Chapter 368: Every Family Has Its Problems
The Iron Blood, Central Council Chamber
High Marshal Helbrecht's voice echoed through the conference hall.
Twenty?
What twenty?
There were twenty Astartes Legions?
The younger generation of Astartes watching from the sidelines broke into a cold sweat.
Not simply out of fear of the number itself—Astartes were not so easily shaken by trivialities.
But because of the story behind how twenty became eighteen.
What secrets lay therein? What terrible event caused twenty Legions to become the eighteen widely known to the High Lords of Terra today?
Is this something I am allowed to hear?
Lysander and other contemporary members felt as if they were sitting on pins and needles. Many turned their eyes to the Lord of Knights, who sat calmly at the head of the table.
No wonder he brought the Dark Angels.
Helbrecht, who had intended to bring this matter into the open, was also a bit confused.
He looked at Lysander, whose face screamed 'I don't want to hear this, please stop talking,' and looked troubled.
No, you are the First Captain of the Imperial Fists. What are you afraid of?
Anyone here had the right to be afraid, except you, who represent the Imperial Fists.
Which First Founding Chapter didn't have a few little secrets? A bloodline issue was a small matter. If the Primarch knew about Imperium Secundus, he'd tremble too.
As a parent Chapter, theoretically, these secrets must be known. Just as the Ultramarines definitely knew about Imperium Secundus, and knew that the Silver Skulls and Scythes of the Emperor from the Second Founding were descendants of loyalist Iron Warriors and Emperor's Children respectively.
This also facilitated the parent Chapter's grasp of the successor Chapters' conditions, allowing them to intervene appropriately to maintain Chapters whose gene-seed might have loyalty issues.
Like now.
The Imperial Fists knew nothing about the origins of the Soul Drinkers, and the Soul Drinkers didn't know themselves. Yet the Black Templars, also a Second Founding Chapter who inherited the Eternal Crusader, knew everything clearly.
This was somewhat abstract.
Even the Dark Angels were whispering among themselves.
"Every Legion has its problems," Sammael sighed.
"?"
The colleague beside him suddenly sharpened his gaze: "Which other Legions are you referring to?"
"The Ultramarines. What about it?" Sammael replied righteously, his gaze becoming equally sharp: "Which Legion were you referring to?"
"..."
The other party was silent for a moment, noticing the death stares around him, then replied dryly: "I was referring to the Ultramarines too."
"..."
"..."
The two nodded to each other, exchanged opinions, and then continued to be silent.
"Lysander, these things are necessary for the Imperial Fists to know, and now, for all of us involved, we should know."
Helbrecht couldn't help but remind him:
"We can no longer let these secrets become hidden dangers that might destroy the unity of humanity."
Although the Black Templars often had opinions on the identity of the current Imperial Fists due to past grievances, it didn't mean they didn't recognize the status of the Imperial Fists.
If they really wanted to replace the Imperial Fists, they would have done it directly during the Age of Apostasy. At that time, as one of the representatives of the Imperial Creed, the Black Templars' prestige was unprecedented. Discussing who was orthodox wasn't impossible.
But everyone was a son of Dorn; was it necessary?
Back then, a traitor from the Fists Exemplar killed the then High Marshal Bohemond of the Black Templars and knelt to swear allegiance to the Iron Warrior Kalkator. Even the Black Templars rarely brought this up. Why are you so taboo about it?
Helbrecht brought this up because the Primarch was back now. Unlike before when there was no one above them, they should bring out all the messy things from the past to define their nature, so they could fulfill their duties openly in the future, lest they explode later and cause trouble for the Primarch.
The Black Templars were now highly bound to the Dawnbreakers. Even if there was no legal relationship, the Primarch's concern for them was real.
Something like the Soul Drinkers should have been resolved by the parent Chapter. Unexpectedly, the parent Chapter turned out to be the one demanding an explanation.
Helbrecht suddenly felt that these Imperial Fists hadn't inherited a shred of Maximus Thane's political acumen.
Although Thane had encountered some unlucky events, he himself was a hero among men. Whether it was rebuilding the Imperial Fists' organization, maintaining the authority of the Praetorians of Terra, killing the Grand Master of Assassins Vangorich who was driven mad by the administrative duties of multiple High Lords to restore order, resolving conflicts with the Black Templars, or decisively dissolving the Fists Exemplar to cut ties quickly without leaving room for gossip, etc...
In this series of processes, Thane displayed the political wisdom a Chapter Master should possess. It could be said that he maximized the maintenance of the responsibilities the Imperial Fists should fulfill as a parent Chapter with a special positioning.
As for the disappearance of a series of secrets, apart from Thane's lack of understanding of post-founding materials and lack of energy due to continuous major events back then, it might be because the subsequent rise of faith worship within the Imperium caused the Imperial Fists to terminate decryption, instead enshrining the manuscripts left by Dorn as relics.
"The Emperor created twenty Legions, but two were erased for violating taboos. After the Third Rangdan Xenocides during the Great Crusade, one Legion was disbanded. In the same period, the VII Legion and the XIII Legion saw an abnormal increase in their numbers."
Arthur, sitting high above, spoke.
The Rangdan Xenocides were interesting. Although the memories of relevant personnel were wiped by Malcador, based on fragments learned from conversations with ten-thousand-year-old veterans, it was hard to say whether the Third Rangdan War was fought against xenos at all.
Because the participants were the Dark Angels and the Space Wolves. Afterward, the Dark Angels suffered a direct loss of fifty thousand men, followed by the rapid expansion of two Legions, with the Ultramarines taking over as the largest Legion.
Of course, there was a lot of padding.
The reason the Ultramarines were so numerous was simply because Guilliman thought the Ultramarines should be that numerous.
With Ultramar's foundation, which effortlessly supported the activities of three Legions even after Lorgar burned more than a hundred core worlds, raising six hundred thousand Space Marines shouldn't be a problem.
Many people subconsciously began to wonder if they should remember these things.
Arthur looked at the Soul Drinkers Chapter Master, Sarpedon, below.
The other party seemed extremely nervous.
After all, the one revealing the secret was the Lord of Knights of the Dark Angels, whose identity itself carried extreme authority.
"Rogal Dorn accepted them, treated them as his own sons, and treated them equally."
"This is Dorn's manuscript."
Helbrecht also took the opportunity to show his Legion brothers Dorn's manuscript regarding the Soul Drinkers.
[If they are loyal, then they are loyal.]
The language used was obscure, and the hand-painted chalice emblem beside it confirmed that this sentence referred to the Soul Drinkers.
Lysander suddenly remembered that the same language was recorded on the Phalanx, but they had always thought it was a proverb left by the Primarch for the Soul Drinkers.
This is the problem with the parent Chapter being wiped out and replaced en masse. Many secrets are right there, but later generations can't read them without relevant background introduction.
Then Arthur said: "Bring out the Soulspear."
Sammael immediately stepped forward, carrying a weapon case.
Everyone's eyes converged on it.
Sarpedon's eyes were like looking at his own father.
He thought the Chapter would never find this relic again.
During the attack on the Atlas Forge World, the Ravenwing was the first to breach the local ruling Magos's research institute and recovered the 'Soulspear' which was under experimental research in time.
As the commander who completed this recovery operation, Sammael naturally received the honor of returning the sacred relic to the brother Chapter in public under the witness of the Lord of Knights.
Arthur remembered the promise he made.
The Dark Angels would one day stand in the sun to accept honor.
That day would not be tomorrow, not the day after.
But today.
Starting now.
Sammael, bearing the envious gazes of his comrades behind him and Sarpedon's grateful gaze, came to the Chapter Master and opened the weapon case.
It was a cylindrical object with the spearhead retracted, looking like a metal rod engraved with ornate patterns.
Everyone's eyes fell on this weapon.
This was a weapon personally used by Rogal Dorn, a rare sacred relic for any Chapter.
Arthur smiled.
Although a Primarch certainly had more than one weapon, just as Dorn used a power sword and storm shield against Fulgrim on Terra, this spear might not necessarily be Rogal Dorn's.
Because this was a rift weapon that required psychic power to drive.
The Imperial Fists and the Emperor's Children before their fall were the existences among the twenty Legions most extremely opposed to warp power.
Before the Siege of Terra, Sigismund believed a prophecy and, fearing separation from Dorn, exchanged command of the advance fleet to Phall with Polux.
Although the result seemed good—Sigismund performed unprecedentedly well in the Siege of Terra, even cutting Fulgrim a few times, and Perturabo almost got blasted into outer space at the Battle of Phall due to misjudgment, creating the famous scene where he lost a naval battle despite having the advantage and got boarded by the Imperial Fists—
The result was that Dorn gave this son the cold shoulder for a long time, because the other party actually believed in sorcery and shirked the responsibility that should have been his.
"There is a gene-lock set by the Primarch in the weapon. Only bloodlines recognized by Rogal Dorn can activate it."
Sammael held the Soulspear.
The Soulspear did not react.
He solemnly handed this sacred artifact to Sarpedon in public.
Sarpedon took it without hesitation.
Upon seeing this relic, his bloodline had already told him that this was the Soul Drinkers' relic.
The moment his hand, unarmored due to past interrogation, grasped the Soulspear, the ornate spear quickly unfolded its form. Dazzling psychic brilliance surged through the liquid-like veins.
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