Chapter 33: A New Plan for the State Religion 3/4

"I have become my own Imperial heresy."

Guilliman could well imagine the expressions of the Grey Knights or the Inquisition of the Ordo Malleus if they knew that the Primarch, the Regent of the Empire, was planning to cultivate demonic turncoats.

But Guilliman had no choice. Deeply aware of the threat posed by the four Ruinous Powers, he knew clearly that he must exhaust every possible means to ensure absolute victory. Against such abominations, playing by the rules was a guaranteed path to defeat. This was a universe where the bottom line was constantly being lowered, and neither morality nor protocol held as much weight as survival itself.

Humanity knew precious little about demons, while demons knew humanity inside and out. Furthermore, the essential technologies that kept the Empire whole—astropathic communication and warp travel—all relied upon the Warp. With such a severe information imbalance between humanity and the Chaos Gods, it would be a miracle if the Empire were to win.

This situation had to change. Guilliman needed to ensure that the war between the Imperium of Man and the Warp was fought on equal footing. If demons could manifest in reality to build monuments of skulls, why shouldn't the Empire enter the Warp to carry out its own slaughter? Cultivating a few demonic collaborators was an acceptable price to pay.

Harboring heretical thoughts that would have seen him burned at the stake by the Ecclesiarchy or the Inquisition, Guilliman exited the secret chamber and used his personal code to re-enter the encrypted elevator. When he stepped out, the Honor Guard remained faithfully at their posts.

"My Lord," Sicarius said, stepping forward to salute as he saw Guilliman emerge. "I received a message from Sicarius earlier; he wishes to see you regarding the latest intelligence."

"Let him come to my receiving room," Guilliman replied. "We can resolve the matter he’s encountered there."

"Understood." Phicarius nodded and walked away to summon Sicarius.

"Let’s go." Guilliman watched Phicarius disappear into the corridor of the starship before heading down another passage.

The Honor Guard surrounded their master as he departed, while several Terminators remained behind. Gripping their bolters, they stood watch, allowing no one near the area. They had to ensure that no one could intrude upon their master's secret sanctum. Once Guilliman left, the space fell back into darkness and silence. The Terminators tasked with guarding this spot were Ultramarine veterans; they were better suited to enduring solitude and silence, unlike fresh recruits who felt the need for idle chatter.

They stood like statues, silent and cold, faithfully fulfilling the duty their master had bestowed upon them.

Guilliman's receiving room was much larger and far simpler than that of an average commander. Aside from the holographic projectors and data crystals used for intelligence, it lacked any decoration, favoring pure practicality. Truth be told, he disliked the "skull culture" of the Empire. The current Imperial nobility and the Adeptus Mechanicus loved to fashion everything in the shape of human skulls to signify their purity as humans.

Over the long millennia, as the Ecclesiarchy and the Inquisition grew in power, the status of mutants had dwindled. They were largely relegated to military service, and no world within the Empire was permitted to be ruled by one. Should such a thing occur, that world would be branded a traitor by all factions of the Empire.

When Guilliman returned to the receiving room, Sicarius and Phicarius had just arrived.

"My Lord," Sicarius said respectfully.

"What has happened?" Guilliman sat in his oversized chair, gesturing for Sicarius to find a seat. Sicarius took another chair, clearing the data crystals and books from it.

"A message from the missionary world of Espandor," Sicarius said. "They hope that you, Primarch, might descend upon their world so that its citizens may feel the grace and brilliance of the Emperor, or that you might designate a location where they may travel to make a pilgrimage."

"A missionary world?" Guilliman tapped his fingers rhythmically on the table, a sign that he was deep in thought.

"Yes. The world suffered some upheavals sixteen hundred years ago, after which the Ecclesiarchy moved in, purged the heretics, and transformed it into a missionary world within Ultramar," Sicarius explained.

Missionary worlds, also known as church worlds or cathedral worlds, were filled with fanatical believers from various planets. Much like the City of Perfection that Guilliman had once razed, they were filled with hymns and sculptures praising the Emperor—truly fanatical religious planets.

Much of the history from ten thousand years ago had been lost; the current Ecclesiarchy likely did not know of Guilliman’s past deeds in burning cities of faith. Even if they did, they would never publicize it. To trace that history would be to realize that the Emperor himself disliked religion. If the Emperor disliked religion, what was the purpose of the Ecclesiarchy? Regardless of the reason, Espandor must have been ignorant of Guilliman’s past, or they would never have dared to invite him. Why would they invite Guilliman? Were they not afraid of being burned again?

Guilliman pondered for a moment, then looked up at Sicarius. "Send them a reply. I shall arrive at Espandor in a few days."

"Very well, my Lord. Are there any other instructions?" Sicarius asked.

"No, go and send the reply." Guilliman waved him off.

As Sicarius exited the room, his footsteps fading away, Phicarius asked, "My Lord, why go in person? You could simply designate a world and have them come to pay their respects."

Guilliman stood and walked to the viewport. They were still in the Warp, and all viewports were kept shuttered to prevent the crew from being seduced by the influence of the Warp and transforming into twisted monsters. Nevertheless, a sliver of light leaked through the gaps in the shutters, appearing eerie and unnatural.

In Guilliman’s memories, he knew the Primarchs had faced the Warp directly several times; those bizarre scenes contained such unimaginable volumes of information that they could shatter a human mind. It was only thanks to his powerful Primarch constitution that he had survived. A normal human would have died instantly. When traveling through the Warp, there were countless ways to die, but dying from staring into the abyss was undoubtedly one of the most foolish.

"I need to evaluate the value of Espandor, Phicarius," Guilliman said. "The faith of the Ecclesiarchy is deeply ingrained in the hearts of the people; to eradicate it entirely is now an impossibility. Moreover, in this dark universe, the citizens of the Empire need a sliver of faith to support them through these difficult times."

"My Lord, do you have a new plan for the Ecclesiarchy?" Phicarius inquired.

"I have an immature idea, the details of which I can only confirm once I arrive at Espandor. I will find a way to bring the Ecclesiarchy under my control and minimize its influence on the Empire," Guilliman said. "The power of the Imperial Ecclesiarchy is too great. They even have the authority to denounce a Chapter or a world as disloyal, declaring them traitors. It is too dangerous. Religion makes men blind and strips them of reason. The Ecclesiarchy must be controlled."

Since its inception, the Ecclesiarchy had committed countless follies. While saints like Celestine had emerged to save the fate of the Imperium, the Ecclesiarchy was undeniably responsible for leading humanity into ignorance.

In the 32nd Millennium, during the War of the Beast, the Ecclesiarchy incited fanatics to launch a crusade against the Ork Attack Moons, resulting in massive casualties. In the 33rd Millennium, the Ecclesiarchy split, and the Temple faction purged the Confederation of Light, seizing control of all religious activities; human reason gradually collapsed, leading into an age of ignorance. In the 34th Millennium, the Ecclesiarchy formed the Frateris Militia and purged the Twin Empires of New Terra, turning the Empire into a fully religious state.

In the 36th Millennium, the newly appointed Ecclesiarch Vandire launched a reign of blood, during which he issued Exterminatus orders against at least one hundred human worlds for "insufficient piety"—which included failing to build enough Emperor statues, failing to welcome Ecclesiarchy delegations with enough fervor, or failing to donate enough to the church. They even launched a campaign against the Space Wolves because the Wolves insisted on their own traditions and refused to conform to the Ecclesiarchy's faith.

During this period, the Empire fell into decay, and thousands of years of accumulation were squandered in the orgy of religious activity. In the 37th Millennium, thirty Chapters and over twenty thousand Space Marines were declared heretics by an Ecclesiarchy saint and sent on an Abyssal Crusade; save for the remnants of the Swords of Epiphany, all were annihilated, with more than half falling to complete corruption.

These were but representative examples of the Ecclesiarchy's past; many other events remained unlisted but were equally horrifying.

The Emperor had been right: every religious organization was a cancer. Unfortunately, Guilliman dared not excise this cancer directly, lest he kill the entire Empire in the process. He had a new plan—one that would, as much as possible, steer this fanatical faith onto a path of his own choosing.