Second Empire.
It had to be said that those words took Hope from fiery enthusiasm to calm contemplation in an instant. Carefully choosing his words, Hope cautiously asked Perturabo about the details of the Second Empire.
"We're going to build a government completely different from Terra's, one where Space Marines can at least participate in politics."
"That's right."
"We're going to cut off the taxes paid to Terra and keep all our resources for construction?"
"Exactly."
"And finally, we'll raise a massive army, enough to stand against the Imperium as equals?"
"You're finally getting the hang of it, you dumb kid."
"This sounds like a second Badab War..."
Perturabo was quite dissatisfied with Hope's baseless association, so he explained why the Second Empire was fundamentally different from the Badab War.
"You declared independence without receiving any permission. The High Lords ignored your reports time and again. But the Second Empire is different. It has The Emperor's tacit approval; the entire nation exists within The Emperor's will."
"Then what about Terra's High Lords? Aren't they the executors of The Emperor's will?"
"Them? Those ordinary mortals cannot comprehend the revelations bestowed by The Emperor at all. Only truly intelligent people can derive the real answer from The Emperor's revelations."
Seeing that Hope still seemed unconvinced, Perturabo decided to give him a proper ideological lesson.
"Is it not carrying out The Emperor's will to hold compassion for mortals?"
Faced with this question, Hope nodded firmly. It was the greatest reason his Chapter fought across the dark universe: to protect the weak, to protect those people suffering persecution.
"Very good. Then think about it. Has the Imperium today achieved that?"
Though he wanted to say something good for the Imperium, Hope found it difficult to genuinely approve of its current state. Seeing Hope's grim