Warhammer: Beginning with Planetary Governors

Chapter 8 Bad news, lost contact with the Empire
"Why, do we have a fourth level of tax exemption?"

Ron couldn't believe that the planets or regimes that could obtain tax exemptions were all those that had made significant contributions to the empire.

Ers is a low-level hive planet and it doesn't look like it would be eligible for tax exemption.

"God, it seems that you have really forgotten a lot of things." Bayev's expression was a little heavy: "This matter started five years ago."

He pointed to the assessment report on the table: "Five years ago, the Holy Terra Ministry of the Interior raised the tax level of the planet Ers..."

As Bayev told the story, Ron finally understood what happened that year.

That is the story about Ron's father, Old Grant, the former governor of the planet Ers.

Ers is a typical mineral-producing planet with a well-developed mining industry.

Under the rule of the former governor, Grant the Elder, mineral resources were developed in an orderly manner, and after paying the tithe to the empire, there was still a lot of surplus.

Compared with other extravagant, violent and incompetent planetary governors, old Grant is relatively kind. At least he is willing to care about the lives of his people.

Under his leadership, the planet thrived.

The people of Ers don't have to work day and night in the mines and die of exhaustion, nor do they have to worry about starving. They can occasionally eat some bread mixed with sawdust.

In this cruel universe, this is a life like no other.

This continued until officials from the Holy Terra Interior Ministry arrived.

They evaluated Ers and determined that the planet had greater tax potential.

They miscalculated the bearing capacity of the planet Ers and raised the tax level by three levels!

Old Grant appealed desperately, but all his appeals fell on deaf ears and he received no response.

As the tax season approached, after receiving repeated warnings, old Grant had no choice but to mobilize all his forces to exploit resources.

However, reckless mining has caused great damage to the environment, frequent mining accidents, and the deaths of millions of people.

"Is there no other way?"

Although he knew the result, Ron couldn't help but ask this question.

"Do you mean to resist?"

Bayev shook his head: "Resistance is unwise and meaningless"

“That would be a betrayal of the Empire. Ers will become a battlefield, and the people of Ers will shed their last drop of blood in their homeland!

No one can refuse the Empire's orders.

The Imperium possesses a vast fleet of thousands, hundreds of billions of soldiers, and millions of powerful space marines.

Just sending a fleet or a squadron of space marines could easily destroy the planet Ers.

The consequences of not paying taxes are serious.

"The tithe is a sign of loyalty to the Emperor. It is the greatest obligation of every citizen of the Empire. It applies to everyone and no one can refuse it."

Bayev sighed: "Your father knew this truth very well, but he was not cruel enough...

The result was that he was unable to collect the corresponding materials and the tax payment was delayed.

Your father begged the Ministry of the Interior to give him more time, but those damn officials in the Ministry of the Interior only cared about tax revenue and didn't care about the suffering of the people on the planet Ers!

They believed that Ers was resisting taxation, so they sent a judge from the Ministry of Justice to investigate."

Ron's heart sank; the magistrate's intervention meant that things had gotten out of hand.

"What were the results of the investigation?"

"The Inquisitor's team was attacked by Chaos Heretics. The Inquisitor himself was slightly injured, but a female investigator died. It was an accident..."

Ron sighed. They had just arrived to investigate and were attacked. You said it was an accident. Who would believe it?
Bayev seemed to know what Ron was thinking and continued, "As you think, the judge does not believe this was an accident.

He was so angry that he reported the matter to the Inquisition, claiming that Chaos had corrupted the planet Ers and that a comprehensive cleansing was needed! "

My goodness, is the judge so angry that he dares to involve the trial court?

The Inquisition was the Imperium's most powerful secret agency during the Horus Heresy, charged with identifying and destroying all threats to the Imperium and humanity.

The Inquisition has extremely broad powers, with no formal hierarchy or centralized leadership, and is accountable only to the Emperor.

This means that the Inquisitors are free to maintain the survival and continuation of the Empire in any way they see fit. Without restraint, the Inquisitors often become fanatical and ruthless madmen, killing even their own people when they are crazy.

As Ron expected, the judge had the bad luck of meeting a manic judge.

The Inquisitor's important ceremony was interrupted, and he came to the planet Ers with anger.

When he arrived at the place, he first investigated the magistrate.

After finding relevant evidence, the judge was executed on the spot for accepting bribes and abusing his power.

The Inquisitor then investigated the planet Ers, but nothing went wrong; it was really just an accident.

Old Grant thought the matter would come to an end, but the judge believed that paying taxes was a sacred obligation and the cornerstone of the empire.

No planet, no matter what the reason, may evade taxes.

If everything were like the planet Ers, the empire would be unstable and in danger of collapse.

Therefore, Ers must fulfill its obligations, not only paying the overdue taxes, but also paying fines!
Old Grant begged the Inquisitor to think about the people of Ers, who could not bear such a burden.

"Life is the Emperor's coin, and sacrifice is the cornerstone of the Empire!" said the almost insane Inquisitor.

In this way, under the supervision of the Inquisitor, Ers launched an inhumane taxation, and anyone who resisted would be executed.

Tens of billions of people on the planet worked day and night, billions of people died in the mines, and a large number of people were sent to the Star Army to fight against the aliens on the front line.

By the time the tax was over, Ers had lost half of its population, and the planet's surface had been extensively damaged, with deadly pollution everywhere.

"After paying such a price, the people of Ers finally collected the taxes required by the Inquisitor."

Bayev said with tears in his eyes: "Those are Ers' blood and tears!"

“When the judge left, Lord Grant begged him to help appeal, saying that the planet Ers really couldn’t bear such heavy taxes.

I hope he can tell the Holy Terra Ministry of the Interior the true situation of Ers, so that they can re-evaluate Ers and lower the tax level of Ers."

"Did you agree?"

Bayev's eyes were red: "He, he chopped off Lord Grant's head, and the blood splattered all over everyone...

He declared Lord Grant a heretic and said he smelled chaos!
But Lord Grant is so kind, how could he be a heretic?"

Ron clenched his fists slightly: "What's the name of that judge?"

"It doesn't matter, he's already dead"

what?
Ron was incredible.

The Inquisitor is a powerful being that can fight against Chaos, Aliens, and any potential threats, and can even fight against Chaos Demons in single combat.

How could he die so easily?

Bayev answered Ron's doubts: "It wasn't us who killed him, it was the subspace storm..."

An accident occurred after the Inquisitor's ship set out into the Warp.

The powerful warp storm tore the ship apart, and the wreckage, along with human body parts, was thrown out of the warp and fell to the ground.

"The Inquisitor has lost a small part of his body. He is lying on the ground unable to move. Order us to treat him immediately!"

Bayev spoke, seeming to be relieved: "We can save him, but no one moved, just watching him.

Watch him bow his head and beg for our help, watch him slowly become desperate and start to curse our blasphemies...

Everyone watched him struggle on the ground until he died!"

Ron sighed and patted Bayev on the shoulder.

"Maybe what Old Mike said is right..." Bayev wiped away the tears from his eyes: "We blasphemed the Emperor of God, and we were abandoned!"

"Why?" Ron asked puzzled.

"That inexplicable warp storm destroyed the route, and the planet's only astropath also died. We have been cut off from Holy Terra until now..."

Astropaths are important intermediaries between the Imperial territories and Holy Terra. Under normal circumstances, warp storms will not affect them.

A warp storm powerful enough to kill the astropath instantly?
Ron stood up quickly: "Is it a big crack?"

(End of this chapter)