Chapter 405: The Earthly City
“You are always unwilling to blame yourself for the evil things you do, but blame Him and the world.” - "The Book of Lorgar"
< br>Perturabo let the mechanical arm behind him put the data tablet back on the table, gathered the manuscript papers and pens that were gradually piled up on the table, and at the same time thought about the text message from Leon El'Jonson.
The Lion King was so generous that he immediately shared the information he obtained during ground exploration with the other three Primarchs, and the answer he gave, although not expected, was consistent with it. Emotional logic.
They all know that the Ran Dan alien will incorporate the consciousness and organic matter of other life forms into its own body through some form, and use this to expand.
Then, there is no doubt that a stronger foreign consciousness - such as the Word Bearers, whose fanaticism is within the entire Space Marines, and which may only be matched by another religious order of their own - can defeat a weak original Randan consciousness. It is very possible.
However... Perturabo continued to think, and the quill rested on the rim of the water glass for a moment.
The moment before the pen tip touched the water, he noticed the movement of his right hand, immediately removed the pen as if nothing had happened, and dipped it in ink at the right place.
However, first of all, how did Leon successfully cross half the planet and track down a lonely consciousness? Judging from the information sent back by assault team member Kroger, they did not send any information to Al Jonson at all.
Did the First Primarch follow the radio waves emitted by Perturabo's surveillance device that he had inadvertently designed to be too strong and track their signal in reverse?
No, this shouldn't be possible.
The Iron Lord started sketching the interior decoration on a new piece of paper, and the theme was chosen as the Wandering Temple a few hours ago. This will help him stabilize his inner state.
The second question - a question that unintentionally entered Perturabo's heart about the Randan alien species itself.
Since their consciousness can be defeated, how did they develop the basic source of consciousness that can ensure their victory in the first place, instead of being reduced from hunters to prey, destroying themselves in the process of devouring it? ?
Two questions lingered in the Iron Lord's mind at the same time. He allowed himself to think about the time of a painting first.
The solemn and solemn scene of the church is enhanced by a large number of orderly lines and a large perspective composition. Even if it is just a casual essay, the atmosphere and basic painting skills reflected in it are enough to dwarf almost all painters in the galaxy. .
This is why Perturabo does not like to show his paintings in front of mortals. He does not need to use this talent to exchange for the admiration of others.
The Lord of Iron put the last stroke on the paper and outlined the rising flames of the four candlesticks next to the icon one by one. He was slightly nervous due to Lorgar's attitude, and for a brief moment he doubted whether the number "four" had something to do with him.
"I know you haven't left." He put down his pen, rubbed his temples, and said to the air.
"You guessed it, Perturabo," Morse emerged from the air generously. He was sitting in his chair, lying on his back in a way that was unfavorable to the cervical spine, using electronic The pen writes some text on the data pad.
Perturabo was not sure whether it was the report Morse would bring back this time as the emperor's messenger, or some other essay.
"You are not in a hurry to leave?" asked the Iron Lord, "I thought you were really busy."
"It depends on who you compare with," Morse replied, He sat up straighter in the recliner, "Looking for me?"
"They are curious about you, Mors. Aurelion, and Horus."
Mors. Raising his electronic pen, "I heard it, Lord of Iron. By the way, the church is well painted."
"You must be changing the subject."
"Obviously I am preventing you from exploring a question that you are obviously very curious about, so I decided to act as an envoy of Terra and ask the Lord of the Fourth Legion, you How the next round of attack plan will unfold."
"If you want to see," Perturabo extended the robotic arm and flipped each claw on the front claw to horizontal to lift the table. A full stack of documents over a foot thick was held up from the bottom.
“Oh, let me guess, is this a table of contents or an index?”
“When would I make a combat design so lengthy? That would be the same as giving up on subsequent changes in the actual situation. "Perturabo retorted, "This is the next issue of internal reference, which contains reference applications of some basic combat concepts and methods adapted to the Randan Front, including the command system of the orbital support force, the principles and basic methods of using different ammunition, Artillery preparation and support of the front, artillery support plan for infantry located deep within the enemy's defenses, etc. ”
With a satisfied look, he glanced at the thick document held up by the mechanical claws. The sense of accomplishment brought by writing it was better than drawing a perfect painting. "As for the plan itself, it is expected to arrive at the detection site in the next five years." The known core of Ran Dan is then swept from the core to the untouched three sides. "Do you hope that destroying the core will lead to the collapse of the group?"
"This is indeed our reasonable hope, otherwise the battle for the remaining three quadrants in the cluster will be as time-consuming and resource-intensive as our current battle against the first quadrant." Perturabo said, writing him The test copy of Iron Warrior's internal information was put back on the table.
"There is still patience," Morse replied, turning the electronic pen in his hand, "What a long battle, attack-death-exploration-occupation, I see a cycle, and for the entire As far as the Empire is concerned..."
He clasped his fingers to stop the pen's rotation. "This is not an urging, Perturabo. No one will question the Primarch, let alone four. The emperor is not in a hurry.”
"I know," Perturabo said, "So what identity did you have when walking beside the Emperor?"
Morse raised his eyebrows in surprise: "When did you change the subject? Go back? "
"Now." Perturabo said, while sending the internal reference file of this issue to the Iron Warriors internal channel and calling on the mortal clerk to print a certain amount of it.
Morse thought for a while, "I told you that after telling the whole thing, I will never be the embarrassed one. But considering the personalities of the two people who are curious now , the two of them won't like the answer they're exploring."
"You can just tell me."
"No." Morse lay back in the chair, covered the data pad on his chest, and closed his eyes. "But you can ask, how about treating it as a guessing game?"
Perturabo did not answer immediately. He frowned slightly because he received a new summary of casualty information. At the same time, in this batch of reports , he received another application report about applying to cancel the squad mode and rejoin the legion-level frontline operations.
This is not an isolated case. But this time the applicant was the 23rd Team, which had a great record in the past.
"Why doesn't Horus like it?" He asked first, while unfolding the report in his mind, and retrieved the data information of the Kroger team again, adjusting his thinking to compare A perceptual state greets the emotions implicit in this report.
"Why doesn't Horus like it? The reason is simple. Why doesn't Horus like Malcador? Why does he dislike Waldo? It's the same thing, he doesn't know that I used to be Who, so he can't imagine me like he imagined Malcador," Morse shrugged, "Oh, luckily I sided with Horus on the matter of the Mortal Council, what a blessing."
"Lunar Wolves, sometimes I do feel that this legion is more emotional." Perturabo said, part of his mind immersed in the communications recorded by Kroger's auxiliary system, listening to the moon with his own ears. Every little change in the wolf's tone of voice.
"The essence of every Legion is based on the coexistence of sensibility and reason," Morse commented. "You can feel their emotions, and it is sensibility that makes them Space Marines - because any Anyone who is rational enough knows that one's limited life should not be completely immersed in the abyss of eternal war."
"No," Perturabo raised his head, "They..." He paused. After a while, he continued: "Exhibit more of the side that is similar to mortals."
"Really?" Morse was noncommittal and turned the electronic pen in his hand. After half a circle, he suddenly raised the data pad and wrote two lines of words on it. His eyes stayed between them, without any fluctuation in the expression on his face.
Perturabo attached the request with the responses they would need, and began preparations to reintegrate the two warriors into their companies and to promote Kroger to the rank of squad leader.
As for Hammer, Pertura thought for half a second and gave him a promotion.
"Any more questions?" Morse asked, looking away from his notes.
"What about Lorgar Aurelion? What could make him unhappy? He has an unusual amount of concern and respect for anyone close to the Emperor."
Perturabo said, noting that Leon El'Jonson refused to join them even after the ground campaign was over. Instead, he moved his fleet and headed straight in a specific direction.
Perhaps disclosing the Legion's movements to them was the last remaining friendship left to them by the Dark Angels.
"I remember that you read the history of ancient Terra a lot, my Lord of Iron, otherwise you wouldn't know the story of the two wolves." Morse said, his voice sounded a little joking, "Although it was because of the construction of the city I have always had a strong opinion against Rome, but sometimes what they say makes me very interesting.”
He went deep into his past memories and recalled some pleasant little disputes. These memories are surprisingly clear, proving that an older person is indeed more likely to remember stories from earlier in life more vividly.
“They pursue worldly things and forsake heavenly things. What do these detractors of the law say about the Savior when they reject the judgment of heaven and plead with me - The Donatists appeal , although this sect is probably a heresy in the eyes of today's Aurelion," Morse said with great enthusiasm when mentioning these topics, "Guess what the emperor responded to this petition?"< br>
"Criticism." Just by looking at Morse's attitude, Perturabo could guess some snippets of history.
"He burned the petition," said Morse easily, "and said that we mortals had no right to judge the bishop; and that if they intended to appeal, it should not be submitted to the courts, but left directly to God, To do their sacred review."
Perturabo gave a brief smile, "This follows the canon, literally."
"Let them live in a vacuum, don't. Let the world taint their faith." Morse shrugged, "Many believers call Rome an evil kingdom, but some of them support the continuation of Rome. 'Rome is the last human kingdom before the end of all things, giving the Roman Empire. The respite will postpone the upheaval that enveloped the world.'"
"The end of the world?"
"Then build a new one," said the craftsman, "but if you must. Q, I think Terra has ended a long time ago. The thing now is probably some kind of suspicious gold-encrusted corpse. Aurelion should know about the new world - by the way, I have mentioned him and me. A Roman emperor almost has the same name? This makes me more and more curious about the origin of your name.”
"You are in conflict with each other, your Rome and your Church."
"And sometimes combined with each other." Morse sneered.
"It sounds like you know a lot of interesting things that are barely preserved in any of the great libraries of Terra."
"Because that was a story from thirty thousand years ago, and we don't even have it now. I can’t even fathom the history of a hundred years ago." Morse laughed.
“So, you hate religious beliefs?”
Morse tilted his head and glanced at Perturabo. "It is stipulated in the Edict of Milan that all others should be allowed to practice their religion freely and without restriction. This was certainly to ensure the stability of the monarchy, but why would denying the sacramental life of the church be detrimental to the rule of the empire? "
"Citizen." The Lord of Olympia gave the answer easily. Maybe not everyone can notice that for most of Perturabo's life so far, he has been a man. The master of a political system that is not considered small.
Morse raised his lips: "Let's make a simple assumption. We all know that people have things they want and things they don't want. Right - you can actually continue to multitask at the same time, if I delayed your work, so I might as well go back to Terra to report on my work."
Perturabo took his drawing paper again and superimposed a new silhouette in the center. The first subject he chose to paint was Aurelion - even if it was just a dark figure, bowing reverently before the icon of the Emperor.
“Yes,” he said.
"What they did here was make a noun definition, calling the place with the former as heaven, and the place with more of the latter as hell, and then added a theory of divine command, saying that the moral law was established by Him."
“A decree?” Perturabo raised an eyebrow.
“Essence is more basic than decree. They didn’t fundamentally change anything, Lord of Iron. They just built an explanatory framework and created a set of formulas to analyze the world. They limited the perspective from which people observe the world. At the same time, it also provides a basic transcendental perspective."
Moore paused, "It provides an inspiring rule for those with limited perception of the world, and at the same time, it also provides a sense of the world. Anyone who interprets more than this framework can provide, or who is simply hostile to it, is a perfect object of ridicule." br>
"With whatever justification the creator of the angle needs."
"It's like calling psychic numerology." Perturabo put down his pen and smiled.
"Exactly," Morse said, "a very appropriate metaphor. It's not even a lie, it's just...I think about it, another one that is particularly limited, particularly dogmatic, and particularly doesn't like to be broken through. framework. The earthly city versus the city of God, Rome versus the church, the two interpretive frameworks and the accompanying power systems are always separated from each other and always try to infringe on each other."
Petula. The Thinker's screen next to Beau lit up.
The Lord of Iron was distracted again and put down the drawing of Morse who was secretly extinguishing the candle next to Lorgar's back, to receive the latest astrological communication news, and at the same time said: "Maybe Lorgar Chia knows nothing about Rome, Morse, and he won't think there's anything wrong with hearing about your origins."
"But he will certainly hear my side," Morse joked. "Perhaps the day when we two become one will only come after Revelation, brought by the angels. Then I will acknowledge them." The explanatory framework is closer to reality."
"Oh," Perturabo made a strange response, "Don't swear yet, Morse."
"What?"< br>
"The First Legion has just conducted a subspace dive and has surfaced - almost immediately." Perturabo reviewed the information at hand.
“Bloody hell with the velocity of warp time,” said Morse, “and what?”
"Now the Dark Angels are fighting the Angels."
(End of Chapter)