Warhammer 40k: Shattered Steel Soul

Robert Guilliman fell into a brief daze at Perturabo's reminder. For this Primarch, who was preparing to devote his full energy to Macragge where he grew up with Konnor, Leaving Macragge after a month was almost an unfamiliar phrase made up of a string of familiar words, difficult to understand and difficult to accept.

After more than ten years of longing for the reunion of the same kind, it would have been a dream-like thing to be reunited with brothers of similar minds, not to mention that Conor Guilliman and Tarasha Yuton still called him " "Child", all kinds of factors are superimposed and blended, and it is almost a god-given good news and a dream come true. But once the condition of leaving Macragge on the eve of the revolution was added, all the happiness was suddenly covered with a dark background.

In fact, Guilliman felt that if he did this, it would be tantamount to betraying Konor, Jotun, the entire people of Macragge, and Macragge itself - he heard from his own heart Made an exaggerated complaint.

"Do I have to leave right now?" Guilliman asked, hiding his rising vigilance. "First, no matter how good a general is, it is impossible for him and his army to sharpen their swords into an integrated army in one day. . Secondly, a defector who easily abandons the happiness of his citizens is not worthy of trust..."

"We have no intention of forcing you to do anything." Angron interrupted warmly, the voice coming from his broad chest low and thick, "If you rely on force to make people join a cause, then the cause itself must be incomplete and despicable. . This is not what the Great Crusade is about, nor is it what the Emperor wishes."

Perturabo put aside the words he had just composed, leaving the opportunity for dialogue to Angron.

He didn't know what the Emperor had talked about with Angron in the Nuceria Memorial Hall, but this gladiator brother who resisted powerful authority could have such high regard for the Lord of Mankind. He felt that he should be grateful for Morse's design. first encounter.

As he worked on the secret construction of the Webway on Terra for the past five years, he had many opportunities to communicate directly with the Emperor, and his understanding of the Emperor had deepened a lot. His vision became more pure and moving in the eyes of Perturabo, but the mysterious personality of the Emperor himself, who was like a patchwork of many fragments, often confused Perturabo.

In short, it was hard for him to imagine the disaster it would be if the matter of welcoming Angron to the Crusade was left entirely to the Emperor.

"In the Emperor's grand propaganda spread across the galaxy, you will hear many concepts of unity and liberation, and you will see repeated in countless forms about the burning of the inexhaustible for the revival of the human race and the welfare of mankind itself. Purity and darkness, expel aliens and heretics, and embrace mankind into the light again with the glory of the Eagle Flag."

Angron used a calm and gentle tone to describe these words that could be described as fanatical, which invisibly strengthened his persuasiveness.

And after knowing that he would not be forced to leave, Guilliman no longer considered how completely impossible to resist the astonishing power of the two hundred thousand troops above his head - he actually did not think that his newly-acquainted brothers had such power at all. There is such a possibility of cruelty, but his reason is one step ahead of him. He relaxed and focused on Angron's amber eyes.

"Any ruler, any person in power, even an oppressor who takes away public power from the people and uses it for private purposes, can say these beautiful words and make propaganda a hundred times more exaggerated. But the Emperor The difference is that his true desire is greater than the dream he speaks, and what he can do for it is greater than the promise on the scene, because he was undoubtedly one of the humans he was determined to protect. And he still retains that precious side.”

Angron said, with emotion in his words.

"A year ago, on my own planet Nuceria, I held a wide-ranging meeting with a large number of my citizen representatives and descendants to discuss some of the mistakes we had made and where we were going from here. I did not know that the Emperor was in the crowd, for he was neither wearing a crown nor a golden armor. He blended in with the crowd so plainly and easily, listening to our council and proposing all matters that could be implemented immediately. Practical advice for getting up.”

"His first proposal was that there should be a limit on the speed of vehicles within the city, because accidental collisions were always happening in Yana. His subsequent proposals were somewhat related to the structure of Nuceria's management, Some are connected to the lives of citizens... He is concerned about whether everyone can have a better life and build a better culture on his own civilization. I almost regard him as a key to the future governance of Nuceria. Star, until I found out he was the Lord of Mankind.”

"If Macragge joins the Empire, the Macragges will also come under his care." Guilliman thoughtfully extracted the most critical information to him from Angron's sigh. The father he has never met also adds a layer of vague understanding.

Perturabo had an uneasy feeling about Angron's emotional approval.

The display that the Lord of Mankind made in front of Angron was obviously too successful, and the following year of separation continued to further beautify the Emperor in the eyes of the Lord of Red Sand.

But if Robert Guilliman really viewed the Emperor in that way, Robert would probably have a huge heartache when the busy master of the Empire found some free time and was urged by Malcador or Mors to visit Macragge in person. Feeling confused.

"There is no doubt about it," said Perturabo, gently reminding Robert Guilliman not to have too high expectations of the Emperor. "But I need to explain to you that the Emperor does not always have the leisure to show off. He is close to the citizens. Likewise, he does not directly take over all the government affairs on a planet. He is a higher-level leader who plays an almost symbolic role. "

"A world that joins the Human Empire needs to remember the truth of the empire and pay a certain amount of taxes. Unless Terra is offended, the managers are often still local residents of the planet, and the management method is mainly based on local autonomy. Just like Olympia to this day It still belongs directly to me, and I entrust it to my friend Califon in Olympia, asking her to take Olympia to a better level - besides, the planets governed by us Primarchs do not need to go to the solar system. Pay taxes.”

"What it means is that after I leave, the Archon will continue to manage Macragge. That means that the Archon's reforms will not be interfered with, but they also need to be promoted on their own."

"You can take matters into your own hands, Robert. It won't be difficult for any of us to take time off from the expedition to take care of government affairs. I introduce you to Rogal Dorn. Although he is silent now, he contains several The pocket empire of the galaxy is completely under his control."

The three primarchs turned back. Dorn, who was walking behind, was obviously listening attentively. His expression was very calm as he nodded and admitted: "I can show you Yinweit's military expenditure report for this year. Do you need me to do this?"

"No, thank you." Perturabo continued, "Robert, you can even stay for a few more years, as long as you ensure that your legion's expedition progress is not put on hold during this period. Just like Angron's stay in Nuceria For a whole year, his legions fought under my and Dorn's command, until we decided to come together to find you."

Guilliman felt a little moved. "Then my legion..." His rapid thinking immediately stopped him from throwing the tens of thousands of military forces called "sons" he could obtain to his brothers. Under Konor's appointment, he had already led Macragge's army in several overwhelmingly successful battles.

He continued: "I will make my decision after I meet with them. I noticed that you just mentioned a word, Imperial Truth. Is that a set of universal charters or principles that form a system within the Human Empire? ?”

"Yes and no," Perturabo said. "It is indeed a set of mandatory regulations in theory, but it is also quite flexible in the implementation process."

"For example, the key core of the empire's truth is that there is no irrational superstition in this world, let alone witchcraft, magic and belief rooted in ignorance and blindness. We cannot be intoxicated in the pursuit of power beyond the cognitive level, buried in idealism and The shadow of hypocrisy. Of course psychic powers and alien species that humans cannot understand for the time being exist, but this does not prove the existence of any original gods with consciousness and destiny; attributing them to gods is just a symptom of limited understanding- —But if primitive religious beliefs do exist somewhere, the Emperor will not wipe out the entire planet in one fell swoop.”

He suddenly remembered that all the bishops in Olympia were directly killed by Mors, and then gradually began to replace the members from the root, and even gradually faded from the public life, and a smile flashed on his face.

"It has been mentioned in the museum that at the distant origins of Macragge culture, there are indeed legends about many gods," Guilliman said. Even if he did not mean it, his words still contained dissatisfaction with the existence of mythology. "Although there are only a few fragmentary assertions left to this day, when I was reading when I was a child, I could still easily deduce countless contradictory statements from them, and many phenomena in between can also be regarded as symbolic interpretations of certain natural or humanistic activities. and hidden feedback. However, in the old days, people actually believed in the myths and legends compiled in a few words, and even used them as theoretical basis to guide reality. Development was once slow and stagnant.”

"It does not seem to be easy for you and me to accept that mortals do not always harbor a burning desire for progress. While I was in Olympia, I had more than one encounter with the Nine Wise Men of Pelecontia, as they were known there. 'The Alliance of Wise Men did some debates. Although we have many disputes, we have always been on the same front in opposing rigid religion. After all, in my memory, when I first came into contact with the Olympians, I encountered a very annoying religious person who was full of nonsense and aggressive. , wanting to make me look embarrassed in public.”

He paused and found that while chatting with Guilliman, he actually found the joy of elders telling childhood stories, which surprised him a little - since he was conscious, he was only in his twenties this year. Years old, even among mortals, is considered young, not to mention whether the body of the original body can age is still unknown, so why do you start to reminisce about the past glory days?

"Our Senate discusses real practical issues," Guilliman said, his eyes shining brightly. "If a cleric comes in and spreads superstitious lies, we can even accuse him of lying in the honorable chamber. Although we usually don't do that, it can certainly be used to sentence the liar to death."

Perturabo smiled: "I would like to suggest that Callifon put this rule into the proceedings of the Olympian Lokos Palace. But after I asked her last time about foreign etiquette, she has not given it to me yet. Reply. Maybe it’s because of the instability of remote astrology.”

"Similarly, I will also add Imperial truth to Macragge's reforms in advance." Robert said, waving his hands energetically in front of his chest. "Be prepared in advance for the regulations that will follow when Macragge joins the Empire."

Perturabo did not expect that Robert Guilliman would have such an obvious preference for the Imperial Truth. His previous hesitation and alienation were all driven away by the Imperial Truth created by the Emperor. Through this layer of theoretical doctrine that displays the core thoughts of the Emperor, the primarch, who like the Emperor wears a laurel crown, obviously sees a beautiful world that is more in line with what he has in mind, a world filled with sufficient rationality and positive subjective motivation. A transparent ideal country built.

Once again, Perturabo rediscovers the unfortunate need to be the one to break his brother's imagination, for Imperial truth is itself a religious lie. He began to wish that Morse was here, because the black-robed craftsman was the dissatisfied person who worked tirelessly to expose all the beautiful dreams.

"Of course, as the leader of the human empire that encompasses the galaxy, the essence of the imperial truth created by the Emperor is also a set of theories used to describe reality, not the real truth. As a core political concept, if it Conflict with reality, in order to avoid shaking the foundation of the empire, it will be difficult and long-term to change the truth of the empire. My brother, if such a day comes, I hope you will understand this. "

"Theory and practice are the keys to each other's strengthening of each other," Guilliman said, his palms spread outward, as if he were delivering a key speech in the Senate before five hundred people. "And hypotheses are observation and analysis. The biggest trap. The doctrine based on denying superstition and respecting truth can undoubtedly lay the foundation for mankind to achieve great achievements. Yes, myths need to be dismantled. Experience and rationality are the foundation for the development of a new world for mankind..."

"You are right, but you also need to admit exceptions." Roger Dorn suddenly spoke up, as if he finally found what he thought was a good opportunity to join the conversation.

Guilliman turned around.

I saw Rogal Dorn expressionlessly holding a mysterious skull with one hand that had no connection with existing human technology, floating in the air and surrounded by layers of flowing golden runes - he thought It was some kind of ornament with cultural characteristics, and the upper and lower jaws of the skull were opening and closing, and an unreasonable sound source with no sound-producing device sounded directly in the air in an extremely strange way, using some combination of He picked up the tone of the white-haired original's own voice and the featureless synthesized voice, and began to speak without any reason.

"What Roger Dorn means is: Sometimes, some power that does exist can be used in a controllable way because of its practicality."

WBG——I even just expect you to hit 1:3——