Warhammer: Black Emperor

Chapter 350 The First Shadow of Order to Awaken the Heartforged Staff

After ordering the five warbands that had participated in the previous battles to rest, Ninglu led the newly arrived Second and Fifth Warbands to the Dametus system to rescue the Vironi Knights, who had been besieged by the Mitu for centuries.

Before the Fifth Fleet set sail, San Diego Bergkamp, ​​who was serving as the adjutant, received a transfer order.

With great excitement, he boarded the Stormbird and aboard the Shadow of Reign.

As a former member of the Honor Guard, he was familiar with the Primarch's flagship, but he was not so familiar with the reporting location, the Think Tank.

The think tank is located at the rear of the HMS Shadow of Reigns, behind the Primarch Palace, and isolated from other areas.

San Diego knew the general structure of the think tank building; the entire area was a regular rectangle.

The outermost area is where the editors work.

Combat reports from each battle group, as well as information gathered by the legion, will be compiled here and archived and backed up by the editors.

Although the Shadow of Order is not as obsessed with collecting knowledge as the Thousand Sons, the knowledge gathered by the Primarch and its vast think tank is still a huge treasure trove, even exceeding the capacity of the Think Tank itself.

With the completion of the Legion Fortress Monastery Shadow Keep, battle reports and star system scan data were transferred to the secret spire outside the main tower.

After presenting the authorization rune and passing the inspection, San Diego entered the outer editing area.

He saw a think tank member dressed in a black robe, bent over a desk, intently studying a sheet-like object that shimmered with light.

[This should be the data carrier of the Mitu people.]
San Diego secretly guessed, he thought to himself.

If I had accepted the invitation from think tank director Thomas, I might be doing this kind of work right now.

I still prefer fighting alongside my comrades. Although the think tank also fights alongside me, there are still some differences.
Compared to think tanks that occasionally join and always leave, San Diego prefers to fight alongside his comrades.

As San Diego pondered, he walked past workbenches and rows of obsidian bookshelves.

The bookshelves contain paper books and parchment scrolls, as well as data boards and data crystals containing high-value information, and various strange information carriers such as alien furs and stones.

San Diego eventually walked to the foot of a black obsidian platform. He looked around and found that his fellow warriors from other chapters were already standing there.

A battle comrade from the 7th Legion, with seven red arrows painted on his right shoulder.

The right shoulder is painted with blue ocean wave patterns, a sign of his combat brethren from the Ninth Legion.

……

San Diego knew that those combat brothers from the group that had not been drafted into this campaign were members of the Black Emperor's current batch of honor guards.

A smile appeared on his face as he recalled the wonderful times he spent following the Primarch.

San Diego waited a moment longer, until ninety-two Shadows of Order had gathered below the platform, before the lecturer stepped onto the stage.

"Shadows of Order from all the chapters, you have been summoned here today because you have displayed a certain amount of psychic power."

"You will undergo training on your journey to the Dametus system."

"The training includes the mental techniques created by Magnus and the fire dragon runes of the Eldar."

The lecturer paused, his eyes deep, as he surveyed the crowd.

“I think some of you may have doubts about using Eldar runes.”

"As my father said, 'Make good use of all means,' but at the same time, be careful to 'be wary of losing control of the power.'"

"The Fire Dragon Rune is a power that Father carefully practiced and confirmed we could control. Primarch's servant and Lord Thomas also verified this through practice."

San Diego does not reject the runes of the aliens; as a demonic psionicist, his use of warp power is even more dangerous.

When "teleportation" is activated, it directly utilizes subspace power.

San Diego knew the dangers involved. The Bergkamp family ancestor who left the notes was transported to an unknown place when the warp power went out of control during a use of "teleportation".

He had been searching for a way to control his power. After his father taught him the Thelma Mindset, he studied it diligently and quickly mastered all three levels.

What reassured him even more was that during the battle between Spiral-Morse and the Randan alien, the Black Emperor told him the name of the prayer.

If he gets into danger, he can pray to the Great Black Emperor.

The Black Emperor also granted him power, making him an "apprentice".

San Diego knew that this was his father's love for him.

Because he uses demonic psionic energy, he can also use "Open Door" to escape when in danger.

Even if there is no other way, you can pray to the Black Emperor to get out of trouble.

San Diego listened attentively as the lecturer began to speak.

"Most ordinary people cannot even enter the first level of mental state. They can control their emotions, but they find it difficult to maintain true calm and clear their minds."

“Of course, the Primarch’s servant, Artena Dunn, could enter this state within ten minutes of being taught by his father.”

After a standard ship time, San Diego, who was quite familiar with mental cultivation, was able to enter the first level of mental state created by Magnus.

The first day of training ended, and when the instructor asked about everyone's progress, San Diego noticed that only he and one other person had mastered the first level of mental state.

The man was dressed in a long black robe with blue accents at the edges, clearly a think tank apprentice who had not yet become an editor.

His name is Miguel Cuesta.

The instructor then said, "Today's training is over. Now you have an opportunity."

"The Heartforged Staff, which was obtained from Medusa, is waiting for its master. Each of you may hold it for eleven minutes and try to communicate with it using your psychic powers."

“Once you succeed, it’s yours.” The Shadows of Order followed their mentor, passing the area where the Recorder and the Star Speaker were located, and stopped in front of a gate.

The Star Speaker, adorned with blue stars on his black power armor, placed his hand on the scanner.

A psychic glow shone as the scanning array swung between his fingers.

The embedded psionic array emitted a trembling sound confirming the sequence after reading the data, and the control panel slid out, revealing a milky-white keyboard that was extended in front of him.

After pondering silently for a moment, the Star Language Officer raised his hand and pressed in an encrypted sequence that changed randomly every hour.

A series of metallic clanging sounds echoed continuously, followed by several bangs, hisses, and infrasound whistling sounds. The latch was released, and the killing aura and impact lock were also closed.

The door slid open with a roar, and frozen mist seeped out from the open hatch.

"This is the think tank's armory."

“Follow the path I have taken, and do not stray from it.”

The Shadows of Order followed the Star Speaker into the armory of the think tank.

They passed through two more large doors and arrived at a cabin that was about the size of a transit deck.

San Diego and Miguel saw that psionic staffs were placed on the psionic weapon rack.

The staff looks no different from an ordinary staff, except that the head of the staff is cast in the shape of a heart.

Immediately, several people walked to the psionic weapon rack and picked up the Heartforged Staff.

They infused the staff with psionic energy, attempting to awaken the ancient relic in their hands.

San Diego and Miguel each picked up a Heartforged Staff and infused it with psionic energy.

The staff in San Diego's hand did not react, but Miguel's staff emitted a dazzling light as psionic energy surged into it.

The crackling and flashing arcs of electricity immediately caught the attention of the Star Speaker.

He walked up to Miguel and said, "Congratulations!"

Moments later, Miguel and San Diego were summoned by the Primarch.

Nimrod first let Santiago into his office, and after confirming that he had digested the "Apprentice" potion, he told him to wait a moment and return to the "Land of Chaos".

He then instructed the space monkeys to concoct the "Master of Tricks" potion using colorful mushrooms and other ingredients.

A moment later, San Diego drank the potion that shimmered with multicolored light.

After gathering the power released by the potion, Saint Diego, who had advanced to Sequence 8, entered the first level of mental state. He quickly sorted through the newly acquired spells such as "Flash" and then said respectfully.

"Thank you, my Lord, for this gift. I will certainly make good use of the power you have given me to perform magic tricks for the Mitu people."

Ninglu nodded slightly. "Let Miguel in."

A few dozen seconds later, Miguel, holding the Heartforged Staff, walked in.

Upon first meeting the father of genetics, he did not immediately enter the first level of mental state he had just mastered, and instead revealed obvious excitement.

"Father."

“Miguel,” Nimrod said, looking at his progenitor, “show me your mastery of the Heartforged Staff.”

Miguel took a deep breath and channeled psionic energy into the staff in his hand.

Crack!

The Heartforged Staff immediately erupted with dazzling arcs of electricity.

In the Corrupted Baron's vision, he saw the lines of rules governing the technological creations in the office, including the overhead clock, tremble slightly.

[As expected, a powerful technology-based psionicist.]

With the ability to activate the Heartforged Staff, Miguel's future strength will be considerable.

Even if he can't match Lindrick, he should still be a powerful psionicist; perhaps I should train him to be an extraordinary one.
In Nimrod's memory, the first owner of the Heartforged Staff, Lindrick, was the main force in the siege of the Sapphire King.

The Sapphire King was born from the psionic shock generated by the death of Ferns Manus, and the Primarch's anger, regret, and other emotions gave birth to the powerful Slaanesh Archdeacon.

He haunted the Steel Hand like a nightmare until he was killed by Lindrick.

Although the Iron Hands who besieged the Sapphire King numbered in the number, and even fourteen Iron Fathers perished, Lindrick, who used the power of Heartforged, was undoubtedly the decisive figure in that battle.

Lindrick's slaying of the Sapphire King was due not only to his own strength and the damage inflicted by the Iron Hands, but also significantly to the role of the Heartforged Staff.

It is a powerful staff, far more powerful than the staffs of the Osiris Mind Controllings and the Flao people.

Ninglu recalled the information he had just reviewed about Miguel, "You are a Kasser, and your family has been forging psionic longswords for nobles for generations?"

“Yes, Father, the Quista family is the oldest and largest sword-making family in Kaser.”

Ning Lu nodded slightly, thinking to himself.

[Forged into a psionic longsword, combining the characteristics of technology and psionic power.]

Perhaps it's not a coincidence that Miguel is a technology-based psionicist, or even that he awakened the Heartforged Staff.

Possessing both high psionic and mechanical talents simultaneously?
"From this moment forward, you are a member of the Honor Guard."

“Yes, Father.” Miguel felt that today was truly his lucky day, not only did he obtain a powerful staff, but he also gained the favor of the Father of Genetics.

(End of this chapter)