The Grand Battalion had received a great reward, and morale was at its peak. Many wanted to return to participating in the Great Crusade as soon as possible. But it was impossible: the losses among the veterans were too great, and with them the chain of command was disrupted; replacements were required and new commanders needed to be trained to replace those who had fallen.
No, of course, they could have rushed into space immediately and, thanks to willpower, taken part in a new battle. Just a couple of battles—and the Grand Battalion would be reduced to a useless remnant.
Therefore, we remained on Terra and received replacements, simultaneously training and bringing our newcomers up to the required level. Thanks to the rewards and reputation, it was possible to solve many problems: priority distribution of recruits, selection and weeding out of unsuitable candidates, additional resources.
I used this to the fullest—the roar on the training grounds and firing ranges practically never ceased. Instead of one company, another took its place. Even at night I forced them to train, so that the fighters would have at least some experience of fighting in unfamiliar conditions and be ready for situations when equipment and gear were damaged or lost, and they had to fight using their senses and intuition.
But there was one problem—the lack of experience among the newcomers and new commanders. Even minimal experience and knowledge of the specifics of interacting with the regular forces of the Imperial Army. And this is very important. However strong the Legiones Astartes were, there were too few of us for such a vast and great process as the Great Crusade, so the Imperial Army played a major role in the unification of mankind.
An idea came to my mind to create my own personal Imperial Army units, with whom we would work together and could rely on each other. By attaching them to the Grand Battalion and the expeditionary fleet, we would be able to operate more efficiently. Strong flanks and secure rears would give my Grand Battalion freedom of action and the ability to crush the enemy faster and more effectively.
The request was, to put it mildly, unusual. Usually, legionaries took what they were given and simply used the attached Auxilia forces until they were expended, as the freaks from the Ninth did, or until they were reassigned to others, as was the case with my interaction with the Eighth.
It got to the point where no one knew what to do, though it seemed to me more that few wanted to take on such responsibility and headache. Therefore, I had to turn to Lord Sigillite himself. Several weeks passed before I was finally given the opportunity for a personal audience in his office.
Malcador sat in a chair and was scrolling through a dataslate, with fatigue and irritation visible on his face.
"Come in, youngster. Sit down and wait a bit until I finish," he pointed to a large chair opposite himself.
Sitting down, I began to look around. Sigillite's office was beautiful, and most importantly—incredibly rich with many works of art. Paintings, sculptures, ornaments, and books showed that he greatly valued and loved the culture and history of mankind.
My attention was drawn to one of the paintings, and upon closer look, I almost dropped my jaw. Sunflowers by Vincent Van Gogh himself! I had seen it last time in my previous life when I visited ancient Albia. I was overwhelmed with surprise that it still existed, that it hadn't been consumed in the fires of madness of the Long Night or simply disappeared over the long centuries.
But that was only the first surprise I saw in Malcador's office. As soon as I turned my head, I almost involuntarily gaped in amazement.
Mona Lisa! That very lady with the enigmatic smile by the hand of Leonardo Da Vinci. That very painting that was shown in the Louvre. It had not lost its beauty over the past centuries and millennia, as if I had returned to my youth again when, after standing in a long queue, I was finally able to see it.
"Hm? Liked it?" asked Malcador, seeing my long gaze towards the precious painting.
"Ehm. Forgive me, Lord Malcador. It's just that this painting surprised me. The smile of the woman on it," I answered him, subduing my astonishment at encountering the Mona Lisa painting.
"Heh. Yes. So many centuries, and it still continues to stir minds and feelings with its enigmatic smile. The master managed to create a true masterpiece that turned out to be eternal. Not for nothing did I pay so much money to that scoundrel," he answered with a smile and a slight romantic gleam in his eyes, while his last words made me shudder slightly and wonder just how old he was.
"Eh-heh. As much as I would like to continue admiring it and other masterpieces, and discuss them with a not-so-foolish interlocutor, I need to finish this business, and then deal with your request," Malcador sighed tiredly and looked at the dataslate with unconcealed disgust and irritation.
"Forgive the foolish question, but perhaps I can help you with this?" I asked him, on the verge of impudence and a foul, while cursing my long tongue and inability to bring my feelings back under strict control.
And it's all these paintings' fault. They awakened old emotions and memories, I voiced inwardly, while looking at Malcador, whom my words only made smirk, and then sigh tiredly.
"I don't think you can help me deal with the poisonous aftermath of the stupidity and idiocy of one degenerate. This requires the work of spies and investigators, not the Emperor's Angels of Death. But thank you for trying to help an old man. Although, why don't you listen to one story and share your thoughts? I don't think it will take much time," Malcador assumed a more comfortable posture and told the story of Uvoma Kandawir.
If earlier in this office I had experienced feelings of pleasant surprise, now everything was diametrically opposite.
"Is she really that stupid and blind? How could she even reach a place among the Arbites?" not believing in such outright stupidity, I voiced my thoughts aloud.
"Sometimes, in the pursuit of ideals and goals, a person can be so blind that until the last moment they cannot understand that they were led like a bull to the slaughter. Corruption, nepotism, ambitions—everything mixed together and gave birth to this stupidity. It's good that we were not as blind as she was and were able to turn much to our advantage."
"A couple of records or evidence of how the Thunder Warriors fought and what they did when they lost control would have been enough. A couple of projections—and she would have understood why they were dangerous and why the difficult decision was made to let them depart remembered as heroes, not as butchers and madmen," I shook my head, simultaneously recalling the battle for Mount Ararat.
"Yes. But it's too late to curse what happened. We must deal with the consequences. Thanks to Uvoma, we not only got rid of a very dangerous threat to the Imperium, but also understood that, even after many years, there is much discontent among the citizens of the Imperium," answered Sigillite and threw a thoughtful glance towards a very old globe, on which continents surrounded by seas and oceans were visible.
"...and Ursh is among them?" I asked an unpleasant question.
"M? Yes, Buri. Unfortunately, the legacy of the cult of strength and warriors is not so simple and creates many problems. Heh, though who am I telling this to? You yourself relatively recently reminded us of the historical peculiarities of interaction between Ursh and many neighboring countries. Old wounds and scars do not go away as easily and quickly as I would like."
"I have a somewhat mad idea on how to help you with this, while simultaneously solving my own problem."
"Interesting. Well, tell me and amuse me."
"You yourself said that in Ursh the roots of the past warrior culture are too strong. So let's turn this to our advantage. Let's recruit soldiers for the Imperial Army from Ursh and attach them to my expeditionary fleet," I voiced the idea, remembering how armies helped assimilate many peoples.
"Your idea is not without merit. This way we can get rid of the most passionate and radical, reducing discontent. Of course, there will be problems, because not everyone will want to leave, but the warrior culture will make cowards of them. So they won't have much choice. This will help let off steam in society. Simultaneously, we will lay the foundation for constant replenishments of the Imperial Army, because as one generation is replaced by a new one, there will be new daredevils among them. Not a bad thought. Only what about their loyalty not only in the short term, but in the long term as well?" Malcador asked with cunning.
"The solution to this problem will be my leadership. Though I am an Astartes, I originally came from a noble family of Ursh. For their honor and pride, submitting to me will be less of a blow. In the short term, I will control the loyalty problem myself. And in the long term—my Grand Battalion, if it only takes natives of Ursh. Over the years, I will be able to hammer in certain rules and thoughts, so that they become a kind of controllers and guarantors of loyalty. I am even ready for extreme measures to put the thought in their heads that they are not only Urshites, but also Terrans. One cannot exist without the other, and they give their lives for the greatness and good of the homeland," my thoughts and ideas sounded a bit jumbled, but they managed to convey the essence of the proposal, judging by the slight smile on Malcador's thoughtful face.
"Extreme measures. Hm. Astartes as observers and suzerains. Why not? Very well, Buri your idea has a good chance of yielding very good results. I will give the order to assist you in forming new Auxilia units of the Imperial Army solely from natives of Ursh. But as for what you want to repeat with your Grand Battalion..." Malcador scratched his chin.
"I dare to dispel your doubts that I want to make the Grand Battalion a hidden weapon for Ursh. The main reason is that I know how they think, and I won't have to spend much time forging them into worthy warriors for the Imperium and Terra. And my personal loyalty? If my deeds are not a guarantee of fidelity to Terra and the Emperor, then you can always send an order depriving me of my rights. And in the worst case—simply get rid of me," my face became more serious as I spoke these words.
I understood well that Malcador did not want to create a weapon with his own hands that could turn against him, the Emperor, and the Imperium, so I clearly voiced my readiness to go to the scaffold if necessary. And knowing that even in the past world, the state was ready to kill generals and commanders who overplayed their hand and believed too much in their own strength by the hands of assassins, I was ready for the fact that a executioner personally loyal to Malcador and the Emperor would be near me. Such a built-in mechanism of protection against rebellion.
Malcador looked at me as if scanning to the very depths of my soul.
"You are far from a fool. You understand much and are ready for difficult decisions. Even for sacrifices. Hm. Very well. You truly are a child of Terra, if you are ready to do so much for it. Especially for the fact that a executioner's blade will always be near you. Our audience is concluded here. Farewell, Buri. And I hope I will soon hear news of your victories in the name of the Imperium and the Emperor," he gave me a sign, and I left his office.
This conversation had far-reaching consequences. Thanks to it, the annals of the Imperium's history would include the names of many regiments hailing from Ursh. Thanks to them, many planets would be returned to the fold of mankind, and many enemies would fall and be destroyed. Even in the darkest hours for the Imperium, regiments from Ursh would fight for its survival, no matter what and without sparing themselves. At the cost of complete annihilation to the last soldier, they would kill traitors, buying the most valuable thing in the future war—time. Seconds, minutes, hours, and days, until the turning point came, and the Imperium was able to push back the enemy.