Warhammer: In the Name of Nirvana

Galaxy, void.

Indomitable Truth.

…

Leon Jonson, Primarch of the First Legion, was going through the greatest and most difficult war of his life: a war that left him with no hope.

Although the best sons of the Lion: Corswayne, Astelan and Arachos are all accompanying their genetic father at this time, this father-son combination is enough to fight back and forth on the battlefield of the Apocalypse. All we can do now is swallow the bitter pill of suffering together.

After all, the [enemy] in front of them is too powerful.

War, politics, supplies, battle lines across sectors and astronomical logistics, divine orders from Terra and regular reports from countless sentinel worlds, the rebuilding activities of over a hundred Inner Circle Orders and at least twenty expeditionary fleets The ups and downs, honors and disgrace, as well as thousands of letters of request for help, reporting letters, accountability letters or anything else from various empires, worlds, interest groups and partners.

Oh, and Luther.

Damn Luther, respectable Luther, outstanding Luther, diligent Luther...

"well……"

Why are you so capable?

After a long sigh, the lion left behind the last data report sent from Caliban, lowered his head, covered his entire face with his huge front paws, and his eyes that had changed due to fatigue. His eyelids were swollen, he was silent, and then he sighed again.

The discarded documents circled around the old wooden tables and chairs, and finally fell to the feet of the Primarch, becoming part of a pale mountain range: piles of documents that had been corrected were piled here, waiting. After subsequent sorting and filing, this [Mount of Documents] was about half a meter high, and most of them came from Caliban and Luther.

This Imperial Governor, personally appointed by the Primarch and endorsed by the Emperor, and the uncrowned King of all Caliban, has been working diligently in his post for nearly twenty Terran standard years. He took over and tried his best to make up for the chaos left by Terra's bureaucrats, re-stabilized the restless people on the planet, patiently protected the new generation of Calibans as they grew up, and selected heroes among them. , as his deputy or the new blood of the First Legion.

Under Luther's careful governance, the Dark Angels' homeworld is recovering its former vitality and vitality at an incredible speed. The Knight Governor overturned the comprehensive industrialization promulgated by the Terran bureaucrats and thoroughly promoted the Terran system. Instead of reckless policies, a more moderate approach was adopted: establishing factories in those designated special zones to protect Caliban’s original ecological and economic environment, and at the same time protect the inheritance of local culture as much as possible, listen to and Respect the voice of the people and formulate a series of gradual reform plans.

He formulated several laws to actively protect the remaining great forests of the dead world, allowing the Calibans to return to their familiar farms and fields; at the same time, he allowed the children to grow up in schools, moistening everything like rain. Teaching them about Terra and the Galaxy; he also reorganized the declining Grand Knights and set out to conquer the wild herds that showed signs of resurgence after Jonson left.

These policies tailored to local conditions have now achieved gratifying results: a steady stream of Caliban recruits have once again poured into the fleet of the First Legion. Their number, loyalty and physical fitness have made even the most demanding instructors of the Knights... They nodded to it, and through their mouths and the confirmation of those Legion soldiers who returned to their home planet due to missions, the changes in their home star Caliban gradually became known to the Dark Angels.

This kind of rare good news boosted the morale of the Caliban warriors to some extent. They truly felt that their bloody battles in the galaxy were not without reward: their home planet was getting better because of their efforts. , this kind of visible result can soothe tired hearts more than loyalty and dedication.

As a result, the errands of returning to the home star became popular again. Every batch of Dark Angels who returned could be warmly welcomed by Luther and the people of Caliban. When they returned to the Legion with pride, they were welcomed on every ship. In the corridors and secret rooms of the battleship, there were more and more praises for the Primarch.

Of course, these sounds and changes did not escape the ears of the Lord of the Dark Angels. Jonson's control over the Legion was comprehensive and had never weakened, but he was not happy because of these benign trends: in fact, the Dark Angels The Primarch may be the only unlucky guy in the entire Dark Angels Legion who felt more sadness than joy when it came to [Caliban's Nirvana Rebirth].

Deep in his heart, the original body is of course happy to see his home planet, under the governance of his most trusted elders, become a treasure place that can make the Legion proud, but it is different from those Caliban warriors who only need to be proud. , as the Primarch, and as the supreme decision-maker for all affairs of the Dark Angels, Jonson will get more pressure from Luther.

Documents, data, reports, forms, memos, red books, annual summaries and development prospects, educational policies and economic growth, environmental protection and diplomatic needs: Contrary to those imperial governors who longed to dominate the sky with one hand, as the uncrowned king of Caliban, Luther He wished he could record every action, every achievement, and every plan in his heart in detail on the scroll, and then faithfully display it in front of the real Lord of Caliban.

At first, this behavior moved the original body a little. Jonson would carefully read, think and feedback every letter. However, as time passed, Luther's reports began to no longer be limited to the military, but related to All aspects of Caliban: At this time, cold sweat began to break out on the forehead of the original body.

To be honest, Jonson really doesn't care where Caliban's economic development focus will be in the next twenty years. He has no objection to Luther's idea of ​​promoting tourism on Caliban. As for communicating with other imperial worlds He didn't even want to watch the diplomatic activities and the political game with the Holy Terra government: but Luther repeatedly emphasized that these things were very important, and he would only implement them after getting Johnson's permission.

This reasonable old knight seemed to be particularly stubborn on this matter. He did not hesitate to write a long speech with his own hands, using a large number of truths and examples to make the Primarch bow his head and submit: Jonson could only passively endure more. He was bombarded with documents, and bit the bullet and began to learn about economic or governance issues that he had never cared about before.

The Lord of the Dark Angels didn't understand why Luther was so persistent on this matter: maybe the old knight was instigated by some people, maybe?

But Zhuang Sen thought about it for a while, and couldn't figure out which of his enemies would use this method of forcing him to learn management and how to review documents to retaliate against him: he simply stopped thinking about this issue.

As a Primarch, Jonson certainly learned extremely quickly. After being bombarded by Luther's various official documents and reports for almost ten years, the current Lord of Caliban has been able to use a tired but still... With skillful techniques, he can handle these bloodless troubles without dragging down other things: but the price is that he often looks very carelessly.

For example: this one.

Jonson raised his eyebrows and took out another brand-new document from the messy desk in front of him with a gloomy expression. Luther's personal logo was printed on it: it seemed that the one he threw away just now was not the last one. .

The wording in the document was complicated and gorgeous, and it seemed that it was intended to be used directly as a diplomatic document. After a quick glance, the Primarch knew that the real core of it was only one sentence: Luther wanted to establish an alliance with some of the imperial worlds around Caliban. To form a partnership, he hopes that the Lord of the Legion can give him the power in this regard.

After all, this kind of thing is done in the name of the Dark Angel.

“An old tune again.”

Zhuang Sen muttered, then approved his name without looking at it, and then threw it aside, waiting for these Caliban documents to be fed back together.

The so-called [partner], Luther had discussed this concept with Jonson several years ago. In various letters, he would talk about the need to establish a deeper relationship with the imperial world around Caliban. Sex, to explore the Primarch's attitude towards this matter, both covertly and overtly.

Although Jonson didn't understand what Luther wanted these partners for, he didn't think his old buddy could cause him any big trouble: If Luther wants special privileges, then give them to him. He knew what was going on.

It also allows him to send less documents in the future.

Jonson rubbed the corner of his brow with some distress. He carefully checked his desk and made sure that there were no documents from Caliban or important legion official business, but only a pile of them. After a slightly delayed daily report, this imperial general who had been able to remain calm in the face of danger in several apocalyptic wars, at this time, could only dare to sit down and quietly breathe a sigh of relief.

Fortunately, it's over.

The pupils of the original body became active. He raised his head from the mountains of literature and books in front of him and began to look at another corner of the room: his three most powerful descendants were there, suffering the same pain as him. Currently, See, they can't get over the pain yet.

Coswayne, Astlan and Arachos, these three champion swordsmen who were invincible on the battlefield of the Great Expedition, were imprisoned on three desks at the moment, facing their respective Wenshan with sullen faces. Shuhai: Those are minor problems that do not require the original body to deal with personally.

The Lion of Caliban came up with this genius idea after being reminded by his beloved friends and relatives, the midnight ghosts from Nostramo: as a Primarch, he was not alone; There are several high-ranking members of the legion who are absolutely trustworthy in terms of loyalty and ability, who can endure these bloodless pains with him.

In terms of results, this system of sitting together is not only very useful, it even brought some unexpected joy to Jonson: considering that both the original body and the three Dark Angels have now become grasshoppers drowned in the files, The relationship between them, which was originally either close or rigid, has been passively heated up.

Even the representative of the Terran race, who has always been naughty and does not take the father of the gene into account, would even respect Morgan's Astlan more than Jonson, and he would have to deal with the documents in front of him that could not be completed at all. After the close contact, when he looked at the lion, he actually felt a bit of sympathy.

#Strange father-son bond increased#

Zhuang Sen rubbed his face and tried to cheer himself up. He glanced at his descendants who were still busy writing, and then scanned the documents that had not yet been reviewed. He couldn't help but sigh: Decades ago, he What attitude and ability did the blood relative of Avalon have to fight a bloody path for their first legion in the more cruel sea of ​​literature and books?

You know, because of its overly complicated and weird power structure, as well as the sporadic fronts spread throughout the galaxy, and the supply system that is completely independent of the empire, it is more difficult to manage the Dark Angels than to manage several other legions. It's even bigger: Even today, twenty years after Morgan left, Johnson can't guarantee that he can command every line of the Dark Angels Legion like an arm.

He must be forced to work while actively maintaining a learning attitude.

Thinking of this, Lord Caliban's eyes drifted to the other side, as if looking for something. His big hand pulled open the decorative legion flag behind him, revealing a locker that was as tall as a person. There are scattered [personal belongings] of the original body inside.

Several slightly ornate goblets that did not seem to be in line with Jonson's style: before the war with Emperor Randan, he, Morgan and the Vulcan brothers drank from these glasses and encouraged each other. .

Next to the wine glass are placed trivial gifts from Leman Russ and Konrad. They are all small items that look very rough, such as Fenris's Wolf Fang Necklace and Nostramo. The lion bone rings were polished by the two primarchs themselves. Zhuangson also carefully treasured these brothers' gifts in the same way as he would treat priceless treasures.

But the real treasure is placed in the deepest part of the locker, a place that even the power of the original body cannot break open immediately: three photo frames are placed there in sequence, the middle one was taken in Holy Terra In front of the palace, Morgan and Johnson stood in the middle of the photo frame, flanked by Johnson's brothers and heirs. Behind them was the eternal symbol of glory of the First Legion, the pure white statue that only they would know.

On both sides of this photo frame, there are two photos. The one on the left was taken by Caliban a few years ago and was sent by Luther. In the photo, the elder Jonson is standing On the castle of the Grand Knights, in the high platform that carries Jonson's memory, Luther is pointing with great pride into the distance: that is the uniform array of recruits, the once again lush Caliban Forest, and more in the distance. There is a lot of smoke curling up from the cooking pots, and everything is as beautiful as a bright fairy tale.

The other photo looked even dimmer compared to it. The only light in the frame was a bonfire during the dinner party, and the illuminated faces of several original bodies nearby. Their complete relaxation and wanton laughter seemed to The moment was frozen: whether it was the smiling Morgan, the noisy Jonson and Leman Russ, or the drunken Conrad, they all seemed to be able to walk out of the photo at any time.

Next to this photo, there are also several swords and swords, which are obviously the knives and forks used in that unsuccessful bonfire party. Zhuangson will clean them carefully to ensure that they will remain as bright and clean as ever in the future.

"..."

The original body's eyes passed over these priceless treasures bit by bit, and a relaxed smile appeared on his face. The fatigue caused by the long work also melted away a lot. The Lord of Caliban seemed to be inspecting his treasury. Like Grandet, he breathed the iron-smelling air a little greedily, feeling the kindness that the past time had given him.

But Jonson did not allow him to relax for too long. The original body's eyes quickly focused on his target: it was a pile of books that had been studied countless times. It was left to him by Morgan. Suggestions for managing the legion, and under this stack of books is the [Special Edition of the Psionic Scripture] handwritten by the Lord of Avalon himself and specially prepared for him.

The Lord of Caliban carefully took out all these books. Just when he was worried about which one to read first, his eyes were attracted by a few sudden rays of light: this light came from his desk, from Where Zhuang Sen can reach it at any time, that is a portable holographic projector.

Only one person can enable it.

"..."

The original body was silent for a moment, and then he quickly and carefully put all the books back, grabbed the projector, and carefully scanned his descendants. After making sure that they had not noticed this, Jonson Then he quietly stood up, took a few quick steps, and disappeared into the secret door behind the office, entering a secret room that almost no one knew about.

The room was not big, and there were simply a few tables and chairs. The original body chose one and sat down, and started the projector system. The light bloomed around him, and the tall figure on the other side of the instrument was captured. Gradually focusing, looming, until Morgan's perfect face is completely reproduced, which can make anyone admire.

The next moment, the Spider Queen's head, hair, neck and half of her upper body were projected. The flesh, flesh and armor seemed to have real density and weight. When she smiled, every tiny expression of hers There was no dissonance at all, and the long-lost familiar voice echoed in Zhuang Sen's ears.

【How are you doing lately, Zhuang Sen? 】

[You look a little tired? 】

While making simple polite remarks, Morgan saw with only one glance that her Caliban blood relative was not in good condition. It took less than a moment to guess the specific reason: when Jonson nodded towards Morgan, the Avalon King The Lord took advantage of the situation and asked a question.

[Are you reviewing documents again? 】

Johnson nodded.

[Luthor’s? 】

Nod again.

[Does he still report everything to you in detail as before? 】

"..."

Zhuang Sen was silent. After a while, he rubbed his forehead.

"Yeah: I don't know who I learned it from."

【Who knows...】

The Lord of Avalon murmured: The distressed Caliban did not notice that his blood relative seemed to smile more happily, with a hint of the pleasure of teasing and revenge hidden in his pupils, and regarding what Luther had done, Morgan didn't seem surprised at all.

"So, what's up, Morgan?"

After only worrying for a moment, Jonson raised his head. He didn't think Morgan would contact him for no reason. After all, even for the Lord of Avalon, maintaining this kind of holographic projection across the entire galaxy is a task. A more difficult thing: it is very clear.

But things were not as he expected.

【Nothing important. 】

Morgan yawned lazily and seemed to be leaning on something. Her eyes were half-open and half-lidded, with a laziness that was not yet full of sleep. When she licked her lips, her words were casual and vivid.

[If I have nothing to do, can’t I just contact you? 】

"Um……"

【after all……】

[I miss you, Johnson. 】

The Lord of Avalon put one hand on her neck, and her face turned slightly to the side, showing a smile. There was an unquestionable look under her soft eyebrows, which made the Calibans believe this sentence immediately. Authenticity.

[We have been apart for too long, haven’t we, brother? 】

Morgan laughed again.

"……indeed."

Zhuang Sen nodded dully.

"Fifteen years, or twenty years?"

【Time is not important. 】

Morgan sighed.

[The important thing is that when I walked alone in the empire, when I got along with our other brothers, I found that I missed the time I spent with you more than all of them. 】

【Parting makes me miss you. 】

[The longer we are apart, the more I miss getting along with you. The farther your steps disappear from my sight, the deeper your shadow will be left in my heart: every brother I meet has It makes me more sure of this, Zhuangson, I miss the time of working with you. 】

"...Me too, Morgan."

This time, the Caliban Lion was silent for an extra long time. After a sigh, his response was so solid that it could almost be regarded as a truth: Even so, the keen Jonson still looked for clues from Morgan's words. What information was received.

"Why, don't you get along well with our brothers?"

【yes. 】

Morgan nodded.

[You should know that I am conducting an expedition with Dorne and Perturabo in the Kraken Abyss: just from this alone, you should know the hardships involved. After all, it seems that you have experienced similar things? 】

【Right? 】

"..."

I don't know why, but it was a simple question, but some wild instincts in Zhuang Sen's bones began to scream out of unknown fear: He realized that this sentence did not seem simple.

He needed to think about it.

# Zhuang Sen started thinking#

"..."

#Jonson stopped running#

"Are you... angry, Morgan?"

By the end, the thoughtful Caliban squeezed out the words.

【No. 】

Morgan's eyebrows were lowered, and her quick response made Jonson nod.

"That's good: I thought you were angry about something just now, Morgan."

【……】

"But, then again."

Caliban frowned and carefully considered what Morgan just said.

"Cooperating with Donne is indeed not a pleasant thing. I have cooperated with him once a long time ago, and it was very unpleasant: although his unwarranted slander against me ultimately ended in failure, and that matter It’s actually not a big deal.”

【Is it really no big deal? 】

Morgan's rhetorical question confused Jonson: she seemed obsessed with the question.

"Yes, it's nothing. It's just a dispute and a duel. It's normal."

【……】

"……You're angry?"

[Yeah, I'm angry. 】

Morgan pouted.

"???"

Jonson was stunned for a while, but he wisely did not pursue the matter. Instead, he caught what Morgan said just now: It seems that the cooperation with Dorne made his blood relatives unhappy, so if that is the case...

Jonson started thinking again.

His wisdom was growing, and a good idea was soon contributed to him.

"Since Dorne is so unpleasant, why don't you go to Perturabo?"

【! ! ! 】

【What did you say? 】

"Perturabo."

Jonson smiled.

"Perturabo is very good, he is a guy who is calm enough, sensible enough, and admirable. It will be a pleasure to fight alongside him because he deeply understands the art of war, and he He also has his own unique views on interpersonal communication.”

"Even... no less than me."

【……】

"What's more, if Dorn is stubborn, Perturabo can help you convince him..."

[Shut up, Jonson. 】

"Morgan, I mean..."

【you! Give me! shut up! 】