Chapter 251: Time to Go to War
"That's right. Putting a newcomer in the seat is completely different from helping someone who has fallen from that seat back up. Maybe those people even hope for such an opportunity after their decline."
After Russell had taken his leave, Karna, who had been roped in by Romulus as an external processor, shook a document. He was still good at calculations, and with his intuitive talent for 'not being deceived by verbal辯白 or trickery,' he could also help Romulus with many problems. Even if he didn't use much of his own processing power, he could lend some of his brain to Romulus through a psychic link.
The warp is amazing, isn't it?
"But speaking of Terra... the High Lords are quite cooperative. They didn't even try to mess with us," Karna said. To be honest, he hadn't expected the High Lords to be so cooperative. The Administratum hadn't even tried to pull any of their usual shenanigans. The Black Templars were so disappointed they had even ignored the Ecclesiarchy's request for them to go and hunt some Genestealers. These insects... by the time we travel to the destination and then sort out the local problems in a meeting with all the various factions, we could have liberated several planets and countless humans under the command of the four Primarchs. The efficiency wasn't even on the same level.
And the Custodes are so amazing, right? The Emperor's true sons, right? Let them go. I'm sure they'll do their duty very well.
The conflict between the Sons of Dorn and the Custodes had a long history. Both were defenders of Terra. You don't go after the Traitor Legions, you don't go after the Ultramarines who only arrived after the battle was over, you just keep picking on the Imperial Fists. And then, after the Age of Apostasy, you even stripped the Imperial Fists of their status as the Terran Guard, kicked them all out to the satellites and the Phalanx, and only allowed them to send down one company when they were recruiting new troops. And when you see them, you give them this 'you traitors who will betray sooner or later, I'll be watching you' look.
Recently, with the Primarchs around, there had been a lot of Imperial jokes. The impression of the Custodes had changed from the Emperor's noble representatives on earth to a bunch of slackers who ate the resources of an entire planet and had done nothing for ten thousand years. And the recent great purge on Terra had undoubtedly proven this point.
"Heh, it's just a matter of words, of course they'll say them," Romulus smiled, looking at the material Custodian-Warden Navradaran had handed back. This Custodian was coordinating the Terran side, including the Maelstrom, a sector that was directly linked to Terra. The text was also somewhat angry, and at the end, it greatly criticized the Terran government's inaction and its various blame-shifting behaviors. In this 'Mercy of the Emperor's' view, Terra's approach was to just sit back and enjoy the fruits, and let the Primarchs bear the local pressure.
As expected of a superhuman who had been trained as an excellent statesman, strategist, and philosopher, the Custodes' work ability was reliable.
He then calculated the number of tasks, saw that he was almost done, and then explained, "The so-called 'willingness to cooperate' is nothing more than conscripting Imperial officials. But in the current environment of the Imperium, if we really want to build a stable supply line between the two sectors, we can't rely on them. Aside from the more important projects, such as naval operations, special mineral resources... Terra's own interests are completely different from those of the local regions."
A typical example was Huron. Many had joked in private that if Huron had just held on a little longer, his life would have been completely different. But the reality was that, without a being of sufficient identity, strength, and status, recognized by both Terra and Huron, to suppress Huron's ambition, a rebellion was inevitable.
In the original history, the High Lords' council had given Huron many chances. Huron had called himself the Tyrant of Badab in the Maelstrom, had violated the Codex Astartes, had interfered in local governance, and had held sole power for over 150 years. During that time, he had blockaded trade routes, withheld the Imperial Tithe, and had attacked tax-collecting ships. And the High Lords had ignored Huron's repeated requests to Terra for more power, as well as the complaint letters from the neighboring Karis Cephalon sector.
Huron didn't want to betray the Imperium, and the High Lords just wanted to maintain the local status quo. So who was it that finally started the fight? The people of Karis Cephalon. Because Huron's monopoly on the trade routes and his withholding of the tithe had severely damaged their interests as the superior sector. They were not happy. So they had brought in the Fire Hawks Chapter and had begun military operations in the Maelstrom region.
However, although this first shot had led to bloodshed, neither Terra nor Huron had actually wanted to fight. Huron had immediately issued a joint statement with the Guardians of the Maelstrom, denouncing the oppression of the Maelstrom by the Karis Cephalon sector, and at the same time, had declared his complete loyalty to Terra. So Terra hadn't gotten involved at first. Both sides had wanted to let the matter cool down.
But the people of Karis Cephalon didn't. Their interests had been severely damaged. So they had ignored everything and had launched an attack with the Fire Hawks and their sector forces. Then the Knights Errant had arrived, seeing that something was wrong, to protect neutral ships and maintain the sector's operation. Then the Executioners had come, to help the Astral Claws because of an honour-oath between them.
Then Terra, seeing the Astartes fighting among themselves and feeling that things were getting a little out of control, had sent in an Inquisitor... and the matter was escalated. And then it was all over.
If everything had gone according to the High Lords' plan, then by the time Guilliman awoke, there would have been over 8,000 Space Marines stationed in the Maelstrom. Abaddon would have lost a powerful ally, and the Imperium would have preserved more of its strength. If everything had gone according to Huron's plan, then the situation in the Maelstrom would also have been more optimistic. He might even have been made a hero for his achievements when Guilliman awoke.
It could be said that with both sides exercising restraint, it was because of the unrelenting pressure from the local powers that this matter had successfully developed in the worst possible direction. Without a sufficiently powerful external force to intervene, Huron's betrayal was inevitable. It was also a side-proof of Terra's control over its local powers. Which was to say, a complete mess.
In Navradaran's view, Terra was practically hoping that the Primarchs and the various Imperial local powers would fight. After all, the Primarchs weren't touching Terra's power. A real fight would at most be an Imperial civil war, which was a daily occurrence on the frontiers, especially in the various expansion zones.
If they won, Terra would be relieved of a burden and could sit back and enjoy the fruits. The underlying logic of using people in this universe wouldn't change, and the various departments would always have their place. If they lost... that was impossible. They were four Primarchs. You go and fight a Dawn Crusade and show us what you can do.
Reclaim hundreds of planets, at the same time formulate local development plans, revitalize several trade routes from the north to the south of the Ultima Segmentum, reasonably divert the military forces of the various sectors, and optimize the various surface defense strategies. In the process, annihilate countless xenos, destroy an expanding xenos empire, and finally, rescue Macragge from the brink. Although the number of planets reclaimed was not as many as in the Macharian Crusade, in the eyes of the High Lords, this was the greatest victory humanity had achieved since the Great Crusade.
So the Primarchs weren't coming to Terra, and were instead graciously cleaning up the various dung heaps. These were great men! We will give them all support except for actual support. You go, guys.
"That's true..." Having listened to Romulus's analysis, Karna nodded again. They had, with one crusade, established their united front value. And the High Lords... you can't expect them to be good guys. After all, if it's useful, they'll use it to death.
"But this is also the best result we could have expected," Romulus said. He also felt he had gotten the better end of the deal, with Terra choosing to just watch. In fact, they currently had no conflict with Terra. Both sides' goal, for now, was to better maintain the unity of the Imperium. The Dawnlight Sector had not made any move to secede from the Imperium, and the Primarchs were not coming to Terra to seize power. Their very homeworld port was named after the Imperium. What could be more loyal than that?
What, you say the Primarchs have created five pocket empires? You go and look at the taxes the Maelstrom has paid this year before you come and talk to us. If you can pay this much in taxes, I'll let you have a pocket empire too.
The Maelstrom, as the special zone closest to Terra, was a showcase for both sides. The resource utilization efficiency after the Astartes' intervention had reached an extremely high level. And as a tax-producing sector, their taxes were directly linked to Terra. The High Lords, after all the turmoil on Terra, looked back and found their disposable resources had actually increased. There's a saying: if you make the cake bigger within the system, who will support you if not you?
Creak~ The door slid open without warning.
"I'm back." Unlike the cold and ruthless killing god in the eyes of those Imperial nobles, Arthur was actually quite normal around his companions, just like a regular university student. He even said hello when he came back to the dorm. But if it had been Ramesses, it would have been—"Sons, Daddy's home!"
"You're back," Romulus said with a cheerful greeting to the two of them, then asked Arthur, "Have you delivered the archives? And have you looked at the planned route?"
"I have."
"And?"
"Let's just kill them all," Arthur said, tapping the hololithic star-chart and immediately bringing up the route he had chosen.
First, they would pass through the Maelstrom region and go to the Vigilus system, then follow the Nachmund Gauntlet from their memory all the way up, pass through Vraks, and then arrive at Cadia. "Vigilus might be a bit of a problem. Goge Vandire is staring at it. The rest, including Vraks, are easy to deal with. Of course, to avoid provoking the local Imperial forces and causing a full-scale counter-attack, I've only selected the key node-worlds. The rest will be coordinated with the Navy and the Rogue Traders."
Arthur's tone was decisive. This made Karna, who was helping Romulus analyze the last bit of documents, smack his lips. So their action this time wasn't to build a supply route, but another crusade route?
"That's good. I'll command the strategic work, you handle the military operations. The fleet's civil servants should be able to handle it. If not, we'll just remote control it for now. We'll handle the Vigilus system according to the specific situation," Romulus said, making the final decision and standing up. He had gotten a taste of the sweetness of the great purge of the Dawnlight Sector. Cutting off the heads and putting in obedient ones was much simpler than so-called political compromise. As long as he was careful not to cut down the direct forces of the various Imperial departments, it was fine. But these people were usually not the ruling class of a planet.
"Are you ready to depart?" Arthur asked, looking at the suddenly rising Romulus.
"Yes. This last bit of work is done," he could even find the time to chat with Karna.
Romulus put down his pen and paper, immediately put on his gauntlets, and stretched his shins. Ramesses, who had just sat down and hadn't even had a chance to scrounge some of Karna's snacks, got up with a disappointed look.
"The rest can be handled by the stationed administrative officials. If not, there's always the Preservers," Romulus said, dropping a line that would make the entire Dawnstar administrative body's face turn to despair. He calculated the time and pushed open the great door. Dammit, I've been welded to Dawnstar as an administrative slave for ten years. I can finally get out and get some fresh air.
"Let's go. To the port," he said.
Time to go to war.
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