Find a White Glove

Consequences??

You could talk about consequences after winning. If you lost, what consequences were there to consider??

What mattered was getting it done.

Either Chaos fucked them to death, or they fucked Chaos to death.

One side had to end up pinned to the ground and ravaged.

Guilliman had no desire to be the one getting ravaged.

"Thank you for your trust." Cawl's avatar spoke, a rare flicker of emotion showing in its voice.

"Is there anything else you need to tell me??" Guilliman asked.

"The Archmagos has recruited a group of suitable people and begun research into supernatural powers. However, a contingent of Grey Knights that arrived at Macragge through a Warp storm has objected. They do not want Macragge conducting any form of supernatural research, believing it could easily lead to the corruption of the entire world."

"Grey Knights??" Guilliman pondered for a moment before looking up. "Their concerns are not without merit, but research into supernatural powers is vital. The Warp has always been invading the real world, yet we possess far too few means to deal with it. For a long time, humanity has remained on the defensive. In many cases, the worship of Chaos stems from humanity's helplessness before Warp daemons."

Warp daemons possessed all manner of unimaginable abilities, as well as immortality.

The fact that daemons harmed humanity was no secret.

Yet countless people still worshipped the Warp and revered daemons. That was something worth reflecting upon.

People had a strange trait: they developed awe and inexplicable feelings toward things they could neither defeat nor handle, things that harmed them.

The so-called Stockholm syndrome.

This condition appeared, to varying degrees, in those with weak wills and no ability to distinguish right from wrong.

Children emotionally abused by their parents, who occasionally received small rewards, were often exceptionally filial.

Employees abused and manipulated by their bosses could still be swayed by minor favors, believing their employers treated them well and that, after drifting through half their lives, they had finally met a wise master.

There were many such cases.

Only those with strong minds, who understood how to protect their own interests, could avoid falling into such mistaken perceptions.

Daemons were the same. Many feared them and dreaded them, yet when daemons tempted them, they came to believe daemons were wonderful.

Guilliman intended to change humanity. He did not merely want to alter this cowardly nature of mankind; he also wanted to shatter humanity's long-standing perception of daemons as beings to be feared.

He wanted the Imperium's citizens to understand that daemons could die too, that they could feel fear and dread annihilation.

Research into supernatural powers was inevitable.

Only by studying those supernatural powers could they understand how daemons corrupted humanity and develop appropriate countermeasures.

"Move the supernatural research project to an uninhabited planet, and invite the Grey Knights to station themselves there. We cannot know nothing about our enemies. If they refuse to carry out this order, tell them it is the Imperial Regent's command and must be obeyed."

Guilliman spoke in a deep voice.

He would not compromise on this matter. Research into supernatural powers had to continue. Only by seeing through the nature of daemons could they hope to defeat the Warp.

"I will convey your intentions," Cawl's avatar said. "From the technology you provided, the Archmagos has found another technological path for maintaining interstellar communications: dark matter communication. This technology would allow us to maintain faster-than-light communications without relying on the Warp. However, the knowledge concerning dark matter in the technology you supplied is too limited. He asks whether you have collected any related knowledge??"

"No. That technical knowledge is exceedingly precious, and I do not have much of it either." Guilliman shook his head. He could hardly say that his Cheat had not yet unlocked its second stage!!

It was enough that he knew about the Cheat himself. There was no need to broadcast it to the whole world.

"That concludes the Archmagos's message to you. I will begin encoding your orders and transmitting them to the Archmagos. You approve further research into Space Marines and are willing to grant the corresponding authority. The supernatural research project will be relocated to an uninhabited planet, and the Grey Knights will be invited to station there. You also do not possess the dark matter technical knowledge he requires."

"Please confirm the relevant information."

"Yes, that is the information." Guilliman said.

The sounds of machinery began again, crackling softly.

Once a simplified string of code had been generated, it would be sent to Macragge and received by the Archmagos.

After the relevant work was complete, the machines' hum diminished, and the indicator lights flickering along the electrical and data conduits went dark.

The head inside the glass cabinet twitched one last time. Its facial muscles relaxed, its eyes closed, and it lay quietly submerged in golden nutrient fluid.

The wall panels slid shut, concealing those heads.

Everything returned to the way it had been when he entered.

Guilliman did not leave immediately. Instead, he stood where he was and considered his next move.

The Ultramar Sector currently had many problems left over from history.

The Tyranid and Ork invasions had left behind countless remnants, which were still active everywhere.

Some Necron dynasties had also awakened near Ultramar.

All of these problems had to be resolved.

Only then could Guilliman obtain a stable rear area, one that could continuously provide him with sufficient troops and war machines.

Guilliman was not only considering Ultramar's problems. No matter how bad things became here, peace would return under the campaigns of himself and the Imperium's other heroes.

At most, it would take half a year for all warfare in Ultramar to subside.

Guilliman's thoughts were more focused on the Imperium's other regions.

The Imperium divided the Milky Way into several regions: Segmentum Obscurus, Segmentum Tempestus, Ghoul Stars, Ultima Segmentum, Eastern Fringe, Segmentum Pacificus, the Storm Region, and Solar Segmentum.

Segmentum Obscurus, Segmentum Tempestus, Ghoul Stars, and the Eastern Fringe had all been cut off from the Astronomican's light by the Great Rift, forming Imperium Nihilus.

The Ultima Segmentum, where Ultramar was located, had also been affected by the Great Rift. Parts of it lay on this side of the Astronomican, while others lay within Imperium Nihilus.

Macragge was relatively fortunate, situated on the side illuminated by the Imperium's Astronomican.

Warp travel on this side was difficult, but it could still barely be used.

Yet Guilliman still felt a profound sense of crisis. Navigation dependent on the Emperor's Astronomican was never truly reliable.

Humanity needed entirely new means of navigating the Warp and maintaining the Imperium's routes.

Guilliman mentally organized the tasks before him.

First: restore peace to the Ultramar Sector, implement his new system, and forge a logistics sector capable of providing an endless supply of reinforcements.

Second: find a method for stable Warp travel and enhance the Imperium's military mobility.

Third: support Cawl's research into mass-production technology for Primaris Space Marines and dark matter communications.

Fourth: build a powerful army for the Indomitus Crusade.

Fifth: balance the old nobility and the new system, striving to implement his new system throughout the Imperium as quickly as possible.

Sixth: find opportunities to strike the other traitor Primarchs first.

Guilliman sorted through recent events and laid out his plans and goals.

The order of those tasks did not represent priority. It was merely a numbering system.

Guilliman could not finish one task before moving on to another.

This was not a game where he could complete one objective before starting the next.

Even if he wanted to, those traitor Primarchs would not let him carry out his plans so methodically.

They would definitely jump out from time to time to cause trouble.

He could only keep advancing these plans while dealing with whatever unexpected situations arose.

Speaking of which, the taunt toward Mortarion had already been sent out. He wondered whether that bastard had made a move yet.

Based on the plot he knew, that bastard definitely would not be able to endure it. He would certainly act.

In reality, though, Guilliman was not entirely sure.

Unfortunately, there were no spies in the Warp. Guilliman had no way to keep track of the gods' movements and could only stumble about in the dark.

He had to find a way to resolve that problem.

Daemons could support human traitors, so why could the Imperium not support daemon traitors??

He had heard that some Inquisitors cooperated with Warp daemons that were not especially vicious, hiring them to do work in exchange for payment.

As Imperial Regent, Guilliman could not do such things himself. If word got out, his reputation would be ruined.

"I need to find a white glove." Guilliman stroked his chin. He needed to recruit a few Radical Faction Inquisitors to serve him.

Otherwise, being completely blind to enemies in the Warp would be far too unpleasant.

The Imperium's Inquisition had three branches: the Ordo Xenos, which specialized in other races; the Ordo Hereticus, which dealt with divergent faiths within the Ecclesiarchy; and the Ordo Malleus, which dealt with the Warp.

Like the Adeptus Mechanicus, the Inquisition had also developed a Conservative Faction and a Radical Faction.

The Conservative Faction believed that all Xenos and daemons should die. No matter the location, reason, or circumstances, they should be shot dead on sight.

The Radical Faction believed that Xenos and daemons should be divided into different threat levels, with lower-level ones used to destroy higher-level ones before the lower-level threats were eliminated as well.

Guilliman felt that the Radical Faction could be useful.