The Armor Investiture Ceremony

After leaving the Navigator's Sanctuary, Lu Jin ran into Kao, who had come to find him there.

"Jenos and I both knew a little about machinery. The Medicae equipment could be repaired, and we could modify it to handle ten people."

"Also, the Manrosans have finished working on that Ironclad Terminator suit. They've sent people to deliver the armor to the Hall of Honor."

"..."

Before Kao could finish his report, Lu Jin interrupted him and told him about Onaas's prophecy.

After hearing the prophecy, Kao said in surprise, "It's probably true!"

Lu Jin remained silent and listened closely.

"I heard Huron has gained a Daemon adviser. That adviser can predict the future with absolute accuracy and used some ritual to foresee that the Red Corsairs would wage a major war against the Imperium."

"One of Vengar's people told me. They, like us, received Huron's orders."

"The order was to bombard Manros from orbit, flattening the hive cities and the surface hills so the engineering fleet sent by the Red Corsairs could build defensive lines and anti-orbital weapons there."

"Huron has already decided that several star systems, including Manros, will become battlefields... Jenos believes his strategy is a phased one. Before the war reaches the Maelstrom itself, he will shift from defense to offense, fight on Imperial worlds, use those worlds to wear down the attackers as much as possible, then feign a strategic withdrawal and fight a decisive battle inside the Maelstrom."

Kao paused for several seconds, allowing his Chapter Master to absorb the information.

Seeing that Lu Jin understood, he continued. "Vengar has informed Manros that he will bombard them. They informed us of this, rather than asking for our opinion."

Lu Jin took a deep breath. Manros truly could not catch a break.

All their original plans would be disrupted by the war.

"I see."

Lu Jin came up with a strategy.

"We'll remain on Manros and recruit as many new recruits and crewmen as possible. Before that, we need to ensure Manros remains safe."

"According to Onaas's prophecy, Manros will be the focus of Huron's strategy. He will definitely assign us to hold this place. While defending Manros, we'll find a way to seize the Mercy Emissaries Legion's ships, look for an opportunity to kill that Inquisitor, wipe out the Mercy Emissaries, and evacuate the locals."

"Then, when things get chaotic, we'll leave. We'll go wherever we need to go."

Upon hearing the strategy, Kao felt that evacuating the Manrosans was impossible.

This was a population of ten billion, not a few million.

Then he thought of how the flames of war would inevitably reach Manros and instantly understood Lu Jin's pessimism—once the war reached Manros, perhaps not one person in a hundred would survive.

Kao thought again: What if they simply left now? To hell with the Imperium, to hell with Huron. They could simply become a wandering Chapter that belonged to no faction.

But Kao immediately realized Huron could not possibly fail to anticipate that the Fierce Angels might choose to leave outright. Therefore, Huron must have given Vengar some other instructions.

It was not that Kao was less intelligent than Lu Jin. It was simply that Lu Jin had encountered Huron many times, and Lu Jin absolutely did not believe Huron would give them a chance to flee directly.

In the end, this strategy had already accounted for everything.

"I suspect Huron has played us again." Kao looked grief-stricken. "Could it be that the Daemon adviser foresaw everything before Onaas did, and Huron's scheme was to have us come here for a ruined suit of armor, just so he could leave us on Manros to guard this strategic stronghold?"

"It doesn't matter, Kao." Lu Jin's voice was low. "Whether he had this in mind from the start or something else... we are too few and too weak. This is the only path we can take."

If the Fierce Angels had not been sixteen men, but a thousand... Lu Jin sometimes thought that when he felt helpless.

Then he would think that if they were truly strong enough, they would not need to get involved in the mess between the Maelstrom and the Imperium.

Kill the Inquisitor, wipe out the Mercy Emissaries, then hide somewhere and wait for the moment Guilliman returned to find himself in trouble.

They could do something like "rescue the sovereign and earn glory." Then the Regent could clear the Chapter's name, and they would no longer have to serve as Huron's weapon... but that was only wishful thinking.

"I'll go select recruits now." Kao had already realized that the Fierce Angels' only path to controlling their own fate was to become stronger.

He immediately turned and left.

But after only a few steps, he turned back. "Huron played us, and we're still guarding Manros for him. We'll keep the armor for ourselves. You happen to be missing an armor investiture ceremony!"

The armor investiture ceremony was a mandatory ritual after a Space Marine joined a Chapter. Armor carried special significance; only after completing the ceremony did one truly become a member of the Chapter.

Lu Jin had originally thought it was pointless, but on second thought...

"Fine."

"We'll hold the armor investiture ceremony first, on Manros's surface."

Audience Hall, the Governor's Residence of Manros.

The local resistance leaders—the reserve core of Manros's future new order—had all gathered in the hall, standing solemnly in two rows.

Vengar had already passed on the news that Manros would be subjected to orbital bombardment.

At that moment, the people of Manros were deeply unsettled.

Some even speculated that the Fierce Angels and the Lord of Retribution would leave this world together and never return. They had already fulfilled their mission of clearing away the Manrosans' hatred and grievances, so they had no need to remain on Manros.

Others said that Lu Jin was not a Manrosan, nor were the Fierce Angels. How could they possibly bleed for Manros?

Only when Lu Jin and the Fierce Angels arrived before the orbital bombardment did those voices subside. The people were still anxious, but no longer as terrified as before.

"The Angels are here."

Someone whispered the reminder, and those who had been murmuring among themselves immediately fell silent.

The doors of the Audience Hall opened. Lu Jin, wearing nothing but a pair of briefs, entered the hall, crossed the crimson carpet, and stopped beneath the wall bearing the ancient banner of the Fierce Angels Legion.

People could see Lu Jin and the banner behind him—a large letter "U," with a skull beneath it. A Chainaxe pierced through both the U and the skull.

Then the Fierce Angels Space Marines entered the hall in a line.

There were also several senior Mortal crewmen. Every two Mortals carried one piece of armor.

This Ironclad Terminator suit, which had belonged to a World Eaters Red Butcher ten thousand years ago, had been modified by Manros's finest craftsmen during this time.

Manros imported weapons and equipment, modified them, and then exported them.

Throughout the region around the Maelstrom, weapons and equipment modified by Manrosan craftsmen were the most sought-after.

These armor pieces now matched the armor depicted in the image Huron had provided.

Every armor piece, including the pauldrons and breastplate, was studded with tiny skulls. Each skull had been carved from a piece of bone taken from a victim of the Manros Incident. The craftsmen investigated each victim's identity, researched the ornate decorations they had worn as symbols of status and family, then carved those decorations onto the miniature skulls.

Every skull covering the armor had been painstakingly crafted in this manner.

Yet this did not make the armor look terrifying. The skulls were too tiny; from even a meter away, they looked like white lacquer glimmering with specks of gold.

A crimson cloak was set into the right pauldron. It did not cover the back, but instead draped over both the front and rear of the armor's right side.

The cloak was embroidered with an intricate gold-thread image of people kneeling in worship before the armor.

The other modifications were internal.

For instance, the controls had been adapted for someone without a Black Carapace, and there was an Iron Halo unique to Manros—an item capable of refracting and deflecting incoming ranged fire.

"The ceremony begins," Kao announced loudly.

Lu Jin dropped to one knee.

Two Fierce Angels took the armor's inner lining from the Mortals. The two pieces resembled thin breastplates. When placed against Lu Jin's chest and back, they adhered automatically, joining so perfectly that no seams could be seen.

Then came the breastplate and pauldrons.

Since the Chapter's Adeptus Mechanicus personnel had long since died, the Space Marines could only perform the installation themselves.

The Mortals watched piece after piece of carefully decorated armor being fitted onto Lu Jin and thought the Space Marine armor investiture ceremony was rather impressive. But to Kao and the others, who had actually taken part in such ceremonies, it was so simple that it would have to be properly repeated someday.

Normally, battle-brothers and company captains would have surrounded Lu Jin.

A choir of beautiful boys and girls would have sung praises to the God-Emperor.

Winged infants would have circled and danced through the air.

But because the person who presided over the rites had died in battle, the Chapter's codices and procedures required the removal of all stages demanding extensive manpower. All that remained was the announcement of the armor investiture and the fitting of each component.

In these extraordinary times, it was not only one armor investiture ceremony that had become crude.

Lu Jin, however, thought it was good enough.

On one hand, there was the ceremony itself. On the other, this Ironclad Terminator suit was not only precious—it would absolutely ensure that he did not emerge from a battle with only the part around his crotch remaining.

Even without an Iron Halo, after the Manrosans had devoted their finest resources, both material and technical, to this armor, it would possess defensive capabilities far beyond those of other Ironclad Terminator suits.

Because this was a universe where spirit triumphed over matter, where handcrafted things surpassed mass-produced ones, and where the ancient surpassed the modern.

Even without the Iron Halo, this armor could take a rocket head-on without shattering or even leaving a scorch mark. The cloak would not be riddled with holes either.

Once he put it on, Lu Jin discovered that his movements linked with the inner lining, which transmitted his motions into the armor's mechanisms.

To allow someone without a Black Carapace to wear Terminator armor, the craftsmen had completely altered both the method of wearing it and its structural components.

This was a one-of-a-kind Ironclad pattern.

During the armor investiture ceremony, several uninvited guests entered the Audience Hall.

Vengar arrived with two hundred "personal guards." They did not interrupt the ceremony, merely standing silently in a corner with displeased expressions.

Vengar had no opinion about the extremely rudimentary ceremony and did not wish to comment on it. His mind was occupied by something more important.

Strategy.

In Huron's strategy, Manros was of paramount importance.

Huron wanted to raze Manros to the ground before building fortresses and anti-orbital facilities because he did not know what had happened on Manros—Vengar had deliberately withheld that information, and the rumored Daemon adviser might not have noticed such a corner of the grand prophecy of war.

If Huron knew what had happened here, he would not have ordered Vengar to flatten Manros—because if the locals supported the Imperium, they would become an indispensable defensive force rather than an obstacle that needed to be removed.

Vengar thought exactly the opposite.

He dearly wished for the Imperium to charge directly into the Maelstrom and savagely beat the Red Corsairs.

If the Maelstrom did not descend into chaos, would Huron not remain the Maelstrom Lord forever, utterly unshakable?

Manros could not be allowed to become a suitable place for Huron to achieve his strategic goals. It would be better for the Imperium to take Manros quickly in the future.

But it would not do to bombard the Fierce Angels and Lu Jin along with everyone else. He needed to find a way to make them leave. It would be best if the Fierce Angels and the Ragefang fled straight into the Maelstrom.

Vengar intended to force Lu Jin to leave Manros through violence.

Lost in thought, Vengar did not notice Lu Jin glance at him.

Lu Jin had already guessed why Vengar had come.

He did not understand grand strategy particularly well, but Vengar's tangled relationship with Huron and the Red Corsairs was completely transparent to him from one side, so it was not difficult to guess.

Lu Jin had held the armor investiture ceremony on Manros precisely so Vengar would not dare bombard the surface directly and would instead come down to force him to leave.

As for how to handle it... it was enough to understand what kind of organization the Red Corsairs were.

The Red Corsairs were not an enormous Chapter. They were a mixed collection of countless people whose purpose was to survive in the Maelstrom—and survive well.

"The vassal of my vassal is not my vassal." Such situations were extremely common among the Red Corsairs.

Though the difference in their numbers was vast, one side was a loose rabble while the other was united as one. There was always room to maneuver.

Lu Jin calculated.

Vengar calculated as well.

When the armor investiture ceremony ended, both sides looked at each other.

Vengar led his men forward, while Lu Jin suddenly thought in a daze—was Vengar not a terrifying opponent?

Of course he was.

The Apostate Vengar was a powerful Space Marine and a tactical and strategic genius. Even if Huron was currently manipulating and suppressing him, he would inevitably become the warlord within the Red Corsairs who posed the greatest threat to Huron in the future.

But one incident was enough to reveal what kind of person he was, and where his weakness lay:

In the future, after the Red Corsairs captured Guilliman and seized the Glory of Macragge, the Ultramarines' flagship—

Huron himself did not dare keep that battleship, so he gave it to Vengar... and Vengar actually dared to accept it!

"Vengar..."

"No matter how clever a person is, even if his intelligence borders on the monstrous, if he loses his head when something major happens, then he is still an idiot."

Those two sentences surfaced in Lu Jin's mind.

"The ceremony's over?" Vengar walked to the middle of the hall's red carpet and looked at Lu Jin twenty meters away. "Leave these Mortals here. We're withdrawing."

The moment he spoke, the Manrosans present whispered among themselves for a few seconds, then held their breath and waited for Lu Jin's decision.

With the ceremony finished, two Fierce Angels came to stand at Lu Jin's sides. One held an axe in both hands, while the other gripped a hammer with both hands.

Lu Jin silently took the weapons from the two men beside him before lifting his head. His arms hung crossed before him, and the two weapons crossed in front of his legs.

"Why not tell me directly what will happen if I refuse to leave?" he said.

"Enough with that. I didn't bombard you along with them because I know you matter enough to Huron." Vengar drew his weapon. "I only need to accomplish one thing: make sure you don't die on Manros. I'm not here to ask your opinion. Understand?"

The Space Marines behind him also drew their weapons.

The Fierce Angels did the same, then spread out around Lu Jin, shielding the Mortals behind them.

But as the two sides faced off, Vengar looked at the utterly motionless Lu Jin and suddenly felt that something was wrong.

Not good! the Apostate cried inwardly.

Because Jenos was nowhere to be seen.

Then, seeing Lu Jin's utterly resolute stance, Vengar slowly realized what this man intended to do.

Next came a hopeful thought—He isn't really going to attack, is he?

Then he thoroughly regretted focusing only on undermining Huron's strategy without considering the bizarre things Lu Jin might do... and regretted coming down personally.

"It's good that you came."

As Lu Jin's deep voice rang from beneath his helmet, his body lunged forward at tremendous speed.

In the blink of an eye, Lu Jin crossed the twenty-meter distance.

While wearing Terminator armor.

Vengar realized that Lu Jin's speed and reactions were more than twice what they had been before.

Someone had already fired at Lu Jin. The Iron Halo intercepted the bolt round, and the shooter was split in two by the Chainaxe.

Lu Jin's charge did not slow in the slightest because of the attack. To him now, killing a Space Marine was no more than a casual swing.

Just as Vengar thought to dodge, Lu Jin brushed past him.

He isn't targeting me! After that thought surfaced, the heads of ten men behind Vengar flew into the air amid the roar of teeth.

The other Space Marines had already lowered their weapons.

The man most loyal to Vengar raised an armor-piercing power fist to strike, only for Lu Jin to sever one of his arms.

As the severed arm flew up and fell, the Chainaxe of Khorne struck the ground. Lu Jin caught the falling arm in his free left hand, swung it in a wide arc, and smashed it into Vengar's head.

The sequence of actions was rather complicated, yet it happened with incredible speed.

The Apostate was sent flying back a meter by the severed arm and crashed into his subordinates, who had already put away their weapons.

"What would have happened if you had just left on your own? Why did you have to come down here and cause trouble for me?"

Lu Jin spoke as he closed in on the traitor.

All the nearby Chaos Space Marines moved aside. The moment these men abandoned honor and conviction, while they might not become as cowardly as ordinary people, mere survival had become their "basic way of thinking."

"Now you can't leave either." Once Lu Jin approached Vengar, he kicked out, shattering his breastplate and sending his helmet flying.

Then he seized Vengar by the hair, dragging him out of the Audience Hall and forcing him to look at the several warships beyond orbit.

A few seconds later, light flashed along the Ragefang's port side.

Eight fine beams streaked across the sky before them and struck Vengar's ships.

Every shot hit, all of them striking the ships' engines.

This was undoubtedly Jenos's handiwork. The Fierce Angel was as inept at giving advice as he was versatile and brilliant in all matters related to combat.

"I won't kill you."

"Because you have one use: issuing my orders in your name."

Lu Jin pressed the traitor's head down and smashed it violently against the ground.

Broken stones flew everywhere, and several Chaos Space Marines turned their heads away, unable to bear the sight.

Lu Jin let go and turned to face the other Chaos Space Marines.

They were all weighing their options...

"Stay in this world with me and prepare for the coming war."

"Other than the people and everything on me and my battle brothers, you may take anything you want—anything you can carry."

The Fierce Angels, who had been ready at any moment to answer their Chapter Master's order and charge into battle, noticed that every one of the Chaos Space Marines had switched off their weapon safeties. Some folded their hands behind their backs, while others nodded.

Like Lu Jin, they truly had no other choice. Fortunately, their only choice was not a bad one.

"If I wanted to, I could replace you." Lu Jin turned around, took two quick steps, and viciously kicked the crawling Vengar.

The traitor rolled across the ground more than a dozen times before stopping. He wailed as he clutched his spine, no longer able to sense that his lower body still existed.

Lu Jin recalled the battle just now.

He felt that this Ironclad Terminator was not as cumbersome as he had imagined, nor did it seem to require learning how to use it as he had thought... Perhaps this particular Ironclad did not need to be learned, and was not cumbersome at all.

When he moved, it felt as though someone was pushing every component along. It was even lighter and more convenient than the standard Power Armor custom-made by Amanius.