Warhammer 40: Shattered Steel Soul

Chapter 430 John
The journey to the destination was long, and tracking the Harlequin Ruby made it less boring, but the Immortal John Grammaticus would rather he was tracking a fixed target.

These Eldar had treacherous movements and traveled through the Webway. Sometimes John suspected that he had followed that guy across most of the galaxy, or that he was still wandering around the edge of the galaxy.

The light of the Astronomican was sometimes near and sometimes far away from him, the guiding light was sometimes bright and sometimes distant, which reminded him of the topic they had often discussed recently: what kind of power did the guy now known as the Emperor of Mankind rely on to power the Galactic Astronomican?

If, as they suspected, the Emperor alone illuminated the far side of the galaxy... who would believe in his Imperial Truth? Was there ever any God on earth who could be imagined to be able to illuminate millions of worlds and reconnect trillions of lives?
It is said that the long-lost Remus has returned to the Emperor's side. He hopes that the man in black does not know what the Emperor is doing. If he knows-then things are bad. Ten Johns combined cannot beat one Remus, not to mention the Sigillite and the Emperor himself.

John Grammaticus left his little resting place on the way, said goodbye to the kind Eldar Eliasin, regretting that even the Eldar themselves could not find the whereabouts of Ruby, and then set out again on the road to track down the Harlequin.

Not long after, he stopped in the mountains, and the psychic tracking technique told him that Hongyu had stayed here for a long time, but then left, as if deliberately leading him to this mountain range full of dark whispers.

Looking down from the top of the mountain, the Whispering Mountains are like a frozen brain lying on its side, with gullies crisscrossing and winding like a maze. The winding lines are almost natural psychic circuits, emitting gray mist-like steam from the inside out.

Samus' whispers similarly gripped John, and he realized that they were undoubtedly closely related to something they were all against, but had been slow to gain further results in their exploration.

The end...darkness...death...destruction, everything is related to the predictions of the mentor (Sensei). Apart from further confirming that the day of destruction is approaching, John is unable to obtain more information while protecting himself.

And as the Imperial forces arrayed themselves in the sky, casting a dark shadow over the Whispering Mountains and announcing their grim arrival with a series of plasma-driven bombs, John realized he had to escape.

Well, he was running too slow, or rather, Lorgar Aurelion, whom they privately called the Herald of Destruction, was moving too fast. When they started clearing the ground from orbit without even a moment's hesitation, John weakly prepared to be caught.

"Zevro Ruby is a human traitor who defected to the Eldar," John faced Lorgar with a headache, picking out the information he thought was most suitable to share, so as to prevent this fanatical cultist from tying him to the stake and burning him for a hundred years. "I am tracking it."

"What did he do?"

"We don't know... I heard it's related to the legendary Nightmare Sun." John said ambiguously. A Primarch who was keen on conquest would probably scoff at such foolish legends. He would rather be seen as a fool pursuing wonders.

"You," the tall, golden-headed headmaster looked down at him seriously, "who are you?"

"I'm just one of their agents," John said. "The people who hired me belong to the Illuminati. I don't know much more than that title, my Lords."

"Who gave you the power to be reborn?"

"How should I know, adults? It's just innate." John sighed. It is true that the mystery of immortality has never been solved.

Several Word Bearers looked at each other, and then the Golden-Skinned Primarch Lorgar Aurelion walked forward steadily. His steps were not fast, but John couldn't help shaking his bound hands to ease the fear rising in his heart.

"Where are you going next, John?" He spoke his name slowly, his purple, inhuman eyes seeming to encompass the darkness and coldness of the entire cave. John felt terrible, really.

"I don't know, my Lord," he said, trying to sound more worthy of pity. "Try to go after Ruby. The xenos are enemies of the Imperium. For the Emperor."

Lorgar smiled softly and bowed slightly to John. "Well, we will help you, John Grammaticus. From now on, wherever you go, the Word Bearers will follow. I am glad that the goal we are pursuing is the Nightmare Sun in the depths of the Holy Grail."

- The negotiations ended up lasting four weeks, a number Perturabo doubted would earn Lorgar a knowing smile. He pushed Aurelion's golden head out of his mind and shook Lord Commander Naud's hand for the last time.

"May our friendship last forever in the galaxy," Perturabo said. Even though Interrex finally agreed to call the Emperor "Emperor" in the last few days, he tended to give Interrex some leeway in the conversation. This could easily win the favor of Interrex, a kind and even naive civilization.

"May the Emperor bless us," said Naud, standing at the spaceport's elevator, bidding farewell to the Iron Warriors' fleet.

Morse commented on this from a unique perspective: "It's as if they have other ways to address the Emperor. Do they know the Emperor's name?"

Hundreds of Astartes warriors and tens of thousands of clerks, as well as other servitors and other service tools returned to space in an orderly manner, and the fleet supplies and numerous resources including rubbings of ancient technology and cultural collections that Interrex selflessly provided even required multiple transport ships for special transportation.

The warsmiths were rarely busy with the counting of resources rather than the planning of war. A small number of skilled craftsmen among the Astartes would remain in Interrex to conduct long-term engineering and artistic exchanges with the Federation, serve as a garrison of some kind, and ensure that the officials sent by the Empire would not make the same stupid mistake of saving the planet again.

Regardless, this job makes everyone feel relaxed.

"The best wars are those that end before the fighting begins," Morse said, patting his robes, "even if it doesn't seem worthy of being on the Imperial Monument."

"Are you planning to return to Terra next?" Perturabo asked.

"Yes, I am escorting the gifts from the Interrex trip back to the ship," Morse nodded. "Those people don't understand the danger of the Nemesis Blade, and I don't expect any accidents to happen."

"You value them," Perturabo said, slightly curious.

"Think of it this way," Morse smiled kindly, "if they're not dangerous enough, why don't I destroy or collect them myself?"

"Goodbye, then." The Iron Lord said goodbye to the Artisan, as they often did. The two of them were not often in each other's company, not even with the other Perturabo back on Terra.

Everyone has his own responsibilities on his shoulders, just as Magnus is following the Emperor's arrangements to fill every corner of the webway except for some nodes with the runes of Thuthmons, and the council jointly established by Mors and Malcador is gradually being perfected.

Perturabo returned to his seat, closed his eyes, connected each cable, and began to plan his next work.

Next month, he will go to the Ultramarine to participate in an alien-related extermination operation. If the mission can be completed within three months, he will take time to return to Olympia to personally inspect the small country he built. If there is nothing else to do, he will return to Terra with another group of Iron Warriors to carry out their secret mission, and then go to Prospero to see the construction of Magnus's home planet...

Then, the screen in his mind flashed, and a new piece of information entered his mind through the data stream.

A signal has been received from one system stating that one of its satellites was recaptured by Horus Lupercal about sixty years ago, and now, for unknown reasons, has chosen to rebel against the Imperium.

The satellite is not large in size, but its rebellious army is quite powerful, and the imperial army is needed to suppress it.

Planet 63-8 is located in the Devon system.

(End of this chapter)