Chapter 281 Key Intelligence
Sintira Hive World.
Sintira is the capital of the Calixis Sector in the Segmentum Obscurus. It is both a thriving Imperial hub and the most populous planet in the sector. Known as the "Shining Spark", it is also the home planet of the Sintira Fusiliers, a renowned regiment of the Imperial Guard.
Sibelius main nest, upper nest area.
Two huge Ogryns walked side by side on the street. They were about two meters five or six meters tall, wearing belts and shoulder straps of the Imperial Guard. They also emitted an inexplicable body odor, which made passers-by around them stay away from them.
One of the Ogryns looked around vigilantly and asked in a low voice:
"Why did you have to come to Sintira?"
"Because this is the capital of the sector, where information and intelligence converge. If I were to hide in a garden world far away from the flight path like you, I wouldn't get any news. Do you understand?"
The other Ogryn said.
"As you said, this is the capital of the star zone. The Triangle Palace of the Inquisition is here! It is the headquarters of the Inquisition for the entire star zone. You are really brave."
The Ogryn tried to keep his excited voice down.
As the capital of the star zone, Sintila has offices not only for the Inquisition, but also for other central government agencies such as the Executive Yuan, the Ministry of the Interior, the Ministry of Military Affairs, the Star Language Court, and the Ministry of Justice.
His companion said nonchalantly,
"I am a Space Marine from the 11th Company of the White Scars Chapter, Brotherhood of the God Machines, and I am also a non-commissioned officer. Even if my identity is exposed, what can they do to me?"
"Well..."
The Ogryn was speechless for a moment.
"Hey, listen to me, Tristan."
His companion continued:
"Your voice is not correct. The real Ogryn speaks Low Gothic, which should be similar to the dialect accent of the Orks, mumbling and unclear. In addition, your sneaky look does not fit the traditional impression of the Ogryn people."
The Ogryn said angrily:
"How am I supposed to know how greenskins speak Low Gothic!"
The other Ogryn said,
"Then just shut your mouth, okay?"
…
The two men passed through the complex street network of the main nest city, turning left and right in pipes, overpasses and tunnels, and finally came to a secret base, which seemed to be the back door of a hotel.
The Ogryn exchanged secret signals with the guard behind the door, opened the iron gate, and led his companions in. The guard stuck his head out and looked around. The homeless children squatting at both ends of the dark alley gave him a gesture of confirmation - there was no one following him.
After entering the hotel, the Ogryn took off the disguise and mask on his head, revealing a young face with a black Hydra tattoo on its profile. It was No. 56.
The other Ogryn also raised his hand and tore off the disguise on his face, revealing a bald head covered with black prayers and a serious face full of hatred and suffering.
There were seven or eight ordinary people of different identities and attire, men, women, old and young, all around, shouting respectfully:
"Owner."
Number 56 waved his hand and said,
"Information?"
"Master, it is like this."
One of the elders stood up and said:
"We recently got a piece of news: a fleet of Rogue Traders passed by the industrial world of Hovia and was attacked by the Emperor's Children. Only a few of them managed to escape. According to them, the leader of the Emperor's Children called himself 'The Man Who Cut Off the Soul'."
"The one who cut off his soul..."
Number 56 muttered to himself, lost in thought.
After thinking for a while without any result, he turned to look at the old man:
"Who do you think it should be?"
The old man said slowly,
"Based on the fragments of information I heard from other intelligence during the rebellion, I inferred that the man should be Eidolon the Soul Cutter."
Number 56's eyes lit up:
"The second-in-command of the Emperor's Children Legion, the Legion Archon, the former 'Golden Hammer' Eidolon?"
The old man nodded,
"I think so, Master."
Number 56 narrowed his eyes and stroked his chin:
"Tsk tsk, this is interesting. I guess he definitely wants this information."
…
The Limestone Fortress is one of the famous landmarks of Sintira. This slender purple-black stone tower is the highest point of the hive city Sibelius and the headquarters of Sintira's Astropaths. The Astropathic Choir here consists of six Astropaths.
Astropaths spend their lives in this ventilated bell tower, engaging in long periods of intensive mental exercises and studying vast symbolic codes. There is no one here except the astropaths and a few servants to serve and assist them.
Two Space Marines in power armor are climbing this seemingly endless spiral staircase.
"Do we have to do this?"
The Word Bearers warrior asked as he climbed up:
"Can't we take the normal route?"
"It's too late."
The Alpha Warrior in White Scar Armor said:
"Who knows where they are hunting right now? By the time we get back to Hive Schwerin and send the astropathic message, the Emperor's Child may have escaped. That's Eidolon, the man the White Scars want most to kill."
Finally climbing to the top, a cobalt blue gelatinous substance gushed out of No. 56's body, automatically covering the surface of the power armor, changing the paint from red and white to gray without any markings, and then kicked open the door of the stone tower.
Under the confused and horrified gaze of a group of astropaths.
Number 56 raised the bolt pistol in his hand, pointed it at the blind, fat old man in the middle, and said,
"Follow my request and send a astropathic message, and I won't embarrass you."
The fat old man was trembling all over and yelled,
"Heretic, don't even think about it..."
"Don't talk nonsense to me. If you don't do as I say, I will give you the child you had with the planetary governor's mistress..."
No. 56 interrupted him impatiently. Before he could finish his words, the fat old man immediately raised his hands:
"I'll do it, sir."
Number 56 followed the old man onto the platform.
The Word Bearers warriors pointed their guns at the surrounding Astropaths.
They were all blind, but at this moment they all "looked" at No. 56 on the platform, their "eager" look seemed to say: Go on, go on, what happened between him and the planetary governor's mistress?
Under the stone tower of the graystone fortress, the hive police and imperial guards responsible for guarding this place had all been subdued. Strangely, the attackers did not hurt their lives, but just knocked them unconscious and gagged them and tied them together.
Afterwards, the astropaths in the stone tower were hesitant when talking about the incident, leaving the inquisitor and legal officer in charge of investigating the matter completely confused and puzzled.
…
Urijah V.
The Thunderhawk gunship slowly descended onto the tundra, its supporting legs stirring up a large pile of snow, its steaming door seals clicking mechanically and spewing steam, its gangway opening and dropping, banging into the slush that had been melted by its humming engines.
The howling wind blew past, frost formed a hard crust on the visor, the armored boots made a crunching sound on the snow, and the Space Marines quickly scanned the surroundings with their guns.
A deadly world with an average temperature of minus seventy degrees Celsius.
If the Midnight Lords warband had not surrounded this place, Fu Qinghai would never have imagined that there was a Callidus assassin temple hidden on this planet with no resources and extremely harsh environment.
If the Night Lords had not relied on Talos's prophetic ability to capture a Callidus assassin, and the assassin had not revealed the location of the temple under the Night Lords' magical torture methods, the Eighth Legion would not have been able to find this secret place.
By interrogating the mortal slaves and traitorous crew members on the Desolation, Fu Qinghai learned two things:
1. Originally there was a Chaos warband here - the strike cruiser Blood Alliance led by the enchanted warrior "Supreme". As a result, the opponent's soul hunter Talos predicted his arrival and ran away in advance.
2. Originally, the Midnight Lords were besieging the Assassin's Temple on the ground, but were then urgently recalled to the warships. Due to the hasty action, some ground vehicles were stranded on the surface.
Fu Qinghai came to receive this batch of ground vehicles.
Fu Qinghai vaguely remembered that the Blood Alliance cruiser had managed to turn danger into safety many times in the chaotic meat grinder of the Eye of Terror thanks to the Soul Hunter's ability to predict. If he wanted to hunt them, he would have to think of some way to block the prophecy.
The group trudged along the valley with difficulty. In such an environment, even the Space Marines wearing power armor could feel a little cold, and a mortal man in the wild would probably not survive more than a quarter of an hour.
"Khan, a report from the tech-servitors came through the communications network, claiming that the oil pipes and fuel tanks on the landed Thunderhawk gunship have been partially frozen."
One of the Space Marines said.
"I see."
Fu Qinghai did not stop and continued to move forward.
Finally, they saw the black fortress hidden in the valley and three Typhon heavy siege tanks parked outside the fortress.
"It uses the chassis of the Land Raider, produced on the Anvirus 9 Forge World. There are not many good things like this."
Fu Qinghai talked to himself, feeling quite satisfied.
He identified the models and specifications of several vehicles at a glance.
After some investigation, everyone found that the remaining mecha servants in the siege tanks had all frozen to death. These rigid guys might not know to extract promethium from the fuel tanks to ignite it for warmth. Fu Qinghai ordered his men to take over the three vehicles, drive them out of the valley, and return to the battleship on the Thunder Eagle.
Then he looked up at the fortress not far away.
Multiple void shield arrays rise from one side of the valley to defend against bombardments and raids from orbit and air. Like many similar ground-based defense systems, the edges of overlapping shield fields are more vulnerable to ground attacks.
The fortress itself was blurred by the erratic air, like a layer of mist emitting heat. The void shield distorted the view behind it, reducing the battlements into an uneven outline. Fu Qinghai could only vaguely see a figure on the city wall.
Although he objectively saved this place, Fu Qinghai had no intention of communicating with the Assassin's Temple of Callidus. He took a final look and turned around to leave.
"Khan."
At this moment, the soldier beside him raised his hand and pointed behind Fu Qinghai.
Fu Qinghai turned around and looked.
A short and hunched figure passed through the blurry void shield, leaving a row of footprints in the snow behind him, and slowly walked towards the direction of Fu Qinghai.
Fu Qinghai stood still and waited.
This is an old woman wearing a fur coat.
She raised her brown face full of wrinkles and spots, her pale curly hair fluttering in the wind, and asked in a hoarse voice:
"Thank you for the rescue of the Astartes Order. May I know the number of your unit?"
Fu Qinghai nodded and reported his company:
"White Scars, Brotherhood of God Machine, Qingshan Khan."
The old woman responded with the courtesy of the Sky Eagle, saying:
"The daughter of Callidus owes you a favor, Qingshan Khan."
Fu Qinghai smiled, but his laughter was somewhat distorted by the filtering of the loudspeaker and the howling of the blizzard:
"If you could see me in my true self, perhaps I would be able to appreciate this more."
The old woman was stunned when she heard this, and paused for a second. Then, her whole body and clothes began to twist and change, turning into a wriggling black substance, and her height lengthened and grew...
Finally, a tall girl with a hot body stood in front of Fu Qinghai. Her curvy body and face were all wrapped in a black tight leather jacket of some unknown material, except for the long brown-red braid behind her head.
The lady in black tilted her head, spread her hands, and her voice became more charming and pleasant:
"Are you satisfied with this, Qingshan Khan?"
Wow, it really changes as I said.
Although her face is not shown, her figure is indeed great, and is exactly the same as in the official animation and novel illustrations.
Facing the assassin's question, Fu Qinghai laughed:
"I'm satisfied. See you later. Goodbye."
After saying this, he turned around and led his men away.
What I was thinking was:
She may be beautiful, but it's best not to have any contact with the Callidus Assassin... or any assassin from the Assassin Temple.
…
On the way back.
The fleet, with two new members added, is heading towards Mandeville Point on the outskirts of the Uriah system, preparing to enter the warp.
Xia Long Frospin, wearing a long robe, walked towards Fu Qinghai's captain's room with quick steps.
The astropath came to the door. The attendant Lin Yu was not there. The person on duty was another unknown space warrior. The other party glanced at Xia Long and seemed to say something on the communication channel, and then the hatch opened automatically.
Xia Long walked in and found that the navigator Tracy Gray and the wandering trader Yolanda Atera were both there. The two women were dressed in gorgeous aristocratic costumes and were sitting on the sofa drinking tea and chatting. They were smiling sweetly and the atmosphere was good.
Seeing this, Xia Long felt inexplicably unhappy: Why are you two in here? I am the only one who knows the Khan's little secret.
Fu Qinghai's captain's room was very large, including a private study, a reception area, a rest area, etc. Fu Qinghai looked up from the desk and asked:
"What's wrong, Xia Long?"
Xia Long walked to the table and said,
"Khan, there is urgent information."
After saying that, he kept silent.
The two girls on the sofa were slightly startled. Yolanda immediately smoothed her skirt, stood up, and said:
"My Lord, I will step aside for a moment."
Fu Qinghai nodded slightly and pointed his finger at Tracy, indicating that she didn't need to leave. After the wandering merchant walked out of the cabin quickly, Fu Qinghai asked,
"What's the matter?"
Xia Long reported quickly:
"Khan, we received an astropathic message from the capital of the Calixis Sector, the Hive World of Sintira. It is very brief, just one sentence -"
"Hovia, Eidolon."
"The person who sent the message claimed to be: two cubed times seven."
2x7?
Isn't it just 56?
Fu Qinghai could get the result without any mental arithmetic.
Oh, by the way, No. 56 said before that he was going to the Calixis sector... The answer is a junior high school math problem. This guy is so boring.
Fu Qinghai looked at the navigator and asked,
"Hovia...is it a place name?"
Tracy stood up and said:
"There is a Hovia Industrial World located on the western edge of the Ultima Segmentum, Khan."
It is indeed a place name, and what about "Eidolon"...
Fu Qinghai was suddenly shocked.
Could it be that "Eidolon"?
Number 56 had used Sintira's astropath to send messages to himself, and before he left he also knew what mission the Brotherhood had received from the Primarch.
Fu Qinghai's eyes suddenly became sharp.
That's most likely the "Eidolon"!
"Change the fleet's course and head to the Hovia Industrial World."
Fu Qinghai immediately gave instructions to Tracy.
"Yes, Khan."
The navigator took the order and left.
Then Fu Qinghai opened the communication channel again:
"Qiao Shida, Camille, Sutterfaran, Lin Yu, gather in the combat meeting room!"
......
Thanks to Paregar, the Chosen of Slaanesh, book friend 20210918044544288, Qingshan Jianwo He Rushi, King Marcus, Bai Yi Shou Fei Lai Lai, and several book friends for their multiple rewards. Thank you!
In the original novel, the Faceless Prince was killed by the Dreadwing Veteran of the Dark Angels in the Samaras Expedition at the end of the Horus Heresy. This is the original plot. Let me tell you about it. I set up a reincarnation to participate in the incident, which resulted in his death, but it has nothing to do with the plot of this book, so I won't go into details in the text. Then the Midnight Lords' revenge on the Temple of Callidus, the specific time of occurrence is undetermined, it may be in 41K, or it may be in 31K-40K, so I won't go into details.
(End of this chapter)