Emperor's Bane

Chapter 740: Badab Crisis

Please enter the verification password...

Please perform gene module identification...

The results of the genetic test are being verified...

Updating real-time information array...

≡∥≡D≡∥≡D≡∥≡D≡∥≡D≡∥≡D≡∥≡

Hail to you, Lord of Shadows.

I hope the intelligence you have given to the Primarch will satisfy her.

Here, on behalf of all my colleagues in the Great Vortex Temporary Action Team, I would like to report to you the latest developments and possible directions of the "Badab Crisis" incident in accordance with the highest-level instructions issued by the Ministry of Internal Affairs Investigation Bureau.

Also, whether there are any intelligence agencies from Holy Terra, or other secret forces of the Astartes Legion, intervening in or even guiding the intelligence and deduction of this incident.

Salute to you.

May prosperity last forever in the Queen’s land.

------

In addition, according to the order from the Primarch conveyed by the General Administration: We will write this report as poetically as possible.

------

Thousands of commentators and historians have long tried to prove that this magnificent order, which now rules almost the entire galaxy and was established by the Emperor of Mankind, is destined to fall into a vortex of decadence and destruction due to the departure of its founder.

But even the most radical of them probably would not have imagined that the first domino would fall so quickly.

What was originally a tax protest in a corner of the galaxy is turning into a full-scale military confrontation between two superpowers under the grand order at an alarming speed: the two sides of the conflict have almost the same strength and determination, and they don't seem to intend to retreat at all.

Thousands of fleets and legions have received orders for full mobilization, countless long-forgotten military agreements and alliance treaties have been reawakened, and all the forces unfortunately trapped near the vortex of this conflict have either declared neutrality in fear or simply took up arms and openly turned to the winner of their choice.

Barely a few weeks had passed since the first skirmish over Badab, when the unsuccessful Holy Terra announced its determination to defend its power: the Emperor's Archons had taken up the whip, unable to tolerate their authority being challenged so close to the heart of the galaxy, and a second attack on Badab and his allies now seemed inevitable.

The High Lords, who regard iron hearts as a virtue, are calling on their minions to deploy more fleets to the forefront of the crisis: as long as the vassal fleets of the Five Hundred Worlds can still patrol the gateway system of Holy Terra; as long as Guilliman's fleet can reach the heart of the Empire at any time; as long as the flag of Ultramar has not been completely expelled from the heart of the galaxy, the iron chains of the High Lords will never loosen.

Their demands were unquestionable: Badab's Maelstrom hegemony must be broken; Macragge's Archon must abandon his arrogant allies and end his shameless desecration of Terra's Celestial Domain; the gateway to the east of the Solar Segmentum must be firmly held in the golden hands of the High Council, and no flag belonging to any other faction must be allowed to fly over the outermost sector walls of Holy Terra.

As long as these most basic demands are not met for even one day, Terra's wrath will never cease: there is no other way but to raise her whip and exchange the blood of Badab for the groan of Macragge, even if it means the bloodshed of the people of the Empire.

It is reported that violence has now broken out throughout the Maelstrom, and countless fleets and officials loyal to Holy Terra are approaching power, trying to win over and persuade every local force that may turn to the Primarch, or simply put them under their own iron grasp.

The hegemony established by Badab Prime over the previous three generations is collapsing at an incredible speed: the vast majority of oppressed colonies and the already fragile allied worlds have once again bowed to the flag of the human home planet. The western and northern parts of the Great Vortex have completely defected in less than two months, and all foreign military forces from the Five Hundred Worlds have been resolutely escorted out of the country.

To date, no official response has been heard from Macragge to these offenses: Guilliman's sons have exercised remarkable restraint, and although blood has been shed in some corners of the Maelstrom, the best information available has shown that no Astartes have been involved on either side of the conflict.

But farther away, at the edge of the galaxy where Terra's authority could not deter, more fleets were gathering that were filled with hostility towards Holy Terra's actions: Badab's allies in the Five Hundred Worlds had ignored the High Lord's warnings, and their leather boots were moving closer and closer to the increasingly explosive heart of the galaxy.

The absolute rulers of the Five Hundred Worlds did not respond to these military actions, but everyone knew that without receiving communications and acquiescence from Macragge, these garrisons would never leave their camps, let alone arrogantly trample over the temporary blockade set up by Holy Terra.

Many eyewitnesses claimed that they had witnessed with their own eyes how countless silent elite Ultramarines and veterans of the Ultramar Auxiliary Army with Badab blood-red eyes and fanatical faces lined up and equipped themselves at the westernmost port of the Five Hundred Worlds to join the expedition fleet.

The number of this volunteer force is enough to cope with a large-scale war. Their armored groups and battleships will guide the eyes of the five hundred worlds to look west again: breaking through the blockade is just the beginning. A series of garrison and fortress plans around Badab Prime have already been put on the desk of the Macragge Senate.

But more dangerous than these proposals is the rage of the entire Five Hundred Worlds and the deathly silence of Hera Fortress: words such as civil war and independence are frequently mentioned in the taverns and online forums of Macragge, and the oppression and threats from Holy Terra appear openly in the scripts of street speeches. When the patrols of the Ultramarines pass by, they turn a deaf ear to these absolutely rebellious remarks.

But at a higher level, the pinnacle of Macragge's power was shrouded in silence: as soon as the Badab Crisis broke out, the lord of the Five Hundred Worlds did not hesitate to send out his most elite rapid response fleet and publicly expressed his full support for his allies.

This giant, who was powerful enough to confront the entire Holy Terra, convened an emergency parliament meeting the day after the news of the Badab crisis came back, and made an impassioned speech to the representatives of the entire Five Hundred Worlds: the Ultramarines Legion's guarantee for the safety of its allies and vassals was mentioned again, and tens of thousands of microphones proclaimed to the entire Macragge all the contributions that Badab had made to the Five Hundred Worlds.

Amid the enthusiastic cheers, the new support law was passed unanimously. The fleets patrolling the western border of the Five Hundred Worlds immediately turned around after more than ten minutes, fully loaded with elite troops and heading towards the Great Whirlpool: it was hard not to suspect that all this was decided by the Lord of Macragge at the first moment of the crisis. But from then on, only silence came from the Hera Fortress: the monarch of the Five Hundred Worlds no longer accepted any audience from his subjects since the third day of the crisis. The elite Honor Guard and the terrifying 22nd Regiment surrounded the Primarch's residence, and all visitors were greeted only by guns ready to fire.

The only thing that can reassure Guilliman's followers is that the military deployment of the Five Hundred Worlds has never stopped: the first batch of troops holding the banner of the Ultramarines has arrived at the port of Badab Prime. These reinforcements have enjoyed heroic cheers on the ground, and every soldier in the ranks has been personally received and decorated by the highest authority of Badab.

Macragge proved their loyalty to their allies with practical actions, which undoubtedly led the already complicated Badab crisis to a more chaotic development.

It was reported that after receiving direct military assistance from the Five Hundred Worlds and the promise that more reinforcements were on the way, the rulers of Badab had adopted an increasingly strict attitude and ordered the governors of the colonies under their jurisdiction to never submit to Terra's coercion.

The iron fist has worked: Holy Terra's actions in the eastern and southern regions of the Maelstrom have been significantly delayed. Badab's colonies in these areas have a longer history and are more powerful. The colonial governors here are either from ancient families on the main planet, or are held by the Badab Council with evidence that is enough to kill them.

As of the date we write, the entire Maelstrom region is still maintaining a military confrontation between Holy Terra and the Five Hundred Worlds. At this time, fifty days have passed since the first conflict of the Badab Crisis, and all forces from the vicinity of the Maelstrom and throughout the galaxy have focused their attention here.

According to the Primarch's orders, we have secretly contacted the Forge World of Ryza and requested that their colonies facilitate the fleets of Badab and the Five Hundred Worlds. At the same time, we have also prepared an interstellar dock that is as hidden as possible to ensure that the secret fleet of the Night Lords can be smoothly welcomed.

At the same time, based on information from the Iron Warriors and the Raven Guard, we can at least be sure that Primarchs Horus and Dorn have intervened in the crisis on Badab, and the latter has ordered the Imperial Fists stationed on Holy Terra to immediately enter a state of combat readiness from now on.

It was learned that the Warmaster had recently expressed to his Council of Four Kings during a daily meeting aboard Vengeful Spirit his wish to resolve the Badab crisis peacefully: a mediation mission led by Cyjanus was traveling day and night towards Holy Terra, while Vengeful Spirit was observed to have entered a warp route that could quickly reach the Maelstrom.

But at the same time, the news from the Imperial Fists was not optimistic: Lord Ron expressed an extremely serious negative attitude towards the Five Hundred Worlds' move to use their fleets to confront Holy Terra. He had ordered Sigismund to lead the most elite part of the Imperial Fists to garrison in Betangamon, and the three hundred warships led by Jonard, the lord of the Imperial Fists' fleet, had already sailed into the Chemos galaxy and were carrying out the final round of supplies.

(Jonard: Dorn's most trusted fleet commander, bar none. During the Horus Heresy, he was the first commander in charge of the Imperial Fists fleet in the Battle of Fal. After his death in the Warp Storm, it was Posilius' turn to take over)
According to the informant's intelligence, Jonad once visited the surface of Chemos and, as the Primarch's envoy, inquired about Fulgrim and the Emperor's Children's attitude towards the Badab crisis: the specific content of the conversation between the two parties is unknown, but the Imperial Fists obviously left the Chemos system with anger at being rejected.

With the exception of Fulgrim, most of the other Primarchs of the Legions stationed near the Maelstrom also expressed their ambiguous attitudes: Jaghatai Khan has issued an order prohibiting any fleet loyal to Holy Terra or the Five Hundred Worlds from passing through his territory, and any violators will only be given three warnings and then will be destroyed as enemies.

This is not groundless. Three warships loyal to Terra and four warships loyal to the Five Hundred Worlds have been destroyed for ignoring the warnings of the White Scars, and all the surviving members on them have been captured: However, the Khan only detained those from Terra, and the crew members from the Five Hundred Worlds were all repatriated by him.

In addition, Lord Perturabo of Olympia maintained the same attitude. He publicly criticized any crime that wanted to undermine the Emperor's grand order, but did not cut off the normal trade routes between Olympia and Macragge: even his sister was on a state visit to Macragge.

Further south, Lord Vulkan announced that Nocturne would remain neutral, but any fleet wishing to pass through its territory must obtain prior permission from the Salamanders: it was reported that Lord Vulkan was planning to send a special fleet composed of the elite of the Salamanders to the conflict zone in the Maelstrom region to provide humanitarian assistance to both sides of the conflict.

The only Primarch and his Legion in the Maelstrom region who are unable to comment on the Badab crisis right now are Master Magnus and his Thousand Sons Legion: the Dark Angels and Space Wolves, who are currently blockading the Prospero System, have also refused to respond publicly to the Badab incident.

The leader of the Custodes, Valdor, who was traveling with the two legions, also made no statement: the representatives of Terra had tried to win his sympathy, but Lord Valdor refused to send the Custodes' troops into Terra's Condemnation Fleet on the grounds that the Emperor had not issued any specific orders.

Apart from this, the attitudes of other Primarchs and Legions remain ambiguous, but apart from the Imperial Fists, no Primarch or Legion has so far publicly announced support for Holy Terra's claims.

But according to our latest intelligence, this disadvantage has not shaken Holy Terra's firm attitude towards the Badab crisis.

An order written by all members of the High Lords' Council has been delivered to the Terra fleets on the front lines.

It is reported that there is only one sentence on it.

------

Only death and taxes are inevitable.

------

Finally, there is one extra thing I would like you to convey to the Primarch.

According to the secret order, during the last special operation against the Terra fleet, we unexpectedly invited two battle brothers from the Alpha Legion, and found detailed information about Badab from them.

But despite their continued efforts, they were still unwilling to admit that the Alpha Legion had any direct relationship with the outbreak of the Badab Crisis: We used psychic powers and hypnosis techniques, but found that what they said was true.

The Alpha Legion knew as little as we did about the crisis at Badab.

At least that's what they think.

So what should we do next?
Please consult the original body as soon as possible.

≡∥≡D≡∥≡D≡∥≡D≡∥≡D≡∥≡D≡∥≡

(End of this chapter)