Neoth looked up at the overhead storage compartments of the Stormbird as it took off.
"Are you going to come out, or remain hidden for the entire trip?" He asked.
One of the compartments opened, and a small lithe figure leapt out of it onto the red plume of a Custodes.
"Is it fine for you to leave Ael and those children?" Neoth asked as he watched a doll size Isha make herself comfortable amongst the smooth fibers of the Custodes's helm.
"This is just another simulacra." Isha replied as she inspected the make-shift sofa she had made for herself, then nodded in approval at her work before sitting down. "Besides, there is no need for me to be with Ael the entire time. I'm having him attend the classes regarding basic diplomacy with the other children. As a hybrid of both our species, he will find himself stuck between human and Aeldari interests, regardless of what he wants. The skills he will learn will be valuable for both."
"So you came to spy on me out of boredom?" Neoth snorted.
"Caution, to be more precise." Isha said with a sly smile. "This was the first major move you have made to change course. I wished to see what would happen with my own eyes."
"And what is your appraisal?"
"It is a step in the right direction." Isha flashed him a cold smile. "Although it does not forgive what you have done to their souls."
Neoth's mouth drew into a bitter line as he turned back towards where the Thunder Warriors were far below the rising Stormbird.
His Warp sight looked at each one of their souls marked with a very familiar brand. The brand of the Chaos God of Hate and Blood, drawn in Golden Ink.
"They were the next step in my plan." Neoth said quietly as he turned back to Isha.
"The salvation of humanity at the cost of everything else." Isha sighed. "They take power from the brand and its owner, yet their actions are intrinsically tied to you and the Imperium. Their legends and deeds are made yours via propaganda and imagery."
'They were your first experiment to see if humanity could successfully usurp the Ruinous Powers.' Isha communicated via telepathy.
"But, war alone is not enough." Neoth said tiredly.
'Every aspect of evil, of Chaos, had to become mine.' He conveyed the thought to her mentally, unable to voice it even when there were no others but the Custodes and Isha around him.
"We shall see." The goddess said softly, eyes slightly narrowed as if appraising the Emperor. "But, those plans have changed, haven't they?" Isha said after a short moment, resting her chin on her hand as she gave Neoth a knowing smile. "They had reached the limit of what they could do, according to your original plan. Their legacy was to be continued by the new Legions."
"They were." Neoth nodded. "There is only so much they can do, so much that they can embody, and fixing them would have been more costly than destroying them."
The cure he offered the Thunder Warriors would use the Progenoid glands of his new Legions. It was the only way to ensure their volatile physiology could be sustained with a fresh supply of stem cells from the glands.
Neoth had originally intended to use these glands to begin mass-production, but that would have to be delayed for the moment.
At the very least, militarily, he would not suffer greatly. Thunder Warriors were stronger and faster than the member's of his new Legions. They were lacking in flexibility with their tactics and strategy. However, the Unification Wars had given both him and Valdor plenty of experience in working around that limitation.
"They are a purely epicurean expression of war." Isha smiled sadly. "Normal soldiers usually wage war for one of two things. The ideals and virtues of Stoicism, or Epicurean materialism. I saw my own children fight over patriotism, philosophy, or abstract morals. I saw them go to war for material resources, hedonistic enjoyment, and dreams of expansionism. Your Cataegis are firmly in the latter category, but only in the basest form. They enjoy killing. They have no other trade to sustain their livelihood. They have no other way to justify their own existence. War is the only material thing keeping them alive, thus they have no choice but to continue waging it."
"I know." Neoth replied slightly irritably. "I know…" He whispered painfully this time.
Isha paused for a moment, letting the Neoth calm down. The God of Heroes collected all the souls reaped by his Thunder Warriors, theirs included. That was the entire point of the brand of Khorne written in golden ink upon their souls. He knew what they went through, what they thought, and what they felt up until the moment of their death.
"I am sorry." Isha apologized. "It was vindictive of me to bring up such painful memories. You know your sins better than anyone else."
"It is alright." Neoth shook his head. "But, if you know that much you should be able to predict why I have decided to reveal myself to them."
"I can see it." Isha's silver eyes narrowed as she stared at the Emperor's face. "The death of your religion."
Neoth stifled a sigh at her phrasing.
"The Imperial Truth is not a religion. It is a faith without a god." He said irritably.
"I would still call it a religion." Isha snorted. "You are hardly a normal human. If the difference between faith and religion is whether the object of belief is mundane or divine, then the Imperial Truth is certainly a religion based around you."
"It isn't." Neoth replied bluntly. "Human excellence, worship of scientific ideology, and nationalism. Those are the three core tenets I used to forge the Imperial Truth."
Faith is only the action of belief in an object. That object can be a person, a nationality, or even an idea. However, out of all objects, those that are supernatural instill the strongest bonds.
Faith in a person can fail should that person prove unworthy.
Faith in a nationality can falter when looking into its limitations or observing other ways of living.
Faith in an ideal requires a stoicism not many can continue to maintain when faced with reality.
Only objects that are abstract, illogical, and unquestionable can maintain a bond that would weather all hardship; a bond that would ignore all scrutiny. Of course, building that bond is as hard as breaking it.
"Yet, the symbol for all three is you." Isha chided him. "You formed a cult of personality around yourself. However, you are superhuman, even by the genetically enhanced standards of mankind. Thus, no matter what, the Imperial Truth is a religion."
"Perhaps…" Neoth acquiesced the point with a bitter look. "At the very least, it states resolutely that I am not a god."
Isha let out a trilling laugh like a bird's song in spring.
"They will treat you as one regardless!" She said, after recovering from her laughing spell. "Making a person not believe is as difficult as making them believe in the first place. A single line, no matter how many times it is repeated, won't change that."
"It was necessary." Neoth huffed. "You know that."
"I do…" Isha's face took a more somber look, almost pitying. "I know why you did it, as well as why you made the Imperial Truth antithetical with all other religions."
Neoth remained silent. Isha knew all his reasons and his excuses. She was merely confronting him with what he already knew, forcing him to review his actions.
'You had to take special care to destroy every other religion you met. Otherwise, the Imperial Truth would be perverted into a blatant religion instead of an implied one.' Isha communicated the thought through telepathy, keeping the Custodes onboard out of the loop. 'And of course there was the other benefit of claiming a monopoly regarding the thoughts and emotions of every human you met.'
'That was a side-effect. I do not wish to be worshiped, only obeyed.' Neoth thought back to her.
Isha raised an eyebrow at the admission, and remained silent to see what he would say next.
"Faith was a shortcut to my objectives." Neoth said bitterly. "Despite the failings of all religions, I cannot argue with their statistics."
"They say one can see the face of god through suffering, and there is an element of truth to that." Isha's voice was cynical. As a deity who was routinely brought out of the Sea of Souls when her children's suffering was the greatest, the saying was painfully true for her as well.
"Communities with religion survive for longer than those that don't during times of hardship." Isha continued in a more matter-of-fact tone. "It is a quixotic result on the surface for those who see religion as nothing but faulty superstition, but it cannot be ignored."
"I know, and it is a frustrating fact." Neoth shook his head sadly. "Faith binds communities together. It gives them something they can all agree upon, no matter how incorrect that thing is. That alone births a sense of community, a sense of cooperation. It also allows difficult decisions to be made without justification or reasoning. Men and women have done incredibly foolish things in the name of gods, but that also means they can be made to do things they do not understand for the same reason. That is useful, especially when speed and action are of urgency."
"And your reasons are hard to understand indeed." Isha said mockingly.
Neoth snorted. "Do you think they would listen if they knew what all my plans were?" He asked rhetorically instead.
"No, most wouldn't." Isha admitted softly. 'If that happened, you would have to deem them inhuman.'
Humanity is neither inherently good nor evil. While some might leap at the chance to join the Emperor's Golden Path, many would be equally repulsed by the idea. Even if they had no better alternative, their soul would scream at them that the sacrifice of everyone and everything else was not the way forward.
"The Great Crusade, and the Golden Path will demand many sacrifices. Sacrifices that many will not understand. Even if they did, many would not have the strength to make them." Neoth let out a soft sigh from his nostrils. "I have no delusions about the nature of mankind. They will need something to believe in to forge onwards. Hence, the need for the Imperial Truth. A faith with no god. A faith that instills belief in human exceptionalism, knowledge, and manifest destiny. A faith that will justify the bloodiest acts, the blackest deeds, and the most painful costs for the sake of a golden dream. My dream. A dream of a galaxy for humanity."
"Utilitarian as always." Isha said with a tired sigh. Then she flashed Neoth a kinder smile. 'But, your plans have changed.' She said to him with telepathy.
Neoth nodded. 'Before, I could not risk being called a god.' He thought back. 'I could not risk being incorporated into any faith or religion. There already is one faith I will have to stomach, and I cannot risk being added to another one. I as the Emperor may be mortal, but my legend must be under my direct control. Otherwise my image, my meaning, my path might be altered in ways that would seem they were always that way.' Neoth scowled off into the distance; in the direction of the rust red fourth planet from Sol. 'The one faith I can allow is that of the Machine God.' He thought bitterly. 'It is a neutered religion, obsessed with the recitation of binaric-codes and protocols instead of meaningless hymns or praise. Thus, acting as the Omnissiah of that religion would at worst drive me to be more obsessed over knowledge, but that is not a great divergence from what I already am.'
'And now?' Isha asked mentally.
'I can afford a little extra baggage.' Neoth replied with a small smile. 'Malcador has asked me to consider more leniency regarding religion.'
'And this demonstration is part of it?'
'The Cataegis do not believe in humanity any longer. The brand on their soul, and everything they have experienced leads them to believe in survival of the fittest, and nothing else. I will need them to believe in something greater than that to break that prejudicial worldview.'
"Hence, that almost boorish display of power." Isha chuckled.
"What better way to convince an army that they are not necessary?" Neoth shrugged.
Neoth had broken their belief that they were simply weapons. They could not reach that conclusion when he himself said so, and demonstrated what he could do. He had also changed their perspective of him from mortal tyrant to unknowable deity.
'Their brand also renders them resistant to all things sorcerous.' He added on. 'Khorne's all consuming hate rejects all immaterial intrusion upon their being, mine included. It was a useful trait to use against the large numbers of techno-barbarian psykers on Terra. However, that was why they needed a truly physical demonstration to convince them. Hence, my usage of Necron chronometric lore.'
"That will not last for long." Isha warned. "Mortals can only bear a mystery for a while. Leave them waiting, and the awe they felt will be forgotten through apathy or turn into an insane obsession."
"I know." Neoth nodded. "I will show them a world worth fighting for."
Neoth looked off into the distance, as the largest population of humans in the area.
"I will allow them to think of me as they will. If they wish to see me as a god, I will allow it. For the others who wish to follow other more traditional religions, I have had Malcador begin preparations with changes to the Lex Imperialis." A grim look crossed Neoth's face. "When the Ethnarchy is brought down, I will relinquish my persecution of religion."
"You will allow them to believe what they want, including what they think about you." There was no modicum of surprise in Isha's voice. Too many things got caught up in the paradox of a god denying its own existence. The best way to return things to normal was to allow them to move on their own accord. Neoth would loosen his grip on humanity, returning some of the autonomy he had taken from them as the Emperor.
"Freedom of religion." Neoth nodded. "Yes, I will restore that, but this Imperium will still be built upon science and knowledge." He sounded slightly flippant and snobbish when he said that.
Isha gave an internal sigh. Neoth personally still disliked religion and deities as concepts. As hypocritical as it was, those were his feelings on the matter.
'Oh, well. At least it is an improvement.' Isha thought to herself privately.
"I will use faith as a tool, when I need it. I will rely on miracles and my divinity, when it is necessary." Neoth continued, and Isha smiled politely as she held back the urge to pinch his nose or pull his cheek for the blatant double standard. "However, the practice of organized religion by all others shall be treated as any other unnecessary luxury. Tithes will be outlawed. Donations will be taxed as income. Churches and temples will be treated no differently than any other building. What takes place in a person's home is of no concern to me, but when religion goes beyond personal belief it will be regulated like any other public activity."
"Are you willing to take the risk?" Isha asked through narrowed eyes. "To trust humanity again?"
Freedom of religion meant there were avenues for all sorts of entities to slip into the society Neoth was crafting. She was not only talking of beings from the immaterium. Many charlatans and con men had used religion to take from the ignorant and desperate.
"I have always taken risks." Neoth said with a tired smile. "Besides, there will be signs if something from the immaterium should attempt to find purchase in my Imperium. Beliefs without acts are as vacuous as the void. Should one of the four exploit my leniency, there will be physical evidence of their teachings. Malcador will handle the more mundane interlopers who will attempt to take advantage of my citizens."
Isha tilted her head quizzically.
"To create a means of finding such evidence of their corruption would require a great communal network within the Imperium. A social safety net that cares for those most likely to succumb to them."
"It will." Neoth nodded. "I will need to be able to reach the darkest corner of the Hive Cities, and ensure that the Imperium is represented there as well."
His features turned more serious as he spoke the next words.
"Which is why I will need to purge my political enemies in the legislative branch of the Imperium."
That was the part of his plan he had involved Nour with. However, he had no intention of leaving everything to the former Lord from Zafranat. His enemies would only show themselves when they thought they could take back control of the planet for him, and money would not be convincing enough.
"The old leaders fear losing power, and will stand in the way of any project that empowers the lower classes." Neoth continued, leaving the details left unsaid.
However, Isha could see the strands of fate beginning to tangle together into a web that would ensnare all of the Emperor's enemies; both mortal and immortal.
"That is good." Isha replied, only commenting on what he said and not what she could see. "Your intentions may come from utilitarianism and practicality, but I look forward to seeing just how far you are willing to care for your people."
"You will not ask about the assassins?" Neoth asked cautiously. They were one organization he had no intention of shutting down, but contradicted the entire image of a better kinder Imperium.
"I hold no expectations for you, Emperor." Isha sighed. "Just because you give them this freedom does not mean you will be unconditionally kind to them."
Neoth nodded solemnly, and began to turn away.
"However, that is enough." Isha continued. "Fewer people will suffer. Fewer people will be in pain. I will keep taking in all the children your assassins fail, and I have my own plans as well."
Neoth turned back to her with a quizzical look.
Isha returned it with a smug smile. "Not all the children have the right aptitude for diplomacy. They lack the aggression, confidence, or ambition to successfully stand up to one of my children. They are instead kinder, more patient, and more understanding. They will serve as the replacements of my simulacra once I am gone."
Isha's stay here was temporary. Even if it might last a couple centuries, there would come a time she would not be there for the new children the assassin temples would fail. Thus, she had already begun building a sustainable system that would keep saving those children on its own.
Neoth gave her a thankful nod, then flashed her his own smug smile.
"You have predicted or already known what I intended, but there is one thing you were mistaken about."
"Oh, what is that?"
"I do not do all these things for only utilitarian reasons. I am also doing this to try to work with you."
Isha's ears twitched up and down in surprise once as her eyes widened. Then her eyes narrowed as a quizzical eyebrow raised, silently ordering him to continue his explanation.
"Your legends depict you as a goddess of mercy and fairness." Neoth shrugged. "The teachings left in your temples tell of the importance of social harmony and cooperation. Thus, I have tried to adopt those traits into my own Imperium where I can."
"I… see…" Isha replied, unsure as to how to react. She did approve of the proposed changes, but to be told that he did them partially out of respect to her left an itchy feeling inside her.
"Feel proud, Neoth." She finally said with a prideful sniff, deciding to take it as primly as possible. "I have not been surprised like this for a long time."
Neoth allowed himself a slight chuckle at the tiny Aeldari goddess with her nose turned up in the air. No matter how properly she tried to present herself, her current size made her difficult to take seriously.
After a moment, he leaned back slightly against the wall of the Stormbird.
"It is not my objective to be evil." He said to nobody in particular. "I just didn't see any other choice."
Isha blinked at the admission. It was a rare moment of weakness displayed by the Emperor. There was no physical or mental vulnerability exposed here, but the fact that the Emperor allowed anyone to see his regret was not the action of a god, but a man.
The goddess wondered whether she should attempt to console him…
He knew he was wrong, even when he convinced himself it was the only way forward. To try to justify that for him to his face would only irritate him. This was his cross to bear, and he would not let go of it. Yet, with him no longer incoherent with insanity, he could not simply suffer in silence. That was the source of those words.
"Humanity was great once." Isha finally said softly. "It may not have been perfect, but there was a time where your kind was close to your idealized society based on knowledge, innovation, and curiosity. It always had the potential, and so long as humanity exists it can try and try again."
There was a moment of silence, filled only by the rumble of the Stormbird's engines.
"We have much work to do." Neoth finally said. "In a little over two years time, some of the Cataegis will be ready to retire. We will have to perfect the technologies and methods to provide them with the means to enter civilian life by then."
"Fine." Isha nodded. "I promised to help you through this, and a goddess's word is not broken lightly."
Neoth gave her a small smile. She voiced the same sentiment Erda had often attempted to lecture him about.
Quite frankly, he didn't truly believe it. Gods and Goddesses were still the creations of mortal minds. They were as ephemeral and untrustworthy as the species that spawned them. They changed with the times, but acted as if that was the way they always had been. It may not be intentional, but that was the way they were.
'But that takes hundreds if not thousands of years…' Neoth thought to himself. 'I can trust this promise for at least two.'
"By the way.:." Neoth asked with a sterner expression. "Just how long are you going to sit there?"
Despite knowing his Custodes did not feel emotions, the Custodes in question did not seem amused with the tiny fairy sitting on his head.
"It's actually quite comfy here." Isha said as she lounged back on the red plume sofa she had made for herself. "Whoever your designer is for their helms, they have a fine choice in material."
"You will return that to normal, won't you?"
"I can try." Isha shrugged.
"Your answer does not inspire confidence." Neoth grumbled. "Do you intend to remain there when we return to the Imperial Palace?"
"I don't see why not." A coy smile crossed Isha's face. "As long as I stay still, most would think of me as just another ornament. It would allow me to keep an eye on you out in the open."
Neoth snorted.
"As an ornament, you are one of horrid taste." He muttered.
"Says the man who paints everything gold." Isha shot back.
Neoth sent his Custodes a look, and the armored soldier reached up and plucked the goddess off his head; holding her by the scruff of her shift like a naughty cat. A footlocker opened up, and Isha was dropped unceremoniously into it before it shut and locked itself.
"This is how stowaways are treated on Terra." Neoth said to the footlocker. "Next time, you can ask for permission when you want to travel with me."
A couple of angry pings and pangs came from the footlocker as its contents bounced around inside it.
'Reminds me of that fairy from Neverland.' Neoth thought to himself as the Custodes took off his helmet to comb out the tangled fibers of his plume.
'Perhaps I'll stick her in a jar next time she annoys me.'