Warhammer 40k: Shattered Steel Soul

"Salamanders and Iron Hands are tied," Fabius said. His men kept working and were focusing on injecting the needle of a syringe into a mass of flesh and blood that he magnified with an electronic magnifying glass. , observing the changes in these organizations.

At first, the activity of the cells increased rapidly, and they proliferated healthily, growing into an amazing swarm of cells that filled the entire dish.

However, just a few seconds later, a certain point in the genetic chain began to break, and the matrix was evacuated and dried up, just like a stream that has lost its water or a well that has been in the dry season all year round, and has irreversibly withered.

Hexakeris made a low laugh about this, Fabius Bayer didn't care, at least he didn't show that he cared.

"And your Night Ghost King's Court lost to the Iron Warriors." The pharmacist continued, "The Iron Warriors are not even an army good at close combat. It's hard for me to imagine how you could lose, especially since you just got In the context of the teachings of the Father of Genes.”

"Success or failure are all part of the thread of destiny that some lives believe in." Hexakeris replied, a dark hand reached out of his red cloak and took away Fabius's discarded petri dish. .

"What are you studying? Or..." The old Haemonculus paused sharply. His wealth of knowledge told him that Fabius was trying to create something impossible. "What are you creating?"

After hundreds of generations of Eldar's tireless attempts, the Eldar, no, today's Dark Eldar, finally figured out how to impart activity to a mass of dead matter. Even though he is now serving the human army, he cannot deviate from his basic knowledge and reluctantly pinch his nose to praise human beings for their potential to create new life out of thin air in a short period of time.

"Embryo," Fabius said, and the servo mechanical arm on his back that was directly connected to the nervous system opened to crush the discarded syringe for him. "But I'm still missing something."

"What?" Hexakeris asked.

The pharmacist's facial muscles twitched. "Soul." He said the word hoarsely.

"Soul?" Hexakeris couldn't suppress his smile at all. His dry and distorted face became even more terrifying because of the smile at this moment. "Damn it," he cursed, "you are using What a superficial word to sum up the grand scene of the original flame of life burning brightly in the mind, to sum up the complex power that allowed a ball of flesh and blood to be truly born in the world he hated, and supported him to let out his first cry! "

Fabius responded with an unrestrained sneer. To a certain extent, he felt from this unique member of the Night Ghost King's Court an extreme respect for the Primarch and a subtle respect for mortals. disdain. Objectively speaking, this does not seem to be an exception among Astartes warriors.

"One question," Fabius said, pretending to be nonchalant, "you reminded me. Are you really an Astartes? Did the Gene Father really give you a second life?"

"No doubt about it," said Hexakeris. "Do you have any other questions?"

"So, why doesn't Konrad Curze create more warriors of the Night Ghost King? Or is your distorted image the only work he can create?"

Hexakeris pushed Fabius' petri dish back in front of him, and then his dark hands retracted into his red robe.

"This is a very good suggestion, Fabius." Of course the old Haemonculus would not be angry because of this level of provocation. Otherwise, he would have to spend most of his time in Gomo in the painful black crystal coffin of resurrection. Pass. "Of course, I mean creating more Night Ghost King's Court. I will ask my master, what do you think?"

"Then can you ask me by the way, under what conditions can I be allowed to join your real project?"

"You mean..." Hexakeris said, "Which one?"

"Any one." Fabius narrowed his eyes. "Such as your alchemy potion."

The old Haemonculus laughed lowly. "You should have asked me earlier. Then I could have told you and you would have been involved in the subject from the beginning. What's stopping you from asking?"

——

"I will kiss your hand, Caesar, but not out of servile flattery," said Magnus, and the scholar tried his best not to sound suffocated in his words. .

He was glad that he was wearing a longer white robe today, otherwise his clothes would not be able to cover his legs and feet that couldn't stop moving awkwardly.

"Have mercy, Caesar. I bow to you. There is no longer anyone here who can give you loyal advice like me. I sincerely implore you to consider the hidden dangers now and take back your life."

"What, Brutus, are you going to say this too?" Surprisingly, Roger Dorn's lines were pronounced clearly and with extraordinary grace. His frowning eyebrows and just the right amount of anger were even shocking. It is doubtful whether Perturabo or Fulgrim alone recruited him to train him diligently as an actor.

Or maybe, at this moment, he was just trying to do everything a Primarch could do, treating this drama as an important task that should not be underestimated like any battle, and putting in full effort.

"Ah, Caesar, I implore you to think twice about your will," Magnus said, secretly using some red-gold runes to embellish his voice. "If you want to follow a reasonable path, I will always support you. Yes, but what are you going to do now? You didn't even say it to us, great Caesar—"

"I have never begged any of you, and you cannot move my heart with your pleas. The stone in the glacier has an unshakable quality, which makes it an unparalleled cornerstone of our temple. Countless People live in this mortal world, and they each have enough flesh and blood consciousness to perceive this world, but if their status cannot be shaken by any force, then let them be as firm as a stone. And I want to be as firm as a stone on this matter. Prove to you that I am the unshakable master.”

"Caesar——"

"Leave, Brutus! Put away your lies, do you want to block my way?"

"Okay, then I can only let my hand speak to Cassius on my behalf!"

Magnus stood up quickly and swung the knife in his hand first. Around him, the World Eaters extras who had been waiting for a long time also took out various weapons from their robes and boldly slashed at Rogal Dorn.

They believed that Magnus, who was in charge of special effects, would handle the next scene and used force against a Primarch. After the initial nervousness faded away, the bold Space Marines discovered that this might be a unique opportunity that could only occur once in a lifetime. .

"Are you there too, Brutus? Then fall down, Caesar!" Roger Dorn finished reading his lines, closed his eyes, and fell backwards to the ground, directly smashing part of the table.

This was obviously in addition to the preliminary effect of the initial stage play, and according to the craftsmanship and raw materials used by Perturabo to build the theater, allowing mortal craftsmen to repair it in a normal way was obviously disappointing Perturabo's kind invitation to them to participate in the Olympia Games. the original intention.

Magnus felt a chill on his back. He made a prompt decision and let Roger Dorn fall completely into the gap under the stage. Then he quickly repaired the rosewood table before the audience noticed it. He held his knife angrily and cursed the stone in his heart. With its hardness, he and the World Eaters poked at Rogal Dorn's phantom.

"The false emperor is dead! We are liberated!" He shouted according to the script, not sure if what he heard was the weird laughter of Conrad Coates in the audience, "Go, go to the streets to announce this news. "

The scene changed. The World Eaters finished cutting off Rogal Dorn's shadow, pretended to put him in a white cloth bag, and carried him off the field in a hurry.

Magnus conjured a podium for himself, holding the edge of the podium with both hands: "Everyone, don't panic, don't yell, as if the doomsday moment has arrived at this place. You know, fake The emperor's false ambitions have been put to an end. We were all Caesar's friends, and now we have only helped him overcome the moment of worry about life and death and reach the end of tyranny."

He heard Vulcan's footsteps preparing to go on stage backstage. He thought about the effect of the performance again, and when he was satisfied, he turned his head to look at the curtain backstage, and at the same time let the lines enter the next link.

"Wait a minute, who is here now? Ah, welcome, Mark Antony, you are also a friend of Caesar!"

Vulgan's face was as black as coal and filled with sadness. It's not hard to imagine how he was going through all the unhappy things he had experienced in his life backstage in his mind.

"Have all your lofty achievements, stagnant dreams, and distant prospects been ruined in the hands of Cassius and Brutus?" Vulkan read with true feelings, blocking his grief with one arm. s face. "If I were him, I would rather take his life. Take my life before your sword has cooled down. Let me die beside my lord. There is no better place than this. ?"

Magnus couldn't help but feel absurdly amused by the sharp contrast between Horus's rebellious identity in the script and his loyalty and pride in talking about the Emperor every day in reality.

Perhaps this was another disadvantage of not being there - the venerable Horus Luperkar had to tolerate Morse's bad image of himself, and a bad reputation that might linger in Olympia for years to come...

No, he, the red Magnus, was clearly at the scene, so why did he have to play the role of a stabbing villain?

The residents of the Olympia Cluster can really tell the difference between the characters and the actors.

"We are not asking for your life, Anthony, and I have not reduced my respect for you at all. We murdered a tyrant, but we do not have to banish all the tyrant's friends to the territory of the dead."

"Then put your blood-stained hands into my hands. Well, how can I put it? How come I don't know which of your words contain the truth and which contain hypocritical lies? What if it's Caesar's The soul is still looking at this, what kind of ungrateful person he wants to see, who will shake hands with the enemy immediately after your death!"

Magnus grinned with joy: "I not only want to hold your hand, but also welcome you with my arms. Cassius and I are willing to cooperate with you, dear Antony! As we rebuild In our country, your seat will be on the same level as ours!”

Vulkan walked towards Magnus, his bright red eyes burning like a blazing fire; Magnus deliberately used some surreal means to enhance the light in Vulkan's eyes.

When Brutus and Antony embraced, Magnus controlled his shocked expression and his body that fell in embarrassment after being pierced by a dagger, so as not to damage the fragile stage floor when he fell.

The shadow of the flames burned on the stage, symbolizing the coming destruction. Magnus took advantage of the firelight to relax his facial expression and let himself enjoy the time of lying down - he had performed the whole performance conscientiously, and was also distractedly responsible for the arrangement of the stage effects.

Vulkan raised the blood-stained weapon in his hand: "Ah! Soul of the greatest emperor, please forgive me for my miserable negotiations with these massacres. With your life gone, the prospect of destruction will also come to mankind. On the body; the eternal war will become the echo of the times, people are accustomed to killing, and all compassion will be extinguished; the fire will burn until the end of the century, because of this crime, the stars will be filled with the bells of annihilation!"

After saying that, Vulkan put down his weapon and closed his eyes. Magnus extinguished the flames, got up from the floor, dusted off his white robes, followed Vulkan along with the World Eaters who returned one after another, and waved to the audience.

Then, he remembered that Rogal Dorn was still lying quietly in the resealed wooden board on the stage. He quickly created an illusion of Rogal Dorn and asked him to walk out from the backstage and join the other actors. Greet the audience.

He was sure that the only people who could see through this little trick were Mors, and possibly Perturabo who was secretly talking to Mors...

Perturabo was absent, as were Konrad Curze, Fulgrim, Ferrus Manus, and Morse.

The only thing left on the row of seats where the Primarchs were sitting was the data pad that Horus used for remote and real-time viewing. It was currently placed on the table, showing the appearance of the Wolf Shepherd applauding them.

And the reason for their departure, after Magnus probed for a while, found it even more incredible.

What is the meaning of the Sun of Thousand Dusts who temporarily resides among the Iron Warriors, and the Emperor's Children who also serve as communicators among the Iron Warriors, and the Terran warriors of the Night Ghost Court? An irreconcilable conflict broke out over illegal alchemy potions?

No. When did they start showjumping? What kind of horse would an Astartes be allowed to ride? Why didn't anyone tell him? Did he miss something?