(MC POV)
At the moment, close to two hundred and forty-five small tribal nations make up Fenris. This is nothing unusual, because they all had self-government under the condition that they were subjects to the Imperium. If someone were to see my inner monologue, they would think that I had finally gone mad and would wonder why I was debating the geopolitics of a conquered planet.
The answer is very simple, from the one in the cave I had to talk to almost every tribal leader because they all wanted to see the AllFather.
I'm damned for pleasing them, but in the last couple of weeks I've had nothing better to do here.
Well, in more important matters, the frameworks for the recruitment of new Astartes have been established. All the tribes of Fenris will compete for the privilege of having their sons recruited into the Wild Hunt. Every ten Fenresian years, the greatest warriors make a pilgrimage to the Thrudvang Mountains for a great festival and competition known as the Moot. I didn't notice any deviations from the events in the original timeline, which is good for me in a way.
One of the biggest problems of the old Imperium is that it controlled 1 million worlds throughout the galaxy that were often scattered far from each other. In the Fenris System itself, there are several planets suitable for potential life, and only Fenris is inhabited. I don't repeat mistakes, so I ordered the creation of plans to terraform Frostheim and Midgardia into more habitable ones, although they will still be ice worlds. The funnier fact is that all Fenrisians are actually Abhumans, no better than the subspecies of abhumans that were found in the most brutal and unforgiving wild places of Terra, created as hybrids of man and beast in the self-renewing armies of especiall crazy techno-barbarian warlord and have now become the greatest heroes of the Imperium.
Besides, one of the funniest facts about my empire is that it is not capitalist or socialist or any other ideology, philosophy or even economic model at all. The Imperium is a strange amalgamation of feudalism, federalism, imperialism, and hundreds of other systems that function in a bizarre mix that would give anyone with a political compass a headache. The fact that the Imperium practices a bunch of ideas from all sides of the political spectrum and almost every religion, philosophy, culture and everything else in a massive soup made the task of qualifying the Imperium anywhere on the political spectrum impossible because the Imperium was everywhere inside or even outside of it.
That put the biggest smile on my face because I did the impossible. I have created a belief that is a mixture of almost every belief that has existed or still exists in human history.
In some more important philosophical notes, some things cannot be avoided.
As I walk with Lemi on my own through the huge network of tunnels, memories come flooding back.
"Here, my Emperor," the Apothecary replied, looking very uncomfortable, but pressed a button on the control panel. I looked at the screen and the holographic video was showing the medical capsule in which the being was held.
There was a man in the medical capsule... Or was it a wolf? The creature stood on two legs like a human, but it definitely looked very hairy and had a wolf-like head.
[Image Here]
"Father" she Lemi said"This was Chief Elrlic Wulfen. He was the first to volunteer to become an Astarte since my arrival in Fenris. Unfortunately, as you can see, something went wrong and caused massive mutations in his body, his the mental state has completely degraded to that of a predatory animal."
The chief who first accepted Leman Russ's offer to become a transhuman space marine, but due to his secret ambition and jealousy towards Russ, the geneseed turned him into a vicious monster instead. His name just reminds me of another individual whose title is similar to mine.
I just confirmed that the rumor about the first appearance of the Wuffen is true.
"Do we know what caused this rapid devolution from man to beast?" Lemi asked, watching the former human try to find a way out of his pod.
"Their nature which makes most of the population good candidates for Space Marine training also makes them very unstable to any biological improvings. In layman's terms their true Abhuman nature comes out and they revert to their true form" I replied as I looked away from the screen because I enough video.
"But that would mean that devolution into a beast state is the fate of all space marines in my legion," said Lemi looking at me worriedly.
"Your legion will not degrade" I said to Lema after a few moments, looking lovingly in her eyes "The genetic fluidity of Geneseed mixes with Fenrisian genetics and it takes a strong mind to control a person and prevent such a huge degradation from happening".
A few minutes passed while we just looked at each other. I only wonder what Lemi is thinking.
"Then what are we to do, master" said The Apothecary next to us, interrupting our silence.
"Genetic abnormalities in Geneseed we can correct, wrong states of mind we cannot." I replied emotionlessly.
Lemi she nodded "So we continue everything as planned, we don't change anything".
"Yes" I answered immediately.
The apothecary nodded in agreement before saying "As you wish my lord. What shall we do with the Wulfen?"
Looking at the screen again, I shook my head "Since the change is irreversible...Wuffens are welcome in the Imperium. The more intelligent specimens can easily be recruited to command the more mindless specimens."
I come out of my memories and continue walking with Lemi behind me.
The cave descended, branching off in countless directions, but we continued to follow the path we felt was the right one.
As the tunnels became more and more humid, we came across more and more small life forms. Slime molds meandered across the rocky surface like patches of ropey scar tissue and emitted a faint bioluminescence. Glowworms spun water chandeliers from the ceiling and released pulsating light from their tails, setting the bait for tiny paper mites that rolled through the gusts of warm air like confetti.
We just ignored them and passed straight on our way. Despite my palpable ugliness, I couldn't help but find them beautiful in a creepy way.
After a while, they found themselves around a wide cliff following the sound of dripping water and suddenly they found themselves at the place where the water goes. There was even more slimy mold everywhere, growing on broken clumps of off-white crystal and patches of unusually smooth surfaces. After a bit of thinking, he realized where he was, and looking at Lemi, he knew that her understood too. Mold was growing on fragments of something that he correctly knew were fragments of a ship. They were close.
He could correctly conclude that the remains of the ship were probably useless because everything had already begun to wrinkle and corrode from thousands of years of burial in the volcanic rocks. The hot water that probably dripped on the remains and probably submerged some parts of the remains did not help.
As we walked, the tunnel narrowed, forcing the two of us to slow down. To our left was a huge body of water.
Phosphorescent algae swirled like a trapped mist on the black and oily surface of the water. It was precisely this that gave off a greenish-yellow glow. The waves spread from the place where the balls of moisture, like saliva dripping from the huge stalactite fangs of the ceiling, disturbed the surface. It almost seemed to me that the mountain was alive, and we were going deeper and deeper into the stomach for digestion.
The only sound that accompanied us was the soft dripping of water from certain openings.
We continue our journey without a single spoken word further along the network of caves until we reach what we are looking for.
The walls were covered in squiggly scribbled runes that looked like they had been made by a madman. One look was enough for me to know that the drawn runes are useless because they are a bunch of meaningless nonsense.
Lemi put her hand on the runes and held them for several minutes until she scratched her head. Soon after, she just looked at the runes one more time before she too concluded that the runes were a bunch of nonsense.
What we came for was in the middle of the runes. Carved in the middle, it was a symbol.
The mark of a circle twisted into a twisted crescent was there, radiating its unnaturalness and malice.
[Image Here]
Looking at the symbol, I only feel pure hatred flooding me. I knew what to expect here but I was still furious because the chaos symbol radiated malevolence.
"We have arrived," I said.
Lemi stopped and opened her mouth, but before she could say anything, we were interrupted by inhuman screams. I turned my head towards one of the tunnels close to us and I saw. A group of hundreds of roaring creatures headed towards us.
They were beastly. They had roughly humanoid bodies, but hunched over and monkey-like. Huge saucer-shaped eyes evolved to catch even the tiniest glimmer of light dominated their ape-like faces. Their skins were pale white and leprous, stained in places with bizarre birthmarks and stigmata of mutation and disease.
I've seen all kinds of mutations but I couldn't help but be shocked now that I discovered how mutated they were. Some of these wretched creatures were covered with fur, some had horns sticking out of their heads, some had hooves and claws in their horribly spread jaws and rows of teeth like a shark, among them were even worse mutations too terrible to describe. They were like aberrations from the wildest depths of a nightmare. These were those Nightgangers.
And yet, the most disgusting thing was that these creatures were quite obviously, or had once been, human. Their ancestors were just as human as everyone else. One more reason he hates Tzeentch.
The Nightgangers noticed us and with a loud howl of frenzied fury rushed towards us.
I pull out a flaming sword and immediately rush towards the horde. Lemi she started a few moments after me.
We both literally fly through the tightly packed mass of flesh and only bloody pulp remains. Screams of pain mingled with howls of beastly fury.
And yet, though distorted, the night watchmen did not lack courage Or it would be folly.
Our weapons, especially my flaming sword, went through the crowd like scissors through paper. They had no chance as they were armed only with crude axes, stone-tipped clubs and spears. The few blows I took broke the hands of the attackers. I was aware of their blows in a similar way as a man would be aware of the rain beating on his cloak.
My enjoyment is interrupted by the realization that there are no more opponents to fight. I realize that Lemi she has already finished the battle and I stop and look around. There was nothing left of the corpses except bloody pulp and we were standing in the middle of a pile of bodies that we turned into pulp due to excessive force. Due to the composition of our armor, blood and entrails did not stick to our armor, making our equipment completely clean.
I got carried away, again.
"It was too easy," Lemi said with boredom in her voice.
"Yes," I answer and nod my head.
"Welcome, dear guests," said an amused voice behind us. Turning as quickly as possible, I saw that it was an old man. He wore a gray robe and had a ravens on his shoulders.
[Image Here]
"Welcome to the cave cities of Fenris, my lord," continued the old man with a smile.
Something was wrong with the old man and I realized he didn't exist in the Warp. This would mean that the old man does not actually exist in a physical state, but that he is an artificial intelligence.
"Are you an AI." Lemi asked, looking at the old man cautiously.
I didn't know what my daughter was thinking about, but I was absolutely sure that the old man was an AI.
The old man laughed at the question and said "No, not really. At least not in the way artificial intelligence works. I'm more of a virtual intelligence."
"What is the difference between artificial intelligence and you?" Lemi asked.
"Compared to ordinary artificial intelligence, I am not truly self-aware or possess a personality in any way. My sole purpose is to maintain human life in cave cities or to serve my master," said the old man, pointing at me.
"Could you have done anything to prevent the downfall of the inhabitants of the underground cities?" this time I asked.
"Unfortunately no. I am not programmed for any kind of struggle, my programming only serves to maintain these cities and advise those who seek answers from me. When the inhabitants began to degrade en masse, I could only watch from the sidelines what was happening".
Now I understand. It is simply a very advanced virtual program without any personality. He is not even alive, but a bunch of programmed commands and codes.
"Why do you call me your master?" I asked again. I guessed an answer that I knew was true, but I was waiting for confirmation.
"I am programmed to answer to all my creators. You are the only one alive right now. I recognized you by your voice and the general information you implanted in me to recognize you under another identity".
"HAHAHAHA" Lemi laughed "You worked in an amusement park, the others won't believe me when I tell them".
"My daughter," I began shyly, "That was a period of my life in which I was truly happy for a short time. Don't tell anyone about this. You promise."
"I promise not to tell anyone" Lemi replied.
I turn my head towards the old man and order "If I am your master, then I want a general overview of the state of all underground cities and their resources. I also want to know your name."
"My full name is Odin-1 and I am the only one in my serial production." the old man answered and shrugged his shoulders in disappointment and said "Most of the underground cities have already merged with the mountain and their resources do not justify the effort put into acquiring them. The caves are vast and there is a city under almost every major mountain on the main continent. Kill the creatures from one city and sooner or later it will be colonized by those from another city".
I'm not disappointed at all because I expected it, I just needed confirmation.
"You are much more at ease with us compared to the legends where you rarely communicate with anyone" Lemi she answered, breaking the silence.
"The programs for my activities on the surface and the programs that allow me to talk down here are a little different. Up there I have to be secretive, avoid all attempts at communication. I can tell anyone who has made it this far down there anything they want to know even if it's not my master."
A few minutes later and a few commands later we were already at the exit of the cave system. In our armor, we had stored the entire map of the underworld of Fenris with all its characteristics. Letting Chaos mutants live freely is a bad idea, so my daughter has a lot of cleanups work to do when I leave.
While it only takes us half an hour to return to the surface, thanks to the precise map what we found on the surface was not predictable.
The being was waiting for us at the entrance. Very old being.
Erlking was patiently waiting for us.