Warhammer: In the Name of the Emperor

Mars, the pearl of the solar system, is called the sister star of Terra. In the entire solar system, apart from the earth, Mars is another planet suitable for human colonization and habitation. Therefore, as early as when humans first stepped into the starry sky, Mars became humanity's first alien colony.

In the following years, Mars has always played a decisive role. As early as the Golden Age, it was the most important planet of the Federation after Earth. The largest, most complete and advanced industrial and technological production system in the Federation was built and gathered on it. , as early as tens of thousands of years ago, Mars was the birthplace of countless human technological creations and war weapons.

In the subsequent era of strife and the establishment of the Human Empire, Mars became the refuge of human technology and reason, the palace of all human knowledge in the entire galaxy, and it preserved quite a lot of knowledge in the dark years. Technology and knowledge helped the Emperor reopen the Great Crusade.

In the Imperial Era, Mars' industrial and mechanical production capabilities have made great progress. Mechanicus forging worlds from all over the galaxy also have to explore fleets to send precious science and technology, production processes and those priceless STC casting templates to Here, this makes Mars undoubtedly the most important, largest, and most advanced core forging world in the entire galaxy.

On the outer layer of Mars' huge production system is this huge ring. It is a giant orbital base station that surrounds the planet's equator. Countless orbital defense weapons are arranged on layers of armor. Macro cannons With the ground-based turbo laser cannon pointing directly into the void in front of you, the light spear array combined with dense automatic turrets and missile launch bays formed its defense network.

No one, not since the Horus Heresy, has been able to face and successfully break through the largest and most advanced planetary orbital defense array ever built by the Human Empire.

Not only that, it is also the largest and most advanced shipyard in the entire galaxy. Cole has long heard of the shipyard on Mars. He heard it mentioned by old sailors who came here when he was very young. They said this is A place of wonder, an incomparable place that only exists in legends and songs.

Cole now knew that what they said was true. The captain stood on the dock deck suspended in the orbit of Mars. He looked at the star ring outside the window through the huge glass wall in front of him. There were countless shipyards and docks and star ports here. Countless large robotic arms, automated assembly arrays and gantry cranes can be seen everywhere in the huge orbital star ring.

Cole looked at the halo ring in front of him in an arc, spanning the orbit of the huge red planet, where countless warships were being produced at full capacity all the time. When they were completed, they could carry the birth of the Ohm Messiah. A man of steel fueled by the Emperor's wrath, he takes to the stars to crush the enemies of the Empire.

"This place is still so unique, isn't it? Every time you look at it, you can feel the power of technology."

Vito walked up next to the captain. He was wearing a black Inquisitor trench coat, with a Phoenix Sword and a bolt gun slung around his waist. He stood next to Cole and looked at the starport outside the window with the captain.

"Have you been here before? I mean, before the empire was established." Cole looked out the window at the shipyard that was emitting dazzling sparks. Those sparks that were mixed with oxygen and burned briefly in the vacuum were like a dreamy landscape. The stars fell into pieces, but disappeared into the dark cosmic background in the blink of an eye.

"Golden Age? Of course, I have been here, but Mars was not so red at that time." Vito looked at the huge red star below the orbit. Mars, as he literally meant, its surface was completely made of fire. Red, desolate and hot.

Vito looked at the planet below, and Cole also looked at it. The surface of the scarlet planet was completely composed of desert. The red wasteland covered every inch of the entire planet. It was lifeless and hopeless. The entire planet was almost It's completely like a dead world.

Cole knew that this was actually not wrong. According to the empire's classification standards, Mars was definitely a pure world of death. Its wasteland was full of deadly radiation. Anyone who had not undergone full-body transformation would only need to leave the safe bunker. If you take one step inside, you will inhale thousands of herrons of radiation in the blink of an eye, and you will die suddenly after the radiation burns out all your organs and brain before you feel any pain.

And even if it has been modified, don't think it is safe. There are a large number of killer machines wandering in the wasteland of this planet. Most of them are from the loyal Mechanicus Order during the great schism of 10,000 years ago. , crazy machine spirits released during the civil war with the Dark Mechanicus who betrayed the Emperor. They have been wandering in the wasteland for thousands of years and will kill anything that appears in front of them, whether you are made of flesh or... Made of iron.

Some of these killing machines can even be traced back to the ancient dark ages. In the ancient years that have long been forgotten by today's humans and even the followers of the Mechanicus, these evil killing machines were released on the land of Mars. Wandering among the scarlet deserts and mountain ridges in search of prey, if you encounter one, believe me, whether you have faith or not, you'd better start praying.

Cole looked at the surface of Mars. Most areas on the planet were completely uninhabitable, even passable, except for one place.

Unlike most forge worlds, Mars does not have foundries covering the entire planet. Its factories and cities are concentrated in one place, a giant hive city that is the largest in human history, rivaling the palace of Terra.

On the western plain of Mars, on a huge land covering half of the continent, stands a steel city. It is a steel nest composed of countless Mechanicum factories, temples, temples and research bases. The high wall isolates the city from the dangerous wasteland, creating the only safe zone on the planet, an area of ​​absolute safety.

Cole and Vito looked side by side at the giant cities on the planet. Maybe it was a coincidence, maybe it was intentional. The magnificent city formed a huge metal skull symbol, and the steel skull covered the entire western continent of Mars. The surface of the earth, viewed from their cosmic orbit, looked like a beheaded cosmic giant buried on Mars, with only its astonishing facial bones exposed on the scarlet earth.

Cole overlooked the skull city. In its giant black eye sockets, orbital elevators rose from the surface. They rushed through the tower-like buildings, broke through the atmosphere, and were directly connected to the outer star ring.

"It wasn't like this before?" Cole turned his head slightly and asked Vito, who shrugged slightly, "No, I mean, yes, Mars was the first time humans landed on it and carried out It was like this before the ecological transformation, but during the Golden Age, we transformed it into a habitable planet, second only to the beautiful world of Terra."

"But now it is like this. It's hard to believe what Mars was like back then. Can you still find something similar to the past here? Something that can evoke your memory."

"Yes, aren't we looking at it?" Vito pointed to the huge halo outside. The place Vito pointed to was the dock of a shipyard. The bottom of the dock slowly opened to both sides, and a huge The starship was slowly falling from it, and its jet end propeller ignited a spark at the bottom of the dock.

"This place is the same as in the past. The most indispensable thing is factories and iron blocks. After the Iron Man rebellion, the industrial capacity here was especially strengthened, although... it also indirectly led to it becoming this desolate state."

Vito said, he looked at the star ring outside and fell into the memory of the past. Cole looked at Vito and was silent for a moment, but someone between the two was about to speak to break the silence.

Suddenly a huge starship flew past them. The red and gold battleship rose from bottom to top, suddenly rising from the glass in front of Vito and Cole. Its huge size roared from both sides. Flying in front of the person, driven by the plasma thruster, it headed for the orbit outside the star port.

Cole's eyes followed the trajectory of the battleship. It had flown out of the starport. The flickering light of the plasma thruster illuminated Cole's face. His eyes were forced to turn to one side in an instant to avoid the battleship. There was a flash, but when Cole turned to look, he saw the massive fleet anchored in outer orbit.

One by one, the Mechanicus fleets sailing out from the star ring surrounding the huge Mars gathered in outer space. The warships with propulsive flames sprayed from the ends sailed out from inside and outside the star ring. Those distant warships came from the two people. From an angle, it looks like meteors flying into the universe from the surface.

Cole looked at the fleet in outer orbit, and Vito stood with him with his arms crossed, looking at the huge Mechanicus fleet assembled in the starry sky. Many of the ships were quite new, probably just from the shipyard. It was driven out as soon as it was built, and it joined the battle sequence as soon as it was launched into the water.

"The entire Mars is in a state of war readiness. The Martian Mechanicus has gathered all the ships back. All the warships in the star port that were originally planned to be handed over to the Imperial Navy after they were built have also been detained." Cole's eyes scanned the orbit. The battleships on board are sailing through the dark background of the Milky Way, slowly advancing towards the outer orbit.

"I can see that." Vito said and rubbed his nose. He looked at the fleets that were rapidly gathering above his head. Several Lightning fighters roared into the air in front of Vito and Cole. Vito looked at the rapidly gathering fleets. After the passing fighter planes completed their formation on the outer layer of the star ring, they flew towards a giant battleship directly overhead. The painting of that battleship was undoubtedly that of the Imperial Navy.

"In order to defend Mars, the Adeptus Mechanicus really mobilized a fleet of considerable size. Have you counted it? How many battleships are there?" Vito said and asked Cole, who was staring at the fleet above his head. , quickly passing by each suspended battleship, and Cole soon knew it in his mind.

"At least seventy battleships, including about thirty main battleships and three battleships." Cole said and pointed to the giant ship above his head. Vito's eyes followed the direction Captain Cole pointed. Go and soon discover the Oberon-class battleship surrounded by countless battleships.

Vito looked at the battleship and whistled. He grinned and crossed his arms with a smile, "The Martian guy is really rich. I just like fighting this kind of rich battle."

"The premise is that they are willing to hand over their fleet to us, Marshal. If these battleships can join the battle to defend Terra, it will be of great help to us." Captain Eisenstein said and leaned up from behind. He took off his helmet and put the golden battle helmet under his arm.

Vito turned to look at Eisenstein who was walking towards him. Behind him were Bell and Loken. The Ultramarines and the Captain of the Luna Wolf were both unarmed. They followed Eisenstein to Vito and Cole.

Cole nodded politely to the three as always, and the three Space Marines nodded in response to the captain, but Vito beside Cole was not so rigorous at all. He smiled and put a hand into a fist on his chin. .

He looked at the three soldiers in front of him. Only Eisenstein was wearing a chain sword. "I said, Captain Eisenstein, do you also need to wear a weapon on your own territory?"

"Family? No, the Mechanicus has always been an ally of the empire, not "family". We can be friends, we can be allies, but we are definitely not family." Eisenstein said and turned to look at the people walking by. A priest of the Adeptus Mechanicus, he led a group of servitors towards the Infinite Frontier in the distance.

Vito and several others looked in that direction. The Infinite Frontier was parked in the dock. Its huge hull ran horizontally through the entire huge dock, but its floating berths specially built for heavy warships still made Infinite Frontier uncomfortable. The number stopped and came in.

Above the head of the giant ship is a huge dome with countless mechanical arms, multi-functional platforms and telescopic hoses hanging on it. Countless slide rails and movable tracks are arranged in a zigzag manner. They make those complex shipyards automatically The robotic arm can slide and reach every position of the huge battleship.

Underneath the battleship, there is a layer of blue void shield wall. It shimmers with light to isolate the vacuum universe below from the area in the dock, preventing the people working in the dock from being sucked into the cold. within the void.

Vito's eyes looked at the deck on the side of the Infinite Frontier. Flying sparks splashed down from the air. In the dazzling light of welding sparks, a huge mechanical arm moved from the top of the dock, and each servo skull accompanied the The robotic arm quickly flew across the deck.

Under that arm, the Mechanicus Priests of Mars were communicating details with their Mechanicus colleagues on the Infinite Frontier. As the efficient docking work of both parties was completed, groups of servitors and automatic transport vehicles began to transfer ammunition to Supplies are transported onto the large deck on one side.

The heavy mechanical roar echoed in Vito's ears. Looking for the sound, he raised his head and looked in that direction. It was a huge mechanical arm connected to a thick fuel delivery pipe. He inserted a thick fuel pipe used in battleships. Pipes were inserted into the side of the Infinite Frontier, and along with the open deck section, fuel was injected into its power core.

"At least they can help us replenish fuel and ammunition. It's good, isn't it?" Vito glanced at Eisenstein with a smile. The Imperial Fist Captain snorted and put his hand on the hilt of the chain saw. , "If it weren't for the Great Sage on our ship and his reserve of knowledge, I'm afraid these machines and cyborgs, which have no honor or loyalty at all, would have blasted us into the void long ago."

Bell and Loken looked at each other, and they both looked at Vito subconsciously, but the latter still smiled and shrugged, "Maybe, but at least we are standing here now and have not been bombed into Asia. in space.”

Vito said and looked at Bell, "How is the replenishment of the battleships? There are also refugee fleets. I guess the Mechanicus is still very generous, right? Didn't we cut corners or anything?"

"Everything goes well, Vito. The fuel and ammunition have been basically replenished. Now Chief Anna is arranging subsequent storage and final inspections. If nothing goes wrong, we will be able to set sail soon."

"The refugee fleet is also being replenished on the deck of the civilian transport ship. Political Commissar Carl Engels is responsible for supervising the implementation. Their supplies are much simpler than ours. They only need to replenish a little fuel for the final voyage and some food."

"Food?" Vito asked slightly surprised. He turned to look at Cole and smiled jokingly, "I really didn't expect that these oil guys have something to eat."

"I think it may be prepared for the passing mortal transport ships, or it may be prepared for the shipyard workers on the star port. Not all workers here are servitors. I took a brief look, and at least it is generally normal. Humanity."

This is not surprising. After all, when building a ship, it is impossible to have a priest watching every link all the time, and that will lead to a single-threaded thinking. When the priest's command is lost, they will be like a group of mentally retarded servitors who are unable to handle complex construction work. Therefore, Ordinary humans are needed.

Although ordinary humans are not as good as servitors in terms of strength and endurance, their thinking is more agile, active and good at handling more complex construction work. Even without priests, they know how to do it, so in most shipyards, even Mechanical and automated equipment cannot completely replace humans.

Bell said and looked up at the Infinite Frontier not far away. Its bow was on the side of everyone, and it was quite close. You could touch its outer deck when you walked up.

To be honest, this is the first time that Bell has been so close and directly observed the entire structure of the Infinite Frontier. In the past, there would be at least some dock mechanical frames to fix the warship, but now it is completely exposed to everyone, and it can be said that it is lying naked. On the dock's berth.

Vito stood with the three Astartes and Captain Cole. He put his hands behind his back and looked at a mechanical arm that was slowly raised in front of him. The huge hydraulic mechanical clamp locked a round and placed it flat on a large flatbed truck. The missile was slowly lifted up as the warhead's locking anchor point and the mechanical arm shouted.

"Marshal, please forgive me for being presumptuous. Did you plan to seize the High Lords Council of Terra before?" Eisenstein, who was standing next to Vito, suddenly asked without warning. He was the same as his Primarch Dorn. , asking exciting and scary questions suddenly and out of nowhere, catching you completely off guard.

Loken and Bell looked at each other and then looked at Vito. Cole, who was standing behind him, also cast his gaze over. Vito was still looking at the loading site in front of him with his hands behind his back. After the mechanical lifting code had lifted the missile, Hovering over the missile launch bay between the magnificent buildings on the back of the Infinite Frontier.

Following a sound of arrival prompts, the Infinite Frontier ground crew standing on the back of the ship began to wave the red indicator stick in his hand. As he waved, the hovering missile began to gradually descend, approaching the missile that bounced outward. Thick missile launch silo mouth.

"Yes, that's what I planned. I guess you know the reason, right?" Vito didn't look at Eisenstein. He didn't pay attention to the company commander beside him at all, but he still answered his question.

The company commander fell silent after hearing this. He nodded silently after thinking for a moment, "The High Lords Council of Terra is simply unable to unite to fight against the Chaos invasion. Those guys are either fighting among themselves or preparing for it. They are each stupid. Desire and greed make it impossible for them to cooperate in defense.”

This is the case with the High Lords Council. Like all bureaucratic governments in the Imperial sector, even if death is imminent and Chaos puts a gun to their heads, they still continue to play their stupid political games tirelessly for the sake of a little bit. They may earn a lot of money from their own interests, or they may shirk responsibility and blame others, trying their best to shift the responsibility for failure to others.

"You plan to bring them all into contact with power, monopolize all the power of Terra, and concentrate all the power in your own hands so that you can coordinate to resist the invasion of Chaos," Eisenstein said calmly. Fortunately, except for them in their current position, There is no one else. It sounds like there is only one translator from a third-party perspective.

rebellion.

Vito looked at the missiles that were gradually descending in front of him. Its thick shooter missile body sank little by little into the mouth of the launch shaft. The ground crew waving the indicator stick kept swinging the red light stick downwards. As he swung the missile, Bodies continued to fall from in front of him into the dark bomb bay.

"Yes, does anyone object to overthrowing the Council of High Lords?" Vito asked calmly, as if this was the most sinful act of an emperor in the empire, as if he was asking his brothers to go downstairs. It's as easy as throwing two rotten eggs at Uncle John's window.

This behavior is indeed similar to throwing rotten eggs. The people being thrown are also a group of immortal old people, but these old people will open the window, then set up a machine gun from inside and shoot at you.

Eisenstein looked at Vito, who nodded after a moment of silence, "I'll join."

"Are you really straightforward, Captain, why don't you think about rebellion before you join in?" Vito said with a mocking smile, his eyes still looking at the Infinite Frontier hull ahead, looking at those busy people Mechanicus members and servitors.

"My oath of loyalty is sworn to the Emperor, not to the High Lords Council. If they threaten the Emperor, I will kill them without hesitation, regardless of whether they slander me as a traitor." Love. Sunstein said firmly, he also raised his head and looked at the Infinite Frontier in the distance.

Vito smiled and moved his head slightly towards Bell, "What about you? University scholar, do you want to join the small rebel group?"

"You know my answer, Vitor. My oath is to Lord Guilliman. He is the Regent of the Empire, not the High Lords Council."

Bell looked at the battleship in the distance with his head held high. His eyes looked at the supply trucks that were being transported up from the landing deck. The convoys coming and going carried boxes of supplies and ammunition to the battleship. Bell looked in that direction. He held his head high.

"And Lord Guilliman will also disband this group of trash when he arrives on Terra. In that case, why don't we help Lord Guilliman clear the door in advance? This will save him from having to face this group of bastards when he comes to Terra."

Vito smiled when he heard this. He was actually not surprised at all. He turned to look at Loken, waiting for the answer that he and the other party already knew.

Loken nodded. He put his iron fist on his chest and nodded to Vito. His meaning could not be clearer. Vito smiled slightly and turned to look at Cole.

He watched Cole tilt his head slightly to the side in a joking manner, "How about it? Captain, you swore an oath to the Imperial Navy, and we are going to take down the High Lord of the Navy and Terra The Navy Headquarters has it all."

Cole looked at Vito and straightened the belt on his waist. He wore the Imperial Sky Eagle logo firmly on his waist. There was no flaw or problem in his clothing from the standards of naval doctrine.

Cole pressed his fingers on his belt. He did not look at Vito, but looked at the Infinite Frontier like everyone else, looking at his own ship. "I did swear an oath to the Imperial Navy, but my oath is to defend it to the death." The truth of the Empire and the Emperor, if anyone threatens this, the Imperial Navy will eradicate them mercilessly.”

"Besides, aren't you the supreme leader of the Imperial Navy? Lord Supreme Marshal, my oath is to be responsible step by step. Aren't you the top of the Imperial armed forces?" Cole showed a smile. , that cunning smile was rarely seen on Cole's face before.

"So, I obeyed the Supreme Marshal's order to eradicate the Council of High Lords of Terra, and in accordance with the Marshal's order, I removed the Supreme Lord of the Imperial Navy and the Navy Headquarters from their powers. How can I talk about betrayal and breach of oath?"

"Damn it, now that you've learned how to play word games, you're taking advantage of the loopholes?" Vito suddenly became interested. He turned to look at Cole holding his arms and smiled, while the latter smiled softly, holding his hands behind his back. He raised his head slightly.

"You don't have to look at how many years I have been following a certain guy. I always learn some skills through words and deeds."

After Cole said this, everyone laughed quietly, and even Eisenstein showed a silent smile. Vito lowered his head and laughed and then rubbed the back of his head, "Okay, it looks like a small rebel group. The formation is complete, give our group a name?”

"The National Salvation League? If I remember correctly, Vito, this is what I understand from your book. It was a bourgeois democratic revolution launched by the Tsarist Russian Empire in the 19th century to overthrow the autocratic monarchy. The young revolutionary officers called themselves the National Salvation Alliance."

"You have a good memory, Bell, but I guess you also remember that the revolution failed in the end, right? Are you sure this name is auspicious?" Vito said with a wry smile, while Bell put a hand on his side. On the armor layer, he took off the helmet from his armpit with his other hand and held it in his hand, placing the corner of the helmet against the armor on his waist.

"Then why don't we "rewrite" this history of failure? It will give it a new meaning now, the meaning of victory." Bell's young face smiled confidently, and his words were full of inspiration. People feel an inexplicable power injected into their heart.

After hearing this, Vito also showed a smile. He glanced at Bell, and then looked at the side landing deck of the Infinite Frontier ahead. "The National Salvation Alliance was launched in a hurry and lacked the support of strong allies. If we want To change this fate, we need the support of an important ally in the empire."

Vito said and walked forward, and the few people behind him naturally followed. Loken followed behind Vito, his cyan power armor walking around Vito with dull footsteps echoing.

"What allies are we looking for?"

Vito glanced at Loken and showed a sly smile. He raised his head slightly and pointed to the sign on the side. Everyone turned their heads and looked over, seeing the half of the mechanized skull with the appearance of Mars on its base. The skull was embedded in the surface of Mars, just like the skulls on the surface of Mars that Cole and Vito had seen before.

"The Adeptus Mechanicus of Mars, and the leader of all Adeptus Mechanicus, General Forge." Vito put down his finger and walked toward the army of Mechanicus priests in front with a smile.