Warhammer 40: Doom

Chapter 8 The Great Plan
“Of course, my old friend.” Opening his eyes, the Emperor spread his palms to show Macado the results he had brought back from this trip to the warp.

The divine cores of twenty-one lesser gods floated in the palm of his hand, gently swaying and emitting faint light.

A kaleidoscope of colors shimmered and illuminated the surroundings.

A stone chamber, with various mysterious runes carved on the rough rock walls, and an eight-pointed star symbol representing the subspace and blasphemy carved on the floor, where the emperor sat cross-legged in the center.

The light of the secondary god dimmed the next moment. When the god appeared in the real universe, his power was suppressed by the laws of physics, and his light was no longer as dazzling as it was in subspace.

One of the divine sparks was quite peculiar; it shone brightly, overshadowing the other divine sparks and standing out from the rest.

The Emperor recognized it as a special being, and the four gods focused their attention on this red soul.

Macado was thin and slender, but his back was somewhat hunched. He stood beside the emperor.

Due to the influence of spiritual power, the emperor appeared glorious and great in his eyes, radiating divine light and displaying his figure in the most perfect form in his mind.

As he lightly rubbed the Eagle Scepter with his fingertips, Macado looked slightly tense. The muscles below his high nose bridge were taut, and his nasolabial folds were particularly deep when he moved his lips slightly.

His eyes gleamed beneath the hood of his linen robe, and he asked the emperor in a low voice, "What is this?"

As a psionicist, and a very powerful one at that, Makado was well aware of it.

Even the most powerful beings in the subspace, including supreme evil gods, are subject to the suppression of physical laws in the real universe, resulting in an unlimited weakening of their strength.

The red soul seemed completely unaffected by reality, its bizarre behavior defying the characteristics of the subspace and being highly abnormal.

The Emperor slowly opened his eyes, his sharp gaze scrutinizing the red soul: "A special being, the only condition proposed by the Four Gods in the transaction."

Having said that, the emperor deliberately dispersed the dazzling spiritual energy, revealing the image of a weathered middle-aged man.

She was wearing a white robe, with gold trim woven from gold thread lining the collar, cuffs, and hem.

He wore an olive wreath, his long black hair cascading down to his chest, every line on his noble face clearly visible, his brows arched, his eyes gleaming with holy light, his nasolabial folds long and thin, and a look of weariness on his noble cheeks.

Facing the Four Gods directly is an inhuman act. The Four Gods possess boundless evil power, and they will silently erode external things.

The power of the Warp Gods is not only devastating, but also terrifying in its pervasive Warp contamination.

"Can't we destroy it?" Macado frowned, orange-red psionic flames igniting from his left hand and spreading to the scepter he was gripping tightly.

The eagle sculpture at the top of the scepter stands amidst flames, like a phoenix rising from the ashes, its wings spread as if about to take flight. The unpredictable spiritual power in its hands condenses into a written symbol.

That's a "magic rune," a symbol created by Makado to harness psychic power, unique to him, and also a symbol of his identity.

The immortal humans called him "Magic Markard".

With his right hand outstretched, red psionic light, like silk, flowed up his five fingers and condensed in his palm into a mark representing "destruction".

Macardo's narrow eyes narrowed further, fully prepared. At the Emperor's command, he would utterly destroy the unclean things of the warp.

Anything imposed by the Four Gods is never a good thing. To avoid adding more variables, destroying it is the best and safest course of action.

The Emperor gazed at his old friend, slowly shook his head, raised his hand and pressed it onto Macado's hand, subtly extinguishing the Destruction Rune.

His weary eyes revealed a deep sense of helplessness: "I cannot break the contract, at least not now. It is part of the deal, the only requirement put forward by the Four Gods."

"It must be born in the real universe, but as for what it is, I don't know."

The emperor paused, thought for a moment, and then added, "Perhaps even the Four Gods don't know what it is."

“That’s a real problem, my friend.” Macado shook his head with a wry smile, his face flickering in the light of the scepter’s flames.

This is the Emperor and Macado's predicament, and also the dilemma of the human empire.

If humanity wants to return to deep space, achieve a great revival, and reclaim the galaxy from the aliens, it must cooperate with the powerful beings of the subspace.

Even though cooperating with the subspace is no less than quenching thirst with a slow-acting poison, humanity must drink that poison.

Humans are about to die of thirst; what will we talk about for the future?

The constant storms in the warp were dispersed by the birth of the Slaanesh, creating a safe window for warp navigation.

The emperor must seize the opportunity to reunify humanity.

The grand plan requires the support of the four gods, and breaking the contract now is not a wise choice.

"Let's go. They might be getting impatient. We must race against time. Time is not on our side." The emperor shook his head, slowly rose, and walked barefoot out of the stone chamber.

With the deal with the warp successful, the Emperor has taken the first step in his grand plan.

From this moment forward, we must race against time and, before the gods realize the true plan, restore the galaxy and rebuild the human race.

Humanity will once again set off from Terra and stride towards the galaxy.

"Yes, time waits for no one."

Makado casually tossed out a mark that merged into the stone wall, opening a crack in the tightly sealed stone chamber. Light streamed in through the crack, causing the two to instinctively squint.

The light and shadow flickered outside the door, and a deep male voice, barely concealing his excitement, shouted:
"My lord has returned safely; it seems everything went smoothly." The Emperor stepped out of the room, with Macado following closely behind.

The two smiled and nodded slightly. Their grand plan had taken a crucial first step: obtaining the most critical raw materials from the subspace.

Standing outside the door were two people, one tall and one short. One was a man who was over three meters tall, or perhaps even taller, and could be considered a "giant".

There was also a tall, elegant, and exceptionally beautiful woman.

The man had a handsome and resolute face, and his imposing body was clad in golden power armor.

Power armor is the culmination of human technology, providing not only powerful protection but also enhancing the strength of the armor user.

The man's power armor was extremely ornate and exquisite. The chest featured a lightning bolt relief, upon which was cast a "Sky Eagle," the symbol of the Empire, with outstretched wings, poised to take flight. The shoulder armor was carved with enormous, golden eagle wings, each feather meticulously crafted, reflecting the builder's painstaking efforts.

Large parts such as arm armor, wrist armor, leg armor, and shank armor are inlaid with pebble-sized gemstones and engraved with intricate reliefs.

Without a doubt, the giant deserved this magnificent armor; his eyes were filled with unwavering determination, and his handsome face was solemn and noble.

The man wears golden armor, and the golden armor complements the man.

Looking at his left hand, he is holding an ancient-looking spear, which contrasts sharply with his magnificent golden armor.

The spear has a golden shaft as its spine, and the spearhead is forged with a "bomb gun," a "savage weapon" that fires large-caliber self-destructive ammunition. Below the bomb gun, a blade extends from the grip of the spear shaft to the tip of the bomb gun.

Bright and shiny. Runes are engraved on the explosive gun body, and markings are inscribed on the cold blade.

This ancient spear is no ordinary weapon. It was crafted by the emperor himself and possesses incredible and extraordinary abilities, and was specially bestowed upon the commander of the Imperial Guard.

The halberd has a built-in disintegration field, which, when activated, can disintegrate the object it hits at the molecular level, making it extremely powerful.

The giant's power armor was magnificent, with exquisitely carved reliefs on the exterior of the golden armor, resembling a work of art, where beauty and power coexisted.

The woman standing next to the magnificent giant was beautiful, with long, flowing hair, emerald green eyes, slender and elegant eyebrows, a straight and delicate nose, and full, rosy lips.

A white court silk robe draped over her body, her charm was irresistible, possessing a noble and elegant sacred beauty, as she smiled at the two people who emerged from the stone chamber.

The male giant was Constantine Waldo, a talent the emperor had specially sought out from afar to serve as the commander of the royal guard of the nascent empire.

He was the most powerful and loyal servant by the emperor's side.

Constantine Waldo and his Imperial Guard are genetic engineering masterpieces created by the Lord of Man using "bio-alchemy" combined with his own genes.

Unaffected by the warp, completely lacking psionic talent, isolated from the influence of the warp to a certain extent, and possessing extremely high resistance to psionic energy.

Bio-alchemy also fully unleashes the potential of every cell in the Imperial Guard's body from another level, developing that potential to its fullest extent.

The Emperor's great technology reshapes the Imperial Guard from soul to body, transforming the frail human physique into the pinnacle of combat power in the real universe.

They moved with lightning speed, wielding the Imperial Guard's halberds at a speed that reached the limits of what any living being in the physical universe could achieve.

In just one second, a naked Imperial Guard can tear apart an entire company of fully armed ordinary people with his bare hands.

The Imperial Guards' endurance was even more astonishing. They fought at high intensity for several days and nights without rest, and they didn't even feel tired.

Theoretically, the Imperial Guard could kill all life in the real universe.

Constantine Waldo was one of the most skilled warriors in the Imperial Guard, standing out from his many colleagues to be elected as the "Commander-in-Chief of the Imperial Guard".

When the emperor rose to power, Waldo stood by his side, witnessing all the conquests and the dark secrets.

The woman's name was Erda, a friend of the Emperor, and she was an immortal.

It existed in ancient Terra when humanity first entered civilization.

Like many immortals, Erda hides among humankind, playing her part in history, silently protecting and guiding the development of human civilization.

She and the emperor knew each other in ancient times, and even spent a long time together, when they were inseparable and intimate.

When the Emperor launched a war of unification in preparation for conquering Terra, Erda allied with the Emperor to realize the great vision of restoring humanity.

When the emperor led his army to conquer the world, Erda, as his close advisor, devised strategies to persuade city-states to surrender and helped defeat the stubborn enemy.

The Emperor trusted and valued the two men greatly, and the two men devoted themselves to assisting the Emperor in unifying Terra. To support the realization of a grander plan for the future, the three of them jointly built the framework of the nascent empire.

Yes, the Emperor had a grand vision.

He will establish a human empire spanning the galaxy and wipe out all of humanity's enemies.

What we are doing now is to obtain the power to conquer the galaxy from the warp gods.

"Go, my servant," the emperor said, opening his palm to reveal the souls within, whose light had dimmed but remained dazzling.

He solemnly said to Erda, "Go to the laboratory. We must immediately anchor them in reality. Without a carrier for a long time, they will return to subspace."

(End of this chapter)