It was a cramped secret chamber.
A shield had been placed against both the door and the opposite wall.
The shields were made of an unusual material. Bona could sense that they had been fashioned from Blanks; even standing near them made his head feel as though it would split.
Of course, these were all they had managed to scrounge up. This world might have more objects forged from the ashes of Blanks, but the Sisters and clergy refused to bring them out.
Still, they should be enough.
Bona and Horus sat facing each other in the chamber, candlelight casting their silhouettes-one tall, one small-against the wall.
Bona said:
"Humanity cannot live without the Warp."
Horus nodded.
"Our father, the Emperor, is a man, but he can also be a god."
"He is a man, not a god," Horus countered.
"No, he can become a god. It's just that Father is still human right now."
"What do you mean?" Horus asked gravely.
"Something is wrong with that Golden Throne."
Only then did Horus recall what he had seen in the Warp, and he too realized something was wrong.
His expression grew grave.
"Where did that Golden Throne come from? What are its origins?"
Bona shook his head.
"That thing gathers the souls of dead humans, then piles them onto Father."
"I suspect that once enough people have died, those souls will overwhelm Father's consciousness."
Horus went deathly pale.
"Then... the consequences would be..."
"I don't know."
Bona shook his head, but his gaze remained firm as he looked at Horus.
"But I doubt so many innocent souls who died in agony would bear this galaxy any goodwill."
"Then we need to..."
"Do what you did ten thousand years ago."
"Fight our way back to Terra and personally kill the 'god' side of Father."
"No!"
Horus spoke with some displeasure.
"You want to extinguish the Astronomican? How is that any different from plunging humanity back into the Age of Strife?"
"Without faith or communication, humanity would be no different from ants before the Dark Powers. We would become livestock penned on a farm, slaughtered at their whim."
Both men fell silent.
On one side, they could do nothing, and the Emperor would sooner or later lose his humanity and shatter the entire galaxy.
On the other, they could kill the Emperor's divine aspect, but the extinguished Astronomican would kick humanity back into the Age of Strife.
By unspoken agreement, neither mentioned the "Imperial Truth" again. These days, it was barely better than toilet paper and offered no help whatsoever with their predicament.
"Whatever we intend to do, we need power of our own before we can accomplish anything," Horus said, clenching his fist.
He thought of his blue brother. That fellow had cultivated a vast domain in the Ultramar Sector, and after the decisive battle ten thousand years ago, his endless blue descendants had overwhelmed the Chaos rebels.
He pointed to a region on the star chart.
"The Imperium's Astartes forces have now been broken into fragments by the Codex Astartes. They no longer possess the strength of the Great Crusade's Legions, which makes them easier to deal with."
"This is the Eastern Fringe, almost an entire galaxy away from Terra. We can secretly build up our own forces there, then pursue our greater plans."
"Agreed."
Their discussion concluded. As Bona left, he helped himself to one of the Blank Shields.
Although it made Bona feel intensely uncomfortable, it was excellent at suppressing his own power.
Bona summoned Company Captain Dakan.
"Captain, where are the other Thunder Warriors?"
"Our other brothers headed in another direction to draw away the Imperial pursuers and cover our entry into the Warp. Since we emerged, I haven't received any signals from them."
Bona gave an Aquila Salute.
"Your brothers are fine warriors."
"But do you know where we can recruit large numbers of fighters? I mean a force capable of taking a Forge World garrisoned by the Astra Militarum."
Something seemed to occur to Bona.
"Not those idiots the Chaos Gods have duped into submission."
Company Captain Dakan frowned slightly, seemingly considering something.
"Someone who meets those conditions... probably Huron Blackheart."
"Who is he?"
"He leads a newly renegade force called the Red Corsairs. He was formerly the Chapter Master of the Astral Claws," Dakan explained.
"He has not explicitly pledged himself to any one god in the Warp, and he commands many Space Marines driven to rebellion by the Imperium."
"If we can secure his assistance, we could use those Space Marines to capture several worlds."
Bona did not answer, merely frowning slightly.
Beside him, Horus murmured to himself.
"Interesting. That fellow has considerable ambitions."
"Getting his help will probably be difficult."
At that moment, one of the brothers beside Company Captain Dakan said:
"I remember that a close friend of Huron's was captured and taken into Commorragh. Huron offered a reward: whoever brought his brother back would receive his full support."
Bona pressed his fingers to his temples, looking pained.
Commorragh, the Drukhari's Webway realm-a hellhole that continually found new lows for carbon-based life in the real world.
Even though he had never visited that damned place, he had long known its reputation.
The Drukhari brought captives from their hunts back to Commorragh to subject them to every kind of inhuman torment. For those prisoners, death was probably the only mercy.
"Are there any other factions?" Bona asked.
"Indeed, going to Commorragh would be far too risky," Horus added.
If there was any other option, he really did not want to visit that damned place.
"There is another."
"Who?"
"The Black Legion, led by Chaos Warmaster Abaddon."
In an instant, Horus's face shifted colors like a chameleon, first red, then purple, then white.
"Abaddon. That name sounds familiar... I vaguely remember him," Bona murmured.
"He was the XVI Legion's First Company Captain, wasn't he? Ah."
"Why don't you ask him to lend us some troops? He was your First Company Captain, after all."
Looking at Horus's face, now as black as the bottom of a pot, Bona fought back a laugh.
Even if Horus had spent ten thousand years in the Warp, Abaddon's foolish exploits had long since become infamous throughout it.
Horus rested his hand on the stone table, and cracks began spreading through it.
Veins visibly bulged across his bald head before he forced an ugly smile.
"Actually, I don't think Commorragh is all that frightening, do you?"
He lifted his hand, and powdered stone trickled between his fingers.
Those strange people left the Atas Ecclesiarchy World without even carrying out the massive Chaos sacrifice the bishop had anticipated.
Once the Sisters stationed elsewhere on the planet returned, order was quickly restored.
What enraged the bishop, however, was that the "plague of unbelief" began spreading across the planet almost like a virus. More and more members of the congregation began questioning the Ecclesiarchy's faith.
Just as he was preparing to deal with the situation, visitors arrived from Terra.
Reinforcements that might normally have taken over a decade to arrive reached them in a mere month. Moreover, the Ecclesiarchy World had suffered no real losses, so under normal circumstances, aid might never have come at all.
And the fleet was terrifyingly large.
The Imperial Navy, Space Marines, the Ecclesiarchy, the Inquisition, the Sisters of Battle, the Kasrkin, Krieg, and the Firstborn Legion.
They swiftly took control of the entire Ecclesiarchy World.
When the bishop saw more than a dozen Golden Giants step off the ship, he trembled so badly that he could barely move his legs.
Then the Golden Giant at their head spoke.
"Now, tell us what happened. Everything."
PS----
This work has not officially begun updating yet. In short, it hasn't received any recommendations.
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