The Emperor’s Angel of Death

Just as Soshyan was enjoying a rare moment of leisure, in a highly enclosed and heavily guarded area on the lower decks of the Eternal Crusader, armed servitors patrolled back and forth, and various automatic turrets scanned the corridors incessantly.

At this moment, a towering figure emerged from an opened gate, and dozens of scanners instantly locked onto him before disengaging their alert, allowing him to stride effortlessly through the corridor to a massive, heavy alloy gate at the far end.

However, he did not rush to open the door but instead pulled open a small observation window.

The space inside was incredibly dim, with only a table and a flickering candle barely visible; the candle's light was so weak that it couldn't even illuminate the edges of the table, only the items on it.

It was a chessboard, already set up for the game of Regicide.

Black and white pieces alternated on the black and white board, each piece carved with roles such as soldiers, chariots, bishops, and kings.

Then, a hand reached out from the darkness and moved a white pawn; the black pieces facing it were already in a defensive formation; while the white move avoided the black's planned layout, its tactical nature was overly weak.

The black side chose to sacrifice a pawn to gain the initiative; interestingly, after the white deliberately avoided the black's layout, the black pieces ultimately formed a near-centrally symmetrical formation with the white.

The observer, from a third-person perspective, realized that although the black pieces were still behind the white in this symmetrical game, the two sides had formed a symmetrical situation, but the white pieces bore a heavier burden because the white would inevitably castle short, which would place the white king under the black's fire, while the black had no need to castle long, so the defense of the black king was not as burdensome.

It was evident that although the situation was symmetrical, the first mover did not necessarily have the advantage.

Due to the white's careless choices, they now felt pressure on their side of the board and attempted to alleviate it by exchanging pieces.

However, the black side did not continue to advance; this stillness contained profound meaning.

This move simultaneously connected the black's two rooks on the back rank and provided protection for the bishop on the white square, strengthening the black's ability to confront the white; moreover, when the knight on the left moved out in the future, it would free up a position for the queen to control the white's slow and lagging left flank; this "one stone, three birds" move was the best response to the white's "tickling" tactics.

This was soon verified; the black's stillness left the white empty-handed, wasting a tempo on their lagging position, which allowed the black to accelerate the development of their pieces.

Realizing the unfavorable situation, the white also prepared to expedite the movement of the slow left flank knight to participate in the defense of the king's city, but this move seemed to be made just for the sake of moving a piece, making the future path very vague, while the black side felt that their coordination was in place, so they decisively moved the knight, and thus, the black side sounded the horn to attack the white's king's city.

The observer chuckled and pushed open the door, and with the help of the dim light from outside, the chess player at the table was revealed.

Okham, having removed his armor and wearing a rough robe, sat in the middle of the table, also the axis of the chessboard, with the black and white pieces on his left and right sides respectively; he looked like an observer, or rather, a third party.

He didn't even lift his eyelids when the door opened, still staring at the chess game, as if he knew who it would be.

"Quite leisurely, aren't you? But Soshyan is furious because of you."

Talos, also not wearing power armor, closed the door behind him, plunging the cell back into darkness, then pulled over a chair and sat down.

"Temporary; his wife will appease him."

"So you counted on Soshyan and his wife's good temper to do this."

Talos lit a lighter, illuminating their faces, then took out a cigarette and lit it.

After taking a deep breath, he exhaled a smoke ring.

"You seem to enjoy single-handedly leveraging this war involving tens of billions of people; is this a common flaw among the Alpha Legion, thinking being a mastermind is something remarkable?"

Okham still didn't look up; after more than thirty moves, the white's chariot, idle in the corner, finally entered the main battlefield, but the situation was already dire; although the white had a chariot and a bishop, they were no match for four hands.

"Enjoy? No, that's a distant word for me; all I care about is the goal."

"Goal?"

Talos chuckled, sneering.

"What goal could a vagrant like you have? To become the master of the Twentieth Legion? Or to become a god?"

"For a planner, a schemer, the greatest goal is the ultimate; I see the ultimate in Soshyan, an ultimate scheme, an ultimate goal; whether it's controlling it or destroying it, it's a goal worth trying for me."

Talos turned his head away with contempt.

"You're obsessed; I knew there were no normal people in the Alpha Legion."

"Anyone else might find it difficult to understand, but you, Talos Valcoran, you must understand."

Talos said nothing, just took two more puffs of his cigarette.

After a long time, he slowly said:

"What exactly do you want to do?"

"Prevent Soshyan from achieving complete success."

"Because of Terra?"

"You actually know, but if you insist on playing dumb, then yes, it's Terra; I've been questioning the purpose of the Great Crusade since its very beginning; after a long and meticulous deduction, combined with some news and intelligence obtained from various sources, I've made this judgment: a force is constantly pushing Soshyan upward, pushing him to an unparalleled height, and when he and his legion grow strong, it's likely to be the next Age of Apostasy."

"So what?"

Okham raised his head for the first time, leaning forward to expose his face to the candlelight, but it was still dim and flickering.

"Someone, or rather some force, wants to use Soshyan's hand to control the Imperium, to make him the savior of the Imperium, the savior of mankind, an existence almost like a Primarch, and then legitimately seize power in the High Lords of Terra, even at the cost of launching a purge."

"Sounds too conspiratorial; not all the other Primarchs are dead."

"Talos, why are you deceiving yourself? You've been with Soshyan the longest; you know better than anyone what's happening to him; seizing control of the Imperium is just the first step in this ultimate plan; the appearance of Leman Russ and Corax is enough to show that they at least partially know about this plan; I can't see through you, so I don't know your plan, but I believe our goals should be the same."

"Heh, that sounds like some kind of insult; you know what I hate most? First, the Dark Angels; second, the Ultramarines; and third, you Alpha Legion."