Chapter 235: The Imperium Needs to Change
Looking at the gene-primarch walking toward him, Vingaard made a final, desperate struggle with his boltgun and flamer. But before the bullets could even hit Guilliman, he had vanished from his sight.
And the Emperor's Sword had already pierced his body.
"My brother, Sanguinius, would be ashamed to have a son like you!" Guilliman said, his anger growing as he looked at the daemonic Vingaard and thought of his own perfect brother.
Feeling his soul being annihilated, Vingaard's mouth gaped open. He had not enjoyed any of the benefits of eternal life before being completely killed. He was perhaps the fastest-dying daemon prince in history.
"Lord Lucan! Stop this Blackstone Fortress!"
"I'm on it, I'm on it! Don't rush me."
With some of its engines destroyed and having lost its power supply, the speed of the Blackstone Fortress had slowed. But the previous over-performance of its engines had already accelerated it to a certain degree. To completely stop it, the remaining engines had to be reactivated to steer it away from Macragge.
But the reduced speed gave Lucan more time.
Pushing aside the corpse lying on the control panel, Lucan and Cawl came to the front. The data-port from Cawl's mechadendrite touched the central control of the Blackstone Fortress. He immediately began to transmit binary code into its system. The people around could not help and could only watch Cawl's rapid operations.
"Modification complete!"
As the code was injected, it was immediately countered by the original system of the Blackstone Fortress. The corrupted machine spirit began to hunt Cawl's code. As an ancient construct possessed by a daemon, its resistance was exceptionally fierce.
"Lord Lucan! I need your help!"
Cawl did not even have time to turn his head. He had already pushed his own computational ability to the limit.
Lucan also began to mobilize the power of his portfolio. Virtual mechadendrites, constructed of divine power, materialized from the void, just like Vashtorr's daemon-steel neuro-bundles, but they were not tainted with any of the power of Chaos; they were made of pure psionic energy. A portion of the mechadendrites connected to the central control of the Blackstone Fortress, while another part entered Cawl's body.
The moment he was touched, Cawl felt his body begin to operate at full power. His entire state was incredibly good.
Lucan's purifying power began to spread throughout the entire Blackstone Fortress along these mechadendrites. And with the injection of this power, Cawl's code immediately began to take effect. One segment of blasphemous code after another was cleared by Cawl's hunter-killer program. A large number of daemon souls possessing this warship were completely purified. The tragic wails of daemons echoed from time to time in the empty hall.
And the entire Blackstone Fortress slowly calmed down. The still-operating internal defense facilities began to completely shut down. The corruption of the warp was receding from this Blackstone Fortress.
"Success! I am taking control of this warship!"
Cawl's voice made everyone present breathe a sigh of relief.
And Lucan was sensing the machine spirit of this Blackstone Fortress... This was the first time Lucan had so clearly sensed such a massive machine spirit. He could even vaguely feel it thanking him, thanking him for helping it drive out the daemons that had been constantly torturing it. But at the same time, Lucan also sensed its weakness and pain. The entire Blackstone Fortress was in a battered state after the siege, having lost most of its functions.
"Engines back online! The machine spirit has been reawakened. Fortunately, there are still a few engine groups that were not completely destroyed... otherwise, I would have been helpless. Praise the Omnissiah!"
Lucan and Guilliman simultaneously gave the order for the fleet to cease its attack. The fleet in the void saw the engines of the Blackstone Fortress come back online and begin to push it away from Macragge.
All the personnel who had participated in the battle let out a cheer. Macragge was saved.
And the Blackstone Fortress, which had not been completely destroyed, had clearly become Lucan's spoil of war. Severe damage had never been a problem in Lucan's eyes. It would just take a lot of time to repair the entire fortress with SCVs.
After capturing the Blackstone Fortress, the first thing Lucan did was to go and find the huge Webway gate inside. The Eldar would soon learn of Guilliman's revival, and they would immediately realize that they had been deceived in their deal with Cawl. And these creatures would definitely not stop their retaliation against Lucan.
Three Raider regiments were stationed outside the Webway. Zerg forces and several hundred Templar were also dispatched here. Protoss Observers and Zerg Overlords would monitor this Webway 24/7. The ground would also be covered with creep, and a large number of Widow Mines were buried within it. If those Harlequins or other Eldar tried to sneak in again through this Webway to try and kill Lucan, he guaranteed they would have a hard time.
Lucan did not try to destroy this Webway gate. There was no point in guarding against a thief for a thousand days. If they really came, Lucan would let them know how painful it was not to be able to close a Webway gate. Lucan was even a little eager for them to deliver themselves to his door.
It had to be said that the harvest this time was exceptionally rich. He had earned nearly three million Psy-crystals, which made him not feel the pain of summoning the SCVs to repair the Blackstone Fortress.
And the battle on Macragge was not completely over. There were still remnants of Chaos hiding in the dark. The spores produced by the dead Orks, the hidden Genestealers—these were not problems that could be solved in a short time.
Returning to the surface of Macragge, Lucan also witnessed Guilliman's management skills. Not long after waking up, he had already integrated all the resources and forces of the Ultramarines. One document, one report—he often only needed a glance to make the optimal decision.
And on the fourth day after the battle, Calgar also returned to Macragge with his fleet. When he learned of the primarch's awakening, he was more excited than anyone.
At this moment, in the conference room, seeing the usually serious Calgar from the games actually smiling at him, Lucan always felt a little uncomfortable. Lucan had now become the number one benefactor of the Ultramarines. Tigurius was also enjoying the honor he deserved.
"Guilliman, the aftermath on Macragge needs to be handed over to other people you can trust enough. We don't have time for you to rebuild Macragge. Cadia is in imminent danger. I need to use your influence to summon all the Imperial fleets in the nearby sectors."
However, Guilliman still did not understand Lucan's words.
"Lord Lucan, is the Imperium not taking action? What about the Astartes Chapters? You already have the assistance of the Custodes, do you still need me to help you?"
"What do you think? You have to take the blame for this. The Codex Astartes you created is still being followed, and so is the agreement you signed with the Custodes! The Imperium is in such a mess, and I haven't seen them help. And those High Lords... mortals have their limits! Even if they have received extensive modifications."
"In all the years I have been asleep, has no one thought of changing the Codex?"
"Unfortunately, yes. It was written by a primarch, and in the eyes of your sons, or a considerable portion of them, you can do no wrong! A portion of those who wanted to change it didn't have the guts to do so."
Lucan and Guilliman simultaneously looked at the Custodes on the side.
"Our mission is always to protect the Emperor. According to the Emperor's past commands, the Imperium should be ruled by mortals."
"See?... If you don't trust the other Astartes, can they manage it themselves! In the end, they stubbornly hold on to the pact they signed with you. The Imperium needs to change, Guilliman! I know that what you did in the past were the best choices and helpless measures at the time. But the enemy is constantly getting stronger, while humanity is still stagnant. There is only a dead end. I think you and I can both see this point clearly."
Guilliman had not expected that his Codex would be adhered to to such an extent. He looked at Calgar beside him.
"Your Codex has guided us, my lord... it has indeed helped us a great deal..."
"Sigh... Calgar, announce my return to the Imperium!"
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