Emperor's Bane

Chapter 902 Interlude: Mourning and Storm
"I'd really like to know why you agreed to the Warlord's plan to invade Terra?"

"I originally thought you would pursue peace."

"Peace is a right: a right that people of our position are not entitled to decide."

"Only the original can determine it."

"And it is quite clear that the Primarch craves war."

When he got to this point, Loken's already somber tone showed a clear hint of hesitation.

Clearly, this is not what he truly thinks: at least not all of his inner thoughts.

Yesugei saw through this.

He secretly remembered this discovery and wrote down in his heart the fact that the Shadowmoon Wolves were not united. They may appear united on the surface, but this is just a facade to maintain the authority of the Primarch. The Wolf God's generous words in front of everyone could not even convince the core members like Loken on a reasonable basis.

His psychic senses told him that this information might be very useful in the future.

Although it may seem like a trivial detail—after all, there have always been many Astartes who disagreed with their genetic father, and even Yesugei himself had contradicted Chagatai Khan countless times—this does not mean that there is any problem with the unity of the legions themselves.

Not to mention, the White Scar Legion itself is the best example: when Chagatai Khan decided to join Horus's camp, his order was not actually supported by the entire legion. At least Yesugei and others did not agree with this decision, and they did not think it was necessary to participate in the warlord's rebellion.

However, they did not see any need to defend the Holy Terra to the death.

Of course, Chagatai Khan had at least the support of the other half of the legions. The Terran people of the legions, led by Thor Khan, had served under the Warmaster for a long time. Although they were equally loyal to their Primarch, the dependence and inertia they had developed under the Wolf God made them happy to see the White Scars and Shadowmoon Wolves merge.

As for the meaning and necessity of rebelling against Terra, these people didn't care that much.

This is also why Yesugei should despise them.

They rashly decided to throw the entire Legion into a war with an uncertain future based solely on the opinion of one person: this decision was not only irresponsible to the Primarch and the Legion, but also to humanity and the entire Imperium; they had not considered the consequences they would cause.

But the Storm Prophet did not stop it. After failing to dissuade Chagatai Khan in private, Yesugei ultimately chose to stand by and watch.

There are two reasons.

First, this was, after all, the Primarch's decision, and he had an obligation to completely obey his genetic father.

As the second-in-command of the legion, the consequences of his open break with Chagatai Khan would be devastating.

On this point, he can understand Loken.

The second reason is that Yesugei does not believe that the current situation is completely out of control.

Although war was inevitable, things had not yet deteriorated to the worst possible state. Horus maintained his admirable rationality and would not allow the war to turn into a complete massacre and madness. Moreover, since the Lord of Man had not yet shown himself, the Warmaster's rebellion must have some legitimacy.

Before this, the Storm Prophet had spent a long time studying the Imperial customary law, written law, and written records of the Emperor's handling of similar situations: according to his expectations, as long as the situation did not completely get out of control, even if the Warmaster failed, there would not be any major problems, at most the Primarch and others would just have to punish themselves with three cups of wine.

At worst, they'll be stripped of their territory and power: the White Scars don't care about that anyway.

Unless the Lord of Mankind would unreasonably side with the Terra Highlords.

No: That's unimaginable.

That would chill the hearts of all Astartes; the Emperor wouldn't be that foolish.
Although what he's doing now is indeed not very smart.

The Storm Prophet quietly buried these words, which could be described as presumptuous, in his heart.

He looked at Loken again, pondering how to get more information out of this member of the mourning society.

This was also the task the Khan had given him.

The Lord of the White Scars has always been a very shrewd man. You could also say he's very cautious. Even though he had decided to fully side with Horus, and even though he believed the Warmaster would tell him his intentions and plans in person, Chagatai still made two preparations in private.

It wasn't that he didn't trust his brother; it was simply a matter of caution.

In this respect, Yesugei felt that he was like Morgan.

Although Khan himself wouldn't like this assessment.

In fact, Chagatai's impression of the Lord of Avalon gradually increased over time, especially after Morgan began to handle matters related to the Psychic Scriptures. This impression reached its peak in Nicaea and Ulanor and has not declined until recently.

As for the reason?

Finding a reliable and capable person in the Primarch is not easy.

Although Khan still finds Morgan's intricate and complex mind unbearable, he has to acknowledge the Spider Queen's exceptional work skills and her covert influence over the Galactic Empire.

Yesugei also remembered that when the rumors of the Emperor's decision to grant fiefdoms to the Primarchs in Ulanor spread, the Khan had privately asserted to him that only two people were conscious and capable of making the Emperor issue this decree: either the Sealholder or the Lord of Avalon.

Yesugei was quite certain that when the Chagatai Khan mentioned his only sister, the admiration in his voice certainly outweighed any disdain.

Even so, the Primarch of the White Scars still didn't like his Spider Sisters very much.

The main reason was that Chagatai Khan felt that Morgan was living too tiring a life.

She was too greedy and too weak. She didn't understand the value of letting go and observing from the sidelines. She was always drawn into vortexes that even the Khan frowned over, whether actively or passively. This made the eagle of the grassland both pity and despise her. But overall, she still had a good impression of her.

After all, she was indeed working hard for the overall situation.

For this reason, there is one thing that has remained unknown to outsiders, not even to Chagatai Khan's most trusted advisors and confidants, except for Yesugei: that is, under the guise of never communicating with each other, Chagatai actually maintained correspondence with the ruler of the Far East, although the frequency of such communication was by no means high.

Every few years, or even every ten years or so, the Khan would write a letter to the Spider Queen.

Generally speaking, these discussions focus on important issues that are free from any subjective emotions.

As one of the authors of the Psionic Codex and a student studying in the Far East, Yesugei naturally served as a conduit between the two Primarchs. This allowed him to observe the two most lucid of the Emperor's offspring more closely and to develop more independent thinking.

These thoughts were even kept secret from the Khan.

For example, right now, he is merging his own thoughts with Khan's mission.

"I heard……"

After some deliberation, the Storm Prophet spoke.

His voice sounded exceptionally firm and clear, even on the star Jadaran, where the wind howled all night.

"The reason why the War General has not yet officially ordered the march on Holy Terra is not solely due to his own reasons."

"..."

Loken paused for a moment, then glanced at the two Primarchs sitting on another hill.

They were too far away to hear what they were saying.

"This is no secret."

The mourner shook his head: his already somewhat bitter face looked even more unpleasant now.

"Even within the Society for Mourning the Dead, not everyone agrees to go to war."

"Like Cyranus?"

Yesugei guessed the answer immediately.

Of course he would think of that, since in matters of life and death, the Wolf God could only truly rely on his most trusted sons.

Torgarden had already perished in the Great Expedition, Abaddon was a well-known advocate of war, and Malohrst, as a war marshal's envoy, frequently traveled between the various legions, so his fervent advocacy for military action was no secret; while Loken's attitude had already been revealed.

Therefore, the answer is simple: the only one with the willingness and ability to slow down the general's progress is Cyranus.

Moreover, this is something he is capable of doing.

"Does Seyanus disagree with going to war?" "He... um..."

Loken hesitated.

"Strictly speaking, Cyranus is not entirely opposed to Terra launching military operations."

"He just thought we shouldn't be so reckless."

"reckless?"

Perhaps it's time to laugh.

"Given what happened on Terra, no one would think that Shepherd God's declaration of war would be reckless."

He wisely refrained from mentioning exactly what happened on the orbit of the Holy Terra.

Just hours earlier, Juba Khan had inadvertently touched on this taboo during a conversation with Abaddon: the two men were still locked in a fierce battle in the arena.

But Loken shook his head; he was clearly emotionally inclined towards Cyranus.

"Cyanos felt that we didn't need to drag the galaxy back into war over something like this: although it does seem serious, compared to the peace and future of a million worlds, a Glory Queen, no matter how important and glorious it once was, is insignificant, and we shouldn't be so hasty."

"That sounds very convincing."

Yesugei nodded.

"So, your Primarchs weren't moved?"

"The Wolf God only replied with a message."

At this point, Loken suddenly looked somewhat dejected.

"If Terra truly wants peace."

"Then why before he returned to the Land of Wolves and officially issued the general mobilization order?"

"Imperial Fist, Space Wolves, and Holy Terra have already begun massively expanding their armies?"

"We can guarantee peace."

But who will protect us?

"Should we entrust the fate of the Legion and the people to the mercy of Holy Terra?"

"Cejanus didn't refute it?"

"He wanted to argue, but he had no reason to stop the Primarch from issuing the general mobilization order."

"Because Terra has already begun mobilization."

"That's the worst part."

Yesugei sighed.

"Total Mobilization: The first person to invent this concept was definitely the most beloved butcher of the God of War."

General mobilization or full mobilization, as the name suggests, means using all resources within a territory to focus on the war effort.

The army began to expand rapidly, and the long-sealed warships and warehouses were opened one after another. The military superpower, which already had a million troops, would expand its power at a rate of ten or even a hundred times, burning everything it possessed, just to unleash an iron fist that could kill the enemy.

However, the greatest danger of total mobilization lies in the mutual distrust between the two major military blocs: when one of the two equally powerful blocs, the Wolf Kingdom and Terran, begins total mobilization, the military force it can deploy to the front lines will far exceed that of its opponent. If the other does not follow suit, once the war begins, the side that has not mobilized will face complete crushing.

Even if mobilization is launched belatedly, the initiative lost on the battlefield and the elite troops lost can never be replenished: even the slightest mistake could lead to the defeat of the entire war.

This meant that when Holy Terra began mobilizing out of fear of the Warmaster, Horus had to follow suit and begin mobilizing as well, because he could not afford the cost of waging war without mobilization.

As the mobilization of Shadowmoon Wolf caused the situation to heat up further, in order to gain more advantages, Terra had no choice but to announce a full mobilization: at this point, no matter what Shepherd Wolf was thinking, he had to start mobilizing all his forces.

Once both sides have begun total mobilization, whether the war was necessary becomes irrelevant.

Not to mention, the Terra crisis had already essentially blocked any possibility of negotiations between the two sides.

Therefore, any intelligent person, upon hearing that Terra had begun partial mobilization, could realize the consequences of this simple information.

Yesugei was no exception.

So he didn't dwell on the issue: knowing that the Shadowmoon Wolves weren't a monolithic entity was already an unexpected bonus for Stormseeker.

Now, the crucial question is the one that needs to be asked.

He knew that his genetic father would ask Horus the same question around the same time.

After the night passed, the Primal and his Storm Prophet would compare their answers to try and figure out the Shadowmoon Wolves Legion's true war plan.

“Dear Gavial.”

Yes, it's appropriate to call him more intimately.

"Did your Primarchy have a plan for total mobilization from the very beginning?"

"It wasn't the earliest one."

Shadow Moon Wolf spoke vaguely.

"But the Primarch did discuss with us certain last resorts that we had to use in emergency situations."

"Like now?"

"……almost."

Loken nodded.

"The war commander did not want to shed blood. Even after the war began, he wanted as little blood to be shed as possible."

"I can assure you, Yesugei."

"This will not be a brutal battle. We will follow all the noble principles and ideals of war. Our goal is not to kill as many of our opponents as possible, but to use every means to make the enemy realize that they are powerless to resist, so that they will choose to surrender before bloodshed ensues. The war general believes that a victory with less bloodshed is a true victory."

"With each drop of blood that is shed, the legitimacy of the Wolf God's rule will be diminished."

"That's true."

The Storm Prophet nodded.

"So how does he plan to win?"

"Through a concept."

"concept?"

"Yes."

Shadowmoon Wolf nodded.

"A concept that only he can utilize."

"That is to create a fait accompli before the situation completely collapses."

"Of course, in the plan, he called this: 'The sudden death of authority'."

(End of this chapter)