"Have you really decided that way?"
After hearing the prophet's words, Octavia looked very surprised.
Talos did not look directly at her. He walked around her throne, looking across the pool and thinking of the previous owner of this room.
The man died in filth, torn to pieces by the First Claw.
Although Talos remembered it vividly, he could not remember the name of the creature now, which was rare.
"Are you listening to me?"
Octavia raised her voice a little, her voice so elegant and polite that it caught Talos's attention.
"exist."
"That's good."
The Navigator sat on top of her throne, one arm wrapped around her swollen belly.
She appeared unusually thin, which made her pregnancy appear even more prominent.
"What are the chances that Dietrian's ship will escape the encirclement safely?"
Talos saw no point in lying to her, and he stared at her for a long time, letting the time pass slowly to the rhythm of her heartbeat.
"Your chances of surviving are almost laughably small, but there's still a chance."
"With Septimus?"
"He's our pilot."
"But he's more of a father -"
Talos immediately raised a hand in warning.
"Be careful, Octavia, don't make the mistake of thinking that I can be swayed by emotional appeals... You know, I've also skinned children in front of their parents."
Octavia gritted her teeth, but was never willing to compromise.
"So he...he will always follow me. You can't leave him here. I know him better than you."
"I haven't decided his fate yet."
"What about you? What is your 'destiny'?"
"Don't talk to me in that tone, I don't take issue with an arrogant tone, so save it."
"sorry."
The navigator lowered his head.
"I'm...just angry."
"Understandable."
"Then what will you do? Are you going to let those aliens kill you like this?"
"Did you see what happened when we tried to escape, saw how we broke through blockade after blockade and smashed the ship's bow to pieces? They wouldn't let us run to the Great Eye, and as soon as I fired my psychic tip The noose began to wrap around us. Their prophet was too powerful. It kept staring at me. I couldn't leave...Ottavia, if I delay any longer, I will lose the choice of the location of the war. Last chance.”
"You didn't answer my question."
"I must die."
Talos gestured to the monitors on her row of walls, each showing a different angle outside the ship - each with one eye on the star floating in orbit below.
"How can I make this clearer? Off this planet, alien warships await us... We're doomed, Octavia, that's it."
As he spoke, the prophet sighed, but there was no regret on his face.
"Get ready to leave the ship. Take whatever you want. You have 11 hours before I never want to see you again."
After saying that,
He turned away, pushing aside two attendants who had not dispersed quickly enough.
Navigation membrane watched him walk away, tasting freedom for the first time since being caught, but she was not sure if this taste was as pleasant as she remembered.
"Talos, you often say that the primarch is the creature that values itself least in the galaxy, so why don't you?"
Talos paused for half a second, and then disappeared out of the hatch without turning his head.
A few minutes later, the pilot's maintenance room
The door opened.
A giant appeared in the doorway's arch.
Septimus looked up, still holding Talos' helmet in his hand. He had been making final repairs to the lens of his left eye.
"Owner?"
Talos walked in, and the shabby room echoed with the howling of joints and the hum of armor.
"Ottavia will leave the ship in 11 hours."
The prophet stared at the other.
"Your unborn child is coming with her."
Septimus nodded, keeping his eyes on Talos' face.
"Dear Master, I have already guessed it."
Talos paced the room, looking left and right, never dwelling on one thing for too long.
Afterwards, he picked up the half-repaired pistols on the table, Octavia's charcoal drawings, and some toys the size of his thumb—perhaps for some little life.
The most important thing is that there is a breath of life, a breath of personality, and the breath of a specific soul flowing in this small space.
that's
A human room.
Talos suddenly realized how empty and lifeless his own room was - no trace of personality except for the prophecy scrawled on the iron wall.
The prophet closed his eyes, trying to retrieve something in his mind, something he had forgotten for a long time...
At the end of the Great Crusade, the last Night Lords to set foot on the surface of Nastrum were the warriors of the 10th, 12th, and 16th Companies.
Homecomings are rare, as few Astartes ever see their homeworld again, and Nasturm are rarely known for the honors their children bring.
The parade was humble, but sincere.
When the expeditionary fleet was refueling and repairing at the dock at Nostenamo, the captain leading the three companies made a gesture.
Fifty Astartes from each company would planet-land and march from the spaceport along the main avenue of Quintus.
Talos remembered that even then it was a strange emotional gesture.
He was blackened, along with the other nine Astartes in the already full First Claw.
During the parade, amid the formidable crowds, young Talos clutched his bolter to his chest and joined his brothers in removing their helmets and marching into battle.
The experience was dizzying, and although it was almost silent at first, with barely anyone cheering, the applause quickly turned to thunder.
In the presence of the Children of the Midnight Haunter, the conflicted people of Nastrum cast aside their indifference and welcomed their warriors home.
It got worse when the crowd started chanting their names.
That's not an insult, that's a real name.
It wasn't chaos, but the crowds lining the streets were shouting names to the Astartes for reasons even Talos couldn't guess.
In several places, the thin lines that the law enforcers had set up to block the crowds were broken, and small arms fire was violently fired, shooting down several people in the crowd who wanted to go with the Astartes, only A few people squeezed into the ranks of the marching warriors.
Those who squeezed into the queue looked around as if they were lost, looking up at the faces of the walking warriors like drunken, frightened and feverish animals.
Charles is harassed by an old woman, less than half his height.
"Where is he?"
She screamed, her thin hands clutching the armor of the advancing warrior.
"Char! Where is he? Answer me!"
Talos could see the uneasiness in his brother's face as the charr moved on, and the old woman saw his gaze beneath her disheveled white hair.
Talos immediately turned his head to look forward, but the old lady had already grasped his motionless arm with her feeble hands.
"look at me!"
she pleaded.
"look at me!"
Talos didn't, he just kept going.
The old woman wept and wailed and fell behind him.
"Look at me! I know it's you! Talos, look at me!"
Soon, an enforcer ended her request with a gunshot.
Talos hated the relief he felt.
When the parade was over and he returned to the Dark, Ciel was sitting on the couch next to him.
Talos had never seen such a hesitant look on his brother's face.
"It wasn't easy for any of us, but you did a great job, brother."
“What am I doing differently?”
Ciel swallowed, and a light seemed to appear behind his eyes.
"That woman, the one in the crowd, you...didn't you recognize her?"
Talos tilted his head and looked at Ciel carefully.
"I barely saw her."
"She called your name."
Ciel continued to ask.
"You really didn't recognize her?"
"They were reading our names from our armor scrolls, and she called yours too."
As Char stood to leave, Talos rose with him, his gauntlets clutching his brother's pauldrons.
"Tell me what you found, Ciel."
"She is not pronouncing our names, but she knows us, brother... She recognizes us, even after twenty years and the changes brought about by gene seeds, Throne, Talos... you must recognize us too Out of her."
"I didn't, I swear, I just saw an old woman."
Ciel shook his hands and got rid of Talos' control. He did not turn around but his breathing became erratic. His words were as decisive as the gunshot that silenced the old woman's plea.
"That old lady——"
Ciel, who had his back to Talos, said slowly:
"She was your mother."
In an instant, Talos opened his eyes suddenly, then walked towards the door without looking back, and said loudly:
"Mortal Septimus, I don't need you anymore. Go away, take your woman and your children, go far away, and go to a place... where there is not so much blood."
Under Septimus' stunned gaze, Talos's back disappeared behind the closed gate.
