Emperor's Bane

Chapter 739: Secret Report of the Ministry of Internal Affairs – Badab
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Hail to you, great Lord of the Legion.

If you are reading this text, it proves that all of us: the Far East Frontier's internal intelligence department, all members of the Avalon Internal Affairs Ministry's Investigation Bureau, have completed the preliminary intelligence collection and analysis of the sudden incidents that recently occurred in the Maelstrom area in accordance with your previous orders.

In accordance with the provisions of the treaty, I will summarize the causes and consequences of this black swan incident as briefly and specifically as possible: all members of the Investigation Bureau are always waiting for your satisfaction with our intelligence work this time, as well as the latest instructions on the next step of work progress.

Once again, I salute you, the common mother of the Dawnbreaker Legion and Great Avalon.

May prosperity last forever in the Queen’s land.

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We apologize, sir, although we have tried our best to eliminate any unnecessary information, but according to the collective discussion of the Maelstrom Working Group: If we want to understand the ins and outs of all the conflicts surrounding the Maelstrom and its surrounding areas between the Five Hundred Worlds centered on the Ultramarines Legion and the High Lords Council of Holy Terra, we must start from the very beginning of the conflict between the two.

The powder keg that detonated this crisis is Badab Prime, an imperial industrial world located in the Badab sector of the Maelstrom region.

According to the Great Crusade time list displayed by the Warp Timer, Badab Prime announced its joining the glorious territory of the Imperium of Man in 862.M30, sixty-four years after the Emperor launched the Great Crusade. The surrender of Badab was a bloodless and glorious act, and the Imperial military force that specifically carried out this action and represented the Emperor of Mankind's acceptance of Badab's surrender was none other than the Thirteenth Ultramarines Legion, led by the Primarch Guilliman.

At that time, twenty-five years had passed since Lord Guilliman formally swore allegiance to the Emperor of Mankind over Macragge. The Ultramarines had completed their comprehensive reorganization during this period, and Lord Guilliman had also made his first attempt to incorporate the Imperial worlds recaptured by his Legion into the administrative system of the Five Hundred Worlds of Ultramar seven years ago.

It was in such an era that Badab Prime became part of the Five Hundred Worlds by chance: Guilliman was leading his legion on an expedition to destroy the Osiris alien civilization that had brought humiliation and defeat to the Ultramarines.

Although the expedition failed due to the failure to find any trace of alien civilization, on the way back to the Five Hundred Worlds, the main force of the Ultramarines Legion happened to rescue Badab Prime which was being besieged by a group of greenskins, and protected the safety of their people and property.

Grateful for the XIII Legion's heroic act and in admiration of the Empire's powerful military might, Badab announced its joining the Empire of Man and raised the sacred double-headed eagle flag. Lord Guilliman then incorporated Badab Prime into the administrative system of the Five Hundred Worlds of Ultramar, indicating that the system was under the military protection of the XIII Legion.

Here, please note one thing: although Badab now has an important position and a wide reputation in the system of the Five Hundred Worlds, according to the provisions of Imperial law, Badab is not actually an official member of the Five Hundred Worlds of Ultramar, and Badab Prime does not belong to the territory directly governed by the Ultramarines.

According to the agreement we have collected, signed by the two parties that year, the Five Hundred Worlds and Badab are in a suzerain and protectorate relationship: the Ultramarines are obliged to provide military protection for Badab in exchange for Badab's regular tributes and responding to the call of the Thirteenth Legion when necessary, but other than that, the Ultramarines have no right to interfere in Badab's administrative and diplomatic sovereignty, and Badab cannot legally enjoy the preferential treatment of other worlds directly controlled by the Ultramarines.

In short, Badab is only the sphere of influence of the Five Hundred Worlds. Although it has more autonomy, it does not actually enjoy the various benefits of the Legion territory: this default rule is ignored on weekdays, but if you really want to study the laws of the empire, those who are interested can do a lot.

Unfortunately: the High Lords of Terra are well aware of these laws.

Badab's actions also made Holy Terra decide to raise its whip.

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Here, please allow me to talk a little and introduce you to the specific situation of Badab.

Badab Main Star is located in the south-central part of the Great Whirlpool region. There are traces of human civilization activities on it, which can be traced back to the Dark Age of Technology. This civilized world has extremely favorable natural conditions, a complete industrial system and a large literate population. The Badab Council, composed of large landowners and industrial giants, holds actual power on the planet.

Because it is located in a vortex of chaos, the society of Badab Prime has a strong military tradition and expansionist thinking. In history, it has conquered neighboring countries several times and established a pocket empire spanning the galaxy: deep-rooted hegemony is still rooted in the soil of Badab.

After receiving military support from the Ultramarines, the Badab Council quickly restarted their expansion declaration: due to the chaos and complexity of the Maelstrom region, the Empire's expeditionary fleet's attack on the heart of the galaxy has always been in a semi-stagnant state, and a large number of independent regimes in the region have not been able to be brought together under the banner of the double-headed eagle until now.

Taking this opportunity, Badab raised the banner of the Empire and the Five Hundred Worlds, and began to expand and colonize the surrounding human civilizations that had not yet sworn allegiance to the Emperor, exploiting their cheap labor and raw materials, and then luring them into the Badab Federation, turning these worlds into its own dumping markets, until they were deeply bound to Badab Prime and were brought under its hegemony.

According to the intelligence collected, the expansion of Badab Prime in the Maelstrom region was very brutal and rapid. Eighty-eight years after they joined the Human Empire, that is, today, the so-called Badab hegemony system can already affect nearly half of the land in the entire Maelstrom region, including hundreds of star systems.

More than three hundred imperial worlds with hive cities or civilized cities have directly or indirectly sworn allegiance to the Badab Council. Thousands of mining star systems and a colonial industrial force second only to the Forge World of Ryza have also enabled Badab Prime to rapidly develop towards administrative and high-tech industrialization: the world's own industrial hollowing out is already quite serious, and the corruption of its bureaucracy is also becoming increasingly prominent.

But this did not affect Badab's suppression of the colonies under its rule: not only relying on the military protection of the Ultramarines, but also through the exploitation of hundreds of worlds under its command, the rulers of Badab have nurtured a military force including hundreds of capital warships and six million genetically modified warriors wearing mortal power armor, which is enough to ensure its rule and continued expansion.

In addition, the rulers of Badab still do their best to please the Ultramarines: they declare each of their colonies to be the sphere of influence of the Five Hundred Worlds, and will spare no effort to meet any needs of Lord Guilliman, even if it will cause serious humanitarian disasters to those they rule.

It is worth pointing out that Badab provides a large number of Astartes candidates to the Ultramarines almost every year, and the Parliament pays special attention to this matter: to date, there are about thousands of warriors from the Maelstrom region in the Thirteenth Legion, and they have a considerable say in the Ultramarines.

The representative among them is the military garrison officer of the Ultramarines in the Maelstrom area. He himself is a Badab, and most of the companies under his command are descendants of Badab: these warriors strictly abide by the agreement signed by Lord Guilliman with Badab Prime. Except for military assistance in necessary periods, they turn a blind eye to any actions of Badab.

Taking into account the prevailing atmosphere in the Ultramarines Legion, we have to reasonably suspect here: these warriors are very likely to identify with and support Badab's actions of attacking cities and strongholds in the Maelstrom region in the name of the Five Hundred Worlds and Guilliman.

These are the reasons why Badab hegemony is so prominent today.

In fact, apart from the Emperor's Children Legion on the Forge Worlds of Ryza and Chemos, the Badab Confederation is now the third-ranked political force in the Maelstrom region: its influence even exceeds that of the Thousand Sons, White Scars and Salamanders Legions, which are also in the Maelstrom, and its military tentacles have even exceeded the scope of the Maelstrom.

According to the latest intelligence, the Badab Hegemony has not only changed its military deployment and expanded the maximum cruising range of its patrol fleet to the Betangamon Galaxy: the nearby space area of ​​the undoubted gateway world of the Solar Star Region, but has also set off an unprecedented expansion frenzy in the imperial world of the Great Vortex region.

It is reported that due to the rumors that Holy Terra will impose heavy taxes on the imperial worlds under its rule, many imperial worlds in the Great Whirlpool are looking for ways to evade the heavy taxes. Badab seized this opportunity and widely publicized that as long as they join its hegemony, they will be equivalent to joining the banner of the Ultramarines and can enjoy the same tax exemption treatment as the Five Hundred Worlds.

Although from the perspective of Imperial law, this is pure nonsense: because even Badab Prime itself does not belong to the Five Hundred Worlds in the strict sense, and cannot enjoy the special tax exemption promised by the Human Emperor.

However, as I said in the previous paragraph, because of Badab's own strong national strength, its close ties with the Five Hundred Worlds of Ultramar, and its loyalty in regularly providing new recruits to the Ultramarines Legion every year: all of these can create illusions, allowing ignorant onlookers to be blinded by these appearances and ignore Badab's true legal status.

This is indeed the case: whether it is the vast majority of soldiers in the Thirteenth Legion, most of the member states of the Five Hundred Worlds, or even Lord Guilliman himself, they have stated on several occasions in public that Badab is part of the Five Hundred Worlds. Although this has no legal significance, it is enough to induce others to make mistakes.

At least, that's the mistake the worlds and governors of the Maelstrom region make.

Over the past decade, hundreds of civilizations, large and small, have been striving to move closer to Badab hegemony, some of which are even located in the Solar Segment: we can be sure that it is these changes in the lands regarded as forbidden by Holy Terra that have made the High Lords Council determined to punish Badab's expansion.

Yes, my Lord.

Based on the intelligence collected and organized, we can draw an accurate conclusion.

That is: the taxation incident in Badab was not a pure accident. Terra collected taxes from Badab on purpose, and one of their most fundamental purposes was to fundamentally strike a blow to the expansion of Badab Prime by imposing unimaginably heavy taxes.

But that’s not the worst.

After further discussion within the group, we believe that the High Lords' Council has an unparalleled firm will for this punitive taxation action. They are unlikely to back down and will not give up until they achieve their goal: not even the military deployment of five hundred worlds will scare them off.

The reason is simple: no matter how Lord Guilliman himself views his vassal relationship with Badab Prime, in the eyes of outsiders, especially in the eyes of Terra, Badab is part of the Five Hundred Worlds, and the colonies and sphere of influence of the Badab Hegemony are in fact the colonies and sphere of influence of Macragge.

And as I said before: on the eve of the Conference of Nikea, Badab's patrol fleet was already able to reach Betangamon, the gateway world of the Solar Segmentum. From here, a rapid response fleet could reach Terra in a few weeks or less.

In other words: In the eyes of most people in the galaxy, including the High Lords, as long as Lord Guilliman is willing, the Ultramarines fleet will only need a month at most, or at least two to three weeks, to reach Terra's low-Earth orbit from the border of the Five Hundred Worlds.

Believe me, my Lord, no High Lord will be able to sleep well after confirming this news: to Terra, there is no difference between Guilliman's fleet patrolling Betangamon and docking in Terra's low-Earth orbit.

They did not want to, nor dare to, distinguish between Badab and Macragge.

In the eyes of Holy Terra, the fact is this: with Badab as the fulcrum, the Five Hundred Worlds have infiltrated most of the Great Vortex area with its tentacles, and will soon hold the entire Heart of the Galaxy in its hands, completely occupying the eastern gateway of the Solar Star Region, and their army can threaten Betangamon at any time.

Under such circumstances, Holy Terra would never give up until Guilliman's forces were completely expelled from the Maelstrom: this was the case with the taxation operation on Badab. It was reported that the tax collectors of Terra offered the Badab Council a figure that was unacceptable in any way.

We are sorry that we are unable to obtain the specific details of this tax list: but according to the Badab Council, if they pay this tax in full, the entire Badab Prime will passively reduce its population by at least 15% due to famine and humanitarian crisis in the next ten years.

It is worth noting that Holy Terra's attitude this time was unusually firm: they deliberately revisited old legal accounts and rejected Badab Prime's move to collect taxes from the colonies, repeatedly emphasizing that these taxes were only applicable to the world of Badab, and any move to transfer taxes from any other world would be a violation of the laws promulgated by the Emperor.

What is certain is that throughout the Council of Nikaia, both sides argued over the issue of taxation: Holy Terra refused to give even a word of concession, while the Badab Council summoned the nearest Ultramarines company on the grounds that their world and people were being robbed and threatened.

But unfortunately, as I said before, although this company composed mainly of Badab people wanted to calm the situation, the Terra side stubbornly refused to make concessions, which quickly escalated the tension between the two sides: further armed conflict broke out a few hours later.

The Ultramarines and Badab claimed that a ship from the Terran fleet attempted to advance in a pressing manner, forcing the Ultramarines' strike cruisers to leave low Earth orbit, and they were then forced to take countermeasures.

But Terra claimed that it was the Ultramarines' strike cruisers that first fired blanks in an attempt to create a psychological deterrent for them.

But whatever the cause, both sides in the skies above Badab exercised restraint. The Terran fleet temporarily left, but they declared that they would never stop their taxation operations: even if it meant they needed to request assistance from all nearby loyal forces of the Empire.

After they left, the captain of the Ultramarines directly ordered the destruction of the deserted temporary taxation space station, and announced that they would be stationed on Badab Prime for a long time: Badab’s parliament was calling on their military forces, even including allies in the Five Hundred Worlds.

Up to now, we still have no idea what attitude Holy Terra and Macragge have towards this conflict, but colleagues lurking in Ultramar said that Lord Guilliman did not stop those worlds in the Five Hundred Worlds that had a covenant with Badab from spontaneously organizing their armies to support their allies: the Captain of the Ultramarines at the center of the vortex is using his authority as the garrison commander of the Great Vortex to concentrate the forces of the Thirteenth Legion deployed in the Great Vortex area near Badab.

On the other hand, our secret sentries lurking in the Solar System also sent back information: although it is uncertain whether they have received orders from Terra, at least twenty patrol fleets belonging to Terra, centered on Betangamon, are gradually gathering in the direction of Badab. It is said that some people have even witnessed the presence of the Imperial Fists on some of the ships.

To sum up, this is the general trend and information about the Badab incident so far. For more detailed information, please review the attached documents: The General Investigation Bureau will faithfully perform our duties and present more latest intelligence to you.

May prosperity last forever in the Queen’s land.

Yours sincerely.

For the Primarch Mother and Avalon.

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Please forgive me, sir, but this is the latest additional information. We cannot ensure the authenticity of this intelligence, but it is very likely to help us better understand why such an incident broke out in Badab.

According to our informants, the operation against Badab was carried out by the Sigillite Malcador from the very beginning, and he hardly shared his plans with anyone except the Maelstrom Commissioner he personally selected.

Unfortunately, the commissioner who was originally in charge of the Maelstrom and Badab died in the Nikea incident: we are not sure whether Malcador realized the consequences of this incident in time. Now it seems that he was already overwhelmed and completely forgot about the Maelstrom side.

We think this may explain why Terra's tax collection team was so tough over Badab: because they themselves were also confused by the authorities, and their toughness was a reflection of the Terra plan being out of control.

As for Terra's initial thoughts...

Whatever it is.

Now, things will not develop according to the wishes of those bigwigs.

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(End of this chapter)