Emperor's Bane

Chapter 761 Holy Rome, but Dorne
"grown ups."

"Before returning to Terra, should we first visit your... fiefdom?"

Sigismund moved his aching arms, but his vein-filled hands could not help shaking, and he could hardly hold the greatsword in his hands: this was the price of fighting with a Primarch for more than a dozen rounds as an Astartes warrior.

Of course, to call it a sparring match would be a bit of an exaggeration: Dorn was not wearing his power armor, and the Primarch was holding only an ordinary dagger. As for his famous [Storm's Fang], it was now in the hands of the First Captain.

The father and son stood opposite each other, about seven or eight meters apart. The scattered footprints on the ground and the beads of sweat on the chin indicated that Sigismund had just accompanied his Primarch to complete [Relaxation]. After the depression in his heart was slightly relieved, Dorn was able to calm down and listen to the advice.

"A fiefdom?"

The Master of the Imperial Fist meticulously replaced the dagger, a moment of confusion revealed on his rock-hard face.

"Yes, the fiefdom."

Sigismund nodded: the stickiness around his lips made him uncomfortable.

To be honest, he was not really willing to bring up this topic: not for any other reason, but simply because he was not interested in it.

For the First Captain, the question of how many worlds the Imperial Fists could legitimately rule was less important than which legion he should join next to continue challenging swordsmanship masters.

But then again: even Sigismund has taken the initiative to speak up, so among the grassroots soldiers of the Seventh Legion, the discussion about this issue must have been rampant.

Dorn understood this principle.

"What did you hear in the bridge?"

"It's Jonad and the others."

The company commander wiped the sweat off his face.

"They have been discussing the vassal state that the Emperor has granted you on Ullanor recently: it is said to be a narrow strip of territory that spans the Tempest Segmentum, a complete barrier to the south of Terra, but also one of the largest powers among all the Primarchs."

Dawn nodded.

"and then?"

"then……"

Sigismund was a little stuck.

"Then, we are all curious about how you plan to govern your country?"

"There's nothing strange about that."

The Primarch withdrew his gaze: he seemed to have already made up his mind.

“Just follow the governance model I used at Invicta.”

"Invert?"

"For so many years, Invert has never made any major moves: even though I have devoted all my energy to the Great Crusade and have never returned in the past eighty years, Invert has never distracted me."

“It turns out that the model on Invicta is the right model.”

"That's it..."

The company commander nodded.

"So...what is it?"

"Who?"

"Invert."

At this point, even Sigismund himself felt a little amused.

"After all, most warriors don't actually know what Invert looks like."

"including me."

The company commander pointed at himself.

That's right.

At least in Sigismund's opinion, the home planet of their genetic father might be one of the most magical things in the entire galaxy: it was clearly the birthplace of a primarch, but let alone worlds like Macragge or Chemos that were famous throughout the galaxy, even within the legion, few people could clearly explain what their nominal home planet was like.

The only thing that is certain is that long before the Emperor found Rogal Dorn, the Primarch was able to build a small interstellar empire with the resources on Invert: this is certainly due to Dorn's own intelligence, but the world that supports him behind the scenes is also particularly important.

Especially considering that when Dorn arrived in Invert, it was still an ice and snow world full of barbaric tribes, but it was able to build a small interstellar empire from scratch in just one or two generations: even science fiction stories would not dare to set it up so casually, right?

Not to mention the Phalanx floating in Invit's orbit.

Even the galactic empire, up to now, does not have the technology to build a comparable giant ship: God knows how Dorn managed to repair this ancient giant ship with only Invert.

Sigismund patted his head: just thinking about it gave him a headache.

Frankly speaking, these questions are not difficult to answer: just ask a few brothers from Inverter. However, this simple answer can lead to the second mystery of Inverter.

That is, as the nominal home planet of the Seventh Legion, there are not many Invites within the Imperial Fists: the main recruiting world of the Legion is Terra. In addition, Dorn also likes to build fortresses on those conquered barbaric worlds and then recruit soldiers on the spot.

As for Invicta?
Among the 100,000-man Imperial Fist Legion, Sigismund only knew one Invert, Captain Lann: he and most of the Terra veterans had never seen what the Primarch's icy hometown looked like in their entire lives.

This strange method made the Imperial Fists more like a fleet-based legion based on the Phalanx, just like their Dawnbreaker brothers: and for this reason, Sigismund did not quite believe that his gene-father would care much about his own Primarch's kingdom.

In Dorn's eyes, the duties of the Terran Guard are far more important than a few thousand worlds.

And the reality was just as he thought.

"Sigismund."

The Primarch reached out and took the Stormfang from the Captain's hand, and while Dorn personally maintained the weapon, he sat Sigismund on the edge of the arena and gave him a rare explanation.

"You must know that the Terra Guard is our most important duty."

"Of course, this does not mean that we should abandon other tasks given by the Emperor."

"Whether it is Holy Terra or what we call the Invert Military Region, they are all responsibilities entrusted to us by the Emperor. Just like two fortresses on the same battlefield will receive different degrees of protection due to their different strategic significance, in front of Terra, the protection that other worlds can get will be weaker."

"In other words, the Legion's focus in the future will be on Holy Terra?"

"Yes."

The primarch nodded.

"Neither I nor the Phalanx will leave Terra easily unless there are extremely special circumstances, such as my brother Guilliman causing trouble again: protecting the safety of the Imperial Palace is more important than extinguishing fires in other parts of the galaxy."

"I understand."

The company commander thought about it.

"You took Guilliman as an example: are you still concerned about Macragge's potential ambitions?"

"Do not."

The Primarch's smooth body paused. "I am not worried about that."

"The incident at Badab has changed my opinion of Guilliman."

"Perhaps I was wrong before: Guilliman is unlikely to be an ambitious man."

"..."

"But he's an absolute jerk."

"There's no doubt about that."

Sigismund was silent.

He was not sure whether the Lord of Macragge would be happy or angry at his change of attitude if he knew about his Invit brother.
"and……"

Dorn lowered his head even lower.

"After this farce, we no longer have to worry about Macragge's expansion affecting the empire again. But we should worry about another thing: will the Five Hundred Worlds break away from the empire by then?"

"Detachment?"

Sigismund looked up sharply.

"You mean, that Macragge wants independence? To split the Empire?"

"No, that won't happen."

The primarch shook his head.

"But there is a high probability that a wall will be built between the Five Hundred Worlds and the rest of the Empire."

"..."

The company commander stopped talking: this kind of thing has never been his area of ​​expertise.

Forget it. If something really happens that no one wants to see, then what decisive role can a small company commander like him play? He just needs to hold his weapon tightly and wait for the Primarch to give orders.

"Then, according to you, shouldn't we return to Invert earlier, confirm the lands granted to you by the Emperor, and establish a strong rule on those worlds to deal with these possible crises?"

"I'll do it."

The primarch nodded.

"but not now."

"Sigismund: Do you know how I rule on Invert?"

"All ears."

"Invert is a world of ice and snow. Its living environment is worse than most worlds in the galaxy. In the blizzard, there is no fertile land that can support a large population. There are only canyons, oases, or sheltered lowlands that can support a small population."

"This means that there is no possibility of establishing a centralized authority on Invert. The people there are divided into families, occupying their small but important ancestral lands, and fighting for the unclaimed resources in the wasteland. This has lasted for thousands of years."

“Until I got there.”

"I was eventually adopted by the old patriarch of the Dorne family, and inherited the position of patriarch after his death: the harsh environment determined that inheritance did not rely on bloodline, but on the talents elected by the public."

"In the years that followed, I spent a lot of effort to make the various families of Invette realize that cooperation is more important than fighting. This process was of course mixed with iron and blood: the clan that Captain Lann came from was destroyed in the war with the Dorne family."

"After the unification, the clan leaders who were willing to submit to me elected me as the emperor of Inverte in a unification meeting unprecedented in the history of Inverte, just as I was elected as the clan leader in the beginning."

"But after establishing my rule, I must also face the responsibilities of a ruler: Due to the harsh environment in Witte, I cannot establish a highly centralized regime, and all the disputes that were once resolved by war are now piled up on my desk."

"At the same time, I also know that I should focus my eyes on the sky: Ever since the day I landed in Invert, I could see the huge shadow of the Mountain Town. I knew that was where I should be. I shouldn't waste too many years among the ice and snow."

"So, I established a very tricky way of ruling."

"I allow each family to continue to rule their ancestral territories, in the form of fiefdoms to ensure that the ancient traditions are not tarnished, but the patriarchs of each family, or their heirs who are highly anticipated, must come to my capital to assist me in governing the entire Invert."

"I gave them official positions, gave them a better platform and room for advancement, and let them discuss the construction plans for various parts of Inverte themselves: this of course includes their ancestral land, so when the plan is approved, our specific construction work will not be hindered."

"You could say my kingship is weak."

“But I’m very efficient.”

"The Phalanx is the best example."

"I used this method to unite the entire Invicta team and ensure that I could mobilize every inch of the resources in the ice and snow world. Of course, before doing all this, I first led them to build a real-time communication system that could cover the entire ice and snow world."

"As for the disputes between families, I used another ancient method to resolve them."

"I found young warriors from various families who were eager to prove themselves. They either admired my personal martial arts and prestige, or were second or third sons of noble bloodlines who had no hope of inheriting the position of clan leader but wanted to make a name for themselves."

"I recruited them, gave them the best equipment and training, spent a long time to ensure their absolute loyalty and their lack of interest in politics: then, I got an independent, loyal, efficient and powerful military force."

"The Knights?"

"That's understandable."

"I stationed them in strategic locations and conflict zones to ensure my rule in Invit, a world where centralized power cannot be established: selective decentralization and a strong armed knighthood, this is how I rule Invit."

"And now, I intend to rule my kingdom in the same way."

"I will grant those local governors a certain degree of autonomy, and select the most outstanding backbones from among them to form a parliament to assist me in governing the Invert Military Region. Their parliamentary positions cannot be inherited through blood. If they want to ensure their own legacy, they must send their most outstanding descendants to ensure that there is always someone in the parliament to speak for them."

"On the other hand, I also plan to establish a new knight order in the Invert Military District."

"Let the mortals go?"

"No, let you go."

The Primarch looked to his First Captain.

"Captain Sigismund."

"You, and others, will lead a part of the Imperial Fists, together with those mortal warriors who follow us to fight, to form a new Invert Knights, stationed in the conflict zone of the Storm Segmentum, to assist and supervise the rule of those governors."

"But all human beings grow old."

"Yes."

Dawn nodded.

“They will grow old: let them retire where they grow old.”

"We will continuously bring carefully selected loyal warriors from Terra, Invit, and other worlds. They will take root in the chaos of the Storm Segment Region, colonize those remote worlds like a migration of nations, and establish a force of absolute loyalty to them, in order to check and balance those wavering local governors."

"One day, these outsiders who are loyal to the empire..."

"We will work together to create an Inverte Military Region that will stand firm."

(End of this chapter)