Chapter 9.4 – He Who Sorrows
The Emperor sat upon his throne in the Phalanx.
He scanned the future, looking at all possible options for the Master of Mankind to guide the designs his of creation. None of them were good. The brightest peak, the golden future, was gone. They were blown so off course that it could never be again, at least not without millennia of correction. The Imperial Webway project was lost. Without the Golden Throne it was impossible.
Gone was the possibility of using the Astonomican to burn away the weakened Chaos Gods. The Golden Spear designed to purge the immaterium of the foul creatures of Chaos lay dormant, unreachable on a Terra now cast into the warp.
He could build another. It was within his skill. But the future told him it was unnecessary, another tool for navigation purposes would soon be in his possession.
Also without the Webway he would need another way to starve out his enemies.
The Fifth gnawed at him. He felt the breath of Sorrow upon his back. It irked him. He wished to be free of this pulling at his soul.
"The Master of Lightning, his spirit is now a tasty morsel for He Who Sorrows!" came a sing song voice from the shadows, "Thirteen sons remain, and the Thirteenth shall define the future of the Mon Keigh! But wary he will grow of the Master of Lightning, unbending metal meeting the flames of idealism. The forest is already ablaze! How might we now put out the flames? The time is short, oh Lord of the Sun."
"Greetings, Eldrad," said the Emperor as the Farseer entered the room, "Would you kindly remove your clown from my presence."
"Unfortunately the Veilwalker will be pertinent to our discussions," replied Eldrad, taking a seat in one of the many scattered throughout the room.
The Emperor had been holding various conferences with members of the Odessey Fleet for the past few days, and from the last meeting several had left their chairs scattered around. It had not been important enough to command someone to tidy it, and the occupants of the Phalanx were pushed to their limits as it was.
He had been infusing the local leaders of every civilian and military vessel as part of the Odessey Fleet with hope to avoid any… accidents prior to reaching Ultramar. Despair, fear and sadness were no longer something that could be tolerated, especially on a large scale whilst traveling through the warp.
The Emperor's speeches could reinforce the most frail of hearts. His psychic shield was protecting the fleet, but too much concentration of negative emotion and even that could start to produce leaks. The Emperor had not desire to lose valuable resources during this voyage.
Between meetings the Emperor had instructed not to be disturbed, but for Eldrad there seemed to be some leniency. The Emperor dismissed the Custodes beside him with a gesture of his hand. This conversation was for his ears alone.
"What do you wish to discuss, Farseer?" asked the Emperor, focusing his baleful gaze upon the Xenos.
"The Future of Your Species," answered Eldrad with a grin, "And mine of course. There exists now six monsters that will rampage throughout the galaxy, destroying worlds and devouring souls. You know this. You also know He Who Sorrows is currently feasting on your species the same as She Who Thirsts feasts on us."
"I take it you have a solution to the… predicament?" asked the Emperor.
"Well soulstones will not suffice for you I think," said Eldrad as Veilwalker pranced to his side, "You don't know how to make them and even if we taught you there would not be a way to get them to your people in time to save even a fraction of your worlds."
"My thoughts were similar," nodded the Emperor, "Emotional control will the most effective strategy."
"You're going to make your species repress it's fears and sadness?" said Eldrad shaking his head, "You know that will not work. You can't make a species just turn off its inner emotions."
"There are ways," replied the Emperor.
"You'll have an Imperium of mindless automatons," sighed Eldrad, "Even if you have a plan for it you cannot possibly see that as a long term solution."
"If that is how we must accomplish victory then it will be done," said the Emperor, a hint of annoyance in his voice, "It will be a… temporary solution."
"A temporary solution to what end?"
"That has yet to be decided."
"Forgive me, Revelation, but this is not a plan. That is a trying to hold a wound closed whilst you are suffering blood loss."
The Emperor shifted in his seat uncomfortably. It had been a long time since anyone had dared to question him. Even the Sigillite's interrogations of his plans had ultimately been the improve them rather than dismiss them.
"There were… plans… to burn the enemy out of the immaterium. Whilst that weapon is now lost to me the concept was sound. I will endeavor to find ways to accomplish something along similar lines."
"That will be hard," replied Eldrad, "The 'Golden Throne' as your people knew it is not something you will find again. Such devices are rare, and even if one does exist it will take far longer than we have to acquire it."
The Emperor continued to frown. The silence was deafening.
"I met your Regent, Malcador," said Eldrad eventually, trying to revive some productive thought and positive reaction from the Emperor, "I can see why you liked him. We had many conversations."
"He was a Hero," said the Emperor, a hint of mournfulness that few would have picked up, "He was the greatest of his kind. A philosopher. A champion. An idealist. And above all, a good friend. Loyal to the last. Would that I could have him here with me now."
"He may have been the key to saving your species," said Eldrad with a nod, "Without his actions to see you away from Terra there could have been something far worse than He Who Sorrows. I know you have glanced at the futures that might have been to know of what I speak."
"The Dark King…"
"Precisely. The Dark King would have galvanized the Imperium into a weapon that would have spread beyond our galaxy to make war with creation itself in an attempt to bring Order and Control. He Who Sorrows has no such lofty ambitions, he is just another player in the game that has been going on before time immemorial."
"I still believe I could have controlled it."
"Then it is good that option was taken from you," said Eldrad with a hard stare, "You do not think I would take such a route if it were possible? The Aeldari would sacrifice a million souls to create new God to save us from She Who Thirsts. Sadly, the creation of one to rival the Primordial Annihilators is not so simple. We do not yet have the powers necessary for such a thing."
"I am not like the Aeldari…" said the Emperor with a hard edge, "I have a vision that your kind failed to possess."
"A vision that led you to burn worlds like Monarchia?" asked Eldrad with a shake of the head, "A vision that led you to torment the most psychically gifted of your sons? A vision that made you prioritize your work when you sons were grieving a loss? A vision that led you to kill or banish two of your own sons for nothing more-"
"ENOUGH, Eldrad," boomed the Emperor, "Your company is welcome but my patience and hospitality has limits…"
"That is not to say my people do not also have their faults," replied the Farseer cooly, "We created She Who Thirsts. But we are paying for our sins much as you are paying for yours. You must have seen your actions would have consequences."
"It was the best path before me," replied the Emperor, still with an edge in his tone, "I knew Lorgar was beyond hope when he landed on the world of priests and delusional evangelists, yet I still gave him a chance to make a better choice. I did my best to teach Magnus to avoid the dangers he thoughtlessly courted, but the boy would not listen. I knew a war would come between my sons and I prepared accordingly. I just did not realise…"
The Emperor paused, rewording his thoughts before continuing.
"That is I did foresee it, but I did not believe such a minor probability would be the one that came to pass. He was never supposed to fall. Even by the end, he did not truly fall. I was blinded by the belief that only one who possessed the powers of the Four could bring ruin to me, that the one who led the forces against me would be the one empowered by Four because only such a one could challenge me. Instead it was not rebellion led by Pride, by Arrogance or by Desire to Dominate. It was a rebellion led by the purest intentions imaginable. A rebellion, founded on..."
"Love. The strongest emotion has ever been love," said Veilwalker, removing her mask. The Emperor stared at the Aeldari's features, a face not seen by any within living memory, the earnestness of her words reinforced by her expression. The followers of the Laughing God did not remove their masks ever... Yet it seemed in this circumstance and the danger it presented, there was an exception to be made.
"The Laughing God feared all this would transpire…" continued Veilwalker, her usual jovial comedic essence now gone, her words clear and unambiguous, the truth beneath the mask revealed, "Which is why he sent me to you. If your enemies, the enemies of life itself, continue their successful campaign it will be the end of reality as we know it."
"I am well aware of this."
"Whilst no being, not even the Laughing God, can claim perfect clairvoyance," said Veilwalker in a mournful tone, "He knows the doom that will befall the galaxy. The monsters are in the Webway. Although it is a labyrinth of madness, he has foreseen a time when the Bloody Raven shall descend upon Commorragh with the warriors at his side like a cloud of locusts. They will ravage the Dark City, leaving it a barren husk. In time the Bloody Raven will find himself in the Laughing God's Palace, and whilst he will not be able to harm him, his chosen will be slaughtered and leave him diminished."
"I fail to see why this is my problem," dismissed the Emperor, "I have my own people to consider."
"The Laughing God also sees your plan will not succeed," replied Veilwalker, "And I know you see it too. The chances of success are slim, slimmer that the plan you held before. Your plans will simply cause another schism which will merely weaken our efforts further to contain the forces unleashed."
"Not if I am successful," replied the Emperor, tersely.
"There is another way," said Veilwalker, "The Laughing God has seen it, and knows it is our best chance for survival. But it will mean an alliance between our peoples. We can no longer fight amongst ourselves whilst the enemy grows in strength."
"I shall consider this," said the Emperor, "But this does not solve the immediate issue."
"It can," replied Veilwalker, "There is a path. It will restore the balance of powers and save both our peoples from complete annihilation."
"How?" asked the Emperor, incredulously.
She told him.
"No," replied the Emperor flatly, his eyes narrowing, "That is completely out of the question."
"It is our best chance," insisted Veilwalker, "The Laughing God-"
"Absolutely not."
"Revelation, you need to consider the bigger picture," said Eldrad forcefully, "This is no longer a thing we can defeat alone. Only by-"
"ENOUGH!" roared the Emperor, "Eldrad, you and your clown have tried my patience enough. Begone from my sight or I shall have your removed by force. Begone."
"Very well," said Eldrad meekly as Veilwalker returned the mask to her face, "If you have need of me you know where to find me."
"I will not," snapped the Emperor, "I will consider a state of non-aggression between our peoples as I cannot afford a two front war at this time, but do not think this means I care about your plight or the concerns of your people. I am the Master of Mankind. I am champion of my species, the dominant species of this galaxy. I will solve the problems of my kind as I have always done. Alone."
"As you say, Revelation," called Eldrad, his figure vanished into the corridor.
The Emperor scowled at the vanishing footsteps.
He continued to sit there, in silence, upon his throne surrounded by empty chairs.
Alone.