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Chapter 147: Now, Let Us Atone for This Mistake!
🕑 Added 2025-09-13 13:53:28 +0000 UTCChapter 147: Now, Let Us Atone for This Mistake!
After briefly placating the crowd, Romulus took the file Arthur handed him. His eyes fell on the title—"Recommendations for the Rebalancing of Power within the Dawnbreakers, and a Contingency Plan for the Handling of the Ultramarines Lineage."
His mouth twitched, a hint of helplessness in his eyes.
It was truly absurd. These Space Marines only wanted to fight and kill on the front lines, to have their fun, but they avoided paperwork like the plague. And then, when someone took the initiative to handle it, they were branded as "ambitious."
Romulus sighed inwardly. His fingers tapped lightly on the table, a strange look in his eyes.
"No, I'm definitely giving these Dark Angels something to do."
He muttered to himself, then quickly added a few lines to the end of the file in his mind—[Real-time tactical data for the Dark Angels to be made public, and personnel to be detached to assist with paperwork.]
After writing it and sending it to his partners, he took a deep breath, spent a few seconds composing his expression to ensure no emotion showed, and only then did he turn to Cawl.
"Archmagos, our side will dispatch some technical personnel to assist with the decryption."
He considered the situation with the Fallen Angels under Arthur's command. There were a good number of Ironwing members among them. Their structure had been sorted out these past few days. It was time to put them to work.
Cawl was silent for a moment, then suddenly remembered that there was indeed a Dark Angel in the group of four. He opened his mouth, a bit confused as to why Romulus hadn't called these people out earlier, but then he swallowed his words.
He recalled Romulus's previous operation, slipping the relic-cruiser into the crusade fleet through Adeptus Mechanicus channels. He instantly understood.
Everyone's inserting their own people. Good, good...
A complex look flashed in his eyes, and then Cawl nodded. "I accept."
His gaze swept over everyone in the room as he mentally calculated the current state of the crusade fleet. He was secretly inserting his own Primaris Space Marine Chapters to replace the destroyed formations. The other Chapters, aside from the Crimson Fists' Firstborn Chapter, were, thanks to their abundant supplies, already recruiting soldiers from the Schola Progenium along the way to replenish their numbers.
The most astonishing were the Black Templars. They were madly building fortresses on the shrine worlds along their route, preparing their Chapter's strength. Anyway, the equipment production lines and gene-seed were all covered by the Dawnbreakers, so they naturally had no scruples.
And now, the leading Dawnbreakers were also starting to move...
Cawl knew that in the current era, there were still many ancient warriors scattered throughout the galaxy. It made no sense for Chaos to have a plethora of ten-thousand-year-old veterans while the loyalists had none. Warp travel had always been an equal opportunity employer.
They must have gathered another batch of Dark Angels from ten thousand years ago.
"But I request to observe. Also, I will be transferring the Ordinatus Majoris to the surface. Data sharing will be required at that time."
As a nation within a nation, the Adeptus Mechanicus... often, even their own techmarines, who were quite knowledgeable, might not be able to recognize the function and purpose of various pieces of equipment after boarding their ships. Although Cawl sometimes couldn't remember either, he couldn't let this group from the Dawnbreakers just look at everything. He had his pride too.
"Agreed." Romulus agreed, then gave Arthur a heads-up.
[Notice: Real-time strategic data has been made public. It can be accessed at any time.]
[Order: The Ravenwing Order is to detach five members every three days to assist Romulus with strategic planning. No delays will be tolerated.]
Aboard the Silent Vow, after issuing the order, Arthur walked towards the Dark Angels' garrison, a cheerful feeling in his heart.
These Fallen Angels... he was almost certain that within a day of taking on Romulus's tasks, they would, unable to handle the workload and unable to not complete the mission, find a way to make someone else take the fall. At that time, there would be another bloody storm within the Ravenwing.
He arrived at an optically camouflaged area and strode directly into it. The scene before him changed, revealing a doorway made of white marble. As Arthur advanced, the Round Table's door slowly opened.
Two-thirds of this ship was used to house basic production lines, auxiliary forces, and various other personnel. The remaining area was the Fallen Angels' free-roaming space. Arthur hadn't made any specific divisions. These Fallen Angels could arrange things themselves.
He observed the ciphers mixed in with the various decorations, planning his route in his mind. To an outsider, these were just beautiful lines. To him, they were very obvious clues.
After bypassing several checkpoints, exchanging a series of passwords, and dealing with the ambushes of a few Fallen Angels, Arthur, under the raised-hand salute of the "Vault Wardens" who were responsible for defending the Legion's secret technology, pushed open the door to a hidden room.
Forges, production lines, data centers, archives, and various technologies that were considered forbidden by the current Adeptus Mechanicus. The wide chamber was divided into several areas. At first glance, it was orderly and well-organized.
Arthur took a step back and stepped onto an elevator that had risen from behind him at some point. After a brief, silent darkness, an area that was completely identical to the previous scene was revealed before him.
This was the true home of the Ironwing.
"Zahariel." Arthur did not enter rashly. Under the cover of the white light, Castellax-class battle-automata, the same model as the Adeptus Mechanicus's, were on guard. The Dark Angels possessed most of the technology of the Adeptus Mechanicus. Compared to other Legions, they did not rely on the Adeptus Mechanicus's technical support.
He gently knocked on the surface of a battle-automaton with a specific frequency. The automaton finally lowered its weapon and began to report to its superior. Information about the Ironwing began to appear in Arthur's mind.
Of the five hundred Fallen Angels who had been recalled, nearly two hundred were members who had boarded with the Lion. The Ironwing accounted for half of this number. They were currently conducting technology integration work. The Dawnbreakers had the ability to provide a large number of prototypes; they needed these technicians to reverse-engineer the production methods.
With an abundant supply of materials and prototypes, the speed of these Ironwing's technology recovery was no less than that of the Tech-Magi.
"Your Highness!"
Less than two seconds after receiving the coded message, a Fallen Angel in a crimson tabard appeared from the shadows.
"Bring a technical team," Arthur said, tilting his body slightly. After giving the order, he turned directly.
Zahariel nodded, sent a message, and then strode to follow. Behind him, one Fallen Angel after another joined the team as they advanced.
From Zahariel's perspective, the area where Arthur was standing only allowed him to see the ciphers of the Terran-born and the Calibanite-boarding-party factions, so he naturally knew which people to bring.
"Mission: to decrypt an Ordinatus Majoris that has been encrypted by the Dark Angels."
Arriving at the transport platform for the Astartes, the personnel had already gathered. Under the guard of Castellax battle-automata that had been modified to look like medieval knights, Arthur led the group onto a Stormbird, connected to the mission's channel, and spoke.
"Which era?"
The ramp closed. A sense of weightlessness washed over them. Zahariel asked, beginning to think of a contingency plan in his mind.
"Ten thousand years ago. The period when the Lion recovered it from the forge world of Diamat," Arthur replied, his expression impassive. When communicating with the Fallen Angels, if conditions permitted, he would not choose to wear a helmet. If he was going to be open and honest, then he had to lead by example.
"..."
The bodies of some of the Fallen Angels began to tremble slightly. They already knew what this thing was. The various Ironwing members also knew why Arthur had brought them. After all, they were the ones who had performed the encryption back then.
At the same time, a deep doubt also filled their hearts.
Your Highness, how in the world are you able to remain so calm?
"In the future, similar questions can be assumed to be from ten thousand years ago," Arthur said, seeing the Fallen Angels, including Zahariel, trembling by a hair's breadth. He decided to tell a little secret to distract them.
"Why, my Lord?" Zahariel played along at the opportune moment.
Arthur nodded slightly, "The current Dark Angels have no Ironwing. Their Masters of the Forge, who are responsible for maintaining their various mechanical facilities, need to go to Mars for training."
As his words fell, a brief silence fell in the cabin. The corners of Zahariel's mouth, which had been twitching slightly, suddenly froze. His expression became complex and indescribable.
"Including the forbidden technologies?" Zahariel couldn't help but press, a hint of urgency in his voice. His fingers unconsciously tightened, his knuckles turning white. He was clearly very concerned about this topic.
Arthur nodded, his gaze calm, "After the destruction of Caliban, the new Dark Angels used a fragment of Caliban as a base to build their fortress-monastery."
"This monastery is called The Rock. It is used to house the various technologies collected after the war and serves as the Chapter's core hub. The Master of the Forge is called the Master of the Rock."
Outside, the Stormbird was plunging into the atmosphere. The intense friction dyed the sky a blood-red. The scorching light shone through the viewports into the room, plating the armor of the crowd with a faint red glow.
"They are the elite and leaders among the techmarines. Every Master of the Forge will give up his life as a human and become a part of The Rock's control system."
"From the plasma reactors to the void shields, from the most basic production lines to the most forbidden technologies, from the fortress defense arrays to the private security systems, all are under their control."
The more they felt the importance of this Master of the Forge in Arthur's words, the more speechless the various Ironwing members became.
"Then the Icarus Protocol..."
The Dark Angels possessed a large number of STCs that had been personally granted and were kept by the Emperor, as well as the Icarus Protocol, which allowed them to, through their own judgment, prioritize the extermination of Adeptus Mechanicus worlds. They were originally higher in the ecological chain than the Adeptus Mechanicus. Their entire equipment was self-produced. They were seen as the Emperor's final insurance against the Adeptus Mechanicus. During the Great Crusade, they had already executed this protocol on eight forge worlds.
"In recorded history, the protocol has been activated eight times."
Then that means it's never been activated at all!
The Ironwing members roared in their minds, and at the same time, they were sure that very few people in the current Dark Angels even remembered this protocol.
"Our Legion... how did it become like this?" an Ironwing member muttered.
"After the end of the Great Betrayal, the Dark Angels, after a period of chaos, chose to respond to Guilliman's Codex Astartes and split up. Currently, they have only retained the Deathwing and the Ravenwing."
"Their successor Chapter, the Star Phantoms, corresponds to the Dreadwing. The Consecrators correspond to the Firewing. The Ironwing and Stormwing are unknown," Arthur replied, not explaining where these secrets had come from.
That damned Guilliman! Why did the Angel die in the Great Betrayal and not Guilliman!
"The Ironwing is gone."
After a round of slander against a certain Thirteenth Legion Primarch in his mind, Zahariel was very clear about one fact. The Dark Angels had sunk to the point of having to go to Mars to train their techmarines. How could the Ironwing still exist?
Wait a minute...
The various Fallen Angels suddenly reacted. They had caught a blind spot.
So the current Dark Angels can't even assemble all six wings?
The Ironwing members looked at each other. Their five hundred or so men could assemble all six wings and the nine Great Orders.
This copyright issue... it seems there's really room for negotiation.
You don't know your own duties, you've disbanded the structure the Lion left behind, you don't have Caliban, and you don't have the Lion.
This isn't the Dark Angels.
The group immediately stared at Arthur.
"We have arrived," Arthur said, standing up and being the first to disembark.
The Ironwing members immediately followed with their automata and equipment.
They arrived together at a firing platform that was protected by a ground-based void shield. Here, besides Ramesses, who was responsible for reviewing the Chaos corruption, and Cawl, who was responsible for the decryption, the Ordinatus Majoris was also waiting.
The Ironwing members all muttered to themselves. It really was one of the two Ordinatus Majoris from back then. This world was always full of wonderful coincidences.
The Ordinatus Majoris, which had been ordered by Horus, timely recovered by the Lion, then tricked away by Perturabo, and had finally blown a few holes in the walls of Terra—after a long and winding journey, it had finally come into the hands of the Dark Angels from ten thousand years ago.
"Archmagos Cawl," Arthur was the first to speak, making Cawl, who was still observing the database, stand up. The Archmagos took a few steps back. A barrier to insulate information visibly appeared around him, which made the color of his spare body dim quite a bit.
"Arthur."
After pulling back to a distance he considered safe, he nodded to the Dark Angels. "The decryption is in your hands."
"Good." Arthur waved his hand, and Zahariel, who had long since composed himself, went forward with a few Ironwing members. Arthur also moved closer, to a distance that would not interfere with the Ironwing's work, and began to scan the information of this Ordinatus Majoris.
The Archmagos, as if avoiding the plague, took a few more steps back.
"Is there any Chaos corruption?" Arthur asked.
"Not serious. It's very simple to deal with. The core system has not been corrupted. This machine has been fired very few times," Ramesses replied.
Thanks to the careful maintenance of the Iron Warriors, this machine had not been corrupted by Chaos. If it had fallen into the hands of the Death Guard, they would have had no interest in recovering it.
The Ironwing members, after having their brothers from the Order of the Pentagram carefully screen it, finally accessed the system of the Ordinatus Majoris, unlocking the encryption they had left ten thousand years ago.
They were preparing to install a new encryption. This Ordinatus Majoris had to be in the hands of the Dark Angels.
"Hey, I have an idea," Ramesses suggested. "How about we call the new password 'Make Lion the Warmaster!'?"
The hand Zahariel was operating slipped. He managed to stop it in mid-air with a great effort. This damned Thousand Son knew too many secrets. It was one thing to disguise himself as a Deathwing and mess with them before, but now he was just saying whatever he wanted. He took a deep breath, telling himself that this was a close friend of His Highness, and that it was normal for them to share information, and suppressed the method for making this Thousand Son "loyal."
[Ordinatus-004, Tiamat II-pattern Ordinatus Majoris, belonging to the Dark Angels Legion.]
[Command: Overwrite original authority, re-input encryption program.]
A few dozen seconds later, with the activation of the power system, a series of data appeared on the science-fiction-esque control panel of the Ordinatus Majoris, its signature clearly displayed.
Cawl glanced at Arthur from a distance.
Arthur simply organized the various data and structure of the Ordinatus Majoris itself and sent it over.
The Archmagos immediately turned and left, while also adding another order to the fleet he had prepared for the Dawnbreakers.
For the vast majority of Adeptus Mechanicus Magi, knowledge was wealth. Preserving it was more important than using it. Because knowledge in hand was wealth. If it was used, it would be reverse-engineered, cracked, and then devalued by various parties.
Cawl had a deep understanding of this.
But when he discovered that the Dawnbreakers also intended to promote it, he actually didn't care too much. This was the biggest difference between Cawl and the other Adeptus Mechanicus Magi. He cared more about the process of discovering and creating knowledge. As long as the final flow of this knowledge was not towards Chaos, he didn't care too much.
He was even happy to see it promoted. It was just that there was no one to take the fall, and he himself was afraid of trouble, and also had a more important mission, so he couldn't be bothered to get involved in so much.
So Cawl was a worthy object of friendship. The Dawnbreakers also welcomed Cawl's proposal for technology sharing.
"When can it be officially put into operation?"
Having completed the transaction with the Archmagos, Arthur and Ramesses looked at each other and turned to ask.
"Any time," Zahariel replied.
"Then begin the pre-heating. Connect to the combat command in thirty seconds," Arthur commanded, then stepped up to the control console. He had already understood the operation model.
"Acknowledged."
K-CHUNK!
An Ironwing member pushed a lever. The reactor of the Ordinatus began to burn. The energy, under the correct guidance of the distribution system, was sent to every part of this massive machine.
This machine, which had been cold for countless years, finally began to move again.
"Back then, Perturabo promised the Lion that he would use this weapon in a suitable place. But it is clear that Perturabo did not fulfill his promise," Arthur said softly, stroking the panel of the Ordinatus.
Zahariel and the others' faces were grim. They looked at the fortress occupied by the Iron Warriors in the distance, their eyes shooting out killing intent.
Although the Lion had many problems, he was ultimately loyal. He just wanted to be the Warmaster. The Dark Angels all hoped that the Lion, who represented the First Legion, could become the Warmaster.
And the Iron Warriors, this honorless legion, were true traitors.
They had deceived the Lion, deceived the Dark Angels, and had sullied this hard-won trust.
They had to repent!
"Now, let us use her in a suitable place."
"Yes, Your Highness."
(End of Chapter)
