Warhammer: In the Name of Nirvana

"Return to the essence, line up the gods, and return to the throne entrenched in the sky."

[The heart is stronger than things, transcending the ordinary and becoming holy, changing the direction of all things in the clouds and rains. 】

"Is this what he said?"

[There are more lofty ideals: but ultimately these are just these sentences. 】

"..."

"Do you know which library Tianqi threw him into?"

[Maybe it’s the one where you brainwashed my bastard dad into becoming the emperor. 】

"Stop coming!"

The black iron staff clanged on the floor inlaid with a double-headed eagle, and the dark brown robe made a disturbing sound as it brushed against the torch made of orc skulls: but it was all in Macadona In front of the angry dissatisfaction, he lay dormant. The palm-printer's pupils were burning with anger at this time, which was a kind of arrogance mixed with huge pressure and willpower.

"If I really have such a treasure, I must send all of you Primarchs in first. Perturabo's whereabouts were not even notified to me in advance. When his ship arrived in the low-Earth orbit of Ullanor , we learned that he had completed construction work on Nicaea but never reported it.”

[Hmm, that sounds a bit illegal? 】

"A bit?"

The palm bearer sneered.

"Even if he is a high lord, I can kill him just because of this incident."

"Bringing a fleet to the current sky above Ullanor without any notice?"

"snort!"

[But he is not a high lord. 】

Morgan shook his head.

[Perturabo is a Primarch. For a Primarch, this matter can only be regarded as a trivial matter at best: besides, from the standpoint of the Primarch, a trivial matter is already considered very serious. Accused. 】

【how! Do you still want to punish him? 】

[Let Guilliman lead the team to burn Olympia again? 】

"Shut up."

Malcador's eyes were frightening.

"Of course I know that you Primarchs always like to trample on the law."

Obviously, these trivial matters, which were indifferent to Morgan, ignited the anger of the person holding the seal at the right time: when the face of the person holding the seal became serious, even Morgan could only lower his head and avoid it for the time being. Edge.

"So when I created you, I mentioned it to Tianqi: Maybe we should all make you women. In this case, at least you can become more reasonable, instead of being as troublesome as you are now, even if there are twenty You are stronger than twenty Horus."

【Are you kidding? 】

“It used to be: because we all know personality has nothing to do with gender.”

The palm-printer rubbed his brow in pain.

"Besides, he can't even handle twenty boys, let alone twenty daughters. If it weren't for your support and me watching from the dark, he wouldn't be able to be like this with everyone. Meeting the primarch alone and pretending to be a father and son is even more difficult than asking him to hang himself."

[Isn’t this natural? 】

Morgan chuckled.

[It was in anticipation of this that I prepared the script for him in advance. 】

"Prescient."

Malcador tilted his head slightly.

"But what I'm curious about is: How did you have this foresight?"

[Having seen our beloved Emperor’s performance in the Perfect City, do you think this kind of thing still requires foresight now? 】

"That's not what I meant..."

【I know what you want to say. 】

Morgan waved his hand.

[Yes: it is indeed calculated based on my current embarrassing situation. 】

She seemed to sigh.

[Because now I can’t have a long conversation with every child under my command: I only really know a few thousand of them. Although I know the rest well, I just can’t chat with them: I don’t know if there are any. How many times have I been there looking for something to say, but they were so stupid that they just nodded in front of me. 】

[Most of the heirs and I, especially the recruits recruited in recent years, have been separated by a thick barrier. Whenever I want to chat with them, there is always a feeling that the relationship cannot be maintained. I obviously I know every bit of their information, but there is nothing to talk about between us: In other words, there seems to be a lack of tacit understanding between them and me, a kind of tacit understanding that takes decades of getting along day and night to develop. tacit understanding. 】

"tacit agreement."

The Palmist chewed the word.

【Yes. 】

The Spider Queen seemed to have thought of something and curled her lips, feeling a little frustrated.

[In the very beginning, when the Dawnbreaker Legion only had 10,000 or 20,000 people, and the Far Eastern Frontier was just a grassroots team, I could put everyone into a fleet and ensure that I could recognize and meet everyone’s face: I have a tacit understanding with these first heirs, which was developed by getting along day and night. 】

[Rana, Hector, and Bayar: Even though they each have their own missions now, and the time they meet with me is far less than before, at the beginning, they would not get more from me than Horus. Worse. 】

[But after them, when new warriors began to pour into the legion, the front lines on the Far Eastern frontier expanded to the point where I had to divide the legion into branch fleets. When these names that I used to get along with day and night had to be separated by ten years. When we can't see each other again for years, twenty years or even more, all the previous situations will happen unknowingly. 】

【Like...】

"Like the Emperor?"

Morgan lowered her eyes, her pupils covered in a shadow.

[I don't think I value them in a biased way. At least in this regard, I think I do better than the Emperor: some of my descendants do deserve more attention from me, but I certainly can't trade one for another, but I think the Emperor can do it. ]

[He didn't say it, and I haven't seen it, but that's what I think. ]

"..."

Malcador narrowed his eyes. For two or three seconds, he struggled between wanting to say something and not wanting to say it, but in the end, the Sigillite said nothing: even he couldn't guarantee Morgan that the Emperor would definitely treat every one of his blood equally.

After all, the person in front of her really had the blood of her brothers in her hands: as long as Morgan had a little sense of belonging to the concept of [Primarch], then the fact that the Lord of Mankind possessed her and let her kill that person with her own hands was enough to ensure that the Spider Queen would have a grudge.

Of course, Morgan knew that the Emperor's actions were correct. If it happened again, she would not hesitate to use assassins, but she would definitely feel uncomfortable. This was something that Malcador knew but could do nothing about: the original design of the Primarchs was not to be saints.

This was especially true for Morgan: she was just a little luckier than that person.

"In that case..."

Malcador stroked his robe.

"Does it make you feel uneasy that you can't maintain a strong connection with each of your descendants?"

This was a novel idea.

The Sigillite muttered to himself: During these days in Ullanor, not only the Emperor, but Malcador himself was also trying to communicate with the various Primarchs to ensure that no new problems would arise in their hearts. However, looking at every Primarch who had reluctantly confided his thoughts to him so far, it seemed that no one had the same concerns as Morgan.

You know, with the fiefdoms of the various Primarchs already in place, almost every Legion is expanding its size. In any expeditionary fleet, there are hundreds of Astartes warriors who have never seen the gene father they are loyal to. They can only rely on the loyalty in their bones and the stories of their predecessors to maintain the increasingly fragile father-son relationship, but Malcador has never heard any Primarch complain about this situation.

Even Sanguinius, Vulkan and Mortarion, who are famous for their loving fathers, are more worried about the Legion as a whole during the difficult communication with Malcador, rather than any individual in the Legion: this is already very rare.

The Sigillite didn't know whether this obvious contrast was good or bad, but in his heart, he did sigh again for Apocalypse's unhesitating rejection of his half-joking suggestion that year.

"No doubt."

His tone was firm.

"The emotions you have are indeed much richer than your blood brothers."

[Believe me: This is not a completely good thing. 】

Morgan smiled, enduring the soft breath on his chest and shoulders, but there was a hint of light purple in his blue pupils.

"What?"

The seal holder's eyes were serious for a moment.

"Do you think this is their influence?"

[Let's not talk about this. 】

Having said that, Morgan nodded again.

They all fell silent until the Spider Queen's eyes swept across the drill ground at the foot of the mountain: millions of soldiers were doing the final drill for tomorrow's military parade. In the marching team, you can see every Astartes Legion and all the famous mortal auxiliary troops in the empire.

It was a mixed bag, but it was well organized.

[Really good. 】

Even the queen of the Far Eastern Frontier praised from the bottom of her heart.

[Did you arrange all of this by yourself? 】

"And those officials under my command."

The seal holder closed his eyes, but there was a hint of complacency at the corners of his mouth.

"Tens of thousands of veterans from Terra can arrange everything on Ullanor."

[Incredible: Mortals can always exceed my predictions of them.]

"This is as it should be."

The Sigillite silently recited the names one by one.

"I know that all of you don't like the Supreme Lords, or High Lords, that the Emperor and I arranged. Even Leman Russ once complained to me in private, accusing me of transferring the power of the Empire from the War Council to the Terra Council."

[Power is not important.]

Morgan whispered.

[At least for most of my blood brothers, they don't really care about their positions on the War Council. The Great Crusade is so busy that each Primarch has very few opportunities to return to Terra. How could they care about a few positions on Terra? What we really care about is that the actions of mortals to squeeze us out of the center of power are so rude and ugly that they make people feel sick.]

[If you are willing to take a detour and push things to the end of the Great Crusade, everything will not be so troublesome. 】

“Perhaps.”

Malcador did not argue: he did not like to dwell on matters that were already done.

"My decision was indeed problematic, but you have to admit one thing: the High Lords, at least this generation, the original High Lords, each of them is a great man, an elite destined to be recorded in history, a genius selected by me from the entire empire, their wisdom and ability are not even inferior to yours."

[Really? ]

Morgan chuckled.

[Does this wisdom include taking Cthonia away from Horus? ]

"That was a technical error."

The Seal Master's face turned worse.

"After Horus reported to the Emperor, his Cthonia still belonged to him."

[Did he have to report this little thing to the Emperor? ]

"Very smart, isn't it?" Malcador asked back.

"Although he was confused at first, our Lord Wolf Shepherd obviously realized where his power and title came from. He knew that compared to the so-called merits and strength, the Emperor's trust was the ultimate factor that determined his position as Warmaster: and he immediately responded." "Look at it now. Horus now almost always mentions the Emperor. He binds his will and ideas to the Lord of Mankind, and indeed no one can oppose him: maybe there is no clue at present, but in a few decades, when a new generation of people and warriors grow up, they will naturally connect the words of the Wolf Shepherd with the will of the Emperor they have never seen." "At least on this point, Horus's actions are quite decisive and smart." [I understand. ] Morgan nodded. [Is this why you have to return Cthonia to him? 】

"In fact, at the beginning, Horus himself didn't care much about this world. He had no feelings for Cthonia, and he originally thought that it was the Emperor's will to take Cthonia away, so he didn't object at all: until he found out that it was actually the idea of ​​the High Lords' Council."

[Really: The relationship between you two is still so stiff. ]

"Just muddle along: anyway, even if something goes wrong, there will be the Emperor to support it."

[Indeed: it can only be like this. ]

Morgan turned her head to the side, and hundreds of flags were reflected in her pupils, full of patterns and words that she was familiar with, unfamiliar with, or even unheard of: even the innate language database that every Primarch had, which the Emperor gave her during the operation, could not overlook Ullanor at this time.

After all, at this time, Ullanor gathered elite warriors from all over the galaxy, millions of worlds and countless expedition fleets. Although some of them had outstanding achievements in battle, they were never known to the public of the Empire throughout their lives. The cultural and linguistic gap between these human worlds and Holy Terra was so huge that only genetic testing could confirm that they were indeed human.

However, on these lost worlds, warriors with extraordinary strength and will were able to emerge. They only needed the most basic weapons to practice their loyalty, and they were often deployed in the most remote expeditionary fronts that Holy Terra would only occasionally mention every few decades, close to their hometowns, as pioneers and main forces.

These fronts were too far away: so far that Morgan had never even heard of them.

[Will transferring all these people to participate in this flashy military parade delay the overall progress of the Great Crusade? Especially those remote fronts, these main corps traveled back and forth for several years just to walk in front of the Emperor and the Primarch? Then what about their own wars? 】

"What? Are you jealous?"

Malcador smiled.

"I heard that your Far Eastern Frontier didn't send more delegations."

[My mortal soldiers are not that interested in the honor of Holy Terra: I have guaranteed that every mortal auxiliary legion under my command that has made great contributions will now have representatives on Ullanor, but their number will not be too large. 】

"But the size of the mortal auxiliary legion you brought is second only to Guilliman?"

[Isn't this normal? 】

"And his Ultramar soldiers don't seem to have much interest in the honor of the Empire."

[That's his problem: and you are indeed wasting these soldiers' time. 】

Morgan frowned: This pure loss-making business made her feel very uncomfortable. Although in detail, the front line in the remote area has nothing to do with her interests, but what miser can watch a bunch of money burning in front of him?

[This is a waste. 】

"This is an honor."

Malcador was quite open-minded. He stretched out his finger and measured the statue of the Primarch standing next to the square below with his naked eyes: the Mechanicus had worked tirelessly to imitate the Square of Heroes in the Terra Palace on Ullanor, just to add a touch of embellishment to the vision of the Lord of Mankind on the day of the parade.

"Just like this square. After tomorrow's parade, it will actually be of no use, but without it and thousands of useless things, even without this parade, the Great Crusade will always be missing something."

"The same goes for those mortal warriors. If you use the war as an excuse to refuse them to be reviewed in front of the Emperor, they will regard you as a villain and an enemy: Doesn't Horus know that the position of Warmaster actually has no practical benefits? But it is absolutely impossible for him to give it up."

"Honor, fame, face: how many heroes live for this."

"Even if blood is shed."

[There is something in your words, palm sealer. 】

Morgan glanced at him.

[Let me guess: Did something happen to the Maelstrom again? 】

"Your information is quite good."

[No, everyone knows how stubborn the pirates in the Maelstrom area are. Maybe ten thousand years from now, the guardians of the Maelstrom will still have to worry about banditry: But what does this have to do with me? 】

"Specifically, this has something to do with your Mechanicus friends."

The palm-printer rubbed his fingers. Whenever he talked about these matters that needed to be taken seriously, his demeanor, tone, or movements would become lighter in the blink of an eye: the old appearance was just a disguise after all, and the real palm-printer was just in time. The prime years.

(Makado’s soul is said to be that of a beautiful silver-haired boy who is not even that old. It is doubtful whether he is an immortal, but his actual physical condition is definitely much stronger than what appears on the outside.)

"You should know that there is a group of space dwarves hidden deep in the maelstrom."

【Of course I know. 】

Morgan nodded.

[Their ancestors were enemies of the Human Empire in the early days of the Great Crusade. We spent a lot of effort to eliminate most of them, leaving only a few remnants who fled into the deepest part of the maelstrom: It is said that the reason why the Mark III Power Armor It was designed to be so short and stout in order to make it easier to fight in the dwarf's mountain fortress. 】

"The other thing is to adapt to gang-hopping operations and strong attacks when there is a lack of cover."

Malcador clenched his fingers, and the crackling sound was filled with ferocity.

"My intelligence network deployed in the Maelstrom region told me that as we mobilized a considerable number of elites in the Maelstrom region for Ullanor's military parade, countless space pirates who were originally hiding have moved out again, and they have obtained the remaining The dwarves instigated and funded them to plunder the empire's colonies and routes again, and even began to endanger the major worlds. The home planets of several legions have been affected. "

[Sounds like the Germans destroying the newly divided Roman Empire. 】

"They are much scarier than the barbarian medicine in the Black Forest: The Maelstrom is the location of the second largest subspace rift in the entire galaxy after the Eye of Terror. It is also the area with the densest star weight in the entire galaxy. It covers It's hundreds of light years away, and there are frequent subspace storms, and there are countless abominable things lurking inside."

"At least twenty small orc empires or marauding gangs, remaining space dwarves, independent Hrud worlds, and countless space pirate dens. There are also a large number who are unwilling to succumb to imperial rule and have fought wars with us. The remnants of the aliens: The Empire has never been stable under the rule of the Maelstrom.”

"Now, they're out again."

The palm bearer looked at Morgan.

"After the matters here in Ullanor and Nicaea come to an end, the several legions from their home planet in the Maelstrom area must return immediately and use the most severe means to eliminate the pirates in order to deter the troubles deeper in the Maelstrom. , Terra will also send support to them, and your Forge World ally Reza, as one of the undoubted overlords of the Maelstrom region, must also support the empire's clearing campaign free of charge. "

"Give it your all."

[Is this a requirement? 】

"It's an order: the Emperor's order."

"The favors you sought from the Emperor on their behalf now come at a price."

【I see. 】

The Spider Queen nodded: She was completely confident that she could convince Reza, all she needed was...

[But you also know, Malcador. 】

Morgan blinked, she had no intention of leaving empty-handed.

[If you want Reza to devote all his strength to such a large-scale battle, you must remove the shackles on them: Mars has always kept a close eye on the military power limit of each large forge world. The Forge General and his The minions have asked other forge worlds to disband their oversized Skitarii more than once. As long as this shackle exists, Reza may not be able to use their full strength. 】

(Mars does have the power to require other forge worlds to surrender some of their armies.)

"You are never empty-handed."

The palm-printer snorted.

"Tell your friends that the Emperor and Terra will keep an eye on Mars for them: as long as the Great Whirlpool area can be calmed down as soon as possible, Reza can do whatever he wants. Mars will not interfere with the size of their army, let alone They will take the opportunity to harass their territory. This time, Omnisiah will be on their side, but they don’t want to fish in troubled waters in the war.”

[I can guarantee that for them. 】

Morgan finally laughed.

[Go all out: Ryza is willing to devote himself to the stable cause of the Maelstrom forever. Can I think that as long as Ryza continues to bleed and sweat for this cause, the Emperor's guarantee will continue indefinitely? Woolen cloth? Same thing with Mars' guarantee? 】

"..."

The palmer looked at her in surprise.

"You should know that for any forging world, only their top management has the authority to make such a decision: Why can you make such a guarantee for Reza? The depths of the maelstrom can be It’s not a playground, it’s a place where blood needs to be shed.”

[Just because my name is written in their highest code of law. 】

Morgan answered her haughtily.

[I can guarantee that, what about you? 】

The Seal Holder was silent, but his silence was the answer that satisfied Morgan.

After a while, the air was filled with the long sigh of the palm print maker.

"Now, I kind of understand why they were so stubborn in choosing you."

[No need to worry about this. 】

The Spider Queen glanced at him: From Malcador's words just now, Morgan keenly smelled something unusual. She just calmed down and thought for a second or two, and then she understood where the problem was. For example, she stretched out a finger to stop the palmer who wanted to move forward.

【after all……】

The Spider Queen smiled.

[The only interests in my Maelstrom area are Reza and Catachan: they have no fundamental conflict of interest with Holy Terra's eastward expansion plan, right? 】

"..."

The imprinter stopped. For the first time since they started this conversation, Malcador stared at Morgan so seriously.

"How did you know?"

[Your expression is too obvious. 】

The Spider Queen clasped her hands behind her back.

[And I also want to know that since Holy Terra sits on the entire Sun Star Territory, in the south you have Dorn to look after the house and guard the courtyard, and in the north there are several trustworthy and loyal ministers such as Jonson, Leman Russ and Ferrus. , Luo Jia in the west is nothing to worry about. In this case, only the east is the place worthy of your vigilance. 】

[From the Sun Star Territory to the east, the Maelstrom is the valve that must be held tightly: not only is this the limit of influence of Guilliman, Horus, Perturabo, and I, it is also the gateway from the Far East to the Sun Star Territory. The only way to go, as long as they guard this place, the various legions in the Far East are equivalent to being locked in a cage. 】

[The only thing that makes me curious is: Are you acting too hastily? 】

"It's okay if we don't rush."

Malcador glanced at Morgan approvingly.

"Do you know Badab?"

[What happened to the core world that Guilliman placed in the Maelstrom area? 】

"The rulers of Badab are trying to imitate the model of the Five Hundred Worlds, build their own Five Hundred Worlds in the Maelstrom area, and become the hegemons under the hegemony of Ultramar: and because Guilliman is as long as After decades of protection, Badab is indeed well equipped and has considerable influence in the entire Maelstrom.”

"If they succeed, even if Guilliman's fork is completely inserted into the soft cake of the Maelstrom, he can dig out a large piece of it anytime and anywhere. As long as he wants, at most thirty or forty years later, the entire continent will be The vortex will be included in the scope of influence of Five Hundred Worlds."

[Have you never considered the factors of outsiders like Horus and me? 】

"Horus is beyond reach. He even lacks a foothold in the Maelstrom. And the Primarchs in the Maelstrom, to be honest, even if they really want to fight Guilliman, I don't think highly of them: as for you ? Is there a Perturabo between you and the Maelstrom?"

The palm bearer sighed.

"Originally we hoped that Angron could stop Guilliman's westward advance."

[Then I heard that Angron seemed to have been won over by Guilliman? 】

"Are you behind this?"

[Do I seem to have this ability? 】

Morgan raised a brow.

"Many believe you are Lady Macbeth who clings to Guilliman's ear."

The original body smacked her lips. Of course she knew the allusion of Lady Macbeth: one of the four great tragedies of the ancient Terran artist Shakespeare, Macbeth, the regicide usurping the throne, his wife was first encouraged by him to join the regicide conspiracy, and then She became the absolute backbone of the conspiracy, and even promoted Macbeth's ambition in turn, just to fulfill his dream of becoming a queen.

Now it's used on her and Guilliman...

Um……

For a moment, even the eloquent Spider Queen didn't know what to say.

[So when are you going to stop Badab’s behavior? 】

"After the Emperor leaves: my tax collectors sent to the Maelstrom are ready."

Macado paused.

"This matter has nothing to do with you, Morgan. I hope they arrive safely."

[Promise me it’s useless. 】

Morgan was a little angry: she seemed to notice that there was a metallic shadow attached to her back unconsciously. This thing should obviously be borne by Guilliman!

[However, are you a little too impatient: As soon as the Emperor returns, will Terra have a head-on conflict with Guilliman? 】

"Don't you know?"

The palm bearer laughed disdainfully.

"Before departure, your good brother Guilliman has approved Badab's expansion in the Maelstrom area: they have already won over at least forty worlds through the promise of economic support and military support."

"We can no longer sit back and do nothing."

"After Nicaea is over, if Guilliman still refuses to restrain..."

Macado didn't speak anymore, but his quietly low tone and the sudden drop in temperature around the two people said everything: Morgan's expression became serious, and she had to start thinking about her position in this matter.

But Malcador gave her no time: the Markbearer smiled at the Primarch.

"Now……"

"Let's talk about Perturabo."