Chapter 174 Old Grudges
“It was just a conflict at the beginning, killing and fighting each other for selfish desires... But this kind of thing has happened many times, and we know that their minds and bodies have been damaged. Corruption, their belief system has been distorted, and it is no longer a simple conflict, this is a rebellion against the emperor."
Hearing Soshyan's words, Malakin nodded silently. .
“Rebellion can take many forms. It can be blatant, just like the rebellion that once swept the sea of stars, or it may be difficult to detect, with hidden murderous intent, but the end result is the same.”
Soshiyang's smile is as bright and sharp as the sword blade on the opponent's waist.
Then Armin stepped forward and handed a huge green leather head to Malakin, as if he wanted to take it as a gift.
Malakin stared at the huge and heavy head in disbelief. For a moment, Soshyan even felt that the other party might not accept this trophy.
After a while, Malakin took the head with his free hand and handed it to the warrior beside him.
"I am willing to bear witness to your intentions, Chapter Master Soshyan."
He said, sheathing his sword.
At this time, another voice sounded from the high platform.
"Seeing you holding the sword, I thought you couldn't wait to go to war."
It was Lord Magyar, and his voice was not friendly.
The Lord of the Death Temple stepped down from the high platform step by step, with an aggressive posture, and the end of the scythe in his hand scratched the metal floor, making a harsh friction sound.
It's like a wild beast rubbing its fangs.
"We are always ready to fight to the death against the enemies of the Emperor."
Malakin responded calmly.
Soshiyan, who stood between them, naturally knew how this natural hostility came about.
This goes back two thousand years. In the Ninth Black Crusade, the Weeper was ordered to go to the Cadian sector to resist the invasion of the Chaos Legion. At that time, the Ascetic Chapter was also involved in this battle. middle.
In a battle to protect the planet, the Weeper was surrounded by heavy enemy troops, so he asked the nearest ascetic for help, but the ascetic not only did not respond, but also abandoned the helpless one out of distrust. The Lamenters Chapter.
In the end, reinforcements from the White Scars and Ultramarines arrived and saved the Weeper Chapter. However, the Chapter also suffered a devastating blow, with only 200 warriors left. It was not able to fully recover until two thousand years later. Before the outbreak of the Buda War, there were only 800 mourners.
So since the Ninth Black Crusade, the Weeper Chapter has blacklisted the Ascetic Chapter that once refused to save them, and they will never interact with each other until death.
Of course, neither Magyar nor Malakin were even born at that time.
But this does not affect their natural hostility to each other.
“But you are working with the Emperor’s enemies?”
As soon as Mazar said this, the soldiers of the Lamenters became restless and reached for their weapons.
After seeing this, the warriors of the Ascetic Chapter also made the same move.
The atmosphere suddenly became stiff.
Soshiyang couldn't help but sigh secretly in his heart.
At first, when Lord Magyar heard that the Lamenters had arrived, his first thought was to send out a fleet to destroy them. If Soshiyang hadn't been sensible and moved with emotion, I'm afraid Gage would have The tracks are already covered with debris.
The war in the Maelstrom Sector has been spread to all directions. After all, this is the largest rebellion of the Ashtar collective since the Horus Heresy. Only people like Soshyan who have been floating in the subspace and taking over the war Only people who have been in the group for a short time know nothing about this incident.
Of course, he was also shocked when he heard the general outline of the entire battle.
Soshiyan, the character of Huron, had heard of it when he was a warrior. As the protector of the Maelstrom, his achievements are beyond doubt.
But such a hero betrayed the empire and became a hateful traitor. Regardless of the complex political factors involved, it is obviously a huge blow to the reputation of the Astartes, and the world may therefore look at the existence of the Astartes with suspicion.
However, Soshiyan also realized that this rebellion had its own special characteristics. The defecting warband was not because of opposition to the Emperor or Chaos pollution, but more out of resistance to the Imperial bureaucracy.
The underlying reason is the backlash caused by the Council of High Lords of Terra's continued erosion of the independence of the Astartes Chapter.
For example, the seemingly reasonable tithe tax has become a heavy burden for most Chapters over a long period of time. The Astartes Chapter itself has been operating in high-intensity conflict areas for a long time, and it is extremely easy to There were huge casualties, but the tithe tax did not take into account the actual casualties, and it deviated from its original intention and became a tool to simply hijack the battle group.
What’s even more terrible is that in principle, the tithe paid can be applied for replenishment when the battle group encounters serious casualties.
But the empire's slow bureaucracy made this possibility very slim, which meant that the tithes were completely "swallowed".
They then remained in the seed vaults of Mars for thousands of years, even after the old Chapter died.
The Astral Knight is the best example.
The tithes they have paid over the years add up to thousands, but after the war group suffered serious trauma, they could not expect to get even one from Mars. The high lords would rather form a new one directly. Warband.
A better controlled warband.
The Astartes are not without objections to this, but with the Emperor sleeping forever and the Primarch gone, the Adeptus Astartes have lost their voice in the highest authority of the Imperium. They were restrained by the rules and regulations, and even when the law was brought to try them, they could not find any institution that could defend them.
Only those founding groups can rely on their own prestige to resist the invasion of imperial agencies, but they can only protect themselves.
This is one of the reasons why Soshyan can resonate with the weepers.
He has never expressed dissatisfaction with the Empire, but that does not mean that he has forgotten everything that the Council of the High Lords of Terra did after the demise of the Chapter.
“We have shed enough blood.”
Soshyan raised his hand and turned first to the Magyar lord and then to Malakin.
"I heard that greenskins will fight with their own people first when they are bored. Have we stayed with the greenskins for a long time and become a bit like them?"
"Of course not."
Mazhar shrugged and put the sickle on his shoulder. Malakin released his hand holding the sword, but his expression did not relax at all.
"If you just come to see our jokes, then you are satisfied."
With that said, Malakin turned around and left.
But Soshyan held his shoulders.
“We didn’t mean that.”
Malakin didn’t stop, but he didn’t look back.
"We are just passing by, but we have to go to other star fields for the Atonement Expedition. I appreciate your kindness, Chapter Leader Soshiyan."
"The purpose of the Atonement Expedition is to fight against the Redemption Expedition. The enemies of the Emperor are fighting, and you can still be satisfied here.”
"We have less than three hundred people, so we can't help you much."
"Then, Captain Malakin, are you willing to take a look at my flagship? After seeing it, you may decide It’s not too late.”
Malakin thought for a while and finally turned around.
"Well, for your goodwill, Chapter Commander Soshyan, I am willing to go with you."
(End of this chapter)