Chapter 374 Square of Heroes
“The light in my soul makes me love, explore, and search for wisdom itself. But they have your holy name in their mouths, but there is no existence of you in their hearts. They have no regard for you and you. The created world speaks of absurdities. Alas, you, my love, my kindness, the life from which I draw my strength, the life of my life, where are you?" - "The Book of Lorgar"
Even the Primarch of the Fourth Legion, the Iron Lord who is deeply trusted by the Empire's power center, the Lord of Olympia, the leader of the important sector under the Empire's jurisdiction, and the main force in the construction of the underground network of the Terra Palace, the Second Return Perturabo, the son of the Emperor and a close friend of the Terran Guard Rogal Dorn, the main organization of Terra's defense system, rarely has the opportunity to arrive at the Square of Heroes in the center of the palace, where he can see what the Masons' Guild has done for the empire. A marble statue built by the Primarch.
The reason is very simple. The construction of this huge circular square in the palace has only started in recent years, slightly before the Association of Memoirs took into account the level of detail and quality required to build a statue of the Primarch. , even though the masons worked hard day and night and hammered hard, they could only make a base for the statues of several original bodies and the prototype of a huge white marble statue.
As for Corax, Jonson, Khan and others who have just returned in recent days, we can only say that at least their bases marked with Roman numerals have been prepared in advance.
When Perturabo arrived at the Square of Heroes, a Primarch was strolling around the square, looking up at the empty base on a tall stone pillar. Perturabo immediately recognized the identity of the figure from behind, or rather, the more likely identity.
"Alfaris," Perturabo stepped forward and looked at the reflective head of Alpharius or Omegon, "Theoretically, it seems that you have not returned to Terra."
< br>"Yes," the Primarch of the Twentieth Legion acquiesced in Perturabo's title and turned around from under the blank column marked twenty, "Father did not invite me to come here today, Perturabo. . Out of curiosity, I came here today."
"You are adding trouble to the work of the Imperial Chancellor," Perturabo said unceremoniously. The presence of the twins has always been Terra. A source of trouble associated with construction work.
"I did nothing, my brother," Alpharius nodded slightly to him, "I came only to see my pillar and see you again. Look, Perturabo , look back and pay attention to these statues, what happened?”
"If I look back, you will disappear immediately," Perturabo said with experience.
"But you don't have to stop me from disappearing. As I said, I came here just to see how this incredible thing happened among us." Alpharius It is said that all emotions are hidden under the calm appearance, like a ghost that does not really exist. He turned in front of Perturabo and left along the corridor of the Palace of Terra.
Perturabo looked at Alpharius's disappearing shadow, knowing that he would get no more answers from it.
He turned around and, as Alpharius said, observed the towering stone pillars one by one. In order to reflect the noble identity of the Primarch and to be commensurate with the majestic size of the entire Imperial Palace of Terra, which covers the entire Himalayas - and this is not including the outer temple, each statue is made of hundreds of tons of white marble. Carved, incompletely carved statues are even heavier.
Perturabo observed the standing prototypes, capturing the charm of the Primarch he knew from the cold stone statues. Even if it was just a prototype, he could still recognize Fulgrim's radiant appearance, Rogal Dorn's stone-like seriousness, Konrad Curze's coldness hidden in the darkness, and Horus Luperkar's allure. Eye-catching vitality and charm, etc.
Within the human empire, the top mortal craftsmen devoted their minds and even souls to this important undertaking. This gave Perturabo a rare opportunity to recall the second son of the tyrant he had met in his childhood. If he had survived, To this day, Perturabo believes that he will be a part of this great cause.
He took back his wandering thoughts and noticed an empty pillar. It is like any empty column, with a serial number engraved on the base and high above. But it seems that this pillar should not remain vacant...
"Perturabo." A voice sounded behind him, gentle and polite, even though Perturabo had never heard this before. Although he had never come into contact with him personally, he still recognized him immediately.
"Lorgar Aurelion." Perturabo responded, looking towards the source of the voice.
The Lord of the Word Bearers was very similar to the image he imagined, but paler, with lines of golden cuneiform across his skin, highlighting the purity of his smile, and those violet His eyes were surprisingly bright, to an almost mysterious level. He reminded Perturabo of a stone tablet that had been feverishly engraved with prayer texts, the physical heat of which made the body too fragile.
However, if all these superfluous mental and temperament influences are excluded, and only in terms of facial outline, the Primarch's natural appearance itself is actually the most similar to the Emperor himself. Even Horus Luperkar Far inferior to him.
Logar walked towards him and looked at him curiously but not pointedly.
“Come near,” he whispered softly, “and he came near. So Joseph fell on his brother’s neck and wept.[1]I’m so glad to see you today, my dear Brother."
"Same as you, Aurelion," Perturabo replied, choosing his tone.
Lorgar held out his hand to him, and Perturabo shook his hand briefly. Aurelion's palm was soft and slightly warm. It was a hand that had never been fought, and had almost never worked.
Some time ago, his chance encounter with the Word Bearers in the hive gave him a complicated thought about the Seventeenth Legion: He undoubtedly recognized the goodwill shown by the Word Bearers Legion to the people, but hidden behind their The thinking behind the behavior appears dangerous at every turn.
Relying on religious dogma is like picking flowers from a cliff with bare hands. Only the bold and lucky have the authority to pick them correctly.
But the Emperor never stopped their faith, so Perturabo remained silent about it.
Inappropriate and excessive accusations can easily push a person from one extreme to another. Perturabo clearly understands this and never wants to be the one to destroy the beliefs of others.
"Do you know why father asked us to come here today, Perturabo?" Lorgar asked calmly, simply expressing his doubts. This kind of doubt only stayed at the level of confusion. It neither really aroused his emotions nor made him doubt the emperor's decision-making. All he wanted was an answer, and whatever it was, he embraced it.
"That stone pillar." Perturabo said, "Stone Pillar No. 2."
Lorgar raised his head and looked up at the stone pillar belonging to Primarch No. 2, letting the luster of the stone pillar be reflected in his clear eyes.
"He has no stone statue," said Lorgar, "His pedestal is only a pedestal."
But the Second Primarch had returned to the Crusade decades earlier queue. His pedestal should not be as empty as that of the newly returned Primarch.
The man with the true words lowered his head again, with a kind of worry in his eyes: "Has he been abandoned by his father? What happened to him that made him willing to abandon his father's kindness and commit a crime? The crime of going down to Sodom? Or was he in danger that we knew nothing about and had to destroy the relationship he had with his father?"
"I have heard nothing about him recently," Perturabo said, briefly reviewing the information related to the Second Primarch with Lorgar.
They still remembered the information related to Duncan Aho, such as his name, but looking back now, they discovered that in recent years, the Second Legion seemed to have disappeared throughout the galaxy. Lorgar shook his head: "We just need to wait for Father's decision. I think, since we are ordered to wait here, then when we see the empty pedestal and have these questions, it must be that Father wants us to be prepared and ready to listen. Spiritual."
He smiled and added: "My descendants reported to me that they saw you when they were doing alms in the hive, Perturabo. Thank you for their tolerance, brother."
"No, Aurelion. They did not break any Imperial rules in my presence."
"Your humility is worth learning, Perturabo." Lorgar said, looking over Perturabo's shoulder, he saw the arrival of another Primarch.
"I believe you are Leon El'Jonson," said the Truespeaker, "the first son of my father."
Perturabo turned sideways and observed Another blood relative whom I met for the first time.
The newcomer's blond hair hangs down like a lion's mane, his back is straight, and he is majestic. A dark purple cloak with gold edges hangs down his shoulders, wrapping a hard and tall body that is covered in human form. The body inside the armor only has a majestic coldness in his stern green eyes. Every observation he makes is a review of the world, and the trajectory of his thoughts is hidden under his resolute eyebrows, and no one is allowed to explore.
Russ was very secretive about the entire search for the Emperor's eldest son, and he publicly stated that this was not because there were any hidden secrets hidden in Caliban, but simply because he did not want to make Leon angry.
The Wolf King's public provocation was never responded to by the Lion King himself. Combined with Russ's consistent character, Perturabo initially thought that maybe Leon himself was broad-minded - after all, he was the eldest son of the emperor. Perturabo subconsciously Have the same expectations for him as Horus. But at the moment when I saw the Lion King, all my guesses shrank to the same intersection.
The First Primarch scorned the point of competing with Leman Russ over a matter of honor.
"Who are you?" Leon said.
"Perturabo," the Iron Lord introduced himself, choosing the simplest words to avoid any ambiguity or unnecessary misunderstanding of emotion, "the Fourth Legion, Primarch of the Iron Warriors "
"I am Lorgar Aurelion, from Colchis, leading the Seventeenth Legion of Word Bearers." Lorgar nodded to Leon, comparing his attitude to Perturabo. , there is a trace of distance that is extremely difficult to detect. Perturabo wasn't sure which one of his actions had pleased Lorgar. Was it the building of infrastructure for worlds that resonated with the True Sayers?
"Father ordered you to gather here." Leon said, "He also ordered me to wait here. I am Leon El'Jonson, the Primarch of the First Legion."
The words fell, Leon He said no more, but stood silently, his eyes fixed on the two strange brothers. It's hard to guess what he's thinking.
After such a long absence, Perturabo felt unable to adapt. Perhaps he had spent too much time with the easy-to-talk Primarchs recently, which had worn away his will to treat others coldly. When he suddenly encountered two Primarchs with unpredictable moods, he was not sure how to deal with them.
“The Emperor has summoned us to the Square of Heroes today not just so that we can admire each other’s noble statues,” said Perturabo. “As for the missing statue of Primarch Two, we No one among them understands. I calculated the commonalities between us and came to a conclusion: whether it is my Iron Warriors, Aurelion's Word Bearers, Jonson's Seraphim..."
< br> "Dark Angels. I named them." Leon said.
"...Leon El'Jonson's Dark Angels, or Luperkar's Luna Wolves who are about to return here, are both outstanding legions under the Emperor's command with numerous achievements and outstanding military achievements. I have to wonder, what will happen next? The mission we are about to receive requires the support of the military force of the legion. "
"You must pursue the enemy. Five men will chase one hundred people, and one hundred men will chase ten thousand people. The enemy will fall by your sword. [2]" Luojia said solemnly, "Only my father's will."
Leon nodded and pulled the cloak closer to himself.
They briefly talked about some topics, and they could feel the strangeness to each other, and this strangeness was not easy to eliminate. Even if they were not Primarchs, they would be natural monarchs, generals and demigods everywhere. For their respective prides, only real actions, military or otherwise, can help build deep friendships.
The few people did not wait too long, and the golden aircraft on which the emperor landed landed alone. There were no mortal attendants, honor guards, or even Custodes. The Emperor came here almost alone. On his left was the gray-robed Prime Minister holding the eagle scepter. On his right was Horus Luperkar, the son of the First Return. He followed closely beside the emperor with a solemn expression.
"Father." Perturabo simply showed respect to the Emperor, Lorgar's expression was more pious, and Leon's expression was deeper.
Horus walked from the Emperor's side, his grace unchanged, and smiled generously at each brother, but there was a layer of dim tiredness behind the smile.
The Emperor nodded slightly. Imperial Prime Minister Malcador, holding his scepter, walked step by step towards the center of the Square of Heroes and stepped under the gaze of the giants.
"In 839.M30, our six planets at the Moss Spiral came under attack. An alien force established an outpost there and plundered humans from our planets to build their war satellites . This greatly offended the dignity of the human empire.
"The First Legion wanted to go to the outpost to launch an attack. At the same time, it took the opportunity to reorganize the Seraph Army troops that had been reorganized after being depleted in combat. The new order of battle system is engraved in the fighting blood of the First Legion. But at that time, another Primarch located near the Spiral Corner, Duncan Aho of the Second Legion, took the initiative to apply to participate in the cleansing campaign at the outpost. ”
When mentioning the First Legion, Malcador briefly moved his gaze to Leon, but he received no response.
The Prime Minister continued: "With the help of the Empire's naval superiority and the assistance of the forging world Shana, the Second Legion was unstoppable. After retaking several outposts, it then penetrated into the inner part of the galaxy, destroyed the war satellite, and entered the spiral. The Empire will remember his exploits by driving the alien fortress to rubble and creating a huge hole in the alien's outer defenses."
"In 844.M30, approved by the Imperial Ministry of the Interior. The Second Legion continued to penetrate the Alien Empire, intending to completely eliminate this dangerous alien threat. But this time, unfortunately, after a fierce and bloody battle, the Empire never received any messages from the Second Legion."< br>
Horus nodded: "The disappearance of an entire legion is an unacceptable loss. In the past few months, I was ordered by my father to search for traces of the Second Legion, but outside the battlefield, except for the war, Apart from the ruins and wreckage, the Shadow Moon Wolf found nothing. To prevent it from going deep into the enemy camp under unknown circumstances and causing greater unnecessary losses, the Sixteenth Legion chose to return to Terra to report the military situation. "
Ma. Kaduo sighed deeply, his old body seemed to have lost a lot of energy in an instant.
"This is your next task, warriors," the prime minister said, "The alien empire is named Ran Dan."
(End of this chapter)