22. The world of Tellus (Part 2)
King Alliste looked up at the giant approaching him, despite the size, he looked like any other human. No, he looked better than any other human, golden tanned skin and shoulder length brown hair, his features were sharp and handsome and he gave off a gentle aura. King Alliste found himself relax and drop his guard and was only brought back to attention by the giant's powerful voice.
"Are you the leader of this world?"
Alliste shook himself back to focus, "I am King Alliste VI of the Albionic Kingdoms but no I am not the leader of the world"
"I see" The giant stroked his chin, "You are divided much like ancient Terra, this will make negotiations slightly more difficult"
The giant focused back on Alliste, his smile making the King trust him instantly, "I am Aeoran, son of the Emperor of mankind and lord of the second legion"
"Pleased to meet you, Lord Aeoran"
Aeoran took a look around the field and at the multiple barrels pointed directly at him, threatening to unleash a barrage of destruction, "Could you get your men to stand down?"
Alliste seemed to finally notice the soldiers ready to kill the visitor, he raised his cane and made them all stand down.
Aeoran, along with a small bodyguard unit, was moved to a noble estate that stood near the field he arrived in. Pictures and video of Aeoran were send across Tellus the second he stepped on solid ground and the InfoWeb was alight with theories about who he was and why he looked so human, some believed that it was a skin suit or some other kind of disguise and Aeoran and his men were really lizard people like out of some bad sci-fi, while others considered convergent evolution and a small minority theorised he was actually a human and there were other people living amongst the stars for various, increasingly insane, reasons.
The gates outside of the noble estate strained to keep the crowds of journalists and civilians out as they all sought to get a look at the giant from the stars in the flesh but the walls and soldiers kept them from even getting a look at the building. Aeoran was taken to a room that normally would have been used for family dinners but now it was where the leaders that had travelled to Norrsom would meet with him. Aeoran was given a seat on one side of the table but they didn't have any chairs that would accommodate him so the primarch was forced to sit on a crate.
"Lord Aeoran, allow me to welcome you to Tellus on behalf of the people of the Unified Republics of Vespia" Castio sat on the opposite side of the table with the other world leaders
"Well if this planet is one thing it is welcoming" Aeoran chuckled
"Why do you look human?" Zukif cut right to the elephant in the room
"I am a human" Aeoran simply answered, "Well I'm not sure if you would call me 'human' per se, maybe a more evolved human"
"What are you talking about?" Castio asked
"I was not born but created by my father, the Emperor of mankind, to lead his legions of transhuman warriors" Aeoran leaned forward and looked at each leader present in turn, "There are thousands of worlds beyond yours that hold human life"
Everyone was shocked by such a revelation, they had believed that Tellus was the only world with human life, the knowledge of the world's colonisation and much of its technology had been lost during the chaos of the onset of the age of strife and the population had assumed that humanity had evolved on Tellus and had yet to reach the stars.
"Impossible" Zukif had gone pale and his normally stoic face showed his shock, "You're lying"
The armoured giants standing behind Aeoran seemed to take offense to this and stepped forward but the primarch put his hand up to stop them. He looked at the shocked leaders with a warm fatherly smile that put them at ease.
"I have not come here to conquered or destroy you, my father wishes only for our species to unify so we can face the darkness of the galaxy together" Aeoran's words seemed to soften the hearts of those listening, "Your world has been lucky to not face any of the dangers that lurk out in the void but your resources and skills could be used to help other worlds that haven't been as lucky, join the Imperium and help uplift our species, together"
The leaders were entranced, the primarch's voice and aura making them forget for a moment that they were leaders with the fate of billions on their shoulders and instead want to instantly pledge their loyalty to him and his cause, but they quickly broke themselves out of that spell.
"And what if we refuse to join your Imperium?" Castio asked a question he already knew the answer to
Aeoran's smile dropped and he had a sad look in his eyes, "Don't" was his only answer
"So the choice is join you and live or join you and die?" Zukif asked his personality demanding verbal confirmation
"That is exactly the choice just be glad that you get that"
"What would joining the Imperium entail?" Zukif leaned forward, intent on getting all the information he could before agreeing to anything
"You are to swear loyalty to my father, the Emperor, dismantle all religious organisations and accept the Imperial truth"
"The Imperial truth?"
"The truth my father seeks to spread across the galaxy, that there are no gods and that religion and superstition have held humanity back and we must embrace science and reason"
"And we have to enforce this?" Castio asked
"My father will not tolerate any religion, I was forced to dismantle my own world's worship and no world in the Imperium can be allowed to keep theirs"
The Imperial truth would be a block for Tellus, wars had been fought for centuries over the question of religion, nations had been built on a common belief and even to the present bad relations between states and wars were justified through religion. Some nations even had their religion written in to their government while Vespia and some others had religion completely written out of their governments and ensured freedom of worship but the Imperial truth would force every nation to abandon their position no matter where they stood on the issue.
"If we tried to force the Imperial truth on our people there will be rebellions and revolutions" Castio couldn't appear before his people and tell them they had to abandon their god, not if he wanted to keep his head
"It is not negotiable, you will abandon your primitive beliefs or the Imperium will make you"
Zukif slammed his fist on the table, "Do not think you can threaten us, just because we sit around this table doesn't mean we aren't prepared to fight you"
"The second your world was spotted by our scout ships its fate lay with the Imperium" Aeoran's voice took a dangerous edge, "I don't want this to get bloody but I was made to wage war, do not put me to use"
The tension was cut by King Alliste, "While we are favourable to accepting the Imperial truth and joining the Imperium, we can't just go out to our people and demand they abandon religions that have existed for thousands of years"
"Religions some of us used to get elected" Zukif interjected
"Zukif is right, if we suddenly switch on the question of religion so quickly then our people will think we were brainwashed or something and war will be a given" Castio explained, "And there are leaders not present here that may not agree"
"Then what can I do to avoid an unfavourable situation?" Aeoran asked
The assembled leaders thought for a moment before Alliste thought of a solution, "You will have to convince the population yourself"
"My fleet does have a contingent of Iterators but I think landing missionaries might not be a better look" Aeoran chuckled to himself, "This is my first compliance, a war might be easier"
"We will let you plead your case in front of the IC and the world, I'm sure you can convince them" King Alliste stood from the table, "But for now, you landed on my land so you will be my guest, everyone else present is also invited"
In the heart of the capital of the Albionic Kingdoms, Lostrom, was the Glittering Palace, the home of the Albionic royal family. The bricks that made up the palace were one of a kind on Tellus, the stone that made them up had veins of coal running through them that had been compressed in to diamond and caused the bricks to have veins of glittering diamond running through them. The state banquet hall was massive with enough room to fit 300 people, the walls were lined with frescos of previous monarchs of the Albionic Kingdoms framed with gold, golden chandeliers hung from the ceiling that bore a fresco of the unification of the Albionic Kingdoms almost 1000 years before. The hall was filled with the most important people from the Albionic Kingdoms and from around the world, King Alliste presided over it all with Aeoran sitting on his right.
The old king stood and tapped his crystal glass to get the attention of the hall, "Today we learned we are not alone in the universe and I welcome our friend from the stars, his arrival will mean great things for our world and people"
The King sat back down and Aeoran stood, "I grew up on a small village on the side of a mountain, I became the leader of my world not through my martial powers but by my ability to negotiate and come to a compromise and I hope to continue that tradition I started" Aeoran raised his glass, "I hope to see Tellus become a strong and productive world!"
The dinner was largely uneventful with Aeoran and Alliste engaging in small talk, the King asking the Primarch about his upbringing and the Emperor and the primarch asking more about the history of the Albionic Kingdoms and Tellus, after several courses of the finest cuisine Tellus had to offer Aeoran retired to the bedroom given to him in the palace.
The "bedroom" was more like an entire apartment on to itself with a bedroom, full ensuite, sitting room and dining room. Aeoran gathered the marines he had brough as security in the sitting room, one of them placed a box on the table in the centre of the room and pressed a button, the box detecting and jamming any bugs placed in the room.
"These talks are going to take forever" Casis Thal removed his helmet, "We should just force compliance and move on"
The old legion master was use to forcing compliances and leaving a small garrison to undermine any attempts to rebel but Aeoran was not the kind to force war when peace was an option.
"I understand that you have brought many worlds in to the Imperium, my son, and this is only my first" Aeoran stood, his relaxing aura affecting Casis, "But why should we break these people on our swords and waste the manpower garrisoning the planet as they inevitable try to rebel when we can have them join us and not rebel in the first place"
"We will fall behind the other legions in compliances"
"What is better 100 worlds that will add nothing and eventually rebel or 10 worlds who give their all to the Imperium?" Aeoran placed his hand on his son's shoulder, "We strengthen the Imperium not through the number of worlds but the quality of the worlds, there are many men on Tellus that will be valuable additions to the Imperial army"
"I suppose you are right my lord but we cannot dally here indefinitely"
"I know, now we are appearing before their International Council in 3 days, we must learn all we can about this world and its people"
"I can be of help my lord" a techmarine, Solmi Kell, placed a small box on the table next to the jammer, it projected a hologram above itself, "We have gained access to a globe spanning web of information that the locals call the InfoWeb, they use it for communication, entertainment and storing and distributing information"
"What can we learn from it?"
"It is expansive" Solmi quickly flicked through several InfoWeb pages, each displaying different things; music, art, literature, scientific studies, movies and just about anything else a civilization creates, "It will take a few days to sort through and analyse everything"
"Good, the best way to get them to embrace the Imperial truth is to find out why they cling to religion" Aeoran sat down, his bulk taking up the entire couch, "We'll find out all we can about these people"
The IC headquarters in Korse were surrounded by a sea of people, kept off the premises by a wall and a dedicated security team, insides the premises was no better as news organisations battled for the best view of the arriving world leaders and the guest of honour that they all really came for. Cars carrying the leaders drove past crowds of people, some of them demanding they fight the "aliens" and get them off their world and others calling for peace, President Castio sighed as he looked at the crowds just outside the thick bulletproof glass.
"They don't know anything" The public had only been informed that Aeoran wanted Tellus to join a growing galactic empire but the exact details, like the Emperor and the Imperial truth, had been kept for them, at least until the primarch's talk before the IC
Every leader had been running damage control as they tried to convince their people of the advantages of the Imperium without sounding like they were completely onboard and brainwashed by the strange man from space. The news that humans existed beyond Tellus and that the legend of Terra was true also caused upheaval as previously fringe cults that worshipped the idea of the ancient and long-lost civilization of Terra were bolstered by confirmation of their beliefs. All in all, the past 3 days had been worse than the months waiting for the fleet to arrive.
As the last of the world leaders arrived at the IC headquarters an aircraft started circling overhead, the crowd looked up as it hovered above the central plaza before slowly lowering itself and landing with a heavy thud. Ten marines marched out in perfect formation before Aeoran himself stepped out to a mixture of cheers and boos from the crowd and a sea of flashes from cameras. The primarch wasted no time and walked straight in to the IC headquarters.
The main assembly hall was abuzz with voices as every nation's leaders and representatives took their seats and discussed amongst themselves, the room almost immediately fell silent as Aeoran stepped on to the stage and took the podium, for many of the people present this was their first time seeing the primarch in the flesh and not as pixels on a screen.
Aeoran looked around the semi-circular room at the hundreds of faces focused on him, most people would be nervous but the mist king was quite certain his father never coded such a thing in to his DNA, Aeoran had convinced a world that had been fighting itself for generations to join him and he could convince any other world just the same.
The primarch relaxed at the podium as his aura permeated the room and he began his speech, "People of Tellus, the galaxy is dark and to brave it alone, while noble, is foolish. For generations, since man built the first cities on ancient Terra, my father, the Emperor, has guided our species. He has cultivated our potential and corrected us when we would stray but he has always kept us on the golden path to our ascendency and the reforging of our shattered domain is but another step on that path. I do not wish to force you to join the Imperium but it is fate that the Imperium found your world and it is fate for your world to join and I was once told that fate will play out no matter what you try to do"
The speech was short but powerful and it touched everyone in the room and even those watching across the world, in the space of a few minutes the primarch had changed the hearts and minds of many across Tellus but not all. After his short speech Aeoran was required to answer the questions of all those present, the first came from one of the few whose heart was not softened by his words, the Chosen Theocrat of the Theocracy of Atican.
He was an old man dressed in long white robes and a tall hat, the divinely ordained leader of one of Tellus' major religions, "You talk of unity with Terra but this endeavour your father is on is not as altruistic as you make it out to be, so tell me and the people of Tellus the reason we must give up our Gods, our worship, our traditions and in many cases our entire way of life"
Aeoran took a deep breath, "I was brought up on a world with much worship and superstition, from the day I was born I learned to pray and give thanks to the gods of my world but my father came along and showed me they were false, useless things that held me and my people back" the primarch stepped off the stage and walked right to the Chosen Theocrat, "Religion has united people, true, but it has divided us as well, it has caused death and destruction on a scale unseen by anything else and we cannot bring it to the stars with us, it will only hold us back even more"
"But the good it's done cannot be ignored, do you want us to just throw all that away" the Chosen Theocrat argued, "If we unite in faith then I'm sure we can build something even greater than the Imperium this Emperor strives for"
Aeoran looked down at the high priest and asked a question that broke his argument, "Who's faith? Yours? His? Or his?" Aeoran pointed to several different people around the room, "If I came here trying to convert this world to the old faith of my world or even to the worship of my father you would still argue the same, your faith denies the million gods from the million worlds where humans live, so tell me what makes your faith true and theirs false?"
"I-I-I…." the Chosen Theocrat stuttered under the intense gaze of the primarch, all his years of preaching and proselytising failed him and for the first time he could not think of a rebuttal, "I don't know"
The Chosen theocrat grit his teeth and stormed from the assembly hall, much to the shock of millions around the world, the primarch kept answering all the questions put to him but the main story after the day was done was that of the Chosen Theocrat basically abandoning his religion live for the world to see. The primarch was not done convincing the people of Tellus and answering their question, the summit would carry on for a few more days, but many on Tellus were already convinced about the benefits of the Imperium and only the most religiously zealous were opposed.
The primarch and his marines were given the top floor suite of the Rizer hotel in Korse, one of the most expensive and highest rated hotels on Tellus, the suite took up the entire top floor of the hotel and rose high above the city with several rooms and many other amenities, it was normally reserved for world leaders and the super rich.
Euan Houst Had been a porter at the Rizer hotel for 5 years, he started to job as a way to pay for the nearby university he went to but he continued to work there while he tried to get a job in his field. The past 3 months had been hectic for him, he remembered exactly where he was when he got the news that aliens existed, he had been out with some friends when his roommate called him rambling about aliens and the IC and sounding even crazier than normal but after his roommate called him so did his mother and father and pretty much every other member of his family, everyone's phones were going crazy as the news spread and people started to panic.
The months after the announcement were a blur, his parents lived on the other side of the country so unlike many people he decided to stay in the city and stockpiled supplies with his roommates, Euan still had 3 years worth of non-perishable food piled up in the corner of his room and enough weapons and ammunition to supply an insurgency. He had watched the live feed as the alien craft landed and the giants exited, he remembered how his roommate when crazy when he first saw Aeoran, he remembered all the conspiracy theories he came up with as the news trickled out information as they got it. Euan watched the primarch's speech before the IC and saw his small debate with the Chosen Theocrat, his grandmother had called him up after the session had ended and was rambling about Aeoran being a demon sent to lead god-fearing people astray and told him not to listen anymore.
This was the first day Euan had worked in about 3 months, he was probably one of the last people they should have called in but he was one of the only people who hadn't quit their job or moved out of the city. He wheeled his loaded cart in to the elevator and took it to the top floor, the top floor suit was normally serviced by its own dedicated team but they had all gone to ground somewhere so it was up to Euan, the elevator doors opened and standing either side of the doorway were armoured giants, they stood stock still until Euan stepped out and one stepped forward to stop him.
"What is this?" Euan looked up at the giant with his glowing red eyes and almost demonic voice and thought for a second his grandmother was right
"F-food for the honoured guest" Euan found his voice, no matter how small it was, as he tried to keep himself from sweating too much
"The primarch did not ask for any food"
"T-the hotel staff noticed you didn't order anything…. And thought you might be hungry" the cart Euan had was piled high with food since his mangers weren't sure what these soldiers ate or if they ate at all
"We have no need for such things, send it ba…." The giant was cut off by a voice coming from the main suite
"Stop antagonising the boy, Halan" Euan recognised the voice from all the live streams and the constant repeats on the news, "Let him through"
The giant let out a low growl before standing aside and letting Euan through to the main suite, Euan wasn't sure what to expect when he went through the doors but he steeled himself for anything. Several of the armoured giants stood around the dining table, they all had their helmets off and Euan could see that there were people under the armour and they weren't robots like some people thought, a small device on the table projected an image of what Euan assumed was Tellus and showed the fleet that was supposed to be in orbit, they turned it off as soon as Euan entered the room. Aeoran sat in front of the Tv with the top of his armour placed on the floor next to him, he somehow looked even bigger out of his armour, the primarch was flipping through news coverage about him.
He turned to Euan as he entered, "You brough us food, just leave it by the table" his smile put Euan at easy as he walked over to the table that was surrounded by giants who he knew would probably kill him if he made a single move they didn't like
Euan let go of the cart and was about to run out of there at full speed but Aeoran spoke, "What is your name?"
"E-Euan Houst, m-my lord?" Euan started sweating as he wondered what the primarch wanted with his name
"You're an average person?" the question was clearly rhetorical, "What are people saying about me and the Imperium? I want to know what the people of this world think not just the politicians"
"Well I can only really tell you what my roommates think, one of them is sure you're some malicious reptilian aliens here to mind control and enslave us"
Everyone in the room chuckled at that, "If we wanted to mind control you we could have done it from orbit" Euan couldn't tell if the armoured giant was joking about it or not
"My other roommate seems to believe in the Imperium and its ideas, he's been an atheist for years so I guess the idea of a galactic empire excites him, like something from a movie or game"
"and what about you?" Euan gulped as he looked the primarch directly in the eyes he was afraid of what would happen if he said something unflattering but he was just as scared of being caught in a lie, "Tell me honestly, I won't hold it against you"
"I'm not sure about the Imperium, you don't bring people like that on a diplomatic mission"
Aeoran chuckled, "The astartes were indeed built for war and so was I, primarily against xenos but if pushed to it then human worlds aren't exempt" the primarch looked deep in thought for a second, "But your world hasn't pushed us that far, let's hope they don't"
Euan was about to excuse himself but his curiosity overcame him, "May I ask you a question, my lord?"
Aeoran raised an eyebrow before nodding for him to continue, "I heard the news say that there were other worlds with humans on them, what is your world like?"
Aeoran smiled as he thought about his home, "It's called Solaero, the entire world is covered in mountains and mist…"
Euan spent hours listening to Aeoran tell tales of his time on Solaero, he spent his entire shift listening to stories about the primarch battling monsters that lurked in the mist and of great cities built inside mountains, they both ate and drank as the primarch asked him about Tellus and Euan asked him about Solaero and the Imperium, by the time Euan noticed the time his shift had already ended an hour ago.
"Thank you" Euan bowed slightly to the primarch, "With the announcement that aliens exist and all the craziness that followed life has been pretty stressful but it has been nice to hear about your world and the Imperium, when Tellus is official a part of it maybe I'll try and visit Solaero"
"I'm sure you'll love it" Aeoran smiled as he watched the young man leave
For the next week and a half Aeoran would travel to the IC headquarters and answer hundreds of questions a day, every second was recorded and streamed to the public, his every word and movement was analysed to death but with his every public appearance more and more people were convinced about the Imperium and the Imperial truth. In the space of a week more than half of Tellus supported Aeoran, just as King Alliste had planned, except for one snag.
After weeks of interrogations and thousands of questions the IC decided to vote, each nation's leader was given a single vote and it was decided that Tellus would only join the Imperium with a completely unanimous vote but everyone knew that such a thing was impossible and Aeoran made agreements with the more powerful nations he knew would side with him, if over 80% voted in favour of compliance then the Imperium and astartes wouldn't get directly involved and would support the nations of Tellus in invading and suppressing the nations who opposed. Some nations held votes, cast by all their citizens or just their legislature, some other nations left the decision solely up to their leader, elected or not.
The world of Tellus all watched as the president of the IC stepped on to stage and walked to the podium, the room fell silent as a sealed envelope was handed to him, "On the 2421th resolution of the IC general assembly, the vote to decide if the world of Tellus will join with the Imperium of man" the IC president held up the envelope as he spoke before finally opening it in full view of every one, "On the side of yay, 261, and on the side of nay, 25"
A murmur went though the hall at the announcement of the vote as leaders looked to their left and right to try and determine who had voted nay, the IC president called attention back to himself, "The resolution does not pass" the president let out a heavy sigh before leaving the stage
Aeoran watched from an observer position above the hall with Casis Thal beside him, "I actually liked the people of this world" the first captain admitted, "Should I contact the legion?"
"More than 90% voted to join the Imperium" Aeoran had a knowing smile on his face, "We should leave the nations that do support us to deal with this, this war will consume parts of Tellus for the next 5 years, that is 5 years of people fighting and dying for the Imperium, it will carve pride in to the hearts of our allies and fear in to the hearts of our enemies"
Casis Thal looked at his gene father and wondered for a split second whether Aeoran planned it this way, through the subtle suggestions of his aura or the specific words he chose when speaking, whether he planned to have a minority of Tellus fight to the bitter end and eventually galvanise those in the middle towards the Imperium. Casis thought that for only a second before putting it out of his head, it really didn't matter that much to him, the world had been won without a single shot being fired or a single astartes even being injured.
The nations that Aeoran had allied himself with would hold true to their promise, the ballots were found and false pretences set up; the armies of Vespia, the Albionic Kingdoms, Kyvia and more would march in to 2 dozen nations, the weapons provided by the Imperium making the initial fighting quick, if not bloody. A small chapter sized force of the Mist Walker legion astartes would remain in orbit for the next 5 years until Tellus was officially deemed compliant but even after the fighting ended radical insurgents continued to plague the world and further push it towards the Imperium, with a company of Mist Walkers helping local forces to counter the insurgents and foster even closer ties with the Imperium.
The primarch had seen the effect of every word and action he took on Tellus; Not contacting them until the last minute, the deliberately drawn out reveal of his humanity, embarrassing the highest clergyman on the world and every other action he took was orchestrated by the primarch. The primarch of the Mist Walkers would not fight wars if he could avoid it, he would set up a world to fight itself and for a pro imperial government to rise out of necessity and popular opinion rather than force. The people of Tellus would not think of themselves as citizens of Tellus but as citizens of the Imperium, just as Aeoran planned.
Next time: What is in a soul