Chapter 159: Trazyn's Hot Take on the Emperor
Hades strolled leisurely through the long corridors with Trazyn, the two of them casually chatting on their way to the Lord of Figurines's makeshift armory, where Hades planned to snag a weapon or two.
Their earlier talk had broken the ice a bit. One man, one Necron—now just two guys chewing the fat.
"I'm curious," Hades asked, "am I that unique? I mean, are there no others like me?"
"If you mean other outsiders, then no—you're not unique. But if you mean ones with a trace of the C'tan lingering on them… then yes. You're the only one."
Hades tilted his head thoughtfully.
"So, do you think I'll ever run into another outsider?"
Someone from his own world, maybe? From a different time?
"Impossible," Trazyn replied flatly.
"Outsiders are vanishingly rare. Their appearances across history can be counted on one hand."
"And every time one shows up, the Warp—and the leaders of the galaxy's species—move to eliminate them."
"The Warp itself rejects your kind."
"You, however, are… an anomaly."
Hades shrugged.
"Beats me why the Emperor took an interest in me."
"Very few beings can guess that Emperor of yours' plans, much less his motivations," Trazyn replied idly. Then he paused, an idea lighting up in his processor.
"I do have a theory about your Emperor though. Want to hear it?"
He said it with just enough gossip energy to pique Hades' curiosity.
Maybe he could even use this to turn Hades to his side...
Hades blinked.
"I'm not going to drop dead from hearing it, right? This isn't, like, forbidden knowledge or anything?"
"Oh, no no—just a theory," Trazyn said breezily. "And hey, if you do meet the Emperor one day, maybe you can help me confirm it."
Hades averted his gaze.
Could he say no? Did he even want to hear this?
Back in his past life as a 40k nerd, the Emperor's origins had always been nebulous. Was he the vengeance god Mahra, summoned by ancient shamans? Or the first psychic born after humanity's first murder? Maybe both. Maybe neither. He was simultaneously the most Mary Sue and Gary Stu in galactic history—his lore had never been definitive.
Only one thing about him was certain:
He would burn everything—even himself—if that was what it took to ensure humanity's survival.
He was a hyper-extreme human supremacist. If humanity couldn't be loyal to its own species, what hope did it have in a galaxy this mad?
If Hades were an Eldar, he'd probably consider the Emperor the galaxy's biggest war criminal.
But he was human.
And the Emperor, brutal as he was to others, was even harsher on himself.
So Hades wasn't inclined to buy into wild conspiracy theories. If the Emperor had wanted to be the galaxy's most luxurious tyrant, he could have done that ages ago.
But he didn't.
Instead, he built twenty demigod sons and launched a galaxy-wide WAAAAAGH!
—Ahem, no—wrong race.
Anyway, Hades' stance was simple:
"Big bro, you do you. Just, uh, give me a heads-up before you screw me over."
Trazyn's voice piped up again, cheerful as ever.
"Think about it, Hades. The Eldar had their own gods. So why doesn't humanity?"
Ah, the good ol' God-Emperor debate.
Classic. Hades had no intention of jumping into that philosophical snake pit. He decided to just let Trazyn talk it out.
A person who looks like a god and acts like a god but says he isn't one… is he still a god?
Hades' answer?
"Obtuse angle."
Doesn't matter if he's a god or not.
What the hell does that have to do with Hades?
All he knew was—if you judged it by the Emperor's kids, there's no way those were divine bloodline material.
Seeing that Hades didn't object, Trazyn continued:
"So let's start with the assumption that your Emperor is a racial god of humanity."
"Then comes the second question—what aspect of humanity does your Emperor represent?"
Hades paused, a little confused.
"Isn't it just... humanity itself?"
"No, no," Trazyn replied, shaking his head.
"To gain real power in the Warp, 'humanity' as a concept isn't emotionally resonant enough."
"In other words, the idea is too broad—too impure."
"Think about the powerful gods you know—they're all born from emotionally potent concepts."
Hades thought for a moment, then hesitantly offered:
"Vengeance?"
After all, the Emperor did embody vengeance—destroying the old world, enforcing eye-for-an-eye justice. It was a prevailing theme.
Trazyn nodded.
"I did consider that possibility."
"But maybe we can go even further with this."
"The rise of your Emperor, when he first appeared on the stage of human history—when was it?"
"What were humans doing back then?"
"Warring," Hades replied instantly, suddenly realizing where this was going.
He looked sharply at Trazyn—
"Yes. War. Chaos. Death."
"I lean toward the theory that perhaps your Emperor drew his power from the very concept humanity represents best: war itself."
Hades blinked rapidly.
It might not be the right moment to say it, but damn—Big E is hella brave and hella badass!
Before Hades could get lost in that thought, Trazyn spoke again:
"And that would explain why he launched the Great Crusade."
Wait, what?!
Hades froze.
"I don't know. I know nothing. What are you talking about? I don't understand a word you're saying."
"Don't explain! Don't explain! I'm not listening!"
His body reacted faster than his brain—he slapped his hands over his ears to block out any further dangerous ideas from Trazyn.
"I'm warning you! My left brain was a gift from the Emperor himself. Say the wrong thing and it might just blow up from auto-detection!"
Trazyn, walking ahead, stopped and turned to wave dismissively at him.
"Relax, relax. It doesn't have that function. I checked."
"You checked?!"
"You didn't implant some sort of kill switch, did you?!"
"Do I look like some kind of evil villain?!"
Trazyn waved his cane indignantly at Hades, pointing at him with mock offense.
Once Trazyn stopped, Hades finally lowered his hands.
"Aren't you afraid that if I go meet the Emperor and repeat all this, he'll just crush my skull with psychic might?"
"Not at all."
"Someone like you? Your thoughts don't make any waves in the Warp. Your Emperor probably doesn't even care."
"Go talk this conspiracy nonsense to someone else! Don't drop this stuff on me!"
Cue Hades' Triple Denial Combo™.
Trazyn stared at Hades with a resigned look.
"No one else ever talks to me about this kind of stuff. Think about it—which of my kin actually cares about these things?"
"That's not a good enough reason to try and get me killed!"
"I'm not listening, I'm not listening!"
"…Two weapons."
Hades stopped screaming instantly.
"Any choice I want?"
"Yes."
"Please, go on."
Trazyn figured that if he still had flesh on his bones, it would be twitching in sheer frustration.
He cleared his nonexistent throat and continued,
"So the Great Crusade, by its very nature, was empowering your Emperor."
"Even if your Emperor claimed to be reclaiming lost territory—war itself was the goal."
No… The Crusade was to secure resources for the Webway Project.
But if you do follow that line of reasoning...
"Could it be… he wanted to ascend? To become a true god—not just a god in spirit or symbol, but in essence?"
"…"
"No."
Hades muttered quietly.
As someone who knew how the story unfolded, he knew the Emperor absolutely did not want to become a god. On the contrary, he vehemently rejected the idea.
"Even if we follow your assumption, then perhaps he was gathering power not for himself—but to fight the Chaos Gods."
"The Emperor is a man."
But if Trazyn's theory held water…
At the end of the Crusade, after so much war had filled the Warp with psychic energy, the Emperor hurried back to Terra and rushed the Webway Project—not just because the resources were ready, but perhaps because the growing psychic pressure was pushing him to the brink of godhood.
The Webway Project needed massive power to shield it from Warp interference… but having that much power also distorted the Emperor himself.
He was running out of time.
He was on the verge of apotheosis.
He had to accelerate everything—appoint a Warmaster in haste, and retreat to Terra to focus on the Project.
And if that's true… the Crusade's original purpose changed entirely.
Hades felt his skin crawl.
Maybe, just maybe—if he really did meet the Emperor one day… he could ask?
…Did he dare ask?
Nah. Better to leave that one for Malcador.
Forget it, Hades. This is just some evil xenos trying to trap you in a tinfoil hat rabbit hole. Let it drift away like space dust!
He blinked and refocused his thoughts on arguing with Trazyn.
"The Emperor isn't a god. He's a man."
Trazyn made a dismissive click with his tongue.
"And how can you be sure?"
"His sons—at least the ones I've met—don't strike me as gods. Not even half-gods."
<+>
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