Warhammer: Black Emperor

Chapter 312 Guilliman, your son Cato will be my heir in the future.
Ning Lu, seemingly casual but actually with a deeper meaning, asked the newly returned Primarch, Robert Guilliman, with concern:
"Guilliman, have you decided whether the Thirteenth Army's first expedition will require assistance?"

The Imperial Expeditionary Fleet, like its merchant ronin counterparts, follows the same principle when expanding: in each round of expansion, it selects a certain main direction of advance.

This is also the most efficient way to expand, constantly changing direction and pursuing circular expansion. However, this is difficult to achieve due to the unpredictability of subspace and is also extremely inefficient.

The difference is that smaller merchant families usually have only one main direction for expansion.

Larger merchant dynasties and empires had branch fleets in addition to their main fleets.

Guilliman had already thought it through, and he began to speak:
"My legion will head towards Terra to open up transportation routes to Terra and facilitate resupply."

Upon hearing this, Nimrod immediately began to analyze Guilliman's behavior in his mind.

He knew that Old Man Huang appeared to Kanto in a dream, dressed in golden armor, and asked him to raise Guilliman.

The adoptive father that Old Huang found for Guilliman exceeded his expectations, raising Guilliman into a shrewd politician whose every move was carefully considered.

Guilliman's primary concern now is recovering from the devastating defeat of Osiris's suppression of the rebellion before the Son of War.

If I hadn't appeared, his best solution would have been to personally deal with the Osiris Mind Control Seed.

Yes, in 899, the "War Dogs" legion encountered the Osiris Mind Controlling species while fighting the orcs belonging to the Glottian Empire in the final district of Euridius.

Upon receiving the Star Speaker's communication, Robert Guilliman immediately went to reinforce the Warhounds and successfully annihilated the alien race in the battle, allowing the newly formed "Ultramen" to completely rid themselves of the shame of past defeats.
Thanks to Nimrod's intervention, Legion Commander Glenn Wosotto was not killed in action, and the Legion's flagship in the counterinsurgency fleet survived, so the heavy losses were not as severe as he remembered.

Guilliman's rebuilding of the Legion went more smoothly. In this situation, having lost Osiris the Mind Controlling Seed as his target for revenge, his goal naturally became closer to the center of the human empire, Holy Terra.

Therefore, he chose the western side of the Milky Way star map to establish a stable route to Terra.
After understanding Guilliman's intentions, Nimrod began to consider how to utilize the information he had gleaned from Guilliman's questions.

Tarrasa, one of the four worlds he selected from the future five hundred worlds of Otramah, lies in the direction of Guilliman's first expansion.

Since the invention of the subspace engine, human expansion has departed from the gradual, incremental pace of the past.

Subspace travel is impossible to predict precisely. Without a star map, a subspace jump may occur in a nearby galaxy a few light-years away, or it may jump to another sub-sector or even another sector tens or hundreds of years away.

The Sidde star system, which is near Vostonia, was discovered by the traveling merchant Lewis von Valancius after several rounds of expansion.

Although Ninglu knew that Guilliman might not find Tarasa in the first round of expansion, he decided to play it safe.

This time, he will use the prophecy dice to divine Tarasa.

Let's do a divination for Kos next time.

Overall, the closer a world is to Macurag, the greater the probability of its early discovery compared to Firestorm Star and Aventinium.

Which will shine brightest in my realm: the jewel of the Eastern Galaxy or Triken, the jewel of the Northern Galaxy?
After making his decision on the order of the next two divinations, Nimrod suddenly realized that Tarrassa would not only be the homeworld of the Void Trident Chapter, but also the homeland of Cato Sicarius.

[Hmm... So, the future Lord of the Watchers, the Champion of the Macragge Knights, the Grand Duke of Tarrasque, the Destroyer of Tau and the one toyed with by Tau... Won't Sicarius become a shadow of order?]
It's really a bit... I'm sorry, Guilliman, your son Cato will be my heir in the future.
While he was thinking it over, he sincerely said, "It's a wise decision. If you need my help, please don't hesitate to ask."

[If we could track Guilliman's expedition progress, it would be easier to conduct the divination later, since he has other targets he wants to intercept.]
“Thank you for your kindness,” Guilliman said confidently after expressing his gratitude. “Although my legion has fewer than 30,000 men, I am confident that I can complete the expedition.”

"Father, entrust the Thirteenth Legion to me, and I will not let him down."

All members of the War Council sensed the confidence and ambition in Guilliman's tone.

Horus Lupecal and Fernús Manus beside him exchanged a thoughtful glance.

"Ninglu, before you offer help to others, how's your mission going?" Leman Russ's gruff voice rang out, and he said provocatively:
“If your wizard boys aren’t up to the task, my pack of wolves can help you.”

The Primarchs all frowned, most of them showing disgust at Ruth's barbaric words.

Hannibal, in particular, was extremely displeased with Ruth's destructive behavior of wasting food.

As the expedition progressed, the wolves, war dogs, and ghouls left behind only ruins in their wake.

Even Vokan, who didn't want his brothers to clash, was disgusted by Russ's actions.

Horus did not show his contempt for the barbaric behavior, but pondered Horus's intentions. He had noticed from their first meeting that the wolf king was accustomed to presenting a barbaric image and abhorred innate cunning.

Compared to his other brothers, Guilliman was not as annoyed with Ruth. He had reviewed the war reports that the Wolf King had submitted to the War Council and compared them with the war reports from when the Sixth Legion was still called the "Rippers".

He noted that the Sixth Legion had changed compared to its past madness and barbarity on the planet Delsvarn, the massacres in Delsa, and even the senseless and indiscriminate slaughter of civilians during the Mororian Rebellion.

With Ruth's return, the new "Space Wolf" has been bound by the shackles of reason.

The wolf no longer carried out senseless slaughter as it had in the past, but he knew that few people would be as discerning as he was in distinguishing the subtle differences in savagery.

“No need for you to worry about that,” Nimrod glanced at Ruth and asked, “I have a question for you. Since you despise psionics so much, how did you end up here today? Did you run here?”

“The Star Speakers are different,” Ruth roared. “They have undergone a soul-binding ritual with the Father, unlike your wizard brats.”

“Oh,” the lawyer astutely seized upon the loophole in Ruth’s words that violated imperial truth. “Do I need to remind you?”

"The Emperor said he is not a god!" "Your recitation of the myth of Fenris, the words of the King of Gods descending from the heavens, in the War Council is a public mockery of the Empire's truth."

“I think Ruth is just too influenced by Fenris culture,” Horus said, trying to ease the tension and maintain harmony between the brothers.

"Ruth," Horus said solemnly, "when we first met, I warned you that all gods are false, there is no heaven, and there is no All Father."

Another staunch believer in the Imperial Truth, Guilliman, nodded in agreement: "There are no gods, Ruth, you must understand that."

“Rus will understand,” Macado said, defusing the situation by shifting the topic to the new members who would soon be joining the War Council.

"The foundry director is coming in."

Having attended several war councils, Nimrod knew that the Mars Forging Director, representing the other end of the Empire's double-headed eagle, would always step into the Golden Palace at the very last minute before the meeting began.

Each of his times represents the 12th second, a sacred number associated with the God of All Machines.

Dressed in a red robe, the Mars Forging Director stepped into the golden palace amidst the gazes of the crowd.

He sat at the end of the parliamentary table, opposite the emperor's throne.

Then, two golden figures suddenly appeared.

The Emperor sat on the central throne, while the Grand Marshal of the Imperial Guard, Constantine Waldo, sat to the right of Nimrul, opposite Macardo.

Waldo's seat in the council did not come from his conquest record. As the Emperor's bodyguard, protecting the Busepharos, his record was surpassed by one Primarch after another as the Emperor traveled far and wide to retrieve the Primarch.

But he was the Emperor's chief of men, the Emperor's shield, the first chief royal guard, the Shield Marshal of the ancient royal guard legion, and the elite personal guard of the Lord of Mankind...

The Emperor and Mars Forging Director, the Seal Holder of the Lord of Mankind, Macardo, and the Commander of the Imperial Guard, Waldo, are also the only four permanent seats in the War Council.

“My lord,” Makado and Ninglu said.

"The Emperor," was the title used by the Mars Foundry Director.

"Father!" Horus and the others called out in unison.

“Forge Master, Macado, my sons,” the Emperor began.

He sat on the throne, his face stern.

"At this meeting, we will discuss how to deal with a newly emerging major threat."

"The 105th Vanguard Company of the Fifth Army Corps, after close reconnaissance and careful assessment, believes that it poses a serious threat to the borders of the Empire."

"The aliens have taken control of the local human colonies, using the local people and resources to create massive numbers of slave soldiers."

Unlike many legions, the Star Hunters do not operate collectively in one or several directions.

As pathfinders and discoverers for the empire, they were divided into companies to explore the outskirts of the empire.

Ninglu saw that Makado was manipulating the star map, and a region of the northern Milky Way was highlighted.

A section of the star chart is projected out separately, and the picture of a galaxy slowly unfolds.

Ning Lu saw that the star system name column read "Addex-Mors," which contained six planets marked in dark red, with a threat assessment of "extremely high."

His pupils narrowed, and he thought to himself.

[Helix-Morse]

Ran Dan.
As he pondered, Old Man Huang asked:
"The topic of this meeting is which legion should be responsible for addressing this newly emerging major threat."

　PS: By the way, let me mention the divination for benefits. I've explained the reasons several times before. I'll start by getting things from the "Great Expedition" period.

　　I may still not have explained it clearly, and some people may not understand. Let me explain it in plain language.

　　There are two types of things: one type is things that if you don't take them, someone else will, and you will never have another chance to take them. These are things that were discovered during the "Great Crusade" period (such as Horus's STC, Tarrassa, etc.) or things that might be discovered during this period (such as Alicia).

　　Another type is something you know no one has touched for a short time, so you can take it anytime.

　　So the choice is simple, right? Just grab the first category first, and take the second category later. You'll get them all, won't you?

　　Conversely, if you take the latter category first, will you have no chance to take the former category?
　　In addition, the three most frequently mentioned are:
　　The Titan prototype STC forged in Chaeronia is confirmed to have been corrupted after the Great Crusade, so it can be obtained in the later stages of the Great Crusade.

　　According to the official novel "The Only First Regiment," Iron Man STC was corrupted thousands of years before Gaunt's discovery. Working backward, it was not corrupted after the Great Birthday Celebration, so it can be obtained then.

　　The elixir of life was taken even later, after the grand birthday celebration.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)