Warhammer: In the Name of Nirvana

0000886.M30

This is a chronology.

A standard chronology that is accurate to the sky is also a somewhat special, but not so special day for the entire galaxy and the entire human empire.

At the moment when the sun that belongs to this day is rising in the east and setting in the west, there are hundreds of billions of worlds on the territory of the human empire spanning the entire galaxy, celebrating the arrival of the new year in stability and prosperity. , and raised their glasses together to praise the double-headed eagle flag flying in the sky.

But it is also on this day, in all directions of the same galaxy, there are hundreds of billions of worlds, burning in the endless flames of war, being annihilated in the waves sweeping the galaxy, under the endless and eternal host of the Lord of Humanity. In front of the tired expedition cavalry, they experienced fateful despair, pain and death.

From Caliban to Avalon, from Fenris to Invite, from Holy Terra to Macragge, civilization and destruction, prosperity and chaos are like twins who hate each other but can never be separated. , together on the stage called the Great Crusade set off by the Lord of Mankind, a destruction opera full of contradictions was staged.

These abominable twins, with an entire standard year of Terra as the starting and ending time limit, regard countless war zones and fleets as their handy attendants, and wholeheartedly sing the praises of the Lord of Mankind's never-ending grand narrative, making them Every human world is feverishly immersed in the so-called glory and revival.

And now, in the darkest corner of this great opera, where every mesmerized audience never paid attention, a cruel massacre destined to remain unknown began with the arrival of the New Year. Curtain.

At this time, a full eighty-eight Terran standard years had passed since the Lord of Mankind launched his great expedition on Holy Terra and pointed his sword at the world.

A full twelve months have passed since the Second Randan War, which once swept through most of the galaxy and turned thousands of vast star regions into scorched earth, but has now been forgotten by almost the entire empire. Terra Standard Year.

Everything seemed too late: but everything seemed just right.

that's all.

On New Year's Day of the eighty-eighth Terran Standard Year after the start of the Great Crusade, the Human Empire burned the flames of war to the last land of Randan. The vanguard commanded by Arachos, Koswain and Rana The fleet, at the moment of New Year's Eve, was only one step away from the Randan Empire's most important home system.

Trust in fire.

The war begins.

——————

It's dead.

Right in front of him, right in his dark pupils: it was dead.

It's just the right amount of death.

Lana couldn't help but think of this.

As the Spider Queen's Praetorian Guard, the Chief of the Old Guard has learned to look at everything that threatens Morgan with cold eyes that are exactly like the Primarch: no matter whether they appear to be friends or foes.

This job is not as easy as it seems on the surface: when his eyes turn cold for the safety of the Primarch, he often has to face many unimaginable opponents: it may be a planetary governor with a diligent face, it may be a meritorious person. A distinguished mortal auxiliary officer, perhaps even another great Primarch.

Among these visitors with huge power, not all of them have shown goodwill to the Chief of Guards, but as the last line of defense for the Mother of Genes, Lana knows very well what attitude he should maintain: no matter what floats in front of him How sincere their kindness is, the only person who responds to them is Lana's cold gaze.

Except for the other battle brothers who are also sons of Morgan, the Praetorian Guard will not truly trust anyone: this makes his duties almost never go wrong, and makes his name a symbol of arrogance and rudeness among mortals. .

Among the Dawnbreaker Legion, which has always been friendly to mortals, such a bad reputation is extremely rare, although Rana didn't care at all: he even felt proud.

Therefore, compared with the above-mentioned existences, the burning wreckage of alien warships floating in front of the Chief Old Guard at this moment could not be more friendly: at the very least, Rana no longer needs to worry about accidental injuries. Questions like that.

After winning another bloody, crazy and hard-fought victory, only joy like this can flash through the heart of the Guard Chief, replenishing his nearly exhausted heart. power.

In this way, the Chief Old Guard, who had been commanding on the command platform for forty-six hours without sleep, closed his eyes and ordered his brain to take a deep rest for two minutes with an almost forced attitude.

When he opened his eyes, he could just see how the last Randan battleship guarding the front of Mandeville Point was completely dead and rolled across his field of vision.

This guardian guarding the veil between the real universe and the subspace was the last victim in the entire battle. When the flames of war burned in front of it, most of its blasphemous compatriots had already turned into those who were scattered all over the place. The burning ruins of the void throughout the galaxy.

Although such a desperate situation did not weaken its resistance, it also pushed its fate into the inevitable abyss: at least twelve large and small warships loyal to the Human Empire surrounded it at the first opportunity, and the forging world Reza The specialty enhanced plasma gas summoned the pale flames of death, pouring into its bow and deck from four directions, and the macrocannon shells that followed were like a hot scalpel that had been roasted. , wreaking havoc on the festering wounds of those metal skins, the turrets and spiers were roughly torn off, and the iconic towers decorated with flails became the target of concentrated fire from the beginning, even more than the battleships I met death faster.

The chief guard did not issue any more orders. With a serious face, he quietly witnessed the burning wreckage being finally swallowed up by the explosion in the darkness. Those living lives that were burned seemed to be able to Their dying cries are transmitted to human ears, and the oxygen that allows them to survive in the void allows the flames caused by the plasma to continue briefly for a while before they die reluctantly.

By the time it was all over, the dead alien battleship had rolled past Rana's field of vision, but it had no longer attracted the attention of the head guard: Rana stood in front of the holographic screen on the command podium, concentrating on thinking. As he was thinking about his own affairs, his thin lips opened and closed, seeming to be whispering something silently.

"Enemy ship sunk."

This voice sounded like the announcement of the detection technician behind him, and also sounded like the soliloquy of the guard chief himself: But no matter what it was, this sentence was like some kind of gravity, pulling Rana away from his contemplation. out.

He raised his head and belatedly looked at the Mandeville Point on the holographic screen: the space that fluctuated like water was larger than any giant ship known to the Human Empire, and it itself was The strategic value it contains is even better than countless rich star regions.

Lana quietly looked at the intersection connecting subspace and the real universe and smiled.

He knew that as long as he crossed this strange starry gate, he would reach the final and most important capital galaxy of the entire Ran Dan Empire. That was the key point that could end the entire war, and was the strategic plan of his genetic mother. , the Sword of Damocles that can never be completely avoided.

He knew that his mission was to fight all the way to this place: to seize the Mandeville Point leading to Randan's home planet, stabilize the passage on one side, and then wait patiently for the main fleet behind them to arrive.

Before he led the army to set off, this was all the Lord of the Second Legion told him. Now, he has completed his mother's order to the letter, without any flaws or regrets.

Nothing could make the Guard Chief happier than this. He was caught up in a brief moment of pure joy, and he didn't even notice at the first moment that a new holographic projection was gradually emerging behind him.

When he turned around belatedly, he saw Coswayne's head, which was tightly protected by a black helmet: The Lion Lord's attire was a careful imitation of his genetic father, only more so. In order to keep a low profile, he wore a void-strengthened Mark III power armor. The left shoulder and shin were reinforced with reinforcement nails. It looked like it had just been painted, and the bright black color complemented the bright white hood.

"Rana."

When Coswayen spoke, even through the holographic projection and helmet communicator, the head guard could still hear the fatigue in it: It was at this time that he seemed to have discovered a new world and felt his own The throat also has the same dryness.

"Kos."

"How's your loss?"

"It's still acceptable. Randan's resistance is not as strong as we thought, perhaps because they have transferred all their essence to their home system: this is not good news."

The Lion Controller laughed.

"At least now, this is not something we need to worry about: Arachos has rushed to the rear of the battleship to collect the troops that were scattered during the war. He hopes that we can stand still and prepare for defense."

Lana raised an eyebrow: he knew the character of Arachos, the chief of the Ninth Knights of the Dark Angels Legion. Even among the warriors of the Astartes everywhere, he was one of the outstanding ones in terms of bravery.

He proposed defense?

"What's wrong?"

Faced with Rana's inquiry, Coswayen did not avoid the topic. He first looked away and quickly responded to some inquiries from outside the holographic projection, and then answered Morgan in a pretended relaxed tone. 's heirs.

"You know, Lana, the best navigators in the fleet were all concentrated on the battleships of Arachos. They saw something incredible with their psychic eyes: at this Mandeville Point Behind him, it does lead to Ran Dan’s home planet, but it also leads to a long-planned death trap.”

"The navigators' glimpse was enough to make us cautious: they saw a large empty area surrounding Mandeville Point, with nothing there but battleships, engines and armed satellites, and in On both sides of them, there is a defense line composed of weapons platforms, torpedo silos and booby traps. It is almost hundreds of thousands of kilometers in depth and surrounds the entire galaxy, making it airtight."

"Behind them are more than a dozen planets and hundreds of small stars: almost every one of them is fully armed to the teeth. You can think of them as small fortresses that can stand alone against fleet artillery fire."

Lana frowned.

"They created a giant minefield around their home planet?"

The Lion Manager nodded.

"Don't underestimate the madness brought about by the end of the road: according to intelligence from the rear, in the multi-terra standard month since we launched the attack on Randan's home planet, the Space Wolves' fleet has successfully arrived in the Lanora system. Holding back a considerable part of the Ran Dan fleet, the situation of these aliens is worse than we imagined."

"But even so, a trap like this is not something we can temporarily contend with: once the hundreds of warships we have on hand enter Ran Dan's home system, they probably won't be able to survive for even ten minutes."

Rana was silent and noncommittal. He knew what Coswayen wanted to say: counting the more than a month of running, they had been fighting side by side for less than half a year, and they had developed a lot of tacit understanding between them.

"Don't worry, Calth, I will take my fleet and stay here with you until the primarchs arrive: I am not crazy enough to attack the defenses of Randan's home system alone, no matter what exists there. what."

The Lion Controller looked relieved.

"So much the better."

Then he was quiet for a few seconds, as if he was considering whether to reveal any secrets.

"Actually, what worries me most is not Randan's army, Kaos, but some strange phenomena that occurred in Arachos: Remember the navigators I mentioned, I have seen them, they are all excellent, Very powerful psykers, with countless trump cards and abilities, but there are just such a group of psionic masters..."

"What's wrong?"

"Dead, they are all dead."

The Lion King's manager ruthlessly pronounced his verdict, his voice tainted with a hint of uneasiness.

"According to Arachos, after spying on the situation of Randan's home star system, at his request, these navigators decided to go deeper and spy on the situation of Randan's home star hidden deep in the galaxy. "

"And then they died?"

"Yes, Arachos witnessed their deaths: these navigators focused their spiritual power on one person to support him in completing this investigation, but the will of that investigator had just been glimpsed. When Ran Dan's home star was projected in the subspace, an accident happened suddenly."

"Before Arachos and the other warriors could react, first the navigator responsible for the reconnaissance, and then all the psykers who participated in the operation, all exploded and died at almost the same instant. They Their deaths were so sudden that even they themselves didn’t realize it, and there wasn’t even any trace of ferocity on their faces.”

Lana hesitated.

"Could it be because of... lack of strength?"

The Lion Manager shook his head.

"Each of them is a senior navigator who has followed the First Army for decades. I know several of them. They can even influence an entire small fleet with their own power: the abilities of these navigators are There is absolutely no problem.”

"All I have is a suspicion: Will the problem arise on Randan's home planet?"

"Is there any unknown strong person in Ran Dan?"

"Unlikely: If they really have other powerful people, they won't hide them until now."

Coswayen dismissed the idea.

"Furthermore, according to the examination results of other psykers, the cause of death of these navigators is more like their souls being forcibly crushed under the impact of some individual with absolute power: therefore I am worried that killing them , could it be Ran Dan’s home planet itself?”

"You mean... Ran Dan's home planet has its own will?"

Lana frowned deeply.

"This is just my guess, Rana, but considering that the Ran Dan race does have undeniable power and legend, coupled with their day-to-day fanaticism for the power of subspace, if their home planet is really There are some disturbing circumstances about it, and that wouldn’t surprise me at all.”

"You seem to be describing a very dire situation, Kos."

"If Ran Dan's home planet really has some kind of self-will: We don't care what this will is, but it will definitely not be happy to see us invaders destroying its civilization on its land. This It will undoubtedly make the difficulty of the war extremely exaggerated."

"Yeah, so I hope that's just a guess on my part."

The Lion Master shook his head and seemed to not want to discuss this issue anymore. The two original body attendants discussed other matters to ensure close information exchange between them.

But after going round and round, at the end of this conversation, the Chief Old Guard, whose heart was aroused with uneasiness, asked about his doubts.

"Have you informed the Primarch of this, Calth?"

"certainly."

"Mr. Morgan told me that she will take this issue seriously and resolve it."

Rana didn't reply.

Out of the instinct brought about by the position of Chief Guards of the Primarch, the Chief Old Guard began to reason almost subconsciously: In a world with a certain hostility, and his own genetic mother, who would be the victor? By.

Or, would his original body be irreparably damaged in this unheard-of confrontation: If this happened, he would never forgive himself, regardless of whether it was related to Lana or not.

In the eyes of the Praetorian Guard, there are only three possibilities for him to leave his post: either he will die gloriously while defending the original body, or he will be relieved of this responsibility by the original body himself. And the third most humiliating possibility is It was because of his dereliction of duty that the original body was injured, so that he could only relieve his humiliation a little by committing suicide.

"..."

Lana hated that future.

Therefore, although he wanted to remain mysterious in front of the Dark Angels in his heart, he still had to speak up and reveal his worries to the Lion Master: Compared with the safety of the Primarch himself, Rana's image was not worth mentioning. .

"Mr. Morgan and the world..."

Coswayen thought carefully.

"Maybe you can choose to put yourself in someone else's shoes, Rana."

"How to say?"

"Have you met His Majesty the Sealmaster, or Magnus?"

Lana nodded.

"Do you think that if they were against a self-aware Holy Terra, would their abilities be able to protect themselves or even destroy Holy Terra?"

"..."

"..."

"You seem to be talking about some pretty profane stuff, brother."