Emperor's Bane

Chapter 859 Chemos

"When I saw that even the boy scouts selling orange soda on the street were discussing the Emperor's safety with such confidence, I knew that something was getting out of hand: we were all playing with fire."

—Akudona, Captain of the Second Company of the Emperor's Children Legion and traitor to the Phoenix, three years before the Terran Crisis

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As a Terran, Akudona naturally dislikes Chemos.

He still remembered what he saw when he first landed in this world: a world that had once prospered due to mining, but had been completely abandoned during the Age of Conflict, filled with civilians struggling to survive and lingering clouds of dust.

On the ground, there was no distinction between day and night, and everyone was trapped in a desperate situation on the verge of death.

Being born on such a planet is itself a great misfortune.

And their genetic father Fulgrim brought a turning point for Chemos.

Within fifty years of his landing, the Phoenix Lord became the ruler of his home planet and managed to restore mining and agricultural production, but in the absence of sufficient resources, he was still unable to change the overall appearance of Chemos.

Therefore, no matter how prosperous the world is today, in Akudona's mind, Chemos will always be what it was when he first saw it: a world that has been revived but is still lifeless, and a group of mortals whose future may be cut off at any time.

Naturally, such desolation and destruction would naturally remind people of the Third Legion, which had only more than 200 people left at the time: if the original body had not been found in time, the fate of Akudona and others would not be better than that of Chemos in his early years.

With this impression as a foundation, Akudona's attitude towards the Legion's home planet will always be more complicated.

So, even though the Great Crusade nominally ended for more than forty years, even though the Emperor's Children Legion had long since established their earthly paradise in the heart of the Maelstrom, and even though Chemos, chosen by the Phoenix as its capital, is now shrouded in endless prosperity and luxury, it is like the incomparable queen of cities.

But Akudona just didn’t like it.

He hated this place. Before this, he hated the depression and desolation of Chemos, and recently, he hated the luxury and decadence of Chemos: because both of them reminded him of the dark side of the Third Legion.

From depression to decadence: The transformation of the Emperor's Children is so smooth and so unbearable.

Despite his long immersion in one of the few fronts in the Maelstrom, Akudona had witnessed firsthand the rise of Chemos: a former mining world that had long since been emptied of its minerals and was not itself on a vital shipping lane, but whose prosperity was entirely due to political reasons.

To be more specific: The Queen of Cities is just the wishful thinking of the Phoenix Lord.

Fulgrim approached Terra's taxes with a delicate attitude: he would cleverly unite with his neighboring brothers, striving to have several Primarch fiefdoms pay taxes to Holy Terra in unison at a time, so that even if something went wrong, the High Lords could not blame everyone.

On this basis, Phoenix used all his means to the fullest: for example, he would require the high lords to provide detailed information on the whereabouts of all taxes, and then use the charm of words and writing to haggle as much as possible, so that Malcador's envoys would retreat and be unwilling to delve into his tax amounts that did not meet the standards.

Through various means, Phoenix perfectly achieved his goal: he neither fell out with Terra over tax issues nor accumulated enough resources to accomplish his boundless ambitions.

The rise and extravagance of Chemos is just a small part of it.

At the very beginning, the Phoenix Lord cut the Great Vortex Kingdom given to him by the Emperor into more small pieces, and handed each piece to one of his most trusted lord commanders. They were called military district governors, who were responsible for the daily management and public security of their jurisdiction, as well as a more important task: to contribute everything in the territory to the capital of the Emperor's Children, Chemos.

Like a smaller version of the Human Empire: but Fulgrim always boasted that he would not be as demanding as the High Lords of Terra.

Endless materials and manpower poured into the newly born Chemos. The full support from hundreds of galaxies made this once dying mining world quickly develop a habit of extravagance and waste. As more and more magnificent buildings sprang up, the hard work of the past was forgotten, and decadence and enjoyment became the most valuable spirits of the young people.

It has only been four or five decades, but now the legion has found it difficult to recruit qualified recruits on Chemos: they are either physically weak or mentally inadequate.

It is hard to imagine that a strong man like Lucius has ever walked out of this land.

And this is exactly what Akudona hates the most.

Because he clearly discovered that with the advent of peace, with war and glory no longer being the main theme of life, with the Emperor leaving them, the Primarch's gaze also drifted to a more distant vanity: the fighting brothers of the Third Legion were rapidly degenerating.

Just like Chemos.

They began to become like the mortals they ruled, holding their forks and paintbrushes more often than their sabers, and began to spend the vast majority of their days pursuing so-called art and dreams: the Emperor's Children indulged in their gold and paintings, talking about things in the same way as those idle playboys.

In several military districts on the front line, in those places that still need to fight against pirates and aliens in the depths of the Maelstrom, this trend has been well curbed, such as the Second Company commanded by Akudona, and the Maelstrom War Zone where Eidolon is stationed: at least they have not forgotten the glory and lessons of the Great Crusade.

In the rear, in those military zones that had been protected under the wings of Chemos and had not experienced war for decades, and among the ranks of new recruits who had just been recruited into the Third Legion and had not even fired a few times, the worrying degeneration was too obvious.

Even if Akudona didn't care, he couldn't ignore it.

Whenever the veteran temporarily escaped from the fighting on the front lines and returned to Chemos to report to his primarch, his pitiful worldview would be shocked all over again: he would always feel that what he was witnessing was already unimaginable corruption and depravity, but the next time the situation would often be even worse.

How did these pathetic mortal brains come up with so much extravagance and decadence?
Moreover, this corruption is spreading to every aspect of the Third Legion at an alarming rate.

Let alone the mortal auxiliary forces that the Third Legion was proud of, the Arcadian Guards, famous throughout the galaxy for their silent foot marches and use of super-heavy tanks: their depravity was visible to the naked eye.

The generation that had made great contributions in the Great Crusade retired with the departure of the Emperor and the end of the Great Crusade. Their sons, nephews and descendants took over the positions, but after twenty or thirty years of peace, their combat effectiveness had declined dramatically.

But when the new generation, who had at least experienced the war personally, retired, starting about five or six years ago, the generation born after the end of the Great Crusade came to the fore: the military exercises commanded by them made Akudona, who went to watch, shudder with fear.

These people are not even 30% as good as their predecessors in the Great Crusade: it is hard to imagine them actually engaging in war.

The worst thing was not the tragic exercise, but that after the exercise, all information about the exercise was quickly classified as top secret: the Emperor's Children did not react to the failure on the exercise field, as if they thought that if they forgot those unpleasant days, everything would be fine.

After that, Akudona never returned to Chemos: until his father himself requested his coming and sent a special messenger to meet him.

As soon as the second company commander got off the transport plane, he saw the person responsible for welcoming him.

"Lucius, Tarvitz."

Akudona spotted two battle brothers he had known for a long time. They were leaning against the mast of the skyport, discussing something. The atmosphere seemed friendly: Tarvitz was still as serious as ever, but Lucius seemed to be very disdainful of their topic.

Akudona walked forward and embraced his brothers in silence.

"You've kept us waiting, General."

Lucius livened up the atmosphere with his usual playful tone, which was both arrogant and slightly friendly, making it difficult for Akudona to embarrass him, and he didn't want to do so: even though he didn't like Lucius.

Because the captain of the 13th Company of the Emperor's Children Legion was one of the military district governors appointed by Fulgrim himself: But unfortunately, Lucius had no interest in management. He was obsessed with his arrogance and swordsmanship, and his military district did not have much war pressure, which gave him a reason to be passive and lazy.

This resulted in the territory under Lucius' jurisdiction being one of the most corrupt of the many military districts of the Legion. The soldiers of the 13th Company fanatically worshipped their captain, indulged in their endless arrogance and sword fights, and had no interest in commanding their subordinates. The seeds of violence and corruption grew in their soil.

Akudona had warned Lucius several times in the manner of a senior and teacher to carry out the responsibilities assigned to him by the Primarch, but all he got was Lucius's sophistry and defiance: he shamelessly stated that there was no problem with his territory, and that the materials raised through extortion and illegal means were sufficient to meet Chemos's needs.

On the contrary, as his arrogance and swordsmanship grew day by day, Lucius became more and more provocative even when facing Akudona, a senior legionnaire with whom he had once had a teacher-student relationship: if he thought he was strong enough, he would definitely challenge Akudona to a life-and-death duel.

The second company commander knew this very well, he just simply didn't care.

Compared to Lucius, he was more optimistic about the silent Tavis.

This dedicated and down-to-earth frontline officer is one of the few in the Third Legion who still remembers his past glory, but his shortcoming is his humility: Tarvitz has never tried to pursue higher power. He is keen to complete his service as an unknown frontline officer. This makes Akudona quite regretful.

He was certain that Tarvitz, like his apprentice and deputy Demetrius, had the ability to run a sector, and that he was one of the few Emperor's Children who truly deserved to hold power: much better than handing over hundreds of star systems to people like Eidolon, Lucius and Fabius.

Unfortunately, in reality, the ones who hold real power are the last three people he mentioned.

Akudona lamented in his heart, but he naturally would not say these words out loud.

"What are you discussing?"

While he was thinking, Lucius was still chattering there, and the topic was nothing more than trying to cheer up the dull atmosphere among the three brothers with his clumsy arrogance, but Akudona had no interest in these. He chose to look at Tarvitz, whom he admired more.

This contemptuous act caused Lucius's face to twist visibly.

"We were discussing the rumor that has been very popular on Chemos recently."

Tarvitz opened his mouth, but chose to label the incident as a rumor.

"Is it the Emperor?"

Akudona nodded: Even the Second Company, which was located in a remote area, had heard of the rumor from the Emperor.

Tarvitz just nodded, and before he could say anything else, Lucius next to him unwillingly took over the conversation.

"Not just the Emperor!"

The captain of the 13th Company took a step forward, trying to occupy a more central position. After Tarvitz silently stepped back, Lucius got what he wanted with peace of mind.

"They are still discussing Horus."

"Horus?"

The second company commander was a little confused.

"What happened to the Warmaster?"

As he spoke, Akudona's tone had become somewhat worried: it was not that he was so loyal to Horus, but Akudona was very clear about one thing.

Since the end of the Great Crusade, the Emperor's Children Legion and the Luna Wolves Legion have been growing closer and closer, and now the two sides have a tacit alliance relationship.

Their relationship is like that of Avalon and Macragge further east.

Therefore, if the Warmaster of the Empire really makes any big moves, it will be almost impossible for the Emperor's Children Legion to stay out of it.

"That's right, senior."

Tarvitz's voice remained deep.

"According to intelligence, Warmaster Horus issued a strange order not long ago."

"He asked the Moon Wolf Legion and the Wolf Kingdom to stop all large-scale military activities. All important captains, fleet commanders, governors and commanders of mortal auxiliary forces are now heading to the capital of the Wolf God and are required to participate in a grand banquet."

"According to the Wolf Shepherd God, he will issue important orders at this grand banquet."

"Order?"

Akudona's brow twitched.

He is not a fool. Considering the topics discussed previously, anyone can guess what the order will be.

"Are you trying to say that the Warmaster wants to unify the internal opinions of the Sixteenth Legion and then put pressure on Terra and the High Lords Council regarding the safety of the Emperor?"

"After all, this reason is reasonable."

Lucius' greedy eyes swept over Akudona's slender saber.

"After all, the Emperor has not appeared in person for over forty years: this is totally unnatural."

"..."

Akudona frowned.

"So, Horus wants to lead a fleet to put pressure on Holy Terra?"

"He hasn't got the guts to do it yet."

Without waiting for Tarvitz to speak, Lucius burst into laughter as if he had heard some utter joke.

"I heard them say that Warmaster Horus was planning a more subtle approach."

"any solution?"

Akudona finally took his eyes off Tarvitz and turned to look at Lucius: this made the latter feel as proud as if he had won a resounding victory.

"I heard them say..."

Lucius deliberately drew out his tone to show off his well-informedness.

"The Warmaster is writing a letter."

"He's writing to every Legion except the Imperial Fists and the Space Wolves."

"He invited the Primarchs of these Legions: if they could not come in person, to send their trusted lieutenants to accompany him to Holy Terra and demand an explanation from the Council of the High Lords as to the Emperor's whereabouts."

"So, the Wolf God does not intend to send a fleet to Terra. He heard the Emperor's order on Ullanor clearly: any Primarch who leads an army into the Solar Segmentum without the consent of both Malcador and Russ would be committing treason."

"Horus cannot take that risk."

"And he also knew that the Master of the Seal would never agree to his request no matter what."

"So, he planned to bring a boat."

"How can one ship be called a fleet?"

"But, on this ship: it will carry the entire empire except Terra."

(End of this chapter)