The Emperor’s Angel of Death

Soshjan was well aware that the Inquisition's demand was no longer about catching murderers or, so to speak, comforting the unfortunate Inquisitor's soul in heaven. What they were now demanding was "obedience." They wanted to see the Brotherhood of Suffering, this Astartes organization, respect and obey the authority of the Inquisition.

Perhaps to outsiders, this was just a foolish dispute over honor, but its underlying cause was extremely profound political reasons.

The authority of the Astartes came from the fact that their transformation technology originated from the Emperor's own hands and from the Primarchs as sons of the Emperor, but this was only the source of holiness. The real authority came from their power, their overwhelming absolute power over all living beings.

But Inquisitors were different. No matter what their origins or backgrounds, even if they were psykers, they were, in the end, merely mortals. Therefore, what supported their activities in this chaotic, disorderly, and crisis-ridden empire was the majesty they had accumulated over ten thousand years of judging, executing, and even massacring everyone, whether mortal or Astartes.

Tireen once said to Soshjan that loyalty was the Inquisitor's blade, faith was the Inquisitor's armor, but authority was their life.

Without authority, the blade and armor were just dead objects worn on a corpse.

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Therefore, the Inquisition had to, and could only, maintain their authority in an almost mad way. This was why most Inquisitors cultivated an image of not accepting any doubts, not giving any explanations, and being stubborn and self-willed. Any challenge to the Inquisition's authority would greatly touch the nerves of the Inquisitors, leading to fierce backlash.

This was not an emotion or some kind of arrogance, but their very foundation for survival. After all, without that gilded authority, how could they, as mere mortals, frighten those imperial bigwigs who controlled a world or a legion? Relying solely on the legal power of life and death could not actually deter everyone.

Under this mentality, the Inquisition would even occasionally use some small matters to conduct "domestication" trials against certain organizations, especially against the Astartes. They had never stopped conducting obedience tests on Astartes chapters, and of course, this had also led to many conflicts, and countless Inquisitors had died, but they were still孜孜以求(persistently pursuing).

Soshjan deeply agreed with this point, and he also saw that the Inquisition's goal had changed now, no longer the Relictors Chapter, but the entire Brotherhood of Suffering.

Although Mazar was not as radical as Seth, he also believed that the Brotherhood of Suffering could not back down at this time, because the Inquisition was a group of people who were very good at taking advantage of any opportunity. Once a gap was opened, subsequent demands would be endless until they turned this alliance into their tool.

After talking with the two chapter masters, Soshjan had a preliminary plan in mind. He first arranged for people to find Alexei's secret strongholds. Every famous Inquisitor would have their own exclusive strongholds, and usually more than one, for use as interrogation rooms, treasure rooms, or temporary rest and escape from political enemies. Then, he had people investigate how many followers Alexei still had alive and where they were currently located.

Logically speaking, these would have been very difficult to investigate, because Inquisitors not only acted secretly, but also possessed the highest authority in all Imperial systems. No one could find any clues about them from the official level, but...

Alexei was an exclusivist Inquisitor, and the exclusivists were very, very close to the Ecclesiarchy. Therefore, it was much easier to start from the Ecclesiarchy's side. Although the Ecclesiarchy might not be willing to cooperate, Soshjan had a bargaining chip in his hand that they could not refuse, enough to make the Ecclesiarchy's upper echelons sell out Alexei's information.

[ ]

After these two things had results, he met alone with Artukus Bardan, the chapter master of the Relictors Chapter.

"Chapter Master Soshjan Alexey, I have long admired your name. It is surprising to meet you today."

In the main office of the Victory Scars, Artukus shook Soshjan's hand, looked at this Imperial legend who was wearing master-crafted power armor but was still much taller than himself, and sighed repeatedly.

"Outsiders say that you have a heroic appearance similar to that of a Primarch. It is indeed true. It is truly a miracle of the Emperor."

"Ha, I was relatively tall even before the modification. This...maybe it is indeed the Emperor's blessing."

Soshjan smiled slightly, avoided the topic of his height, and led the other party to sit on a chair against the east wall of the office, and then returned to sit behind the huge wooden desk.

"Brother Artukus, your chapter has been an observer of the Brotherhood of Suffering for some time, and has also carried out many missions throughout the Storm Star Region. The various Mechanicus and hive worlds have also given your chapter high praise."

"Serving the Throne and humanity is our mission and responsibility."

Soshjan looked at this warrior who had served for nearly four hundred years. He seemed to be no different from all other Astartes, or perhaps Astartes had a high degree of consistency in emotions and expressions.

But as Mazar said, this person also had a certain unique concealing temperament, which easily reminded Soshjan of the Dark Angels.

"Brother Artukus, allow me to ask a question. What exactly is the reason why your chapter wants to join the Brotherhood of Suffering?"

"The Brotherhood of Suffering is the epitome and symbol of the unity of Astartes brothers today. The Codex Astartes has divided us into chapters of a thousand men, and has also led some forces in the Imperial bureaucracy to believe that the Astartes have become weak and no longer have the power to defend their honor and traditions. They have begun to slander and attack us by any means. Many chapters have suffered persecution, but this has never happened in the Great Crusade, because at that time we had Primarchs, we had Legions, we were united together, and the villains did not dare to act rashly. Now all of this has disappeared, but at least we can choose to help each other and jointly defend our honor. This is the reason why we chose to join the Brotherhood of Suffering. We believe that only by uniting can we better resist enemies inside and outside the Imperium."

Soshjan heard this and said nothing, just raised his right hand and scratched his temple with his fingers, then suddenly chuckled and said:

"Brother Artukus, how many Greater Daemons have you banished so far?"

Artukus was stunned and didn't even react. Soshjan then repeated the question in a heavier tone.

"Brother Artukus, how many Greater Daemons have you banished in the past while collecting so many Chaos weapons?"

"That's not true."

"Our tenth company captain has already told me about your affairs. I think he should have also explained his views. Of course, my point of view is slightly different from his. Weapons can be used, but...Brother Artukus, I am not belittling you, but, the Chaos weapons that you can collect will definitely not be anything very powerful, or rather, the power of those that can be collected by you will not be very good. You pay such a huge risk, but gain almost nothing."