The False Flag

偽旗

Although speed was of the essence, what was to follow was not a headlong rush to attack, for that was not the Alpha Legion's way of war. but a cold, calculated campaign both intricate in its complexity and ruthless in its execution. Like jackals in the night, the Alpha Legion first surrounded their prey and observed its movements, gauging its strengths and weaknesses. The Alpha Legion fleet had broken into realspace far into the cold darkness beyond the range of the vast trinary star systems limits, relying on their own expertise in such matters as well as the fury of the three stars of Paramar's own radiant emissions to mask their slow and silent approach. Their arrival undetected they encircled their targets with a predators patience, finding it as expected already on a state of heightened alert. What followed was a dangerous game of brinkmanship and timing. The longer they delayed their attack, the greater the risk of discovery and the greater the risk that the news of the Dropsite Massacre — and the Alpha Legions part in it—would reach Paramar, despite the rising warp storms and the murderous blockade and waiting ambushes the Legion had established in several nearby systems, silencing the approaches and isolating Paramar from immediate aid as much as was possible given the vagaries of the Warp. Conversely, the longer the Alpha Legion waited, the more perfect their attack strategy could be formed, the closer their spectral warships stalked and the deeper their hidden fangs were already sinking into the system unbeknownst to its defenders, their paralysing venom already taking effect.

雖然速度是不可或缺的，但接下來要做的并非是一頭沖上去展開進攻，因為這并非阿爾法軍團的戰(zhàn)爭之道，不過一場精心策劃的冷酷戰(zhàn)役也會因其執(zhí)行過程中的復雜性和無情性而變得錯綜復雜。阿爾法軍團就像是黑夜中的豺狼，他們首先會包圍自己的獵物并觀察其動向，估計對方的優(yōu)勢和劣勢。阿爾法軍團艦隊沖入了現實宇宙，深入到了巨大的三恒星系統(tǒng)邊界范圍之外的寒冷黑暗空間中，他們依靠自己在此類行動上的經驗與三顆帕拉瑪恒星自身散發(fā)出的輻射怒火來掩蓋其緩慢且無聲的接近。抵達的艦隊未必檢測到，它們以掠食者的耐性包圍了目標，并發(fā)現對方就如同預料中那樣處于了強化警戒狀態(tài)。接下來的就是一場關于邊緣策略和時機把握的危險游戲，阿爾法軍團拖延進攻的時間越久，他們被發(fā)現的風險就越大，登陸點大屠殺（以及阿爾法軍團參與其中）的消息抵達帕拉瑪星系的風險也越大；不過亞空間風暴在愈演愈烈，阿爾法軍團也在周邊數個星系中建立了兇殘的封鎖線并設好了埋伏，考慮到亞空間的變幻莫測，阿爾法軍團盡可能讓自己的接近行動保持沉默，并讓帕拉瑪星系孤立，令其無法得到立刻援助。反過來，阿爾法軍團等待的時間越長，他們能形成的攻勢便越完美，而幽靈般的戰(zhàn)艦越是接近該地，他們已然刺入該星系中的隱藏毒牙便扎的越深——帕拉瑪守軍們對此還渾然不知，阿爾法軍團的麻痹毒液已經起作用了。

Swiftly, several scheduled transport ships and patrol vessels had been hijacked and suborned en route to Paramar by the Alpha Legion and used as a vector to poison the system's outer defences with its operatives and gather further detailed intelligence. Individuals, particularly on the Pharaeon of Paramar,?more readily accessible than Paramar V to the Legion's Spartoi operatives, had been marked for assassination, while sabotage devices were sown in the system's defence grid in preparation for the attack. The system's prison hives were of little immediate concern, being far from the twin primary objectives of the assault, and also the easiest dealt with as time-released toxins and bacteriological contaminants were introduced into the heavily centralised water supplies of each, ready to create havoc when triggered. An unseen chronograph counted down to the appointed hour with inexorable motion as the labyrinthine plans of the Alpha Legion converged and configured, until the sands of time ran out for Paramar and the honourable role it had played in the Great Crusade's dream of Mankind's future was crushed in the coils of the hydra.

很快，阿爾法軍團就在通往帕拉瑪的航路上劫持和收買了很多預定的運輸船和巡邏艦，并用這些艦船搭載著自己的特工們去破壞帕拉瑪星系的外側防御系統(tǒng)和收集更詳細的信息。軍團中的斯巴達托伊特工已經將某些人標記為了暗殺對象，對前者而言，后者——尤其是在帕拉瑪寶冠站上時，相比于在帕拉瑪五號上時更易于接近；同時特工們也在星系防御系統(tǒng)網絡（終端）處安放了破壞裝置，為進攻做好準備。星系中的監(jiān)牢巢都則幾乎沒有得到立刻的關注，該區(qū)域遠離此次進攻的兩個主要目標，它們是最易于解決的目標——每座巢都高度集中的供水系統(tǒng)中都被加入了按時釋放的毒素和細菌污染物，準備在被觸發(fā)投放時引發(fā)浩劫。在阿爾法軍團迷宮般的計劃們進行匯合配置的同時，一個不可見的倒計時表也就形成了，上面的數字無情地倒數向了指定的時間，直到帕拉瑪星系耗盡它的時間；到那時，它在大遠征關于人類未來的愿景中所扮演的光榮角色也會被盤繞的九頭蛇所粉碎。

The Blade from the Dark

自黑暗中而來的利刃

At 019-17 sidereal/local time, approximately thirty-eight days Terran standard after the Dropsite Massacre on Isstvan V. a fleet of eleven Legiones Astartes warships of the Alpha Legion broke realspace on the edge of the Paramar system in proximity to the standard ingress co-ordinates for Imperial shipping en route from Terra. The lead vessel, a Basileus class battle barge designated Sigma-Pythonus in the Astra Imperialis records, made direct communication with the Pharaeon of Paramars central command, invoking the seal and orders of Rogal Dorn, Praetorian of Terra. Demanding rights under these orders of immediate and urgent resupply and aid, the Alpha Legion detachment claimed to have been swept off course by the turbulence of the Warp and separated from the punitive taskforce sent to Isstvan V, and its intent was to resume its mission at the swiftest possible dispatch. Its authority accepted, the Sigma-Pythonus and its escorts approached the Pharaeon of Paramar with the apparent intent to make temporary repairs at the fleet anchorage, while a single Bellerophon class heavy assault cruiser, designated Anax-Rho detached from the Alpha Legion fleet and proceeded to Paramar V to requisition additional supplies. No suspicion was raised and no alarms were sounded, as under the flags of brothers-in-arms against a common foe, the Alpha Legion approached their targets, their blades naked in their hands. In the dark at the edge of the light of Paramars three suns, their brothers waited.

登陸點大屠殺事件過去大約38個泰拉標準日后，在當地恒星時間019-17，某支由11艘阿斯塔特軍團戰(zhàn)艦構成的阿爾法軍團艦隊在帕拉瑪星系的邊緣處突入現實空間，它們抵達的地點接近從泰拉前往帕拉瑪星系的帝國艦船的入境坐標。為首的艦船是一艘被帝國星際（航行）記錄標明為“西格瑪—蟒蛇”的君王級戰(zhàn)列母艦，它立刻聯系了帕拉瑪寶冠站的中央指揮處，提及了泰拉禁衛(wèi)官羅格 多恩的命令和信物。憑著這些命令，該阿爾法軍團分遣隊要求得到立刻且緊急的補給與援助，它們聲稱自己是被亞空間湍流沖出了航線，從被派往伊斯特萬五號的懲戒特遣隊中分離了出來，它們的目的是盡可能以最快速度重新開始任務。在其授權被接受后，西格瑪—蟒蛇號與其護航艦隊接近了帕拉瑪寶冠站，它們表現出了要在艦隊錨地進行臨時維修的明顯意圖；同時一條名為“阿納克斯—羅”的柏勒洛豐級重型突擊巡洋艦被從阿爾法軍團艦隊中派出，它前往帕拉瑪五號去征用額外的補給。帕拉瑪星系未產生疑惑，他們也并未拉響警報，就像對方是對抗共同敵人的袍澤兄弟那樣；阿爾法軍團接近了目標，露出了手中的利刃。他們的兄弟們就等待在帕拉瑪三顆恒星光芒邊緣處的黑暗中。

The Iron Pilgrim

鋼鐵訪客

No plan, no matter how well formulated or executed, escapes the hand of fate in the unravelling of its design. So it was that as the Sigma-Pythonus and its brethren were making their final approach through the Pharaeon of Paramar's defensive corridor, under the shadow of the guns of the colossal void-bastions that surrounded it, and the Anax-Rho itself was within light-minutes of Paramar V, reality ripped open once more, disgorging more vessels into the void around Paramar. These vessels were not of the Alpha Legion and not part of their plan. It is not difficult to imagine the consternation and fear of discovery within the Alpha Legions ranks at this moment, but even as long range auspex readings approximated that these were Legiones Astartes warships , five in number, including a capital class vessel, the Alpha Legion held fast to their plan. They did not break ranks, or attempt to flee from the shadow of the firepower that surrounded them, but instead pressed on as if nothing was awry, merely issuing the standard vox-challenges that such a sudden meeting naturally called for. Pict-images from long-range occular-scopes resolved to display the unknown ships as slab-sided hulking monstrosities of black-scarred steel, the silhouettes of the Imperial pattern hulls barely recognisable beneath layer upon layer of improvised ablative armour plating and flanks studded with fifteen metre long adamantium anti-boarding spines. The Alpha Legions vox-challenge was at last answered with something like indifference. The lead warship identified itself, the Tyches Lament, flagship of the 77th Grand Battalion of the Iron Warriors Legion, and its master, Kyr Vhalen, responded that he cared not under what orders the Alpha Legion flew, only his own...

無論它被制定或執(zhí)行得多么完美，任何計劃也都逃不過命運之手對其設計的拆解。發(fā)生在阿爾法軍團上的事情也是如此：西格瑪—蟒蛇號與它的兄弟們正在通過帕拉瑪寶冠站的防御走廊，它們從圍繞寶冠站的巨大虛空要塞的火炮陰影下駛過，最終接近了空間站；阿納克斯—羅號距離帕拉瑪五號也僅有幾光分之遙；但就在此刻，現實再次被撕裂開，更多艦船沖入了帕拉瑪星系周邊的虛空。但這些艦船不屬于阿爾法軍團，也不是他們計劃的一部分。此刻阿爾法軍團內部對自己被發(fā)現這一事感到的驚愕與擔憂是我們不難相信的，但盡管遠程鳥卜讀數近似于五艘阿斯塔特軍團戰(zhàn)艦（的數據）——其中還包括一艘主力級艦船，阿爾法軍團仍舊堅持著他們的計劃。艦隊并未將隊列分散開，也沒有試圖從那些包圍著他們的火力的陰影中逃離，而是繼續(xù)前進，仿佛一切正常；它們只是按照此類突發(fā)性會面的正常要求發(fā)出了標準的音頻通訊質問。遠程觀測鏡所捕捉到的圖像信息顯示，這些未知的飛船側面平坦，是由帶著黑色疤痕的金屬構成的龐然巨物，船身被擋在了一層又一層臨時拼湊的燒蝕裝甲板之下，帝國式船體的輪廓幾乎無法被辨認出，兩側還遍布著十五米長的反跳幫精金尖刺。阿爾法軍團的音頻通訊質問最終收到了某些近似于冷淡（言辭）的回答，為首的艦船表明自己是“堤喀哀嘆”號，鋼鐵勇士第77大營的旗艦，它的主人——凱爾 瓦倫回應稱他并不在乎阿爾法軍團是奉了什么命令，他只在乎自己（的目的）…

A Light Extinguished

熄滅的孤燈

The identity of the incoming warships was entirely unexpected. Though like the Alpha Legion, the Iron Warriors and their brutal Primarch Perturabo had sided with the Warmaster at Isstvan to the ruination of those Loyalists sent to bring the Traitors to heel, no love had been lost between the two brother-Legions in the past and their presence at Paramar at this time was entirely unpredicted. Likely this unforeseen turn of events, coming at such a crucial juncture, was itselfa dangerous complication for?the Alpha Legion's plans. Had the Iron Warriors been sent on the same mission as they by Horus in his distrust, and then if this was the case, had they come as aid or as watchdog to see that the Warmasters wishes were carried out? Or were they simply a rogue element to be dealt with as proved necessary? Were these five ships all, or were there more in waiting, just as the Alpha Legion waited? Ultimately, it did not matter, the plan was too far gone to be stopped; events had taken on a momentum of their own.

這些新抵達帕拉瑪星系的戰(zhàn)艦的身份是阿爾法軍團完全未曾預料的。雖然就如同阿爾法軍團那樣，鋼鐵勇士及其殘忍原體佩圖拉博也在伊斯特萬星系加入了戰(zhàn)帥派系，毀滅了那些被派去擊潰叛軍的忠誠派部隊，但這兩個兄弟軍團在過去便關系不佳，而且他們此時出現在帕拉瑪星系是完全未被預料到的。此種不可預見的事件轉折發(fā)生在了如此緊要的關頭，其自身很可能就是阿爾法軍團計劃中一個危險的復雜因素。鋼鐵勇士們也是因不受荷魯斯信任而被派來執(zhí)行相同任務的嗎？倘若如此，他們是來提供援助的，還是作為監(jiān)察者來觀察戰(zhàn)帥的愿望是否得到實現的？亦或他們不過是一群（只）在必要時才要被處理掉的離群分隊？這五艘飛船就是全部兵力了嗎，或者是還有更多飛船等待在這里——就像阿爾法軍團所做的那樣？最終來看，這一切都不重要了，因為進攻計劃已經走得太遠，無法被阻止了；事已至此，勢在必行。

Like silent actors in a vast shadow play of gods and monsters against the backdrop of the cold stars, the colossal warships of blackened steel and ghostly azure moved across the void, each to their journeys' end. With equal silence, aboard the Alpha Legion's serpent-scaled vessels, Legionaries in full battle gear and armed for war waited in utter stillness for the order to be given, and shielded capacitors, their caged lightning hidden utterly from the prying auguries of the Pharaeon which swept automatically over them blindly, waited to fire their apocalyptic weapons into sudden life. Through the cyclopean floating chain-cables of the gun bastions the Alpha Legion ships passed; their leader towards the Pharaeon itself and its escorts towards the protected fleet anchorage platforms, their progress patient and measured.

兩支艦隊以冰冷的恒星們?yōu)楸尘埃幣懦隽艘粓鲫P于諸神與怪物的宏大影子戲劇，無論是巨大的鐵黑色戰(zhàn)艦，還是龐大的幽靈般碧藍色戰(zhàn)艦，都如同默劇演員那般穿梭在虛空中，每艘艦船都飛往了自己旅程的終點。阿爾法軍團帶有蛇鱗裝飾的飛船上同樣是一片寂靜，全副武裝的軍團戰(zhàn)士們完全一動不動，靜待命令的下達；（武器系統(tǒng)的）電容器也被屏蔽，寶冠站的占卜儀盲目地從飛船上方自動掃過，卻未能檢測到被關在其中的（能量）閃電，這些飛船等待著用自己啟示錄般的武器突然開火的準備。阿爾法軍團戰(zhàn)艦從炮臺構成的巨大懸浮鎖鏈間穿過；領頭的艦船駛向了寶冠站，護航艦們則駛向了受到保護的艦隊錨地平臺，他們的行動進展耐心且慎重。

As the Sigma-Pythonus?came to rest in her appointed position mere kilometres away from the Pharaeon of Paramar's outer docking bays, and well within the radius and protection of the battle station's bastion-fortresses, a single unescorted amaranthine-hued Thunderhawk gunship departed her cavernous launch bays and made over to the Pharaeon bearing the Alpha Legions delegation. The figure which descended the gunships ramp to meet the shocked deck officers and Magos who awaited it towered over them, a pale spear was held like a staff of office in its hand, its ornately worked armour glittered like a shimmering sea, the scaled cloak that coursed behind it writhing as if?it had a serpentine life of its own. "Alpharius…” went the stunned whisper before him,"It is Alpharius; a Primarch is here among us!'' The towering figure demanded to be taken to the master of the Pharaeon immediately, and it was obeyed. On the deck of the main control Orrey of the Pharaeon of Paramar was the silent Primarch received by the Commodore-Intendant and his command staff, and with them was the Magos-Shipmaster of the fleet anchorage and the Preceptor of Astropaths, indeed no dignitary of the Pharaeon dared decline not the honour of such a dread meeting. It was as they were kneeling in obeisance before this son of the Emperor incarnate that the first alarm-claxons began to sound across the Pharaeon. Before even the first mumbled words of surprise and apology could fall from the Commodore- Intendants lips for the interruption, Alpharius made red ruin of them all.

西格瑪—蟒蛇號開始停泊到距離帕拉瑪寶冠站外側對接港僅有數公里之遙的指定位置，進入了戰(zhàn)斗空間站堡壘要塞的（開火）半徑與保護（范圍）之內。同時，一架無護衛(wèi)的不凋花色澤的雷鷹炮艇離開了戰(zhàn)列母艦巨大的發(fā)射港，它運載著阿爾法軍團代表團前往了帕拉瑪寶冠站。一位人物沿著炮艇降下的坡道走了出來，見到了那些等待著他的甲板軍官和機械神教賢者們——后者們滿臉震驚。來人如同手持權杖那般握著一柄蒼白色的長矛，身上華美的動力甲如同波光粼粼的海面那般閃閃發(fā)亮，帶有鱗片（裝飾）的斗篷如同活生生的長蛇那般甩動在他身后。“阿爾法瑞斯…”他面前的人們驚愕地低語到，“是阿爾法瑞斯；一位原體駕臨了我們這里！”這位高大的人物要求立刻去見寶冠站的主管者，他的命令被執(zhí)行了。在帕拉瑪寶冠站主控室的甲板上，督管準將和他麾下的指揮官們接待了沉默的原體，一并列席的還有在艦隊錨地總管船只的賢者以及星語者導師——事實上，寶冠站的權貴中也無人膽敢拒絕（參與）這次可怖會面的榮譽。就在眾人向這位帝皇子嗣下跪行禮時，第一聲警報響徹了寶冠站。督管準將和麾下眾人盡數被殺，準將在死前甚至沒能說出第一句表示驚訝和歉意的來打斷警報。

The guns of the Sigma-Pythonus?spoke, and too late the Pharaeon of Paramar discovered it had taken a clutch of vipers to its breast. In seconds the fusillade had blinded and crippled the battle stations close range defences, void shield generators were blasted, breaches punched clean through vital systems and the roar of boarding craft and the howl of teleporter shockwaves sounded throughout the beleaguered Pharaeon. At the anchorage platforms, the other Alpha Legion warships too woke to murderous life, their batteries blazing at point blank range as Caestus assault rams and Dreadclaws spat from their launch bays into the flanks of the helpless ships of the Imperial Fleet moored nearby. Confusion reigned as control systems failed; all over the outer defence network, orders were blocked, power systems suddenly died, and targeting data was garbled so that defence batteries fired on their brothers or spent their ordnance fruitlessly into the empty void. Anarchy reigned on the Pharaeon station as menials looked to their masters only to find many of their officers dead, murdered at their posts or poisoned in their quarters. Against the azure-armoured giants that crashed now through the Pharaeons confined corridors, what little resistance that could be rallied was hopeless and savagely crushed. In under an hour all that remained was the bloody work of suppression and takeover. As for the line of drifting gun-bastions in the near void around the Pharaeon, they could do little more than look on helplessly as the station and its anchorages both were systematically taken, their own primary weapons useless against the attackers in their midst, set as they were outward against attack from without not within. The Pharaeon of Paramar belonged to the Alpha Legion.

西格瑪—蟒蛇號的艦炮猛然開火，帕拉瑪寶冠站這才發(fā)現自己是將一條毒蛇擁入懷中，但太遲了。艦炮連射在數秒之內便癱瘓了戰(zhàn)斗空間站的近距離防御設施，虛空盾發(fā)生器也被炸毀，重要系統(tǒng)也被徹底摧毀。寶冠站陷入了四面楚歌的境地，跳幫艇的轟鳴聲和傳送沖擊波的尖嘯聲響徹在空間站中。在錨地平臺處，阿爾法軍團的其他戰(zhàn)艦也覺醒進入了殺戮狀態(tài)，它們的炮塔朝著近距離處的目標噴射出火舌，同時拳套突擊艇和恐懼爪也從發(fā)射港中沖出，撲向了停泊在周邊的帝國艦隊的無助艦船們。隨著控制系統(tǒng)崩潰，一切都陷入了混亂；整個外側防御系統(tǒng)的命令都被阻擋住，動力系統(tǒng)突然失效，目標瞄準數據也遭到篡改，防御炮塔不是向著同袍開火，就是將彈藥徒勞地消耗在虛空中。寶冠站陷入混亂無序狀態(tài)，仆役們看向自己的主人，卻只發(fā)現很多軍官都已死去——他們不是被殺死在自己的崗位上，就是在自己的住處被人毒殺。身穿碧藍色動力甲的巨人們沖過了寶冠站狹窄的走廊通道，守軍們絕望地召集起了僅有的一點抵抗，但也都被殘忍粉碎了。在不到一個小時的時間中，星際戰(zhàn)士們進行的只有鎮(zhèn)壓和接管的血腥工作。至于那一連串漂浮在寶冠站附近虛空中炮臺，它們只能無助地看著空間站和錨地遭到有計劃的攻占，這些炮塔的主武器在面對處于自己中間的進攻者們毫無用處，因為他們被設定成應對來自外部而非內側的進攻。帕拉瑪寶冠站屬于阿爾法軍團了。

Impasse

僵局

Above Paramar V, however, all did not go as accordingly to plan. In geo-synchronous orbit of the Paramar Nexus, the Tyche's Lament and the Anax-Rho vied for position, each determined that the station below should receive their emissaries and meet their demands first, neither backing down. The Mechanicum, for their part, kept cold neutrality as they always did in matters between the Legiones Astartes, and merely awaited the outcome. To the Alpha Legions dismay, the realisation dawned that the Iron Warriors contingent knew nothing of the Dropsite Massacre or even of their Legions siding with the Warmaster. The 77th?Grand Company, it transpired, had been operating under its own aegis for more than four decades, conducting a seemingly unending campaign of suppression of the Therikon Wastes region which they had been left to garrison against the numerous xenos species that had made the trackless nebula of the wastes their home. Vhalen, the Iron Warriors commander, had returned to Paramar for resupply as he had done many times before. He was utterly ignorant that his Legion had turned against their Emperor and would not be denied his rights now. Events, however, would not wait for the impasse between the two Legion warships to be resolved.

但在帕拉瑪五號的上空，并非一切都在按計劃進行。在帕拉瑪樞紐站的星球同步軌道中，堤喀哀嘆號與阿納克斯-羅號在激烈爭奪位置，雙方都認為下面的樞紐站應該接收自己的使者，并首先滿足自己的要求，他們互不相讓。機械神教則保持著冷漠的中立姿態(tài)——他們在關于阿斯塔特軍團的事項上一貫如此，只是等待著結果。當他們最終意識到這支鋼鐵勇士分隊毫不知曉登陸點大屠殺，甚至不知道自己的軍團站在了戰(zhàn)帥一側時，阿爾法軍團感到了詫異。據鋼鐵勇士第77大營所稱，他們已經在自我領導庇護的狀態(tài)下運作了超過四十年的時間，對Therikon荒原地區(qū)進行著一場看似永無止境的鎮(zhèn)壓戰(zhàn)役；他們是被留下駐守在那片區(qū)域，對抗將那片無人造訪的荒蕪星云作為故鄉(xiāng)的無數異形種族。就像之前很多次那樣，這群鋼鐵勇士們的指揮官瓦倫這次也是返回帕拉瑪星系獲取補給。他完全不知道自己的軍團已經背叛了帝皇，也不知道鋼鐵勇士軍團現在不能剝奪他的權力了。不過，阿爾法軍團并不會等到兩艘軍團戰(zhàn)艦之間的僵局被打破后再去執(zhí)行自己的任務。