Warhammer: In the Name of Nirvana

Obscurity Star Territory, Gothic Star Territory.

At this time, this is a blazing unclaimed land. The Dawnbreaker army from the other side of the galaxy is mercilessly and cautiously ravaging hundreds of worlds in the sector until they are all inserted into the human empire. flag.

Since the Second Randan War about twelve Terran Standard Years ago, the Terran regime has never had such a large-scale military expansion in the Obscurus Segment. After all, in a sense, this is still a war zone. , and its own value is not unique, and it is not worth the deployment of already tense military forces.

Therefore, although this administrative division named [Gothic Sector] has been named in Holy Terra's War Council documents more than 20 years ago, until now, this area still does not belong to the empire. Hordes of alien nations, wandering pirates, and independent forging worlds like Goth, Mezoa, and Depanx are the actual owners here.

This situation lasted until the eighty-seventh year after the start of the Great Crusade, that is, the tenth year after the reunion of the Dawnbreaker Legion and their Primarch, before it improved: through some means unknown to the outside world, Morgan, the Primarch of the Second Legion of the Astartes and the Queen of the Far Eastern Frontier, led a powerful expedition fleet under her command and suddenly appeared at the border of the chaotic country in the Gothic sector.

According to Dawnbreaker himself, this expedition fleet was originally intended to recapture the triple star sector in the east of the Milky Way. However, while sailing in subspace, they were attacked by a sudden subspace storm.

Although the Spider Queen, as a top psyker, personally took action to calm the storm without causing too much damage, the expedition fleet still deviated from its original goal: so, they came to a small galaxy half a galaxy away from the Far Eastern Frontier. Gothic sector.

Makes sense.

The imperial governors and mortal generals who stayed in the space near the Gothic sector listened to the Primarch's personal explanation and saw with their own eyes the hundreds of capital ships, ten thousand Dawnbreakers, and dozens of people behind the Spider Queen. After the mighty army composed of the Wanreza Skitarii, two Titan legions and affiliated knight families, as well as at least five million elite mortal auxiliaries, they all expressed their deep belief in the fate of the Gene Queen and their willingness to expedition for Avalon. The fleet's supplies were exhausted.

The Lord of the Far Eastern Frontier was quite touched by the generosity of these imperial officials, so he made a solemn oath on the spot: In order to repay the profound righteousness of these worlds on the edge of the empire, the expedition fleet of the Dawnbreaker Legion will change its goals to regain the chaotic Brotherhood. It is our duty to destroy all alien nations and pirate fleets in the Gothic Sector, and eliminate the serious security risks faced by these imperial worlds located on the edge of the Gothic Sector.

As soon as this was said, there was thunderous applause.

At the same time, Morgan's words also contained a rather obvious hint: she was not interested in the land and resources of the Gothic Sector. After she regained this sector, how the ruling power here should be divided depends on the Holy Spirit. Terra, and the Imperial Governors who provide supplies to the Dawnbreaker Legion.

Such wise words naturally made the local imperial rulers have no complaints. In just two or three months, supplies from dozens of imperial galaxies around the Gothic sector began to arrive one after another, and the Spider Queen also For generosity: According to the amount of supplies, even though the imperial governors who provided supplies did not send a single soldier, they were still swayed by her and became the heroes of the Gothic Reconquest Campaign, as well as the recovery of the world one by one. [Acting Governor].

Anyway, Morgan really has no interest in these worlds: even if her Avalon Federation strives to develop for another hundred years, it will not be able to extend its tentacles of power here. It is better to be a favor in the gray field to benefit her own legion.

The Spider Queen herself is concerned about another treasure in the Gothic Sector, a treasure that has not yet been discovered by the Human Empire: the six black stone fortresses hidden in the Sector.

She came just for them, but finding the treasures among the stars is not an easy task, and in order to successfully activate these ancient military miracles, the Spider Queen also needs to first find information about the six black stone fortresses. Launcher.

From Tuchucha Engine, she learned that there are two starters: two ancient alien artifacts called [Hand of Darkness] and [Eye of Dark Night], which have extraordinary power in the subspace and are also hidden. Somewhere in the Gothic Sector.

The first moment he heard the news, Morgan just sighed softly.

The hand of darkness, the eye of night...

Finally, she finally met a guy who couldn't name anything better than her: The Gene Queen had to wonder whether the ancient aliens who named these two alien artifacts were in the adolescence of their race.

After sighing, the Spider Queen casually made this plan: with the help of a subspace storm that may or may not exist, the Dawnbreaker Legion came to the Obscure Star Territory for a more reasonable reason, and borrowed The machine launched a ruthless all-out offensive against the entire Gothic Sector.

Except for a few forging worlds that have long been flirting with the Human Empire, all the forces in the Gothic Sector are listed on the list of this purge. Anyway, as the former border territory of the Randan Empire, there is nothing in line with the Empire here. Standard [human world].

In this way, the Dawnbreaker's army spread destruction from system to system, slaying countless alien nations and wandering pirates. Their territories were wiped clean to reward the imperial forces that provided supplies, and their souls were plundered. , making the Spider Queen's spiritual reserves more abundant, and even their memories were all imprisoned: because Morgan needed the memories of these natives to help her find the location of the alien artifact and the Blackstone Fortress.

Relying on the help of the Tuchucha engine, the Dawnbreaker expedition fleet moved so quickly and its tactics were so ruthless that even the local forces in the Gothic sector were easily separated and annihilated in batches before they could unite. Morgan's flagship can even ignore all obstacles in the physical universe and subspace, and appear directly on the home planet of the alien nation: with this move, the strongest resisters have not even had time to exert half of their strength. Turn into dust before the cavalry of the Dawnbreaker.

The Spider Queen, who witnessed all these victories, lamented the power and terror of the Tuchucha Engine. She knew that the existence of this subspace artifact was enough to make any naval battle mode a joke. With the participation of the Tuchucha Engine, The naval battle will no longer be a war, but a massacre on a larger scale: because in the eyes of the owners of the Tuchucha Engine, the subspace will no longer be a place where blessings and misfortunes depend on each other, and there will be no relationship with the real universe. block.

Morgan knows this, she has always known this: after the Osiris Expedition and in the years before the Gothic Expedition, the Lord of the Second Legion relied on the power of the Tuchucha Engine to completely wipe out Avalon. Unstable factors within the Federation and continued conscription, stabilizing the number of the Dawnbreaker Legion at more than 25,000 people, and creating an iron-barrel-like Far Eastern border, did they dare to lead the army to the Obscurity Star Territory to conduct This expedition.

What's more, when she first arrived in the Obscure Star Territory, she heard the name of the Far Eastern Frontier from some local rogue traders: Thanks to the unremitting efforts of Morgan's propaganda department, the prosperity and stability of the Far Eastern Frontier have already It spread throughout the empire, followed by a large number of immigrants and trade, which gave Avalon countless benefits.

At the same time, because there is a too "bejeweled" Five Hundred World around him, Avalon, who is slightly low-key in the fields of publicity, has not actually aroused more suspicion and backlash within the empire: He and the forces are moving all the way. Compared to Ultramar, which is expanding in the Maelstrom area, the Kingdom of Morgan, which is still quietly cultivated on the edge of the galaxy, is undoubtedly a "good boy" in the eyes of some big figures in Terra.

Although this kind of result of getting benefits without paying a corresponding price sounds quite incredible, but Guilliman is so useful. His broad back not only dragged Ultramar, but also took the Taking away the infamy that belonged to the Far Eastern frontier: Morgan has always been generous in this regard.

But even so, the prosperity of Avalon could not completely calm the strange anger in the heart of the Primarch: especially when she thought that an artifact like the Tuchucha Engine would not be able to stay in her hands for a few years. It will be delivered to the emperor along with other artifacts.

In the hands of the Emperor...

Morgan frowned.

In comparison, she would rather these powerful beings... be destroyed.

"..."

The fingers protected by the silver-white metal tapped gently on the throne, making a rather pleasant tinkling sound, but with a hint of chilling danger.

"You seem a little unhappy, Morgan?"

【...No, not really. 】

Morgan retorted calmly, then opened her eyes and looked at the huge sphere floating on the edge of her throne, looking at this creation that cast no shadow.

Among the entire Dawnbreaker Legion, perhaps only Tuchucha Engine, who still did not fully understand human etiquette, dared to speak to the Primarch so frankly.

"Don't lie to me, Morgan, like I never lied to you."

In the communication of souls, the Tuchucha engine is unrelenting: it seems to be born with an aggressive arrogance, and will only briefly yield in the face of the most terrible threats. In the few years with Morgan, it has always played a certain directness. spokesperson and other roles.

"I can feel that, just at that moment, you seemed to have developed some kind of hostility towards me. This hostility was enough to make me fearful and destructive: What are you thinking about, Morgan?"

The Spider Queen was silent for a moment, she did not choose to continue to hide it.

[I'm just...a little dissatisfied. 】

"Dissatisfied? Because I will leave you soon?"

[After witnessing your power, anyone will have greedy thoughts, Tuchucha, especially the thought that I will hand you and the Heart of Plague to my father, which is especially unbearable for me. 】

"Do you have a tense relationship with your genetic paternal counterpart, Morgan?"

[The possibility of becoming an enemy cannot be ruled out. 】

"..."

"You humans are so funny."

After getting the answer, the Tuchucha engine was silent for a while, and then it made a sound similar to laughter, but it sounded too much metallic. This noise lasted for several seconds, and it As an ancient witness, it continued to tell Morgan its views.

"Obviously your power is still so weak, you can't even really rule the dry land under your feet: but at this time, as the top ruling class, you are actually worried about internal conflicts between each other. The possibility of struggle?”

[You think this is strange? 】

"No, it's not unusual: but what I can tell you is that a race that is obsessed with internal struggles cannot stand on the throne of the galaxy for a long time. No matter how prosperous they seem, it only takes one battle. An uncontrolled, all-out civil war would destroy their empire like a flood breaking down a fragile river bank."

"I have more than one case like this in my knowledge base."

[It does sound like a wise saying. 】

The Spider Queen responded to Tuchucha Engine's words casually, without much intention of continuing the conversation. In the past few years of getting along, she had already passed countless insinuations and satisfied all her desire for knowledge about Tuchucha Engine. , and the remaining questions cannot be answered by Tuchucha himself.

Thinking of this, the leader of the Second Legion couldn't help but snorted, and turned to look at the burning universe outside the porthole: right at the feet of the Dawn Goddess, there was an alien world that had sunk in the flames of war. Hundreds of warships from the Dawnbreaker Legion surrounded it, like hungry wolves tearing apart a dying old cow.

[Which number is this? 】

Morgan asked as if talking to herself, and her question was immediately answered: Virgo, holding a data tablet, slowly walked out of the shadows behind the throne. She glanced at the Tuchucha engine without surprise, and then started report.

"This is the twenty-sixth alien nation we have destroyed in the Gothic Sector. Mother, in the five multi-terra standard months of recovery, your fleet has wiped out more than 90% of the Gothic Sector. The resistance strength, the average safety factor of this sector is now even higher than that of most empire-controlled areas."

[I don’t care about this, Aniya. What I care about is another thing: whether there is the thing I want in this world. I have searched the entire star area before I found one of them. It’s too much luck. Worse. 】

The Spider Queen murmured to herself. There was a treasure box floating on her left hand, and the objects inside were shrouded in a black-blue light, exuding endless subspace energy: This is the source of darkness. hand.

On the side, Virgo slowly saluted.

"Please rest assured, mother: We have distributed the possible characteristics of the Eye of Darkness to all the Dawnbreakers participating in the battle through the characteristics of the Hand of Darkness. Even if they turn the entire alien world upside down, they will never let it disappear. It slipped out of your hands.”

Morgan nodded, and a trace of pride flashed through her heart: I don't know when, but the Spider Queen suddenly discovered that her Dawnbreaker Legion seemed to have grown into a legion that was enough for her to "let go".

The calculations and caution of the past have produced wonderful results: now, the Spider Queen no longer needs to take matters into her own hands when it comes to enemies that are not considered difficult, and the Dawnbreakers who have learned her tactical style under the influence can now handle them on their own. Return everything.

With just one instruction from Morgan, the rolling torrent of steel will destroy any opponent for their queen: such a scene is even addictive.

Unknowingly, Morgan has become obsessed with this: when dealing with opponents who are not too powerful, the Gene Queen will not intervene personally. She will simply issue an order, and then sit back and watch the legions being launched and the world destroyed.

Just like what she saw before her eyes: because of one of her orders, one word, or even a hum of affirmation, the entire world and country could only fall helplessly into the flames of destruction.

Morgan raised the corners of his lips.

This scene always made her feel relaxed and happy, better than any other stress-relieving behavior.

The Spider Queen narrowed her eyes. She looked at the annihilation of the world beneath her feet with satisfaction, feeling the new power surging in the sea of ​​souls: Judging from the countless alien souls and the few Dawnbreaker souls, this was another battle. It's a victory that can't be faulted, except for the slightest regret.

In the sea of ​​souls, Morgan stretched out her tentacles of will, and rolled all the souls into her bag from the endless greed and darkness: the alien souls were casually thrown into the grinding mill that had already matured. , while the soul of the Dawnbreaker is temporarily asleep, residing in the safest place in the heart of the Primarch.

"You seem happy again now?"

Next to Morgan, the Tuchucha Engine made a sound again. The Primarch did not immediately pay attention to this strange creation. She harvested all the souls in an orderly manner before turning to look at the Tuchucha Engine again.

[How is the situation in Heart of Plague? Does it still remain silent? 】

"Yes, it is not willing to communicate with you: I am not sure whether this is fear or other reasons. After all, for us, your existence is a natural enemy in a sense, but it may also be It’s an ally.”

The words of the Tuchucha Engine made the Primarch frown: In the past few years, although this subspace artifact has been able to answer all questions, it has only maintained its position on these questions about the nature and connotation of Morgan. A silence, or an apparent avoidance.

At the beginning, the Spider Queen was still very dissatisfied with this, but soon, in the face of the powerful ability of the Tuchucha Engine and the real fear of the Emperor's power, calmness took over Morgan's heart and eliminated her anger.

Her attention began to be taken away by another wave: it was a spaceship that was rushing from the surface of the planet to the flagship at the fastest speed, and there was a sound that made Morgan feel familiar and excited about the spaceship. The majestic subspace aura was exactly the same as the one in her hand.

Then, the genetic queen laughed.

Sure enough, after a while, Lana's excited footsteps sounded in the corridor. As he asked for an audience, he opened the door, and the figure of the Chief Old Guard was also visible in front of the Primarch.

As the first batch of Dawnbreaker warriors to accept the transformation of [Road to Nirvana], Rana has changed significantly compared to a few years ago: his figure has become more burly, and even has some The momentum developed again, and his record became even more brilliant unknowingly. He was able to overwhelm most of the company commanders within the legion with an absolute advantage, and completely secured his position as the chief guard of the original body.

As a warrior who is not a veteran in the Dawnbreaker Legion, Rana is now powerful enough to defeat any battle brother except Bayar, even those veterans who have fought for a century more than him. It is difficult to resist his increasingly terrifying power and his constantly improving martial arts skills.

All of this was seen by the Primarch, and became her biggest motivation to continue to promote her transformation surgery: to this day, most of the Dawnbreaker Captains have completed one or more of them under Morgan's personal operation. There are three different transformation steps, but Rana and Bayar have completed five, and the changes on them are also the most shocking.

Even with Morgan's conservative mentality, she can be sure that after personally performing the secondary transformation of all Dawnbreaker company commanders, the surgical procedures she has accumulated and strengthened should be widely disseminated among the Second Legion.

Of course, this time she has to pay special attention to the confidentiality of the operation: if her dear Ultramar blood relative learns one and a half moves, then only the Emperor will know what Guilliman will do during the next meeting with Morgan. , will turn around and pull out something shocking.

She didn't want to face hundreds of thousands of enhanced Ultramarines, and Guilliman's words: "This is all your fault, my trusty Morgan." 】

Thinking of this, the Spider Queen couldn't help but feel a little self-mockery. She slowly stretched out her hand and took the Eye of Dark Night from the respectful Lana: During this period, the Chief Old Guard looked at him with strange eyes. On Tuchucha's engine, it's not that strong.

The Spider Queen has never concealed the existence of Tuchucha from the top brass of the legion: after rounds of psychic tests and intentional or unintentional probing, Morgan can at least guarantee that those company commanders who have taken control of the main company are already Her loyal followers were loyal enough to keep the secret secret.

Of course, reverence for the Lord of Mankind is not absent among the Dawnbreaker Legion, but this reverence is often mixed with reverence for the Primarch: instead of suppressing her children's worship of the Emperor, Morgan deliberately The image of her and the Emperor overlapped in the hearts of the Dawnbreakers. This fact did not cause any objection among the veterans of Terra or the camp of the new blood of Avalon.

Of course, as Morgan gets closer to the Dawnbreaker Legion and the Emperor's figure fades away in the Far Eastern Frontier, one day, this statue that fuses Morgan and the Lord of Mankind will completely become the Spider Queen herself. What it looks like: When the last Terran veteran cannot see even a hint of the Emperor in his unchanging reverence, the Lord of the Second Legion can take control of her Legion and do anything.

This change is destined to be long, but it is also gentle and quiet, and will not cause the already sparsely manned Dawnbreaker Legion to suffer losses due to violent internal conflicts: for this, Morgan is determined to win, and her The progress is also extremely smooth.

Thinking of this, the Spider Queen's mood became brighter and brighter. After the Chief Old Guard slowly retired, in front of Tuchucha Engine and Virgo, Morgan placed the two alien artifacts side by side and felt their interaction with each other. The power of mutual attraction.

Then, she looked at Tuchucha.

[Preparations are complete, now it’s time for you to fulfill your promise: You once said that when I put two ancient alien creations side by side, you can feel the location of those black stone fortresses. 】

"Yes, because I have a distant but not unfamiliar relationship with them, I can indeed do this: in fact, I now know where they are."

The sound of the Tuchucha engine is still that unhurried and calm. It speaks on a channel that only Morgan can hear. The mixed energy flow is transmitted from its core all the way to the mind of the Spider Queen, and finally forms a Several galaxies in the Gothic Sector.

"They're right there."

[Hiding separately? 】

"Because each Blackstone Fortress is slightly different: they are like several brothers in a big family. You can think of them as you and your genetic relatives. You belong to the same father's line and share the same The names of the Primarchs are similar in some physical data, but other than that, each of you has something different."

【Understandable. 】

[So, these black stone fortresses also have a father who created them? 】

"It does exist, but it can no longer bother you. What you need to worry about is the race that was once called the Dead. They still exist in the galaxy in some form and regard the Blackstone Fortress as their own assets."

[You mean, they will send troops to stop me? 】

"No, in their view, these terrible weapons in your hands may be an excellent insurance measure. They believe that you cannot exert more power."

[How do you know the thoughts and logic of those Necrons? Have you had any contact with them in the past tens of millions of years? 】

"No: but considering that the thinking of this race has reached a complete stagnation tens of millions of years ago, then I think my understanding of them should not be outdated."

【……】

【Reasonable. 】

"So, do you have any questions?"

【the last one. 】

Morgan leaned on the throne, looking at Tuchucha Engine with a hint of unique cunning and distrust in her eyes.

[Based on your knowledge and perspective, which of these Blackstone Fortresses should I get first? You said that there are certain differences between them, so the difficulty of recovering them should also be different. 】

"Now that you already have the Hand of Darkness and the Eye of Night, in theory you can actually strengthen and drive them, but this kind of use is extremely unstable. If you want to achieve a more stable cooperation with them, I suggest You look for these two first.”

The two coordinates were sent to the Spider Queen's mind by Tuchucha.

"You can choose between these two: are they more gentle in consciousness and easier to persuade you?"

【……persuade? 】

"Yes, Blackstone Fortress has a certain degree of independent will, and your existence may not be liked by them: although you can still forcefully drive them, the Blackstone Fortress that is forced to fight for you will even seek self-destruction. And once they take the initiative to fight for you..."

"You will be invincible, Morgan."

——————

Holy Terra, Royal Palace.

"The expedition fleet of the Dawnbreaker Legion suddenly appeared in the Obscure Star Territory. It is led by the Primarch himself and is conducting an operation to recover the Gothic Sector. The current progress is very smooth and the Gothic Sector has been largely recovered."

Theoretically speaking, information like this is not even qualified to enter the work table of the Seal Master, but when Machado emphatically ordered his subordinates to pay attention to the Second Legion, there was something about Morgan. News was always delivered to his desk.

The Palmist glanced at the message. He mentally searched for possible connections between Morgan and the Gothic Sector. He quickly frowned and looked at his attendant.

"What does the War Council think of this?"

The attendant answered without any hesitation.

"The Council believes that this is an implicit show of goodwill towards Holy Terra by the Dawnbreaker Legion. For a long time, the Dawnbreaker Legion has been conducting conquests on the Far Eastern border to expand its scope of rule and lacks contribution to Terra, so the Second Legion The Lord took this opportunity to take the initiative to reclaim a large area of ​​the star realm that she was destined to be unable to manage, in order to fulfill her responsibility as a Primarch and show her surrender and humility to Terra."

"..."

"Is this their idea or their decision?"

"It's a decision."

"...Go down."

The palm bearer laughed, and he waved his hands slowly, sighing in his heart: The Emperor's daughter was even more dishonest than he thought. Unknowingly, she actually began to snoop on the rights and interests of Holy Terra. , and then thinking about the sporadic reports about a group of mysterious Astartes warriors from various parts of the empire, Machado couldn't help but sigh.

Everyone said that the Lord of Macragge was an ambitious man, but how did they know that compared to the gloom and thoughtfulness of the Lord of the Second Legion, Guilliman made Maccad feel more at ease. He was even always worried about Macragge. The Lord of Kurag would be led astray by his sister, just like he was worried that Zhuangson would be led astray.

But for some reason, the Lord of Mankind never seemed to have this worry: The Emperor's rudeness, indifference and strange trust in matters concerning Morgan made it impossible for Malcador, who had followed him for countless years, to grasp his mind. loop.

But no matter what...

The Palmist rubbed his temples.

Forget it, his most important task now is to tell the distant human master about Morgan's movements: No matter what the reason for the Spider Queen's war is, he will not believe that it is a coincidence. Holy Terra will not There has to be a way to cope.

When dealing with Morgan, Malcador must need the highest vigilance and caution: just like when he faced the Lord of Mankind.

After all, through some revelations from the Lord of Humanity, Malcador already knew...

Morgan has never been loyal.

Therefore, she is most like the Emperor.

At this point, not even Jonson, Horus or Sanguinius can match him.