Warhammer: Saving Humanity Begins with the Resurrection of Horus

Page 57

Because he still didn't see what role the other party played in this matter.

"And you, Father Tal, what you said is indeed very good, incredibly tempting. But don't tell me you'd be willing to expose your spy identity for the benefit of Star Claw. You should know what the treatment of spies is like, shouldn't you?"

"...Yes, I know. But sir, do you know? As a spy, I generally have two loyal subjects. The first is the forging world of Angostron, from which I originated. And the second..."

Tal Fetus 09α suddenly straightened his back, his mechanically modified face looking so rigid. But through the remaining flesh and blood, Lynch could still feel the solemnity emanating from him.

“My second object of loyalty is far more important than the first, and that is Omnissiah himself.”

Omnisiah itself.

Lynch's expression suddenly turned strange. He probably realized something, and looking at Tal, he understood why the other party had looked at him with such a strange gaze at the beginning.

That shouldn't be called weird, it should be called... fanaticism.

“Chosen One, although you did not say it yourself, as a mechanical priest, I still managed to obtain the message from the Terminator’s machine soul. It told me the whole truth, making me abandon my own forging world and transfer all my loyalty to it to you.”

Then, a language composed of binary code began to echo in the office. Lynch couldn't understand it, but Horus, who had witnessed the whole thing, thoughtfully provided translation.

"Omnesia, save us from the mediocrity of thought!"

"From the lies of the heretics, circuits, protect us!"

"From the beast's wrath, Steel, protect us!"

“Silica, purify us from the temptation of minced meat!”

"Soul, shelter us from the ravages of the destroyer!"

"From this rotting cage of a creature, mechanical god, set us free!"

"Omnisaya! Omnisaya!"

"Your glory has arrived! Your will has descended!"

"Honorable Lord Lynch! Chosen by the God of All Machines! Master of Steel and Machine Souls!"

Chapter 76 Supporting Decisions (Belissau Caul)

Mechanical teaching.

God of all machines.

Omnisiah.

One of the two heads of the Imperial Double-Headed Eagle.

Steel covered the ground, with factories densely packed like a jungle across the land. Thick black smoke billowed from the chimneys day and night, turning the sky black as ink.

Seasons no longer exist on this planet, nor do they even exist to provide a habitat for life. The toxic atmosphere and polluted water are enough to kill and distort any normal organism. If one wants to survive in this place, there are only two options.

The first rule is to twist one's flesh and blood under the influence of radiation, transforming oneself into one of those mutated creatures wandering the wilderness, living a life where one doesn't know if tomorrow will ever come.

As for the second point...

When visitors gaze upon the obelisk atop the mountains, look down from the top of the tower at the dense crowds prostrate on the steps, and listen to the binary hymns that echo through the air, they will naturally understand the second path to survival on this planet.

Praise be to the God of all machines!

Praise be to Omnesiah! You are the embodiment of truth, the fire that brings hope!

This is Angrostrum, a medium-sized forging world located in the Cartagoe Sector next to the Badab system. It has always been the world that provides equipment, basic supplies, and technical sergeant training to the Astartes Chapters in several surrounding systems.

Undoubtedly, if a successful cooperation could be achieved, it would be a huge and irreplaceable benefit even for an Astartes Chapter.

"Turn off the holographic projection."

Lynch let out a long breath, and with his command, the servo skull that was being projected finished its work.

The conference room went into darkness for a moment as the projection disappeared, but then a crisp snap of fingers was heard, and a blinding white light was poured from the ceiling lights, flooding every corner of the room.

"We cannot confirm whether it is true or not, and according to regulations, if we were to carry out a support operation now, it would likely touch the already extremely sensitive nerves of the high lords of Terra."

Inside the meeting room, the priest of Star Claws spoke first, offering his opinion.

“My advice is to remain still, sir. Besides, we did cooperate with the Mechanicus forces of Angorostron during Huron’s time. Forgive my bluntness, but those Tin Boys are all greedy bastards, completely untrustworthy.”

"how you said that?"

"During the Huron era, we conducted numerous transactions with Anglostrom, primarily exchanging minerals for basic resources. They frequently raised prices and violated agreed-upon prices. However, the most important aspect was the training of technical sergeants. You can ask Owen about that, sir; he was a firsthand witness to that incident."

Lynch sat in his seat, listening quietly as Ryan finished speaking. Then he shifted his gaze to Owen, who had been standing silently to the side since the meeting began.

This meeting was convened urgently an hour after Lynch and Tal met. The participants were basically the same as those who discussed the all-army competition last time: the company commanders of each company and the heads of several special positions. The content of the discussion was also very simple: whether or not to go to support the mining site that Tal mentioned.

The rewards were enticing, but the risks involved were also considerable, so Lynch ultimately chose to call in the top management of the battle group for a meeting to deal with the situation.

However, as things stand now...

Star Claw likely had a significant conflict with Ungorosturm in the past.

Irving remained silent, seemingly contemplating how to begin.

Lynch didn't urge him and waited patiently. Three minutes later, the technical sergeant sighed helplessly and then briefly recounted what Ryan had said, telling Lynch what had happened.

"That was probably when I was still a trainee technical sergeant. One of my companions who was training as a technical sergeant with me on Angorostrum suddenly disappeared. After the chapter intervened to investigate, we found that he had been taken away by a local bio-sage and subjected to a series of heretical studies."

"The Forgeworld reacted swiftly, capturing the bio-sage that very day and burning him to ashes with white phosphorus. However, this incident severely damaged the relationship between the Chapter and the Forgeworld, and our cooperation was severed for many years. It wasn't until thirty years ago that Huron, driven by his own ambitions, restarted the cooperation."

That's bad.

Lin Qi's lips twitched slightly. He had thought of many things, but he never expected it to be such a terrible thing.

In other words, Huron dared to restart the cooperation because of his own ambition. If it were some hot-tempered warbands, knowing that the recruits they sent there for training had been taken away and subjected to heretical experiments, they would probably have torn the Forge World apart on the spot and never speak to it again.

Ugh.

The leader of Star Claw sighed inwardly, already pondering how to explain to Tal that he would not be sending anyone to provide support.

"But Lord Lynch."

Irving began, but his tone shifted abruptly. His first sentence successfully drew everyone's attention in the meeting room; after all, as a technical sergeant, he was undoubtedly the only expert present when it came to the issue of the Mechanicus.

Sometimes, expert opinions may indeed be useless for certain reasons, but at other times, they can be a guiding light, providing direction for the listener.

Of course, that's assuming they're real experts, not a bunch of lunatics and wizards spouting nonsense.

“I think we should still go to the rescue. We did have some conflicts with Angorostrum in the past, but a hundred years have passed since that incident. The forging director of Angorostrum has changed more than once since then, and our Starclaw has recently entered a new phase.”

Irving spoke, revealing his thoughts to his fellow fighters.

"Cooperation with Angorostrum can bring us enormous benefits, and we can also gain allies from the Cult of Mechanics, which is indeed a good thing, without a doubt."

"What about Terra? Will they allow us to do that?"

"We'll have to ask Lord Lynch about that."

"Ah... don't worry about that, Terra won't say anything about it."

Upon being suddenly mentioned, Lin Qi immediately reacted and spoke up. If Star Claws were just an ordinary chapter, then such behavior would naturally be inappropriate, and might even trigger the sensitive nerves of the judges from Terra, causing them to act irrationally.

However, with Lin Qi around, the Star Claw doesn't have this problem, after all...

His status as the Emperor's Chosen is a natural shield. Supporting a mining campaign by the Mechanicus can even be considered a meritorious act, helping Imperial allies fight off invading enemies and gaining more initiative in negotiations.

A moment of silence fell over the room, followed by a discussion among the participants. Lin Qi didn't join in, but judging from the expressions of some of them after the discussion, he could roughly guess the final outcome of the meeting.

"Now let's have a final vote to decide whether or not we should provide support."

After the discussion concluded, Lin Qi spoke. His statement was well-received by everyone present, as majority rule is generally the best option when internal disagreements exist.

"Now, those who disagree with going to provide support and intend to remain inactive, please raise your hands so I can see your numbers."

Ryan was the first to raise his hand, clearly indicating that even with Irving's words in front of him, he ultimately chose to stick to his own ideas.

Aside from the warband cleric himself, several other people raised their hands. There were four of them in total: the three company commanders, and Bell, who had recovered and no longer needed Eric to fill in.

"Bell, why are you against it?"

Lin Qi looked at the chief think tank and asked curiously.

Bell glanced at Lynch, then took a deep breath and slowly asked a question.

"Lord Lynch...would you like to come along on this support mission?"

Lynch remained silent; he probably knew why Bell had raised his objections.

However, in the end, he nodded, expressing his opinion.

Upon seeing his nod, some of the people present changed their expressions, whispered among themselves, and then raised their hands.

However, even with the addition of these people, the majority of those willing to provide support still made up the majority.

"Don't change your mind because of my attitude. I'm not as fragile as you think."

“My lord, this is different. If something happens to you, it will be an irreparable loss for Star Claw and even for the Empire.”

Bell spoke, his tone even sounding somewhat earnest and persuasive.

“The support mission can continue, but you must remain in Badab, only then can we provide you with the best protection.”

“Bell........”

"grown ups......."

"Bell!"

Lynch's voice suddenly turned serious, silencing Bell, who was about to continue trying to persuade him. But looking at the expression on that aged face, he knew that the other man hadn't given up on his idea.

“Sigh…” Lin Qi sighed. “What do you take me for? A hothouse flower? Or a precious work of art?”

Bell remained silent, his facial muscles gradually stiffening as Lynch spoke.

"Perhaps my physical condition has caused you to misunderstand, but please remember, I am also a soldier."

"...My lord, I..."

“No need to explain, I understand your concerns, Bell, but please don’t. I once said with your father that I would take you to atone for your sins, and this is definitely not something I can do while sitting in my office and simply watching you go to your deaths on the battlefield.”

Lin Qi stood up and looked around at everyone.

“I will go to the battlefield with you. Don’t worry. Even if you don’t trust my abilities, you should trust the Honor Guard who have just been selected and will become the shield of the chapter.”

Lin Qi's words plunged everyone present into silence, which was broken only after ten seconds by the first voice.

"Then, sir, who are our enemies? And who should we send?"