare?

The nobles slurred their plump lips and wanted to say something, but the last remaining instincts of reason tightly tightened their vocal cords, trying to prevent them from destroying themselves.

Under the gaze of many saints, they fell into a strange but understandable silence.

The suffocating silence continued while the holiness on high lost its patience and waited.

Juan knelt on one knee beside these nobles. His lowered head was filled with nervousness and could no longer care about sympathy or ridicule for these miserable people.

Before he could escape from the shock of the scene he saw, he heard another inquiry from above:

"What about you? Admiral Juan of the Navy, the Eagle Controller in the Empire's skies. Why are you here?"

"I..." Juan raised his head, his eyes extended to that dazzling existence, and then he lowered his head nervously.

Thinking of his previous situation, he saw the epic scene in this auditorium now.

As a high-ranking general of the empire, this middle-aged man who had barely entered the true ruling class did not dare to hesitate anymore and simply told everything about himself to the man in front of him:

"I...come to give me the responsibility that the empire has given me! I come to better fulfill my mission and deliver this precious power to a more meaningful place!"

"you are wrong."

The man who stood high above the clouds denied his words, which made his heart suddenly fall into an abyss.

But the next second his heart was lifted to the sky with that person's words:

"The mission entrusted to you by the Empire can only be undertaken by you! The fate entrusted to you by the Emperor is decided by you yourself! I already know your loyalty, so stand down!"

Juan, who was granted amnesty, felt light all over his body and suddenly felt sore all over;

Among the Gray Knights who were already standing on both sides, two of them stepped forward and pulled him up to the right side of the crowd, just slightly below the Tindaros Legion.

Those nobles, as stiff as dead people, were dragged away by other Gray Knights. They were completely immersed in fear, and even on the subsequent execution ground, they were unable to utter a word of defense...

This small-scale but far-reaching audience continued, and many members of the local tribunal later entered the auditorium;

Waiting behind them were Astra Militarum officers scattered throughout the sector.

The final direction of the audience ceremony is unknown, but judging from the information that was decrypted in later generations, the entire political ecology and norms of Orps for thousands of years were rewritten at this moment.

It was at this meeting that Calvin issued a clear order to the local forces squatting in the wilderness of Orpheus:

The entire sector will be forgiven and purified for hundreds of years.

Rains of judgment from the stars fell on Amara's sky.

Teams composed of Gray Knights, members of the Inquisition, and the Tindaros Legion appeared almost at the same time among the various functional units of the Empire here.

They removed from their posts bureaucrats who had long been labeled as worms and turncoats.

In the nearest place where the sun could shine, the decree signed by Calvin was simply read out, and the execution that followed was carried out on the spot.

These few people were shot and most were directly incinerated with promethium flamethrowers, which greatly shocked the onlookers.

They, like the people of Lyac who gradually recovered over the next few hundred years, were deeply impressed by Calvin and his messengers carrying death notices.

And this large-scale internal purge, as people spread it by word of mouth, eventually became the most important classic scene written in the history of Orps, known in history as the Rain of Ashes.

After the audience ceremony was over, Admiral Juan returned to the front line of the Hassan sector with peace of mind;

Along with him, heading toward hundreds of planetary worlds throughout the sector, there were also the law enforcement teams of the various Astartes squads and the Tindaros Legion, led by officials at all levels from the three major orders of the Inquisition.

Large-scale purges were carried out throughout the entire sector under Calvin's orders. Hidden dangers that had previously been hampered by various constraints and could not be dealt with were successfully implemented as the local forces in the sector were leaderless.

The cults and other traitors hidden throughout the sector were dug out one by one by the joint efforts of the three major orders of the Inquisition.

The thousands of Astartes warriors traveling throughout the sector not only aroused countless horrors, but also used their power beyond mortals to bring precious stability to the entire sector.

Calvin was on his way to the surface of Amara at this time.

The call from Grand Master Aidan allowed him to put aside the battle reports from all over the star region and the heavy command tasks.

In Aidan's letters, there were some anomalies about District Governor Harold Ondan, which aroused his great attention.

In the palace on the top floor of the hive, the Gray Knights, after driving out all the mortals, led Calvin towards the governor's palace.

He is the final trump card of the Inquisition.

Governor Harold, who had completely lost his mind, was imprisoned there, and more than a month passed before he knew it.

During this period, the Inquisition and the Order of the Holy Hammer examined him many times, but still could not find the reason for his murder.

After passing through the numerous palace restrictions and gates, Calvin finally met this mortal who once had a relationship with Calvin when he was the chief of the Star District Council.

He is now beyond recognition. His haggard body and distorted face show his fear, and the words he whispers in his mouth are unclear, but this is most likely the only clue.

"What is he saying?"

Calvin examined the other person's figure carefully, and was disappointed that he could not find any traces of psychic energy on him.

"He said...he doesn't eat this?"

Dulles, the senior inquisitor of the Alien Tribunal, said hesitantly.

This sentence has been analyzed by them for a long time, and none of the chefs in the Governor's Mansion who followed this clue escaped, and they were all taken into the prison of the Inquisition.

"Well..." Calvin shook his head in disappointment at Aidan to give up, and then planned to return to orbit to continue handling the complicated official duties at hand.

But he didn't go very far when he suddenly thought of something, turned around suddenly, and walked towards Harold's bed again.

This time, he did not get entangled in Harold's illogical words, but focused on searching for certain traces on his body.

Finally, after looking up and down for several rounds, Calvin's eyes firmly locked on Harold's pale hands.

On the hands that had been tightly fixed with silk to prevent him from harming himself, there was a faint silver-green light flashing through the nails of the thin, bird-claw-like fingers.

If Calvin hadn't seen this kind of thing himself, he really wouldn't be able to confirm his inference.

His abnormal return naturally attracted the attention of everyone present. Facing Aidan's questioning eyes, Calvin fell into memories of the past.

After a while, Calvin, who had confirmed something from his memories, dipped his finger into the drinking water on the table in the palace, and then drew a strange symbol on the stone table based on his memory.

"This is it!"

Calvin looked at this unfamiliar text and said to the people around him;

The memory of this kind of writing comes from the engraving on the building he encountered in the Twin Stars.

The obscure energy fluctuations on Harold's body and the strangeness in his bones after being affected by this energy are exactly in line with Calvin's taste of the energy movement in the ruins of the unknown civilization!

"Check!" Aidan simply ordered.

The Tribunal personnel around them signaled to each other, and then took turns stepping forward to write down this text with their own devices, then turned and walked towards the residences of the three major religious orders.

"You think his situation cannot be caused by spiritual manipulation, right?"

In the room with only three people left, Aidan looked at Harold who was still in madness and asked Calvin.

"Yes, it is basically certain that it is the energy fluctuation unique to this civilization!"

"It's true that misfortunes never come singly..."

Aidan's brows were deeply furrowed, and together with the nasolabial wrinkles on his cheeks, they silently told his old age.

And Calvin was silent in his thoughts:

The current incident is no accident, but as the two of them thought, the scope of the involvement behind this strange incident will be far beyond everyone's initial expectations!

That means that the war-torn star region of Orps, just after getting rid of the two-way war with the Orcs and Chaos, will once again face the threat of a new and unknown alien civilization without even having time to breathe. !

"Has there been any reply from Nicholas?"

Aidan thought of something and asked Calvin.

The Custodian and his colleagues remained stranded near the wreckage of the twin stars for several years after Calvin's initial disappearance.

But the mission they carried was equally heavy. Under the repeated orders of the Throne Court, these aggrieved imperial guards finally left Orpheus with full of regrets, and were dispatched by the Throne Court to other places that needed them. battlefield.

It has been more than a month since Calvin officially appeared in Orpheus after his return, and nearly days and nights have passed since he initiated the communication to the Throne Chamber through the internal channels of the Tribunal.

Calvin also understood Aidan's thoughts. After all, the chapter's alliance was an existence that was deviating from the empire's sight. The pressure on the four chapter leaders also made it difficult for them to stay here for a long time.

The High Lord's authority is not limitless. At least now that he holds the position of representative of the three major religious orders, he has to consider the smooth operation of other religious orders in the empire.

Other high lords must be treated with basic respect, which is a basic condition for the Parliament to function.

And this respect is embodied in reality. The most important thing is that he must curb the endless expansion of force in his hands.

Otherwise, it is not enough to reassure allies; otherwise, it is not enough to maintain basic strategic mutual trust.

Calvin knew clearly that as long as he did not return to Terra, he would still lack a righteous status without meeting the Emperor.

Without the power brought by this title, he would have no reason to retain the soldiers of these battle groups in an honest manner.

At this time, Orps was like a microcosm of the empire in the eyes of the two of them. The precarious sector had just emerged from the shadow of the failure of the war, and suddenly fell into a new crisis.

"It's so difficult..." The two looked at each other, and then sighed in unison.

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