Warhammer 30: The Second Legion's Expedition

Chapter 79 The Surrenderers, the Forgotten Giant

"A defector."

Azir's voice came from behind him.

Finn Baker then realized that the two esteemed Astartes had stopped their usual game of arguing, which could have fostered their relationship.

"He could also be called a traitor."

The next disdainful voice came from Paris.

He has always looked down on these guys, but he has no choice but to use them.

In his brother's words, this would prevent most of the unnecessary killing.

His brother's methods were always much gentler towards these oppressed ordinary people, even resorting to deception, a method that Paris found shameful.

The man inside was still speaking in the native language of Pilgrim Star, in a language Finn Baker couldn't understand. He turned around in confusion and looked at Azir.

His eyes held a pleading look, hoping that this wise man of the legion could answer his questions.

"You should learn and use the language of this world the moment you enter it; that's what you, as a bard, should do," Azir said.

"I'd like to do that too, sir." Finn shrugged, pointing to his conspicuous gemstone eyes. "But unfortunately, the moment I entered this world, I became a warrior fighting for the Empire."

"It has been more than a decade since I last held a gun. After that, I met Lord Hector, and it took me a lot of effort to get this opportunity."

Azir sensed no deception whatsoever; Finn's spirituality was utterly genuine, and the other party simply couldn't deceive him.

He nodded impassively, expressing his appreciation for Finn's wise actions.

He looked at Paris.

Paris was reluctant, but in the end he did the translation for Finn without much effort.

"Darkness...oppression...redemption, light. The Empire brought us redemption; they killed those damned, hateful cultists who oppressed us, brothers and sisters..."

Paris's flat, machine-translated voice contrasted sharply with the hoarse shouts and rallying cry of the pilgrim crowd on the other side, representing two extremes.

This caused Finn to feel an extremely uncomfortable sense of separation. Even when standing next to Paris, he was drowned out by the crowd's weeping and shouts of reverence, to the point that he couldn't hear Paris's translation.

This once left Finn with no choice but to rely on the context and his own imagination to analyze the sentences.

At this moment, two native pilgrims who had been with the surrenderers from the beginning rushed in front of the guards who were blocking their way. Under the guards' wary gaze, they knelt down, raised their heads high, and put their hands together in prayer, looking at the guards with piety.

At this moment, Finn's discomfort became more and more obvious, and Paris's contemptuous gaze became heavier.

"My brother didn't arrange this scene," Paris explained in a low voice.

Hector never intended to use such extravagant methods, but the level of self-direction and self-acting by those who were given orders and benefits was often astonishing.

Sometimes it backfires, but most of the time and place, their methods are surprisingly effective.

"No wonder you don't like this scene, Lord Paris," Finn said.

He had never seen such behavior before, not even in front of someone of high status. This act of lowering one's dignity to the dust, with its strong religious overtones, was rarely seen in the empire today.

Even when facing the Primarchs, these mortals, the nobles of Terra, mostly admired and longed for them, but rarely knelt down.

"Are you going to keep watching? It's pointless," Paris said, bored.

He had seen this kind of behavior far too often, especially after embarking on the expedition.

The fact that the Second Expeditionary Fleet had not yet been split up made it an extremely large fleet, whose combat power and manpower were probably only inferior to the Emperor, Horus, and Felus of the Iron Ten Legions.

The expeditionary fleet does not require assistance from other legions, and no personnel from other legions have come to the Second Fleet for learning and exchange.

"I must continue watching, Lord Paris." Finn suppressed his discomfort, his tone unchanged. "It is my duty, I must do it."

“We won’t pressure you,” Azir said, “but we have more important tasks to do.”

"An even more important task?" Finn suddenly asked curiously, something Azir had never mentioned to him.

Azir laughed, "Do you think we're the kind of arrogant fools who knowingly enter and exit at will just to show off our status, ignoring the tense situation and causing a disturbance?"

"You shouldn't have said that, Azir," Paris said, displeased.

He then looked coldly at the incredibly curious Finn and said, "You shouldn't be curious either, Finn. This is not something you should know."

"He can know," Azir offered the opposite opinion.

This surprised Paris.

This was the first time Finn had ever seen Paris with such an expression.

"I have the Lord's permission; He has instructed the recorder to document this meeting," Azir said.

"When?" Paris asked.

A flicker of focused light appeared in Azir's eyes. As he concentrated, he said to Paris, "Just now."

The defector seemed never to have imagined that his first impromptu speech today would attract the visit of the son of God in his story who would solve the oppression of the Pilgrim Star and liberate the natives.

He knelt on the ground, his eyes filled with devotion.

Originally, it was only out of a little hope and comfort that the pilgrims of the pilgrimage star had to resort to deception to fool their own minds and make themselves less panicked, so that they could see the handsome man being protected in the silver sea.

They all knelt down in unison, chanting some incomprehensible prayer, a unique cultural expression belonging to this planet.

Hector, who caused all of this, had no interest in the actions of these natives. He walked quickly toward the coordinates, followed only by a group of black Terminators who stood out conspicuously in the silver sea.

When Hector arrived, he saw a huge lintel.

"My lord."

"grown ups."

"Brother."

The three men addressed each other differently, but all wore expressions of shame and hidden excitement, especially Finn Baker, whose eyes gleamed with barely suppressed excitement.

He discovered a person, or rather a group, that had long since disappeared from Terra's history and should not have existed.

For a group that loves storytelling, this is no less important than honey to a bear or a beautiful woman to a lustful person.

The giant, who was far stronger than Astartes, exuded an incredibly intimidating aura of savagery just by standing there.

"Is this the source of the signal?"