harleyscars Chapter 43 Terra
Chapter 43 Terra
Three days later, Qianzi's massive crimson fleet left the Carmenca system in the Limit Starfield and headed towards Terra, the heart of the Empire.
Passing by Prospero, the home planet of the Thousand Sons, the Thousand Sons' main fleet split up, with most of the fleet and Thousand Sons warriors remaining on the home planet for rest and reconstruction.
This is not just because Senko has just experienced a brutal war and needs to rest.
Furthermore, Terra is not only the cradle of humanity but also the absolute core of the Empire, making it impossible to allow any large legion to approach.
After a brief rest, only Magnus's flagship, the Fortep, set sail alone toward its final destination, Terra.
Two months later, a lone warship finally arrived at Mandeville, the nearest point to Terra, after a long journey through the warp, and left the warp.
After several more hours of routine sailing, the dusty and weary Fateh finally caught a glimpse of the legendary Terra.
Standing by the porthole on the bridge, Li Wei felt that this planet, called Terra, which had once been called Earth, bore no resemblance or connection to the beautiful blue planet of his previous life. It was nothing but a cold, steel desert that suffocated him.
Terra is the heart of the human empire, but after tens of thousands of years of weathering, it has long since become a hive world completely covered in steel.
Its giant nests are densely packed with industrial chimneys, and the sky is always filled with thick industrial black smoke and hazy dust.
However, it was unusually busy, with countless shuttles and patrol gunboats flying around. Only in this way could this steel torrent of sight be worthy of the title of the capital of the galactic overlord.
The only thing that brought Li Wei comfort was that he saw the imperial palace perched atop the entire Himalayas, like a crouching golden beast, which gave him peace of mind.
The starlight rising atop the Himalayas, in Li Wei's perception, was a pillar of light visible only to psychics. Ordinary people could neither see nor touch it, yet it radiated a warm and vast psychic energy.
Li Wei, who was carefully examining the situation, suddenly froze. He sensed an extremely chaotic and violent psionic energy fluctuation in the Terraa space, which he could feel even from tens of thousands of kilometers away.
He followed his psychic senses and discovered that the seemingly impregnable Terra had been thrown into chaos.
At the foot of the emperor's supreme palace, not far away in the lower-level city, flames soared into the sky, and thick smoke billowed, clearly visible even from space.
"This..." Li Wei's pupils contracted sharply as he stared at everything. "...How is this possible?"
Terra is a densely populated hive world, where small-scale unrest is highly likely.
But this is the core of the Empire, where not only are the elite Solar Auxiliary Army of mortals stationed, but also the Imperial Fist of Astartes.
Such a large-scale riot shouldn't have occurred here, even affecting the mid-level hive city; and judging from the warp energy emanating from above, there were psionicists involved.
The timing of Qianzi's proposal to promote think tanks across the entire legion is too coincidental; it's like a carefully laid trap.
"The involvement of psionicists in the riots during this period suggests that some people do not want to promote the think tank system."
Magnus, dressed in a moon-white scholar's robe, slowly walked to the porthole, gazed at the chaos in Terra below, and sighed softly.
Livy and Magnus merely watched coldly, taking no action, because this was the core of the empire, and it was not their place to interfere.
Before long, the Glory Queen of the Thousand Legion, the "Fatep," came to rest at the Lions Gate Rail Platform, the only rail docking point in Terra capable of accommodating super-large warships.
As soon as the hatch opened, officials from the Imperial Military Affairs Department warmly greeted them, but the accompanying guards, with their laser rifles fully engaged and safety on, kept their muzzles pointed intentionally or unintentionally at Senko and her group.
The situation on Terra is not good, as it has caused the mortal garrison to be so wary of the Space Marines.
Li Wei, who was in the Qianzi team, understood why they were so vigilant. He glimpsed their memories through the restless "spiritual energy" on the guards and understood what was going on.
The riots on Terra were actually an armed rebellion led by fallen psionicists, which caused the turmoil that swept through most of the lower hive cities.
That's why these garrison soldiers were wary of the Thousand Sons Legion, whose members were all psionicists.
He glanced at Magnus's face, which was almost dripping with sorrow, and knew that Thousand's Primarch had also sensed something was wrong, but could only silently endure it.
Under the tight escort of the Imperial Guard, Magnus, along with the Honor Guard, one hundred Ironclad Terminators from the Scarab Hermitage, and one hundred experienced think tank members selected by Levi, left Lionsgate Airport in a grand procession.
They then drove straight into the heart of the palace grounds, entering the residence that the emperor had reserved for his fifteenth child within the palace area.
That evening, Levi and Magnus stood on the open-air terrace of the mansion, gazing at the distant flames and thick smoke burning in the darkness. Their faces were terribly grim.
After a long while, Magnus turned around and looked at the still unfinished main structure of the palace on Mount Everest. Then he glanced at the Imperial Fist engineering company working through the night not far away, busy reinforcing the outer walls of the palace.
"It seems some people have far too much to say about us. Taking advantage of the Emperor's absence, they are acting so recklessly. Aren't they afraid of Father's reprimand?"
"Master Archmage, rest assured." Li Wei knew what Magnus was talking about, and he hadn't expected the Fist of the Empire to be so indifferent.
Terra does not have a clearly defined Astartes Legion stationed there, but the Imperial Fist left two companies to build fortifications for the Emperor's palace.
In a sense, they are the most powerful ground forces besides the mortal auxiliary army.
They watched helplessly as the riots drew ever closer outside the palace, yet took no action to intervene, leaving the people of the empire to struggle in agony and death.
The riot was instigated by a fallen psionicist, and Magnus, for his own sake, could not possibly turn a blind eye.
However, taking action would be an overreach of authority. Even if the rebellion is successfully quelled, Qianzi would be accused of acting without authorization, making it absolutely impossible for the think tank to continue its work.
However, not addressing the issue is also problematic. This riot will undoubtedly become irrefutable evidence for some to smear psychics, proving that psychics are extremely dangerous and uncontrollable, and that the think tank system should not be implemented.
"But is this really necessary?"
Li Wei frowned, listening to the distant, piercing screams and the deafening explosions—the cries of innocent imperial civilians before their deaths.
He guessed it; it was most likely a trap set by those Primarchs who particularly hated psionicists.
However, this only promotes the development of think tanks. As the Primarchs, they have always maintained firm control over the Legion, and they can actually ignore any institutional reforms of the Empire.
If all else fails, they can feign compliance while secretly resisting; the Empire is unlikely to target any Primarch for such a trivial matter.