“According to my examination, there are in total two important nodes upon this planet.
One of them lies within the spatial rift of your upper-hive, and as for the other…”
Saying this, the Cryptek of the space Necrons opened up a map, then pointed to a location out upon the wastelands.
Seeing this, the Governor’s expression abruptly shifted, and naturally that shift did not escape Heydrich’s eyes.
“What place is that?”
Gazing at the Sector Governor before him, Heydrich spoke in a tone that brooked no dispute:
There was hardly any need to doubt it—in all likelihood this Sector Governor had cooked up some sort of mess.
“That place is the birthplace of this Nurgle cult.
A couple of years ago, in order to pay the tithe, I levied additional taxes for several years, and so cultists broke out upon the wastelands.
Then, in order to suppress the cult, I once again sent men…”
“Enough, I understand.
The temporary system that Malcador and the Emperor established back then to sustain the Great Crusade, still running on to this day—it truly is an endless wellspring of calamity.”
“……..”
As Heydrich’s words fell, the entire hall went dead silent.
The space Necron did not grasp the meaning of it, but in the hearts of the Inquisitor and the Sector Governor there was a faint prickling unease.
The Inquisitor especially—under his command was a Deathwatch kill-team that he could deploy year-round.
The one leading it was a loyalist Alpharius, and so naturally he understood that Legion rather better than most.
The single greatest reason that Alpharius could be found absolutely everywhere across the Imperium nowadays was that Alpharius was unlike the other Legions.
They did not particularly heed the commands of the Warmaster Horus, but instead toiled year after year for the Rune-Sigil Chancellor Malcador.
On top of that, this ancient Alpharius before him was a being from the time of the Unification Wars, which meant something terrifying.
This man had very likely once been the Rune-Sigil Chancellor Malcador’s lieutenant, perhaps even a friend—such matters were better left unsaid lightly.
“I see that you have three Warhound Titans for protection, so this node I shall leave to you to guard, while the other I will personally take charge of.”
It was only that Heydrich had merely mentioned it offhand; he was already at a loss for words over this dog-shit political system.
But since it had been running for ten thousand years, there was nothing more to be said.
After all, with the tragedies of Warhammer there was often no one you could even go to and argue your case.
It seemed this Sector Governor did have some ability after all—even after paying the tithe again, this planet had not collapsed.
Just imagine: had a great horde of World Eaters not arrived and shattered the planet’s balance, setting off a domino effect, those cultists likely would never have been able to rise up at all.
“Great sage, would you not…”
“I have not commanded armies in battle for far too long, and besides, leading such things is not my responsibility to begin with.”
Upon hearing Heydrich’s words, Inquisitor Gers too was given a great fright.
He had originally hoped he could report this one’s existence to Holy Terra—an Astartes so ancient could stir up no small sensation.
But this one’s meaning was that he intended to go defend that node out upon the wastelands—and it had to be understood that the place would surely become the spot where the enemy’s main force would assault most fiercely.
Only, before he could finish his words he was cut off by Heydrich.
He truly did not know how to command an army.
Forget commanding an army—he could scarcely even play RTS games.
Of course, if you insisted, it wasn’t that he couldn’t play at all—that would be the holy F2A.
So as for his grasp of the art of war, how should one put it—he was even worse than Principal Chiang.
Since that was the case, Heydrich simply, decisively, would have none of it.
“We will go together with you.”
Upon hearing Heydrich’s words, Akel too was given a great fright.
But since this ancient sage had spoken thus, then they could not stop him, yet the several of them exchanged a glance and still reached a decision: even if they all died here, they must let this elder live.
An ancient sage—that already transcended the distinctions between the various Chapters.
“Go and mobilize the troops.
The Titans, the Frateris Militia, and some of the Knights are not to move—all of them are to protect the hive.”
Glancing left and right, and since no one objected, Heydrich addressed the several of them directly.
As for exactly who would go with him to defend the position, Heydrich did not intend to meddle in that.
He did not understand these people, and as for whether these people might throw him under the bus—to him it no longer mattered in the slightest.
Because along with Heydrich’s return, the Sector Governor had, within a certain scope, announced the matter of an ancient sage’s return.
This was to raise morale, and it also meant that there were now more people who believed in him.
Moreover, Heydrich discovered that his Path energy had gained a new ability, which made him decide to find a place to give it a try.
…….
In an empty room, after confirming there was no surveillance, Heydrich restored his original true form.
Then he snapped his fingers, and a tall figure appeared once more.
It was none other than his earlier guise—that ancient Alpharius sage.
“A meme-being…”
Looking at the being before him, Heydrich could not help muttering inwardly.
The specifics might be a little different, but on the whole they were roughly the same.
Because there were too many people who believed, Heydrich could fabricate it directly by relying on the power of the Path.
And because he was its master, he held absolute control over it.
“Quite nice.
It seems that hereafter I can try to build my own Chapter.
It’s just that one meme-being isn’t enough—and this time I can also find an opportunity to fake my death and slip away.”
Looking at the tall figure before him, Heydrich could not help muttering inwardly as well.
This guise of his was rather decent, but if he really returned to Holy Terra there was still the possibility of being exposed.
And even if he wasn’t exposed, Heydrich didn’t much want to go to Holy Terra and come face to face with the Emperor.
As for you saying he could simply not go—that wasn’t really possible.
Heydrich understood all too well what such an old codger represented; to put it bluntly, most of the Custodes could not question him.
After all, these were Custodes who had conquered the realm alongside the Emperor; Custodes more senior than him were scarce—not just in this era, but even ten thousand years ago there were not many.
A being like this would absolutely draw the Custodes to come and inspect, and even those ten-thousand-year-old veteran Custodes already interred within Dreadnoughts might appear.
When that time came, things would be truly lively—even if Heydrich changed his guise, there would be no peace here.
“These Necrons also have a ship now; I might as well try to see whether I can put it to use.”
At just this moment Heydrich could not help muttering inwardly—the greatest trump card he carried now was this single legion of space Necrons.
So as for who would follow him when the time came, Heydrich felt it didn’t matter at all.
And so at this point he too began his own operations: on the one hand once more making use of his Path power to blend into the great host, and on the other hand maneuvering Alpharius to rendezvous with them.
____
👻🔥Seek: Walnut-chan🔥👻
🔥 New history: A Martial Arts Master Will Never Be Humiliated
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