area51novel Chapter 1: Before the Horusic Rebellion
Chapter 1: Before the Horusic Rebellion
The 30th millennium of humankind.
Through the thickened plastic steel porthole of the Tyrant, Sun Qian could see the orbital drop pods like a meteor shower, and the intermittent flashes of fire on Planet Istvan III.
That was the 63rd Expeditionary Fleet, comprised of over 11 elite Astartes from the Third Legion (Sons of the Emperor), the Twelfth Legion (World Eaters), the Fourteenth Legion (Death Guards), and the Sixteenth Legion (Sons of Horus), where Sun Qian was located.
These loyal Space Marines are now carrying out a counterinsurgency operation under the orders of Warmaster Horus to defend the honor of the Imperium.
At least that's what they think now.
Sun Qian could feel the two hearts pounding violently in his chest cavity beneath his sea-green power armor.
As a time traveler, he knew very well what would happen next.
Operation Istfan III began 30 minutes ago;
Three hours later, Astartes captured the rebel capital, Anthem, and declared victory in the battle;
Three hours and three minutes later, the orbital fleet dropped a virus bomb, annihilating all life on the surface;
Three hours and 13 minutes later, the flammable gases scattered across the planet were ignited, creating a firestorm;
Three hours and 30 minutes later, Primarch Angron led the rebel World Eaters to land and slaughter the surviving loyalists of Astartes;
Ninety days later, the last stronghold of the loyalists, Chanting City, was breached;
Ninety-one days later, the rebels withdrew and launched a second orbital strike, completely destroying the planet's surface.
Thus ended the bloody Istvan III purge, with 11 loyal Astartes tragically betrayed by their "father" and "brother".
This also marked the official start of the Horus Rebellion, plunging the human empire into an abyss of eternal damnation.
Although he knew all this, Sun Qian was equally clear that he could not change this future.
All he could do was force himself to act as naturally as possible and stride toward the lower deck of the Great Tyrant battleship.
"Halt! Who is it!"
Just as Sun Qian reached the entrance of the hangar, he heard a sharp shout.
"By order of the Warlord Horus, no one is permitted to leave their post during the mission!"
Sun Qian was able to keenly detect that Astartes, who was also a son of Horus, sounded somewhat nervous, and that the other man's hand had even reached for the explosive pistol at his waist.
"I am Sergeant Sun Qian from the 7th Raider Squadron of the First Dalian... I have received a mission that requires an emergency strike."
After saluting with his fist in front of his chest, Sun Qian casually unfolded his gauntlet, revealing a weathered brass badge.
This is identification for joining the soldiers' association.
The deck guard's attitude visibly softened the moment he saw the badge.
"Oh, it's you, brother... Please wait a moment, I'll confirm the disembarkation permission with Company Commander Abaddon right away."
Sun Qian's heart sank. This operation was, of course, without Abaddon's permission, because it was his personal defection—
wrong.
It should be called an act of loyalty.
"In fact, my mission was not assigned by Lord Abaddon."
Sun Qian lowered his voice, putting on a mysterious air.
"I am on a secret mission from Lord Horus, the War General."
After scanning the deck, Sun Qian immediately locked onto his target.
"My Primarch Father needs me to immediately board a Thunderhawk gunship and head to the USS Eisenstein."
"An order from the War Master? But the War Master's order to us is... at least let me consult Lord Abaddon first."
Sun Qian could sense the doubt in the other party's tone; it was indeed not so easy to fool them.
Moreover, he had no time to waste any longer. Once the ground operations on the Istvan III reached a certain point, Horus would cut off communications and block the deck. If he tried to leave then, he would suffer the same fate as Taviz.
Since that's the case, we'll have to resort to our trump card.
As soon as Sun Qian had a thought, a phantom image of a card appeared before his eyes.
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[Standard Version - Sun Qian] LV1
Skill 1: Humility and Elegance
Skill Two:
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This card seemed to be visible only to him. After mentally selecting and highlighting the card, Sun Qian took a deep breath and spoke in a sincere and earnest tone.
"Please, brother, this mission really needs to be completed as quickly as possible; there's no time to delay any longer."
[The
[Calculating the difficulty of persuasion...]
Difficulty level: 50
[Rating: It's not impossible]
Sun Qian's eyebrows twitched slightly; the success rate was a little lower than he had imagined.
But there is still a chance to try.
"This should have been kept secret, but since we are both brothers under the War Commander, we should naturally trust each other. It won't hurt to tell you a little... You should know who the commander of the Eisenstein is, right?"
"I remember it was Company Commander Grürger of the Death Guard of the Fourteenth Army, and—"
"Nathaniel Garro, that notoriously old-fashioned and conservative Terran veteran, the 'stubborn' Garro."
As he spoke, a number in Sun Qian's field of vision kept changing.
But he seemed used to it and continued speaking with a normal expression.
"I heard that he has never joined the Warriors' Society, and naturally does not agree with the War Master... or our great ideals. He spends his days boasting about his achievements as a 'Twilight Raider' on the Emperor's battlefield."
"Tsk, those stubborn old guys are all like that."
The guard in the hangar muttered in a resentful tone, deeply agreeing with the sentiment.
The Astartes assigned to guard the lower deck was clearly a new recruit who had joined during the time of the Son of Horus, and Sun Qian immediately aroused his resentment towards the seniority of the veterans.
"If that's the case, why not send him to the surface of Istvan III...?"
"Although the Primarch is a demigod-like being, he is not the same as that ruthless Emperor. He also has moments of sentimentality. Lord Mortarion ultimately couldn't bear to part with his old brother, so he arranged for him to be placed on the Eisenstein under the supervision of Captain Grulger. Warmaster Horus respects his brother's judgment, but this operation cannot afford any mistakes, so he sent me... you know, as insurance."
At this point, Sun Qian patted the explosive pistol at his waist meaningfully.
Sun Qian's every word hit the nail on the head regarding the Astartes's weaknesses, and apart from the part about Horus's orders, everything else was an undeniable fact.
This includes the possibility that Company Commander Gallo might take concrete actions to sabotage the Horus Plan.
And of course, even more importantly—
Finally, the number in front of Sun Qian's eyes froze at the red 43, but a few seconds later it suddenly jumped to 53 and turned green.
53 (43+10) > 50
[Pairing successful]
"Oh...I see. As expected of the great War Commander, he not only takes into account the camaraderie among his brothers, but also nipps any potential instability in the bud."
Even through the sealed helmet of the Mark IV power armor, Sun Qian could feel the other party's fanatical worship of Horus.
His enthusiasm seemed unusually high, so much so that he overlooked many loopholes in Sun Qian's words and quickly made a decision.
"Understood, brother. Get on the Thunder Eagle now, I'll take care of the rest of the paperwork!"
After watching the other party turn and leave, Sun Qian did not dare to waste any time and quickly boarded the Thunder Eagle gunboat to prepare for departure.
Waste heat engine, route planning, request to depart.
Although the guard could expose Sun Qian's lie on the spot if he simply informed Abaddon, Sun Qian was not worried about it.
He glanced at the panel in his mental vision; the descriptions of the cards' abilities were already very familiar to him.
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Skill:
Effect: When [Standard Version Sun Qian] makes a persuasion judgment, he will compete with the person being persuaded and gain an additional 10 (LV1) points of bonus effect.
Once the puzzle is successful—
Persuasion will surely achieve its goal!