On the bridge of the Inquisition's black ship Heart of Honor, which is also the ship of Inquisitor Eranti, Inquisitor Rhine is waving the documents in his hand angrily.
"How dare you! "Reprimand action?" Ha! This is a joke! Who gave you the right! Who do you want to reprimand? This is a clear violation of the neutrality principle of the tribunal! You have to pay the price!"
Rhine loudly rebuked Erlanti in front of him, but the latter did not take it seriously with Rhine's stormy anger.
After he vented his emotions in Rhine, he slowly told the truth that made the other party even more angry:
"Of course I dare, there are some things in this era, there is no need to stick to the rules. And of course I am not the only one, behind me is us."
"That is a Chapter of the Astartes! They belong only to the Emperor himself!" Rhine continued angrily pointing out the arrogance of these careerists.
"We are also servants of the Emperor. When the Emperor cannot lead them, we lead them and serve the Empire better, isn't it good?"
"Who gave you the right!"
"Who? Do you need it? We are originally members of the High Lords Council. You don't know the meaning of the High Lords Council, right? Do you need me to repeat it to you?"
Eranti walked contentedly and spoke the words in its mouth slowly and clearly:
"According to the order of the sacred and great Emperor of the Empire, we, headed by the Imperial Prime Minister Malcador, will coordinate all matters in the empire's territory, and prepare to collect the tax resources of all the worlds under our jurisdiction to support the needs of the front during the expedition..." After he slowly recited this top-secret document recorded in the archives of many of the initial units of the Consolidated Federation, including the Imperial Ministry of the Interior, the Astronomical Court, and the Ministry of Military Affairs, he stopped in his tracks and turned to look at the absent inquisitor.
Rhine said word by word:
"The Emperor cannot see things; the Prime Minister of the Empire, Malcador, has died; the Primarchs have withered away. So now we are the ones who can represent the will of the Imperial Confederation - the Council of High Lords, and the Inquisition is the chief!
We don’t need any authorization! We are the empire!”
"No! Impossible! You cannot represent the entire Tribunal, and neither do the people behind you!"
Rhine insisted on his last belief. He never believed that the Inquisition would reach such a rebellious consensus from top to bottom.
He never believed that even though the empire had continued to stumble to this day, there would not even be a single person with pure ideals in the entire Inquisition.
Eranti smiled proudly after hearing Rhine's words:
"Of course I can't represent it, but if I can represent it at a certain point in time, that's enough for us."
"You!" Rhine pointed at Eranti's figure with a trembling hand, and then he understood the other party's intention.
Of course, this group of people cannot represent the Inquisition, which has many members and various factions.
But as Eranti said, it is enough that they can represent the will of the Tribunal at a certain moment and in a certain corner.
They can completely take advantage of the entire Tribunal's slow response, isolation of information, and lack of reporting to each other to replace one of their own at a certain key node.
If not, then erase the discordant voice and replace it with theirs.
For example, Stadler, who inexplicably became the Lord Inquisitor, is like here.
At this point in the conversation, the smell of blood can no longer be concealed.
Even if he doesn't believe it when it comes to life and death, Judge Rhine still needs to try to fight for the innocent people on the planet under his feet.
"Then why do you want to give me this document?"
Judge Rhine, who had already smelled something ominous, waved the document in his hand labeled "Admonishment Action".
He took advantage of the situation and pretended to accidentally let go of his hand in anger. While blocking Eranti's sight, his other hand reached for the pistol at his waist.
But it's too late.
The other party's conspiracy has been prepared for a long time, and the murderous intention towards him is naturally present throughout.
Before the pieces of paper flying in the air hit the ground, his hand stretched out to his waist froze midway.
It wasn't that he didn't want to continue, but that the plasma pistol in the hands of an Astartes warrior behind him who had not participated in the conversation, namely Jutas, the third company commander of the Malicious Warriors, had been pointed firmly at him in silence at some point.
Head.
Jutas, who seemed to consider that he was not wearing a helmet and was worried about the bullet passing through, tilted his head, lowered his hand slightly, and finally locked it on Rhine's chest.
The white paper slowly succumbed to the force of gravity and fell on the black floor. The black boots under Eranti's red robe walked through the scattered documents on the ground and walked to Rhine.
He said to Rhine in the tone of a martyr:
"Because I don't want my former comrades to die in confusion."
Boo!
Rhine, whose entire chest was melted and a big hole opened, fell softly. His highly modified body could not continue to stand under such injuries.
Life was passing rapidly from his body, while unwillingness and regret filled his last consciousness.
"I thought we were comrades in arms..." This was his last groan and a question.
"It used to be." Facing such a scene, Erlanti was as serious as if she was participating in some kind of ceremony, and the sacrifice in the ceremony was the former comrade in front of her.
"But not since you betrayed our interests."
It's like explaining to the dead Rhine, and also like excusing myself.
Eranti knew that the other party was dead and could not hear his voice, but he still finished the sentence.
"Sir, what should we do next?"
Jutas's voice came from the Mark VI helmet he wore, and the yellow paint made this burly Astartes have a strong presence in the room.
"Issuing a last ultimatum to the surface! Order those recalcitrant elements to immediately lay down their weapons and accept reorganization!"
Eranti didn't even look back, conveying his will to his loyal dog.
"Yes! But what if they continue to resist to the end?"
Jutas, who bowed his head and surrendered to the judge, looked both terrifying and funny.
What's horrifying is that he had no psychological burden for the previous murders, just like drinking water. What's funny is that he and Eranti, who are mortals, look so weird at this time.
What a weird picture it is to see a 2.5-meter-tall heavily armored knight humbly bowing to a mortal less than 1.8 meters tall.
"Then destroy them! Since we can catch the first descendant of the Blood Angel, we can naturally catch the second one. If we can't get it, let it be destroyed."
"Their home planet?" Jutas was still a little worried.
"Don't worry too much! Someone has already taken care of it. As long as you open fire here, the other side can also be cleaned up."
"Your will!"
Jutas bowed and resigned, under Eranti's gaze. But what Eranti could not see was the bloody smile under Jutas' helmet.
Inquisitor Eranti was the only one left on the empty bridge. He also seemed to be disenchanted after the murder and lost interest in staying.
"We must be right, and we must re-establish a new order!"
Eranti hypnotized himself in this way. He strode over the dead Rhine's body and walked out, as if he had stepped across a prison that had been restraining him.