No More Slacking

As the saying goes, admiration is the emotion furthest from understanding. For the Alaitoc Eldar who joined Blackwatch during this period, life has undergone a world-shaking transformation.

They no longer fear corruption by the Chaos Gods, nor do they have to run around like stray dogs without a home. The civilian population has begun a new life, spontaneously joining the Blacklight Cult and reverently calling Hogg the Holy Father.

But for Cordelia, who has spent quite some time with Hogg, the filter surrounding the Holy Father has shattered into pieces.

Once upon a time, she, like the civilians, thought Hogg was a savior and a perfect being, but even if a fool pretends well, they will eventually expose themselves.

Not to mention his usual laziness and lack of discipline, ever since the Eldar joined Blackwatch, strange and lewd Eldar images have been circulating within the Legion. Those caught refused to admit it, and Cordelia, terrified that they had been corrupted by Slaanesh, could only report it to Hogg—only to find that the source of the spread was the very savior she admired.

The good news is that Hogg has no airs at all and truly treats the Eldar who joined Blackwatch as his own people; the bad news is that he really treats them as "people."

The slightly heretical Blackwatch lads were also overjoyed by the arrival of the Eldar, as having these powerful warriors could greatly reduce the difficulty of their sieges.

The problem is that while some are happy, others are worried. The Imperial Administratum that arrived with Blackwatch is unhappy. Although every Legion has its secrets, Blackwatch is the first to openly associate with xenos, and they don't even pay taxes. The Administratum officials who followed along were essentially just going through the motions, completely sidelined by the Legion.

However, the Administratum could not control Hogg, so they could only report to the Internal Affairs Department, slapping him with the label of colluding with xenos.

The Internal Affairs Department was aware of Blackwatch's style, but this issue was too significant, so they dispatched Inquisitor Sean to meet the Primarch. The notification was quickly transmitted, and soon Sean boarded the Blacklight.

Upon entering the ship, Sean saw several Eldar stationed on a sacred Imperial warship, which was undoubtedly a sacrilege. The behavior of the Space Marines, the Emperor's Angels of Death, was even more bizarre; although their equipment had been repainted, it looked nothing like Imperial technology. Most unacceptable of all was that they were living, laughing, and chatting with those damned xenos scum.

Pah! It was simply too painful to watch.

"Emperor protects! I must not have woken up yet." Although they in the Internal Affairs Department also used some xenos technology to varying degrees, they always did it in secret. Blackwatch's behavior was no longer mere collusion; it required a heavy hand.

Determined, Sean continued his advance. After seeing more and more bizarre contraptions, he could barely contain himself and finally met the Primarch.

Seeing the Inquisitor enter looking like he was about to explode, Hogg felt very strange. He had been slacking off and farming; when did he offend them?

"Inquisitor Sean, what are you here for?"

Sean went straight to the point: "Lord Primarch, you cannot continue like this. Such collusion with xenos is not permitted by the Imperial Truth. As a Gene-Primarch and a scion of the Holy Emperor, you must not collude with xenos."

So, it was because of the large-scale integration of Eldar into Blackwatch that he had come to hold him accountable.

Understanding the reason, Hogg felt a surge of indignation. When he wiped out xenos and brought the star sectors near Alicia into the fold, they had reaped plenty of benefits. Although he was indeed colluding with the Eldar, setting facts aside, were they really going to turn their backs on him now?

"Sean! Watch your tongue. What do you mean by 'colluding with xenos'? I am forging alliances. If you don't understand, don't spout nonsense. This is permitted by Emperor."

Knowing he didn't have the moral high ground, Hogg could only continue to bluff. He walked up to the Inquisitor and leaned in, as if afraid someone else might overhear their conversation.

"After I returned, Emperor entrusted me with a grand plan. I can only tell you that everything I have done has been approved by Emperor. You don't need to investigate; it is completely meaningless.

Haven't you noticed that even though I have been so lax with the Crusade, no one has come to urge me on? That is the proof. However, those guys from the Administratum are too much of an eyesore; they are affecting Emperor's great plan."

Although Hogg's words lacked concrete evidence, Sean, who had spent years in the Internal Affairs Department, had his own sources of information.

Emperor had requirements for the pace of the Gene-Primarchs' Great Crusade, but Blackwatch's state of idling was extremely unique among all the Legions. Moreover, according to rumors, Primarch Hogg, like the VI Legion Space Wolves, was a Legion meant for internal affairs by Emperor.

That's it! Everything makes sense now.

First, establish one thing: a Gene-Primarch would absolutely never betray. Therefore, all these irrationalities could be explained: Blackwatch, with its special mission, was a part of Emperor's grand strategy.

Damn those Administratum parasites for trying to sabotage Emperor's great decision. No wonder the Administratum, who usually had nothing to do with them, had come crawling to them so subserviently.

"Lord Primarch! I understand. Everything is according to plan. Please proceed as planned, and I will handle the aftermath for you. Please excuse me."

The suave Inquisitor Sean left the Blacklight to execute that so-called "grand plan" which didn't exist at all, leaving Hogg stunned. I haven't even told you what the plan is yet, why are you running off?

To be honest, Hogg's clumsy lie couldn't even fool himself, but the problem was that all of this was built on an information gap.

First, for the people of this era, a Gene-Primarch is the embodiment of Emperor's will and would never betray. Second, the Eldar forces that came to Blackwatch were too small to harm humanity. Most importantly, the Eldar generally fit human aesthetics and weren't some hideous monsters.

It must be said that in any world, people judge by appearances. The more you look like a human, the more likely you are to survive; if you look like an Old One, you'd better watch out for the next bolter shell.

But this little episode served as a reminder to Hogg: he couldn't keep slacking off. He had to at least move a little to set an example for the others.

A day later, Blackwatch, which had been slacking off for nearly a year, began to assemble.

A massive amount of supplies, enough to equip several Legions, were stockpiled. Even the dimensional pockets Hogg had loaded onto the Blacklight were filled to the brim. The Eldar ships at the spaceport were painted with Blackwatch colors and incorporated into the fleet.

After the formation was complete, the fleet began its voyage, but this time they didn't travel through the Warp; they took the Webway.

The humans entering the Webway for the first time marveled at its grandeur. After all, it was a high-speed highway once built by the Old Ones, the strongest overlords of this universe. For humans who could only drift through the cesspool of the Warp, it was indeed far ahead of its time.

Knowing that his own command style was just "F2A," Hogg let the former Legion Commander Lyla Lynn return to his old profession as fleet commander, with Cordelia as deputy commander, while he himself, as Legion Commander, acted as a hands-off manager and high-end combat power.

The steadily sailing fleet traveled for 9 days and successfully arrived in the Ultima Segmentum. The reconnaissance troops sent out earlier also sent back information.

According to the battle reports, most of the planets in the nearby star sectors had already submitted to the rule of the Empire. After all, the Alicia star sector, where Blackwatch was previously located, was at the intersection of the Solar Segmentum, the Segmentum Obscurus, and the Ultima Segmentum, which could be considered the rear.

Blackwatch had previously faced only small fry, but as they sailed further away, the Empire's control would become weaker and weaker.

Someone actually tipped! So satisfying! Thanks to 20240331150359572 for the tip.