NOVEL NEXT Chapter 121: Chapter 121
Gathering my commanders and family the next morning, I informed everyone that I had a very pressing matter to discuss with them. Agreeing to speak after breakfast, everyone gathered in a meeting room aboard the Endless Horizons so we could talk privately. Going into this knowing that emotions would run high, as all of us knew the Imperium of Man was a shitty galactic nation, I was prepared to soothe my wives should one or more of them have an outburst.
"During our expedition to secure the Blackstone Fortress, it came to light that I am a descendant of the Emperor of Mankind. His second son, Klordius Aremus, is my ancestor, making me heir to his position and title of Primarch of the Second Legion.", I said, getting right to the point. "The Emperor and Roboute Guilliman have both requested my assistance in rebuilding the Imperium of Man, and I—"
"Hang on a minute; they asked you to help fix their xenophobic country!? Please tell me you told them no!", Angelica shouted, leaping out of her chair. "While my heart goes out to the citizens that are living in absolute squalor, it does not change the carnage they deliver to other nonhuman groups. Many refugees we helped while you were gone told us all about their callous ways and cruelty. There is a damn good reason they are looked down upon by all their galactic neighbors."
"I agree with you; the Imperium of Man right now is a terrible place for its citizens and nonhumans. That is why I agreed to help them rebuild because I—," I began to say.
"No! No!! No!!!", Olivia scolded me, on the verge of tears, "Aela is a werewolf, Lucoa is a dragonkin, Roxanne is a beastkin, and Serana is a vampire. All four of them would be considered Abhuman or mutants. We saw their cruelty firsthand several days ago; what they did to those poor people…what could possibly be worth risking their lives for!? Did you call this meeting to tell them you are pushing them away?!"
Caught off guard by her words, I slammed my fist into the table, causing it to explode into a million pieces. Watching as the pieces fell to the floor, the room fell quiet as I took a moment to collect myself. Having thought I was ready for anything they could throw at me, Olivia's words cut deeper than I was prepared to handle. While I was happy she cared so much about her friends, it hurt to know she thought that was ever an option in the first place.
"No, I would choose my family, friends, and subordinates over anything this universe has to offer me. If they had demanded I abandon any of you, I would wash my hands of the Imperium and leave them to fade away into nothingness.", I stated, soothing their anger and worry. "As I was saying, I agreed to help them because I saw firsthand that there is still a sliver of hope for their people. During our time in the fortress, the Imperials we fought alongside treated Lucoa and Roxanne no differently from Mylene and me. Even when a group of Eldar joined us, they treated them no differently from us as well. I strongly believe that I can stamp out their xenophobia by showing them a new way forward."
"Rebuild and rehabilitate the Imperium of Man; it sounds like a massive undertaking, but one that could benefit countless people.", Commander Vaugh remarked, fully onboard with helping them. "That said, my only concern would be the higher-ups interfering with our work. Just how up is the position of Primarch?"
"The only person I would have to answer to is the Emperor of Mankind himself, and he has already given his blessing to act as I see fit. His only demand was that I always act in the best interest of the Imperium.", I answered, a serious expression on my face. "I believe that improving the lives of ALL imperial citizens is the very definition of best interest for the Imperium of Man."
Understanding what my motives were now, Angelica and Olivia were upset they had not trusted me more on this matter. Unable to get the images of what they had recently seen, they had lashed out to protect Aela, Lucoa, Roxanne, and Serana from ending up like the refugees. Thanking them for their concern and worry, the four women were touched that they cared so much about them.
"So then, what is your plan for rebuilding the Imperium of Man?", Clarice inquired, getting things back on track.
"First things first, we must ensure that all citizens have access to clean water, fresh food, and a safe place to call home. As things stand right now, the Imperium is failing to deliver on even one of those things, and it really pisses me off.", I growled as Luxion pulled up footage and photos taken by our intelligence team. "As you can see, they live in absolute squalor with barely enough dirty water and food to survive. The populace lives in constant fear of alien invasion and outbreaks of plague, and that is all they have ever known for millennia. When these three basic things are met, I honestly believe the populace will be more open to interacting with friendly alien groups."
Getting a better picture of what life was like in the Imperium of Man, everyone understood now why I wanted to help them out. The existing government had failed its citizens miserably, and they were the ones paying the price for it. Having seen what I did for the Principality of Fanoss firsthand, with my guidance and leadership, the Imperium of Man had a very real chance of recovering within a few years.
"Supreme Commander, what does our organization stand to gain by helping these people?", Commander Yoma inquired, much to the annoyance of my wives. "I want to help them as much as everyone else, but this is going to cost us a significant amount of money and resources. Giving you a fancy title and position in the government seems hardly a fair reward for all the work ahead of us."
"You have a valid point, Yoma, and Roboute shared that sentiment. For our services, he has granted me dominion over nearly three-tenths of the Imperium's territory. Aside from Chapter Worlds, so long as planetary tithes are paid to Terra, I am free to do as I wish in the region.", I chuckled, with a big grin, "Roboute allowed me to pick the region of space I wanted, and I took most of the northwestern part of their territory. So we are clear, this does include the million-mile debris field that surrounded the fortress."
Having seen the footage and photos of Luxion's initial survey, Commander Bannister leaped out of her seat and began doing a happy dance. Looking at her like she was crazy, Bannister looked right back at them with the same expression.
"Why are you so happy about a debris field?", Aela inquired.
"That debris field is a literal treasure trove of technological goodies! Many of those ships predate most human civilizations in this region of space; we stand to gain a lot from just the field alone.", Commander Bannister informed her with a playful smile.
"Compared to the vast amount of resources and technology we will gain, we are basically paying them with peanuts.", Commander Eagleson laughed.
"Be that as it may, we will do the work properly and to our utmost ability. Our names are on the line for this, and nothing less than perfection will suffice.", I stated.
Nodding their heads in agreement, my seven commanders rose from their seats and saluted me. Happy to see that everyone was onboard with my plans, I switched to the next subject on my docket. Believing that the citizens needed something more tangible to rally behind for the upcoming military operation, I felt that only one thing would do, and it was the very craft that shaped the Imperium of Man: the Imperator Somnium.
---Two Hours Later, Artemis Space Station---
Leaving my commanders to spread the news through the rank and file, my wives and I headed out to collect the bounty on the Chaos Marines we killed on the fortress. Greeting us as we walked into the association building, the receptionist waved us over with a big smile on her face. Eagerly running off to fetch something, she came back a few minutes later with an absolutely massive gift basket.
"Uh…what is this for?", Deirdre inquired, looking at that fruit and metal bars in the basket.
"The young woman and her subordinates you saved the other day, she was apparently from an affluent merchant family in the Grakkan Empire. Her father sent you this gift basket and a large sum of money for saving his daughter.", she informed us.
"Oh, she was?!", Angelica gasped. "I wonder why she did not tell us that…"
"Her family is currently involved in a trade war with a rival merchant family. She wanted to avoid drawing you into it.', the receptionist said. "So what brings you in today?"
"I have some Black Legion dog tags to turn in for a reward.", I stated, setting the dog tags on the counter.
Taking one look at the dog tags, the receptionist fainted and collapsed to the floor. Forgetting that she was petrified of anything Chaos Marine, I felt bad about not warning her. Flagging down one of her colleagues, they quickly ran off to fetch the branch manager so they could help us.