Warhammer: Empire Reboot

The Supreme Mentor of the Dark Angels, the head of the Inner Circle Council, and the de facto leader of the entire Unforgiven system.

He wore a lion helmet and the Sword of Eternity on his Terminator armor, two sacred relics symbolizing the highest master of the Dark Angels.

Azrael spent two hours reporting this 10,000-year history to the Lion King.

The rebuilding of Caliban after its shattering, the beginning of the Fallen Angels' hunt, the establishment of the Inner Circle Council, and the decisions and sacrifices of each Grand Master over ten thousand years.

And the most crucial thing.

"After Guilliman's return, he promulgated the Code of Astartes."

Azrael said, "The Code requires all legions to be divided into independent warbands of a thousand men each, in order to prevent a second Horus rebellion."

“We obeyed, at least on the surface.”

Azrael pulls up an organizational chart.

The image displays the names of dozens of Dark Angel Heirs Chapters: Angels of Atonement, Angels of Vengeance, Guardians of the Covenant, Devotees, Angels of Redemption...

“Each chapter is independent in the Imperial archives, with its own chapter leader, its own territory, and its own operational structure. What the Imperial administration, the Inquisition, and other chapters see are dozens of independent chapters that happen to share the same genetic seed and happen to have similar paint schemes.”

Azrael looked at the Lion King.

"But the inner circle council continues to operate."

"The highest level of every successor chapter, the chapter leader or grandmaster, is an inner circle member. They share intelligence on fallen angel hunts, interrogation records, and strategic resource allocation. Major decisions are made through unified consultation by the inner circle council."

"On the surface, there are dozens of battle groups, but in reality, the First Legion has never split up."

The Lion King looked at the architecture diagram.

"well done."

Azrael's shoulders relaxed slightly.

Although the Lion King was still asleep when he became the Grand Master, maintaining the unity of the Legion is the core mission of every Grand Master.

Now that their father has personally confirmed their choice, it weighs more heavily than any medal.

"Azrael".

"exist."

"You preserved the skeleton of the First Legion for ten thousand years, maintaining its substantial unity under the Empire's Divide Order and the Inquisition's surveillance. This is no easy feat."

Azrael bowed his head in greeting.

Next, the Lion King spoke of the second matter.

"The matter of fallen angels ends here."

The members of the inner circle exchanged glances.

For ten thousand years, the hunt for fallen angels has been one of the core driving forces behind the existence of the Dark Angels, and most of the Inner Circle Council’s resources, intelligence networks, and covert operations have revolved around this.

Now the Lion King says, "That's enough."

"The responsibility for what happened to Caliban back then lies with Luther, not with those soldiers."

"Many of them were unaware of the truth and were simply following orders. After being scattered across the galaxy by the warp storm, some of them defected to Chaos, and those people remain traitors."

"But there are many others who did not. For thousands of years, they fought alone, protecting civilians and battling chaos."

The Lion King looked at Azrael.

“These people should not continue to be treated as traitors.”

“I have found a group, more than three hundred people. I have given them a new name, the Resurrected.”

“From today onwards, all Fallen Angels who have not sided with Chaos may join the Resurrected Chapter. Names on the kill list without a record of Chaos corruption will be crossed out.”

The silence in the council chamber lasted for more than ten seconds.

Ten thousand years of hunting, ten thousand years of secrets, ten thousand years of obsession, all brought to an end by the father of genetics in a few words.

Rationally speaking, Azrael understands this decision.

The Lion King is the Primarch, the Creator, and the only one qualified to make this decision.

The sins and punishments of fallen angels should always be judged by Him.

The inner council has exercised judicial power for ten thousand years, but now the power has returned to its rightful owners.

Emotionally speaking, it's very complicated.

a thousand years.

Many judges and priests have dedicated their lives to the pursuit of fallen angels.

Countless Deathwing Terminators have perished in their hunts. Countless times, Dark Angels have abandoned strategic locations and betrayed their allies, all to track down the trail of a single fallen angel.

Now the Lion King says that most of those people can be forgiven.

What about the sacrifices of the past ten thousand years?

Azrael suppressed the thought.

His duty is to carry out the will of the father of genes, not to question it.

"Yes, Father of Genetics."

Azrael knelt on one knee.

"The Inner Ring Council will revise the kill list. All Fallen Angel files that are not recorded as corrupted by Chaos will be changed from being hunted to being recruited, and the Resurrected Chapter will be incorporated into the Unforgiven system."

"But I request that the right to hunt down fallen angels who have been confirmed to have sided with Chaos be reserved."

The Lion King nodded.

"Kill those who deserve to die."

Azrael stood up and turned to the inner circle members present.

"Gentlemen, you have heard this. The father of genetics commands to be carried out immediately."

Grandmaster Belial of Deathwing, Grandmaster Corvos of Ravenwing, Chief Psionicist Ezekiel, and the other Inner Circle members present rose to pay their respects.

In the days that followed, the Stone Monastery became more lively than ever before.

One warship after another leaped out of the warp and lined up in long rows in the docklands surrounding the Great Stone Monastery.

Each ship flew the banner of a different Heirs Chapter, but the warriors who stepped off the deck all possessed the spirit of the First Legion.

The angel of forgiveness arrived first, followed closely by the angel of vengeance.

Guardians of the Covenant, Devotees, Angels of Redemption, Angels of Judgment...

One after another, successor chapters arrived from all corners of the galaxy.

In the corridors of the Stone Monastery, Space Marines of different chapters brushed past each other.

Dark green, bone white, black, dark green...

In the central hall of the Great Stone Monastery, the Lion King stood on a high platform, looking down at the tens of thousands of Space Marines gathered below.

His bloodline, his legions, and his successors who maintained unity and discipline even after his departure.

In the ten thousand years since the Emperor became a zombie, the Empire went mad, and his brothers all died, the First Legion survived.

They changed their appearance, their organizational structure, and they carried too many burdens they shouldn't have had, but they survived.

Of the twenty Primarchs, he was probably the least eloquent.

He only said one sentence.

"First Legion".

Tens of thousands of Space Marines saluted simultaneously.

The sounds of power armor clashing echoed through the hall.

……

Three weeks later, all the warbands were present.

The inner council chamber of the Great Stone Monastery once again convened a plenary meeting.

Everyone's here this time.

The Lion King sat in the main seat.

Azrael sat to his right, with Deathwing Archmaster Belial, Ravenwing Archmaster Corvos, and Chief Psionicist Ezekiel on either side.

Further out are the chapter leaders of the various successor chapters.

Argos, the Angel of Forgiveness; Hadras, the Angel of Vengeance; Sephalo, the Guardian of the Covenant; Nakir, the Devotion; Galel, the Angel of Redemption; and the leaders of seven other chapters.

They are all members of the inner circle.

The Lion King glanced around at the faces at the table, then leaned back in his chair, signaling Azrael to take charge.

Azrael understood what he meant.

“There is only one issue,” Azrael began, “The future of the First Legion: whether to rebuild it, and in what form?”

He looked at everyone present.

"The Father of Genesis has returned, making him the second conscious Primarch remaining in the Imperium. Following Imperial precedent, Guilliman reorganized the Ultramarines' command structure upon his return, and His Majesty the Lion King has the same qualifications to rebuild the First Legion."

The first to speak was Hadras, the vengeful angel.

“I support the reconstruction. There’s nothing to discuss. Father is back. Why should we pretend to be dozens of independent warbands? The inner ring mechanism has lasted for ten thousand years, which proves that the unification of the legions is the right thing to do. Take off the mask and return to the galactic stage as the First Legion.”

Sefaro, the guardian of the covenant, shook his head.

"It's not that simple. The inner ring mechanism is effective because it operates in the shadows. The Imperial administration, the Inquisition, and other warbands see dozens of independent warbands, which gives us flexibility, independent operational areas, independent conscription rights, and independent logistics systems. Once the legions are publicly rebuilt, the Empire's attention will be focused on us. The Inquisition will demand an investigation, the Mechanicus will demand a renegotiation of equipment supply agreements, and other warbands will be on guard."

"Moreover, the Astartes Code is still the law of the Empire. Openly violating it would put political pressure on Guilliman. We have no need to provoke the only regent of the Empire for the sake of a title."

Hadras sneered: "Sefalo, you're right, but you've overlooked one fact: Guilliman himself has already led the way in breaking the rules of the Code."

He pulled up a file.

"Unnumbered offspring, the force created by Guilliman after he awoke, consisting of hundreds of thousands of original Space Marines, who did not bear any chapter number and fought directly alongside Guilliman. He called them 'Grey Shields,' saying that they were a temporary organization that would be distributed to various chapters to replenish their forces after the war."

Hadras glanced at everyone present.

"Hundreds of thousands of Primarch Space Marines fighting alongside a Primarch—what's the difference between that and a Legion? The very existence of the Grey Shields proves that the Codex Astartes was never just religious law written in stone. Guilliman himself changed it, so why can't we?"