After the Emperor took his seat, he surveyed the gathering and spoke.
"This War Council is convened due to Lorgar's proposal to establish a new position within the Legions."
"Lorgar, you may explain to your brothers."
At the Emperor's indication, Lorgar Aurelian stood, beginning to speak as if delivering a sermon on Colchis.
"No force forges bonds and kindles great ambitions as firmly as faith."
"Faith is the backbone of sentient races, the pillar that elevates us above beasts, machines, and xenos."
Listening to Lorgar's opening, Nareth noted his words made Horus Lupercal and Roboute Guilliman frown deeply.
Lion El'Jonson and Rogal Dorn remained expressionless, but Nareth believed Dorn would not agree with Lorgar.
"Lorgar, I have emphasized to you."
"I am not a god!" the Emperor declared with authority.
"Do not forget the Imperial Truth!"
Lorgar paused briefly, then decided not to dwell on that truth today, focusing solely on his objective.
He skirted the sensitive topic and continued.
"Before I assumed command, the Seventeenth Legion had warriors acting as Heralds of the Imperium. They wielded winged scepters, delivering ultimatums to newly discovered worlds, submit or be destroyed."
"Just as I renamed the Legion the Word Bearers, I renamed the Heralds to Chaplains."
"Establishing Chaplains within the Legions can bring enlightenment to foolish worlds, cleansing the stains of the past."
"Chaplains will also instruct our warriors in the Truth, fight alongside battle-brothers, chant sacred battle creeds, and inspire them towards greater acts of valor."
"..."
Lorgar spoke at length, depicting the positive effects Chaplains could bring to the Legions.
After listening, the Emperor looked at the Primarchs and spoke gravely.
"What are your thoughts?"
Sanguinius, whom Lorgar had earlier helped, was the first to speak.
"My Legion has Wardens. They are mentors and guides for new Blood Angels, and also uphold the Legion's laws."
"They provide tactical counsel before battle and conduct memorial rites for fallen sons afterward."
"I believe establishing Chaplains would benefit the Legions greatly."
"My Legion has those who convey the Voice of Fire," Vulkan said next. "They tell my sons that every life holds equal importance."
Ferrus Manus's silver-coin eyes gleamed, his voice sounding like poured lead.
"Iron Fathers serve dual roles as Techmarines and Chaplains. I see no need for change."
"The Legion needs no Chaplains. The Imperial Fists are unyielding as bedrock." Dorn spoke bluntly, the first to explicitly oppose.
Hearing this, Nareth found it aligned with his expectations.
Before the Council of Nikaea, only the Word Bearers, Blood Angels, Salamanders, and Iron Hands had established Chaplain positions on a large scale.
Other Legions either had none or only a few Chaplains.
After the council, the already fallen Lorgar offered aid to other Primarchs, placating their Legions' Librarius discontent and making them accept the responsibility of reverting to ordinary Astartes.
Most Primarchs accepted his offer. Word Bearer Chaplains entered various Legions, spreading the seeds of Chaos faith.
Thus, Chaplains took root within the Legions.
After the Heresy, most loyalist Chapters also had Chaplains.
Not just the traitor Legions; loyalist Legions were also affected.
He recalled the underground warfare in the later stages of the Battle of Calth, where Ultramarines Chaplains and many battle-brothers were brainwashed and turned to Chaos.
Sanguinius, however, insisted his Wardens handle such duties and did not accept Word Bearer Chaplains.
Seeing others have no desire to speak, the Emperor's gaze turned to him. Nareth spoke.
"The Legions would benefit from establishing Chaplain positions. I support Lorgar's proposal."
Hearing Nareth, Hannibal fell into thought.
A few seconds later, his eyes lit up.
"I also support Lorgar's suggestion."
Nareth looked at Hannibal. Though only seeing a psychic projection, he keenly noticed Hannibal's cheekbones had slightly proliferated outward, and there were protrusions at the junction of his forehead and parietal bone.
For a Primarch, these were significant changes.
'How many xenos has Hannibal consumed?'
A sudden thought flashed through Nareth's mind.
'Could Hannibal hope to establish Chaplains to indoctrinate his sons with dining rituals for consuming xenos?'
As Nareth pondered, he heard the Emperor speak.
"You may each decide whether to establish Chaplains and their scale."
After the War Council concluded, Nareth returned to the Shadow's Sovereignity.
He sent a message to Arsena, summoning him to the office.
Walking to his office, Nareth contemplated how to arrange the Chaplain position.
'Regardless of how other Legions define Chaplain duties, for me, they serve two main purposes.'
'One is to boost morale, act as commanders, and lead certain scales of the Order of Shadows. Sun pathway beyonders are most suitable here.'
'The other is to scrutinize the loyalty of the Shadows of Order and propagate faith in me. Visionary pathway beyonders are best suited for this work.'
Nareth knew the Alpha Legion infiltrated other Legions.
Though he couldn't be sure if they had begun infiltrating before meeting the secret cult and joining the rebellion, precautions were necessary.
Key positions in his Legion were held by Court Members, personally observed and confirmed loyal by Nareth.
Core secrets were held by high-ranking beyonders, his confidants.
The Primarch's superhuman perception and psychic abilities confirmed they weren't compromised, but currently, nearly two-thirds of the Legion were not members of the Court, and not all might be evaluated before the Heresy.
'Hmm, Chaos corruption must also be considered. My scrutiny can only confirm no issues at that time; I cannot guarantee situations won't arise later.'
''What I can ensure is only a few common confidants.'
'We need robust mental defenses to promptly detect issues among the sons and address them early.'
After organizing his thoughts, Nareth reached a conclusion.
'Loyalty and faith are more important than boosting morale. The Chaplain position should primarily follow the Visionary, supplemented by the Sun pathway beyonders'.
'"Spectators" and "Telepathist" can examine the hearts of the Shadows of Order during conversations. "Psychiatrist," "Hypnotists," and "Dreamwalkers" can uncover hidden secrets, subtly making the Shadows of Order and territorial populace loyal to me, even faithful to the Black Emperor.'
''In that case, Wilshire might not be the optimal choice to oversee the Legion's Chaplains.'
Contemplating this, Nareth returned to his office.
Seated on the throne adorned with thirty-three black iron sword, he resolved to first inquire of Wilshire's perspective before making a decision.
Before that, he needed to confirm the current status of Gardinaal.
Nareth looked at Arsena and asked.
"What is Gardinaal's current status?"
"My Lord, the Second and Twelfth Chapters have occupied five neighboring star systems, constructing a defensive perimeter to shroud Gardinal in shadow."
"One Terran month ago, the Rogue Trader vessel Far Voyager entered into the Gardinal system via the Warp and withdrew in accordance with your blockade order.
Seeing the Black Emperor nod with satisfaction, Arsena continued.
"My Lord, with the Gardinaal campaign concluded, I have compiled casualty figures for each Chapter. Total fatalities: four thousand, nine hundred and twenty."
"The Second Chapter suffered the heaviest losses, with one thousand, seven hundred and forty fallen during the assault on the Bio-Reclamation Centre."
Arsena,, less sorrowful than in the past, continued.
"Considering Gardinaal's strength, past campaigns, and the brilliant victory we achieved, the sacrifices were relatively minor."
"My Lord, this is all due to your selection of the High Lords as targets and the thunderous execution."
"Your actions were highly effective." Nareth did not withhold praise.
Though he didn't know the Iron Hands' exact losses, the Ultramarines first suffered defeat with over two thousand casualties, then were used as cannon fodder by Manus in the assault on the capital, resulting in the death of Chapter Master Cicerus.
The Emperor's Children Second Captain, Aka Duana, and his warriors perished.
Manus's Honor Guard suffered nearly fifty percent casualties; Amadeus DuCaine and Gabriel Santor, among others, were crippled.
Considering everything, the combined losses of the three Legions were likely no less than his own.
Without resorting to forbidden weapons, Nareth could accept this casualty figure.
"Auxilia fatalities totaled seventy-four thousand, the majority lost during operations in the capital."
"Vostroyan Auxilia suffered the most, over fifty thousand. Additionally, one thousand five hundred Catachan Devils fell, and three hundred eighty elite Catachan Wraiths."
Nareth nodded slightly. Compared to Manus's use of forbidden weapons, which killed millions of Imperial Auxilia, his auxiliary losses were far fewer.
"The Legio Astarum lost seventeen Titans. The Legio Fureans lost thirty-five Titans."
Nareth recalled Legio Atarus lost over half its strength in the Gardinal Campaign. Fifty-two Titan losses were acceptable.
"House Vyronii lost sixty-three Knights. Most were destroyed fighting tripodal walkers; a few were slain by the High Lords."
Considering tripodal walkers could match Warhound Titans and the Reliquary War-Suit was formidable, Nareth accepted these losses.
"Instruct the Forge World of Mezoa to replenish House Vyronii's lost Knight suits promptly."
"Among them, there must be at least two Questoris-class Knight Magaera."
.....
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