Warhammer 40k: Shattered Steel Soul

How many times will the Tower of Babel collapse? How many times will humans want to repeat the same mistakes? - Moloch, a long-standing echo

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No matter from which aspect, it is unacceptable for Perturabo to allow the unreliable and arrogant alien to continue to control a lighthouse that can influence half of the galaxy.

And when he learned that this powerless fragment could power a top-notch technological creation for tens of thousands or even millions of years, an idea that had been shelved for a long time in the busyness came back to his mind.

Perturabo said: "In order to free you from the prison, we have to find your location, Zahurash."

"Show us the way, fragment." The Emperor said, the glory of the golden armor faded, and the pale scientist's coat like a parchment roll hung on his shoulders. Ignoring the unknown pressure that could not be eliminated on him, and the blurred face in Zahurash's senses, he looked very similar to an ordinary mortal.

Zahurash would not know what kind of people it attracted here. Maybe it knew, but it could not do anything.

The fragments bound under the tangible skin returned to the energy field and disappeared beyond the sensing range.

The ground of the black stone sank downward, and the passage opened to the depths of the ruins containing many ancient technologies.

The Emperor made a small gesture, and the energy echoed at the fingertips of the mortal-like human master: "It has fallen asleep." Then, he took the lead to move forward.

The three walked into the ruins, following the buzzing rocks, and went deep into the layers of rock.

The various mechanical giants in front of them witnessed an era that had long passed, and the unknown energy they emitted demonstrated the lost wisdom contained here. The more people understand technology, the more they can understand how powerful this system of mature alternative technology contains.

Passing through the hall, they came to an opening leading to the energy field tunnel, and witnessed the unfathomable tunnel piercing the hard rock with a neat cutting method like a laser sweep. The deep red light lit up on the outside of the tunnel, and through the flickering light surface, you can almost see a blue-white water wave illuminated by the light layer-that is the deep sea of ​​Sosa.

The roar under his feet gradually changed from a dull hum to a rumbling low hum, and the vibration was transmitted along the rock. The underground machines roared continuously, the hot wind rolled in his face, and the particle flow that was enough to destroy the structure of mortal bodies was exchanged at high speed in space.

Passing through the tunnel, on the other side, the huge engine that should appear according to the common sense of human technology was presented in the form of a series of buildings arranged in the pit: the entire building complex itself was shaking.

The dim red light and the hot air waves spiraled around the building, and the rising crimson halo merged with the melted and recondensed rocks, connecting to countless tunnels leading to the surface of the mountain.

Perturabo recorded everything he saw in front of him in his brain. Even for the Primarch, it was still a fantasy to immediately understand a set of high-end technology that had nothing to do with human technology in a short period of time. But he thought it necessary to cherish the technology in front of him. The illusory music floated in his ears, and at the end of his hearing, he heard the song of the Blackstone Mountains themselves.

"I wouldn't say I like it here," Morse said. "Psychic energy is succumbing to the Black Stone. How do you feel?"

"I'm not sure," Perturabo replied, following the Emperor side by side with Morse.

Strangely, the Emperor seemed to have an extraordinary understanding of this alien tomb. He had either been here before or had visited a scene similar to this.

This added a great deal of stability to their actions this time.

And Perturabo was still puzzled by the Emperor's sudden arrival here - why did the Lord of Mankind's fleet not find Macragge first, but rush to the remote border first?

The deeper they went into this place that Perturabo determined to be the alien tomb, the more luxurious and desolate the scenery they saw, reminding them of the passage of time. The music forged by the wind deep into the tunnel resonated in the endless space, ups and downs, sometimes weakening to almost disappear, and sometimes returning with greater power, rising into an empty scream.

At the end of the complex, the last building divided a grand space. Ancient murals that had long since disappeared were carved into the black stone of the colonnade. Many decorative panels had fallen off, exposing the black stone that served as the background of the building in the gaps.

A wall stood silently, its surface engraved with swimming alien characters, solemn and silent.

Sixteen niches were inlaid on the wall, divided into two rows on the left and right. In each niche was a humanoid statue, five times the height of an ordinary person. The faces of these statues revealed a familiar and profound expression, and their craftsmanship was extremely exquisite. Each statue was made of a different material, and the smoothness of the material was almost at the molecular level, which made Perturabo, who was quite proud of his craftsmanship, admit that he could not reach it.

Of course, if he really wanted to try, it was not hopeless to spend resources to create a statue of this level, but Perturabo would not spend the precious resources of the Great Crusade of mankind on building wonders.

Above the statue, several spiral twisted human figures reappeared, showing flawless silver color, bound by heavy chains. Thousands of alien characters wrapped around their bodies. Eight flashing blue fluorescent lights intertwined and gathered in the energy field of the bronze base in the room, decorated with a ruthless face.

Right under this distorted image, facing the eight fragments, eight black sarcophagi were suspended in the air, seven of which were silent, with only one exception. The energy fluctuations were more active than the other sarcophagi, conveying an indescribable uncleanness. The sarcophagus and the void chain emitted opposing blue-orange lights, and were silent in the surrounding nothingness.

Zahulash. Even if Perturabo didn't understand these aliens, the ravings and ravings of the trapped people were enough for him to discern the identity of the person carrying the unique sarcophagus.

"The cemetery of the Star God. The Emperor raised his head and looked up calmly at the eight corpses hanging in the air. He said an unfamiliar term, but Perturabo was surprised to feel that the Emperor was in a good mood.

"You mentioned this creature," Mors said, suddenly centering the conversation between him and the Emperor, as if they were discussing secrets in Perturabo's presence.

The Emperor nodded. "Mars."

Morse suddenly let out a deep laugh, which lasted until he was swallowed by the black stone: "Single-handed, my emperor!"

The Emperor neither nodded nor denied.

Perturabo wondered if he needed to cough, but coughing in a Primarch's body made of steel and spells might make it seem less real.

Then Morse looked at him.

"How do you want to handle this matter, Lord of Iron?" he asked, "Now that your father is here, you can handle him well. I think he has some experience in this kind of thing that is not worth mentioning."

Perturabo ignored Morse's disrespectful words. He hesitated, then stated his thoughts frankly: "This is... a good source of energy, Father."

He thought of the copied drawings and large amounts of data he had copied when he assisted Rogal Dorn in repairing the Phalanx a long time ago. If a larger space fortress floats above Olympia one day, this fragment will be the best choice for energy supply.

The Emperor nodded slightly.

"Come here, Perturabo." The Lord of Mankind spoke, calling the name of the Fourth Primarch.

In the Emperor's particularly focused look, Perturabo seemed to see the scientists in the illusion again, and he began to wonder whether what Zahurash had created was really just an illusion.

He approached the Emperor.

"Do not move," the Emperor said. "Your body will serve a temporary duty."

"Remember to explain, Emperor." Morse's voice was lazy. "Do you think your child can read minds or something?"

There was a rare pause in the Emperor's expression. Then, the Lord of Mankind began to do something.

explain.

"You want to carry it. After strengthening, your steel body can become a good temporary container. I will transform your body. Then, you need to awaken the Star God fragment Zahurash, and we will capture it and put it It is temporarily imprisoned within your body," the Emperor said unconvincingly. "After this, the body will no longer be able to be folded directly into the warp, and will only be able to traverse the ether via conventional navigation."

Morse said: "Since you want to keep Pharos, you still need to find a way to let it enter this body, otherwise our violent Emperor will tear the entire lighthouse apart. The Emperor and I will hide for the time being. Regardless, Be careful."

"I understand." Perturabo nodded, "I am ready."

A golden power restrainedly surged from the eyes of the Lord of Mankind, rolling through his unique half-mechanical, half-empty body. He felt that all the structures in the simple body he had modified from the long-ago machine guard were undergoing an astonishing experience. Strengthened, every screw becomes extremely hard and tough, every steel bone is being quenched, and the shell is reshaped after high-speed combustion and is fixed.

This transformation went so deep into the consciousness that the Emperor's psychic powers even interfered with the faint image of his body in the warp, solidifying the blurry reflection into an indestructible work of golden glass.

Of course, Morse would not install a rich and troublesome sensory system on a mass-produced body, but Perturabo felt pain that should not exist forcefully surged through his body. Undoubtedly, this came from the consciousness carried by the body. The expansion and reshaping of limits. He endured it silently with difficulty, suppressing the trembling, knowing that Morse was watching all this going on.

After the modification was completed, Morse gave Perturabo a wordless support: "I think you can wake up Zahurash, Perturabo."

As Perturabo adjusted to his new consciousness, he devised several ways to deceive the shards. He wasn't sure which one would work, and prepared for the worst, that the pieces failed to catch and the Pharos lighthouse came crashing down.

When he was able to speak, he took a deep breath and pointed at the different black coffin and shouted: "Zahurash, we have arrived at your tomb!"

Like the sudden resurgence of a volcano, the hidden power of the Star God fragments awakened in an instant and erupted in the dark tomb. A twisted silver figure in the sky suddenly lit up, forcing the darkness to recede around it, as if reality itself was yielding to its will.

"You're here!" Zahurash shouted, ecstasy reflected in every ray of light that shone from the fragments. Before Perturabo could begin to prepare his sting speech, Zahurash himself babbled, "The archetype is a fallen thing from the filthy sea! We are the truth of matter, the incarnation of the universe, and you are Such decay and chaos!”

"Listen to me..." Perturabo tried to interject.

The thunderous roaring noise of the Star God fragments made the air tremble. The sarcophagus in the sky seemed to feel this force and swayed in the void. The one belonging to Zahurash tilted slowly and finally fell. The chains began to crumble.

"We are Zahulash, the new rulers." The illusory body of the fragmented silver metal shone with an indescribable light. "We are the masters of space and time, the embodiment of living souls in reality. Our connection to this facility must be severed."

"And you, the blasphemous insect born from the subspace! Your only role will be to contribute your shell before we return to the true energy form, and become the carrier of our revenge on the betrayers! You actually came here, weak and powerless, Extremely stupid!”

Before he finished speaking, Zahurash emitted a burst of blazing light, and his body turned into a silver light, woven into a network of threads, and crashed into Perturabo: "Come on, our -"

When Zahurash's glow disappeared from Perturabo's skin, all noise ceased, as if caught in time. Perturabo closed his mouth in embarrassment, having only spoken three words in total, and looked at each other in confusion with the Emperor and Morse who came out of the hidden shadows.

"Ahem." Perturabo cleared his throat, "It's done."

"Yes," Morse said, coughing as well.

Along with the imbalance of energy supply, the space began to vibrate, as if the interior was contracting centripetally.

The entire room was swallowed up by an invisible force, all energy evaporated, and an ominous silence filled the air. The hall shuddered and the black stone shattered like glass and fell to the ground. Rockfalls crashed to the ground in the distant tunnel, and the numerous pipes within the structure sounded alarms. Thousands of drones flew out from hidden mechanisms, buzzing to save the cracks from forming.

"Let's go," said the Emperor. "Do not interfere with the tomb's self-repair."

"Emperor," Perturabo felt the new energy in his body being forced into silence in its new cage. Unprecedented exhaustion made his consciousness slide to a dark edge. He braced himself to finish his question, "The Pharos lighthouse started flashing just a few minutes ago. How did you find... us?"

"Adjust to your body, Perturabo," the Emperor said. "You need to get used to this fatigue before you can unleash and apply your new energy."

——

He emerged from the bush in flames. I looked and saw that although the bush was burning with fire, it was not consumed. He came out of the flames, and the mists in the cave were opened to him. The light descended like a dove and fell on him.

I wonder what this vision means. He has seen what I cannot see.

When he saw me approaching, he called out from among the thorns, "Remus!" He said, "Here I am."

And he said, "Do not come near. The fire that I have stolen shall not come near."

I stood where I was, and my right hand was no longer with me. "The chips on the table are ready. What else did you see?"

"I have truly seen the suffering of my people in the future. I have also heard the voice of thousands of years from now."

"The light of a lighthouse reached my eyes. I also saw the containers we built. There are many more. Twenty fruits have been borne. I will arrive in ten thousand years. This is determined."

"However, your memory cannot be retained."

The incandescent flames gave off lightning. The blood dried on the robe. The winds of Molech blew over me.

"Therefore, your duties are temporarily ended."

"You should leave."

Note: Chapter reference Belisarius Cawl: The Great Work