There is a large, patterned wooden table in the center of the room, which is also large enough to accommodate 12 chairs on the sides.
The tabletop was wiped almost flawlessly by the servitor, smooth and bright, projecting the reddish reflection of the lumen lampstand hanging overhead in the upper area of the hall's vault.
Only a stain remained on the table, a tiny, imperceptible dent.
No matter how many times the craftsmen and guild craftsmen dug into it, casting it with the finest grades of resin or restorative compounds from precision injection tube supplies, the flaw was never completely erased – it was permanently attached to the mahogany. On the texture.
Cleopatra had long since found it indifferent, even though the Grand Inquisitor had often found his eyes resting on it over the years - on countless tiring nights when council meetings lasted until they were least important.
Only the twelve members of the High Lords' Council were allowed to sit at the front; other lesser officials had to hide in the shadows or sit along the walls.
It was undoubtedly a great room, well-appointed, with a good atmosphere, and opening the window blinds gave it a good view - overlooking the roof of the palace, with the ring-shaped doors showing the densely armed world on both sides.
Cleopatra thought it would be a good choice for research or as a private office.
However, this is hardly a place that can be considered to manage an empire. It can only be a room behind the scenes, suitable only for conspiracy and behind-the-scenes transactions. This is not a place where the heart of power should be.
Cleopatra came in last, and his presence was solemnly recorded by the recorder.
After all the high lords were seated, he first nodded to Avelisha Drachma, the minister of justice, his only true ally among the twelve high lords.
The place was not quiet. In fact, the atmosphere was relatively harmonious. Everyone was talking to the people around them, and some were laughing. Fadix, the Grand Master of the Assassin's Court, was the only one who did not talk to anyone. He was always taciturn.
The assassin mentor had sharp cheekbones, steel-gray hair cut very short, and an uncomfortable aura about him, so no one wanted to mess with him.
But Cleopatra actually liked Fardix quite a lot. He believed in the almost autonomous function of the Assassin's Court, because from a spiritual level, it played the same security role as the Inquisition.
He also met frequently with Fadix and other Assassin Lords in private.
Of course, to discuss operational techniques, detection methods and share intelligence between agencies.
It’s all part of the give and take.
Sitting in the second seat to the right of Cleopatra is Marshal Maul A. Salil, commander-in-chief of the Imperial Astra Militarum. He is a disabled veteran with outstanding achievements, but he does not look old. He seems to be only five years old. Sixty years old.
The fat Mereda Perez was a red-faced man with a loud voice. He was an admiral of the Imperial Navy. His fat body was wrapped in a navy blue uniform with silver thread.
It took this guy, who came from a noble family in the hive city, a while to successfully sit down and start a conversation with the Minister of the Interior, Violetta Roscavler, about a puzzling scandal.
Although Violetta Roscavler seemed to be listening attentively, Cleopatra guessed that he was not very interested in the admiral's gossip and did not even bother to think about it.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs is the largest bureaucracy in the empire, overseeing countless imperial administrative officials. Although Oletta Roskafler is here, it is estimated that his mind has already flown a billion light years away, dealing with countless Administrative data.
It is these non-stop work that keep the huge hive city of Terra in order, but the Minister of the Interior has also become the one with the shortest average life span among the high lords. Even many life extension surgeries cannot change this situation.
At the other end of the table, Forge-General Wood Udia Laski of the Adeptus Mechanicus
Conversing with the Ecclesiarch Eos Litra and the Navigator representative Kadak Mir.
Of course, Wood Udiya Lasky is another person who has been transformed. Her transformation was autonomous and started when she was young. Over the years, she has turned into a bloated and huge machine. , so much so that she was the only High Lord who couldn't sit down.
Cleopatra watched the Forge General's actions and movements with great interest, wondering whether the soul in this body was the Forge General himself, or was it just a controlled puppet?
Out of professional instinct, he suddenly thought that these mechanical cultists were difficult to kill, and the navigators were also non-human, but at least they looked physically fragile and vulnerable.
Those weird servants of the Star Torch, led by Lord Steward Lucius Slode in the High Lords Council
As representatives, the methods used to deal with humans still apply to them.
But astropaths should be a different story.
Zlata Ash Krapias, the Astropath's Steward, is their vicious, unpleasant example.
The most conspicuous person in the scene is undoubtedly Tremas Remsana Kren, the spokesperson of the Rogue Traders, a luxurious woman with an almost dramatic appearance.
Her role is considered by many to be the most insignificant, while on the other hand, the Rogue Trader fleet accounts for almost 90% of the Empire's interstellar navigation capabilities, and in times of crisis, she wields even more power than the Admiral. big.
The commanders of the Imperial Guard were not present as in the past - their seats among the high lords were more symbolic. They were far away from politics, even far away from the empire, especially after forty-one thousand years, no one saw them anymore. Leaving the Forbidden Palace of Terra.
Ding ding ding————!
Suddenly, the bell rang and the delegates, even the most powerful among them, returned to their seats.
The cherub and the tape recorder started buzzing as if it were a big bird cage.
Lord Guilliman (a title similar to Caesar) entered the crowded room, sat down, and bowed his head to his eleven senior colleagues.
Lucius Slode, the director of the Star Torch Academy, is not a very important figure, but he has the friendship of the six high lords at the meeting, which allows him to sit in the chief position.
His head was shaved, and the huge old scar that stretched from his scalp to his neck was very obvious. He wore a woven robe in the style of a lost people of ancient Terra.
He was not the first human to hold this honor, but like his predecessors, both mortal and superhuman, he also used the formal honorary title of his office - Guilliman of Macragge.
Lucius Sloder looked around the room, his left eye milky white and gleaming beneath a long scar, and finally landed on the Minister of the Interior, Auletta Rothkaffler.
"Now please keep things in order."
Auletta Roskafler nodded and started the computer recorder lying on the table in front of him.
Soon, the thing began to tremble, typing on the spindle-shaped keys on either side of a big mouth with wings.
"With the blessing of the Emperor, ladies and gentlemen, the meeting of the Twelve Lords is now convened."
Lucius Slode clicked on the data pad in front of him. Today's agenda items were displayed on it. He read out the first item according to the script.
"——About some of the issues that emerged during the New Badab War and some of the deviant behavior of the Astral Knights, Lamenters and other Adeptus Astartes."
