Chapter 65: Matters Are Getting Worse and Worse

Chapter 65: Matters Are Growing Worse

Roboute Guilliman’s words left Fabricator-General Kren at a loss for how to respond.

No expression could be read on the face composed entirely of cogs and wiring. That pair of mechanical eyes stared fixedly at the Primarch, the processing modules within the skull operating at high speed, their output so intense that they were faintly growing warm.

The edicts and prohibitions of the Omnissiah were right there. Every Tech-Priest professed to hold them as a sacred treasure, never to be transgressed by even half a step. Yet out of ten Tech-Priests, nine had undoubtedly violated those prohibitions, and the remaining one was well on his way to touching the forbidden red line.

For the Tech-Priests of the Mechanicus, who possessed an extreme thirst for knowledge, that forbidden lore was like the whispers of demons, tempting them at every waking moment. No one could resist such temptation.

Fabricator-General Kren even less so; otherwise, he certainly would never have attained his current position.

For centuries, he had continuously replaced his flesh-and-blood body with cybernetic prosthetics. Granted, all followers of the Machine God underwent similar procedures, but the augmentation surgeries Kren performed were utterly frantic. He had even utilized his authority to acquire prosthetic parts deemed heretical, installing them upon his own frame.

Deep within his torso lay a forbidden, artificial mechanical consciousness that drove a cogitator intellect. This artificial mechanical intelligence granted Kren unimaginable processing capabilities; he could command information across an entire star system and casually project his consciousness into other machinery.

Yet, non-flesh-based mechanical intelligence was strictly prohibited. It was one of the red lines ordained by the Emperor that must never be crossed. During the Great Crusade, more than one human civilization that had become excessively reliant on machine intelligence had been utterly destroyed.

Meeting Guilliman’s gaze, Kren ultimately lowered his head.

Once Mars dispatched investigators, Kren knew he would inevitably be exposed. He would be branded a traitor to humanity and executed by the Inquisition. Either submit to the Primarch and live on, acquiring this heretical knowledge unsupported by Standard Template Constructs, or die as a traitor to the Imperium, all traces of him erased by the Adeptus Mechanicus.

"All Adeptus Mechanicus forces on the Forge World of Metal Ball Star shall obey the Lord Primarch's commands."

Fabricator-General Kren lowered his massive mechanical head.

A slight smile appeared on Guilliman’s lips. "This is precisely the news I hoped to receive, Fabricator-General. We shall forge an entirely new era, and you shall surely be remembered by posterity."

Through his own methods, Guilliman rapidly brought Fabricator-General Kren over to his side to drive forward the reforms.

On the side of the Imperial military, Guilliman used his authority to summon all senior Astra Militarum officers, announcing at the conference that he was taking over the right to make all military appointments within the Charadon Sector.

Guilliman’s words shocked every officer present.

After a moment of silence, a storm of questioning erupted. The officers could not believe their authority had been stripped away by the Primarch just like that. They were filled with grievance, displaying intense anger.

Not every high-ranking commander was willing to sacrifice their personal interests for the collective benefit of humanity. Until their interests were harmed, everyone was loyal. Once their own interests were encroached upon, however, they turned hostile.

Guilliman was utterly decisive. He arrested the officers who refused to obey and could not be persuaded, rooting out the powerful families standing behind them, and replaced them with officers loyal to himself.

"This is a shameful betrayal of the Imperium! You persecute the loyal and virtuous of the realm; you dare to cast your gaze upon the Emperor's throne! You shameless and despicable creature!"

An elderly general roared in fury at Guilliman before being dragged away by the guards. Such defiance left the officers loyal to Guilliman boiling with rage.

Guilliman merely shook his head at this. Power had blinded them. Those who attempted to place private interests above the interests of the race had to be purged.

Once he had completely seized control of all human military forces in the Charadon Sector, the economic and institutional reforms proceeded with equal smoothness. A cohort of nobles and merchants was cast into the penal battalions, while merchant guilds loyal to him stepped in to take over the trade shares left behind by those individuals, maintaining the normal functioning of the Charadon Sector.

Soon, all dissenting voices within the Charadon Sector vanished without a trace.

In the reception chamber.

Guilliman was signing a new administrative proposal for the Charadon Sector concerning the checks and balances among planetary governors, the supreme court, and the house of representatives.

The Imperium of Man was far too vast; adopting any single system of governance that had ever appeared in human society carried immense drawbacks. Dictatorship led to inefficiency and impoverished lives for the populace. Democracy brought corruption, extreme wealth disparity, and vulnerability to the temptations of Chaos.

Guilliman had no choice but to blend dictatorship and democracy together.

Each planet would elect its planetary governor, judges, and councilors, who would be responsible for coordinating the needs between the Imperium and their world, accepting Imperial technology, and providing soldiers, talent, and resources to the Imperium, thereby fulfilling the duties assigned by the realm.

Guilliman also established evaluation criteria covering multiple metrics, including the overall educational level of a planet, social moral standards, devotion to the Emperor, and planetary environmental conditions. Examinations would be conducted every ten or twenty years to ensure that idle gluttons and dimwits could not secure the position of planetary governor simply through hereditary privilege.

The Rogue Trader houses loyal to Guilliman would control the economies of the various planets, ensuring that no corporate leviathans could emerge on those worlds. Democracy was the system most easily corrupted by capital, and preventative measures had to be put in place.

The people on the planets would be maintained at a standard of affluent living, yet no one would possess excessive wealth, thereby preventing the creation of terrifying wealth disparities.

Outside the planets, however, rule was dictatorial; the opinions of the populace could not influence the overall trajectory of the Imperium. Guilliman alone would determine the future course of humanity.

No sooner had he finished signing the administrative reform package than, accompanied by a heavy tread, Sicarius entered the room, clad in blue power armor, his hand resting perpetually on the pommel of his sword.

"Captain Sicarius, I truly hope you bring me good news." Guilliman handed the reform documents in his hand to a nearby servo-skull, instructing it to deliver them to the archives for promulgation.

"My Lord, battle has erupted on the front of Chapter Master Korvun. An Ork fleet that invaded the Opo System has been annihilated."

Sicarius produced a data-slate and inserted it into the projector resting on the table in the reception chamber.

The cogitator mechanisms within the room processed the data brought by Sicarius, and accompanied by a muffled mechanical hum, the projector vibrated slightly. The light from the projector rapidly intertwined upon the surface of the table, displaying the full panorama of the Opo System.

"He slew an Ork Warboss and shattered that fleet." Sicarius tapped the projection, bringing up data concerning the Ork fleet that Chapter Master Korvun had resisted.

"An Ork Warboss?" Guilliman asked.

"Indeed, an Ork Warboss. We have already uncovered detailed intelligence regarding the Ork Warlord known as Pyromaniac. As an Ork Warlord, he possesses no fewer than nine Ork Warbosses. The Tech-Priests have also issued a warning to us; according to recently acquired monitoring intelligence, these Orks are currently mustering and are highly likely to launch a so-called Waaagh!"

Sicarius tapped a few more times, causing more intelligence and data to materialize upon the projection.

"Matters are growing worse."

Guilliman stared at the projection before him and slowly shook his head.