The mobilization meeting quickly reached an agreement: the operation would commence three days later, at the first bell of the morning shift change. Following this, the leaders of the various camps, who had rushed over, immediately returned to their own territories without delay.
"Swain, there shouldn't be any problems, right?" Corax asked, watching the hurried departure of the crowd.
"Don't worry, I've sent a team of Shadow Assassins to secretly protect each camp; nothing will happen," Swain said, attempting to pat Corax on the shoulder, but awkwardly realizing the significant height difference, he gave up.
Corax was good in every aspect, except for this occasional flaw, a common ailment among idealists, often falling into repeated fantasies.
"Is the Emperor's genetic technology not mature enough, or is this one of Emperor's inherent character flaws?" Swain recalled the unhappy, twisted pursuit of 'perfection' by Corax and concluded that it was most likely the latter.
Each of the 21 Primarchs inherited certain traits from the Emperor, with the most evident being the Archangel Sanguinius, who inherited the Emperor's divinity, and Vulkan, the Lord of Drakes, who inherited the Emperor's humanity. If Sanguinius were still alive ten thousand years later, he would need to do nothing but stand before the Ecclesiarchy, and they would pray fervently to the Archangel. Similarly, if Vulkan had not gone missing ten thousand years later, the mere mention of his name would bring a glimmer of solace to the suffering masses of the Imperium in an increasingly desperate galaxy.
Undoubtedly, Corax, besides inheriting the Emperor's prowess in stealth, was also an idealist like the Emperor.
"Idealism is only powerful when it does not deny reality," a sudden, unbidden thought appeared in Swain's mind.
"Stop worrying about such trivial things. Everyone has their own destiny. We just need to do our best within our capabilities. With great power comes great responsibility. Let's go," Swain said, turning to look at the increasingly tall Primarch, inviting him to move. Since the mission time was set, it was time for them to act.
"Destiny?" Corax continuously pondered these two words. It seemed that ever since he arrived on Lycaeus, Swain had emphasized this to him more than once. How could a clever Primarch not discern the implied meaning? But Crow King could not grasp the deeper implications within.
"If you can't understand it, don't think about it. You'll naturally understand after you've experienced some things," Swain said, looking at Corax beside him.
As the group successively left the camp, the atmosphere across Lycaeus shifted from its usual aimless busyness to a more chilling solemnity.
At the bottom of the High Tower.
"My Lord, everything is ready. The weapons for the garrison handover have been inspected and stored. We just await your command to completely eradicate those lowly slaves," Budelin reported respectfully to Agamemnus.
"There's an ancient saying in old texts: 'No day is better than today.' Consider it a congratulatory gift for tomorrow's Second Dome," Agamemnus said, raising a cup of Ceylon black tea. The rich aroma filled his nostrils, and then he drained it in one gulp.
"Your will be done," Budelin said, receiving Agamemnus's authorization. He smiled, bowed, and walked out with elegant steps. On this trip, he would bring ultimate death to those culprits who defied his master and caused his salary and bonus to be cut in half. For this, his inner cheer was louder than anyone else's.
"Kill, kill all these lowly slaves!" Budelin's heart was filled with anger that threatened to burst his chest. Blocking someone's financial path is akin to killing their parents!
With the heavy mortars, they wouldn't need much time to destroy this accursed camp. The overseers only needed to push the heavy mortars onto the transport train and stop at the closest point to The Saviour Camp. The range of the heavy mortars could perfectly cover the enemy's camp.
"They surely won't realize that all the camps are within the High Tower's weapon firing range," a cruel smile appeared on Budelin's face. Although the High Tower managed them in a rough manner, it didn't mean there were no measures in place. The various camps, big and small, established by the miners along the railway transport routes for convenience, could at any moment be subjected to a bombardment of deadly projectiles. After all, merely walking a few steps less to resist hunger was already an immense luxury; no one would be foolish enough to establish their camp too far from the transport routes.
"Faster! Haven't you eaten enough?!" Budelin was infuriated by the sluggish overseers. If he didn't need them to operate the heavy mortars later, he would have whipped them already.
Just as Budelin was urging the overseers to speed up, Corax, who had just infiltrated the High Tower, suddenly stopped.
"What's wrong, Corax?" Swain, also stealthily moving in the darkness, inquired via hand gestures.
"My psychic array has been triggered; the enemy is making their move," Corax replied in hand gestures from the darkness.
"It seems the enemy thought of the same thing as us. In that case, let's act ahead of schedule. Let Nekser handle the heavy mortars," Swain decided after a moment's thought. The arrow was already on the string; it had to be fired. Both the High Tower and the miners were at a point of extreme tension.
"It's a bit rushed, but it shouldn't be too far off," Corax roughly calculated the time needed for the other camp leaders to return to their camps and arrange their tasks.
Beep... beep... beep beep... Swain then pressed the communicator on his body. Four distinct beeps, one long and two short rapid sounds, were immediately transmitted to the Dark Raven Guard's communicators, marking their first formal large-scale activation. This was the pre-arranged signal to act. The original plan was to wait until the bell rang the next day, which was one time to act. The second was also this signal; once this signal rang, it meant the situation had reached an extremely urgent level.
"Move!" Swain and Corax ordered the remaining personnel to begin clearing the bottom level of the High Tower. The two of them exchanged glances and then headed towards the upper levels of the High Tower. Their mission was to eliminate the garrison in the middle and upper levels of the High Tower and to kill the Tower Lord.
At the same time, Swain also altered Saro Jin's mission, having him directly join the assault on the High Tower. With this commotion, there was no longer any need to keep those powerful figures in the High Tower until the Second Dome officially began production.