Warhammer 40k: Shattered Steel Soul

"How do you feel, my brother?" Horus asked cheerfully.

Finally freed from the mysterious dinner party that was entangled in endless dangers and turbulent eddies, Horus's relief showed through all his body language and verbal language - although he lingered as he watched the Emperor and Mors alone. The hand on the edge of the door panel fully confirmed his unspoken reluctance.

"In which way?" answered Perturabo.

"Oh, all these things." Horus spread his palms and drew them in the air, encompassing Bucephalus and the endless world outside the porthole. "The Emperor's fleet left Olympia, suspended in orbit, and met the Emperor. If you really have nothing to say, it's fine to criticize me."

"Would it be better to give you a few compliments?"

"Then I will find a way to be worthy of your praise." Horus replied humorously, and Perturabo smiled.

The young giant looked at the golden landscape corridor they were walking in and the hall under the corridor. The air was filled with just the right amount of light incense, a smell that would intoxicate even the Primarch's discerning sense of smell.

Every structural line takes into account the balance between aesthetics and practicality. If you have to choose between the two, then the design here is more aesthetically inclined. The exquisite use of light and shadow in various details, or the visual guidance of the ubiquitous complex patterns, together turn the interior of the ship into a splendid and distant dream, and one of thousands of footnotes to the emperor's sacred aura. .

Perturabo could not help but compare the interior with the drawings he had made. In fact, his brain came up with the answer before he subjectively explicitly wanted to compare.

In Bucephalus, the place where the wisdom of countless craftsmen of mankind gathered together. When they built the palace, they could not help but present the splendor and fantasy to the emperor. Although it was beautiful and magnificent, it was something that Perturabo would not use. plan.

"It's beautiful here," Perturabo said. "Aesthetically, I can't fault it."

Horus laughed softly, his face glowing with glory. "What about practicality?" he asked.

"It is enough for a flagship of the Lord of the Empire." Perturabo said, and asked a question that just entered his mind: "But the Empire will not prepare a fleet of this style for me. Bar?"

Horus's laughter diminished and his smile widened. He lowered his voice, lowered his head slightly and whispered to Perturabo: "I told my father that there is no dividing line between architectural beauty and practicality here. And you are the first person who feels the same as me."

"Because I'm your brother?" Perturabo smiled uncomfortably along with Horus and told a joke that he thought should be pretty good.

Horus nodded sharply, and the soft wolf fur on the thick wolf skin hanging outside the shoulder armor swayed, reflecting the bright golden light in the surrounding environment.

"More than that, I think the reason is that you are a very sensible brother." Horus said.

"And don't worry, your legion is incompatible with the style here. When I came into contact with them before, I smelled the smell of hammers and guns." He moved his nose and pretended to inhale, "Not to mention you You might have to build the flagship yourself, and the Emperor says you'd prefer that.

The warm humor of the Returned Son and the sacred sublimity of the Emperor are two completely different emotional forces. They both made Perturabo spend his entire childhood with the unpredictable and cold guy Morse. I felt a strangeness that was hard to touch.

But he does yearn for it all. thought Pertura. As Morse sometimes commented on him, he could not deceive his true heart with rejection and withdrawal.

These people, these people he saw today, are undoubtedly his relatives.

"Can I see them today?" asked Perturabo.

Horus stopped. Next to him was a large window as clean as a mirror. The Shepherd God placed his hands on the golden railings carved with smooth patterns by the window, and his whole body seemed to blend in with the vastness of the stars outside.

"Of course. Right here," he said, "this is the best place to observe the outside fleet. Look out from this window, how far is your fleet from Bucephalus, and what ships are coming? You can see it clearly. This is a good place that I accidentally compared when I was walking on the boat with my father.”

Horus turned to look at Perturabo: "I now impart to you the secrets of this place, my brother."

Perturabo also put his hand on the golden railing, and their tall figures were reflected on the surface of the glass. The light of billions of stars comes from the vast Milky Way and merges with their reflections. It can be said that their bodies contain twinkling nebulae, or they are the incarnations of countless stars.

"Then wait here." Perturabo said, "I have seen a scene very similar to this in my sleep."

"A magnificent dream?"

"Not necessarily. It was all nightmares at first," he recalled of the malicious bruises and scars in the sky. "The stars were staring at me and whispering in my ears like ghosts."

"But then it was never the same again. I sat on the edge of the clock tower, looked up at the stars, deduced my astronomical formulas step by step, and imagined the planets surrounding each bright point of light, as well as the cities and people on the planets."

Half of his mind gradually sank into the memories of the past, floating in the air and looking back at the cross section of time. The manuscripts were scattered on the floor of the Lokos Library, passing through the narrow creaking stairs, climbing out of the skylight, running on the tilted brown-red tiles - black tiles under the moon, chasing the back of the black robe in front of him, panting and climbing up the bell tower, and together imagining the hillside, the forest, the moonlight, the lake and the bay across the hill, and the orange-red lights and the sleeping city-state across the bay.

"Later, I often imagined more specific people and things," Perturabo said, "Imagine a different world and a better life."

"That's good." Horus replied, "This is exactly what my father wanted to bring to the human world scattered across the galaxy. To this end, he launched the Great Crusade."

"Starting from Terra?"

"The premise of crossing the sea of ​​stars is a unified Terra."

"Terra..." Perturabo pondered for a moment, "What is it like?"

"Multiple cores of industry, politics, military and culture. The Imperial Palace is there, thousands of times more magnificent and glorious than this flagship." Horus' face showed a pride that needed no further explanation.

"Is there a sea?" Perturabo asked.

Horus held the golden railing tighter, and his pride faded.

"No." Horus said, "I'm sorry, not only the ocean, there is no water on Terra."

Perturabo looked at Horus steadily, and in a moment, he turned his face to the thousands of stars outside the window again.

"When I participate in the construction of Terra, I will make the ocean reappear on Terra." He announced firmly.

"You can do it." Horus smiled.

Perturabo snorted and accepted the compliment without hesitation.

Horus calculated the time in his mind, "Your fleet will soon appear in our sight, Perturabo. The commanders of the companies of the Fourth Legion are coming to meet, and the army is still on standby on Terra. I will send them here to meet you later."

Perturabo narrowed his eyes slightly and looked at the end of the dark universe. "I will meet them at the boarding gate later. What are we talking about now? Imperial truth?"

"You don't sound very in favor of our truth." Horus said.

"If you had seen Morse's true appearance, you would not agree with it either." Perturabo said, and added in his mind that there was also the unspeakable brass realm and the golden light band brought by the Emperor's first appearance.

"Well," Horus thought for a while, "then let's talk about your mentor Morse? Do you know his past?"

Despite trying hard to conceal it, Horus's tone was still too curious and eager.

Perturabo shrugged. "I only know that he is from Terra. If I have the chance, I would also like to know his past experiences. What about you? Do you know the Emperor's past?"

"I only know that he is from Terra." Horus said the same thing. The two looked at each other and shook their heads helplessly.