Hades held the cup in his hand and leaned forward to look. Above the reception table, the map of the entire empire was flickering slightly.
The Emperor's hand trembled slightly, and a chess piece appeared in his hand. The deep knight held a sword in his hand, and under his helmet, the savagery of a beast flashed.
Hades murmured softly.
"I'm a psychic Muggle, don't be so suggestive, Neos."
"I will."
The emperor smiled and raised his hand slightly, and the map on the table was divided into four sections.
The Hazy Star Field is due north, the Storm Star Field is due south, the Extreme Star Field is due east, and the Pacific Star Field is due west.
Among them, the Extreme Star Domain is the largest, the Taiping Star Domain is the smallest, the Misty Star Domain is still an area that the Great Expedition has not set foot in deeply, and the Storm Star Domain is calm and peaceful.
The Emperor raised his hand and placed the knight in the more marginal area in the northeast of the Ultramarine.
"First, the Extreme Star Region."
"The First Legion Dark Angels are heading to the Ghoul Stars. This is both an expedition and a warning."
"What are you alerting me to?"
Hades opened his mouth, but in an instant he realized that the Emperor raised his hand, and a hunched vampire chess piece appeared in his hand. He placed it below the knight's right.
"The 8th Legion's Midnight Lords' Atonement Crusade has ended. The entire legion is recuperating on Konrad Curze's home planet. The Lions went there to test whether they are capable of repeating their glory."
Nostramo, the homeworld of Konrad Curze, is located at the extreme northern edge of the Ultima Segmentum.
"Sending the First Legion so far?"
Hades said silently, and the Emperor smiled.
"Hades, don't be impatient. The knight's position is enough to intimidate several legions."
The Emperor stroked a chess piece thoughtfully. This chess piece was larger than the previous two. The platinum Sagittarius held the scepter high and held his head high.
"The 16th Legion Luna Wolves are currently operating in the upper-central part of the Ultramarine."
The Emperor placed the Sagittarius slightly below the Knight.
"What is Horus doing there?"
Hades asked,
The Emperor raised his eyebrows, blood-red light flashed from his fingertips, and his wings spread out. The Archangel was looking down in thought.
"He should have just finished his trip to Baal."
The Emperor's voice was slightly more relaxed. Baal, Sanguinius' home world, was located east of the center of the Ultima Segmentum.
"The Nikea Conference seemed to have given my offspring some ideas. After the meeting, Sanguinius began to apply to return to his home planet for rest. I asked Horus to handle this matter - their relationship was always good."
The Emperor placed the Angel pawn on the location of Baal's mother planet, and now Sagittarius looked like the home planet of the Blood Angels that had just left the IX Legion.
Hades pondered for a moment. The upper part of the Extreme Star Domain was now very crowded. There were four legions, two of which had returned to their home planet, and the other two had their activity ranges yet to be determined.
Dark Angels, Night Lords, Luna Wolves, Blood Angels.
Hades silently remembered it in his heart.
"Then what?"
Hades asked as he looked at the two pieces that suddenly appeared in the Emperor's hands. One was shining sapphire blue, inlaid with fine gold threads, and flawless. The other seemed to have been broken and sewn together with rough black thread, but its dull crimson luster instead revealed a moist jade-like glow.
The Emperor casually placed the two sons at the very bottom of the Extreme Star Field, the sapphire King in the remote eastern region at the very bottom, and the crimson gladiator slightly closer to the Storm Star Field.
"The 13th Legion Ultramarines requested to return to Macragge 500 Worlds for rest and recuperation, approved; the 12th Legion World Eaters requested to find a planet for recruitment, approved."
Hades suddenly realized that something was wrong.
"Wait—so soon? Why do I feel like Nikea just happened not long ago?"
"You need to calculate the sailing time in the warp. Don't you think our fleet took a long time to reach Prospero this time?"
Hades sighed loudly.
“I just—well, I haven’t told Angron yet.”
The Emperor winked.
"They'll take care of themselves."
The hunched Malcador at the side staggered, and Hades looked at him in confusion. The Lord of the Order of Silence would never know the question that Malcador had asked the Emperor.
Hades stared at the map. Although they belonged to the same Extreme Star Region, the Extreme Star Region was too large. Its upper and lower ends spanned the entire empire, so it was not very realistic to expect the lower end to immediately support the upper end.
Although he expressed indifference and allowed the two legions to go to remote star regions, the Emperor actually left them the choice of not getting involved in the dispute.
That is to say, unless specifically targeted, these two legions, especially Robert Guilliman's Five Hundred Worlds, will become the most important backup resources during the Heresy.
Hades was thoughtful, wondering whether the Extreme Warriors could make it to the decisive battle this time.
"These are the legions currently in the Extreme Star Region."
The emperor said, and with a wave of his hand, the Eastern Extreme Star Region immediately dimmed, and the chess pieces disappeared into the darkness together with it.
"Then there is the Hazy Star Region."
Hades took a deep breath. The Hazy Star Region in the north was the most unstable star region in the subspace, and it was also the star region that was still being fought in the late period of the Great Crusade. The Battle of Ullanor that just ended took place in the Hazy Star Region, and Randan's home planet was also in the northernmost part of the Hazy Star Region.
In the Emperor's hands, the cold glow of steel lit up.
In the palm of his hand lay two chess pieces that looked so similar, as if they were both made of miniature steel bars and twisted iron nails. The only difference was that one of the silvery-white ones was a severed hand, while the iron-black one had a cable extending from the top.
"The 4th Legion Iron Warriors and the 10th Legion Iron Hands are currently clearing out the remaining remnants of Ullanor. They should have just ended their cooperation, or have just begun."
The Emperor placed the two Iron Generals to the lower right of the Hazy Star Region.
"…You are unsure of the course of their war?"
Hades asked hesitantly,
"It's very common,"
The Emperor said calmly,
"In a map where the speed of light can take hundreds of years to travel, you can't expect intelligence to be reported every day like the weather forecast in the past. Originally, we could rely on the Astronomican Court to learn about their general movements - but as you know, the subspace routes in the Hazy Star Region are not stable."
"… good."
Hades waved his hand, signaling the Emperor to continue.
Jewels and fragrance appeared at the same time, and an exquisite purple phoenix spread its wings as if ready to fly. The Emperor placed it in the north-east of the hazy star region.
Hades was silent. Because the Hazy Star Domain was connected to the upper part of the Extreme Star Domain, the Phoenix was very close to the Knights and Vampires.
At least someone can take care of me... maybe
"The Third Legion, the Emperor's Children, is marching towards the north of the Nebulous Segmentum."
After the perfect phoenix, a raven screamed hoarsely and stood on the Emperor's fingertips. He let the raven fly to the north and west of the hazy star field, which was even more remote than the phoenix.
"The 19th Legion, the Raven Guard, was transferred to the Far North battlefield by Horus."
"…?"
Hades popped up a question mark.
"Horus?"
"What's wrong?"
Malcador coughed.
"Hades, Horus is now the Warmaster and is in charge of the marching orders."
Hades shook his head and slowly said it was okay.
Horus did not have a very good relationship with the Raven King... The Wolf Shepherd God, who believed in Greater Astartesism, might naturally dislike his worker brother.
Hades began to have a headache. He thought about how he would deal with the strong Astartes spirit in the legion when he arrived at the Luna Wolves.
But... Hades thought again, at least Horus didn't put all the powerful legions into the corners, but only threw out the ones he didn't like. This proves that he at least has no intention of rebelling now, right
The Emperor saw that Hades stopped asking questions. He lowered his eyes. The Taiping star field in the west lit up, but the Misty star field did not dim.
The weeping believers were kneeling in his palms.
"The Word Bearers of the Seventeenth Legion. They have just departed from their home planet Colchis and are preparing to join the Great Crusade in the Segmentum Obscurus."
Colchis is in the Pacific Segmentum, and slightly to the north is the border between the Pacific Segmentum and the Obscure Segmentum. The Emperor placed his believers at the border.
The hazy star field dimmed.
A fine horse emerged from the emperor's palm and galloped across the Taiping star region.
"The Fifth Legion, the White Scars. People often overlook this legion, and the Khan himself deliberately goes to remote and deserted battlefields."
The Emperor said calmly.
The Taiping star field dimmed. It was originally the smallest star field.
The Emperor picked up the sleeping fire dragon, which was sleeping in the Storm Star Region in the south.
Then the Storm Star Region in the south dimmed—
"etc."
Hades raised his hand.
"Only one legion is deployed in the Storm Star Region?"
But Hades suddenly thought that there seemed to be nothing serious in the Storm Star Region, and it was a calm star region, but... the home planet of the Death Guard, Barbarus, was here, in the southernmost corner of the Storm Star Region.
The Emperor looked at Hades with interest. Neos and Hades might have found common ground on a certain topic.
"You plan to return the Death Guard to their home planet, don't you?"
Hades pondered. In the foreseeable future, there would be a high probability of a major conflict in the northern part of the Ultima Thule and the Obscure. However, the Death Guard had indeed been active in the southern and southeastern parts of the empire. If they suddenly went to the north...
The unstable logistics line and the anti-psychic thorns of the Death Guard will most likely be targeted.
"Let the Death Guard guard the Storm Star Region."
Hades spoke,
It would be better to give the Death Guard some room to react. Hades believed that as soon as the initial smoke bomb dissipated, Mortarion would be able to lead the Death Guard to immediately counterattack.
In addition, there are two large forging worlds guarding the Storm Star Region in the north, and the route from the Storm Star Region to Terra is relatively smooth.
The Emperor smiled, and the Grim Reaper with his cloak torn appeared in the south of the Storm Star Region.
"Motarion also applied to lead the army back to the home planet."
He said calmly, and Malcador interrupted at an inopportune moment, and the old man said sarcastically,
“It’s more like a notification than an application.”
The Emperor ignored Mortarion's temper and looked at the map. The area in the center of the map, centered on Terra, lit up.
The Golden Guardian stood indifferently on Terra, as if it would never collapse.
"The Seventh Legion, the Imperial Fists, follow me to defend Terra."
"certainly,"
The Emperor raised his hand, and the ferocious wolf with bared teeth was biting a heart with a single eye, as if waiting for the master's order.
"The 6th Legion, the Space Wolves, will first escort the criminals of the former 15th Legion back to Terra. After that, I may let the Space Wolves return to Fenris."
Fenris is also in the central sector and does not belong to one of the other four sectors.
The Emperor clapped his hands, and the entire map lit up and slowly rose.
Hades stared at the chess pieces in silence. He counted each legion and thought about what might happen... The knights might fight with the vampires... or even the phoenixes, but with the Wolf God at their feet, they should be able to stabilize the situation when Hades gets there—
"But, Neos,"
Hades suddenly spoke,
"Where are the Alpha and Omega?"
Malcador answered Hades' question on behalf of the Emperor.
“They’re everywhere.”
———
When Hades came out of the secret room dizzy after listening to the Emperor's chatter, the dim corridor was already empty.
At the beginning, the Emperor was seriously deducing with Hades many possible events, but later they all agreed that as long as the Webway was not broken, any few more emperors who rebelled would be able to make them kneel down and call him daddy.
So the Emperor began to tell Hades about Horus' past in detail, which seemed to be a preparation for Hades to contact Horus, and it also seemed that only Neos named the Emperor wanted to say this.
The tea in Hades' hand cooled down again and again, and was then heated up again by psychic power.
The Emperor seemed to try his best to describe Horus in a better light, but through the Emperor's words, Hades had already established a Greater Astartes-ism in his heart, who attached great importance to power, was arrogant, had a dad-control complex, cared a lot about his ranking with other brothers, and that the Emperor needed to treat him best.
If Malcador had not realized that Hades' eyes were becoming increasingly sharp and interrupted the Emperor's recollections in time, the positive image that Horus had once built for Hades would have been completely destroyed.
Hades sighed. Thanks to Malcador, the Emperor finally realized that they had stayed in the secret room for too long. It took several days just to present various materials. In addition, the following was almost the last madness before the darkness. Hades directly complained about all the Primarchs except Horus and the Archangel in front of the Emperor.
Then they spent another half a day insulting Chaos and the Four Gods, and Neos pondered for five minutes before finding a set of safe pronouns that would not trigger the Warp.
That was good, but it also caused Hades to miss the point in time when the Death Guard fleet left.
As he stood in the empty corridor, he heard the sound of disconnected electricity from the channel that was finally restored, and the water mark left by the last barge of the Death Guard in the Warp channel had just disappeared.
Hades heard the message the Lord of Death gave him.
[Do not be afraid of what you must do.]
In the Babarus language, everyone's destiny is death.
Hades took a deep breath. Malcador stood silently behind Hades, raising his eyebrows to watch his performance.
"Old Ma-Old Ma-I forgot to tell Guilliman not to blow up that lighthouse!"
Makado struck him with a stick.
"My name is not Lao Ma, and you can also go to the Extreme Star Region now."
The Great Crusade is over!
It ended rather hastily because I really couldn't continue writing. In fact, I could have spent another week writing about combat readiness arrangements and daily speeches.
A big rebellion will start tomorrow.
(End of this chapter)