The Emperor’s Angel of Death

"Things have been a mess over on Terra for a while now!"

No sooner had Hannefer spoken than Armand stomped his foot fiercely.

"To think they'd try to turn the Astartes into tools for political infighting! The Empire is the way it is now because of vermin like that! I wish we had another Van Gerrick to just wipe them all out!"

"That's just speculation. Anyway, let's leave it at that for now. I need to work with the other Inquisitors to figure out how to bring Sosiun and the Covenant of Sorrow into a set of rules that can restrain him. If someone like him can walk the right path, he might really become one of the Empire's greatest heroes in the future, but if he goes down the wrong path, he could become the most terrifying traitor. I think the direction needs to change. We need to protect him and guide him."

"What do you mean by that? Are you going to compromise? Hmph! We represent the ultimate will of the Throne, and we should only consider one thing: using the sword of faith to eliminate any rebels who dare to betray the Throne! Regardless of who he is! Even political stability is not something we should be concerned about. We are not bureaucrats in offices; we are supervisors, secret police, and executioners!"

"The Covenant of Sorrow is crucial for the stability of the Storm Region. We can't deal with it with brute force. Our duty is to protect, not destroy."

"If you take a step back today, they'll dare to take another step forward tomorrow. Don't forget what the Inquisition relies on to maintain its authority: an unwavering will! Even the Astartes must bow their heads before us, or the Empire will immediately fall into chaos! You've seen what Sosiun is like. He's not a simple Astartes. If he continues to develop like this, who will be able to control him in the future? You? Me? Terra? An Astartes Chapter that is no longer subject to any restrictions—do you know how much damage that could cause?"

Faced with his stubborn colleague, Hannefer sighed softly, then shook his head helplessly.

"What's the point of saying all this now? Why didn't you stop the Covenant of Sorrow when it was first established? Why didn't you stop the Star Knights when their power hadn't recovered yet? Now that they've grown strong, you're thinking of stopping them. Can you bear the cost?"

"No cost is unacceptable, and no betrayal is forgivable. What are the principles of the Inquisition? I hope you haven't forgotten. The Astartes Chapters must be tamed. If we compromise, we'll be setting a precedent that can't be set. The Inquisition's current strength in the face of the Astartes Chapters has been bought at a great price. The Abyss Expedition of M37, you haven't forgotten that, have you? Thirty Astartes Chapters had to submit to orders, and although it proved to be a tragedy, it also had its value, regarded as a sign that the Inquisition had tamed the Astartes Chapters. How many Chapters does the Covenant of Sorrow have now? We can order them to launch another Abyss Expedition! This requires the unity and effort of everyone, not thinking about how to compromise!"

Delia, who had been watching the two without speaking, gently said in a slow voice:

"Those thirty Chapters were unrelated to each other and were located in regions with strong Imperial power like the Maelstrom Zone and the Sol System, but the Chapters of the Covenant of Sorrow have long been united and have become a monolith after years of cooperation. I've heard that even the Mantis Warriors have joined recently. If this scale of nearly ten Chapters rebels, the current Empire is not the same as the Empire of M37. The Badab War saw only four Chapters cause chaos, and the Empire had difficulty coping. If the more powerful Covenant of Sorrow rebels in the remote and barren Storm Region, Armand, do you think the Empire will deal with the problem of the Covenant of Sorrow, or... will it deal with the person who raised the problem? The Badab War is almost a century in the past, and you know better than anyone the current state of decline of the Empire. Hannefer is right, the Covenant of Sorrow has become a force to be reckoned with. Moreover, Sosiun Alax is no ordinary Astartes. He still holds the title of Lord Commander granted by Terra and has dealings with many Forge Worlds. If we act rashly, let alone seize his handle, we might end up humiliated again like this time. He can mobilize far more resources than we imagine, and he might even get the Ecclesiarchy to abandon a solitary Grand Inquisitor. It would be better to adopt more moderate measures for now."

After Delia said this, Armand had to think. After a dozen seconds of silence, he rasped:

"We need to shift our attention from the Covenant of Sorrow to Sosiun himself. This incident is not just a demonstration, but also a warning. He doesn't even take us seriously. Didn't you see that he didn't even ask us if we accepted it when he left? He just warned us that he has the political resources to fight us."

His view was agreed upon by the other two. Armand, this seemingly crude Inquisitor, was actually more clear-headed than anyone else. Hannefer nodded and said:

"Yes, so in the future, I plan to start with his homeworld. Since he took up residence in the Nason System, the Inquisition has never successfully established a base there. I think that means something. Perhaps that place hides some secret that he doesn't want people to discover. If nothing else, we can find out the Star Knights' combat readiness. In this day and age, especially in a place like the Storm Region, maintaining stability is already extremely difficult. Unless it's a matter of principle, we should try not to provoke incidents."

After talking for a long time, Armand impatiently waved his weapon and looked at the Chaos objects.

"By the way, who should keep these?"

After returning to the Victory's Scar, Sosiun immediately notified Seth and Mazal that he had resolved the matter, the Relictors Chapter had been cleared of wrongdoing, and the Covenant of Sorrow's initiation ceremony could begin.

Subsequently, representatives of all the Covenant members, Sosiun, Seth, Mazal, Arash, etc., gathered in the Hall of Oaths of old, but some were absent. The Chapter Master of the Space Wolves sent the Second Company Captain to attend because he was leading his troops in battle, while the Lamenters sent Tenth Company Captain Malakin to attend.

Among them, the Lamenters were the strangest. It wasn't that Malakin was too busy to participate, but according to the Lamenters' Tenth Company Captain, they couldn't contact the Chapter at all!

That's right, the Lamenters had disappeared, but not completely, because nine months ago, the Covenant of Sorrow received a red signal from Sandheim V, an agricultural world part of the Saint Caspalen diocese, with a population of approximately two billion, mostly farmers (serfs), whose food production primarily supplied billions of people on religious worlds. However, a severe Genestealer uprising had recently occurred, and the Ecclesiarchy militia was completely unable to suppress it. Furthermore, the planet was located on the outermost edge of the Storm Region, almost beyond the reach of the Astronomican. For a time, there were no forces nearby to provide aid, and Malakin immediately led seven companies of the Chapter to assist.