The False War

虛假戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)

The news of the attack on the Xana System had inevitably reached the Sons of Horus, whose own vessel had detected the incursion from the Warp of the Imperial forces and bore witness to the apocalyptic response from Xana's defences. Koraddon demanded answers. He was met with profuse apologies for any alarm caused, and assured that the matter would be dealt with promptly and without risk to the Warmaster'?delegation,and that there would be no need to alter the planned exchange of gifts and demonstration of the Ordinatus. For Xana, both the demonstration and the impending void battle had become a necessary display of strength before their future allies in ways they had never planned, but no less vital because of?this. The Vodian Consistory would not lose face before Horus.

Xana星系遭到進(jìn)攻的消息已經(jīng)不可避免地傳到了荷魯斯之子處，他們自己的艦船也檢測(cè)到了帝國(guó)部隊(duì)離開亞空間發(fā)起的入侵，也目睹了Xana防御系統(tǒng)那啟示錄般的還擊?？评D要求Xana做出回答。Xana的賢者們?yōu)榈蹏?guó)部隊(duì)入侵而引發(fā)的警告向科拉頓不斷致歉，他們保證自己會(huì)及時(shí)處理這些瑣事，不會(huì)讓戰(zhàn)帥的使節(jié)團(tuán)遭遇危險(xiǎn)，而且已經(jīng)計(jì)劃好的禮物互換儀式和將軍炮開火演示也無(wú)需更改。對(duì)Xana而言，開火演示和即將發(fā)生的虛空戰(zhàn)都成為了在未來(lái)盟友面前對(duì)于自身實(shí)力的必要展示，他們從未計(jì)劃用這種方式展現(xiàn)力量，但其重要性并不會(huì)因此而降低。監(jiān)鑄教廷不想在荷魯斯面前丟臉。

So it was that even as the Loyalist and Mechanicum warships and torpedoes hurtled at unimaginable speeds towards each other in the void far beyond, the matter of Xana's formal alliance with the Traitor cause proceeded with much ceremony and clockwork precision. By prior arrangement the Warmaster's cargo was delivered from orbit, even as Xana Il's planetary interceptor batteries fired, cycled and fired again, sending torpedoes speeding into the night on columns of fire. The gift-cargo was landed between the barrage launches, still sealed in consignment to the landing ports of several of Xana's major forge-fanes: Tephra, Escorial and Setna, no doubt to prevent discord in the Consistory itself by dividing the spoils between the archmagos, to be released by code key transfer as the accord was formally made.

所以，盡管忠誠(chéng)派和機(jī)械神教雙方的戰(zhàn)艦和魚雷正在遙遠(yuǎn)的虛空中以難以想象的速度互相攻擊，但Xana和叛軍之間仍然進(jìn)行了極為隆重且精準(zhǔn)的正式結(jié)盟儀式。盡管Xana II的行星截?fù)襞谒谥貜?fù)著開火、裝填、再開火的循環(huán)，發(fā)射出的魚雷正在拖著尾焰火柱沖入夜空，但戰(zhàn)帥的貨物仍按事先的安排從軌道上運(yùn)輸著。運(yùn)輸禮物的貨艦在彈幕間穿過(guò)，降落到了地表；它們被以密封狀態(tài)運(yùn)送到了Tephra, Escorial和Setna等多座鑄造神殿的著落港中。毫無(wú)疑問(wèn)，監(jiān)鑄教廷是要通過(guò)將戰(zhàn)利品分發(fā)給大賢者們來(lái)避免教廷內(nèi)部的不和，在正式達(dá)成協(xié)議后，教廷會(huì)用密鑰轉(zhuǎn)換器來(lái)打開這些集裝箱。

Meanwhile, the Sons of?Horus warship, Cicatrice Tyrannis, was permitted into close orbit of?the moon of Xana-Tisiphone, sheltered from the waves of?fire unleashed from the Forge World itself and Koraddon, with Unvacar Noon at his side, descended with a full company-sized honour guard of Sons of Horus to the surface via wings of fully armed Stormbirds and assault landers; a display of foree and perhaps of displeasure that could not be lost on the waiting Mechanicum delegation. Ready to meet Koraddon's party on the edge of the great proving grounds, a vast artificial battlefield outside the half-kilometre high walls of?the great prison-forge of Tisiphone-Shaol, was Archmagos-Procurator Gilim Raijan, the prime arbiter of Xana's ruling Vodian Consistory and his personal covenant of?magos, guardian-servitors and lexmechanics.

同時(shí)，荷魯斯之子的戰(zhàn)艦“創(chuàng)痕暴君”號(hào)也被允許進(jìn)入了衛(wèi)星Xana-Tisiphone的低空軌道，它受到了鑄造世界自身釋放出的數(shù)波炮火的庇護(hù)；在一整支荷魯斯之子連隊(duì)組成的榮譽(yù)衛(wèi)隊(duì)的護(hù)送下，科拉頓和跟著他身邊的“滿陽(yáng)正午”降落到了地表，運(yùn)載他們的是由全副武裝的風(fēng)暴鳥炮艇和突擊登陸艇組成的中隊(duì)；戰(zhàn)帥的特使借此展示了實(shí)力，或許也表達(dá)出了自己的不悅，等待中的機(jī)械神教代表團(tuán)不會(huì)放過(guò)這些表現(xiàn)。準(zhǔn)備會(huì)見科拉頓訪問(wèn)團(tuán)的是監(jiān)察大賢者基里姆 萊詹，他正站在大型演示場(chǎng)的邊緣——這片區(qū)域是Tisiphone-Shaol監(jiān)牢鑄爐那半公里高圍墻外一片巨大的人造戰(zhàn)場(chǎng)?；锬?萊詹是統(tǒng)治Xana的監(jiān)鑄教廷的首席仲裁官，陪同其前來(lái)的是他的私人賢者盟約團(tuán)、護(hù)衛(wèi)機(jī)仆和編錄機(jī)僧。

Such records that remain of this meeting are fragmentary and uncorroborated, and suggest a cold and tension-laden encounter between the barely contained arrogance of the Sons of?Horus warlord and the chill, precise civility of the Archmagos of Xana, with the strange and macabre figure of the Davinite priest acting as intermediary. Of the impending void battle nothing was mentioned, and after the initial diplomacy and greetings were concluded, the nature of the planned demonstration was detailed.

殘留了這場(chǎng)會(huì)面（內(nèi)容）的記錄文件都是碎片化且未經(jīng)證實(shí)的，其表明：在此次會(huì)面中，荷魯斯之子軍閥表現(xiàn)出了近乎不加抑制的傲慢，Xana的大賢者們則表現(xiàn)出了冷漠且精準(zhǔn)的客套，而且是由怪異可怕的達(dá)文牧師充當(dāng)中間人，雙方的接觸是冷淡且緊張的。至于迫在眉睫的虛空戰(zhàn)，這些資料則只字未提。在最初的外交活動(dòng)和問(wèn)候結(jié)束后，賢者們?cè)敿?xì)介紹了計(jì)劃好的武器演示的性質(zhì)。

What was presented to the Warmaster's emissaries was to be a false war of?sorts, but one in which the carnage would be very real. Thousands of?armed slaves and human chattel, some were abhumans, others forge serfs and adsecularis, while others were military prisoners taken in raids by the Xanites —soldiers from the Loyalist cause for the main— were unleashed onto the kilometres-wide proving grounds. Controlled by remote-denoted suicide-collars and spurred on by auto-injected chemicals where needed, this damned regiment was equipped with a panoply of?weapons ranging from small arms up to and including even heavy tanks of Imperial pattern, and they had been given a simple but impossible task—to survive what was coming.

Xana賢者們要展示給戰(zhàn)帥特使們的是一場(chǎng)虛假戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)，但該過(guò)程中的屠殺是真實(shí)的。數(shù)千名武裝奴工和凡人奴隸（某些是亞人類，其他的則是鑄爐仆役和技術(shù)契奴），同時(shí)還有在掠襲Xanites世界時(shí)抓獲的戰(zhàn)俘（主要是忠誠(chéng)派士兵）都被釋放進(jìn)了數(shù)公里寬的演示場(chǎng)。這支注定遭受毀滅的部隊(duì)被用遙控引爆的自殺項(xiàng)圈控制著，有必要時(shí)還會(huì)被自動(dòng)注射化學(xué)藥劑以進(jìn)行刺激。他們裝備了全套武器，從輕型武器到主武器，甚至還包括帝國(guó)形制的重型坦克。Xana賢者給了他們一個(gè)簡(jiǎn)單但卻不可能的任務(wù)——從將要到來(lái)的進(jìn)攻中存活下來(lái)。

From within the armoured observation cupola of a hulking Mechanicum land crawler, flanked by a pair of Sons of?Horus Mastodon carriers forming escort, would the Warmaster's emissaries and the Archmagos Raijan observe the bloody game that was to follow, inviolate behind their void shields but within the thick of the contrived battle. It was to be a thing of sheer destructive spectacle—a massacre made to order. The vast black vaulted gates of?the prison-forge opened and the three monsters emerged into view, Mithrax, Nepothax and Ashurax?each Ordinatus fully armed and operational, and each with a coterie of Sons of Horus Techmarines on board to observe their operation first hand.

戰(zhàn)帥的特使與大賢者萊詹則身處一臺(tái)巨型機(jī)械神教陸地爬行車的裝甲觀測(cè)圓頂艙中，兩臺(tái)荷魯斯之子乳齒象運(yùn)輸車在其兩側(cè)護(hù)衛(wèi)著；他們躲在虛空盾的保護(hù)后面觀賞著即將到來(lái)的血腥游戲，不會(huì)受到這場(chǎng)預(yù)謀戰(zhàn)斗的傷害。這將是一場(chǎng)具有純粹破壞性的精彩表演——賢者們要展現(xiàn)的是一場(chǎng)按命令進(jìn)行的屠殺。監(jiān)牢鑄爐巨大的黑色拱形大門被打開，三臺(tái)怪獸都進(jìn)入了人們的視野——米薩拉克斯、涅博薩克斯和阿蘇拉克斯這三臺(tái)將軍炮全副武裝且運(yùn)轉(zhuǎn)正常，而且每臺(tái)將軍炮上都有一小群荷魯斯之子技術(shù)軍士來(lái)觀察此類武器的一手操作。

With a coded signal which promised instant death if compliance was not given, the first wave of enslaved soldiers attacked, hundreds and then thousands of?infantrymen pouring across the broken, shell-pitted ground. In response, the Ordinatus spread out and deployed, advancing, forming an echelon, half-seen clusters of humming automata hovering to guard each huge war engine's flanks should anything close to endanger their mighty charges.

隨著被輸入不服從就是立刻令其死亡的編碼信號(hào)，第一批被奴役的士兵發(fā)起了進(jìn)攻，成百上千的步兵沖過(guò)了遍布彈坑的破碎場(chǎng)地。作為回應(yīng)，將軍炮們分散開來(lái)，前進(jìn)并排成編隊(duì)，成群嗡嗡作響的自動(dòng)機(jī)兵隱約可見，它們盤旋著，守護(hù)在每臺(tái)巨大戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)引擎的側(cè)翼，以防有任何東西接近到足以危及將軍炮強(qiáng)悍的沖鋒。

Like a vast ground-swarm?of insects, the infantry wave surged and began to encircle the rumbling metal beasts, the Ulators'?vast and baroque cannon beginning to crackle and glow with building energies of savage force, building until flares of?sudden lightning arcs and shimmering surges of distorted air spat from their barrels and coils like angry ghosts. The first of the desperate attackers'?weapons fire 一heavy stubber rounds and unguided rockets— had only just began to patter harmlessly from the Ordinatus' all-encompassing protective power fields when at last the Ulators'?sonic destructors spoke. There was a brief blinding flash. A roaring, all-consuming silence that devoured all sound, the surface of the world itself seemed to ripple like a tortured sea and in that instant a thousand lives were snuffed out. Bodies, torn to red rags by the all-destroying waves of sonic energy, were blasted across the battlefield as if driven by a hurricane, and beneath them three great trenches now gouged the earth to mark the unleashed blasts. Beside these furrows scores of bloodied men staggered on broken limbs, their senses devoured and minds shattered. Those fortunate to be far enough away saw the fate of their comrades and fled if they were able, or simply collapsed in shock.

就像一大群在地面上蠕動(dòng)的昆蟲那樣，步兵們沖了上去，并且開始圍住這只轟隆作響的金屬巨獸。烏拉托將軍炮巨大且華麗的主炮開始劈啪作響，閃爍著力道野蠻的能量逐漸增強(qiáng)而產(chǎn)生的光芒，光亮不斷增強(qiáng)，直到閃電、弧光和扭曲的空氣突然如憤怒的幽靈那樣從線圈和炮管中噴射出來(lái)。當(dāng)烏拉托的聲波破壞炮最終開火時(shí)，絕望的進(jìn)攻者們用重型伐木槍和無(wú)引導(dǎo)的火箭彈開始攻擊將軍炮的全方位防護(hù)能量護(hù)盾，但只能發(fā)出些無(wú)害的聲響。將軍炮開火時(shí)產(chǎn)生了令人目盲的短暫閃光，（之后）一陣吞噬一起的寂靜呼嘯而過(guò)，寂滅了一切聲響，地表如同被（風(fēng)暴）折磨的大海那樣起伏不定，一千條生命在瞬間被抹殺。人的身體被毀滅一切的能量音波撕碎成鮮紅的碎塊，仿佛被颶風(fēng)吹飛了那樣，尸體被炸飛到了戰(zhàn)場(chǎng)的各處。尸體下方的地面被刨出了三條巨大的壕溝，標(biāo)志著將軍炮釋放出的爆炸。在這些溝壑旁邊，幾十個(gè)血淋淋的人踩著斷肢蹣跚而行，他們的感知能力被毀滅，意識(shí)變得破碎模糊。這些人有幸在足夠遠(yuǎn)的地方看到自己戰(zhàn)友們的命運(yùn)，他們要么是趁著自己還能活動(dòng)時(shí)逃跑，要么就只是在驚恐中崩潰了。

The Ordinatus, implacable, rolled on, the observer column behind them in their wake, towards the ultimate goal of a shattered cityscape some nine kilometres distant; a city that had been built and rebuilt many times in the past, only to be destroyed in the testing of Xana's guns. The signal went out and the second wave was ordered in, this time a mixed force of armoured infantry and supporting armour. The attack was even more desperate, the storm that erupted across the Ordinatus' shields more violent, but the outcome was the same: an army wiped out as by the hand of an annihilating god. The signal was issued again and again and the bloody charade of war continued, now armoured forces alone, now jump troops, now battle-servitors, now a column of super-heavy tanks to test the mighty Ulators'?defences to the limit. The killing went on for hours.

將軍炮們不依不饒地繼續(xù)前進(jìn)，觀摩團(tuán)則跟在它們身后，駛向了大概九公里之外作為最終目標(biāo)的那片破碎城市景觀；那是一座在過(guò)去被（反復(fù)）建造和重建過(guò)很多次的城市，用處只是在Xana的火炮測(cè)試中被摧毀。賢者們發(fā)出了信號(hào)，第二波部隊(duì)被命令發(fā)動(dòng)進(jìn)攻。這次出陣的是裝甲步兵和支援型裝甲單位組成的合成部隊(duì)。這次進(jìn)攻甚至更為絕望，如風(fēng)暴般在將軍炮護(hù)盾各處炸開的炮火更為猛烈，但結(jié)局還是一樣的：一位毀滅之神伸出一只手便抹去了一支軍隊(duì)。信號(hào)被一次又一次地發(fā)出，戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)游戲也一再上演；獨(dú)自出陣的裝甲部隊(duì)、跳躍部隊(duì)、戰(zhàn)斗機(jī)仆和一支超重型坦克縱隊(duì)依次上場(chǎng)，測(cè)試著強(qiáng)大的烏拉托將軍炮的防御極限。殺戮持續(xù)了數(shù)個(gè)小時(shí)。

The Shadow of the Angel's Wing

天使雙翼之影

While the power of the three gifts was being so emptily and murderous demonstrated on Xana-Tisiphone, in the void the opposing fleets met. Unimaginable forces of destruction were unleashed as beam lances wove traceries of annihilating light across the void, waves of torpedoes slammed into thunderous barrages of?counter-fire and atomic explosions rippled like dying stars across the firmament. The Imperium's battleships formed a conical wedge to protect their lethal entourage of fire ships from attack, their escorting frigates and destroyers darting madly around them to intercept any torpedo salvoes or servitor-fighters that broke through the titanic barrages of the Amphion and her sisters, some paying with their lives to cany out their bloody task, interposing their own frail hulls against the fury.?Slowly, Xana's fist of?iron closed around the Loyalist fleet, and though scores of Mechanicum hunter-killers perished, torn?to spiralling fragments by the macro-cannon and plasma cannonades of the Loyalists, and entire war- arks were sliced in half from stem to stern by the Amphion's prodigious giga-scale primary lances, the attacking fleet began to falter and shrink. First one of the Loyalist battleships, the Dequenne's Fury, fell out of formation, a burning hulk, then soon after a second, the venerable Sceptre of Io, spiralled out of control, the beasts of steel gnawing and coiling across her hull like ravenous ghouls, Thallax Covenants and Castellax battle-automata injected like poison into the battleship's veins as the Solar Auxilia armsmen aboard fought desperately for survival to little avail. The Loyalists'?defensive shield forced open, its escort screen stripped away, the fire ships themselves began to flare brightly in their death throes. Slowly, and at great cost, the Xanite Mechanicum were winning the battle, the Loyalist fleet would never reach striking distance of the bounty ships hidden in the debris belt.

就在Xana的三件禮物在Xana-Tisiphone上極其空洞且殘忍地展示著自身力量的同時(shí)，雙方艦隊(duì)也在虛空中相遇了。光矛射線在虛空中編織出湮滅之網(wǎng)，一波又一波的魚雷猛沖上前與敵方的反擊彈幕猛烈相撞，原子爆炸如垂死的恒星般擴(kuò)散在蒼穹各處，無(wú)法想象的毀滅之力被釋放而出。帝國(guó)的戰(zhàn)列艦組成了一個(gè)錐形的楔狀編隊(duì)，以保護(hù)隨行的縱火船免受致命火力的攻擊。護(hù)航的護(hù)衛(wèi)艦和驅(qū)逐艦在它們周圍瘋狂飛馳，攔截著所有突破了安非昂號(hào)及其姐妹們強(qiáng)大彈幕的齊射魚雷或機(jī)仆戰(zhàn)機(jī)；某些護(hù)航艦犧牲自己來(lái)完成這血腥任務(wù)，用自己脆弱的船體來(lái)對(duì)抗機(jī)械神教的怒火。Xana的鐵拳在忠誠(chéng)派艦隊(duì)周圍緩慢合攏，雖然忠誠(chéng)派艦船的宏炮和電漿炮將數(shù)十架機(jī)械神教獵殺者引擎撕碎成了原地打轉(zhuǎn)的碎片，安非昂號(hào)巨大的主光矛炮塔也將整艘的戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)方舟從船頭到船尾切成兩半，但進(jìn)攻艦隊(duì)仍然開始收縮攻勢(shì)。第一艘掉隊(duì)的忠誠(chéng)派戰(zhàn)列艦是“德奎恩之怒”號(hào)，它的船體熊熊燃燒得；不久之后第二艘戰(zhàn)艦——可敬的“艾奧權(quán)杖”號(hào)也在原地失控旋轉(zhuǎn)起來(lái)，鋼鐵野獸們?nèi)缲澙返氖呈砟菢涌幸е母魈幋w，死隸機(jī)兵和堡星戰(zhàn)斗機(jī)兵如同被注入戰(zhàn)艦血管中的毒藥，船上的太陽(yáng)軍武裝兵們拼命奮戰(zhàn)以求生存，卻幾乎毫無(wú)效果。忠誠(chéng)派被迫張開了自己的防御盾，護(hù)航艦組成的屏障也被剝開，縱火船在垂死掙扎中開始發(fā)出耀眼的光芒。Xana機(jī)械神教進(jìn)展緩慢，而且遭受了嚴(yán)重?fù)p失，但他們正在贏得戰(zhàn)斗。忠誠(chéng)派艦隊(duì)永遠(yuǎn)也不會(huì)抵達(dá)能進(jìn)攻到藏在碎片環(huán)帶中那些滿載的貨船的點(diǎn)位。

The weapons platforms in the murky stratosphere of Xana II had fallen silent at last, their munitions spent, as had the ground silos on Xana II discharged in full. In the void distant, the matter was now being decided by the brutality of a close-range void battle in which they would play no part. So it was that the Mortis-XI defensive station at the heart of?the debris belt's defence network began to cycle down its systems to a defensive posture, the Tech-Priest chorus cyber-bonded to its control gyre reaching out with their djinn-sight to the dozens of weapons platforms they controlled, reporting status and correcting positional anomalies in their deployment caused by their now reduced mass. Suddenly, their auguries screamed with a new hostile contact, a warship impossibly close, not beyond in the void of?space, but beneath them in the thick atmosphere of Xana I. The Mortis-XI station died in an eruption of?nothingness, vortex torpedoes ripping it out of reality in a squall of?disintegrating wreckage. In its place a sable-black ship sliced out of the mirk, long and wicked as a blade, the near-seamless armour of its surface featureless save for a single crimson icon across its low prow, graven in the image of a winged sword.

Xana II昏暗大氣中的武器平臺(tái)最終也陷入沉寂，它們的彈藥耗盡了，Xana II地表處發(fā)射井也釋放出了全部導(dǎo)彈；在遠(yuǎn)處的虛空中，殘酷的近距離虛空戰(zhàn)將會(huì)決定一切，但它們無(wú)法在其中發(fā)揮作用。所以處于碎片帶核心區(qū)域的防御空間站“死亡十一號(hào)”開始將系統(tǒng)循環(huán)到防御姿態(tài)，通過(guò)數(shù)據(jù)靈精的視界，那些用智控網(wǎng)絡(luò)將自己連接到空間站控制環(huán)流的技術(shù)神甫團(tuán)觀察著其控制著的幾十個(gè)武器平臺(tái)，他們匯報(bào)狀態(tài)，修正因其質(zhì)量減少而導(dǎo)致的部署位置異常。突然，鳥卜儀警聲大作，報(bào)告了一次新出現(xiàn)的敵對(duì)接觸：有一艘戰(zhàn)艦不可思議地靠近它們，而且不是虛空之外，而是就在它們的下方，躲在Xana I濃厚的大氣層中。死亡十一號(hào)在爆炸中灰飛煙滅——漩渦魚雷將其撕裂成了一堆支離破碎的殘骸，之后將其吸入了亞空間。繼而一艘黑色的艦船從星球幽暗的大氣中滑出，它如同利刃般修長(zhǎng)而危險(xiǎn)，飛船表面那幾乎無(wú)縫的船體裝甲毫無(wú)特色，只有一個(gè)深紅色的紋章橫亙?cè)诘桶拇^——那里被刻上了一柄長(zhǎng)有雙翼的長(zhǎng)劍。

The sable ship turned almost lazily in an arc towards the dozens of lumbering transports and freighters whose protection within the debris belt of Xana I was worthless now against this wolf among the flock, and she began to kill. Secondary plasma batteries and defensive lasers spat from the spent weapons platforms towards the murderous vessel but they were too little to even give her pause. On Xana II the cold minds which ruled the forge-fanes quickly identified the vessel, for she was a unique killing engine alongside which their own forces had fought many decades before during the Rangdan wars. She was no mere Legiones Astartes strike cruiser, but a lone relic of Old Night, a thing recovered from the permafrosts of Ganymede by the Emperor's own hand. Her name was the Dark Sovereign, and she belonged to the Ist Legion, to the Dark Angels.

那艘黑色飛船幾乎就是懶洋洋地劃了個(gè)弧線，飛向了那些緩慢笨拙的運(yùn)輸船和貨艦，Xana I的碎片帶已經(jīng)變得毫無(wú)意義，黑暗天使的飛船現(xiàn)在就是一只鉆入羊群的惡狼，她開始了殺戮。精疲力盡的武器平臺(tái)用次級(jí)電漿炮塔和防御激光射擊著這艘兇惡的飛船，但這些進(jìn)攻太弱了，甚至不能讓后者停頓。在Xana II世界上，統(tǒng)治著鑄造神殿的冷酷意識(shí)很快就辨別出了這艘飛船——她不僅是一艘阿斯塔特軍團(tuán)打擊巡洋艦，而且是一件來(lái)自舊夜時(shí)代的獨(dú)特遺產(chǎn)，是帝皇從Ganymede世界的永凍層中親手回收的飛船。她名為黑暗君王號(hào)，屬于第一軍團(tuán)——黑暗天使。

The Wrath of the Betrayed

受叛者之怒

On Xana-Tisiphone, news of the blade in the dark was shock enough to call a sudden halt even to the contrived carnage of the Ordinatus' demonstration. The macromunitions explosions of the dying transports in the debris field of the Xana I gas giant were potent enough to be clearly visible in the skies overhead. The Warmaster's prizes were dying in flames, and Xana's void ships were simply too far away to prevent it.

在Xana-Tisiphone上，一柄利刃從黑暗中刺出的消息令所有人都頗為震驚，甚至連將軍炮的人為屠殺展示都被突然叫停。在氣體巨星Xana I的碎片環(huán)帶中，垂死運(yùn)輸船上的巨量彈藥發(fā)生了爆炸，其程度嚴(yán)重到地上的人們能夠在頭頂?shù)奶炜罩星宄吹竭@一切。戰(zhàn)帥的戰(zhàn)利品正在被烈火焚毀，而Xana的虛空艦船們距離太遠(yuǎn)，無(wú)法前去阻止這一切。

On the observation deck of?the hulking Mechanicum crawler, Archmagos-Procurator Gilim Raijan turned to Unvacar Noon, perhaps to offer explanation or perhaps to entreat the Sons of?Horus' own warship to attack the Dark Angels vessel, only to find Noon's features melting like wax before him. The emissary's arm flashed out,too fast even for the augmented reflexes of the Archmagos to react against, and a gilded barb sunk into his body, a roaring electroshock surge shorting out his power systems and collapsing his personal defensive shield. Raijan fell back away from his attacker as his own guardian-servitors fell on the blurring, shifting, shadow-quick assassin, but behind himself he found the armoured bulk of?Koraddon looming over him as he staggered. The verdigris-armoured warlord reached down to the fallen Archmagos and wordlessly tore off Gilim Raijan's head with his power fist in a shower of sparks and black fluids, and then pulverised his twitching metal body into scrap.

在巨型機(jī)械神教爬行車的觀察甲板中，監(jiān)察大賢者基里姆 萊詹轉(zhuǎn)向了滿陽(yáng)正午，他或許是要辯解，或許是要懇求荷魯斯之子們派出自己的戰(zhàn)艦去攻擊黑暗天使飛船，但他只看見滿陽(yáng)正午的臉在他面前如蠟般融化了。這位特使猛得伸出手臂，速度快到甚至令大賢者強(qiáng)化過(guò)的反應(yīng)能力都無(wú)法應(yīng)對(duì)；特使將一柄金色的鉤刺扎入了大賢者的身體，一陣聲音尖銳的電擊隨即短路了他的電力系統(tǒng)，令其個(gè)人放護(hù)盾崩潰。萊詹從攻擊者身邊向后退去，而他自己的機(jī)仆護(hù)衛(wèi)們則撲向了這個(gè)身影模糊、行動(dòng)如暗影般迅捷的刺客；當(dāng)當(dāng)他踉蹌后退時(shí)，又發(fā)現(xiàn)科拉頓身穿動(dòng)力甲的身形在自己身后若隱若現(xiàn)。身穿銅綠色動(dòng)力甲的星際戰(zhàn)士軍閥朝著倒地的大賢者伸出手來(lái)，他一言不發(fā)地用自己的動(dòng)力拳將大賢者的腦袋撕扯下來(lái)，斷口處噴出火花和黑色流體。萊詹抽動(dòng)著的金屬軀體之后又被碾成了碎片。

The Hour of Execution

處決之時(shí)

The Lords of Xana had been deceived and by that deception the Loyalists'?bloody stratagem had borne fruit. Some three hours after the initial exchange of fire of the engagement against the Loyalist raiding fleet led by the Amphion, the full forces of the Mechanicum's void defences had been drawn out and committed to the battle, Xana Il's long range munitions had been expended and their warships were now locked in closequarters fighting with the Terran battlegroup. The Xanite vessels were now simply too far away to defend their home Forge World, or more importantly, protect the huge supply fleet that lay at anchor in the Xana I debris belt, when a new Loyalist attacker, the deadly Dark Sovereign, launched her own devastating surprise assault from within the gas giant Xana II's atmosphere.

Xana的領(lǐng)主們被欺騙了，而且忠誠(chéng)派也以這種方式讓自己的血腥謀略結(jié)出了成果。在Xana防御系統(tǒng)與安非昂號(hào)率領(lǐng)的忠誠(chéng)派掠襲艦隊(duì)的初次交火過(guò)去大概三小時(shí)后，機(jī)械神教虛空防線上的全部力量都被引開并參與進(jìn)了戰(zhàn)斗中，Xana II的遠(yuǎn)程彈藥已經(jīng)告罄，戰(zhàn)艦也在和泰拉戰(zhàn)斗群的近距離交鋒中脫不開身。Xana的艦船要么過(guò)于遙遠(yuǎn)到無(wú)法保護(hù)鑄造世界母星，要么就是在執(zhí)行更重要的任務(wù)：當(dāng)那艘新出現(xiàn)的忠誠(chéng)派進(jìn)攻飛船——黑暗君王號(hào)從氣體巨星Xana II的大氣層中發(fā)動(dòng)毀滅性突襲時(shí)，它們前去保護(hù)錨定在Xana I碎片環(huán)帶中的巨型補(bǔ)給艦隊(duì)。

Amid this general chaos, the sudden battle on Xana-Tisiphone went all but unnoticed as another lie was revealed, and those who had masqueraded as the Sons of Horus and the emissaries of the Warmaster revealed themselves to be cut from entirely different cloth. Legiones Astartes they were for the main, but they were not Malcador's chosen 一later to be called Knights-Errant— these were the bitter fall-out of Legions who had turned traitor while they had remained resulted loyal, a decision many had already paid for in blood and sinew in battle against those who they had once called brother. Their leader was Endryd Haar, a World Eater once, and it was he who had passed for the Sons of Horus warlord Koraddon, who it is likely that he himself had earlier slain. He and those with him had by brutal surprise attack taken over command of all three of the Ordinatus Minoris intended as gifts for the Warmaster, and now with malign savagery; turned their dread power on their creators.

在這一團(tuán)混亂的局面中，Xana-Tisiphone上發(fā)生的突然戰(zhàn)斗卻幾乎沒有引起注意，因?yàn)榱硪粋€(gè)謊言被揭開了：那些偽裝成荷魯斯之子和戰(zhàn)帥特使的人表露出了自己完全不同的身份。他們主要是阿斯塔特軍團(tuán)戰(zhàn)士，但并非并非馬卡多的親選者們（此類星際戰(zhàn)士在后來(lái)被稱為游俠騎士），而是一群凄苦之人：他們來(lái)自那些背叛了帝國(guó)的軍團(tuán)，但自身仍舊忠于帝國(guó)；他們中有很多人都為自己的決定而付出了慘痛代價(jià)——他們要與自己曾經(jīng)的兄弟兵戎相見。這群戰(zhàn)士的領(lǐng)袖是恩德瑞德 哈爾，這位曾經(jīng)的吞世者被Xana賢者們認(rèn)作了荷魯斯之子軍閥科拉頓，而后者可能在之前就已經(jīng)被哈爾所殺。他和自己的下屬們發(fā)動(dòng)了殘忍的突襲行動(dòng)，奪取了全部三臺(tái)原本打算作為禮物送給戰(zhàn)帥的小將軍炮，而且這些星際戰(zhàn)士們現(xiàn)在有了個(gè)惡毒野蠻的計(jì)劃：將它們可怕的力量用于對(duì)付其創(chuàng)造者。

First, the escorting guardian-automata had been shot down and crushed by the Sons of Horus-liveried Mastodon heavy tanks that had served as Koraddon's honour guard, before the baleful power of?the sonic destructors of the Ordinatus had swept nearby Xanite armour and support vehicles to oblivion. The anarchy was further accelerated when the Loyalist Techmarines compromised the local djinn command skein by interfacing with the shattered remains of the Archmagos Gilim Raijan to operate the remote release on the collars of the thousands of remaining war slaves who were to be used in the bloody demonstration of the Ordinatus' power. These armed slaves, once free, fled where they could, spreading further the disorder and wild violence that had been unleashed.

首先，充當(dāng)科拉頓榮譽(yù)衛(wèi)隊(duì)的荷魯斯之子乳齒象重型坦克擊落了護(hù)衛(wèi)將軍炮的機(jī)兵守衛(wèi)，之后將軍炮那聲波破壞炮的邪惡力量毀滅了附近的Xana裝甲載具和支援載具。當(dāng)忠誠(chéng)派技術(shù)軍士接入到大賢者基里姆 萊詹的破碎殘軀，遠(yuǎn)程解除了數(shù)千名殘余戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)奴隸的項(xiàng)圈（他們?cè)疽挥米鲗④娕谕ρ妊菔镜臓奚罚?，以此令?dāng)?shù)氐撵`精指揮（通訊）束失效后，混亂狀況進(jìn)一步加速發(fā)展。這些武裝奴隸一旦獲得自由便四處逃竄，從而進(jìn)一步擴(kuò)大了業(yè)已釋放出來(lái)的混亂和暴力。

The desperate bid to seize the highly prized Ordinatus was only the beginning of the operation on Xana-Tisiphone. The huge warship which had brought the supposedly Traitor delegation to Xana, the Cicatrice Tyrannis, dropped lower into Xana- Tisiphone's orbit, placing the shadow of the moon between her and Xana II, shielding herself from any retribution that was to follow as her crew ignored all requests to attack the Dark Sovereign or otherwise aid the defence against the Loyalists. The Cicatrice Tyrannis then commenced her own company-scale ground assault on Xana- Tisiphone, Stormbirds and Thunderhawk gunships descending as the power of the Ordinatus was turned upon the cyclopean gates of the great prison-forge of Tisiphone- Shaol, sundering them.

但不顧一切地奪取備受珍視的將軍炮僅僅是Xana-Tisiphone上行動(dòng)的開始。那艘將叛軍代表團(tuán)送到Xana的巨大戰(zhàn)艦——?jiǎng)?chuàng)痕暴君號(hào)也下降到了Xana- Tisiphone的軌道上，她躲入了Xana II那顆衛(wèi)星的陰影中，以此避開了之后將要到來(lái)的任何報(bào)復(fù)行動(dòng)，同時(shí)船員們也忽略了所有關(guān)于進(jìn)攻黑暗君王號(hào)，或以其他手段幫助Xana防御忠誠(chéng)派進(jìn)攻的請(qǐng)求。之后，創(chuàng)痕暴君號(hào)派出連隊(duì)規(guī)模的兵力向Xana- Tisiphone發(fā)起地面進(jìn)攻，風(fēng)暴鳥和雷鷹炮艇沖向地面，同時(shí)將軍炮也攻向了Tisiphone- Shaol監(jiān)牢鑄造廠那巨大的正門，并將之擊破。