In the Warp, I Can Hear All Kinds of Cries

Ladies and gentlemen, hello.

Today, I am honored, as a Son of the Emperor, to come to the 63rd Expeditionary Fleet and tell the story of me and my Warp friends.

In the Warp, I can hear all kinds of cries.

Blood for the Blood God, skulls for the Skull Throne!

Cheese Khorne.

Long have I sought knowledge, and knowledge breeds thirst; only Tzeentch the Great, be not ensnared.

Cheese Tzeentch.

Seven plagues! Seven disasters! Seven blessings!

Cheese Nurgle.

Some audio that cannot pass censorship

?!

Slaanesh, shut up!

Just kidding, of course.

Protected by the Geller Field, the evil whispers of daemons are all blocked out.

Even if some wandering daemons try to tear through the veil for a feast, the moment their bodies hit the Geller Field, they disintegrate into dust in this soul universe.

I am you. Kasgar.

Kasgar, accept me.

Accept. Me.

But this one voice alone is the exception.

Ever since Kasgar entered the Warp, it has clung to him like a bone-deep affliction, giving him no peace.

But aside from urging Kasgar to accept it, this voice hasn't had much of an impact.

"Sigh, what a headache."

He could only pray that Old Man Huang would fix the Webway soon.

This Warp travel was truly too torturous.

Sitting in his personal cabin aboard the Vengeful Spirit, Kasgar couldn't help but let out a long sigh to the heavens.

This was the flagship Vengeful Spirit.

That's right, the very Vengeful Spirit.

The personal vessel of the Sixteenth Legion's Lunar Wolves primarch, the Shepherd of Wolves, Horus Lupercal.

As for the Third Legion, the Sons of the Emperor, where Kasgar belonged, given that their current numbers were too few to operate independently.

Thus, they would also follow Horus's 63rd Expeditionary Fleet, serving as auxiliary forces in the Great Crusade.

It was also a chance for the new recruits to gain some combat and command experience.

In the years since returning to the Imperium, Kasgar had completed all surgical procedures for his Space Marine transformation.

Some of these had even been performed after he was sealed in a Stasis Field, when the Adeptus Custodes brought him into the Imperial Palace's basement.

The Power Armor he was granted was naturally forged by the primarch Fulgrim herself.

The armor's color was the standard purple-gold of the Sons of the Emperor, but under Fulgrim's exceptionally meticulous craftsmanship, the entire suit was adorned with intricate gilded patterns. The eagle wings on the pauldrons and the Imperial Eagle on the chest were lifelike, gleaming with dazzling golden light.

The horsehair tassels on the helmet swayed in the wind alongside the red cloak draped from the delicate buckles behind it.

As for its design, it was extraordinary: building on the original Expeditionary Power Armor, Fulgrim made sweeping modifications, making the overall armor lighter and more agile without sacrificing sturdiness.

Its flexibility was unparalleled, and combined with optical camouflage and dual-tech circuitry, it perfectly suited Kasgar's preferred nimble combat style.

Perhaps the future Raven-type Power Armor would, to some extent, reference her design in its iterations.

Perfect.

That was the first impression anyone had upon seeing the armor.

But it seemed more fitting for a venerable commander than a new recruit, didn't it!

And such a magnificent suit of armor, along with the Power Sword named Zhanli in his hand, became military equipment that many Space Marines envied to no end.

This isn't fair!

Why does this new recruit get to wear such beautiful artificer armor!?

Damn Kasgar!

His wife is the most beautiful woman in the universe, and on top of that, the gear he uses is all artificer armor personally forged by her!

You've hogged all the good stuff!

Even within the Third Legion, there was considerable grumbling about Fulgrim's almost boundless favoritism.

But Kasgar never cared about these outside rumors.

Holding this Power Sword, Smiling as I don my artificer armor, I still need to rely on soft power.

"Kasgar, Lord Commander Horus requests your presence in the Staff Room in two standard Terra hours for the operational meeting regarding the Dalinite Nebula."

"Alright."

Work's coming.

Kasgar adjusted the armor on his frame, preparing to head to the meeting room at the grand prow of the Vengeful Spirit.

Speaking of which, wasn't that infamous scene of Horus's madness supposed to happen here?

He pursed his lips in mild resignation.

Hopefully, such a tragedy won't occur again this time.

Kasgar arrived at the meeting room.

A Tactical Composite Image of the nebula was projected across the entire table. Several giants in Pearl White armor, three-eyed Astropaths, Red Robed Adeptus Mechanicus tech-priests, and Imperial Navy Representatives were gathered around it, murmuring in discussion.

"Lord Horus, the Sons of the Emperor await your command."

Kasgar stepped forward and saluted the tallest figure at the center.

"Welcome, Acting Prefect Kasgar. Please take a seat."

Horus offered a warm, disarming smile.

"There's still time before the formal meeting begins. If you're interested, we'd be glad to have you join the pre-meeting discussion."

Acting Prefect of the Third Legion.

That was Kasgar's current title.

Perhaps because the Emperor's special modifications had made him far more formidable than an average Space Marine, by the time Kasgar completed his augmentation process, his combat skills rivaled those of the Third Legion's captains, who were renowned for their swordsmanship.

Coupled with his thirty years of ruling and managing Chemos alongside Fulgrim, the primarch had deep trust in his abilities.

On that basis, Fulgrim had proposed promoting Kasgar to Legion Commander.

Kasgar had no objections.

The Great Crusade was already underway, more primarchs were returning to the Imperium, and the seeds of rebellion had been sown.

The anticipated day of the Horus Heresy was drawing closer.

He had to change that.

To participate in the decision-making of the Expeditionary Fleet, he first needed to become the Lord Commander of the Third Legion.

But unfortunately, the proposal was rejected by the Legion's internal council.

As a new recruit with no battle honors, even with a primarch's backing, a direct promotion to commander would hardly win the respect of the troops.

"Currently, the Third Legion's achievements in the Crusade are modest. If we grant another exceptional promotion, it may invite criticism against us."

"Moreover, many Legionaries already harbor grievances toward Kasgar, which would destabilize internal unity."

"Besides, while the recruit Kasgar is skilled in combat, command ability is the true priority for a Legion Commander."

Even Vespasian, the commander most loyal to the primarch, argued thus.

"But Kasgar was personally trained by me. On Chemos, he was already capable of—"

"Wait, Fulgrim. Let me speak."

"Commander Vespasian, you're saying I lack practical command experience and can't earn the troops' trust, correct?"

Kasgar had asked calmly at the time.

"Correct."

The reply was curt.

"Alright. I understand."

"Lord Fulgrim, I withdraw my request for exceptional promotion to Legion Commander."

"Until I achieve feats that will convince everyone."

His thoughts returned to the present.

Currently, Fulgrim was personally overseeing the construction of the flagship Pride of the Emperor at the Jupiter Shipyards. For a perfectionist like him, ensuring every inch of the flagship met his standards naturally required immense time.

Meanwhile, the other three commanders of the Third Legion were scattered across other star systems, carrying out their own expeditionary duties.

For now, the five hundred Sons of the Emperor aboard the 63rd Expeditionary Fleet, led by Horus, were entirely under the command of this Acting Prefect, who urgently needed to accumulate command experience.

Dong.

The atomic clock at the ship's prow struck the thirteenth chime.

"The operational meeting for the Dalinite Nebula now begins."

The Shepherd of Wolves, Horus, declared.

What? You ask what sound Slaanesh would make?