40k: Midnight Blade.

Chapter 183 8. The First Order

Yago Sevtarion didn't know how to answer for a moment.

He was silent, silent as a dead man.A dour look began to creep over the boy's face, and Khalil waited patiently without rushing.

He didn't intend to be too harsh on a child, even if it was a Nostramo.

However, if Sevtar agrees, then he will hear the most ambitious ideals he has ever heard in his life.He might be drawn to the words, nod his head, and dive into it.

However, he may also, after a brief hesitation, realize the real reason why this ideal can stand on the top of the mountain overlooking everyone and everything else.

There are many bones and endless blood.

"What are you trying to say?" Sevtar asked in a very soft voice.

"Do you want to hear it?"

".I want to hear it."

"Very good." Khalil leaned against the door, lowered his head and looked down at him, his eyes made Sevita feel almost breathless.

"You've read the pamphlet, from which you learned about the Emperor's Eighth Legion. So, do you know who the Emperor is?" he hissed.

Emperor in Nostramo is a long compound word with a soft first half and a heavy second half without legato.The combination of these conditions makes the word emperor sound in Nostramo language in a great contrast with its original meaning.

Sevtar said stiffly, "The Emperor?"

"Yes, the Emperor, but we won't mention him today."

"But I just learned this new word," Sevtar said boldly.Then, he noticed, Khalil wasn't smiling.

There was no smile in his eyes.

"We will not speak of him today, Jago Sevtarion," said Khalil. "Maybe in another year or two, someone on Nostramo will come to publicize his great achievements and let the world know what he has done for mankind—but not today."

"Today, you don't need to know anything about him. What do you think we're looking for you for, son?"

"I don't know." Savita tried her best to keep calm. "I don't know what you are looking for me for. I have never seen people as tall as you before, especially you, Instructor Khalil."

"I'm not your instructor yet," Khalil said. "So you don't have to call me that, now, let's get down to business. You've seen gangs recruiting in the past, haven't you?"

"I've seen it." Sai Weita replied very quickly, he had unconsciously put his hands behind his back and stood upright.

"How do they recruit new people?"

"kill."

"No, more than that. Go on, Jago Sevtarion."

".Sell medicine, eat meat, steal, rob, or beat each other until only one is standing."

"Seems like you've seen a lot," Khalil said in a deadpan tone.

"Yes, they will use many ways to recruit new people. These ways are different, but in fact they all have only one purpose-test."

"They use these things to test the newcomers, to test whether they have the most basic courage to survive in the gang life that is coming for a few months. It only takes a few months. If these newcomers are not dead, they will immediately change In a worse state. Right, Sevatar?"

"...Yes, Mr. Khalil." The boy pursed his lips, and some familiar faces flashed in his mind.

They used to be vagrants begging for life on the streets like him, but it only took a few months or even a few weeks for them to immediately change into another look.

Most turn into skinny monsters with gleaming eyes and high spirits.Others disappear forever, never to be seen again.

"And we're going to recruit you now," Khalil said. "You are excellent. For the Astartes reserves, you are even considered the best batch. Captain Phil Zalost and Jairzinho Guzman who are waiting outside the door now The chief medical officer was not as strong as you before he was reformed and entered the Legion."

Savita silently memorized these two names, and compared the two faces he had just memorized with these two names.

His left hand held the wrist of his right hand, trembling behind his back—he didn't know what the word Astartes represented, but this did not prevent him from capturing the 'legion' in Khalil's words Character.

Legion.

The Eighth Legion of the Emperor.

Astartes.

He keenly connected these words, and other guesses began to take root in his mind quickly-he began to recall the appearance of Phil and Guzman when they walked out of the room, their steps, speed, gestures. The sense of power revealed.
Sevita unconsciously took a deep breath, and his back was instantly drenched in cold sweat.He tore off the tulle in front of his eyes with his own hands, and saw the truth.He began to realize some truths that no one in this room had mentioned.

They are soldiers.Sevita thought.soldiers of the emperor
"So, what do I have to pay?" Sevita asked after being deliberately silenced by Khalil.

He still tried his best to keep his standing posture stable, holding his head high and staring at the giant beside the door.This gesture is very interesting. It does not seem like resistance, but rather like some expectation of what will happen next.

However, Khalil stared into the boy's eyes, spoke softly, and asked another question.

"Do you hate gangs and nobles?"

Sevtar was taken aback.

He had expected to hear 'would you serve the Emperor', or 'would you die for the Legion'?That's what gangs ask, loyalty, life.
You say yes, and you get guns, status, and food.If you refuse, you will die.

He didn't think these people would kill him because he refused, they were obviously different from nobles and gangs.

But
"I hate them," Sevtar said. "I can't wait for them to die dozens of times."

"reason?"

"Do you need a reason?" Sevita's cheeks flushed, this was the first time he showed such obvious emotional fluctuations.

His breathing was stagnant, as if something was blocking his nose.His eyes felt dry and he blinked rapidly.After a brief pause, his tone became very sharp.

"I don't think there's any reason for it, Mr. Khalil. I hate them, and all who survive hate them. Don't you hate them?" he asked slightly defiantly. "You're a Nostramo too, aren't you?"

"Of course I hate them."

"So I am, sir, so am I."

"very good."

Khalil nodded at him and smiled, and it wasn't a gentle smile.Half a second later, he returned to his expressionless expression again.

"This is essentially conscription. We draft you, we draft you, and you don't have a choice, in fact, most people would never choose to say no. But this is a special situation, so I'm going to give you a choice , Jago Sevtarion."

"I have given you many choices, but this time is the most important one and the last one. You can choose to join the legion, or you can choose to refuse and go back to be an ordinary miner."

"If you choose the latter, we will erase this memory of yours and block your talent. From now on, you can be a completely ordinary person, no longer sleepless at night, attacked by nightmares, and no longer see Ghosts."

"What if I choose the former?"

"You will suffer forever," Khalil said slowly. "First, you will know how the world under our feet is connected to the sky. Then, you will understand the true duty of the Eighth Legion."

"You're going to go through surgery after surgery over the next few years, in other words, you're going to be cut open again and again, and you're going to have something new added in. You're going to suffer from a lot of complications, and You have a lot of training on top of that stuff."

"These trainings will not be as easy and natural as I am standing here talking to you. They will be very cruel, even extremely cruel. If you can't make it through, or are careless, then you will die, extremely dead Pain. No one will help you in this process, and the only person you can rely on is yourself.”

Sevtar nodded silently, he looked like he was thinking, but he wasn't.He was just listening carefully, that's all.

He couldn't understand what Khalil's words meant, but he could separate out some information that he could understand.

death.

pain.

Tortured.

".Then," Sevtar took a deep breath and spoke again.

His complexion had turned pale—a paleness that surpassed the natural skin color of the Nostramo people. After all, Khalil's words that were cut again and again still had a little impact on him.

"What if I succeed?"

"What? Are you still counting on rewards?" Khalil laughed again, very coldly.

"There is no reward, Yago Savitarion. All you get are new responsibilities and endless tasks, that's all. You will be trained by us to become a killing machine, killing nobles, gangs, or more, world after world." Bad stuff. You might die, but you might not. That's it, kid. What you get out of it isn't proportional to what you have to give, so it's not too late to give up now."

"No." Sevtar said. "I join."

He let go of his hands, and they came back to his sides.He took a deep breath and repeated his own words: "I join."

"So, why?" Khalil asked. "What's the reason, Sevtar?"

"I have no fucking reason for you," Sevtar said. "In fact, I don't even think I should be standing here talking to you at all."

"I think I must have gone mad today, or I wouldn't have seen so many things I can't explain. I didn't understand a word of what you just said, sir, but I'm a little wiser than the rest. "

He grinned palely and smiled: "I just know that I want to join, that's it, sir, believe it or not."

"Very good." Khalil also smiled. "Then, the first order, Reserve Yago Sevtarion"

"What, sir?"

"Call me instructor," Khalil said.He turned and opened the door and walked out.

　Yes, code
　　
　
(End of this chapter)