Public Trial (Part One)

The Emperor watched it all in silence.

From the moment Huron entered the banquet hall, He had seen every part of it.

When He saw the Battle Sister covered from head to toe in prayers, He was reminded of "The Last Church," an ordinary church He had personally burned down at the end of Terra's Unification Wars.

He had hoped to sever religion's obstruction of human civilization and allow everyone to understand the world rationally. Yet now, He Himself was worshipped as a "god," and this faith had even become the "Ecclesiarchy" of the Imperium of Man.

When He saw the Battle Sister turned into food in the manner of a sacrifice, He was reminded of the various barbarian tribes and Ursh warlords He had exterminated during Terra's Unification Wars.

The barbarian tribes generally believed that devouring their enemies would grant them their strength and courage. This custom had been widespread across Terra's wastelands, one of the most ignorant and savage conditions He had sought to eradicate.

The Ursh warlords, meanwhile, had loved using "human" blood to sacrifice to their gods. They had also been keen on using human blood, bones, and skin to create all manner of ritual implements. What He had hated most was their worship of gods through cannibalism.

He had destroyed them and tried to free humanity from ignorance, to make them abandon such bloody, savage, antisocial practices and instead live through mutual aid.

Yet now, the nobles of the Imperium of Man openly used people as sacrifices and ingredients, to the point where it had become commonplace.

It was as though the Imperium of Man had become an oversized collection of Ursh warlords and barbarian tribes.

Even with the Emperor's prideful nature, seeing all this made Him lose His composure somewhat. He even felt a trace of regret.

If He had not stopped the Astartes from participating in politics back then, if He had allowed them to supervise and manage these vermin, would the Imperium of Man have avoided falling to this state?

But that trace of regret quickly faded, because He knew that letting these superhumans govern Mortels would merely produce a different kind of monstrosity.

Still...

The Emperor looked at Huron, who had gone mad, but not entirely mad.

With that unknown power assisting him, perhaps this soul from another world could change everything—change the Imperium of Man's ignorant and cruel state.

Without realizing it, the Emperor's assessment of Huron and the system rose slightly once more.

At the same time, His assessment of the verminous nobles of the Imperium of Man plummeted to the lowest point, to the level of sharing a table with the Chaos Gods of the Warp.

At that moment, good news came through the Chapter's communications channel.

"The raid on the Vella Family was successful. Family members resisted fiercely. Three hundred and eighty-nine killed, one hundred and twenty-two captured. Patriarch Klaus Vella was killed on site."

"The raid on the Mercer Family was successful. Family members attempted to flee. One hundred and thirteen killed, three hundred and forty-four captured. Patriarch Silas Mercer was killed on site."

"The raid on the Salome Family was successful. Most family members chose to surrender. Eighty-nine killed, four hundred and fifty-five captured. Patriarch Marcus Salome was also captured."

Thanks to the suddenness of the operation and the Terminators' powerful breaching capabilities, the great noble families of the Spire had no time to react.

The small Void Shields capable of covering their family fortresses had not even been activated before the Terminators led ordinary Astartes into the fortresses and swiftly suppressed every possible resistance.

"Good work. Detain the prisoners and await their trials."

Though Huron found it strange that the Salome Family, whose words had been the most radical and whose members had sought revenge against the Astral Claws, had surrendered the fastest, he could not be bothered to think about what those people were thinking.

Given what these nobles had done, there was no need to judge them using the yet-unpublished Badab Codex. The Imperial Regulations issued by Terra's Council of High Lords, along with Imperial Law, enacted during the Great Crusade and amended and expanded ever since, were more than enough to ensure that none of them would escape death.

Even if Imperial Law and Imperial Regulations were excessively lengthy and complex, impossible for anyone to master completely, resulting in every region revising and interpreting them according to its own understanding.

At the very least, "cannibalism" was a universally recognized standard of heresy. It might seem insignificant off the scales, but once weighed, it was a crime beyond measure.

However, although several of the major noble families had been seized in the raids, the remaining nobles of all sizes, the honorary nobles bearing titles such as lord and knight, and the Factory owners, merchants, and others attached to noble families were still resisting fiercely.

As a result, the blockade of the entire Hive City continued for more than a full week before finally coming to an end.

After the blockade was lifted, the Hive City's residents were informed of a major event: a Public Trial of the nobles.

The central square of Palatos Hive was the site of the temporary tribunal.

It had originally been an exclusive parade ground for the nobles, its floor paved with expensive black granite transported from other planets, every slab polished smooth as a mirror.

Statues of generations of patriarchs from the great noble families had once stood around the square, but now they had all been removed. In their place stood enormous holographic projection screens and broadcasting equipment.

It was nine in the morning. Sunlight shone across the square, bringing an unprecedented warmth to most of the audience below, yet Marcus Salome could not feel the slightest hint of warmth.

He knelt in the center of the tribunal, looking at the audience below, most of whom were Underhivers, and felt heartfelt disgust at their many actions that violated the rules of etiquette.

"How are these people qualified to enter the sacred central square? This is nothing less than blasphemy against the God-Emperor!" Marcus felt contempt and humiliation from the bottom of his heart.

If the Emperor had been capable of giving him a hard slap right now, Marcus would probably have already been spinning like a top.

Odinson stood nearby in ceremonial Power Armour, covered in ribbons and lavish decorations.

He looked at the audience below.

The central square was unimaginably vast and could hold several million people at once, but compared to the population of Palatos Hive, that number was merely a drop in the ocean.

Fortunately, the event could be broadcast over the network. After emergency construction in the Underhive, numerous network channels had already been laid down to ensure coverage for ninety-nine percent of the Hive City's residents.

In other words, at this very moment, perhaps tens of billions of people—or even more—were watching this broadcast.

"People of Badab, good morning. I am Odinson," he introduced himself to everyone. "Most of you may never have heard of me. I was once a member of the Chapter Auxiliary, and now I am an Brother Astartes—the 'Angel of the God-Emperor' as you all know us."

He continued, "As the acting planetary governor authorized and appointed by Governor Huron, I hereby represent the Astral Claws Chapter in judging the nobles of Palatos who have committed countless crimes. In the name of the Astral Claws and the Emperor, I declare them heretics."

He looked at the audience below. Most of them were utterly bewildered. Apart from a small number of Auxilia personnel who had received general education, most Underhive spectators did not know what this meant, because it was simply too far removed from their previous lives.

Odinson was not surprised. He continued the pronouncement. "The first criminal to stand trial is the patriarch of the Salome Family, Marcus Salome. You may not have heard this name or this family, but the Starch Guild under their control monopolizes nearly ninety percent of the Hive City's food supply."

This finally drew a reaction from the audience. The Starch Guild was a name familiar to every Hive City resident, and many even held favorable feelings toward it.

After all, without the Starch Guild, they would not even have a place to buy food. They could only risk trying dangerous Mutated Creatures, or... cannibalism.