Warhammer 40K in a box

Chapter 576 The Court's Response
The deepest strategic chamber in the Governor's Palace.

The thick soundproofing and the adamantite walls etched with anti-psychic runes compressed the space into an almost absolute prison of silence.

The only sounds were the deep, perpetual hum of the Thinkers' Array and the monotonous, cold hiss of the air circulation system, creating a tomb-like stillness.

On the massive adamantite desktop, two documents, like incriminating evidence awaiting sentencing, exuded an ominous aura under the faint glow of the desktop's dark blue tactical star map.

One of them was a specially treated parchment, branded with the court's glaring "I" emblem, and sealed with scarlet wax like congealed blood—it was Judge Qasim Warren's report, burning with personal hatred and fanatical accusations between the lines.

The other document, however, was meticulously formatted and impeccably worded, bearing the cold electronic seal of the Mariupol District Court headquarters—a formal announcement from "within the system," carrying the inhuman coldness characteristic of the institution.

Chen Xi was shrouded in the shadow of the high-backed chair, his knuckles unconsciously tapping the cold, fine-metal tabletop, producing a rhythmic, soft "tap, tap" sound that, in the deathly silence, resembled the second hand of a countdown.

His gaze first fell on Warren's report.

The deliberately bolded words, like poisoned daggers, pierced the eye: Confirmation of access control code records; direct transactions with the abominable intelligent entity "Watchers"; serious violation of Imperial laws and the Codex Mechanics; an unforgivable crime; no overt contamination has been found in the acquired technology, but its source is inherently corrupt, containing unpredictable risks of disaster; the Rostov subsector has become a major source of instability due to this technology and the core containment object "Blackrock Cage-7"; it is strongly recommended to raise the surveillance level to "Purification" and request authorization to formulate and prepare a "Death Order" level final purification plan.

The text is filled with Warren's personal fanaticism and unquestionable accusations, and every word is designed to brutally brand the technological dawn that has just blossomed on the test field with the shameful marks of "heresy" and "filth".

The knocking stopped abruptly.

Chen Xi picked up the more "official" and colder copy of the Sector Tribunal document, the touch of the paper sending an inorganic chill through his fingertips.

The final ruling from the Sector Headquarters was written above in standard Gothic High Gothic:
To: His Excellency Chen Xi, Governor of the Rostov Sub-sector and Chief Inquisitor of the Anti-Foreign Religious Order
From: Internal Affairs Coordination Department, Mariupol District Court Headquarters

Subject: Inquiry and Self-Assessment Regarding Potential Risks of Specific Activities in the Rostov Sub-sector

The document, lengthy and cold, reiterated the core allegations in the Warren Report—serious violations of Imperial law, the Codex Mechanicus, and the prohibition against Abominations to Intelligence, constituting the highest level of heresy suspicion, posing a potentially catastrophic risk to Imperial security, and seconded recommendations to increase the level of surveillance and prepare a purification plan.

However, based on the current information and comprehensive considerations, the regional headquarters made a crucial decision:

No final guilty or not guilty verdict has yet been reached on Judge Warren's charges.

Upgrading the surveillance level of the Rostov sub-sector has not yet been authorized.

No authorization has been granted to activate any form of purification plan.

The factors to be considered were listed one by one:

Nature of the evidence and complexity of the assessment: The technology involved and its source entity (“Watchmen”) are beyond the scope of conventional understanding, and the final assessment authority should belong to the Mars Foundry Council or a higher-level institution in Terra.

The strategic importance of the secondary sector: Rostov is the core frontline hub in the current fight against the Sotek dynasty threat, and any hasty action could bring unacceptably high risks.

His Excellency Chen Xi's identity and authority: As the Inquisitor of the Anti-Foreign Religion, personally appointed by the Emperor, Chen Xi possesses extremely high independent discretionary power.

Headquarters respects its professional judgment in the face of the complex situation on the front lines.

Unilateral nature of the allegations and the status of the chain of evidence: Warren's report is currently a unilateral allegations and has not yet formed an irrefutable and conclusive chain of evidence.

Procedural justice requires that such important matters be subject to thorough independent investigation and questioning by a higher-level court or special committee.

The current phase involves only information dissemination and preliminary risk assessment. The regional headquarters' decisions and requirements will follow shortly thereafter:

Formal notification: Mr. Chen Xi has been formally notified of the core allegations in the Warren Report and the preliminary assessment findings of headquarters, along with an encrypted copy of the report.

A self-examination and response are strongly recommended (in essence, required):

Your Excellency Chen Xi must conduct a thorough self-examination of the activities alleged in the report.

If any information exists that clarifies the allegations, provides supplementary information, or offers counter-evidence—especially key evidence that clearly proves the following three points:

(i) The source of technology is not averse to intelligence;

(ii) The technology itself poses no pollution risk;

(iii) The containment procedures for "Black Rock Cage-7" are absolutely secure;
This could raise specific and compelling challenges to Warren's chain of evidence;

You must submit a formal written response report with the highest encryption level to the sector headquarters within 30 days of Standard Terran time.

Highest standard control requirements:
The research, application, and dissemination of "psychic stable field" technology must be continuously controlled with the highest standards.

The "Black Rock Cage-7" containment item must be secured with extraordinary measures to ensure its absolute safety.

Any technology leaks, containment failures, or resulting chaos contamination, heresy proliferation, or major security incidents caused by inadequate control will be considered indirect confirmation of Warren's allegations and may force headquarters to take more stringent follow-up measures.

Continued monitoring and observation:
Headquarters will maintain a high level of vigilance over the Rostov sub-sector.

Judge Warren has been instructed to deploy his investigation fleet to the outer reaches of the sub-sector's legal warning zone for compliance observation.

The headquarters reserves the right to reassess the situation and adjust measures (including but not limited to upgrading surveillance levels and authorizing purification plans) based on subsequent developments.

This cold official document from "one of their own" made Chen Xi feel a heavy, institutional pressure from the massive bureaucratic machine, even more so than Warren's malicious accusations.

It neither endorsed Warren's extermination order nor dismissed it as nonsense.

It simply wrapped this bomb, whose fuse Warren had already lit, in a fancy yet cold package called "procedural justice" and "risk warning," and then precisely shoved it back into Chen Xi's hand.

The subtext is naked and clear: Warren, that mad dog, is relentlessly pursuing you, with seemingly plausible reasons.

We've temporarily tightened the chain around him, but how long and how tight it will last depends entirely on your subsequent behavior and statements.

Take good care of your belongings and make sure nothing goes wrong.

If something goes wrong, it means you're in the wrong, and we can only enforce the law impartially.

Meanwhile, Warren's gun is pointed right at your temple, and we tacitly approve or even authorize its existence.

(End of this chapter)