Warhammer: Saving Humanity Begins with the Resurrection of Horus

Page 34

"Lynch" suddenly spoke, causing Eric to abruptly stop what he was doing.

"I don't have much time left to stay in this body. No matter what, I hope you can hear me say one last thing."

"Lin Qi" looked at the soldier kneeling in front of him, sighed slightly, and then cupped the soldier's rough cheeks in his hands.

The soldier's trembling body miraculously calmed down at that moment. He seemed to have turned into a statue, blank and no longer making any movements.

A few seconds later, his lips began to move, but no words came out. Instead, two streaks of water appeared below his eyes, extending all the way to the bottom of his cheeks.

"Why... Father... why is this happening...?"

Lin Qi shook his head, not answering the question. He looked around at the more than one hundred gazes that were now completely focused on him, and slowly spoke.

“You’re right. I was a traitor. Whether that betrayal was my intention or not, whether the future it led to was the ending I originally hoped for, none of that matters anymore. What matters is that I betrayed once.”

Silence fell; everyone present was plunged into a long, drawn-out silence.

“I will not deny it, or rather, I have no right to deny it. I can even tell you all the truth: when I returned here and was able to observe this world again, and then discovered that you are my offspring, my first reaction was shame. Yes, children, at that moment, I felt ashamed for you.”

They remained silent, but everyone present turned deathly pale, their condition mirroring that of the warrior whose cheek had just been touched. Some were even on the verge of losing control, but their last shred of reason held them back from succumbing to madness.

Eric stepped forward, and this time he did not kneel on one knee, but chose to kneel on both knees in a more humble manner.

He didn't speak, but anyone could read his meaning from his pleading eyes.

Lynch shook his head and chose to continue speaking.

“I feel ashamed for you, after all, I myself made a terrible mistake ten thousand years ago, and now, my descendants are going to make the same mistake as me.”

“I am in pain, my children, I am in great pain. Especially at the end, after careful consideration, I realized that the shame I felt did not come from you, but from myself.”

"The root of the problem lies with me. If it weren't for my mistakes back then, perhaps even that foolish child Huron wouldn't have led you to this point. Not only are you no longer loyal to the Empire, but you're also constantly moving towards the opposite side of humanity, and you're about to stand with your most bastard and foolish brother, Abaddon."

No, no, Father... Why did this happen? It shouldn't have been like this...

"but."

Yes, but...

"But everything can still be salvaged, can't it?"

The warriors on the verge of collapse were all stunned, as were the warriors who still retained their last shred of rationality. They all looked up at "Lynch," or rather, Horus.

"Humanity has fallen into darkness, but the Empire still exists. My father, the Emperor, still sits on the Golden Throne on Terra, lighting the Star Torch to provide us with the protection to roam the stars. We still have the Astragalus Army, the Imperial Navy, the Mechanicus, and... you."

"What the empire needs now is simply a group of people willing to stand up, a group of people willing to completely shoulder this heavy burden... So I made my choice. The reason for this choice is not to beg for forgiveness, nor to prove whether I am loyal now, but for something else."

Horus looked around. Although he was using Lynch's body, which was quite short, he could still make out each of the 169 people present, who were all kneeling.

“I will atone for my sins, starting here, by stopping one of my descendants from committing a grave mistake ten thousand years from now.”

He memorized the faces of everyone present, their every expression, and their every glance.

He returned to the high platform, looking down at the crowd. His expression was calm, and even his tone as he continued speaking was as flat as still water.

"I've said enough. You don't need to hear any more of my confessions and repentance. Now there's only one thing left for me to ask... Will you come with me?"

At first, no one responded to Horus's candid words.

Ryan was speechless. He lowered his head, unable to meet that calm face and those calm eyes. He felt a large hand gripping his heart tightly, as if preventing him from responding.

What should I do? Refuse? That's Horus Lupecal, the demon I saw in the chapter's records, the enemy of the entire human empire.

As a warband cleric, Ryan knew what he should do: wield his weapon and, at the very least, imprison the other side. Even without their help, it wasn't impossible for the people present to stage a coup and seize power.

However, Ryan also knew that even if they succeeded in seizing power, their warband would not continue to exist in the Empire. Huron had done too much, and the Empire would not give them any chance to atone for their sins. Destroying everything completely was actually the safest method.

Are you willing to accept that? Of course not.

Ryan was not afraid of death; he was only worried about the unpaid sins and the fate of humanity still struggling in the mud.

He wanted to atone for his sins, so he was willing to make his own choice.

"Atonement."

Ryan spoke, his voice not loud. He wasn't the first to answer, but he was one of the 169 Astartes present, their voices merging into a massive roar.

"Atonement!"

Horus smiled, looking at his offspring with a genuine smile—the first time he had smiled like this since his resurrection.

Can I truly atone for my sins?

"The human soul can always climb out of the abyss on its own, and so can you, my friend."

Chapter 46 The Coup Plan (One more chapter to come; the climax of the coup will be tomorrow)

trust.

Friendship.

connect.

Lin Qi pondered these three words, looking at the empty room before him. After a long silence, he shook his head slightly, then turned around and looked at the map projected onto the wall by the servo skull.

After Horus successfully reached an agreement with his offspring, Lynch worked with them to finalize the details of the next operation.

Horus stuck to his heavy firepower strategy. Rather than having personnel rush in to kill Huron and his loyalists, which had a greater uncertainty, he believed that using Land Raiders in combination with other heavy firepower vehicles to bombard the main building was a more prudent approach.

In other words, Horus wanted to use tanks to send Huron and his loyal followers to their deaths one by one.

However, the problem with this plan is also very obvious: the heavy firepower is basically sealed in the armory, which is open during the day and guarded by people selected by the Sixth Company, also known as the Vehicle Company, at night.

During the daytime, the sergeants of the Sixth Company here can help them borrow the vehicles they need, but if they start a coup and cannot finish it quickly, they will inevitably have to face the entire defensive force of the Thorn Royal Court.

At that point, even if Horus were to possess them and use the Primarch's charm to forcibly suppress a portion of the population, it could very likely cause serious consequences.

Therefore, Lin Qi insisted on operating at night.

If the plan is to obtain vehicle support from the armory during nighttime operations, then it is essential to find a way to eliminate the soldiers guarding the vehicles.

According to Casio, the sergeant from the sixth company among them, the personnel guarding the vehicles that night were unfortunately a squad loyal to Huron.

Although Huron could only fully control the first and third companies, this did not mean that there were no loyalists in the other companies.

It seems that a battle is inevitable, though they could also use a surprise attack to wipe out the entire squad before they can react.

However, Huron seemed to have anticipated this situation as well. The armory's code changed daily, and only the guard squad on duty knew it. They didn't have the time to conduct a thorough interrogation.

Fortunately, they had Lin Qi here, and Lin Qi's special abilities could successfully help them solve the problem of having heavy firepower but only during the day, and having heavy firepower but only at night.

Just now, he found Sergeant Casio, explained the situation to him, and probed his memories, attempting to extract the required vehicles.

In the end, Lin Qi successfully concluded that he could indeed successfully extract all those vehicles.

Although it will be tiring, this time it can be completed without the help of Horus or the Emperor to share the burden, and it will not result in the same temporary loss of mobility as after retrieving the power armor of the Imperial Guard last time.

Having solved this most crucial problem, all that remains are some details.

Eric and Ryan took the lead in devising a plan. Horus relayed the revised suggestions through Lynch, and once everything was finalized, everyone present was divided into teams, and their assigned tasks were then given to each person.

but.........

Lynch sighed softly. He thought of those three words again—trust, friendship, and connection. This was why Horus chose to believe his offspring, and it was also why Lynch chose to believe Horus and did not stop him from revealing his true identity.

I have a feeling that doing this will cause some problems later on...

After all, this galaxy has already caused countless troubles amidst the conspiracies and schemes under the guise of so-called "friendship."

So be it. We'll deal with whatever comes our way. The time for the coup has been set: tonight, on the first Terran hour after the gates of the Thorn Court are completely sealed.

That was also the first shift change for the patrol guards, with a fifteen-minute gap in between. This was the golden time for them to gather their forces and then launch a swift and decisive coup.

Shaking his head, Lin Qi looked at Eric beside him. After everyone else had left, he kept Eric behind to discuss how to resolve the last variable.

“Gawain has returned to Demore, and I received his message. They have made contact with the Weeping Ones and are expected to meet soon. The Angelic Sons will help us resolve the issues on orbit.”

Eric nodded slightly, then took a deep breath and revealed the last key variable in their plan so far.

That was Salkota, the think tank chief who sided with Huron.

"I have no way to deal with him."

Eric shook his head, acknowledging the gap between himself and the other person.

"Although we are all think tanks, the Chief Secretary is the most powerful one besides the Chief Think Tank."

"Not to mention that after hanging out with Huron, that guy somehow learned some kind of ritual and absorbed the power of the warp. Although his mind became somewhat abnormal, his psionic energy also became much stronger."

Eric made a series of predictions in his mind and finally came to a judgment that he believed to be fair.

"If it's Salkota, then he certainly has the ability to turn the tide of battle single-handedly."

Even if we have heavy firepower?

"I once saw him use his psionic powers to turn orc chariots into scrap metal on the battlefield."

Lynch fell silent. Eric's words made a lot of sense. After all, he himself was a psionicist, and after being protected by the Emperor, he had almost recklessly used psionic power and had a full understanding of it.

The power of psionic energy is undeniable; Alpha psionicists can even dismantle a Titan into useless parts with their bare hands.

As an Astartes think tank member, even disregarding the extent of his own psionic level enhanced by the warp ritual, Salkota's skill in using psionic energy was unparalleled, placing him among the most advanced figures in the think tank.

Therefore, they needed to deal with him even more, since this guy wasn't usually in the main building, and their initial firing wouldn't be able to eliminate him along with Huron and the others. And once they attracted his attention, the ensuing battle would undoubtedly be exceptionally fierce.

"Can Bell move?"

Lynch looked at Eric and asked directly about the situation of the bound chief think tank member.

After much thought, Lin Qi could only come up with one solution: using psychics to fight against psychics.

The fact that Huron could continuously drain Bell's psionic energy for such a long time, as the chief think tank, already demonstrates his formidable strength.

If we work with Eric, we might be able to take down that Salkota.

"The chains are not difficult to remove, but as Father said last time when you were bound, once they are removed, it will inevitably attract the attention of the real traitors."

Eric sighed and continued speaking.

"Moreover, Bell had his psionic energy drained for a considerable period of time, so it's fair to say that he was in such poor condition that even a new recruit could kill him with a weapon if he was lucky."

"Although it sounds harsh to say such a person, if he were to actually be released, he would have no other effect other than alerting the enemy."

After listening to Eric's words, Lynch frowned, his expression shifting between light and shadow. Horus, standing to the side, was also unable to find any suitable advice, so he lowered his head, crossed his arms, and pondered deeply.

"Do not."