40k: Midnight Blade.

Chapter 389 118. Interlude: Eternal Winter ([-])

"This cold wind seems to never stop," Lucius said.

His voice was a little strange, not as natural as before. If anyone were to ask why, it could only be attributed to his missing jaw. The brass jaw has no bionic mechanism and cannot assist him in making sounds.

A demon hiding in the shadows was the culprit. It ambushed Lucius. If he hadn't reacted quickly, he might have lost more than just his jaw and half a tongue.

Sol Tarvitz nodded in agreement with his words.

He leaned against the wall, sat safely next to a weapons rack, and was concentrating on sharpening a combat dagger. The room seemed a little empty, as others were being questioned by the Ministry of Military Affairs.

This is a must and no one can escape it. Even Fulgrim himself spent a morning recounting his experiences. Of course, the recorded words were not ultimately classified in any archives.
  If they were to be archived, the emperor's sons would probably be surprised.

"Terra shouldn't be windy like this." Lucius stared intently at the scenery outside the window, still telling his thoughts. "Everyone knows what the natural environment of the Throne World is like."

"At least it'll still snow," Tavitz said without looking up. "At least it has the change of seasons, Lucius. Snow, wind, rain, so what if there is no spring and summer? You are doing some unnecessary thinking."

"Superfluous?!" Lucius turned around suddenly and asked sternly. "There is no need to have any doubts, Captain Sol Tarvitz! Any slightest sign of trouble means that damned Chaos is watching!"

Tarvitz finally looked up at him. He shook his head, put down the knife in his hand, took out another one, and began to grind it intently.

"I will not tolerate any form of complacency," Lucius said grimly.

His tone had become calmer, but still sounded dangerous, and the face engraved with names looked extremely ominous in the flickering firelight.

"Any form, Tavitz, do you understand? Even if this is Terra, I will report my thoughts to Commander Vespasian right now."

"Why not go to the original body directly?" Tavitz asked, lowering his head. "Don't tell me you're going to the door of the Ministry of Military Affairs to wait for Vespasian to finish his questioning."

"Report at all levels and never go beyond the level." Lucius said sternly. "This is military discipline, and the Emperor's son will never violate military discipline."

With that, he strode out of the room, leaving Tavitz alone. The wooden door closed, Sol Tavitz sighed, raised the dagger, and stared into his eyes through its reflection.

Everyone has been changed. After going through such a hellish journey, no one dares to say that they are still the same as before.

Lucius has become a stubborn man who is extremely vigilant about everything, and Akudona has become cruel. He used to wield a sword and never do anything unnecessary, but now he prefers to do nothing when dealing with his enemies. A lot of uncontrollable anger.

And himself.
  Sol Tarvitz stood up.

What has become of him?
  He slowly came to the door, calculated the time, opened the door, and saw two people dressed as servants, both wearing brown robes and even wearing hoods. The guard who should have appeared at the corner of the corridor was now gone. No trace.

Tavitz held the sharp knife in his hand and waited calmly for them to speak.

One of them raised his head and looked at him, stretched out his right hand from his robe, and handed a parchment roll that still smelled of ink to him.

In addition to the sky eagle, which represented the empire, Tarvitz also saw a emblem on it that was completely unfamiliar to him.

A capital I, and then three horizontal lines of different lengths running through it, connecting a skull with the letter itself.

Tarvitz lowered his combat dagger and sheathed it.

He calmly asked: "Who are you?"

The servant who handed over the parchment didn't answer, but his companion took off his hood, opened his mouth, and let out a few muffled sobs.

"Mute?" The Emperor's Son frowned. "intrinsic?"

The man shook his head, the mysterious mark tattoo between his eyebrows shining brightly. He gestured in sign language, and Tavitz easily understood what he meant - he was silent for a few seconds, then simply reached for the parchment roll and began to read it carefully.

It didn't take him much effort to understand the true intention of the writer hidden among the twists and turns of the written words, and then he came to a conclusion.

This is an invitation.

To be more precise, this is a private invitation personally sent by the holder of the seal, Malcador.

But why me?
  Tavitz frowned, thought twice, and finally handed the parchment back - he didn't understand why Malcador suddenly sent him an invitation, but he didn't need a reason to refuse.

The two followers obviously had different opinions on this. They looked at him, and the follower who took off his hood showed signs again.

"No," Tavitz said. "Please tell the Master that I cannot agree to such an ambiguous invitation. My legion needs me right now, and I cannot leave at this time."

The man sighed visibly, put his right hand into his arms again, and took out a black and gray instrument. He held it in both hands and handed it to Sol Tavitz, and then a voice slowly came out.

"Accept the invitation, Thor," Fulgrim said. "It's important, promise it, okay?"

The Emperor's Son widened his eyes wordlessly, feeling even more confused. Four hours later, his doubts were resolved. At this moment, he had left the station assigned to the emperor's sons and arrived at a secret underground facility.

The air was filled with a strange smell, as if something was being burned deep underground. There were a lot of people here. It had only been ten minutes since he entered the facility, but he had already seen at least three different teams passing by him.

Civilians, soldiers, or secretive people covered in cloaks. He even saw a lot of red-robed priests.

The two followers who led him had no intention of explaining. Their pace was extremely smooth and they were definitely professionally trained.

Tavitz observed all this with an expressionless face, taking in every detail. For example, the blue-gray walls are covered with energy transmission pipes, or there are huge meditators that can be seen everywhere, as if they were placed casually.

The ground material is not made of rock, but a complex alloy. Tavitz was not a very skilled blacksmith, but he had hand-made many weapons intermittently, and this alloy was unlike any he had ever seen. And these were just appearances. What really aroused his curiosity about this place were the detectors and sirens that could be seen everywhere. Each one was five meters tall, and they were installed in every place where humans might or might not pass by regardless of cost. .
  He even saw automatic turrets. They were not hidden, but were placed majestically on certain roads that must be passed.

There are guards armed with sophisticated weapons everywhere, as well as sentries hidden in the dark. Even if an Astartes army wanted to attack here, it would probably have to pay a huge price.

After all, who knows what else might be hidden here?
  Thinking about these things, Tavitz maintained a necessary silence, and at the same time noticed something more important - from a certain point of view, Malcador's willingness to let him enter here essentially represents a kind of trust.

But where does this trust come from?

Continuing forward, continuing deeper into the ground, after passing the twenty-fifth thick armed door, the two servants finally stopped. They turned around, each bowed to Tarvitz, then turned and walked into the darkness.

The world that appeared in front of him at this moment was no longer what it was before. The creations belonging to the civilized world had disappeared. It was rough and primitive, and the walls were even just primitive rocks that had not been polished.

The space is vast, but there are no instruments. It is as if this is a naturally formed cave, just a different kind of decoration, and there is no need to use it.

The only light here is the firelight emanating from the eagle scepter in the hand of a short old man. It danced on the wall, making the silhouettes of people blurry and terrifying.

And Tavitz knew who he was, so he slowly approached, bowed his head, and said hello.

"Nice to meet you, Captain Sol Tarvitz," the Markbearer said, his eyes shining under his hood.

This made the Emperor's Son a little secretly uneasy - Malcador was using psychic powers, but the question that had been asked many times today came to his mind again.

why?
  "Captain Tarvits, have you seen any pilgrims on the way here?" Malcador suddenly asked a question without giving him more time to think.

"What's the point of this question?" Tavitz asked cautiously. "They're everywhere, Lord Sealbearer."

"Just asking a question." Malcador said noncommittally and shook his head. "In the past month, Terra has entered winter, and the abnormal winds have exacerbated the impact of low temperatures."

"If the temperature continues to drop like this, many pilgrims may lose their lives. Clothing cannot withstand such a severe cold."

"Can't we arrange for them to evacuate? At least spend this winter?" Tavitz followed Malcador's wishes and took over. Although he was just trying to keep the conversation going, his frown at the moment was indeed sincere. .

Malcador sighed.

"This winter will never pass, Captain Tarvitz," he whispered. "Soon, it will snow on Terra. Then the weather will get worse and worse, because the snow, like this wind, will not stop."

"Blizzards will destroy the pilgrims who sleep in the wilderness. Their bodies will freeze in the cold, the ground will be frozen. And you know them, they regard penance as a kind of devotion to the gods. Even if the shelter is built facilities, not many of them would be willing to enter and take shelter.”

Sol Tarvitz inevitably fell into a period of silence, forced by the hints in Malcador's words. What does it mean that winter will never pass and the snow will never stop? Don't the Patrons think they can survive this disaster?
  A dark anger finally appeared between his brows.

"Then force them in," Tavitz said. “It is better to be forced to lose a part of your faith and piety than to lose your life.”

"You can force people to do things they don't want to do, but what about Fengxue?" asked the palmer. “How do you change the natural environment?”

"I don't believe winter will last forever," Tarvitz replied in a low voice. "Just like I don't believe we're going to lose, Sealbearer, I don't know—"

"——Who said we would be defeated?" Macado interrupted him and asked in surprise.

Although his emotions seemed genuine, Tarvitz was confused as to whether this was just a disguise by the Sealbearer, and he remained confused and did not hide his emotions.

Macha glanced at him and suddenly said something with a tone of sudden realization: "Ah, I understand."

"What? I beg you to give me an explanation, Lord Sealmaster." Tavitz said slightly unhappy.

The master of the seal shook his head, and the Sky Eagle Scepter slowly lifted up and landed heavily on the ground. The knocking sound was extremely clear and began to echo within the rock wall. The bright fire suddenly lit up, dispelling all the darkness.

Tavitz turned around and saw a group of people in dark cloaks looking down at them. There was originally nothing on the rock wall, but now there was suddenly a second floor dug out manually.

They were tall or thin, ordinary or huge in stature, some were holding weapons, some were empty-handed, and Tarvitz even saw one wearing a lightning medal outside his cloak. No one else did, but he wore it so proudly on his chest.

"What does this mean?" Looking back, Tavitz asked in a low voice.

"They're evaluating you," Malcador replied calmly.

A surge of anger rose in Tavitz's heart, but he remained calm and chose to wait and see. The one holding the seal stepped past him, his robe dragging on the ground, making a tinny sound.

He did not stop until he reached the front door. Tavitz stood there, warily returning a cold gaze to those who were looking down at him, until Makado spoke loudly.

"Then -" The signer touched the ground with his scepter again, and the ground began to change. Complex patterns suddenly appeared and were engraved on the gray rock. There have been many changes, none more profound than where Tavitz stands.

But what appeared under his feet was not a pattern, but a pool of spring water that replaced the ground. It was so cold that it even submerged into Tavitz's chest. It was too cold even for the Astartes, but the Emperor's Children did not leave it.

He vaguely heard some silent whispers, and the voices of many of them sounded very familiar.

"——Say your answer." The one holding the seal solemnly declared.

　And pinch.

　　By the way, the timeline from Terra's perspective is still in the early stages of the Battle of Calth. And all the interludes I used during the chapter title Terra were along the timeline. In other words, they actually turned out to be a chapter in "Terra". Why separate it? Because I realized that if I didn't do this, the number behind the whole Terra might be (seventy) or even (eighty)
  　　The Battle of Terra will be a long chapter, the biggest climax in the middle of the book. I will do my best to write about all the forces involved. I think this is very necessary, but the experience of following up may not be that good. So if there are book friends you want to support, I understand. As for those book friends who are still willing to follow up on updates, I can only give back with updates ()
  　　Ok, let’s do this for now, have a meal and then come back to write the second chapter. Today's reservation is around [-].

　　
  　
  (End of this chapter)