The purges, of course, could not last forever. After a period, the War Council, deciding the fate of billions of souls, convened once more on the flagship of the expeditionary fleet.
However, before that, it needs to be clarified that in this war, the Imperium of Man was not united; on the contrary, its various factions had considerable disagreements among themselves.
This was the nerve center of the fleet. A massive round table, polished from obsidian, occupied the room's center. Above the table, a giant three-dimensional holographic star map slowly rotated, clearly displaying every planet and every warp lane of the target star system.
Yet, in this war aimed at purging xenos, the Imperium of Man was far from united. On the contrary, when the Emperor's servants gathered, they brought not only fleets and legions but also deeply entrenched disagreements and contradictions. These disagreements broadly divided the magnates around the round table into three factions: the Exterminators, the Moderates, and the Centrists.
Among them, the Exterminators' stance was the purest and most extreme. In their view, anything non-human was a blemish on the universe, and any idea of coexisting with xenos was the deepest heresy.
Their only demand was that this newly discovered xenos civilization, named the T'au Empire, must be utterly erased from the material universe, along with all traces of their history, culture, and existence, burned to ashes. As for the other xenos races that came to support the T'au Empire, dealing with them was naturally a matter of course.
The main representatives were Iso Gunni, the Ecclesiarch who incited this war and gathered so much power, and Inquisitor Grande.
Opposite them were the Moderates. Their stance was to deliver a devastating blow to these blue-skinned xenos, destroying their fleets, burning their colonies, and making them tremble at the mere mention of the word "Empire" for the next thousand years, never daring to offend Human territory again.
That would be enough. After all, a xenos civilization with its spine broken but still possessing a shred of vitality might, in the future, become a good trading partner or a useful buffer zone.
The main representative was rogue trader Lucian, who first discovered and reported the T'au Empire.
And caught between these two distinct factions were the Centrists. They had little interest in ideological disputes and were disinclined to ponder the political landscape a hundred or even a thousand years after the war. In their view, formulating correct strategies and tactics was more crucial for securing an undeniable victory for the Empire than these somewhat vague ideological principles.
The representative was Wendell Gage, the Commander-in-Chief of this expedition.
As for the other six astartes Chapters, although their highest commanders participated in the War Council and, due to their deep-seated hatred for xenos, leaned towards the Exterminators in practice, the space marines had no intention of joining the mortal debates and thus largely fell into the Centrist category.
Commander-in-Chief Wendell Gage surveyed the magnates around the table. His gaze lingered briefly on the Inquisitor's cold face, swept past the rogue trader's calculating smile, and finally settled on the empty, ornate seat belonging to the Ecclesiarch.
"Has Ecclesiarch Iso Gunni not joined us yet?" Wendell's voice was steady and firm.
Inquisitor Grande's head, obscured by metal and hood, turned slightly towards him, his voice cold: "Ecclesiarch Iso believes it is his responsibility to personally inspect the purges on various planets, to ensure that the God-Emperor's wrath burns away all minor scoundrels and traitors."
Wendell's brow furrowed almost imperceptibly: "I hope he can be quicker. The longer this internal purge lasts, the more reaction time it gives the xenos."
"A stable and pure rear is a prerequisite for any successful holy war, General," Grande replied coldly, his words allowing no room for argument.
Neither Wendell nor the rogue trader Lucian responded. The General's jawline tightened slightly, while the rogue trader toyed with an alien gemstone ring on his thumb. Their silence expressed their views more clearly than any words.
Just then, the massive automatic doors of the strategic command hall slid open silently.
Ecclesiarch Iso Gunni strode in briskly, his ornate vestments swaying slightly with his steps. All eyes were involuntarily drawn to him; they could all see that this old man, usually radiating fanaticism and solemnity, was now genuinely happy.
And they soon learned the reason for Iso's joy.
"Colleagues!" the Ecclesiarch's voice echoed through the hall, filled with excitement and admiration, "Allow me to introduce to you a passionate, devout, and truly dedicated commander who embodies the will of the God-Emperor—the Commander Ghostface from the Perditia Third Suicide Legion!"
Everyone's gaze moved past the Ecclesiarch to the silent figure behind him. The person wore a pure black, full-coverage carapaced armor, enveloped from head to toe in cold plate and wearing a cape around his shoulders. Most were merely curious, but in General Wendell's eyes, a hint of surprise flashed. He hadn't forgotten this peculiar Astra Militarum commander so quickly.
Iso turned sideways, enthusiastically urging: "Commander Ghostface, come, quickly tell them how you carried out the will of the God-Emperor on this land contaminated by betrayal!"
Ghostface was a bit bewildered. He had been commanding his troops to scavenge for spoils in the hive city just fine when he was forcibly pulled here by a special plane sent by the Ecclesiarch, listening to a bunch of religious fanaticism he didn't quite understand along the way. However, he did understand the last sentence.
The players' true objective—looking for good equipment—naturally couldn't be spoken of. Ghostface organized his thoughts behind his faceplate and said concisely: "After receiving the War Council's order to purge the hive city, I consulted with two other Astra Militarum commanders.
"I believe that anyone taller than the wheel of a Taurus all-terrain assault vehicle already possesses clear logical thinking. And in the hive city, those who have the leisure to apply such logical thinking to business and diplomatic intrigues are primarily concentrated in the Upper Hive. Therefore, we executed everyone in the Upper Hive who was taller than a Taurus vehicle's wheel."
He paused, seemingly recalling something, then added: "Afterward, during the purge, we discovered that most of the gangs in the Mid-Hive were connected to the Upper Hive nobles. So we spent some extra time and dealt with all the Mid-Hive gangs as well. The total number adds up to about two and a half to three million people."
As soon as these words were spoken, the air in the hall seemed to freeze instantly. Everyone present looked at Ghostface differently.
Ghostface naturally noticed the strange shift in atmosphere and asked somewhat uncertainly: "Uh, is this number... a lot?"
After all, even if he hadn't deeply understood the Warhammer 40k lore before, after playing this game, he would definitely have looked at fan-made content and background stories out of interest. In his understanding, the death of one or two hundred million people in this universe was not a big deal; what were a mere two or three million?
Ecclesiarch Iso's face broke into a brilliant smile. He stepped forward and asked warmly: "Commander Ghostface , do you know how many traitors have been found across the entire Jersey Sector, excluding the planet you are responsible for, combined from all other planets?"
"Hmm..." Ghostface already felt something was off. He tentatively guessed a number, "Twenty million?"
Iso shook his head, his smile growing even more fanatical: "No, all other planets combined only amount to a few million."
"Huh?" Ghostface was genuinely surprised this time, "So that means..."
"That means," Iso Gunni extended his hand fanatically and patted Ghostface's shoulder heavily, "All other Astra Militarum, all the traitors found on all other planets combined, don't even amount to as many as you, Ghostface, found alone!"