Chapter 39: News from the Astropaths
The damned trolley problem…
At this moment, the wails from the interrogation room also ceased.
Ian emerged, looking exhausted, but he held a special data storage unit in his hand.
"Souls pledged to the Dark Gods are truly resilient to torture. Fortunately, he was carrying some useful items. I hope your Tech-Priest can decode the information within. Though the information might be fragmented, it should still be useful."
Zestha, having undergone extensive mechanical modification, had also had his brain replaced with machinery. This actually made it easier for Ian. After completely shattering his mental defenses, Ian used a special data extractor in his possession to retrieve partial data from Zestha's brain.
The price, however, was Zestha's utter demise, though no one cared about his death anymore.
Pavian proactively stepped forward, took the data storage unit, and approached a Cogitator.
He inserted the storage unit and began decoding. A large amount of fragmented information appeared on the screen.
[Reading data…]
[Agathos…]
[Provide weapons to rebels…]
[Final Dawn…]
[Seek Mongorte Dynasty's treasury…]
The information was scant, but crucial.
"Final Dawn… Holy Terra, this thing has appeared on my territory? I remember the Word Bearers are behind this cult, right? Don't tell me my capital world is also hiding a few of those 'cans'?"
Although in the game he had easily defeated that Word Bearer, he didn't believe for a second that here, a Chaos Space Marine would be such a pushover. There might even be more than one.
It seemed the chaos on his capital world wasn't just about power struggles; a cult was fanning the flames from behind the scenes.
And this cult also had the Dark Mechanicum providing them with weapons.
Moreover, the information also stated their target was his Dynasty's treasury. What exactly was hidden in that treasury?
"Captain Lucan! What did the information mention?" Ian asked.
"The target of these bastards is my capital world. They are secretly supplying weapons to the rebels, and a cult called the 'Final Dawn' is stirring up trouble behind it all."
"Final Dawn?"
"Inquisitor Ian, you've heard of this cult organization as well?"
"I have. These heretics have appeared in many places. They believe this world is destined for destruction and only through destruction can the world be rebuilt. They are on the Inquisition's high-priority watchlist! No wonder our Inquisitorial personnel on Agathos lost contact."
Closing the Cogitator interface, Lucan and the others returned to his flagship.
He was finding that combat seemed to be the easiest part; the aftermath was what truly tested a person. He first asked Verre if he knew what was in the Dynasty treasury, but Verre didn't know either; only the Rogue Trader was qualified to enter it. But what could possibly be valuable enough to be targeted by both the Word Bearers and the Dark Mechanicum?
And with their arrival at Omiron, the distance to Agathos was now within the range for normal Astropathic communication.
Lucan first had the Astropathic Choir contact Jae Heydari in Footfall. Fortunately, the Warp currents between them were relatively stable, allowing the message to be transmitted completely.
However, when Jae heard that she needed to find a way to gather food for 40 million people for two months, her first reaction was that it was simply impossible…
Footfall itself was a place with insufficient food. To gather this much food, the only way was to procure it from other locations.
"This Rogue Trader's request is truly demanding. By the God-Emperor, food for 40 million people for two months! It's a testament to Lord Lucan's trust that he gave me this task," Jae mused as she looked at the message delivered by the Astropath.
"Boss, food for 40 million people? That's impossible! Where are we going to find that much grain? We usually deal in smuggled goods; who would have thought we'd ever need to buy food? We don't even have the channels! And how would we transport it? With our rickety old transport ship? It doesn't even have Warp drive capability!"
Jae's underlings were already advising her to give up. Jae had only about two hundred people under her command; although well-informed, their actual strength was lacking.
"No… I don't intend to give up. Opportunity! This is an opportunity! Do you all want to be rats in Footfall for the rest of your lives?"
"I don't want to either! I also want to be a person of status, I want to be a noble lord! But what can we do if our strength doesn't allow it?"
"Yes, in the past, we couldn't. But now, things are different…"
"What do you mean by that, Boss?"
"Do you see this? Lord Lucan Mongorte hereby announces that Jae Heydari is the Mongorte Dynasty's representative in Footfall!
Previously, we were just secretly operating under his banner. Now, we are legitimate!
Those people we weren't qualified to deal with before, now we are. To slight us is to slight the Mongorte Dynasty.
And most importantly, he has given us the capital to negotiate with others!
A trade authorization for 500 sets of CMC combat suits! You must have heard about the deals the Lord Captain made with the Navy and the Mechanicus, right? You should be well aware of the value of these things. No one would dare to refuse.
Go! Go and notify all the major powers in Footfall! There's big business to be done!
We are no longer criminals. Now, I too am a loyal servant of the God-Emperor! The Rogue Trader's representative!"
Jae's words made her underlings incredibly excited. No one is born wanting to be a criminal. If they could, they too wanted to wear fine clothes, enjoy power and delicacies. If this was true, then this was a leap in social class for them, an opportunity that, if missed, might never come again in their lifetimes…
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"Do you really trust a gang leader from Footfall?" Verre felt Lucan was being somewhat rash in entrusting such an important task, and 500 CMC suits, to Jae. If she messed up, the Mongorte Dynasty's reputation would be ruined.
"She's no ordinary gang leader. A descendant of a legitimate Imperial noble family, who came here from a distant star sector and made a name for herself – would such a person be ordinary? I believe she can do it!"
"How do you know her background?"
"The God-Emperor told me!"
"Huh?"
"Have the Astropaths from Agathos replied?" Lucan changed the subject.
"They have. But perhaps because the Astropaths on Agathos also suffered losses, or due to Warp interference, the information is very fragmented. There's good news and bad news."
"Let's hear the good news first…"
"The good news is that the Uphive and the Spire District of Agathos's capital are still in loyalist hands. The hive city has not completely fallen."
"Then the bad news is that other areas have been lost?"
"I'm afraid so… We just don't know to what extent the situation has deteriorated. The Astropaths could only obtain this much information.
Those short-sighted fools! Internal strife within the Dynasty should be limited to political struggles; they are creating a war! No matter what, it's a loss for the Dynasty!
However, Agathos still has some food reserves. We must resolve the dispute as quickly as possible. If this drags on, the problem will only become more severe than on Omiron. The starving population we'll have to face won't be the 40 million on Omiron, but billions!
Moreover, the help Jae can provide is only temporary; it doesn't solve the fundamental problem."
"As long as it can alleviate the immediate crisis, that's enough. Once things stabilize, the SCVs can rapidly repair this world. We have high-value goods; we can absolutely get through Omiron's recovery period through trade."
Lucan's plan was to retake Agathos as quickly as possible. Once he controlled his capital world, he could also load his second game program.
And with Omiron now experiencing widespread starvation, Lucan discovered that until the food problem was completely resolved, the System actually didn't register him as having completed the task of controlling the planet…
It seemed this kind of dominion required the acceptance of the planet's human population and a stable situation.
"One more thing. Inquisitor Ian said he intends to report the possible appearance of heretics to the Inquisition."
"No! Tell him the Astropaths need rest due to prolonged astrotelepathic communication! If an Inquisitorial fleet truly comes, they won't be sentimental about bombarding our own hive city if it comes to it! We can resolve this ourselves!"
"I understand!"
(End of Chapter)