Warhammer 40: Starting as a Rogue Trader

Chapter 237 The Threat of the Imperial Guard

Everyone turned to Trajan, the uninvited guest. Trajan looked up at the high-ranking lords and tried his best to suppress his anger.

"I guarantee the truth of this matter in the name of the Imperial Guard! The High Lords Council must cooperate with this operation!"

Everyone was surprised by Trajan's arrival. Normally, the Imperial Guard would not participate in the council; they would only stay in the palace. Zlata had not informed Trajan of the Star Language in advance.

But it was as if the other party already knew.

This time, Trajan did not come alone; he was followed by several squads of the Imperial Guard, including two Shield Guard company commanders.

Although the Imperial Guards haven't displayed their strength for a long time, the High Lords are well aware of their combat capabilities.

They could certainly sense the anger in Trajan's voice, but those who had always held high positions remained calm and composed.

It was precisely because of the Imperial Guards' loyalty to the Emperor that they felt the Imperial Guards would not disobey the Emperor's orders and attack them.

Meanwhile, the Minister of the Interior, Iltu, has even begun calling upon the executioners exclusively for the High Lords—the ferocious Minotaur warbands.

Trajan looked back at the passage he had come from. The sound of orderly footsteps came from the corridor outside the hall. The mortal guards retreated in fear to make way for the newcomers. The minotaurs Astartes, wearing brass-colored power armor, were gathering in the hall.

Leading the group was their commander, Astlüon Morlock, who was even taller than the Imperial Guards, and he gripped the weapon called the Black Spear tightly in his hand.

He held a finely crafted storm shield tightly in his hand.

Trajan looked at the Minotaur Astartes before him. He knew their chapter commander; they were strong, but not strong enough.

The opponent's combat strength is comparable to that of the Shield Guard Company Commander, but there is still a gap between them and themselves.

These loyal lackeys of the Highlords came to support their master even though they knew they were Imperial Guards.

"Commander Trajan, the Imperial Guard is bound by the Terra Oath and should not participate in the internal affairs and decision-making of the Empire!"

Some high lords, however, remained on the sidelines and did not offer any opinions.

Take, for example, the Grand Master of the Assassin's Court.

"No oath can supersede the Emperor and the Empire. When the time is truly needed, the Royal Guard will once again go to help his people, just as they once did when they were by the Emperor's side. High Lords! You seem to have forgotten! You are not the owners of the Empire. The master of this vast Empire will always be the Emperor."

You are shepherds to whom the Emperor has granted power. The Emperor did not give you power so that you could satisfy your own selfish interests. The Imperial Guard knows everything you have done! And now you are still thinking about your own interests?

And you! Pope of Leicester! As the leader of the state church, a believer in the great Emperor and sworn to dedicate everything to Him, when the Emperor's son returns, are you unwilling to assist him? Instead, do you stand by and watch coldly? Or perhaps your faith isn't as steadfast as you claim?!

Trajan's words sent a chill down Leicester's spine.
"Of course not under Trajan! The Primarch's return is good news for the entire Empire, and the state religion will naturally follow the Emperor's offspring! Please rest assured!"

"I hope so, Pope Leicester. There are quite a few cults hiding in Terra. I hope your priests and inquisitors can work together. I believe you don't want Lord Guilliman to return to a Terra like this, do you?"

Trajan's voice was undisguisedly threatening; he had no liking for the priests of the state religion, which, in a sense, defied the emperor's will by worshipping him as a god.

"I will immediately notify all the churches and priests in Terrane, and I will also contact the Ministry of Justice and Lord Witt's men to investigate the heresy with all our might!"

"I hope so! Pope Leicester, please remember! Though the Emperor sits on the Golden Throne, He is always watching over us!"

Trajan's words caused a change in the expressions of some of the High Lords, a mixture of anger and fear.

The strength of the Imperial Guard exceeded their expectations. They had only summoned the Minotaur Warband to demonstrate their authority, but the High Lords dared not actually fight against them.
There are also tens of thousands of imperial guards inside the palace.

Seeing the high lords' reaction, Tula had a strong urge to chop them all down, but he suppressed it.

"Commander Trajan, everything we do is for the sake of the Empire. I will immediately arrange for the Ministry of the Interior to begin coordinating resources, and I believe that the Ministry of Military Affairs and Admiral Perez of the Navy will also do their utmost!"

Iltu looked at the other two high lords.

"Then let's move out! The Imperial Guard will also send personnel to accompany the fleet!" Trajan's eyes flashed with a hint of ferocity.

He doesn't trust these Highlords; some are already on the death list, and he'll hand over their misdeeds to the Great Primarch when Guilliman returns to Terra.

At that time, Guilliman will decide the fate of these people.

He cannot sentence them to death yet. First, the Imperial Guards have no right to kill them. Second, these high lords have not truly betrayed the Empire, and at this critical juncture, the Empire does need their help. None of those who have reached the position of high lord are useless.

Their abilities are recognized by everyone.

The empire still needs their coordination in all aspects.

However, some of the high lords did indeed cause Trajan some trouble. He knew that some situations were beyond his and the Custodians' ability to resolve.

The guard who had returned from Lorissa had already told Trajan everything he knew.

The information he now possesses is the key to making him break the vow he once made.

Trajan may not seem to be involved in the empire's politics, but he is very knowledgeable about the empire at that time.

The moment he learned of the existence of warp technology, he realized Gao Yi's importance. Putting everything else aside, this alone was enough for the Emperor to have them fully support Gao Yi.

Gao Yi told the Imperial Guard that the warp technology had not yet been successfully mass-produced, and that before it was fully mass-produced, the Empire still could not do without these navigators, which had developed into behemoths.

The Empire still needs countless Navigator families to assist the Imperial warships in their navigation, and once the Navigator families learn of the existence of warp technology, they will inevitably threaten the Empire before the technology becomes widespread.

If this happens, the empire will be crippled.

The advent of the jump engine will completely replace these navigators, rendering everything they currently possess meaningless.

The existence of quantum communication would threaten the status of the Star Speakers, but the Star Court's business scope is not limited to star speech, so the impact on them is much smaller than that on the Navigator family.

Many star talkers don't even want to do this dangerous job, as it could easily drive them crazy.

Before the chaos invades, they are often the first to be targeted or killed.

From the actions of some of the high lords just now, Trajan knew that this conflict was almost inevitable, and how to resolve it was completely beyond his capabilities.

We can only leave it to Gao Yi and Guilliman to solve.

Under Trajan's strong coercion, countless Star Language messages spread from Terra to all parts of the Empire. Some cumbersome procedures were forcibly reduced, and the harsh Star Language messages caused some star sectors that had been observing to begin to mobilize the fleets they could to move closer to Guilliman.

A massive purification operation has begun on Terra.

Trajan also sent his royal guard to participate in the operation.

Furthermore, Trajan also dispatched a hundred members of the Royal Guard and the Silent Sisters, whom he had secretly summoned, to Cadia.

Countless resources were also mobilized from various warehouse planets and resource planets.

Under the threat of the Custodian Army and the return of the Primarchs, the High Lords are mobilizing resources and manpower as quickly as possible.

When they collaborated as much as possible and unprecedentedly reduced some unnecessary processes, they also discovered that they had more resources at their disposal than they had imagined.
Some planets have accumulated so many resources that they have to be destroyed. Even so, the taxes collected are still transported to these planets, and this relocation actually reduces the pressure on these planets.

The cost of maintaining and transporting these supplies is even higher than their actual value.

Once the Empire's massive war machine is fully operational, it will be enough to make any race in the galaxy tremble.

(End of this chapter)