Warhammer: Empire Reboot

"The Fenris ice wolves will not argue about who should pay for the wood when their den is on fire."

Archbishop Elisius raised his eyelids.

"Frosty Lord, you must not throw your children into the fire when your lair is on fire. Your Space Wolves yesterday sealed off thirty-two refuge chapels in the lower levels of Auterk, refusing entry to clergy. There are seventeen thousand pilgrims there."

Haldo looked at him.

“There are gene stealers there.”

"There are suspected contaminants."

"I chopped off three hundred heads, and one hundred and twenty of them had extra things growing inside. You want me to wait until they finish singing their hymns before I do it?"

The archbishop's gaze darkened.

"You can't treat all fearful civilians as aliens."

“I can smell it.”

The monks behind Elisius glared at him angrily.

Several of the Space Wolf's guards also grinned, revealing wolf-like smiles.

Calgary raised his hand.

"enough."

The sound filled the hall.

You can suppress the voices, but you can't suppress the thoughts of all parties.

Omniklas seized the opportunity to speak.

"The Mechanic Order accepts unified wartime coordination, but the North North District and all fortress-level Void Shield master control nodes must maintain the Mechanic Order's independent decision-making. Without the authorization of the Technologist, no mortal officer, noble, clergy member, or foreign chapter may modify the shield parameters."

Stronus's metal fingers stopped.

He looked at the Technologist, who also belonged to the mechanical logic side.

"You have lost three shield nodes."

Omniklas replied, "The reason for the loss is the congestion of the passage caused by the infiltration of the poor prince and the gathering of the state church masses."

The issue of the national education seat caused an uproar.

Elisius said coldly, "You blame the shield's failure on prayer?"

"Data shows that large-scale, disorderly movement of people hindered the passage of maintenance servitors. The state religion's prayer procession at the Seventeenth Holy Rank directly delayed the replacement of the shield's secondary cooling pump."

The archbishop retorted: "That prayer prevented 800,000 panicked civilians from storming the water purification gates."

"Emotional reassurance has value, but mechanical efficiency is lost even more."

"If the water purification gate is breached, your cooling pumps will also be submerged in corpses."

Neither of them is wrong.

They are all protecting their own rights.

Calga looked at the round table, his anger rising little by little.

They knew people were dying on the front lines.

They also knew that the warning star could not be lost.

But everyone wants others to relinquish their authority, take responsibility, and bleed first.

Serena spoke up, “Master of the Warband, the Agammenus family can authorize you to oversee the external defenses. However, the Governor’s Office must retain the final say on the internal affairs of each hive city. If we completely relinquish power, the local nobles will perceive the family as having lost power, triggering more rebellions.”

General Warren immediately retorted: "Does your so-called internal affairs include allowing noble private soldiers to seize ammunition trucks? The 12th military post had 60,000 plasma batteries, which were seized by Earl Harlowen's men, who said they wanted to prioritize protecting his family's reservoir."

An obese nobleman stood up.

"The Harlowen Reservoir supplies 30 million people! If the ammunition trucks that the General mentioned are sent to the outer front, who will guarantee that the reservoir won't be breached by the Orc racers?"

"The orcs have broken through the outer defense line, and your reservoir will fall!"

The nobleman sneered.

"This shows that the celebrity military failed to fulfill its defensive obligations."

General Warren was so angry that his prosthetic eye gleamed.

"You stupid pig who grew up drinking clean water! My soldiers are blocking tanks with bayonets in the desert!"

"Please watch your words."

"I'm watching your mom!"

The hall erupted in chaos.

Several noble representatives stood up at the same time.

PDF Chief of Staff Dravin slammed his hand on the holster and then forcibly released it.

Tigurius opened his other eye.

In his psychic perception, there were several instances of unnatural thought fluctuations.

He glanced at an unassuming deputy legal secretary at the edge of the round table.

The clerk had been taking notes throughout the meeting, but as everyone in the hall experienced emotional ups and downs, his mind remained as blank as a sheet of glass, unable to reflect any normal ripples.

Calga pushed a tactical projection onto the center of the round table.

"The East Tolia Plague Zone needs to be sealed off immediately. The Otek water supply system must be cleared by the Space Wolves and the Battle Sisters. The North North District shield must be connected to the unified tactical network. All PDF units must undergo blood screening and genetic testing. All noble private armies must be placed under temporary military control."

Earl Harlowen's representative shrieked, "Your Excellency has no right to directly control the private armies of nobles. According to the ancient charter of the Vigilant Star, each family has an obligation to protect its own territory and working districts."

General Warren sneered: "Your private soldiers are familiar with the wine cellars and women's rooms."

Representative Harlown roared, "How dare you insult the imperial nobility?"

Haldo Shuangpi grinned: "He was just being too polite."

Stronus finally spoke.

"Current debates are inefficient. It is recommended that all those who refuse unified command be regarded as wartime obstacles."

The hall fell silent for a moment.

Serena slowly looked at him.

"Does the Steel Hand intend to execute the entire Vigilant Planet Council?"

Stronus showed no emotional fluctuation.

"If it can improve the win rate, then yes."

Elisius stood up.

"If you use force to suppress all local power structures, Vigilant will descend into greater chaos. Believers will panic, nobles will defend themselves, the Mechanicus will lock down their shields, and the PDF will split. You are Space Marines, capable of killing on the battlefield, but you cannot pretend that 160 billion people will become orderly at your command."

Calga knows.

This is precisely why he has been hesitant to take direct control of Parliament by force.

The Vigilant Star is not a fortress.

It is a colossal political monster with a population of over 160 billion, multiple continental-scale hive cities, semi-independent territories of mechanical guilds, a state religious sanctuary, and a complex aristocratic system.

Killing the entire council is easy.

What's next?

Calgary was able to forcefully subdue them.

However, under strong pressure, the execution will be distorted.

The command will be delayed.

Intelligence may be missed.

Resources will be hidden.

The planet will continue to bleed amidst external enemies and internal strife.

He needs a unified system that can be implemented.

But this group of people, while shouting about loyalty, were tearing every order apart into pieces.

Around the round table, another argument broke out.

The nobles demanded that the family's evacuation route be preserved.

The court reminded all parties that any temporary requisition of private aircraft requires the seal of wartime law.

Upon hearing this, Haldor looked up at the dome, as if pleading with the ancestor Fenris to grant him some patience.

"They are really discussing stamping."

He muttered under his breath, “The Vigilant Star is practically being gnawed to the bone by green-skinned creatures, bugs, and rotten cans, and these guys are still discussing stamping it.”

Stronus said coldly, "Bureaucratic behavior is the norm in the history of the empire."

Haldor turned to look at him.

"Are you explaining, or are you insulting me?"

Both are true.

Haldor grinned: "I'm starting to like you, Iron Hand."

"Your preference lacks tactical value."

"Shut up, you cog in the machine."

Stronus's prosthetic eye moved slightly.

"Your emotional management is flawed."

“I just spent six hours hacking at a four-armed bastard in the sewers, and then I was called here to listen to a bunch of gold-dressed idiots arguing about a seal. You should be glad I’m still managing my emotions.”

The debate around the round table did not stop.

The Earl of Harlowen's representatives still insisted that noble private armies should retain independent command.

Transport officials claimed that all large transport convoys must first obtain the "wartime road coordination stamp" or they would cause congestion on the main roads of the city.