Warhammer 40: Shattered Steel Soul

Chapter 479 The Burning of Prospero

His small boat slid into the huge belly of the Fifteenth Legion's flagship. When Batusa Narek stepped onto the spacious surface of the Radiant Radiance, he still had the illusion that he was in another world, even though he had only been exiled in the Warp and reality for a few short days.

He was greeted by a long-haired warrior with a sullen face but a controlled tone, with an emerald scarab hanging on his chest.

"The Fifteenth Legion, Ctesias," he introduced himself, staring at him for a few seconds before continuing softly, "It is a pleasure to meet you and the truth you bring, cousin."

Narek greeted his crew with his eyes as they disembarked one by one, some cowering in fear, others eagerly, unable to endure spending even one extra second on that shabby little boat.

The Thousand Dust Suns received them in silence - first through some psychic tests that Narek could not understand, he could only feel the seriousness of the atmosphere and the dull atmosphere between the Thousand Dust Suns. They looked worse than Narek had thought at first, especially in their mental state. There was some kind of dim... hostility, but more of it was pale despair.

"Do I need to take any tests?" Narek asked, holding up his hands to prove that he was not carrying any extra items.

Ctesias's expression became a little strange. He stared at him, as if he wanted to go deep into his mind and explore something that even Narek himself didn't know.

"No need." He slowly retracted his gaze, "I want to hear your opinion on the Word Bearers. One sentence will be enough."

"A bunch of lunatics."

The Thousand Dust Sun's lips seemed to twitch slightly, perhaps it was a satisfied smile. "Very good, we can take you away, but we don't know where to go... Heretic Narek."

He turned his head and pointed with one hand in the direction of the mortals. A ray of silver light flashed by and finally connected with a psychic blue light.

The young navigator stared blankly at the light rising in his chest, and then, another person's voice sounded from his mouth.

+We are still alive. +Azak Ahriman said calmly, +The Word Bearers failed to kill us, and neither did the Throne. +
Narek looked surprised.

The navigator was covered in a hazy light, and he turned around and nodded to Narek. Even though his height and body shape had not changed, Narek seemed to see a taller shadow looming over the navigator.

The smell in the air seemed to have undergone an unrecognizable change: the smoke of burning incense, the bitter aroma of fragrant oils, and the smell of books breaking after being exposed to the sun filled the hall together, and the color of crystal and the golden fire patterns with a red glow coated this place in the non-material world.

Ctesias smiled and said, "You still used Amon's method, the method of the Hidden Ones."

+It doesn't hurt,+Ahriman's tone remained calm, even if it was not enough to hide his exhaustion,+Everyone has multiple uses, they don't have to contradict each other.+
Ctesias shrugged. "That's evasive, Ahriman. Why have you brought this Word Bearer to us? What have they done? To you, and to our father?"

+I don't know everything, but they were once close to my location, and I must have a medium to talk to you. The throne is no longer a throne...+
"Did you see it?" Ctesias took a step forward, frowning.

+Yes. The Imperial Vizier lies beside the throne, and it is not the Emperor who sits on the throne. +Ahriman said.

Narek shuddered at the shocking information, a chill rolled down his spine. He managed to calm his mind and joined the conversation: "I think your chief is telling the truth, Lorgar... Lorgar Aurelion has heard the new oracle, and he has passed on the news, the content is..."

He was suddenly stunned and realized who he was talking to.

+Destroy Prospero. +Ahriman said.

For an extremely long second, Ctesias' expression remained still.

Then he took a breath and asked, "When was the news?"

"According to the speed of the warp," Narek had to remind him. These strangely cruel words made it difficult for him to speak directly. "I'm afraid the Luna Wolves have already arrived at your home planet."

+So, we must hurry back. +Ahriman said, his light flickering, a stream of pain in his emotions. +Amon is not strong enough to fight against an entire legion, almost all the lecturers of the temple are here. Only we have hope of saving Prospero. +
He considered it for a moment, or perhaps took a moment to pull himself out of the sudden tide of despair.

+There is hope.+
"But your Primarch is the most powerful—"

Ctesias shot him a cold look, a look that was like a bullet, precise and purposeful. "That's enough."

Narek sighed. "I guess I said something wrong."

Ctesias then turned to Ahriman. "Where are you? How can we get you? And how can we return? It is precisely because we have no Astronomican to guide us that we have come to Terra."

+ Find me, and the navigator will know the direction. + Ahriman said, as if this single answer was enough to answer two questions at once.

+I am where the Imperial Chancellor and our father sent us, a place unknown to fate, a place that could have changed the entire galaxy. Although all this has ended, the dream has ended, and the spider web that was about to be formed was broken into almost unusable threads at the moment before it was formed - but an engine is enough to make use of this helpless residue. +
"Where is that?" Ctesias asked cautiously.

+This is the Webway. The burial place of our father, Ctesias. +
Ctesias's head tilted back slightly, his neck stiffened, and even Narek could feel the strong fluctuations of his etheric aura. The former Word Bearer himself was also immersed in this sudden shock of information.

Then he dropped his hands, blinked hard, and said stiffly, "Wait for the Radiance to find you, Ahriman. Is everyone there?" + All are there, all alive. +
Ctesias looked unsure of what to say. He exhaled, "Then there is hope, Azak. Like you said. Hope. We still have something."

This means you still have something to lose. Narek thought of this at an inopportune moment.

He lowered his head, letting his dazed face hide in the shadows for a moment, and silently counted his own heartbeats.

"Let's go, Batusa Narek." Ctesias reminded him, his tone seemed to be a little softer. "On the way, tell us everything you know. It's not easy for a Word Bearer to be accepted among us, you need to be prepared."

-

The light of lightning crackled among the rolling heavy clouds, sometimes penetrating the thick invisible fog like the roots of a giant tree, winding its way into the ring-shaped protective layer covering the sky above the Secret Eye Square of Tizca.

In the violent storm of metal fragments, the landing craft continued to land, sometimes in a complete form, sometimes exploding into orange sparks in the air, destroyed by the artillery of the physical air defense platform that had been maintained for many years.

Some aircraft also rushed straight towards the weapon platform with a thick and red-hot barrel, and with the intention of destruction, they turned into a large number of debris in the explosion cloud, and their corpses fell in the air in the form of ugly fragments...

In front of Camille, the world turned into a blurry, noisy and chaotic shadow, with various blocks of color shaking alternately. Another memoirist, Lemuel Gaumont, grabbed her, and she grabbed Izara. The surroundings were filled with howling and sobbing, as well as desperate curses in the Tizcan dialect, rare curses.

A rudder-like fragment fell from the sky with a rain of fire and hit Izara's feet. Camille pulled her away in time. The clouds in the sky became darker and darker. With a loud bang, she was thrown into a vacuum-like quiet space. She screamed and glanced at Izara's face. Her companion's mouth opened and closed in silence, pushing her back to keep up with the pace of the warrior in front.

The evacuation of Tizca has been ongoing. Most of the time, the Iron Warriors led them to the shelters under the buildings. Every Thousand Dust Sun tried its best to fight outside the Great Tizca. At first, their defense was impregnable, until the black sun in the sky began to pour flowing invisible lava. The hot black wind swept in from the end of the plain with a strong smell of sulfur, burning the psychic energy of the Thousand Dust Sun into invisible dust.

Those painful and confused cries still lingered in Camille's ears, and the psychic energy manipulated by the warlocks of the 15th Legion suddenly turned into dark invisible vicious dogs, biting their souls. The temporary commander Amon changed his strategy and called on the sons of Magnus to join the Iron Warriors in the defense of the material universe.

However, sad questions still floated among every flying spark and dust. She remembered that the bright eyes of those Thousand Dust Suns were filled with the pain of betrayal.

"Why did the Emperor give the order..." Izara's voice gradually returned to Camille's perception. Camille glanced at her. The fire and lightning in the sky were still dancing freely behind her.

"I don't know. I can't imagine it," Camille said. "I don't know what the Fifteenth Legion did, but I would rather believe..."

"Nothing was done! I know!" Izara roared, the shadow on her face like a deep scar of pain.

"How can you be sure?" Lemuel asked.

"Iskander told me, my brother told me," Izara gritted his teeth and let out an unwilling roar, "He is in the monastery. The only reward we got was the death of the Primarch, and now we have to pay with our homeland?"

They walked through what used to be a long street. In summer, the geometric carpet of aqua and light blue that covered the ground was once brightly illuminated by the sun, but this familiar road now only made them feel tired and dilapidated.

Smoke and fire flickered in the sky, and suddenly, half of the sky collapsed, tumbling mechanical debris and rumbling artillery fire sounded terrifyingly close, smashing the swaying tree trunks, and the trees fell into the scenic lake with carbonized cracks. A man around them fell down, half of his chest was covered in blood, and his children looked around in panic. The Iron Warrior shouted in the distance: "Hurry up, citizens!"

"It collapsed!" Izara said. A control tower next to the Secret Eye Square on the skyline collapsed under the heavy weight, indicating that part of Prospero's defense line had been torn apart. The firepower of the Shadow Moon Wolves began to truly reach the ground of the City of Light. The situation around them became more chaotic. They seemed to be able to hear the howling of wolves, faintly coming from the shooting, shouting and footsteps.

In the blink of an eye, auxiliary troops appeared between fallen trees and low houses. Some were trained by the Moon Wolves, and some were their own. There were chaotic gunshots and hand cannon explosions everywhere. Camille looked at Lemuel's cheek and was horrified to find that the latter had his left ear cut off by flying shrapnel, and he didn't even have time to notice it.

The Luna Wolves' attack was all-out, desperate, and they surged toward Tizca like the white foam on the top of a wave, willing to crash into the protective netting and be shattered.

More than 100,000 Astartes... faced 30,000 Iron Warriors and a roughly equal number of Thousand Dust Suns... but a large force of the Fifteenth Legion was difficult to mobilize, and the equipment carried by the Iron Warriors was not all designed for combat, even for defense... the thick smoke like volcanic ash had obscured the entire sky, and the painted pottery statues smashed in front of Camille.

Camille could already see some red-armored warriors fighting within sight, looking from a distance like a raspberry can that had been suddenly smashed, with pieces of armor and the sticky contents flying in the dirt. Grenades flew suddenly out of the alley, and there was chaos everywhere, cracks, sudden bursts of fire, sudden flashes of laser beams, and burning explosive bombs.

The Moon Wolves' attack might not be as orderly and efficient as expected, Camille thought randomly, or prayed, because Flex exchanged his injury for Cyjanus's command... The Iron Warriors were still fighting on the front line, and the Crescent Moon was seriously injured and her life or death was unknown.

The Luna Wolves, a legion that lost its leader for the second time—no, there was still a glimmer of hope, because Cyjanus was sealed on the operating table under the arrangement of the Fifteenth Legion. It was this glimmer of hope that made the despair and pain of the Luna Wolves even more viscous and indestructible—

Perhaps this was the due reward for the destruction they had brought, Camille thought bitterly, even though she knew her hatred shouldn't be directed at a knife in the hands of a throne - and why not!
Look at what they have done to Prospero! Look! The light above the Phoenix Pyramid went out, and bricks rolled down and spread all over the ground like dead heads! She breathed the hot, stinking air, and the bronze pillars not far away fell down, splashing a pool of boiling water burning with black oil.

A clothing store was blown away by the air currents in front of them. Colorful silks rolled into ironic banners under the gray and black sky. Camille threw them away. A young man reached out to the sky, trying to catch some flying rags to use as a bandage in case of emergency. He recited a prayer dedicated to the Emperor, tears streaming down his face. "Throne above!" He looked crazy.

“How will this end?” Lemuel said, finally noticing his ear and covering it with his hand in disbelief, blood instantly staining his gray coat sleeve. “Until we bleed to our last drop?”

No one answered him.

(End of this chapter)