Chapter 667 High Lords
The period from M31 to M32 was called the "Recast Era" by imperial historians. The technological decline of the 40K era had not yet arrived. Traitors hid in the Eye of Terror and did not dare to come out. Aliens only appeared in border areas and were not a cause for concern. . People began to repair the damage caused by the "Horus Heresy", and the human empire ushered in a brief period of prosperity.
During this period, due to the long-term lack of external threats, the Imperial Navy almost sent most of its main fleet to the border areas, resulting in an unusually empty defense in the core area of the Empire, including the Sun Sector where Holy Terra is located.
The Adamantua sector is only six weeks' subspace voyage from the solar system, which can be said to be very close. Therefore, when the alien invasion broke out here, it still attracted extra attention from some people in the High Lords Council.
Adamantua Sector, Diamond Planet.
The battle between the Imperial Fists and the Chrome Beasts continues.
The crews in the Chapter's fleet are also busy operating.
In a small cabin on the lower deck, a Chapter servant is quietly writing a secret document. After the information is converted into cipher text, it will be delivered by the Astropath and reach Terra through normal or abnormal channels.
Chapter Commander Mohan and Second Company Commander Kurland did not know that all their communications on the surface were silently monitored by interested people. The message that the Chapter's servants wanted to convey at this moment was the one they had mentioned before about reinforcements. dialogue.
This information will be transmitted in subspace.
Finally arriving at the place that receives it.
…
Holy Terra, the Antarctic continent, the headquarters of the Inquisition.
Venand, one of the Twelve High Lords and a representative of the Tribunal, was sitting alone in his office, silently reading the translated top-secret information in his hand - the information came from someone embedded in the Imperial Fist Chapter. spy.
"The Imperial Fists need reinforcements."
Wienand rested his chin and thought silently.
The Adamantua sector is very close to the Sun sector. This matter cannot be taken carelessly. Venand would like to immediately dispatch a force to reinforce the Space Marines. Unfortunately, she is a representative of the Inquisition, not the Supreme Lord Admiral of the Imperial Navy. She is not the commander-in-chief of the Imperial Guard. She only has agents and no soldiers in her hands. If she wants to mobilize troops, she can only ask others for help.
Wienander immediately thought of the Imperial Navy.
"Lansong? No, that guy is doing everything possible to expand his political power. If he is asked to dispatch a fleet, I don't know how much it will cost to satisfy his appetite."
Wienander rejected the idea.
Then she thought of Wangorich.
Drakan Wangorich, Grand Master of the Assassin Court, is also one of the High Lords and one of the Twelve.
He cannot be regarded as an ally of Venand, but at least he is one of the few people in the entire Imperial Council who can be won over. Each of them represents the two darkest supervisory departments of the empire: the Inquisition and the Assassin's Chamber, which happened to be the two departments created by the Mark Master Malcador back then. And both of them were equally dissatisfied with the current situation of the empire.
Wangorich also had agents and no soldiers under his command, but according to what Wienander learned, the Grand Master of the Assassins and the current Commander-in-Chief of the Imperial Guard, Hess, were personal friends. Through Wangorich, he might be able to persuade the Imperial Guard to send troops. support. As long as the source of the information is confirmed to be correct, the Grand Master of the Assassin's Court should not refuse to stand on the same side with her.
But the problem arises again. Even if through Wangorich's mediation, the Imperial Guard Commander Hess agrees to dispatch troops for support, without a naval fleet, how can the Imperial Guard transport troops to the Adamantua sector? You can't let the Guards soldiers pass by, right? After all, there is still no way around the Imperial Navy or the fat pig of the Supreme Lord, Admiral Lanson.
Wienander couldn't help but fell into deep thought.
After frowning and thinking quietly for a moment.
The representative of the trial court opened his mouth and ordered:
"Contact Wangorich for me."
…
The Royal Palace of Terra, the Monastery of the Sealbearer.
The Terra Palace is actually a complex of buildings covering a very large area, divided into an outer city and an inner city. Only the inner city was guarded by the Custodes, while the outer city served as the offices of many of the imperial bureaucracy. For example, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, which has the largest number of civil servants in the human empire, works in the city outside the palace.
The Palace of Terra is simply too huge.
During the Great Crusade, the best of countless architectural schools and aesthetic styles of the human empire gathered here, including various auditoriums, gardens and monuments. During the Great Rebellion, it was transformed into a fortress by the Seventh Legion to resist the attacks of the traitors. As a result, the Terra Palace eventually became very complicated, with both hanging gardens, cloisters, patios, and shield wall secret passages and explosion-proof bunkers.
There are many areas in the palace that have been completely abandoned and no one cares about it. There are also many secret passages and secret doors accumulated over thousands of years that have collapsed and disappeared or are unknown. No one can completely draw an accurate map of the entire Terra Palace.
The Sealbearer Monastery is a building that has been basically abandoned. The representative of the Tribunal, Wienand, and the Grand Master of the Assassin's Tribunal, Wangorich, quietly came to the agreed meeting place for an interview through the secret passages they mastered.
"Let's get straight to the point and make a long story short, Wienander."
Wangorich said with a cold expression:
"I have told you in the secret message that the Imperial Guard Commander Hess can provide fifty regiments to support the Adamantua sector. What else do you want me to do?"
"I know that you and Hess are political allies, but we need a naval fleet to transport them. You have been away from the war for too long. Grand Master, do you think Hess's fifty regiments can go to the battlefield on their own? "
Wienander asked with a smile.
"Did you call me here specifically to ridicule me, Inquisitor Venand?"
Wangorich narrowed his eyes and looked grim.
"Of course not, I'm looking for a solution."
Weinand put away his smile and said seriously:
"We must go through the Imperial Navy to complete this troop transfer. But you must be aware of what Lansong has done in the parliament recently. Now almost all fleets of the Imperial Navy are fighting in the border areas, unless you also want to reach an agreement with Lansong. Some kind of exchange of interests, otherwise, our only way is to unite with other high lords to put pressure on him to force Lansong to agree to send a fleet back. "
Wienander and Vangorich have one thing in common: they both consider themselves to be the special being responsible for supervising the empire's officials. It is impossible for them to behave like other heads of departments and engage in some kind of political compromise and exchange of interests with the Supreme Lord Admiral. This is their self-esteem and pride. They wanted to mobilize the naval fleet, and the only way they could think of was to pressure Lanson to agree.
There is also a deeper reason: both Wienand and Wangorich are dissatisfied with Lanson's frequent efforts to win over other high lords in the high lords' council during this period to form some kind of de facto factional alliance - you Does an admiral in charge of the Imperial Navy still want to become the "Imperial Regent"?
Wangorich lowered his head and thought for a moment.
"I can unite with one more person, Navigator Ambassador Gibran. This person's words carry a lot of weight, especially for the navy. The four of us will go together to put pressure on Lanson."
The Grand Master of the Assassin Court raised his head and spoke.
"Okay, let's do it."
Wienander nodded in agreement.
…
A few days later.
Terra Palace, Imperial Senate.
The High Lords Council holds regular meetings as normal.
During the meeting, the pot-bellied Admiral of the Supreme Lord was boasting again, talking about his plan to expand the territory. At this moment, the representative of the Tribunal, Wienand, and the Grand Master of the Assassin Tribunal, Wangorich, suddenly jointly launched an attack and asked Lanson to dispatch a naval fleet to return to the Sun Star Territory.
Lan Song seemed a little surprised.
But in the end the proposal was agreed to.
However, the Supreme Lord Admiral seemed to be well versed in the philosophy of political struggle. He did not want to be led by the other two High Lords. Even if he was forced to agree, he would still show his tough attitude in front of the Imperial Parliament. So Lanson put forward a seemingly meaningless additional condition:
"Since the Imperial Fists Chapter is in urgent need of support, so urgent that I even need to dispatch the naval officers who are fighting bravely thousands of miles away, then why not also send the one hundred Space Marines from Terra and the Mountain Formation? "
Lan Song spread his hands to express doubt.
In order to remember the service and sacrifice of the Seventh Legion during the Siege of Terra, the Imperial Fists Chapter allocated ten men from each of the ten companies, fifty men to guard the Sunwall of Terra's Palace, and fifty men to guard the Battlestar Phalanx. . These one hundred Space Marines do not normally take part in the Chapter's day-to-day operations and form a de facto independent company.
Unofficially known as the "Wall Guards Company".
And Lan Song means:
The "Wall Guard Company" must also participate in support.
This request is somewhat unreasonable. There is no shortage of these one hundred Space Marines on the front line of the battlefield. What the Imperial Fists need is quantitative support. What they need is the fifty regiments of the Imperial Guard. Lan Song seems to have put forward such an additional condition simply to demonstrate his power of speech.
But what's even stranger is:
The commander-in-chief of the empire Udo, the minister of the interior Ekarth, the pope Meslin of the state religion, the spokesperson of the merchant fleet Yuskina, and the four high lords including Udo, the president of the imperial senate, all actually expressed their approval of Lanson's proposal.
This made Wangorich feel a little strange.
But the top priority right now is to immediately dispatch the naval fleet back to Terra and then transport the Imperial Guard to support. There is not much time to spend wrangling. So the Grand Master of the Assassin Court and Wienand looked at each other, and finally chose to compromise and agreed to Lan Song's insignificant additional condition.
At this point, the Imperial Fists have assembled all their members.
This has not happened since the end of the rebellion.
…
Wienander and Vangolic's plan worked.
The success forced Lanson to dispatch a fleet to return for reinforcements.
However, some people are happy and some are sad.
At the border of the Sun Star Territory, an expedition fleet led by the Black Templar Grand Marshal (chapter leader) Berhemond was fighting the orcs here. However, the Imperial Navy fleet that was cooperating with them suddenly received an order from Lanson and forcibly withdrew. The Black Templar was outnumbered and ultimately had no choice but to retreat temporarily.
Berhemond was very angry but helpless.
In the end, he decided to move closer to the Brotherhood.
The Chapter's home planet of the Paragon Fists, Idolika.
Just a few weeks' flight away.
The Black Templars plan to rest and resupply there.
What happened next.
It was beyond the expectations of everyone in the Black Templar.
…………