Captain Tabers did not wait for the other party to finish speaking, and simply rejected the madman in front of him.
"No! I have the right! The empire has given me the ability to recruit all nearby armed forces!"
"It does not include the Astartes!"
"Okay! It does not include the Astartes! But the Inquisition to which I belong has a complete agreement with you!"
"Then follow the procedure! We must be authorized by the Grand Master Council!"
"But it's too late! Forget the damn process! You have to help me!"
"I refuse this ridiculous request!"
"No! You have no right to refuse! Open your deck! I'm coming!"
The communication signal was suddenly and unilaterally hung up after the brief but fierce argument ended.
Everyone on the entire bridge looked at each other, but they didn’t know where to start.
"Do we have this agreement?" Calvin asked Yule.
"It's never happened before, but..." Yule was a little angry, but mostly helpless.
"But we have indeed been allowing this to happen." Tabers continued what Yule left unfinished.
He looked at the small landing craft on the holographic screen that was rapidly approaching the Redeemer of the Dead from a distance, and said in a complicated tone:
"I order to open the front deck. In the name of the Emperor, at least give this madman a chance to explain."
"Roger." As the gate on the front deck was slowly lowered, while Calvin heard the reply from the crew ahead, he could already see the arrival of the landing craft decorated with the logo of the Tribunal.
"Is this what you are talking about?" Calvin meant.
"Look more, listen more. Don't jump to conclusions too quickly." Yule did not directly answer Calvin's question.
Tabers, on the other hand, didn't have many worries, or he didn't know the background of Yule's previous conversation with Calvin.
The veteran with three gold nails on his forehead told Calvin his understanding of the current situation:
"No matter from which point of view, the current working methods of the Tribunal are different from the original expectations of the Emperor and Malcador. In other words, it is our own connivance that makes these things that should be kept honest
Mortals who write administrative and diplomatic work take away the dominance of the Order of the Hammer step by step."
"Why?" Calvin couldn't understand even more. No matter the status of the Gray Knights or the force they possess, there is no reason to give in to these mortals.
But he knew he had better ask quickly. After all, with the pace of the Tribunal's messenger, it wouldn't take long to get here from the deck.
"Because of you." Tabos looked at Calvin.
"Or, because we don't have you." Tabos sighed and added:
"Because of your delay in showing up, our personnel have always been at a very embarrassing scale. And this is in no way consistent with the initial number of people in the Tribunal under the witness of the Emperor. In the twelve seats of the Supreme Council of the Tribunal
Here, initially we had eight seats."
"But life has to go on, and the rule of the empire and the survival of mankind must also be maintained." Yule took up Tabers' words.
"Due to our own incompetence, we failed to live up to the expectations of the Emperor and Prime Minister Malcador. In the entire 10,000 years of subspace time, we finally only returned to the empire with 1,000 active Gray Knights." Tabos.
Said.
"What are 1,000 Gray Knights enough for? Nothing is enough! It can barely maintain even basic combat functions! As for supplies, intelligence, screening, trial, and diplomacy, we can only leave it to those who came to join us in the first place.
Four mortal judges. And people, especially fragile and short-lived mortals, will change."
Yule made the final summary of this explanation.
After hearing this, Calvin already understood most of the problem. This is not a story about a struggle for power. If it really was, then facing these weak mortals, the problem would be much easier to solve.
This is a process in which rights are eroded, and it is also a process in which rights are helplessly given up.
The Gray Knights are destined to be unable to hold their seats, because they can barely maintain their basic functions, let alone other management functions?
There is no need to fight at all. In order to ensure the battle against demons and to protect the lives and interests of citizens of the entire empire, the Gray Knights will naturally give up these rights that are destined to be difficult to take into account in the absence of meetings one after another.
And the power vacuum created by successive retreats will inevitably end with mortals taking over again and again.
The first four Inquisitors also swore to join the Order of the Hammer under the witness of the Emperor and Malcador. Their purity and selflessness cannot be doubted, but what about the rest?
Perhaps the first generation of Inquisitors could still maintain their purity while the founder was still alive, but all men are mortal, and the Astartes could not escape the fate of dying in battle, let alone those who had spent all the wealth of the empire.
, a mortal who can only live for a thousand years?
One thousand years is enough to take away the life of any mortal;
One thousand years is enough for any organization that is dominated by mortals to become completely different from its original purpose.
This is not a problem that can be changed by one or two special cases. This is the law of nature. This is the curse and blessing that this species has been carrying since its birth.
Under the internal and external troubles that have never interrupted the war in the empire for thousands of years, the organization of the Inquisition has been preserved very well.
At least they still remember their mission, and they are at least still fighting for the empire.
Perhaps their original intentions are not as pure as those of the original founders, who have gone through the baptisms and hardships of the world and can still shine with a heart-stopping purity.
But we can't be too picky, can we?
These chosen ones know that they will inevitably fall under the abyss for a long time, but they are still willing to spend their lives to defend the destiny of mankind. Even if there are some personal desires mixed in, they are worthy of forgiveness. ,isn’t it?
The Gray Knights cannot complain, the Gray Knights have no right to complain!
This is their duty!
It is their incompetence that makes these mortals have to take their positions and endure all-round torture from body to soul on the front line of the struggle against Chaos!
Looking at the armed and administrative order of the entire empire, not to mention the Astra Militarum, which has a clear exit path (although the probability is very low, but it exists.), even the Astartes have the ability to fight with honor until The right to die!
They will finally close their eyes gloriously after fighting hard and return their souls to the throne.
Under the Emperor's blessing, they either fell into eternal sleep, or continued to fight for humanity gloriously in another way.
But what about the judge? Is there a happy ending? No.
In the cold and dark archives of the Imperial Inquisition, in the eight thousand years since its creation, no inquisitor has ever had a good death.
None.
They either died of murder, or died on missions. Or they were assassinated due to fighting with local factions, or they sacrificed themselves due to fighting against Chaos.
Being able to die on a frontal battlefield is already a great blessing for these mortal heroes who know that they cannot do anything.
Those souls that have been entangled with Chaos for decades or even centuries and eventually become corrupted are the real heartache of the empire.
Every one of them.
Every one of them is fighting an invisible war with eternal chaos as a mortal.
After countless battles with the latter, it was finally difficult to maintain one's own existence.
Are they sinful? Perhaps at the end of their lives, they did commit unspeakable sins.
But does their existence therefore lose its meaning? Of course not.
Therefore, when these mortals are either cruel, reckless, ignorant, or impatient, they feel guilty when they stand in front of these Gray Knights who have escaped from the mortal world.
They are inherently indebted to these people.
It was their incompetence that finally allowed these people to reach their current position.
It was their helplessness that forced these outstanding men, who should have created better value for the empire, the emperor, and all mankind in other fields, to put on military uniforms and stand in front of them.
Maybe they are wrong, maybe they have their own limitations.
But who is the culprit? Chaos? To blame Chaos?
If not, then the Gray Knights can only be blamed.
Incompetence is the original sin here.
And if one day, the Gray Knights can truly and completely fulfill their missions and obligations, then there will be no reason for these talents to appear.
And this is exactly the meaning of Calvin's existence.
He needs to correct this mistake, whether it is a personal mistake of the current judge or a structural mistake of the Holy Hammer Order in the future.
This is his destiny, he has to accept it, and he is honored to be appointed to it.