Warhammer: In the Name of Nirvana

After being separated from his blood relatives for more than two thousand two hundred days and nights, the master of the Dark Angel finally completed a job that should have been completed long ago, writing a scrawled ending to his last failure.

At least in his eyes, that's true.

"This is the last enemy ship, my lord, and their resistance is broken."

"This galaxy, this sector, has been completely cleared so far. This is the last large-scale Ran Dan fleet that we can currently detect. Their remaining power is hidden in the unlit halo stars on the star map. "

"The intensity of the battle was not great. Everything was going according to the pre-war plan. The casualties were controlled within 500. There was no damage to the main battleships or important war engines. In terms of personnel, the 45th Company of the Eighth Knights acted as The Pioneer has lost part of its strength and may need a short-term rest and replenishment."

Corswain stood beside his Primarch. He stood at the foot of the snow-white alabaster throne, expressing respect to the silent lion above his head. Caliban's deep forest voice sang from his mouth. And out, the pieces of information and summary were presented clearly and unmistakably in front of the Lion King.

The King of Lions half-squinted his eyes. He was calmly calculating all the treasures that time had taken away from him since Tucker's bloody defeat, while watching the battle, or rather the massacre, the last few moments. Silk aftermath.

The alien warships were bleeding, an uncivilized stench flowing from their twisted spines of spikes and chains, and the Primarch could see the fragile engines throbbing erratically, bumping and swaying in damaged vortices. The unique metal tentacles of the Ran Dan warship were sucked into it and crushed into pieces and fragments, until the sad remains filled most of the battlefield.

The Dark Angels' warships lay in the sky above these losers, carefully and ruthlessly killing the dying ones. Most of them had closed the public communication channels that were easily invaded by alien technology, and only communicated with the Primarch. The [Unyielding Truth] carries out single-line contact and communication.

This is necessary, and it is also a lesson learned with a lot of blood: Ran Dan's crazy technology cracked some weapons of the Human Empire at an unknown moment, although such a trump card was not used in the crucial Tuckers During the battle, it is now causing continuous damage to the Dark Angels.

The public communication channel is no longer a safe place for communication. Alien electronic viruses are always ready to attack any careless warship through it, and any imperial ship that appears in front of you is no longer a completely trustworthy friend. Neighbor: Too many deaths have proven that aliens have just mastered the technology of disguising themselves as Dark Angel battleships, and can even evade the double scanning of naked eyes and electronic instruments. There are at least twenty lone battleships in unsuspecting situations. They were quickly killed by their [friendly forces] until this scene was recorded in time by a group of Sandalwood Order who happened to pass by.

Yes, this war is like this: everything is changing, everything is stalemate, everything is moving forward with the greatest difficulty in the never-ending flow of blood, although the earth-shattering events in the Tuckers galaxy have pronounced the fate of the alien empire. The final death sentence was still not enough to make this overlord who was determined to give up his life in the galaxy a few years ago. They once again entangled the defeated soldiers of the past and desperately threw all their means into the war. They were no longer able to When it comes to the possibility of victory and the number of sacrifices, it is just a simple and crazy hope to make the human empire bleed as much as possible.

So, here comes the Dark Angel.

They came quickly.

The Primarch of the First Legion threw aside some of the advice of his blood relatives. He could not even tolerate his Legion staying on Caliban for even a year. The Dark Angels were soon swayed by the Primarch's orders and the sanctity of their mission. At the call, Yun Yun once again gathered almost all his strength and rushed to the long-lost border of the Hazy Star Territory.

From that moment on, all navigation to the north of the Caliban Star Territory was temporarily prohibited. The silence and trust of the Lord of Mankind gave the First Legion a reason to act unscrupulously. They issued the most stringent and extensive The travel ban temporarily dragged the entire northern territory of the Galaxy into confusion and darkness, until the day their mission, which was gradually forgotten by the world, was finally completed.

Extinction zone.

This is the new name here, and it is also the common name for all offices of the First Legion. They like this kind of simple naming that is both intimidating and mysterious, so as to minimize the clerical trouble and discomfort from within the empire. necessary exposure.

But this time, everything went particularly smoothly.

With the joint power exerted by the Lord of Humanity and the Master of the Seal, the memory of Yu Randan is slowly disappearing from the minds of most people in the empire, or is simply being roughly sealed, except for a very few lucky people and related people. To be able to retain some dark memories, to recall that the Great Crusade had encountered such terrible obstacles, to recall a Legion of Astartes that seemed to have never appeared.

And among the nobler ones, among the many descendants of the Lord of Mankind, their choices varied: Guilliman and Dorn, who were directly related to the Lost, calmly accepted the necessity of sealing their memories; The executioner on Fenris got drunk after a burst of contradictory laughter and tears, and then firmly remembered everything he saw; as for the Wolf Shepherd who was far away in the center of the Great Crusade, he Although he did not object to his father's request, he kept wondering in his heart that a genetic blood relative had disappeared inexplicably.

The attitude of the Lord of the Dark Angels was not the same as theirs: Zhuangson didn't care about the missing brother. Although his mind still clearly recorded the swift posture of the Eleventh Legion during the battle, this had a huge impact on him. It was not even as touching as the old cries in the wreckage of the alien warship in front of me.

As Ran Dan's existence gradually withdrew from the memory of the Human Empire within a few years, the legions that once gathered in the Milky Way North gradually dispersed, continuing to pursue their own glory in the Great Crusade, abandoning the most arduous mysterious mission. On the shoulders of Caliban: the Dark Angels picked it up without any trouble, and continued the war that was destined to remain unrecorded without hesitation.

Six years have passed since the Battle of Tuckers, and the fleet belonging to Jonson has also been tracking, killing, and exterminating for six years in the darkness of the north for six years.

Only a few human worlds have passed their screening and have the luck to become subjects of the empire, while other worlds have long been soaked with Ran Dan's blood. Most of them were burned in the ruthless fire, and those most valuable The others have to face the black death falling from the sky.

It is conceivable that such a [conquest] is destined not to be too smooth. The desperate struggles of countless powerful countries and the crazy counterattacks of the Ran Dan fleet from time to time continued in this nightmare-like six years. Although most of them They were all like ruins in front of me, destroyed by the ruthless offensive of the First Legion. I could only use all my strength to draw an undetectable white mark on the black armor of the Angels of Caliban. The still huge army dragged down a little blood, but the six years of continuous fighting were enough for such "small fights" to gather into terrifying figures.

One annihilation battle with five hundred Astartes casualties would be nothing, but what if there were ten? Is it a hundred games? Is... more?

In the [Extinction Zone], no desperate reality is impossible. The flames that destroy all living beings are killing countless worlds mercilessly, and at the same time, they are also burning the Dark Angel himself as a matter of course.

"There are only a few or a dozen torpedoes left on most battleships. More than 80% of the Stormbird squadrons are seriously short of manpower, or their equipment has aged to the limit. At the same time, almost all companies have encountered command-level operations. There is a problem of delay because the command groups of each company are fragmented, and some company commanders do not even have a temporary adviser."

In a low voice, Coswayen told the tip of the iceberg of the legion's numerous difficulties. There were several electronic boards stacked in his hands, and the contents written on them must not be friendly.

"The next large-scale supply fleet is expected to arrive in three Terra Standard Days, but currently less than 60% of the cruise companies have responded to our call. Some companies are in areas with unclear communication range, while others may have already When there is trouble, the logistics officer wants to know whether to find them and then send out a squadron for additional supplies, because this behavior is very dangerous."

"One more thing: several company commanders jointly reported that they noticed that the latest Caliban recruits were wearing the Empire's latest Mark IV armor, instead of the Mark II type that is still in large-scale deployment within the legion. They noticed It is believed that this new cutting-edge equipment is best concentrated on the veteran detachment responsible for front-line tasks, but the Caliban recruits reacted strongly to this, and they regarded taking off their armor as an insult."

"In addition, Caliban recently reported a new abnormal earthquake..."

All kinds of information flowed out of Coswayne's mouth, and it was nothing more than all kinds of bad news: casualties, difficulties, internal disputes.

They seemed to have existed from the beginning, but at this moment, they were particularly conspicuous and huge, making the Primarch sitting on his throne even a little excessively silent.

The Lion King is sitting on his throne. He has a violet cloak with gold edges. A set of holographic projectors surround the throne. They are all turned on, showing dozens of space battles being fought. The battle locations are scattered all over the place. Every corner of the extermination zone is filled with unexpected encounters and crushing despair.

Hunt, prey, and kill.

This is the normal state of the Extinction Zone and the meaning of its existence: when the First Legion truly leaves here, all the worlds will become the quietest and most docile and reliable subjects of the Lord of Mankind, because there will no longer be anyone who dares to spread malice. life.

This is the meaning of Johnson's existence.

This meaning was so ferocious and so heavy that when Coswayne finished reporting the last message and glanced at his taciturn original body, he felt a wave of pain on those broad shoulders. A kind of distant fatigue and vigilance.

He took a step back, lowered his head, and waited for the Lion King's order.

After a while, he heard an extremely weak sigh, as if a beast in the forest was reluctantly facing a collapsed civilization.

"What's your opinion, Akau?"

Just as the Dark Angel thought, the Lion King did not give the order immediately, but once again threw part of the power back to his son. The lion placed a huge paw on his leg and listened to the test. Swain's silent thoughts and calm words.

The Lion King's confidants gave his answers one by one. His great talent, which is rare even among the Astartes warriors, allows him to combine force and wisdom, and can help the Primarch solve the Legion's dilemma: in the Great War In most cases, although his suggestions were not a panacea that would cure the disease, they were enough to make the picky King of Knights nod secretly. However, in the face of the most difficult problems, Kaos had to pause in shame and Spit out a few temporary measures to stop the boiling water.

To be fair, as an Emperor's Angel born for war, Cauth's performance is enough to make any Primarch favor him: but unfortunately, as the internal affairs manager of the First Legion, Causwayne's performance is enough to make any Primarch favor him. In this position, there is a [former director] who is so powerful and versatile that it is almost impossible to surpass or compare, a leader of the First Legion in another sense.

What is even more unfortunate is that just six years ago, before the [former supervisor] went solo, his genetic father, under the [indulgence] and [support] of the silver-haired lady, indulged in After more than ten years of spending money like water, Zhuang Sen, who had just taken over the legion, had not had time to really get familiar with all the details of legion management. The gold medal assistant that fell from the sky made the Caliban people happily concentrate on their relationship with Ran Dan. It’s been a long war.

In the beginning, everything may have revealed a kind of Caliban-like rigor, but since that showdown, the Primarch has intentionally or unintentionally opened up the wonderful use of blood relatives.

Logistics is a number that does not need to be paid attention to, and supplies are a problem that never needs to be worried about. The vast number of friendly forces only need to be glanced at on the battlefield, and when they are not fighting, maybe they are a group that does not need to eat. photosynthesizer.

Battleships fell like drops in a heavy rain. The consumption of God's machinery was like a handful of sand. Countless worlds with glorious histories and important significance were arbitrarily designated as war zones, just to let them go. The possibility of victory is an insignificant proportion, and those astronomical amounts of logistical supplies and weapons consumption only require a simple order written to the housekeeper, and it will appear like magic in the warship's warehouse.

When the dance of war gradually entered its destined climax, King Caliban, who originally focused on the entire legion, became accustomed to standing in front of the star map for a long time, displaying his talents and qualities to the fullest in the galaxy. He planned bloody and cruel apocalyptic performances one after another on the stage, completely ignoring how many minefields he had accumulated through his wanton behavior: anyway, these minefields had never exploded on him, just like there was no casting. A letter of accountability from the World or War Council would arrive at Jonson's desk. After all, the automatic delivery address had long been changed to next to the housekeeper's fully automatic coffee machine.

In the later stages, the Primarch will even be pleasantly surprised to find that when his thoughts are churning again and he is preparing for the next apocalyptic war, he will see that the materials sufficient to support this battle have already been laid out. There was even more than enough in the legion warehouse. Behind the logistical supplies that exceeded his expectations several times, there seemed to be a haggard face that had become more proficient with the passage of time, and had even learned to take precautions in the bud.

Who could live up to a face like that?

Even the Primarch had to sigh like this.

Therefore, although he knew that this was enough supplies to support several battles, Zhuang Sen decided to take them all away and use several times the reserves to win a smoother battle and keep the eternal war away from the empire as soon as possible. territory.

As for the warehouse being emptied by him, and the chaos of the long supply line behind this scene, there are countless plans and plans, changes and complaints in various forging worlds and logistics worlds, and cats from the Internal Affairs Office. The cat roaring angrily was something the Lord of Dark Angels didn't care about at all.

He immediately asked Morgan to fight alongside him in this battle, and in front of her, he won an unimaginable victory at the cost of several Titan legions: she didn't seem to be dissatisfied or complaining. The speed and efficiency of the Internal Affairs Office were as impressive as ever. Over time, he even regarded this as a habit, a responsibility that the Internal Affairs Office should have fulfilled.

So, when the war situation turned bad again, he made a choice without hesitation: let his internal affairs manager add a small class, so that he could devote all his energy to the military.

This all-encompassing novice gift package lasted for more than ten years, occupying most of Jonson's years as a Primarch, so that when Coswayne relied on Morgan's shadow, he found countless supporting documents left by the Spider Queen. With help, he managed to sort out the internal affairs of the legion and then placed them on Zhuang Sen's desk. The leader of the first legion actually felt at a loss as he had never done before.

Zhuang Sen's cognition was confused.

Shouldn't the Legion's internal affairs be something that the internal affairs manager can single-handedly eliminate?

As for the scope of the internal affairs of the legion...

Apart from fighting, aren't all other things considered to be the internal affairs of the legion?

…

Although the original gene did not say it clearly, Coswayne easily read this information with his face that could be called [shocked].

The Lion King's confidant did not even have the heart to tell his master: He thought that his task was to sort out all the internal affairs, and the Primarch would solve it all by himself.

Therefore, in this two-way silence and trust, the position that originally belonged to a woman was placed on the shoulders of two men, and their will that had not been tempered by documents was almost destroyed at the first moment: when Ka When the King of Liban relied on his talent and tenacity as the original body to barely adapt to breathing in the vast sea of ​​documents, he suddenly thought of a question.

Morgan is gone.

But maybe he could make another Morgan.

The best goal is undoubtedly...

The old face of Caliban named Luther flashed through the Primarch's mind. Only then did Jonson realize that he had sent Luther to the Far East as an envoy. The person he was sent to... ...seems to be his first housekeeper.

I don’t know what happened to Luther’s mission and situation. I hope he can get used to the emptiness of the Far Eastern frontier a little bit.

The original body rubbed his brow and turned his gaze to Coswayne.

Fortunately, Coswayen never disappoints, and with the end of the Battle of Tuckers, there are actually not that many huge documents belonging to the Ministry of the Interior.

While gnawing hard at the countless files left by his blood relatives, the Primarch commanded his legions and continued horrific killings in the extermination zone, looking for the possible location of Randan's home planet and his crazy brother.

This is not an easy task, especially for the Randan Empire, which is more urgent. Their home planet seems to be hidden in a remote corner of the northwest of the Milky Way. Even in the golden age of mankind, there was little exploration there. And few.

The Dark Angel had to choose a safer method: clear out any star area where Ran Dan soldiers were present, and one day they would be able to rule out their home star.

The entire western part of the Hazy Star Territory was divided into countless small grids in this way. The Dark Angel's fleet and the alien army that grew crazily like weeds played a boring grid game. Every time a grid was completely wiped out by hundreds of millions of blood, When it is filled, it means that the destruction of Ran Dan Empire has taken another firm step.

For six years, this grid game has been running steadily and ruthlessly, constantly devouring the lives of both sides. Tens of thousands of Dark Angels never have the chance to take off their armor, and hundreds of First Legion battleships can no longer Replying to the inquiry of [Unyielding Truth], in the extinct zone where time has lost its meaning, it seems that only eternal loneliness wrapped in hostility is the only partner of the Dark Angel.

But on this day, even the loneliness was taken away.

"Twentieth Legion?"

After finishing his report, Coswayen exited Jonson's throne room, but quickly returned and handed over a message about his visit.

Zhuang Sen looked at the information and frowned.

The message was brief and could be described in one sentence: an envoy of the 20th Legion, who called himself Alpharius, was eager to meet the Primarch of the Dark Angels.

Jonson had heard of the Twentieth Legion: a question mark, a ghost, a ghostly master of which only a few words were circulated, a group of lost souls who didn't even have their own Primarch, a Legion that may or may not exist.

He didn't think he had anything to talk about with this group of people, but...

"Bring him to me, Akao."

"Yes, sir."

——————

The visitor calls himself Alpharius: He is wearing a set of Mark IV armor. This armor is just like the battleship he is riding on. There is no decoration to indicate his identity. This makes the King of Caliban already tall. Zhu's vigilance has almost reached a critical point.

The Primarch left his confidant behind, and motioned to Coswayin to place his hand on the hilt of his sword without any concealment, showing a certain unspoken attitude.

To which the visitor responded only with a disgustingly polite smile, and he quickly revealed that he had not come empty-handed but had brought a generous gift.

An elite company, and subsequently the strength of the entire legion: it is indeed a generous gift. Even Jonson himself cannot refute this conclusion, but it is not enough to make him smile at the visitor, because there is an additional condition It's tied to the gift.

"Then, let me understand your words a little bit, Ghost: You want me to accept the legion behind you and command the power and fleet of the two legions to end the long war with the Randan Empire as soon as possible."

"exactly."

The smile under the bald head could even be called sincere, but it didn't make Zhuang Sen's frown relax at all.

"Each legion has its own mission, its own area and goals. This is one of the reasons why my brothers will not patronize these remote areas. So, apart from the orders from my father, what else allows you to Can you join my war zone?"

"This is an invisible right of the Twentieth Legion, Lord of the Lions. We long to see the destruction of Randan and the victory of the Great Crusade. We can also use our own choices to promote the arrival of this."

"Your rights?"

"You can think of it as a license, or a tacit approval, or the slight difference that every legion will have, distinguishing us from the same noble purpose."

The visitor who called himself Alpharius continued to smile, a confident light shining in his pupils.

What answered him was the Lion King's silence, and after a long time he sneered.

"You know, Alpharius, your words remind me of someone."

"An old friend?"

"Yes, an old friend. She always impresses me and cannot be forgotten. Her words are always like this, showing off a kind of arrogance that dances wantonly on the edge of the red line."

That [she] made the visitor's brows move involuntarily, and before Alpharius could say any words, the Lord of the First Legion took out his sword and placed it across his knees, deliberately Caressing unintentionally.

"I tried to kill her, with roaring steel and my sword. Her death would be unbridled arrogance and uncontrollable danger: an unforgivable sin."

"But at the moment of execution, she spoke out her defense, she provided a perfect confession, and she made the execution that she was determined to have to stop, because her exoneration was so impeccable, that It’s the only reason in the galaxy that allows people like you to survive.”

"But unfortunately, I have never seen such a reason in your case."

"So, you'd better start telling the truth from now on, kid, for your own sake."

The long silence and solemnity accompanied Caliban's declaration and refused to disperse in the throne room for a long time. Just when the Lord of the First Legion raised his head slightly, proud of his disguised victory, he saw The visitor took a few steps back and then spoke seriously.

He met the Primarch's gaze.

"You will become a war master, my lord,"

Sonorous words echoed in the space, but this time, it was the lion who was silent.

"..."

"..."

"Warmaster?"

Zhuang Sen spoke cautiously.

"Is this the vocabulary you learned in the Second Legion?"

This sudden question made Alpharius pause. He recalled it carefully and then shook his head.

"You may not understand enough. In the past six years, as the progress of the Great Crusade has progressed, more and more people have realized that as the monarch of the empire, the emperor will never continue to be the commander-in-chief. Appearing on the frontline battlefield, then when the Lord of Mankind returns to Holy Terra, a position that stands out from the originally equal Primarchs and coordinates the Great Expedition is imminent."

The envoy of the Twentieth Legion said this bombshell seriously. He predicted the lethality of this word to the Lord of the First Legion, but what surprised him was that when he seriously explained the Warmaster once When the story came, the first expression that appeared on Zhuang Sen's face...

He seemed to be relieved.

But fortunately, this weird relaxation turned into the seriousness that Alpharius expected, which allowed him to continue talking.

"Maybe it was the Emperor's personal selection, maybe it was the vote of the Primarchs, or maybe it was the hero that everyone silently recognized in the future conquest: no matter what the result of the selection is, there is There is no doubt about it.”

"If you want to be a Warmaster, you cannot continue to destroy your legion in this battle. If you continue to suffer such huge casualties, you will not be able to surpass other legions again. They are behind your sacrifice. Develop your own power, use your dazzling achievements and rapidly expanding power to claim that you are worthy of the title of Warmaster."

"Among your brothers, there are many who are determined to win this title."

"Like the Lord of the Thirteenth Legion, he is just a pale reflection of you, but who can deny the hugeness of the five hundred worlds today? Who can deny that when the king of Ultramar can sit on two hundred thousand or even When there are more Astartes warriors, handing him the title of Warmaster would not be a safe choice."

"There is also the Tenth Legion, the Iron Hands from Medusa. Who's reputation can surpass the torrent of Ferus in the past few years? His cold and ruthless war style has long been praised as art by those ignorant and ignorant. , because they cannot see your war in the dark, and how can Gorgon, who also cannot see all this, voluntarily withdraw from the pursuit of the Warmaster?"

"And, oh, the incomparably powerful Luna Wolf, the first son of the Emperor in the mouth of the Cthunians, has the honor of being the first on the stage to step into this great crusade, with the Legion and the Primarch When the word Warmaster is mentioned, such a person will regard it as a crown that has been worn on his head for a long time. Who can persuade him to take this imaginary private property as his own? Hand it over?"

"My lord, they are all waiting, fighting for it, trying to take your crown into their arms, but you are doing the opposite: you are letting it slip away."

"It will do you no good to remain in the darkness, my lord. Isn't the blood of Tuckers enough to support your reputation? Although most people have forgotten it, those who are truly wise will remember you firmly. They will not doubt your devotion in the Second Randan War."

"Please don't hesitate. You just need to withdraw your power now and let us complete the rest of this mission. You can restore the number of legions at this time and let the Dark Angels return to their former glory. Dedicate the mightiest First Legion to the Great Crusade and you will astound everyone for ten years, and no Legion combined will be able to match your glory."

"After all, there is one thing that even we cannot deny: if you continue to stay in this darkness, wasting your strength and time, without enough obvious honor and victory, then the title of Warmaster will be destined to leave you. No Primarch, not anyone, would support a brother whose truth and victory they did not know."

"Who will support you unreservedly? Those Lords of the Word Bearers who are addicted to prayer? Or the barbarian king of Fenris? Or those wind chasers whose dragons are nowhere to be seen? They are not familiar with you at all, They have never heard of you."

"Even the Primarch who once fought alongside you, the Tyrantess of Avalon who once witnessed true power under the banner of the First Legion? Could she do it? I heard that she was expanding wantonly on the borders of the Far East, After planting her own flag in three sectors, who can say that her heart is not burning with the desire of a Warmaster?"

"Who can say: She will definitely choose to support you? Will definitely choose to respond to you?"

"Did she make a promise? Did she make an oath? Did she shed blood with you?"

Alpharius told.

"..."

Zhuang Sen was silent.

But this is not a persuasion, or in other words, this is destined to be a long argument that will fail.

Coswayne thought so.

Because he saw the scene that the visitors of the 20th Legion did not see when they were compiling their words.

When the Dark Angel's Primarch was sitting in his seat, listening to Alpharius's words, when he heard the doubts about the Spider Queen, and those words such as [Promise], [Oath], [Blood], etc. topic, when he heard whether Morgan would support him in the election of Warmaster.

A fleeting light flashed across Jonson's pupils, an unquestionable conclusion echoing in the heart of the Primarch.

That was a touch of mockery.

And endless confidence.