Warhammer 40k: Shattered Steel Soul

Chapter 380 The Emperor’s Children·In the Prison of Lycaeus

"Okay, Cobos, I admit that I make some mistakes from time to time... I admit that I shouldn't ask your people stupid questions, such as why you don't have a strike or march with the people in the technical guild. ——Emperor, there has never been such a slave organization in my Tizca! Although this does not prevent us from being tortured by the Soul Devouring Bees..."

Magnus chattered in frustration as he walked with Corvus Corax through the long, dark tunnels. The latter said nothing, and his long black hair blocked most of his pale face, making the red original body unable to figure out what was going on in his little brother's mind.

Normally, Magnus doesn't like to use telepathy for spying. This is not just a matter of disrespect. This left the Red Primarch to use his poor social knowledge to bet that the well-meaning Corvos was not angry.

"Well, I mean, I apologize for what I said before, Raven. You did a great job freeing your Lycaeus from the clutches of the Chiaval Guild, and I did a great job. You didn’t help much, your own guerrilla tactics are so beautiful, I don’t even know what I’m here for…”

Judging only from appearance and marching style, sometimes Magnus would feel that Corvos and Conrad have some similarities, but when he thinks of how many times the troublesome Night Ghost Blood Marquis has publicly ridiculed everyone except Everyone except Perturabo, and how many scares he caused with his elusive and silent ability, Magnus felt that it was too much to compare the friendly Corax Corax with Konrad. Make the former feel wronged.

The long corridor that smelled of oil flickered reluctantly in the dim light of the lumen lamp, intermittently illuminating the dirty dripping walls.

Not long ago, this was a gloomy prison where many prisoners were held. Some shackles and instruments of torture were still placed in the shadow of the prison. It seemed that there were still faint wails and high-pitched screams compressed to the extreme, echoing in the memory of the prison.

The divisions and ignorance of the old night have created too many misfortunes, and institutional chains are the most common one.

Magnus did not like this environment, and his sensitive mind would be overly receptive to the emotional residue around him, but he followed closely behind the nineteenth Primarch, refusing to show his discomfort.

"But I feel like I can say something about this, or I don't understand why you're doing this. It makes me really confused..."

"Which thing?" Corvus Corax asked. His voice was very soft, like a whisper in the shadows, floating into Magnus's ears.

"You know what I'm referring to, brother. So many of your old comrades have strong opinions on the guild that now has the power to rule. After all, it was the former slave owner of your home planet. Although... God, I Those old friends put me in a bad position to say these things, but your heart is the same as theirs, isn’t it?”

"They are attacking the Guild. No one wants to kill the Guild members with their own hands, Magnus, but the Adeptus Mechanicus will cooperate with the Technological Guild. They have made an agreement."

Corvus Corax said, turning around, raising his head slightly, facing Magnus. Under the cold light, his face was paler than usual, like an afterimage that only existed in the light. Lumen lights disappear immediately when dimmed.

"Magnus, for the benefit of the Empire. You told me personally that the Empire's truth will help mankind enter a new era, and there are still trillions of people in the galaxy waiting for me to liberate them one by one."

Magnus was relieved when Corax was willing to stop and listen.

"Do you really think so, Cobos? To be precise, I mean, this is indeed the official statement of the empire, but are you willing to endorse it? No... To be clearer, do you endorse this sentence? All literal and hidden meanings?”

Corvus avoided Magnus's eyes, and Magnus hoped it wasn't the sudden change of color in his own eyes that startled him. The expression of the Nineteenth Primarch became a little gloomy.

"Did you come here specifically to accuse me, brother?" he said lowly. "Why did you make this decision?"

"Hey, Corax, do you think where your Lycaeus and Chiaval will go in the future has anything to do with my Prospero?" Magnus said angrily.

Of course he could hear that Covos was testing his attitude, and at the same time, he was testing the attitude of the entire human empire.

I really don’t know what those officials from the Ministry of Interior said to Cobos! It's really bad.

After Magnus followed Konrad's advice and really found Corax in Lycaeus - which will soon be renamed the Savior - and guided the subsequent arrival of the Imperial administration and the Mechanicum. , Magnus had already left with the fleet. He was delighted to leave the transformation of Lycaeus to the Nineteenth Primarch himself.

Apart from the various theories related to autonomy and independence, Magnus himself was not confident that he could play a guiding role in the transformation of a planet's system and economy.

Maybe what Cobos really needs is a Robert.

Since his birth, Magnus has been the top scholar in the entire human empire, and Tizca, which he governs, has always been the ideal capital of the empire. Although it is not as good as Perturabo's Olympia, the people of Tizca are as good as Disagreement among people even mainly exists in intellectual and theoretical debates, rather than more specific life trivial matters and institutional disputes.

He knew that his talent in governance was far from Robert Guilliman's, just as their depth of knowledge in non-realistic matters was exactly the opposite; they had also read through many classics on statecraft, but when it came to practical application, It's a different story entirely.

"No," Corax answered Magnus's question, "I did not imprison the Prosperos, Magnus."

"But those who live in this prison now are your old friends, Cobos. They fight alongside you. You gave them the promise of the future of the Savior. Under your command, they assassinated, lurked, and guerrillaed again and again. , achieved today’s results. You should be the closest comrades, not each other’s enemies.”

Magnus said, a sadness wrapping around his heart. His Tizcan scholars had gone awry decades earlier, though he undoubtedly had a share in Prospero's disaster at the time. Except for a few people who followed Amon's advice and left early, they all died.

Regardless, Magnus did not want to see a second Primarch turn against his old friends on his home planet.

"Magnus," Corax said, "they assassinated a dozen members of the guild. Once, that meant they stood up to tyranny. Now, it means they turn on subordinate officials of the Imperium of Man. I will What position do you have to protect them?”

"I..." Magnus was stunned for a moment.

"In addition, I didn't put them in this prison. They were voluntarily arrested in exchange for assassination, and entered here on their own initiative, asking to talk to me." He paused, "They want to find me."

They entered the elevator, and the iron frame carried the two Primarchs rapidly down through the prison until they were stopped by magnetic brakes. They were close to the most cruel and terrifying area in the entire prison, but they had never really gone that deep.

This reminded Magnus of his first arrival in Lycaeus. Konrad Curze only told him that his brother was in prison, which made him think that Covos had been captured by the locals and imprisoned. He anxiously personally navigated the fleet and rushed through the subspace.

The first thing he did when he arrived here was to sweep every corner of the prison with a spell, and he was confused to find that he found nothing, until Corvus Corax suddenly appeared outside the window of his landing craft at night, in the dark. Her eyes were hidden in the pale face, staring straight at him.

This is my prison, Cobos once said. It is also our battle base, our tower, our fortress, our home.

"Corvos," Magnus said slowly, "I...I don't know. But what do you think of your old friends?"

“Part of them supports my decision,” Corax said, the changing light shining on his long black hair, like the light that emerges after the clouds and smoke leave on dripping steel at night, “They say, I save With this planet in mind, I know best where it will go in the future, and they will not use their limited wisdom to speculate on me.”

"What about the other part?"

"They think I'm a traitor," Corax said, his voice wavering.

Magnus took a breath, "Did they really say that?"

"No, no one has said that to me..."

"You think you are."

Corax pursed his lips.

"Magnus..." he called out the scholar's name and stopped, "I cannot stay in Lycaeus and serve my people. I cannot follow the wishes of my people and provide them with the rule they want. method. They will suffer, but they will not suffer as much as those who are more in need of rescue, and the Empire will..."

Corvus Corax suddenly stopped talking, his shoulders trembling, unable to continue. His self-persuasion never really succeeds.

In the ensuing conversation with his old friend, Corax anticipated every accusation he would receive. The Lycaean thinkers taught them all that they belonged to the same branch of thought regarding tyranny.

The moment the Mechanicus signed the agreement with Kiaval's former ruler, he had already endured all the self-questioning in his mind. In subsequent meetings, he will be accused of abandoning the road to liberation, committing himself to greater tyranny, prevaricating the delay of justice, and forcing the people to give up their freedom.

And all he could grasp was one sentence: for the greater good of all mankind.

Magnus gave up trying to look Murkrow in the face and grabbed Corax's hand awkwardly, stilling the trembling of the other's fingers.

"You see, I don't really understand these political and theoretical things, my brother. People always think that I am just a scholar, and I am. In this regard, I have only some very simple ideas, and it is they that urge me to I returned to Lycaeus because I was afraid that the Astropath's narration and the words on the document might lead you to misunderstand me."

"What I'm trying to say is, while this may sound disrespectful to the Emperor, he would actually support it - you can strip the tentacles of the Adeptus Mechanicus and the Adeptus Mechanicus from your planet, Corax." Gnus said seriously, "Suffering is an excuse. They implement the imperial truth in a way that does not resemble the imperial truth, but you can reject them."

Corax listened quietly, always a good listener.

"Are they telling you that human society will move toward light in the future, but before that, we have to have a long period of darkness?" Magnus let go of Corax's hand and put his arm around his shoulders. .

His height allows him to do this with ease, while his narrow social circle usually doesn't give him the opportunity to actively embrace others - not Mortarion. To be fair, it feels good.

"Yes." Corax nodded.

"You must have never seen how others do it, Cobos." Magnus shook his head in disapproval, "That's why you were fooled by them. Well, relax a little, and I'll show you part of the picture."

He carefully used his psychic powers to find the scenes he needed, and took Corax with him to review the images.

"Look, this is my Tizca, the City of Light," from the turquoise-clear Valperin Sea in the middle of the track to the old Tizca district in the city, the Secret Eye Square and various pyramids of different styles. , Magnus looked at his home with pride, "There are also these areas that are being built and reclaimed. Perturabo has helped me a lot. You see, I don't care what the Ministry of Interior thinks, because I know that my The people won't like it. Prospero pays taxes to the empire anyway!"

"Also, I'm looking for pictures... yes, let's see Perturabo's Olympia. He attaches great importance to the independence of the planet Olympia, and even the entire star cluster. Every decree here goes through his sister Carifon - uh, Actually, he didn't say that she was his sister, I just thought of your Efreenia, forget it... I mean, he didn't listen to the command of the civil service system. The ability of the civil service is to make the entire empire machine run quickly. , but which direction to turn the engine on is always controversial."

"Invite and Nuceria are not very intuitive, and Macragge, Robert Guilliman manages his own place very well, who would bother him? He doesn't even want to Pay taxes.”

"Fenris is a typical example of maintaining the original ecological environment. The dirty barbarian Russ likes this. Even Mortarion and Mortarion left the Death Watch mechanical guard to protect Barbarus. And damn Konrad Coze, he... mentioning him, please pay attention to the price of his fine gold exports. I suspect that he has been targeting the empire's fine gold market recently."

Finally, Magnus let go of Corax and said helplessly: "Although it is strange to say this, you are too obedient, Corvus."

Corax silently observed the pictures that flashed before his eyes. Magnus was right, this was different from the empire he knew. The decision he had gained through repeated self-questioning was instantly washed away by the other possibility provided by Magnus, like a dam bursting.

"...There is also a sports meeting. They saved Califon's speech as audio recording data. I thought maybe you would like to listen to it."

Corax came back to his senses: "But these planets...are still an exception within the territory of the Human Empire."

"Shouldn't there be instances like this?" Magnus said. "Shouldn't there be more? Well... well! I mean, you have the right to tell the Tech Guild to leave," he tried Find out the most unsparing word in his vocabulary, "Get them out of here! Everyone has that right, but you not only have the right, you have the power. You are the only one who can save your savior Man, Dark Crow. I...forget it, no matter what, you will be the Emperor's child."

They talked and walked until the target's cell was near. Corax doesn't like prisons, so this is the only functioning prison in the entire prison tower.

Except for some deep breathing, there was no clinking of shackles or anxious yelling. The soldiers who had escaped from prison and returned here on their own initiative by assassinating guild members were quietly waiting for their end.

Magnus' voice dropped. "Will you kill them, Corax?" he asked sadly.

Corax took a deep breath, and a hint of gentle emotion that was difficult to identify appeared on his pale face.

"Thank you, Magnus," he said, "for showing me the options."

"Hey, do you know how to do it or not?"

Corvus Corax stared at him for a few seconds, then walked into the cell.