Warhammer 40: Shattered Steel Soul

Chapter 498 How Difficult It Is

"…This is the development of Olympia, Lord Perturabo."

Kaliphon sat with the Lord of Iron under an iron-colored silk cloth on the top floor of the palace of Locus, overlooking the city of Olympia, whose shape was outlined by lights.

The evening mountain wind passed down the valley, blowing the gauze curtain toward the dim city, fluttering like several dark flags. The decorative satins that were colorful during the day faded and simplified, turning back into pure black strips, reaching into the depths of the night. In the distance, the sharp fortress towers of the well-deployed fortifications were faintly visible from the mountains, and seemed to be there and not there in the mist.

The warsmith Kyle Valen, who was on duty today, could not help but pay more attention to the layouts that were closely related to the war. If it were another time, his eyes would stay more on the garden-like city area that was rarely seen in the Great Expedition.

However, standing outside the tent, quietly listening to the conversation between Governor Cariphon and the Primarch, his mind occasionally fell on the Iron Warriors skull emblems marked between the towers and the hall, as well as the military facilities themselves.

The return of the Iron Blood brought with it a grim and cold atmosphere, with every officer accompanying the Primarch maintaining an evasive silence towards them, and a few of them missing.

When Warsmith Dantioch went to report to the Primarch on the Word Bearers' departure and actions, Perturabo interrupted him directly, one of his most trusted and important warriors.

The anger and sudden realization in his eyes at that time even gave the war blacksmiths the illusion that they were unsure whether they could walk out of the command room safely - although they soon realized that the suppressed anger was not directed at them.

Kyle Valen took a deep breath, letting the air mixed with the cold mountain breeze roll down his throat tremblingly.

As the conversation between Cariphon and Perturabo, which had not been kept secret from the Warsmith, gradually came to his ears, the journey of their Primarch, who had travelled solitary across countless light years, gradually became clear to him...

No, he could tell that Lord Perturabo still had reservations, but many things were being cleared up and becoming more clear.

"Is it necessary?" asked Kalifeng, and his clear voice became dazed.

"This is my decision," Perturabo said, enough to let people imagine his expressionless face, "The success of the human empire today is not achieved by hesitation and wandering, but by blood and sacrifice."

"But Olympia - yes, I understand, Abo. It's the same blood and sacrifice, because the peace here is built on the stability of the entire galaxy maintained by war and force..."

"I am glad you agree with this, Calliphon. No utopia has ever been a garden in the sky. To ensure the secrecy of the first great battle, only our own homeworld in the Olympia Cluster will mobilize for war before word of the Warmaster's rebellion spreads across the galaxy; but I need you to prepare for me to spread the news immediately throughout the administrative division."

"It's not hard to do. If you are willing to organize a speech, Olympia will trust you, Perturabo. But besides me, besides Olympia and your Iron Warriors..." There was a slight sound of air slicing. Was it a wave? "How many people are willing to believe in the justice of Warmaster Perturabo? You shouldn't be a Warmaster. You know your reputation in the Empire..."

"Then turn it around, with statements, with violence. That's not the point. If I win, the Memoirs will know what they have to do. If I lose, the Galaxy will cease to exist." Perturabo said, and paused, a pause that was heart-wrenching, before he continued: "But no matter what, the Olympia Cluster will be involved in the war."

"Indeed," said Cariphon in a low voice.

"I……"

The Lord of Iron seemed to have something else to say, but his voice suddenly stopped.

After a long, stagnant silence, Perturabo spoke again: "Let me see Olympia today, Calliphon."

Did some subtle sound of electricity drift in, mixed in with the cold evening mountain breeze and the subtle trembling of the blowing gauze curtains? And in the sound of the electricity, was there a burst of breathing of the original body, light and rapid, drifting in the tent, and finally drowned in the great silence?
Kyle Varen could imagine how Lord Perturabo would observe the hologram of Olympia with a calm look, reaching out his hand, holding it in one hand, and turning the ball firmly and gently with the other hand, caressing the folds of mountains and plains - no, that was the Perturabo of the past, that was the Iron Lord of the past, but definitely not the Warmaster Perturabo who now stood on the brink of rebellion and stared into the abyss.

He felt a rumbling panic that instantly overwhelmed him, because he couldn't imagine the look and attitude of Master Perturabo. He couldn't confirm... what?
Facing the land that adopted him... Yes, he was not a soldier from Olympia, but this was his second home, the second mother planet that adopted him... Facing Lokos, facing this ideal beauty, what could he not confirm?
Its survival, or its destruction?
After what seemed like an eternity, Perturabo spoke again.

"I will leave some combat formations here to guard, Governor. I will leave a theater president who can speak on my behalf. Trident. This level of the chain of command will not remain vacant. Everything in Olympia is not meaningless, even if all the construction is within the possibility of being burned down."

"I am glad of your approbation, my lord," said Callifon sadly. "Then look no more into the air with hatred, Abo."

"I have not—"

"I can see the look in your eyes. When have you ever become unfathomable in front of me?"

Did she take Perturabo's hand, said Cariphon? A fragile mortal, placing her soft hand on cold steel?

"Don't let anger and resentment gnaw at you, Abo. If we must lose a lot, if your ideals must be destroyed in your hands, then at least don't let us lose you."

Kyle Valen's heart tightened. Under the iron armor, under the links of the black shell, under the bone plates in his chest, his two hearts beat nervously at the same time, one heart filled with bitterness, the other filled with worry.

But then, a signal sent to his ears woke him up, and his surprise brought him back to reality.

He decided to ask loudly to report the news he knew after listening to the next words of the Primarch. He thought this should be good news. If possible, Kyle Varen hoped that Lord Perturabo would relax for even a moment because of this news. And the last words he heard were the Primarch's calm reply.

"This is so difficult." said the Lord of Iron.

-

As soon as he set foot on the surface of Medusa, no, before that, when they just arrived outside Medusa's atmosphere, Akurduna had already felt that some changes had indeed taken place here.

Yes, when a miraculous ray of golden light pierced through the warp storm, when the navigators stood up in surprise, and the temperature in the hall of the Astronomican Choir dropped again, the Purple Phoenix Fulgrim ordered to go to Medusa, even if it was just an illusion of Akurduna, a sinister crisis brought about by the chaos in the warp.

Yes... long before that, the two of them had firsthand learned a glimpse of what lay beyond the Warp, and knew what a person who fell into the hands of darkness might experience... and Fabius Bile was still on the wanted list of the Emperor's Children.

Fulgrim made no attempt to publicize this, nor did he attempt to conceal it. Even if the Apothecary's defection was seen as a blemish on the flawless wings of the Emperor's Children - Fulgrim believed that concealing the crime was the true ugliness.

In any case, they passed through the subspace that was large enough to identify the direction. Even though it was still dark here, that beam of light was enough.

The atmosphere of Medusa is always dark and gloomy, and the light from the stars can never penetrate the heavily polluted thick atmosphere and send the light to the ground through the rolling sulfur clouds. This is why many clans in Medusa regard the coming of Ferrus Manus as the light of the world.

However, this harsh, lightless realm was darker than ever before. It seemed as if the sky had been filled with dark shadows that seemed to have arrived from the void near Medusa. The tiny sounds of beetles biting mixed with ash and steam rang in Akurduna's ears, making him feel very uneasy - they were still outside the orbit, so how could the noise penetrate this vacuum?

The Iron Hands did not respond to their requests to land, but the satellites and combat platforms did not hinder them. The Emperor's Children had no choice but to land on their own initiative.

As previously agreed, Fulgrim took Akurduna and his company with him, in addition to the 1st and 10th Companies to accompany the Primarch.

Walking on this land full of metal ores and extreme climate, a certain potential sense of crisis intensifies the hostility that the continent seems to have towards humans. Large land trains seem to be moving with the property of a clan at a certain location to cope with the ever-changing environment and possible natural disasters on the surface of Medusa.

The Second Captain sat in his own tank, along with Julius and Thor, keeping in touch with Fulgrim. Fulgrim seemed somewhat quiet during this journey, perhaps this gloomy land was not suitable for the dazzling phoenix, or perhaps he was just thinking of the never-stopping factories of Chemos.

About six hours later, they encountered their first battle. In the darkness, some strange creatures that seemed to belong to the land of Medusa emerged from the scattered and abandoned iron forges and blocked their way. Under the lights of the Emperor's Children, they could see that it was a group of leaping monsters with bull-like horns on their heads and five-legged strange limbs that supported them from the ground.

Without even leaving the vehicle, these animals were wiped out in front of them with a few rounds of flamethrowers that didn't need to hit accurately. But the premonition of danger still felt dull and painful in Akurduna's forehead.

Yes, the wilderness of Medusa was full of dangers. When he led the Second Company to fight alongside Ferrus Manus in the series of battles in the Gardenar galaxy, he had learned many stories about the native land of Medusa, the wild dangers in the darkness and the xenophobic nature of the clan itself...

Oh, during that time, he remembered that Lord Ferrus still wanted to compete for the rumored position of Warmaster. Unfortunately, the battle was not fought well, until Fulgrim led the expeditionary fleet and rushed to support, the situation was not out of danger - and his life was saved from that crisis, which was worth celebrating for him.

So, will this time be the same? A successful aid?

Akurduna was lost in thought until he saw those distorted but roughly original outlines again. That should be the base fortress of the Iron Hands on the home planet, if he remembered correctly. For a moment, he thought that it was the influence of the Blade of Lar that was still continuing, causing the hallucinations to flash back continuously, but he soon realized that it was not: that dull and strange outline was the reality he was facing now.

All this almost made him feel an unspeakable betrayal, not by the Iron Hand, but by reality - could it be that this place quietly soaked in pus was the home of the Gorgons who once matched the beauty of Lord Fulgrim?
During that period of time when the Warp storm obscured the light, those few short months, was it enough for a dark existence in the Warp to harm this tough and cruel land to such a blasphemous level? So, if we continue to infer this way, what happened to Chemos and what happened to the Golden Throne?
Too much had happened... too much, after Nikaea, it seemed like all the changes had come at once, for them to have time to deal with them...

The second wave of defiled creatures approached, their rustling pincers closing in on the purple-gold battle vehicles of the Emperor's Children.

Those twisted things, embroidered on metal and flat stones, were like a group of multi-legged spiders, intentionally weaving a poisonous web around them and swallowing them... This was only the second round, and Akurduna's combat instinct told him that this was just an appetizer.

Where did these heretics come from? Could it be that the same force that attacked them in Olympia was still obsessed with it and was planning to make a comeback?

Akurduna closed his eyes briefly, pushing away the thoughts that were coming to him. If there was any remnant of the Blade of Ral left behind, it was his worry and renewed anger and disgust at the foul garden he had conquered so long ago.

And once again the Emperor's Children will triumph over anything that can defeat them.

Live up to the eagle on your chest and live up to the throne of Terra.

His fingers brushed over the two knives on his knees, fastened them one by one to the magnetic buckle on his waist, stood up, and gave instructions into the helmet.

"Leave the vehicle and clear the enemy. Afterwards, follow the Primarch, brothers."

(End of this chapter)