Warhammer 40K in a box

Chapter 588 Iron Will
The air was filled with an increasingly strong smell, a mixture of scorching rocks, engine oil, and a powerful energy field.

At the end of the elevator shaft stood the incredibly heavy, adamantite gate to the Forge Council Hall, engraved with ancient runes and defensive branding.

More guards than ever before stood on either side of the gate.

All of everyone's sensors were focused on the original body emerging from the elevator.

The data streams collided silently and violently in the air.

The gate slowly opened before her, like mountains moving.

A heat wave strong enough to instantly vaporize flesh and blood, accompanied by a deafening roar, rushed towards us!

The sight of the Earth's core furnace hall is enough to instantly shatter any unmodified mind.

This is an enormous underground cavity, its dome towering into the swirling, hot haze.

At the center of the hall was a colossal furnace core, bubbling with blue-white plasma flames.

Its light, like a trapped sun, renders everything in extreme contrasts of black and white.

The enormous energy conduits crisscrossed like the blood vessels of a giant, delivering terrifying energy in all directions.

The walls and platforms, crafted from pure gold, distorted slightly in the eternal heat, and the ancient runes engraved on them seemed to burn and flow.

The ceaseless roar of the furnace is the only, overwhelming background music here.

It was Medusa's ferocious heart beating beneath her cold, metallic shell.

Representatives of the warbands from various clans have already gathered here.

They stood solemnly around the central furnace platform, their figures appearing blurred yet majestic in the distorted, hot air.

All conversations have ceased.

All the data streams seem to be waiting for a certain moment.

Chen Xi stood on a high platform, a little away from the core of the furnace, like a ghost blending into the shadows.

The Judge's Rose Badge reflected a cold light in the heatwave, silently observing everything.

Ferrus Manus strode toward the core of the furnace platform.

Her steps were heavy and steady, as if each step was leaving an eternal mark on the incredibly hard rock of the Earth's core.

The high temperature seemed to have no effect on her; the temperature regulation system on the surface of the power armor did not even make a sound of overload.

She stood still before the boiling plasma flame.

The furnace's light bathed her majestic form in a sacred and awe-inspiring glow.

From the enhanced container held by the servant skull beside him, Felus took out a huge, ancient scroll made of the leather of some long-extinct astral beast and hammered adamantite foil.

One of the original versions of the Gorgon Instructions.

The scroll made a dull rustling sound as it was unrolled.

The ancient runes and high Gothic script written on it seemed to come alive under the intense light and flames emanating from the core of the furnace.

It flows and shimmers on its surface like scorching lava.

"From this day forward!" Her voice pierced through the deafening roar of the furnace, striking the very core of every listener's soul with unmistakable clarity, like a hammer striking a hammer.

"The old 'Iron Council' is a thing of the past!"

"Its name will be swept into the dustbin of history along with its divisive and rigid thinking!"

Her words echoed in the heat, causing a faint hum of the servo joints and a focus adjustment of the optical lens.

"This institution, at the heart of this forge, in this place where the will of the Legion is reforged, is hereby officially renamed the 'Forge Council'!" she declared, her voice rising with unquestionable authority.

"From this day forward, all major decisions of the Legion must be passed by a joint vote of representatives from each clan's warband!" "No party may act unilaterally based on authority or knowledge!"

"The future of the legion must be forged by the will to fight and the wisdom to build it!"

The scroll curled slightly in the hot airflow generated by the furnace.

Her right hand, covered in liquid metal, pressed heavily onto the scroll.

His cold gaze swept over every heavily modified face hidden behind various masks and helmets.

It's as if you're trying to look directly into its deepest logical core.

"That outdated ritual of forcing new recruits to enlist by removing their flesh and blood, depriving them of the ability to feel pain and understand life, is a pathetic distortion of the true meaning of the perfect form that the emperor bestowed upon us!"

"From this day forward, it is hereby abolished!" she declared, each word like a final verdict, resolute and decisive.

"New recruits will retain their original limbs and focus on honing their willpower, discipline, and combat skills!"

"Only those who have served for a century and whose outstanding achievements prove their will is as unyielding as steel and their loyalty unwavering through the crucible of war are qualified to be awarded the honorary title of 'Iron Hand' and voluntarily undergo the procedure of modifying their left hand with a metal prosthetic body—"

She raised her right arm, which shimmered with a silvery-gray sheen and flowed slowly.

"This is neither punishment nor deprivation!"

"This is the highest recognition and supreme reward for a century of loyalty and fearless dedication!"

"It is the active fusion of a powerful will and perfect steel, the ultimate sublimation of the shield of protection!"

The hall fell silent, save for the eternal roar of the furnace flames.

The heat distorted the air, making the standing figure appear swaying.

Ulik Ironfellow stepped forward first and bowed deeply.

His voice transmitter, precisely modulated, emitted a steady and clear confirmation signal: "The Lakuan Clan upholds the Primarch's will and adheres to the new order. Will and steel will eventually unite."

Subsequently, after a brief but intense exchange of internal data, representatives from other clans successively issued signals of agreement.

The seeds of change have been sown in the furnace deep within the oldest and most passionate heart of this legion.

Felus handed the scroll of the Gorgon Instructions to the Servant Skull and stepped forward again.

She was so close to the boiling plasma flames that it seemed she would be swallowed up at any moment.

Her voice was deep and powerful, as if it came from the depths of the Earth's core.

Each syllable carries immense weight, crashing deep into the core of everyone's memory and the depths of their logical processing.

"Remember this! And etch this concept deep into the minds of every Iron Hand warrior, integrate it into every power armor activation procedure, and imprint it on every piece of steel about to be forged!"

She waved her arm, pointing to the endless furnace fire.

"We are the shield, our flesh and blood are the steel; our steel bodies protect all living beings."

“This is not empty chanting, nor is it mechanical dogma!” Her voice boomed like thunder in the hall.

"This is the very foundation of our existence! It is the sole meaning of our battle! It is the true purpose for which the Emperor bestowed upon us the name Iron Hands!"

"Steel is a tool to extend our will and fulfill our mission of protection, not a cold shackle that imprisons the soul, alienates humanity, and pursues a false 'purity'!"

As if to add a final footnote to her vow, the flames at the core of the furnace suddenly surged up once more.

The blue-white flames almost licked the towering dome!

The scorching heat carried her vow, echoing and colliding wildly in this temple, buried deep in the earth's core and a witness to countless rises and falls of legions.

It was as if even the cold, steel heart of the ancient planet Medusa itself was shaken and ignited in the face of this unprecedented reforging!
(End of this chapter)