Chapter 57: Archmagos Veyl Discovers... Again
With "generals" and "soldiers" in place, the "Great Crusade" naturally began smoothly, until Horus led nine Primarchs in the "Great Heresy." Although he ultimately failed and was destroyed in body and soul, he also put the Emperor on the "Golden Throne," and since then, the Imperium of Man has been without the Emperor's direct leadership.
Our then-tardy and ill-reputed master of the XIII Legion, Roboute Guilliman, was heavily criticized for not being able to return to Terra in time to provide support. In a time of chaos throughout the Imperium, for the sake of stability, his own reputation, and to prove his innocence, Guilliman brought out his "magnum opus"—the Codex Astartes.
The main thrust of this "great work" was to divide the Legions into Chapters of no more than 1,000 men, and to establish a new set of rules to manage (and suppress) them.
Guilliman: So you say I'm ambitious, huh? Do you know who has the most troops? Me! After reading my Codex, who will dare to talk back? Ambitious? Then no one gets to have any fun!
Guilliman (╯‵□′)╯︵┴─┴
No one knows the expression on the faces of the surviving loyalist Primarchs when they saw the Codex Astartes, but the Imperium's second civil war almost broke out. In the end, the Codex Astartes was implemented in name only. The Primarchs who opposed the Codex secretly made their own arrangements, only pretending to comply. At the same time, some loyalist Space Marines from the traitor legions also hid their past and blended in.
But as the loyalist Primarchs disappeared one by one, and Guilliman himself was put into stasis by Fulgrim's blade, the Imperium, after losing the Emperor's leadership, also lost the leadership of the Primarchs. No one could, by their own authority, reassemble and unite the shattered Legions. The Imperium had lost its most powerful military force—the Space Marine Legions.
With one book, Guilliman had accomplished the "great feat" that even the "Great Traitor" Horus had not been able to complete. It could be said that Horus crippled the Emperor, and Guilliman crippled the Imperium.
Guilliman: Who could have known they would be so stubborn? I even added "depending on the circumstances" at the end! This really isn't my fault!!!
Let's return to Omega. As the warp's corruption of the material universe intensified, the laws of physics became more and more unstable. The Grand Manufactorum's defensive shields began to fail, no longer able to block all ranged attacks. This made the defense increasingly difficult.
"Sigh... to die so young without having done anything. Another life wasted!"
Omega roared at the sky, inhaled a lungful of foul air, and almost threw up. Then he started fighting the daemons with renewed vigor. The thought of dying in a cesspool was completely unacceptable to him. Every time he wanted to give up, a deep breath of the foul air would fill him with motivation again.
"Don't let me escape, or I'm not finished with you! Magos Lyra, is there no better way?" Omega, while cursing the daemons, asked Magos Lyra, who was commanding the Skitarii from somewhere, through his comms.
"According to everyone's calculations, defense is our optimal solution right now."
"But this is too passive! If this continues, we won't even have the strength to break out! There's only a dead end."
"..." There was no response from the comms.
From Lyra's silence, Omega thought, Perhaps we've already lost the strength to break out...
If it weren't for the reinforcements outside, the Archmagos might have chosen to abandon the Grand Manufactorum from the beginning. But it was precisely because of the reinforcements that they had chosen to hold on. Holding on had kept them alive until now. Holding on had also extinguished their future.
"My apologies, Magos. I shouldn't have said that," Omega apologized.
"No need. You are not wrong. According to your biometrics, you need to rest."
"I can still hold on. Everyone is holding on, aren't they..."
"Warning! Omega! Get out of your current position, now!"
Omega, both mentally and physically exhausted, was not expecting Lyra to suddenly shout a warning at him. Dodge! Hiding behind cover, Omega saw a large glob of yellow-green liquid land not far from where he had just been standing. Ugh... a little dizzy... He was suddenly beginning to understand what the cog-heads meant by "the flesh is weak." He hadn't even maxed out the "Omega's" emergency evasion, and the acceleration had almost made him pass out. Ugh...
The moment the liquid hit the ground, the splattering pus, carrying the malevolent power of Nurgle, splashed onto the surrounding auto-turrets, the Skitarii who were a step too slow, and the alloy-paved ground. The metal gun barrels grew flesh and fangs, the circuit components turned into a pile of rust, skin began to rot, organs grew claws and teeth and burst out of abdomens, and toxic fungi and plants sprouted from the ground.
"Omega!" Lyra cried out. She immediately directed the nearby augur-arrays to get a reading on his situation.
"Magos, I'm fine!" Her internal comms module received a data burst from Omega. The data from the augur-arrays showed only one life sign at the point of impact. Lyra's quick calculations showed that the probability of Omega being affected by the daemonic power was over 77.7%.
"Question: What was the function of the relic you borrowed from me last time?"
"Ugh! Manipulating atoms. Ugh, ugh."
"Appearance?"
"A three-dimensional cube, 0.6 by 0.51 by 0.48. Ugh."
"Stay where you are and do not move. Await further investigation. Otherwise, the annihilation protocol will be activated."
"Ugh, ugh. Understood. Obeying orders."
Are they afraid I've been possessed? Or corrupted? Omega didn't want to be annihilated by the defensive cannons in the distance, so he obediently waited to be taken in for questioning.
This was the disgusting part of fighting Chaos daemons. Not only could you not truly kill them, but because they were born from the thoughts and emotions of intelligent beings, their power could directly or indirectly influence the thoughts and emotions of intelligent beings. A fleeting thought, a sudden idea could be a daemon corrupting you with their power. If one's will was not strong enough when facing a powerful daemon, they could be directly twisted by its power into a pathetic plaything.
Soon, Omega was being escorted by a heavy-duty servitor to a room in the Grand Manufactorum built with special materials—materials like the bones of Blanks or other anti-psyker substances. These rooms were designed to deal with psykers and those suspected of being possessed by daemons. Inside, their powers would be suppressed.
After entering, Omega didn't feel any different. He thought, It seems my magic resistance isn't just for 'positive psychic energy.' Even the 'negative psychic energy' of a Blank has no effect on me. Wait a minute! Does this mean my 'grind my bones to dust and scatter my soul to the winds for a peaceful afterlife' plan is going to fail?! No way. It can't be...
The Imperium classifies psykers as "psykers" (positive psychic energy), "normal" (unawakened), and "Blanks" (negative psychic energy). "Blanks," also known as "Untouchables," are a special, random occurrence in humanity. Due to a special gene, their souls are a "black hole" in the warp. This gene is highly unstable and cannot be stably inherited or cloned. Because of the "black hole" effect of their souls, they absorb and neutralize the psychic energy in their surroundings. They literally form a vacuum of soul, sucking in all the soul-fire in their vicinity. The souls of intelligent beings, which reside in the warp, feel an extreme discomfort and aversion to their "black hole." Even after death, their bones can produce a psychic-suppressing effect. Weak Blanks only cause an instinctive revulsion in those around them. Strong Blanks can cause electronic machinery to malfunction, which is a side proof that the "Machine Spirit" truly exists.
Archmagos Veyl, upon hearing that his "wild son" was in danger and had to be quarantined, dropped what he was doing and rushed to where Omega was being held. The situation was critical, and as the Archmagos, he couldn't show favoritism at a time like this. He had even turned off the "emotion module" in his brain to avoid being swayed by his feelings. But the feeling was terrible. The Archmagos, who had lived for a thousand years, couldn't understand how the cog-heads who didn't even have an "emotion module" could stand to live. What was the meaning of living?
He had planned to stage a "Macragge-style" scene of fatherly love and filial piety with Omega, like the Regent and his adoptive father. But when he saw the boy, he was lying stiffly on the bed, sleeping soundly. The first look he gave his "dad" clearly said, "Why did you wake me up?!"
Omega's thought: Everyone gets a little grumpy when they wake up.
Veyl's thought: You ungrateful brat! Do you know how much I dropped just to come and comfort you, to tell you 'don't be afraid, dad is here,' and this is the attitude you give me?! Today, I will let you know how a son of Macragge is educated!
Fortunately, Omega still knew what was good for him. He understood that Veyl coming to see him at a time like this meant that his "dad" was not in vain. Seeing the Archmagos silent, he thought that Veyl, not having been a "dad" for a long time, didn't know what to say. He didn't know that Veyl was currently searching his memory for his own childhood beatings, studying the techniques, to give him a "Macragge-style education."
Omega spoke first. "Archmagos, don't worry, I'm fine. I have a very high psychic resistance. Magos Laust tested me before. It's ridiculously high."
Veyl's thought: Hmm?! I have this talent too?
Psychic resistance, unlike psychic ability, does not have a specific grading system. It is simply a manifestation of being insensitive to the energies of the warp. Psychic powers that would severely affect a normal person would have a much smaller effect on someone with resistance. For example, Captain Titus of the Ultramarines, a badass who could ignore Chaos artifacts and punch a Daemon Prince to death with his bare hands.
"Really?"
"Really. When I was being tested, I didn't feel a thing. Magos Laust was so jealous."
Veyl's thought: I, your Archmagos! How many of my talents have been buried?!