Warhammer 40: Shattered Steel Soul

Chapter 477 Changing Spirit

"Your will has been conveyed, Captain Amon." Saiyanus said, sitting on one side of the long table, his hands gently folded. "Terra has heard our star language, and now all we lack is a response. I believe you will get the answer you have been waiting for, and we will not become enemies."

"I hope so, Cyjanus," Amon said, his voice low. "I look forward to a peaceful future, and I don't want anyone to destroy it. We already have the hope of long-term peace."

"Next, I think I can return to orbit and wait for the answer with you."

"Or stay until we hear from the Emperor."

Sejanus tapped his fingers lightly on the table, his eyes reflecting a light and sharp light. "It sounds like you are not optimistic about the answer, Thousand Dust Sun."

Amon looked at him and did not deny it. "I am sorry, Commander. I am willing to assure you that for the sake of your friendship for us, Prospero would never harm a messenger."

"Is this a confession of guilt?"

"I wish it wasn't, but I have to think about our home planet."

"Detaining me will not stop our pack of wolves."

"Let peace last just one more day, Commander," Amon said. "Without the Luna Wolves, I'm afraid a second legion will come here to start a war. I used to be unwilling to believe it, but Magnus told me that there was no need to worry about the future of the City of Light. Now," he took a deep breath, "I'm unwilling to admit that he was wrong.

"If the Emperor grants Prospero a clean chit, I will apologize for what happened today, and the Luna Wolves will be compensated, whatever you desire, Reverend Cyjanus. On a personal note, I thank you for all you have done for us."

Xinyue shook her head slightly: "I didn't do anything. This was never a negotiation between us."

"Because everything depends only on the Emperor's will, and the entire human empire has always been like this." Amon said softly. "Our thoughts may affect temporary turmoil, but the ultimate power of all is unique. You and I both know this."

For a while, they stared at each other, waiting for the astropath's reply.

The fleet in orbit and the psykers at the ground communication towers were waiting intently for a distant signal, hoping to capture the fragment that had floated here along the ocean current.

But they were wrong. In fact, when it really came, it did not need any transit. It was grand and profound, expanding from the existence of the subspace to the present world in an instant, ringing the air of Prospero like a bell, burning invisibly above the City of Light until a black sun hole with molten lava was hollowed out, hanging in the immaterial world, coating Prospero in everyone's senses with a layer of dimness after the sun is about to go out -

+Prospero will burn.+
The Emperor's words echoed cruelly, and darkness swept away all the light of Tizca, causing everything to fade in an instant.

Hastur Sejanus jumped up from the table immediately, as did the other Luna Wolves. They aimed their bolters at their respective targets in an orderly manner. The psychic light on the Thousand Dusts Sun's side flashed and several warriors fell to their knees with pain at the first moment of using psychic power, covering the blood that flowed from their ears.

"Please," Amon said loudly.

Under Sejanus' shocked eyes, a team of Iron Warriors filed in, heavy firepower brewing in the barrels, waiting for the moment of roaring.

"I am sorry, Your Excellency," came the dull rumble from the helmet, "We do not wish you to carry out... the Emperor's mission. I believe that is not right."

Cyjanus looked at the unfamiliar yellow, black and iron warriors and took a step back.

"I am sorry," he said. "I want to confirm again, are you inviting the Luna Wolves to join you in defying the Emperor's call?"

"For truth and peace, yes."

"That is not true, warriors. We are the Emperor's warriors, protected by him, and sworn to follow his orders. Since there is no longer any possibility of miscommunication, and since we have heard the Emperor's angry words himself, why should the Luna Wolves be deceived by your despicable pleas?"

Sejanus changed his words. The strange thing was that even when facing the other party with a gun, he did not feel angry. He felt himself trembling slightly.

"You can trap me in Prospero, but the Sixteenth Legion's attack will never be restrained. If you want to do so, then do it."

Amon stared at him. "It is enough to prevent the commander of a legion from participating in the battle, respected Cyjanus. Please follow the Iron Warriors and rest for a while."

-

"Even though I didn't want to believe it, when I saw the Iron Warriors, I couldn't help but doubt it. I was familiar with every one of their Warsmiths and Memoirists. I could recognize them even through their helmets. The Luna Wolves and the Iron Warriors had never been hostile - so I recognized him, even if it made me unbelievable."

Sejanus sat at the table, gazing out the window at the long street outside. The Emperor's wrath had taken away every sparkling brilliance of Tizca, leaving everything gray and crude, with a certain primitive savagery.

The psychic runes that were originally prepared here also had cracks under the influence, which could be erased with a light touch of the finger, but he was still trapped in this guest room because the Iron Warriors were guarding the door.

"Why don't you believe it? Because you don't believe in the Iron Warriors' choice?" Kalista asked, rubbing her temples tiredly. The Memoirist had just gotten up from the hospital bed and came here with her paper notebook.

Neither Legion had any intention of stopping the Memoirist's interview with Cyjanus, and they had no problem satisfying Cyjanus's many needs, short of returning to the Luna Wolves.

"Because Kedomo Fricks has been missing for nearly two hundred years, Callista, I'm pretty sure he's on the missing Iron Warriors list, along with the others I don't recognize..."

"Is that the rumor about the Iron Warriors?"

"I'm afraid it's more than a rumor. Or rather, it's more than a rumor... their numbers, their armaments, and the timing of their appearance on Prospero. I don't want to think about what that means, Callista. You can write this down. I think since they allowed you to come to my side, they won't mind you recording it truthfully."

Memoirist's pen moved quickly on the notebook, and Sejanus' mood became complicated. Perhaps he was witnessing a narrative of history, perhaps this record would outlive him, and his blood would be spilled on the notebook.

He still couldn't imagine what Magnus had done... However, the Luna Wolves would never disobey the Emperor's orders. Whether it was for the oath Horus had sworn before the Emperor, or for the situation of the Luna Wolves now without their Primarch when facing pressure from Terra... No, the Luna Wolves could not afford any additional internal disputes. "My Lord, I'm sorry that you are trapped here," Kalista said softly, looking sad, "The Thousand Dust Suns are sorry for you."

"No matter. I expected this when I came to the surface, Callista. They seemed ready for war. Still, I know none of us want to get into a war - but I can see the prospect of war burning, I think."

"Me too." Calista lowered her voice, like a gentle exhalation, floating in the ear of Cyjanus. "We all foresaw... the destruction of Prospero, sir. Perhaps this is the fate of betrayers..."

"What do you know?" Cyjanus turned and looked down at the Memoirist in front of him, feeling uneasy about whatever she might say next.

The Memoirist handed her the notebook and pinched her fingers. There was a flickering fire in her eyes. "During these days, all the psychic gifted people in Prospero have stepped into a leaping stream, and we can't escape..."

In her notebook, there are pictures of Prospero burning, sketched with rough and savage strokes, wildly outlining large areas of darkness, the hidden fear is enough to burn a person's eyes, and there are also some blurred pictures, some broken-body one-eyed angels, strange wings made of flying flames, performing illegal calculations in the tower with the help of ointment...

Cyjanus' heart quietly cooled at the sight he witnessed. "No," he murmured, "Red Magnus..."

“He has gone astray,” said Callista, the light framing her shadow as if it were about to float away. “He is trapped, he has ruined many things, there is no going back, so he is broken… He has been defeated, but his legions still resist.”

Cyjanus closed his eyes, feeling the light shifting in front of him, the shadows twisting and stretching. He frowned.

"So, what personal advice are you giving me... Memoirist?"

+I can bring you back to the Vengeful Spirit, my lord, + Kalista's eyes stared at him, and the words of the mind rolled in the void of consciousness, +I am an unrecorded psyker, but I have heard some methods of using psykers. I can still call on this power, my lord, I think this is the favor of the Emperor, the Emperor's choice. The great God-Emperor ordered me to lead you to escape, Hastur Cyjanus, please follow me back to the right path. +
Cyjanus opened his eyes again and met Calista's gaze. He felt that there seemed to be some extraordinary magic in it. Flames lingered around the thin memoirist, and clusters of ashes flew down from the invisible wind.

This small room seemed to have become an independent hall. The outside world could not hear what was happening here, but their will seemed to be approaching, and his heart was gradually being exposed...

He dismissed his focus on this aspect, discarding his over-perception of his inner self.

"Give me my gun back," Hasta Sejanus said. "Show me what you can do."

+Of course, my lord,+ Callista raised her eyebrows in delight, her fingers reached into the void, and lightly took out a grenade launcher, handing it to Cyjanus with both hands. The latter felt the touch of his fingers on the handle and remained silent.

+Sir? +
"Wait a moment before you go out." Cyjanus pointed the muzzle of his gun toward the door. "I need to talk to Fricks first."

Kalista was stunned for a moment, then smiled, "Okay, sir. I'll listen to you. You just need to push the door open, the warsmith is guarding it."
Cyjanus nodded to the Memoirist and adjusted the bolter so that it could fire a lethal bullet at any time.

He stood up, the linen robe Prospero had provided fluttering gently in the windless room, and walked toward the door, leaving his back to Callista.

Callista imitated a raised eyebrow, and it hesitated to choose and compare between different variables, and a series of charred images flew across the front of its consciousness, burning along the fuse leading to different possibilities. Finally, at this moment, it made a gun gesture and lit a cluster of flames on its fingertips.

In the distant edge, it heard a sharp, flaming and burning laugh, which expanded the flame at the tip of its borrowed finger - a bullet was ready to be fired.

Cyjanus opened the door.

Two gunshots were fired.

The first gunshot came from Fricks. The Iron Warrior's pupils shrank at the first moment. He shot at Kalista's hand. The explosion destroyed the mortal's bones, and a red and white broken flower bloomed on her wrist.

The second gunshot came from Cyjanus. The bullet whizzed through the air as the gunman turned sharply, and hit Callista's chest directly with a blurry afterimage. A handful of sticky blood from the mortal body spurted out from the former memoirist, splashing into a curtain like rain.

Then, Calista fell backwards, the blue flames wriggling in the cracks of her body. Cyjanus coldly fired a second shot, and her head suddenly exploded, turning into a mixture of charred bones and soft matter. The blue flames twitched, gradually detached and peeled off from the damaged body, and dissipated in the air filled with a large amount of powder.

Cyjanus lowered his gun hand, exhaled, and faced the Iron Warrior again.

"It appears something has evaded your detection, Warsmith," he said. "It would have us regard each other as enemies."

"I'm sorry," Fricks said, glaring at the wreckage. "I'll have Amon find someone who can still use psychic powers to guard the gate."

Cyjanus blinked, "Okay - but what is our relationship now? Other than enemies?"

"We are...cousins ​​in the Legion, fellow warriors," said Fricks, running his hand over the gun.

Sejanus shook his head. "No, Kedomo Fricks."

He ignored Fricks's surprise at being recognized and continued:
“I don’t care what crime the Thousand Dust Sun committed, nor am I curious about the suspicious reappearance of the Iron Warrior’s nominally dead man.

"I don't even understand why there's still something trying to stir up trouble because it doesn't make sense.

"You are the traitors appointed by the Emperor, and we are the purgers appointed by the Emperor. This is the only thing that must be determined... and the extra emotions in our hearts cannot change the Emperor's decrees. Do you understand what I mean, Warsmith? Just as you are grateful for my care, I am also grateful... for your mercy on my men. But it won't last long."

As soon as the words fell, the air froze.

They faced each other, an emotionless face facing an expressionless iron face.

Then, two more gunshots were heard.

(End of this chapter)