The metal of the space armour was torn apart, in the silent vacuum the xenos ships retreated one after another. The war with Rangda was in full swing, this conflict was called the Second Rangdan War. The first war was not a war as such, the Imperium simply stumbled upon a Rangdan outpost, thought that it was all their forces, overcame and won, although they suffered heavy losses.
However, soon Rangda gathered its forces and came from the far corners of the galaxy, attacking the worlds of the Imperium. The forces of Lion El Johnson, Primarch of the Dark Angels, were immediately thrown into the battle. Along the way, forces from other Legions joined him, but it quickly became clear that the enemy was extremely strong. And now in the Halo stars the following were fighting: the Death Guard led by Mortarion, the Space Wolves with Leman Russ, two companies of Salamanders, and the Primarchs of the Second and Eleventh Legions rushed to help.
Some brought more forces, some less, because it is worth understanding that the Great Crusade was moving forward across the galaxy and there were more than enough threats in it. For example, the Eleventh Legion arrived almost in full force, while Mortarion took about two-thirds with him, and the Lion did not reveal the number of Dark Angels who arrived.
As a whole, despite the fact that all twenty Primarchs were brothers and served the same purpose, they still sometimes could not find a common language and acted extremely separately. Mortarion was always withdrawn, silent and gave his brothers a heavy look. Lion El Jonsos was also not distinguished by cordiality, charisma and rather gave the impression of a man who could be sent to cut out an entire world at the root, setting fire to children and women. He would not even ask why, he would simply do what he must, because the end justifies the means, if the Father said so.
However, Leman Russ had a much hotter heart and although he was extremely hot-tempered, it was difficult to find a more faithful brother. Vulkan was ready to protect even a simple mortal with his back, believing that the highest value of all Mankind is precisely human life. All the primarchs were created by the Emperor to achieve one goal, but they were all different.
- Tell me, Mordred, what determines a person's character? The world around him or genetics? - Moiran asked me, still walking through the halls of the Camelot palace, looking at one masterpiece of art after another.
"Probably genetics," I suggested, not being particularly experienced in such reasoning, but I still tried to put forward at least some argument, albeit a very banal one. "A bear cub raised by cows will not become a cow."
- It won't, but just as a human is a much more complex animal for such a comparison, so a puppy raised in the company of cats will have the habits of the latter, trying to meow and imitate those whom it considers its brothers.
- Yes, that makes sense. Then perhaps the truth lies somewhere in the middle?
- Who knows, who knows. Maybe it's all in the genes, maybe in the environment, maybe in both, - Moiran shrugged. - The only thing I can say is that we, the primarchs, certainly have no power over our fate. The people are already trying to call us demigods, and in some worlds where they have not yet heard of the Emperor, even gods. And how ironic it is ... after all, in the end, we are much more human than one can even imagine. And this humanity sometimes manifests itself in the worst of forms. I wonder, did the Father intentionally put this in us or was he simply mistaken?
"I don't know the answer, just as I don't really know anything about the Emperor."
- Me too. However, the first option is the reason for the birth of incredible contempt for the father, and the second makes a weakling trying to seem bigger than he really is. Ha, yes, for such words I can be condemned, - Moiran smiled sadly and froze in front of the giant bas-relief, where King Arthur slew the last dragon. - How can you fight your own genes and remain calm when testosterone is gushing inside you in an unstoppable stream? How can you believe in goodness and justice when the world you grew up in cut out children in front of their mothers? Is it possible to find the strength to believe in hope when time after time life smashed it to pieces? And how can you praise someone who hates his own children? So many questions, but even though they call me a demigod, I cannot find the answers to them. I was created to destroy the enemies of the Imperium, I am a tool that must perform a task, and not think and look for answers to eternal questions. And no matter how much I try to move along a different path, I still find that something in me resists, because of which even many mere mortals overtake me.
Moiran turned and looked at me. He didn't expect me to answer, and mostly talked to himself, voicing questions out loud and hoping that maybe the universe would answer them somehow. But the universe was silent, because it didn't give a damn about humanity, about the primarchs, about the galaxy burning in the fires of war, or about itself.
"But if I find answers to my questions, then I will help all my brothers," said Moiran and smiled sadly at what he saw behind the glass veil of his own eyes. "What a pity that this will not ease my pain."
"I don't understand what you're talking about," I admitted honestly, not understanding why the primarch was sharing all this with me.
- It is enough that you listened to me. I have almost no one to talk to about such topics. Sanguinius understood me, but he is not here. Vulkan tried to help, but he himself does not really understand what my problem is, and I cannot explain it. During conversations with Magnus, for some reason, a taste of my own stupidity suddenly appears, and Lorgar's speeches are sometimes too high-flown. However, it does not matter, it is better to tell me the name of the demon that you sheltered in your soul and why it did not devour you in a moment of weakness, but helped you.
- Ahem... I... I don't know the name. I just call her a bird. As I understand it, she is an extremely young entity, recently born in the warp.
- Time flows completely differently in the warp. The past, present and future happen there simultaneously.
- Yes, I just wanted to say that she doesn't understand much and has no experience. She is quite weak and almost died because of the weapon you used to fight that creature.
"It wasn't a weapon," Moiran patiently corrected me, although my phrase almost made him angry, which was evident from the fleeting grimace that appeared on his face.
- What was that?
- You will find out about this later, now we need to decide what to do with the demon inside you.
"I don't want to kill her. She poses no threat and has helped me both in protecting people and in fighting other warp fiends."
Moiran suddenly chuckled, and then couldn't help but laugh outright. What could have been reason enough to destroy him on the spot seemed to amuse him. However, as Moiran himself had already said, and as could be guessed, not all primarchs are alike.
"I heard Magnus's voice in your words," Moiran recalled nostalgically, once again plunging into the past, where there was much less sadness than now. "How fiercely they argued with the Sigillite back then. Wow! Those were the days. That's probably why he doesn't trust us, just like the Emperor deliberately hides the whole truth from us. He's probably afraid that we won't be able to cope with it and will betray the interests of Humanity for our own purposes. After all, knowledge is dangerous, although I believe that only by throwing down new challenges to fate can we become stronger and ultimately change it. Otherwise, everything will be decided for us, again.
I suddenly fell into a stupor, because I already knew that eventually some of the legions would betray the Emperor. Moreover, I personally saw the plagued space marines. Did Moiran really foresee something like this? No, it is unlikely, otherwise he would not have laughed so much. Although perhaps behind this laughter he was trying to hide his fear of the future, which seemed to have already been predetermined by the Moirai, after whom the primarch was named. One way or another, there was logic and reason in his words, not everything went smoothly in the Great Crusade and every misunderstanding, every mutual insult among the primarchs and the Emperor could turn into a huge problem for the entire galaxy.
The Emperor couldn't help but know this, or... could he? After all, what is perfectly clear to a simple person may well be incomprehensible to someone who has already begun to be called a god, bypassing his own prohibitions.
- The galaxy is fraught with many dangers. The Warp is just one of them, and in its depths there is something extremely dangerous. Of course, I could be wrong, but it seems to me that something is looking back at us and waiting for the right moment. Perhaps Magnus' curiosity is truly dangerous, the Emperor will decide. But how to protect my Legion and fulfill the goal set before me - I will decide.
- Means…
- Then you will need to be much more careful with your words. The Primarchs do not believe in the existence of daemons, because even if they encounter some manifestations of the warp, they attribute it to anything but daemons and call these entities by other names. However, the Emperor certainly knows about their existence, who has tasked me with resolving such issues in secret from the other Legions. However, one way or another, even before the Great Crusade, the spawn of the warp, sorcerers have been calling upon monstrous forces, extremely dangerous incidents still occur, and the daemon you fought... it had a master. Do you understand what this says?
— About a threat of galactic scale.
- True. Many xenos have fallen victim to the warp, we must not be the next. Therefore, I, albeit bypassing the Emperor's prohibitions, and also violating his orders to me, study this threat. I also believe that we must use the enemy's weapons against him. Moreover, as you yourself believe, there are entities in the warp that are not so dangerous, ready to obey and serve our goals.
- Yes, I understand. However, it is dangerous. After all...
— Because the longer you look into the warp, the more the warp studies you. I understand the risks, and we have countermeasures for that. That is why it is better for you to be around others like us. If you make a mistake, you will not have time to harm the innocent, because you will be eliminated. But the longer you live, the further you go… the more answers humanity will receive, expanding its understanding and bringing the day closer to solving the eternal problem. And who knows, maybe our success will force the Emperor to agree that we are ready for the whole truth! I think this is my purpose. And even if not, and I came up with it myself, then what difference does it make?
And again Moiran laughed, then turned and looked around the entire hall. During our dialogue, we had visited all the sights of the palace. Today, the primus of the eleventh legion again did not find answers to his questions, but in the process of thinking and reflection, he took another small step towards the Truth.
"Well then…" he said. "Your training will begin tomorrow. There is a special lodge in our legion, the existence of which is not usually spread for fear of parting with life. Emperor bless Lorgar for such a gift to my legion. It was truly a brilliant idea, albeit a dangerous one. They will explain everything to you there, teach you and help you. For now, I will return to the strategic headquarters. We have pushed the enemy away from Alba, after all, I did not come here alone, but with the fleets of two more primarchs. The xenos had no chance, but it seems we were fooled again. I will talk to Galahad about the new Knight, as well as about your training to pilot the Machine. And we will need to come up with an explanation for Mars to justify the desecration of the Machine. Although… we will simply not tell them anything, and we will deny the rumors. Look, Fulgrim can do something strange with his space marines, Jaghatai can do the same with his ships, but we can't do the same with the Knights?
And although the space battle was won, it was still necessary to carry out a ground cleanup, to finish off the remaining xenos, demons and traitors. Given the scale of the chaos that had set in, even the space marines would need some time and a fair amount of blood would have to be spilled.
I deserved to rest, which couldn't help but please me. The bird was still feeling bad, but gradually collecting its wounded soul bit by bit, it was recovering, including feeding on me. I'll have to give it a name, otherwise it will continue to live in uncertainty, even regarding such a trifle. This is probably very unpleasant.
Soon I found Kara, who was already helping the wounded arriving in Camelot from all over the front. As already said, the war was not over. It was necessary to punish the traitors, finish off the enemies and cut out the remnants of the sorcerers, who had lost a significant part of their power and continued to lose it as the storm in the warp died down, but they still remained extremely dangerous.
- Mister Mordred! - she immediately threw herself on my neck, as soon as she saw me in the hospital passage.
- I'm glad you're alive.
"You were pardoned! I'm so glad!"
- Me too.
In the chaos of war and the darkness of darkness, a moment of relative calm suddenly appeared. The people were able to exhale and calmly mourn their fallen loved ones, the Knights finally took a moment of silence in honor of the heroes who found their destiny on the battlefield, and in the hospitals, although the wounded continued to scream in agony, at least their influx stopped growing, giving surgeons the opportunity to devote more time not to saving lives, but to saving the limbs of the wounded.
And although it was impossible to give up and victory awaited Camelot and all of Alba, but after this system was saved, participation in the Great Crusade would begin for these citizens. The knights would go to war, and the population would continue to increase military production to provide the front with everything necessary. Everything had just begun, but still, in the darkness of space for Alba, and before that for countless other worlds, the Age of Discord ended and the dawn of Humanity began.
I decided to go home, to my family estate, but found only ruins. The bombing had destroyed everything, and what had not been torn apart by shrapnel and broken by explosions had burned. But in the midst of the conflagration I found the entrance to the basement, and there all the most valuable things that had been hidden as deep as possible, along with supplies for the defenders who had retreated from these positions in battle. It seemed then that no one would return here and the xenos would have to give their last battle in the palace.
Mordred's soul was uneasy. After everything that had happened to him in his perhaps not long, but eventful life, it was as if he did not believe that everything... everything had become normal. He was no longer an outcast, despised by everyone, his name had been cleared and he had even become a Knight pilot, as his grandfather, who had not seen the fall of his descendants, wanted. And "Morgana's Curse" had fulfilled its destiny, having done what none of the Knights could even dream of, winning the fight with the demon prince, although of course not alone.
"Don't rush and don't try to run away from us. You won't succeed anyway," a menacing voice suddenly came from the speakers of the power armor, followed by the footsteps of a space marine.
I already thought that they were talking about me, but immediately after that, among the loud steps of the space marine, a completely human stomping was heard, and then a female voice:
— I'm not running away, I just have little time and I have to do everything! It's a nightmare, there's nothing left here, look, there used to be a forest here, and now there's only black ashes and torn tree trunks. It's a nightmare, and how many bodies, cartridges, blood... and the smell of burning mixed with exhaust gases from equipment. That's what war smells like. Oh, look, it's a civilian deprived of everything. He's standing on the ruins of his own home, under the rubble of which all his hopes are buried along with his beloved wife, three children and parents, who found their destiny under a hail of fiery metal.
"Don't fantasize, it's not professional," prompted the Imperial Army soldier walking next to the woman. "Humanity must know the truth."
- Yes, yes, I just assumed, - the woman said, after which the group approached me. - Hello, I am the chronicler of the Great Crusade, can you tell me how you feel? Oh, do you even understand me? How long was your world without contact with Terra? What is your name? You have no arm, are you a soldier?
"I like her," suddenly said the voice of the bird, who also liked to ask a lot of questions and at the same time didn't really know anything herself.
I sighed and turned to the woman, understanding her perfectly. The Terran accent made itself felt, as did the manner of speech, which was completely different, the declensions were different and some words sounded strange, sometimes incomprehensible, but in general I understood the whole point and therefore answered.
- One question for one answer.
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