Chapter 307 The Rise of the Primarch: Return of the Marshal

Antarctica, the last natural relic on Terra alongside the Himalayas. Although Terra has long been completely covered by mechanized cities, with tall buildings standing on the land, and oceans, mountains, forests and snowfields have all disappeared in the planetary urbanization, Antarctica still exists in this world.

The reason is simple. Everything here belongs to an organization, an organization that is feared in Terra and even in the entire galaxy. It was established by the Emperor himself in the ancient Great Crusade era, and was established by the heroic Malcador and Supreme Marshal Vito Constantine. It is an organization that is above all the military and political institutions of the Empire.

Its name is the Imperial Inquisition.

——

The blizzard was flying all over the sky. A gray-black bunker standing in the snow stood alone on the ice field. The white snow was flying and falling on the gray concrete outer wall and the unmanned air defense weapons deployed around it. The muzzles of the silent guns pointed directly to the sky, and the sonic radar was spinning in the wind. Around it, the strong wind was beating on the narrow window glass of the bunker.

Outside the window, a black shadow passed by the wall. It was a person, a soldier wearing a black military coat and a unique reflective breastplate on his chest. He walked on the ground of the permanent half-buried shelter outside the bunker with a gun on his back. He was wearing thick cold-proof gloves and holding the gun belt on his shoulder, standing on the concrete platform covered with blizzard.

The guard, wearing a tall black felt hat, stood outside the window. There was a striking logo on his felt hat, a red letter i. Under the hat badge, he wore a black windproof hood, and on the eyes of the dark hood, he wore a pair of windproof glasses. The dark lenses were one-sided, and the eyes inside could not be seen, but they reflected light like a mirror.

The soldier's snow boots stepped on the snow outside the bunker. The white crisp snow made sparse cracking sounds under the crushing of the boots. The cold wind blew the corners of the black coat. The soldier stood on the snow with a gun on his back, overlooking the endless ice field in front of him.

There was nothing on the white snow field, only flying blizzards, and the windproof mirror reflected the barren ice field, but suddenly a burst of explosions from the air broke the silence of the ice field.

It was a sonic boom from the sky, and the explosion that broke the speed of sound spread from the air. Something was passing through the thick clouds.

The rotating radar behind the soldier responded. A small long-wave receiving point extended from the top of the fan-shaped radar. The wide radar rotated to shake off the snow on its body, and it was aimed at the object whizzing down in the sky.

The soldier on the ice field raised his head. A bright fire meteor was reflected on the black mirror. The soldier raised his head with a gun on his back and looked at the meteor. The automatic twin-mounted anti-aircraft laser cannon on the bunker behind him also slowly raised its muzzle to the object that was descending. The flame that cut through the sky was passing through the dark clouds and falling from the sky with blizzards.

The soldier pressed the position on the side of his goggles. As his finger pressed, a locking aperture appeared on the inner field of view of the goggles. The aperture enclosed the falling fire meteor, and the image was soon enlarged. The soldier was able to clearly see the silver fighter plane that was diving down rapidly.

The fighter plane was very beautiful, with a fluid linear structure, just like a silver drop of water. The soldier looked at the fighter plane that was cutting through the stormy sky, turned around and knocked on the glass of the bunker behind him with his fist.

Behind the glass sat another ice guard. He was not wearing a full set of cold-proof armor and base equipment, but wearing a turtleneck sweater. He was sitting comfortably in the bunker with heating and bright lighting, drinking hot coffee. He held the hot coffee in both hands and looked at the scanning radar in front of him. Suddenly, the glass in front of him was knocked.

The guard in the bunker was startled and immediately put down the coffee in his hand and looked at the soldier outside the window. He turned and pointed at the silver fighter plane that was quickly arcing into the Antarctic sky and gradually turning to the front.

The guard looked at the thing and immediately kicked his legs. The pulley under the office chair slid on the floor heating floor. He slid to the instrument on the other side and quickly clicked on it with his fingers. Soon the silver shuttle appeared on the scanning screen.

A data window popped up on one side of it, with a line of numbers written in eye-catching red and gold fonts, i-00001.

The guard looked at the screen and nodded to the soldier outside the window. He stood up and walked to the weapon control console on the other side, and quickly turned off the automatic turrets around the air defense bunker. As the red air defense ** signs on the screen all turned green, the anti-aircraft guns behind the soldiers outside the window gradually stopped.

Just as the guard turned off the anti-aircraft weapon array, the communication channel at his hand rang, and the sound wave frequency band jumped onto the small display window, accompanied by the fluctuation of the audio and sound.

"No. 072 air defense post, the main fort detected a flying object passing through your defense zone, report the situation." The voice said so, and the guard looked at the aircraft whizzing past the window outside. The thing flew very fast, almost flying from one section of the window to the other section in an instant.

The guard in the bunker followed the silver water droplets whizzing by. The soldier standing outside the window in the snow could watch it longer before it disappeared. When the water droplets flashed from the edge of the window, he could still turn his head with his gun on his back and watch the thing fly to the distant ice field, flying to the direction of the huge shadow standing in the blizzard.

The guard in the bunker pressed one hand on the communication channel in the direction where the water droplets disappeared, "The Grand Master is back, the real Grand Master."

The section of the communication frequency band fell silent, and the silence lasted for a short moment, and soon the audio band began to shake again, "Understood, stick to your post."

"Yes, sir." The guard said and closed the communication channel. He turned and walked to the large glass window of the bunker. He leaned against the corner of the wall and squinted his eyes from the edge of the window to the huge shadow outline on the distant ice field.

"The Grand Master is back, what does this mean?" The soldier standing outside the window, with his gun on his back, pressed the communicator hanging on his neck with one hand. His voice soon penetrated the interference of the strong wind with the communicator and appeared directly in the bunker, clear and unambiguous.

"I don't know, Cullen, but I only know one thing, we will have work soon, more exciting than watching the radar in this ghost place." The guard in the bunker said with a smile, looking at the bright light flashing in the dark clouds in the sky, and said so.

——

The Skyhawk roared across the ice field, its terminal vector nozzle burned violently in the heavy snow, and the bright and long thruster fire column burned in the dark sky and illuminated the skyline.

The blizzard blew on the curved cockpit glass of the Skyhawk, and the goose-feather-like snow flew over the smooth glass and the fuselage of the fighter. In the cockpit, Vito's eyes looked at the dark clouds outside the glass in front of him, and the cumulus clouds mixed with blizzards blocked all visual vision.

But Vito didn't need to see clearly what was outside, because it was not him who was driving the Aquila, but Helen. The little artificial intelligence lady was standing on the small disc on the armrest of Vito's seat. She didn't make any movements, but stood there calmly, her eyes made of light particles looking at the constantly disturbed dark clouds outside the window.

Vito knew that he didn't need to worry about Helen, she could see clearly what was outside. Through the sensor imaging of the Aquila, she could see everything on the ice field below and the navigation route. It was a unique vision, a unique perspective that allowed them to fly over any storm.

And this time was no exception. The Aquila suddenly rolled to one side. The shuttle's unparalleled maneuverability allowed it to complete a large turn almost on the spot. The vector jet nozzle was adjusted through the knob at the end, pushing the flame to instantly penetrate the clouds at the rear of the Aquila.

The silver fighter plane swooped down from the clouds. Vito sat in the driver's seat, his eyes looking at the dark clouds and snow sliding rapidly from both sides outside the window. Soon, the sea of ​​clouds rushed out of the glass, and a brand new world appeared in front of him.

It was a fortress, a huge fortress standing on the ice field. Its towering walls were almost completely integrated with the Transantarctic Mountains across Antarctica. The dark Great Wall stretched out diagonally from the iceberg, hitting its wide end on the snowy ground of the Arctic, forming a diamond-shaped wall structure similar to a dam.

Unlike ordinary dams, its body was densely covered with countless weapons. On the slope of the wall, firing positions were set up one by one on the wall. On the high wall and firing positions in the blizzard, various anti-aircraft weapons were aimed at the sky.

The Skyhawk flew parallel to the outside of the city wall. Vito looked outward at the city wall and weapons passing by on one side. The silent anti-aircraft guns and honeycomb missile launchers, heavy laser guns and electromagnetic rail guns all stood in the snow. Their bodies were covered with a layer of white snow, just like wild wolves crawling in the snow, waiting in silence for the opportunity to pounce on their prey and tear its trachea.

The Skyhawk suddenly pulled up from a corner of the fortress. Under Helen's operation, the silver fighters roared from the outside of the towering city wall in the blink of an eye. They flew over the obstacles of the city wall and arrived at the vast plane above the wall.

This is the real area of ​​the fortress. The upper layer of the entire glacier has been completely flattened. Steel and permanent concrete fortifications cover everything. On the top of the vast iceberg is a vast steel plain, and on the ground, magnificent cannons point directly to the sky.

The rotating barrel of the ground-based heavy turbo laser cannon was pointed at the sky, and the Skyhawk whizzed past the silent muzzle. Vito looked sideways in the cabin and overlooked the entire square area outside the fortress. There were many anti-aircraft weapons here, and large and small anti-air and anti-ground weapons were scattered here.

In addition to the heavy turbo laser cannon, there were also orbital accelerated magnetic cannons, giant ground-based laser cannon arrays, light spears, and closed shooter death warhead launch cabins. The energy pipelines densely distributed around them, large transport vehicles parked in the heavy snow, and automatic ammunition loaders provided them with a steady stream of power.

Together, they formed a deadly firestorm here. As the people in the fortress wished, they could use these weapons at any time to tear apart any enemy who dared to approach.

Vito's eyes were raised from this plain of weapons. He looked at the main body of the fortress that was already close in front of him. In front of him was a helipad that was opened and extended on the second wall rising from the steel plain.

The Skyhawk flew in front of the landing pad, and the vector jet nozzle quickly adjusted downwards, pushing the flames to quickly hit the gray-black steel landing deck. In an instant, all the snow falling on it was spraying flames. All disappeared under the bombardment, and the remaining unmelted parts spread and flew around under the influence of the jet air.

The Skyhawk landed on the parking deck, and as its heavy-duty landing gear slowly landed on the apron, the magnetic lock was quickly activated, and the beating tiny blue lightning locked the Skyhawk on the apron.

Vito looked at the huge armored door in front of him. At the end of its tall door, the platform stretched out on the apron began to slowly retract toward the door. As the transmission structure roared in the invisible wall, the apron also slowly The land was slowly collected within the city walls.

Inside the high wall and armored gate, a young inquisitor wearing a black trench coat of the Tribunal was already waiting here. He looked at the tarmac slowly entering the fortress in front of him, and looked at the silver fighter plane parked steadily on it.

The young inquisitor looked at the smooth silver shuttle that looked like a work of art. Its fluid body shone with slender threads of light under the bright lights around it, but his elegance was soon overturned. Interrupted, a circle of cracks suddenly appeared on the Skyhawk's flawless body, and the hatch slowly opened and fell.

The young judge looked at the fallen hatch and the person walking out of it. He was also wearing a black windbreaker. When the young man saw him, he immediately stood up and saluted him. Yes, salute, the salute of the trial court. The manner is also military courtesy, a rule Vito set when he founded them many years ago.

Although the Tribunal is a secret police organization that transcends any military and political agency, the discipline, obedience and execution of the military must also be implemented here in the same way, or even further. Therefore, although the Tribunal is less active than the Astra Militarum and the Navy, , relatively loose in operations and management, but each of their members is still a soldier, a group of members of a highly disciplined military organization.

Vito smiled and saluted the young man in return. Vito looked around at the empty parking lot in the fortress. There were shuttles of different shapes parked here, and they all seemed to belong to different inquisitors. , the aviation companies affiliated to the Tribunal are not so diverse and colorful.

"It seems that you are the only one to pick me up, young man." Vito smiled and walked down the hatch that was slanted to the ground. The young judge standing in front of the door still raised his hands. He looked at Vito seriously, without any trace of Meaning of slacking off.

"The Grand Master, all high-level judges, and other important members are waiting for you in the hall. I was ordered to come here to meet you, Supreme Master."

"Okay, what's your name? Child." Vito asked, standing in front of the young man. The latter was stunned for a moment, but soon recovered his thoughts. He put down his arm and nodded to Vito.

"Judge Heinrich Beria, sir, is affiliated with the Heretic Tribunal."

Hahahaha, believe me, this tribunal is the most scary among the three major tribunals, at least to most people in the empire. They are the department responsible for liquidating, dealing with and eliminating heretics, and they mainly target " Mortals" are the traitors within the Empire.

There are many types and definitions of traitors, including rebellious officials, stupid corrupt officials, incompetent military officers and governors, workers who spread negative views, sabotage, etc., and even farmers who accidentally use the wrong growth hormone. In short, they define There are all kinds of "heresies" in it, and one may even be added temporarily.

But this also adds a lot of flexibility to their work, and they can adapt to changes on the spot. Yes, yes, this also leads to the emergence of many idiots who kill innocent judges indiscriminately, or simply decide who is based on their own mood. Heretic, but believe me, generally speaking, the career of this kind of person as an inquisitor will not be too long, not too long in the biological sense.

Vito looked at the young man in front of him and patted him on the shoulder with a smile, "Then, Judge Heinrich, lead the way." "As you command, sir, please come this way."

Heinrich stepped aside and motioned for Vito to follow him, and the latter did follow the young inquisitor. Vito followed him through the tall parking warehouse.

He looked around at everything around him. Everything here had changed a lot from when he left. A lot of new equipment, renovations, and brand-new explosion-proof layers had been added. This made Vito very happy, because it meant that the Tribunal It has not turned into a rigid, conservative, and immutable idiot organization as rumored.

Believe me, there are many departments in the empire that will be firm and even stubbornly conservative in all aspects in order to follow the "ancient" tradition, not only in all work and vocabulary habits, but also in decoration and architecture. It lasts for ten thousand years, don’t you believe it? Then go look at the parchment and hall of the Ministry of Government and you will understand.

Vito walked on the large deck. He observed everything around him, but nothing changed. It was exactly the same as when he left. The Inquisition faithfully inherited Vito's pragmatism and industrial steel-style decorative art. There are no excessive or fancy decorations here, such as statues, Roman columns or murals.

In Vito's consistent opinion, he always called the kind of Gothic decoration that the emperor liked as a waste of time and resources. To be honest, you spend a lot of time and energy on useless decorations. It's time to build another ship.

Although many inquisitors, in order to deal with the state religion and other departments of the empire, instead of entangled with them about what is artistic heresy, would decorate their warships into those exaggerated religious-style ships, you know, flying cathedrals.

But Vito was very happy. At least here, in the Antarctic headquarters of the Inquisition, they still inherited the simple decoration that Vito liked back then, steel walls and roads on both sides without any superfluous decoration, but different from the pure cold wind of Perturabo, here through the shining lines, modern and industrial style streamlined shapes, and smooth surfaces, there is always a different kind of beauty in the monotony.

Vito looked at everything around him, and as he walked, he found the only religious element here, a very unique way of showing features.

Next to the gate that Vito passed by, there stood a huge painting on the high wall on that side, with three portraits hanging on it. The one in the center was undoubtedly the Emperor. The guy was wearing his ridiculously exaggerated golden armor, with a golden halo shining behind his head and his eyes shining as he stood in the huge painting.

On the other side of the Emperor was another depiction, on which was a mortal, or an elder, wearing a simple robe, with an old face full of spirit and fortitude. He held the most eye-catching scepter in his hand, which was a scepter burning with fire. An eagle with wings spread stood on the top of the scepter, and raging flames burned from under the eagle's body, and his name was under the portrait.

"Malcador, old man, I didn't expect them to hang you here, and this one over here is." Vito said, turning his head to look at the portrait hanging side by side with the Emperor and Malcador.

It was a man wearing a black Inquisition windbreaker. He stared at the people passing by. There was also a circle of sun behind his head, but it was different from the Emperor's. He wore a pair of golden briefs on his shoulders. The briefs were quite gorgeous and unique. Unlike all the military ranks in the Empire, there were no stars or any marks of distinction on them, but only a soaring eagle and thunder and lightning held under his feet.

The Imperial Eagle and the letter "i" of the Inquisition were combined together and hung on his chest. The golden glory ribbon and the scarlet robe fell from his shoulders. Under the scarlet robe was a long red velvet belt, and the edge was decorated with golden velvet to distinguish it from the color of the red robe, just like a red road. The belt hung from his shoulders and extended from his waist.

On the wide red ribbon, there are several shining badges, or more precisely, military emblems or logos. From top to bottom, they are respectively arranged for the Inquisition, the Ministry of Justice, the Astra Militarum, the Imperial Navy, and a unique badge that combines the uniform features of the bolter, the chain sword, and the Space Marine helmet. That logo represents all the Space Marine chapters.

The emblems of all the armed forces of the Empire are arranged in an orderly manner and hung on his chest, symbolizing his power, his supreme power to rule over all shields and blades of the entire Empire.

And the name of power is branded under the portrait. At the end of the portrait, a golden nameplate is engraved with the name of the person depicted on it.

Vito Constantine, Supreme Marshal of the Empire and Supreme Grand Master of the Inquisition.

Vito stared at the portrait and was stunned for a moment. He pointed at the portrait and was about to say something, but the closed door beside him opened under Heinrich's operation. The roaring door opened to both sides, and then there was a uniform sound of footsteps.

"Everyone stand at attention! Salute the Marshal!" Behind the gate, the man standing at the head of the inquisitors stood at attention and shouted. As he shouted, the whole hall was filled with the sound of neat footsteps, boot heels colliding with each other, and dozens of arms were raised at the same time in the roar, saluting Vito behind the gate.

On the other side of them, the silent assassins wearing combat tights and different skull masks stood on the other side. They did not salute, but all knelt down, including the female assassin who was the leader. All the terrible assassins knelt on one knee and bowed their heads to Vito.

Heinrich also retreated outside the gate and saluted. He stood beside Vito and looked at Vito with a serious look. "Welcome back, Marshal, all members of the Inquisition and the Assassin's Court are waiting for your orders."