Warhammer: In the Name of Ashes.

Chapter 377 The Storm Begins
Have you ever felt like being released as a pigeon, waiting for a whole day but still not daring to leave?Or have you ever been under surveillance around the clock with guns and live ammunition, and have you been accompanied all the way to the toilet?

Brayton tried, and is suffering in this state.He swears that since he was born, the noble blood flowing in his body has never made him suffer such humiliation.

At sunset, the Terra Government Council was already brightly lit.

According to the past practice, if the high lord's executive meeting needs to be postponed, then this time should also be a relaxing time for the shadows of the emperor to rest and eat.

But today is clearly an exception.

Not only did the powerful and powerful Terran High Lords not show up at the meal, but they lightly revealed their future policies while pushing glasses and changing dishes, and they did not have any order to send food into the meeting room.

On the contrary, since the arrival of several fighter planes from the throne room at noon, the rulers of the empire have not heard a single message from the room that determines the fate of the empire.

The weird and quiet atmosphere spread rapidly with the abnormal disappearance of the Terra lords.

And with the continuation of this abnormality, the mortal institutions headed by the Imperial Council of Government, the Military Command, the Imperial Council, and the Office of the Imperial Navy in Terra also fell into a certain "false busyness."

No one dares to leave at this time, even those who have no work in hand or have completed the work handover.

But these nobles are still calm, maintaining their order and decency under certain established rules.

In the corridors of the Government Council, in the high-end restaurants in the commercial streets on the edge of the Imperial Palace area, intelligence and information are secretly circulated in every corner and on the dining table;
And these channels also abide by the default "order", clearly distinguishing the local officials who came from other places to meet with the local bureaucrats and nobles like two distinct rivers.

Some people may not be able to tell the difference between the two, but in the eyes of Terra natives, both groups have very obvious characteristics.

The former are gorgeously dressed, but limited by being far away from the cultural center, they always appear old-fashioned in specific clothing styles.

At this time, they were feeling panicked and at a loss for the sudden suspension of the central government because of the lack of information.

The latter seems to be dressed plainly, but the details are extravagant.Often an inconspicuous cuff can be traced back to before the age of disputes, enough to make the former unable to obtain it even if they spend all their wealth.

These local bureaucrats who are proficient in political affairs are more like a group of old fishermen. In the early stage of the storm's brewing, they have already smelled the typhoon or the smell of blood from the salty tide.

What they are most concerned about at this time is who wins and who loses in this struggle, and which department can enjoy dozens or hundreds of years of policy dividends in the next reform...

But they still misjudged the situation at this time.

Just like the emperor's golden hoe in the eyes of the peasants, the situation in the conference room of the Terra Government Council at this time is not the hand-to-hand combat and refusing to give up an inch as they imagined.

On the contrary, due to the absolute sequence relationship of rights, the high lords in the meeting room at this time are completely unable to resist the pressure from the imperial army.

Because in a sense, they are the embodiment of the emperor's will in the world.

But the complexity of politics lies in the unpredictability of people's hearts, and even if you are as far-sighted as the emperor, it is also impossible to predict how the system he established by himself will evolve after nearly ten thousand years.

The relationship between the high lords has never been as simple as the outside world reveals, and under tens of thousands of years of intertwining, even the most hostile forces will leave countless allusions due to the accumulation of time And tacit understanding.

In contrast, the position of Mars is quite clear. This generation of foundry generals themselves are traditional technocrats, and after Mars has just experienced the disputes of the Apostasy Era and the Beast War, it urgently needs thousands of years of Time to rebuild trust with Terra.

The relationships among the remaining forces are much more complicated, but they can be roughly divided into several categories according to their interests and needs:
The real power faction headed by the Government Affairs Council, the neutral faction headed by the Xingyu Court, the detachment faction headed by the Imperial Army, and the restrictive faction headed by the Tribunal.

Needless to say, the power of the Government Council.

An overview of everything in the empire, moderation of the empire's overall policies, personnel, and taxation, everywhere, and everything is the most true portrayal of it.

If the supreme lords of Terra are called the echoes and phantoms of the Emperor, then the Chief Minister who controls the Imperial Council, the Chancellor, is undoubtedly the loudest of all echoes.

It has two of its most staunch allies: the Imperial Navy, Rogue Traders, and, well, the Military Command actually counts as one.

The former, as a typical asset-heavy and investment-heavy service, undoubtedly needs to rely on the financial support of the Government Council for its development.

After all, there is no endless taxation of the empire, and the engine oil guys on Mars cannot be fooled by a dedication.

And the latter is absolutely dependent on the Imperial Council.

As a supplement to the commercial cycle of the empire's material circulation, all the occupational licenses and waterway passages of the Rogue Traders, and even the channels for purchasing decommissioned warships from the navy, are firmly in the hands of the Imperial Council.

The so-called county magistrate is not as good as the current management, and the essence of the rogue is actually a white glove (additional financial and tax supplement) of the Government Administration Council.

Their ability to thrive in these thousands of years, and finally occupy a place in the Terra Senate, is itself a manifestation of the power spillover of the School of Political Affairs.

The Star Militia Army was in a rather embarrassing situation. On the one hand, they were subject to the supply of the Government Council, and on the other hand, they relied on the warships of the Imperial Navy all the year round for the transfer of inter-star regions.

In the context of the Imperial Senate and the "Sun Lord" who specialize in war, the military command has even been replaced with the final wartime rights. Since the establishment of the Senate, they have hardly made their own voices .

The neutral faction is headed by the Star Language Court, which includes the Star Torch Court, the Navigator Family Alliance, and the Imperial State Church.

Their characteristic is that on the one hand, they have no interest in the empire's armed order, and on the other hand, they each have resources that are indispensable but irreplaceable for the operation of the empire.

And it just so happens that they are not too short of money, so in the eyes of these neutrals, no matter who comes to power, they will still be treated by You Rong as those whose status remains unchanged.

There is no need to say more about the imperial army. Since the rebellion ended the emperor's silence, these eagle guards blamed themselves for their negligence, and the webway war itself caused heavy losses to the powerful army known as the "ten thousand men" at its peak. .

So since the beginning of the 32nd millennium, these emperor's personal guards have almost faded out of people's sight, but they have been guarding the palace all year round and rarely go out.

But they did not do nothing, or after the long rest and recovery of the former Ten Thousand Husbands, they also wanted to find a chance to step out of the palace.

But under the opposition of mortal bureaucrats headed by the Government Affairs Council, they could only give up. They didn't want to, but were just waiting for an opportunity.

The last faction is the Inquisition where Calvin is.

There are not many restraints in the Tribunal, only the Tribunal itself and the Assassin Court, which has been questioned and is now beyond recognition.

As the name suggests, they originally existed only as backup insurance against the highest power holders.

But in the several major events that the empire has experienced, there are always people who try to cross the boundaries of power and put individuals above the empire.

It was through these rescues again and again that they unknowingly developed into the behemoths they are today.

However, the basic power of the empire is limited, and even in the past thousands of years, it has been shrinking instead of growing.

Fixed financial and material resources are destined to be contested by countless people, regardless of whether they are out of public interest or not. As this competition intensifies, as a trial court in charge of imperial intelligence and special internal and external forces, it is destined to have a relationship with the traditional forces. battle.

This is the general trend, and it is also a self-cleaning of the traditional forces by the new forces when the empire adapts to the current situation.

It was bound to happen even without Calvin, sooner or later.
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The two imperial guards behind them have been standing for eight hours, and they will continue to stand according to this trend.

Breton tried to find a reason to leave, and also tried to get the accompanying secretary to pass on the news.

However, Marshal Trajan of the Forbidden Army on the opposite side sat firmly as a mountain and completely ignored his intentions.In the face of the sharp and exemplary spears in the hands of the three-meter-tall imperial guards, his secretary did not dare to go one step further.

The Admiral of the Navy also tried to leave on the grounds of defense, but after a staff officer came from the door with a pale face, he also lost the idea of ​​​​the last struggle:

Just two hours ago, all the battleships belonging to the Imperial Army were unsealed, and with the cooperation of the Imperial Fist, hundreds of Guardsmen of the Imperial Army took over the naval defense of the entire solar system in the name of military exercises.

At the same time, the raid and investigation of the official residences and subordinate departments of the three high lords by the imperial army and the trial court were also going on at the same time...

The general situation is over, it is nothing more than a way to die.

Similar thoughts flashed through the minds of several high lords with ulterior motives, and the remaining high lords were inevitably saddened to death.

In the meeting hall, Trajan felt more and more pressure. Several high lords were either gentle or harsh, but this hero with legendary experience still stuck to his post, no matter how other high lords exerted pressure. Still not moving.

The admiral of the navy was the first to be unable to bear the long suffering. His fat body withered on the seat like a dead man, the sweat on his greasy face couldn't stop flowing, and he didn't even care if the rank woven with golden silk thread on his neckline was wet. .

The rogue trader's face was dark and gloomy, but his eyes were wandering, and he didn't know what he was thinking.As the least powerful party in the three-person alliance, it would not be surprising if they were the first to be abandoned in the later struggle.

Breton, the head of the Council of Government Affairs, sat quietly in his seat and fell into a long test. He was also guessing how much evidence the trial court had, and what he could do for the other party after Calvin arrived...

At this time, the Thunder Eagle that Calvin was riding in was also escorted by the fleet, and had just arrived in the sky above the Government Affairs Council.

null!null!null!null!
The heavy steel boots of the power armor made a dull sound on the thick carpet of the State Council, and Calvin's figure appeared in the corridor of the Council of State buildings under the guard of the Honor Guard and Guardsmen.

The crowd on the scheduled route has been evacuated in advance, and in the quiet corridors and palaces, apart from the friction of power armor parts, only the low-frequency noise of the servo driving the electromagnetic muscles remains.

Under the dim light in the distance, vague eyes were secretly looking behind the colored gemstone glass window, but under the halo of spiritual energy that Calvin had brought, this was a group of normal Astartes and Custodian guards. team.

"Have you got the evidence?" Calvin, who kept walking, asked Nicholas in the communication channel.

"Already got it."

The shield company commander behind him compared the results of the raid on the residence of the chief minister with the documents sent from the Antarctic direction, and then sent the highlighted results to Calvin's personal terminal.

The latter glanced over the received document on his pupil membranes, but stayed for a long time on the text marked with scarlet later.

"...Another cult?" The Primarch frowned slightly, but the corners of his mouth curled up abnormally.

The honor guards who were familiar with him looked at each other in blank dismay:
The angrier you are, the brighter your smile is, this is the classic expression of Primarch Power Killing Heart...

The cold thunder was brewing deep in the Primarch's pupils, but Calvin's understatement was equivalent to it:

"Order the Antarctic side to check his background information and make a list of family members. Well, there is no distinction between direct and collateral!"

"Yes." Nicholas nodded, with no change on his face but he had already sentenced the family to death in his heart.

A group of people continued to move forward until the door of the meeting hall deep in the Administrative Council. The imperial guards stationed outside the gate had already been notified, and they pushed the door open as soon as they saw Calvin and others.

The people in the hall followed the sound and looked towards the door, just in time to see Calvin, who was terrified in armor, more than 4 meters tall, with the cold wind outside the door, walked straight to Breton, the Chief of Administration, and looked down at his every word. said:

"Sinner, your end is here!"

　Updated, but not asking for votes anymore.

　　I wrote, deleted, deleted, and wrote. From sitting in the morning to now, I have done my best.In the name of the Throne, good night everyone!
　　
　
(End of this chapter)