Warhammer 40k: Shattered Steel Soul

"His angels killed 185,000 people in one night to rescue the Holy City." - "The Book of Lorgar"

Perturabo could hardly say what he felt from Lorgar Aurelion now.

Of course, this state is not completely indescribable to him. In a certain sense, this was once a familiar feeling to him and an idea that he once placed on others. He had relied on this attitude to pray for others to give, or in other words, to ask for something obscure and invisible.

After so many years, he thought that he had been far away from this kind of overconfidence and uneasiness. He had passed the stage where he needed to impose this kind of emotion on others, and he never imagined that one day he would become the object of this emotion.

Of course, looking back at each of the previous brothers, they all have a unique pride. Even if they need to pursue the recognition of others, the person who is chased by the Primarchs represented by Horus is usually just It's just the emperor.

But he, Perturabo, was just an ordinary Primarch, and this seemed not to be his mission.

Yes, he could admit what he was feeling.

Looking at Lorgar Aurelion's hand stretched out to him, Perturabo felt pressured.

He did not immediately hold Aurelion's soft palm, but first made his statement.

"Considering that all this already exists, Aurelion," he glanced at his own sculpture, then across the clouded gray sky, and then down to the surrounding steel forest, "this city of steel has Established, people all over the planet call me God... It seems that now that I am trying to defend whether I am God, it does not seem to have enough meaning."

said the Lord of Iron, turning to look the One with the Truth in the eyes.

"We have to be honest with the facts, I think," Perturabo said. "Can we agree on that?"

"Without a doubt, my brother," answered Lorgar, stubbornly continuing to hold out his hand.

Perturabo briefly shook his hand, then let go, walking to Lorgar's side and overlooking the layered steel city below. He actually had an appreciation for the place based on the art style alone, so much the better if they didn't believe in the "god of steel and craftsmanship."

"Dantioch," said Perturabo, "I believe you know the origins of the transformation of faith on this planet. I am not going to accuse you, but I do want to hear the story you mentioned in your report. ”

The war blacksmith hesitated for a moment, then took off his helmet, revealing an aging face with gray hair. Luojia immediately looked at the statue of the old man next to the steel giant.

There is no difference between the two except that Dantioch is now more aged than the statue.

"Are all war blacksmiths your saints?" Luojia seemed to have some speculations in his mind.

"After listening to what I have to say today, let's discuss these issues again, okay?" Perturabo said helplessly. "Dantioch."

The war blacksmith spoke, his voice was very hoarse and not pleasant, but it was strong and steady: "Yes, sir.

"In the previous battle, due to an accident caused by alien technology, I mistakenly returned to the galaxy two thousand years ago. In the process of looking for a way to return to the expedition fleet, I once passed by this place. At that time, its name was still Memphis.

"Although local technology is advanced, humanistic evolution is still in the early stages of human civilization. Therefore, my companions and I were mistaken for gods. We once tried to correct them and told them that we were just two soldiers in the Great Crusade. , but no matter how we argue, we can only achieve failure in this aspect of debate. We have not inherited the talent of the genetic father.”

"In the end, Lord Perturabo turned into the God of Steel and Craftsman in their mouths without any basis. To prevent the situation from continuing to develop in a direction we did not expect, the two of us can only give up the debate and leave as soon as possible."

He bowed slowly with his armor on, "This is what happened, my lord."

When he finished speaking the last few words, his voice still trembled slightly, and his pale temples became a little moist. He quickly put the helmet back on with trembling, and hid it again in his life-saving iron shell.

"This is Him—"

"This is the embodiment of his enlightenment across time and the weaving of his destiny. You would say so, I guess." Perturabo skillfully found the corresponding rhetoric.

At the Olympia that year, before he became so famous, the Lord of Iron frequently participated in local debate events. He even sent a critical article "Refuting the Believers" to the local religious sect, and of course he received a series of counterattacks such as "Refuting the "Refuting the Believers"".

All in all, in the end the Olympian cult was destroyed.

Luojia smiled and added: "He sends angels to protect all races and nations, and the messengers see the Father's face."

Perturabo smiled reciprocally, and turned to his war blacksmith and said: "Barabas, you can leave first. Go to my office and wait for me. I will come back in a while."

The war blacksmith's helmet nodded with difficulty: "Yes."

After Dantioch's figure disappeared from the virtual world of memories, Perturabo and Morse looked at each other silently.

The craftsman spread his hands and snorted: "If you don't need me, just let me go? Okay, I'll be waiting for you in your office too."

Now, there are only two brothers left in the huge space.

"Have you spoken to our other brothers about your faith, Aurelion?"

"No one agrees with me. Rogal Dorn criticized me directly. Horus tried to hint to me that I was on the wrong path...only you." Lorgar replied, and the luster on his golden skin seemed to have dimmed half a bit. . "Only you didn't accuse me."

Perturabo smiled.

"But we are indeed not human bodies, Lorgar. The gap between us and humans, and even the Astartes and humans, is far greater than the similarity in appearance between us and them. We are born with Extraordinary physical strength, extraordinary intelligence, and innate knowledge. We are Primarchs."

"We are born with responsibilities." Lorgar tried his best to remain dignified while being happy.

"I discovered this when I was very young. At that time, I always thought that I must come from a higher place than the narrow world I am in now. I must be born with a certain existence, an extremely noble and noble place. The great existence gives the meaning of talent, the responsibility of leading the people, and the implementation of the ideal future, and is proud of it.”

Lorgar listened intently, his eyes meekly watching the Iron Lord.

"But at that time, someone directly contradicted me and challenged me. He affirmed my talents and affirmed that I was not ordinary. But then he asked me, if I didn't have these talents, what if I was born And with the same body as mortals, what qualifications do I have to despise mortals? What qualifications do I have to call myself an extraordinary being? I am indeed not a mortal, but does this really mean that I am higher than mortals? "

"I was so angry and felt like he was just talking nonsense and just belittling me and insulting me. So, I took on the challenge - or, in fact, I just had to accept it. So throughout my teenage and young adult years, I gave up my extra-mortal gifts and learned how to be a human again.”

"He should be the same as his brothers in everything. Since his children share the same body of flesh and blood, he himself also became a body of flesh and blood[1]." Luojia muttered in a low voice, very moved. "You are far better than me and know that you are the Son of Man. But I didn't even know that at the time."

Perturabo had long since given up worrying about Lorgar's persistence in this regard.

"I cherish the experience of that period of time. It took me more than ten years to finally become a human being. And I sincerely hope that you can understand my thoughts, Lorgar, no matter what my essence is, why I am I am satisfied with whatever mission I will embark on when I come to this world, and I will continue to choose what I choose from now on."

"Even if you..."

Perturabo raised a finger to stop Lorgar's next words. "I know that I can't convince you with my reasons, not to mention that we are inhuman things. I don't want to argue with you, because you will be an impeccable arguer, and in the end, this will develop into a meaningless argument. dispute.

"So, I simply offer my wish: I respect your opinion, and equally hope you respect mine. Regardless of whether your views on faith may change in the future - I even hope that your answer is yes, but you Will deny it.”

"I do not want to be worshiped as a god, no matter what," Perturabo said solemnly. "I do not want."

He took another step forward and sat down on the edge of the high platform. Located hundreds of meters high in the air, even the Primarch of extraordinary height is as small as an ordinary person sitting on a railing, dangerous but at ease.

"Would you like to sit down together?" said Perturabo, patting the space beside him.

Luojia was silent for a long time, as if he was part of the heavy water vapor in the gray sky behind him, and the wind seemed to be the only sound in this world of memories.

Then he spoke softly and slowly.

"Sit down like a mortal?" he asked.

"I hope so," answered Perturabo.

Lorgar lifted his robe with unfamiliar movements and sat on the floor next to Perturabo, with his legs dangling in the air.

“Didn’t our father tell you that he was not God?”

"That's what He said to me on the first day we met," Lorgar admitted. "So, I..."

His voice dropped, "I dare not call Him God. I call Him Him."

"Playing with the gaps in language?" asked Perturabo.

"No! I didn't..." Luojia retorted in a panic, then lowered his head, "But how can I use disrespectful language to call Him?"

"Not from my point of view, just from your point of view, if the Emperor requires you to call him a human being, will he regard it as disrespectful? If he had not publicly asked us to stop your belief, I would also ask How dare you go against his ideas and use your interpretation to distort his commands."

"He has been so kind to me..." Luojia said blankly, with a tear falling from his eyes. This almost broke the serious expression that Perturabo had maintained, and almost scared him to flee from where he was.

Perturabo shrugged calmly: "So, you understand what I mean, Aurelion."

"Since you don't want to be called a god, I won't call you a god until the day you ascend." Luojia wiped away the tear, feeling sincerely happy. He seemed to be not only talking to Perturabo, but also to the being he thought he was.

"Okay, let's end our conversation today." Perturabo stood up quickly, "Goodbye, my brother."

Lorgar bowed his head to him: "Being the eldest son among many brothers does not depend on age, but on the degree of honor and power. My brother, I am very happy to talk to you today."

——

"You look nervous, Barabas." Perturabo walked into his office on the Cheorwon and glanced at the set of iron armor standing against the wall.

"You look embarrassed, Perturabo." Mors emerged from the air. "Did you enjoy your chat with Lorgar Aurelion?"

"I hope we don't have to talk about it a second time." The Iron Lord's expression froze and he cleared his throat.

"External persuasion can never change a believer whose brain is filled with glue. Words can incite a person to believe, but cannot tell others not to believe. Only events and experiences are truly convincing."

Morse said, turning the corners of his mouth downwards, "What's more, that is a Primarch who is as persistent as you. From father to child, your whole family is the same."

"Morse..." whispered Perturabo, walking around to sit in his chair.

"Okay." Morse made a zipper motion over his lips. "Dantioch, I guess it's your turn."

The iron armor began to move slowly towards Perturabo's table.

"I don't accuse you," Perturabo had to say, "I don't have as many tricks as Morse."

Dantioch moved a little faster.

"Come here," Perturabo ordered directly, "I have a task for you. Come and sort out the data with me."

"What data is it, sir?"

"When I attacked the main star, didn't I put an Iron Warrior in each team? You do the preliminary data screening. Within one day, I want to see the Dark Angel, Luna Wolves and Word Bearers Supplemental Update Beta.”

The war blacksmith was obviously stunned for a moment.

"Nothing is wasted, dear Lord of Iron." Morse crossed his arms in front of him.

"The initial data is in the collection of information collected by the computing auxiliary system in their armor, and access rights have been opened to you. You can start working."

Perturabo ignored Morse's words, quickly ordered, and at the same time began to analyze the information he had just obtained, such as Lorgar Aurelion's personality traits, psychic sensitivity, height, weight, and possible close combat level. etc.

He connected the data cables he needed one by one, closed his eyes, and leaned back in the chair.

In the database of the Court of Narni, a new man with gold inscriptions on his skin was gradually added to the display cabinets that already contained models of Rogal Dorn, Magnus, Angron and others.