Warhammer: Start with a dog

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What is the most primitive fear of mankind?

After being swallowed by darkness.

What returns first?

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First, the smell.

The smell of disinfectants commonly used by Astartes pharmacists, the freshness of thin ozone, and the stale self-circulating air commonly seen in spaceships that has been filtered multiple times and covered by the first two...

The pale golden eyelashes of the 13th Primarch trembled like the wings of a dragonfly.

...It seems that this may be a medical room inside some kind of void ship or fortress. The owner here pays great attention to disinfection and cleaning, but the conditions are limited.

Just as his stagnant thoughts began to turn again, thousands of images of reality and dreams crossed his mind like a large group of migratory birds, and overlapped with the scene of the great war nine thousand years ago.

For a while, his descendants flashed in front of him before evacuating the Emperor's Pride to save him... Hill... Later... After a while, he remembered the wonderful experience when he found himself in the body of someone else... And then those-wait. Stop. That kind of thing and scene cannot exist under the Imperial Truth!

So was it a dream or a reality that happened somewhere else while he was unconscious?

...And how to explain the fact that he could walk, talk, and eat with other people's bodies?

Robert Guilliman pursed his lips and felt his tongue, which had not touched water for a long time, swaying dryly in his mouth. His taste buds only tasted disinfectant and a faint taste of blood, and a slight fishy smell. There was no aftertaste of cinnamon butter apple pie as he expected, and of course there was no aroma of Terra tea and roasted dinosaur legs. What a pity.

So it seems more likely to be a dream, right?

Haha, he said, how could there be such a thing as soul leaving the body and supernatural powers in the world?

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Then there was the sound.

The vibration and hum of the giant engine in the far distance echoed in the long corridor that was as quiet as an unmanned cemetery. There was no movement or talking of any staff or servants, as if they had been abandoned in the sea of ​​stars... or were they escaping? Either situation did not sound good.

Only in this room, there were... one, two, three breathing sounds near his side.

There was also the sound of the motor inside the power armor servo, and the working sound of the backpack reactor - one of them was quite different, even making him feel dangerous.

An elegant and resonant voice with the unique resonance of the Astartes, with some relief and a trace of worry after surviving the disaster, poured into his ears.

"Too exciting for His Highness... He may not have seen such a mixed black market!"

Black market?

The word black market appeared in the environment of the treatment and infirmary of a wounded Primarch... It was a bit abrupt... No, not only abrupt, but even very weird.

His thoughts were scattered, and his mind was still confused by the scenes brought to him by the hands of a brother nine thousand years ago and recently, while the grief, anger and despair had been diluted a lot unconsciously.

Where is this? He felt that it was basically impossible for his own infirmary of Macragge's Glory. He was very familiar with it, and there were too few people here. He did not notice anything familiar to him -

... Wait, this could not be another time...

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Finally, there was light.

The bright and direct white light of the shadowless lamp penetrated his eyelids, causing his pupils to expand and contract instinctively. Then, the Primarch of the Ultramarines slowly opened his eyes.

The touch of the skin surface had now completely returned to him. Guilliman found himself properly placed on an operating table, with a layer of surgical gel pad carefully placed under his body, and a plastic soft pillow considerately placed under his neck. This made him feel good - although he himself did not know that his body had actually remained in that position for nine thousand years - it was really good to lie down for a while.

He did not get up immediately, but lay there and let his thoughts that had been interrupted by the stagnant position regroup, while experiencing the feeling of this body, trying to confirm "which" body it was.

- It was very similar to his original body, but it was a little subtle and different.

Guilliman calmed down and felt something that made him feel comfortable surging in his blood vessels, familiar and strange, hard to describe, because he had never felt this way in his more than two hundred years of life experience, just like a thinker that was always prone to overheating was installed with a suitable cooling system.

In short, this body is very similar to his original body, but there are still some differences. If there is any doubt, it seems to be more... more perfect. At the same time, he also realized that if he stood up and talked to people, he would get some new insights about this body.

This made Guilliman more certain of his previous guess.

He carefully felt the condition of his neck again. The wound cut by the grinning Fulgrim in his memory was still there, but the toxins injected into his body by his fallen brother through the blade were now completely cleared. The powerful recovery power of the Primarch made the skin and flesh there begin to heal. Only a smooth new scar of flesh-pink color could be seen on the surface. At this rate, this scar might disappear after healing.

With the previous wonderful adventure experience, combined with the current scene analysis, the Lord of Macragge quickly made up his mind this time - it is likely to be some kind of omen experience or some kind of invitation dream from his brother - because he really can't think of why his descendants would use this scene to welcome the awakening of their original master.

Since there are doubts that this may not be the real world where he is, and he doesn't know where this is, it's better to just ask these ready-made "people" around him what the current situation is.

According to the previous dreaming experience, many people in the dream can interact, and it would be even better if he can find one of his brothers here.

Of course, all of the above happened in the blink of an eye for mortals.

Then he stood up and joined the conversation by the bed in a (self-perceived) friendly manner.

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"What do you think."

This is a question, but not a question.

Maneus Calgar and his officers are standing under the stone columns outside the private residence of the chapter leader.

They have just completed their first audience with "him" after waking up.

Today, the sky of Magna City is overcast and the weather is unpredictable, just like the mood of the Ultramarines Lords at this moment.

Now, all the masters who can be summoned in the regiment have arrived here. Except for the Fourth Captain Uriel Ventress who has been executed the death oath and has not returned yet, Sergeant Lilchus is temporarily in charge of the affairs of the Fourth Company. The rest of the people are in charge of the lifeblood of the Ultramarines and all the loyal and reliable fighting brothers.

Chief Pharmacist Helix has done a preliminary examination for the patient in the room. Although there are many scars and traces of battle on the body, it is miraculously in good condition overall. He just doesn't understand what some of the readings are about-but the medical treatment of a possible "clone" or "fragment" of the Primarch is not recorded in the Astartes Codex or any regulations!

So although Helix can be said to be experienced in treating other people and has exquisite skills, he can only ensure that he can check within the maximum range of no mistakes.

Fortunately, the silver lining of misfortune is that according to the examination results, the chief pharmacist said that the body structure of their Gene Father's temporary residence is still very similar to that of an ordinary Astartes, but there are several organs of unknown use in the body, and there is no sign of poisoning or decline in vitality. He has carefully injected nutrients and other drugs into it according to the experience of waking up the sleeping Dreadnought driver. Next, we just need to wait for this "Astartes" with the face of their Gene Father to wake up.

During this period, Tigris and Cassius also "tested" the sleeper in their own way. The latter almost immediately determined that this must be a test or omen of some kind of Holy Emperor descending on their Gene Father - because when Cassius held the state religion ceremony, the white and gold light from "him" almost penetrated the room and rushed straight into the sky, even the golden candlelight seemed dim.

And even the most cautious Tigris had to admit that at least these forces were peaceful, neutral, and pure, and had nothing to do with chaos and evil.

This was enough for others to continue waiting for the pharmacist's work to be completed.

Just now, Helix announced excitedly that "he" had woken up.

The "saint" who was "pulled" back from their stolen father by Calga with the help of Tigris - they could only call him that now - had woken up.

The masters who were still more or less doubtful gathered around the medical cabin and witnessed this sacred moment together.

When the man who slowly sat up raised his eyes and contacted the eyes of everyone in the room with his deep gaze, everyone was shocked and even shed tears, kneeling down to salute him.

What kind of eyes were those!

It was as blue as the clear sky of Macragge, but the haze in the eyes was like the dark clouds before the storm. Just one glance made people feel the trembling in the depths of their souls, as if all the secrets and darkness in their hearts were exposed and ashamed under this gaze.

It was pure and clear like a teenager, and deep and vicissitudes as if it had gone through billions of years. "He" swept his eyes over every Ultramarines present one by one. The unique meaning in his eyes as if looking at the young people and the expression on his face that was exactly the same as their genetic father all conveyed a message to every chapter master present: "He" and them should not know each other, but they have known each other for a long time, and "he" has a natural familiarity and closeness to them.

Now they are allowed to come out to deal with the surrounding affairs. Taking this opportunity, the masters gathered together to make a final decision.

The psychic waves of emotions vibrated gently in the air.

Finally, it was Calgar who spoke first.

"I think..." He thought, "Perhaps this matter can refer to a legend of our cousin, the Blood Angels Chapter."

"You mean, the legendary herald of Lord Sanguinius?" Captain Agerman frowned slightly, but also nodded, "If the rumor is true, then the situation we are facing now is indeed very similar to that of Sanguinius."

"Besides," added the Lord Priest Cassius, "this is different from the legend that not everyone can witness. Many of us were on the scene and witnessed how we took back a part of the holy Guilliman. He would become a complete human form and stay among us, and even get rid of death and come back to life. This is a miracle no matter how you look at it!"

His voice gradually became fanatical.

"A miracle! Everyone! A miracle given to us by the Holy Emperor! A miracle that allows us to listen to the will of a Primarch again after ten thousand years!"

Although Tigris had a thoughtful look on his face, at this moment, no one refuted Otan Cassius's words.

"Then," said Calgar, "let us go in again to meet the Saint of our father and listen to his teachings to us. Perhaps we can get a way to restore our father faster."

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The first one to react among the three was Honso.

"Yes, Lord... I mean, Lord Guilliman, you are awake."

He took a step forward and saluted the other party first. Seeing that the other party frowned and looked at his gun silver armor and black and yellow stripes, he quickly added a sentence before anything happened.

"I am... well, I am your healer and the only pharmacist. My name is Hongso. Lord." He lowered his voice again and said to Guilliman, "I am also your... fourth brother's personal pharmacist. The current situation is complicated and it is difficult to explain it in a few words."

The awakened gene primarch was radiant and vivid, as vivid as a god descending from heaven, and it was absolutely not something that the gray and white dying memorial statue in the static position could imitate.

Less than twenty demigods in the galaxy were brought to the temporary infirmary on the Indomitable. Although Robert Guilliman was not wearing armor, only the toga he wore when he was sent to the stasis, his perfect body and the grace of his gestures still dazzled the other two Astartes, especially Kadaras Grendel, who didn't know how to react for a while.

All these details were recorded in the eyes of the awakened Primarch. He also deliberately looked at Grendel, who subconsciously tapped his breastplate and saluted again.

——The overall temperament of this Iron Warrior undoubtedly gave the Thirteenth Primarch a good impression.

Guilliman nodded.

"You said you were my fourth brother's personal pharmacist. Looking at your armor, I can tell which legion you belong to, Honso." The Thirteenth Primarch repeated calmly, "But Perturabo is a member who followed Horus and betrayed us. How dare you mention in front of me that you are still serving him?"

Here it comes. A storm was raging in the Master of Alchemy's mind, but he didn't show it on his face.

This would be one of the biggest chess games of his life, and it would be a fast game. The stakes would be his life and his plan, and his opponent would be the master of logic and strategy in this universe who might be second only to or as strong as his gene father, a true son of the Emperor, a living Primarch.

Could he win this fast game?

——One has to try, right?

Look, so far he has done so many things that were not obvious but everyone thought he was doomed to fail, but he is standing here, and almost all of them have succeeded.

"My Lord, you don't know." When the Master of Alchemy raised his head, the look on his face was sincere and sad, not like a fake. "Our current situation is not optimistic."

"And I would like to ask, do you remember some things before you lost consciousness?"

Robert Guilliman showed a thoughtful look on his face.