Warhammer: Just unified the Empire, you said it was 40K

Chapter 45 Astartes Asks You to Stand Up
A tall and burly figure appeared on the lower deck.

In the dim light, under the huge gears, a large number of workers were washing the steel floor.

After seeing Cyrus and the salamander behind him, these people screamed and fled in all directions as if they saw the whip of a slave master. Among them was a child under ten years old hiding in a dark corner. He poked his head out, but was quickly pulled back.

The only sounds in the world were the rough meshing of gears and the collision of steel.

In front of the huge gear, illuminated by the only light source, were rows of corpses with their hands and feet bound, hanging there like a forest. What they had just cleaned up was the blood that fell from those corpses.

Tick
Tick
"Catch a few fresh ones and use their boiling blood to sacrifice to the Corpse King."

Click!

The sound of a bolter being loaded was heard.

heresy!

Lord Bourne was furious, his anger making the table in front of him tremble.

It’s bad enough that the governor of this planet doesn’t even give face to him, a wandering trader from the Empire.

Even an Astartes bullied him.

And he killed his people without permission?

He was the planetary governor appointed by the Empire, and was considered a "frontier official" in the Empire. The other party was just an Astartes, how dare he kill his retainer?
Isn't he afraid that the Inquisition will bring their entire regiment to trial?
Isn't he afraid of the pressure from the High Lords on the entire empire?
Isn't he afraid that his crimes will arouse the wrath of the Emperor?

In the Emperor's oral instructions, the Astartes were merely a tool for humanity to reach the stars, especially since he was the noblest human aristocrat besides the High Lords, the elite among the elites in the human empire.

"He killed Sir Nesius and also attacked our Bern Dynasty guards. If I hadn't run fast, we would have died. He must have been colluding with that planetary governor. They want to kill us. They must be coveting your letter of commission. Lord Bern, quickly, have the Astropath notify the Inquisition to try these heretics."

"Damn Astartes! Their nature is as untrustworthy as those heretics hiding in the Empire." The person next to him said hatefully.

"Enough." Bourne clenched his fists, his aged face etched with racist hatred. He stood from his throne and walked down, accusing the enemy below him. "These inhuman races should have been annihilated in the ancient Battle of Armageddon."

"The Imperial High Lords are always suspicious of their loyalty, and that is absolutely correct."

The arrogance of the aristocracy made the Lords of Bern of the Bern Dynasty look down on all those who were enslaved by them and the tools they were enslaving. In the war, the Astartes, who had betrayed the empire and caused dark turmoil, were pawns that these nobles absolutely did not trust.

Have Astropath make the announcement.

Then gather my soldiers, the Death Cults hiding below my decks, the Sisters of Battle, and the Marines of the Retainers who are aboard our ships.
Bourne hadn't issued his orders yet.

Outside the blood-red corridor paved with red carpet, a "slave owner" from the Bern Dynasty ran in and cried to Lord Bern.

"Lord Bourne!"

"Those people below the deck have rebelled again. Someone has released the two leaders. The rebels are now engaging our navy. Your retainers have opened the arsenal, allowing hundreds of thousands of common people to wreak havoc on your dynasty!"

"betray!!!"

"Retainer betrayal!"

"Who is it? The Nesius family, the Finier family."

Those retainers were Bourne's most trusted people, his allies, and his partners in colonizing the outside world. The sudden backstabbing made Bourne even more angry.

The retainers under him all expressed their loyalty, and even began to criticize some retainers whose interests conflicted with theirs. "Lord, our Kessef family is loyal to the Bern Dynasty."

"It must be the Finier family. They have always wanted to take the throne."

"Bullshit! It's you who are clearly trying to seize power. Your Logan family didn't suffer any casualties in this battle with Chaos. All the casualties were ours. The lord lost half of his soldiers."

His retainers blamed each other and shirked responsibility, wasting more than ten minutes, but no one offered any effective suggestions, which made Bourne's head almost explode.

Before Bourne could make a decision, someone came running in from outside the door in a panic, glanced at the person kneeling on the ground, and whispered to Lord Bourne.

"My Lord, we received a distress signal from the ground, but it only lasted a few seconds before disappearing. I suspect the Death Cult failed, leading to the planetary governor's attack on us. Should we attack this planet directly?"

"!!!"

The incidents against him one after another and the incompetence of his retainers made Lord Berne so angry that he almost lost his mind, but he still restrained his anger towards these retainers. He still relied on them. "The Death Cult! These useless people, feeding them with so many flesh and blood corpses, and in the end, not a single one of them achieved anything."

"And you, stop arguing."

"Even a broken ship has three thousand nails. Retainers have rebelled. So what if they are just rubbish from the Death Cult? Can a lousy planetary governor force us into a desperate situation? These Astartes must have been ordered by that planetary governor. I will bring them to the Inquisition one by one and let them face the Emperor's judgment."

"Follow me out! Suppress the rebellion."

Lord Bourne shouted loudly, but no one moved.

The door was pushed open again.

Outside the door, a ragged man stumbled in, followed by a group of common people chasing him. He was dressed like a lower-class slave. When he saw the luxury he had never seen before, his eyes were filled with the rich material world. Looking at the food on Governor Bourne's table that he had never seen before, he swallowed his saliva with desire.

But then he remembered something and crawled towards Bourne.

The common people who wanted to rush in were frightened away by the carpet made of blood and the solemn and dignified hall that they had never seen before. They even recalled the horrific scene of touching things that they should not have touched and being tortured again.

He shouted excitedly:

"Sir, sir, quickly catch those rebellious people. The riot was caused by a few monsters wearing red iron. They seduced my friend and rushed into your warehouse to rob your wealth. Look, I helped you get it back."

As he spoke, he took out an exquisite box from his bosom, the like of which had never been seen on the lower deck, stretched out his hands, and presented the things to the noble lord, whom he considered to be the most noble, elegant, and perfect, the most perfect that he had ever seen in his life.

But the people in the hall just smiled contemptuously and looked at him as if he were a fool.

Among a group of common people, there was a skinny mortal covered in blood, but he had no fear, no terror, only cold eyes, standing on the blood-stained carpet.

There were puncture marks on his hands and palms, and the blood stained the once "sacred" noble items.

It seems that those things that cannot be touched are not really untouchable.

Even if it is contaminated, no "curse" will befall.

　Paradox players attended the Emperor's Ascension Festival as VIPs

　　Europa Universalis player: I want the Empire STC template, I can buy the whole continent!

　　Hearts of Iron player: If I had the Empire's soldiers, the whole world would submit to me!

　　Crusader Kings player: I want [Daily Article], the whole world will not know about my little sister and I
　　
　
(End of this chapter)