A Flawed Heart

心有不足

The storm of?war came unbidden and unexpected to the northern expanses of the Imperium during the opening of?the seventh year of the 31st?Millennium, at the very outset of the wars that would later be known as the Horus Heresy; Spreading from the ruined worlds of the Isstvan System like a dark stain across the face of?the Emperor's once-vast realm, the Legions sworn to the Traitor Warmaster took system after system, wielding lies, threats and cruel violence with equal abandon. Even as those who remained loyal struggled to comprehend the conflict that had taken form around them, the Traitors secured for themselves a dark realm in the far galactic north. Yet, even in its birthing throes, Horus' empire showed its flaws, for those of his brothers he had turned to his cause and named as warlords and satraps of his new conquests quickly fell to bickering at the slightest setback, ever-keen to place themselves above their brethren.

當(dāng)時間來到第31個千年第七年的年初，戰(zhàn)爭的風(fēng)暴降臨到了人類帝國的北部疆域，它不請自來，也未被人們所預(yù)料到——這就是后世所謂“荷魯斯叛亂”的開端。宣誓效忠于叛變戰(zhàn)帥的軍團們就如同一團黑暗的污漬，由被毀滅的伊斯特萬世界向外擴散，蔓延進了帝皇那曾經(jīng)廣闊的領(lǐng)土，他們奪取了一個又一個星系，憑著謊言、威脅和殘忍的暴力肆意妄為。盡管那些仍舊忠于帝皇的人們還在盡力去理解發(fā)生于自己周邊的沖突，但叛徒們已然在遙遠(yuǎn)的銀河北部為自己奪取了一片黑暗王國。然而，哪怕是在其誕生的陣痛中，荷魯斯的帝國就已經(jīng)顯現(xiàn)出了缺陷：對于那些投靠于自己的兄弟們，荷魯斯將其任命為新進被征服區(qū)域的軍閥和總督，但只要遇到一點挫折，他們很快就會爆發(fā)爭吵，每個人都總是急于將自己（的地位）置于眾兄弟之上。

Of the early failures of?Horus' great hosts, one of the most notable is the Siege of Epsilon-Stranivar IX, known to the armies of the Great Crusade as Fortress Stranivar, a conflict that features prominendy in several Legions' battle honours. Found at the very edges of?the Coronid Deeps, Fortress Stranivar had at one point served as a forward staging point for the Great Crusade, and now stood as the last redoubt for broken Imperial battalions retreating from battlegrounds across the galactic north, the last Loyalist stronghold on Horus' flanks. A small Imperial Fists garrison, augmented by companies of the Raven Guard, Salamanders, Iron Hands and even a contingent of?errant Blood Angels whose craft had evaded the pursuing forces of Horus, held the world, refusing to retreat in the face of overwhelming assault having sworn inviolable oaths to secure it in the Emperor's name. It fell to the amassed might of the Iron Warriors, Death Guard and Alpha Legion to cast down the Loyalists' fortifications and claim the defiant world for the Warmaster, a task that was to reveal the deeply graven flaws in Horus' host.

在荷魯斯那龐大軍隊所遭遇的早期失敗中，Epsilon-Stranivar IX攻城戰(zhàn)是最值得記錄的事件之一。Epsilon-Stranivar IX世界在大遠(yuǎn)征時期被稱為Stranivar要塞，而這次戰(zhàn)役在多個軍團的戰(zhàn)斗榮譽中都占有著重要地位。Stranivar要塞被建立了王冠深淵的最邊界處，曾一度被用作大遠(yuǎn)征的前線集結(jié)點，現(xiàn)在則是那些自銀河北境各處戰(zhàn)場撤退的分崩離析帝國部隊的最后堡壘，也是荷魯斯側(cè)翼方向上的最后一座忠誠派據(jù)點。把守此地的一支帝國之拳的小規(guī)模駐軍，但他們得到了暗鴉守衛(wèi)、火蜥蜴和鋼鐵之手的數(shù)個連隊的支援，甚至還有一支圣血天使游俠分隊提供協(xié)助——他們的飛船是在逃脫荷魯斯叛軍追兵的過程中流落此地。面對著壓倒性的進攻，這些戰(zhàn)士撤退，他們發(fā)下不容侵犯的誓言，要以帝皇之名保衛(wèi)此地。為了攻破要塞，并為戰(zhàn)帥奪取這個膽敢反抗的世界，一支由鋼鐵勇士、阿爾法軍團和死亡守衛(wèi)組成的大規(guī)模聯(lián)軍發(fā)動了進攻，而這次行動將會揭露出荷魯斯派系軍隊中那根深蒂固的缺陷。

Where the Loyalist Legions stood shoulder to shoulder as brothers, united by their defiance of the Traitor Warmaster, each of the Legions sworn to Horus fought only for themselves. Each of the three waged a separate campaign, making little attempt to share resources or intelligence, and placing the blame for their failures on their rivals. In particular, the Iron Warriors contingent, the 114th Grand Battalion, was ill-used by its allies. Time and time again the Alpha Legion companies allowed them to attack unsupported into the guns of the dug-in Loyalists while using the confusion to mount their own spoiling attacks on high priority targets, claiming all the glory and ignoring the cost in lives paid by Perturabo's sons. During the climactic battle of the campaign, at the Siege of Vharna where the Traitor host broke on the Loyalists' lines, the 114th Grand Battalion was effectively abandoned by both the Alpha Legion and the Death Guard. Left to act as a sacrificial rearguard, of the 6,000 Iron Warriors who took to the field, less than a third would leave alive and the highest ranked officer who remained to them, Narik Dreygur of the Apolakron, swore that one day his fallen brothers would be avenged.

在這場戰(zhàn)斗中，忠誠派軍團戰(zhàn)士們?nèi)缧值馨悴⒓缱鲬?zhàn)，團結(jié)一心抵抗叛變的戰(zhàn)帥；而宣誓效忠于荷魯斯的軍團們則是各自為戰(zhàn)。三支叛變軍團的部隊自顧自地發(fā)起戰(zhàn)役，幾乎沒有共享資源和情報，并將自己的失敗歸咎于競爭對手（的阻攔）。鋼鐵勇士分隊——第114大營的境遇尤為惡劣，遭到了盟友們的惡意利用。阿爾法軍團的連隊反復(fù)讓其在毫無支援的情況下進攻躲入戰(zhàn)壕的忠誠派部隊，直面槍林彈雨，而自己則趁亂對高優(yōu)先度目標(biāo)發(fā)動破壞襲擊。阿爾法軍團獨占了所有榮譽，罔顧佩圖拉博子嗣們付出的傷亡代價。在這場戰(zhàn)役的高潮——Vharna攻城戰(zhàn)中，叛軍部隊攻破了忠誠派防線，而第114大營也在實質(zhì)上遭到了阿爾法和死亡守衛(wèi)軍團部隊的拋棄。鋼鐵勇士們被留下充當(dāng)了可犧牲的后衛(wèi)部隊，參戰(zhàn)的6,000名軍團戰(zhàn)士中只有不到三分之一能活著離開，幸存者中級別最高的軍官是阿博拉克隆兄弟會的納雷克 德雷古爾，他發(fā)誓終有一日要為死去的兄弟們復(fù)仇。（機仆：Apolakron——Brethren of Steel，是鋼鐵勇士軍團專門負(fù)責(zé)控制戰(zhàn)斗機兵的兄弟會分支）

Victory for the Loyalists at Fortress Stranivar was but a temporary reprieve, with the planet falling to a renewed assault by the Sons of Horus Legion less than a year later, but its consequences would yet haunt the Traitors. For in the disunity of the vast host lay the only hope of victory for the scattered and outnumbered forces of the Emperor. Not only was it a strategy that was used time and again to blunt the Warmaster's assaults as news of the Loyalists' few victories spread throughout the beleaguered Imperium, but as each battle was fought, the rifts between the Traitor warlords and their followers grew ever wider and more volatile.

但忠誠派于Stranivar要塞所取得的勝利只是暫時的，不到一年之后，荷魯斯之子軍團便攻陷了這顆星球，但此事的后續(xù)影響會一直糾纏著叛軍。雖然帝皇的部隊分散且居于數(shù)量劣勢，但戰(zhàn)帥龐大軍隊中的不團結(jié)現(xiàn)象為他們提供了僅有的獲勝希望。而隨著忠誠派為數(shù)不多的獲勝消息在受圍困的人類帝國中傳播開，這就不僅成為了忠誠派反復(fù)用于削弱戰(zhàn)帥攻勢的策略，而且隨著戰(zhàn)事推進，叛軍軍閥及其追隨者之間的嫌隙也越發(fā)加重，彼此關(guān)系愈發(fā)惡化。

Devils from the Outer Dark

自外域黑暗而來的惡魔

While hope flickered dimly along the front lines of the war for the Imperium, many of the Emperor's strongest supporters were still uncertain of the events occurring in the far reaches of His wide dominion. On distant Nocturne, where Vulkan had left Nomus Rhy'tan as Keeper of the Legion fortress of Prometheus, there had been no news since the departure of the Primarch and the bulk of the Legion to Isstvan V almost a full standard year before. All that had reached the ears of the Lord Chaplain were disturbing rumours of a dark empire in the galactic north and of the fall of?Primarchs, but no hint as to who had fallen and who stood victorious.

雖然有希望隱約閃現(xiàn)在帝國的戰(zhàn)爭前線，但對帝皇麾下諸多最為強大的支持者而言，他們?nèi)匀徊恢獣园l(fā)生在帝國廣闊疆域遠(yuǎn)方邊境處的事件。在遙遠(yuǎn)的夜曲星上，自從原體和軍團中大部分成員于大概一個標(biāo)準(zhǔn)年之前動身前往伊斯特萬五號之后，伏爾甘留下的普羅米修斯軍團要塞守備官——諾姆斯 瑞’坦便未收到過任何消息。傳入這位領(lǐng)主牧師耳中的皆是令人不安的謠言：盤踞與銀河北境的黑暗帝國，原體們的隕落，但這些傳言并未提到誰已然隕落，誰又大獲全勝。

With only the untested neophyte battalions and a few thousand instructors in his charge, Lord Chaplain Rhy'tan had little means to mount a second great expedition to investigate the fate of his lord, for to do so would leave Nocturne unprotected and violate the last orders he had received from Vulkan. Yet such a matter could not be simply ignored; without proper intelligence he was at equal risk of failing in his duty as Keeper and protector of the Salamanders Legion's home world.

領(lǐng)主牧師瑞’坦麾下只有未經(jīng)受過考驗的新兵戰(zhàn)斗營，以及幾千名教官，他幾乎無法開展第二次大規(guī)模遠(yuǎn)征探索去調(diào)查自己主人的命運，這樣做會讓夜曲星失去保護，也違反了伏爾甘下達(dá)給他的最后命令。但他也不能將此事簡單忽視掉；倘若沒有合適的情報，作為火蜥蜴軍團母星的守護者，他同樣有失職的風(fēng)險。

Where he could not dispatch a grand fleet to discover the fate of his lord and brothers, Rhy'tan would send a single ship. The prototype assault cruiser Ebon Drake was the first of a new breed of Legiones Astartes void craft, designed and constructed by the peerless artisans of the XVIIIth Legion to complement the tactical preferences of her post-human masters, rather than a simple refit of some ancient mark of battleship. Lean and deadly, the Ebon Drake would seek out the truth for Rhy'tan as well as any hastily assembled battle squadron, and should his worst fears prove true, would perhaps be better suited to evade whatever ill had befallen Vulkan and his brothers.

雖然瑞’坦不能派出一支龐大的艦隊去查清自己主人和兄弟們命運，但他可以只派出一艘飛船。原型打擊巡洋艦“烏木火龍”號是新一代阿斯塔特軍團虛空艦船中的第一艘，它由第十八軍團那些杰出的工匠們打造，目的是滿足其超人類主人們的戰(zhàn)術(shù)偏好，而非簡單地改造了某些古老型號的戰(zhàn)艦。烏木火龍?zhí)柧喦抑旅?，它將會為瑞’坦和任何倉促組建起的戰(zhàn)斗中隊找出真相；而倘若牧師最擔(dān)憂的狀況成真的話，或許烏木火龍?zhí)柛m合讓探索中隊躲過降臨到伏爾甘與其兄弟們身上的災(zāi)禍——無論那是什么。

Rhy'tan himself could not depart Nocturne, and he had few seasoned warriors to spare, so instead he assigned from among the ranks of the Salamanders chaplains an officer of the utmost potential, although perhaps lacking in the centuries of battlefield knowledge possessed by Rhy'tan and some of the older veterans. As crew for the Ebon Drake, he assigned a core of thirty veterans of the Firedrakes, warriors whose steadfast courage and determination would inspire the raw recruits who would make up the bulk of the crew.Of those battalions of Neophytes currently in training on Nocturne, Rhy'tan selected a full company of those most recently promoted to the station of Legiones Astartes, carefully choosing representatives from amongst all the domains of Nocturne and those off-world domains of the XVIIIth?Legion, for he believed this mission must represent the will and strength of his entire Legion.

瑞’坦本人不能離開夜曲星，他手下也幾乎沒有可供調(diào)撥出的有經(jīng)驗戰(zhàn)士，所以他從火蜥蜴軍團牧師中指派了一名最有潛力的軍官（擔(dān)任領(lǐng)袖），盡管后者或許缺乏瑞’坦和更年長的老兵們所具備的數(shù)個世紀(jì)戰(zhàn)場知識。至于烏木火龍?zhí)柕拇瑔T組，瑞’坦指派了三十名火龍老兵組成部隊核心——這些戰(zhàn)士們堅定的勇氣和決心能激勵新兵們，而后者將會構(gòu)成船員的主體。對于那些目前正在夜曲星上受訓(xùn)的新兵戰(zhàn)斗營，瑞’坦從那些最新近被提拔到阿斯塔特軍團中的成員中，挑選出了一整支連隊；他仔細(xì)選出的戰(zhàn)士們，都是夜曲星上所有領(lǐng)地和第十八軍團外星領(lǐng)地的代表，瑞’坦相信這次任務(wù)必須代表整個軍團的意志和力量。

Xiaphas Jurr, taken as part of the XVIIIth?Legion's tithe of the world of Proximal and now named commander of the Ebon Drake, took to his mission with all the fervour of his ancient Proximan forebears, that superstitious breed of Mankind that had once dubbed the XVIIIth Legion the "Devils from the Outer Dark".Seeing in his commission a task as much a matter of deeply held belief in his Primarch as one of strategic significance, Chaplain-Lieutenant Jurr gave his fledgling crew no respite, departing the safe enclave of space around Nocturne immediately and setting a punishing regime of combat drills to prepare those under his command for the unknown. For with the rising tumult that suffused the etheric seas of the Warp, steering a direct course to Isstvan was impossible, a feat beyond the talents of their Navigator. Instead they would be forced to travel by a more circuitous route, translating from the Warp periodically to affirm their bearings and to gather information, and leaving them vulnerable to any as yet unknown foe they might encounter.

夏法斯 朱爾，他曾是Proximal世界提供給第十八軍團的十一稅的一部分，現(xiàn)在被任命為烏木火龍?zhí)柕闹笓]官。他胸懷著繼承自Proximal古老先祖?zhèn)兊臒崆?，承?dān)起自己的任務(wù)——Proximal世界上那些迷信的人類族群曾將第十八軍團稱為“自外域黑暗而來的惡魔”。在朱爾這位牧師副官看來，這項任務(wù)不僅關(guān)乎自己對于原體的深刻信念，而且也具有重要的戰(zhàn)略意義，他沒有給自己麾下的新手船員們喘息機會，而是馬上離開了夜曲星周圍的安全飛地，并制定一套懲罰性的戰(zhàn)斗演習(xí)制度，以讓下屬們做好應(yīng)對未知情況的準(zhǔn)備。隨著彌漫于亞空間以太之海中的騷亂愈演愈烈，引導(dǎo)出一條前往伊斯特萬星系的直達(dá)航線變得不可能——船上的導(dǎo)航員們無法憑自己的能力做出此等壯舉，他們要被迫沿著一條更曲折的航線旅行，定期離開亞空間以確定自身方位并收集信息，這也讓他們在自己可能遭遇到的任何未知敵人面前都不堪一擊。

The Empty Void

空寂的虛空

Much of the voyage is now lost to us, unrecorded by the crew of the Ebon Drake and impossible to track in the wake of the destruction wrought in the civil war that engulfed the Emperor's domain. However, a comprehensive search of the augur logs of the uncounted millions of navigation beacons and astropathic relay stations that dot the Imperium allows us to trace some of the route of the Ebon Drake, whose long journey led her across paths rarely trod by stellar travellers. Some few encounters are known to us in detail, from ships' logs or information recovered from other sources, while many remain but partial references whose full details may never be known.

現(xiàn)在，我們遺失這次航行的很多內(nèi)容；烏木火龍?zhí)柕拇瑔T們并未記錄這次旅行，而且在經(jīng)受了那場席卷了帝皇疆土的內(nèi)戰(zhàn)所造成的毀滅后，我們也不可能再去追尋這些信息。但是，我們對遍布于帝國各地的數(shù)百萬導(dǎo)航燈塔與星語終極站的鳥卜日志進行了綜合性搜查，追蹤到了烏木火龍?zhí)柕哪承┖桔E——這趟漫長的旅行是沿著星際旅行者們極少踏足的路線進行的。根據(jù)飛船的日志或回收自其他來源的信息，我們得知了飛船經(jīng)歷的幾次遭遇戰(zhàn)的細(xì)節(jié)，不過其中很多都只是不完整的參考資料，其完整細(xì)節(jié)可能永遠(yuǎn)不會為人所知。

From what information is available it is agreed that the first emergence of the Ebon Drake was at Sulis, where the system lords had barred entry to all vessels in response to the rumours of war and civil strife, and enforced their isolation with a ring of heavily fortified gun platforms. Bearing messages of support from Nocturne and its Keeper, Chaplain-Lieutenant Jurr approached only to be met by insult and weapons fire. Sulis no longer accepted the Emperor as its master and neither would it bow to this new Warmaster. Such secessionist sentiment was far from uncommon during the chaos of the Horus Heresy, but Jurr and the Salamanders of Nocturne had as yet little information on the current state of the galaxy and found such an affront to the spirit of the Great Crusade unbearable.

各種可用材料中的一個共識是：烏木火龍?zhí)柕牡谝淮卧庥鰬?zhàn)發(fā)生在Sulis星系，此地的領(lǐng)主們禁止所有飛船進入該區(qū)域，以應(yīng)對關(guān)于戰(zhàn)爭和內(nèi)亂的謠言；他們還將大幅度要塞化的火炮平臺環(huán)列在周圍，強化了這種孤立性。牧師副官朱爾帶來了夜曲星及其守護者要求提供支援的信息，但當(dāng)他接近Sulis星系時，遭遇的只有冒犯和武器開火。Sulis不再接受帝皇的統(tǒng)治，也不屈膝服從于那位新任戰(zhàn)帥。在混亂的荷魯斯叛亂時期，這種分離主義情緒很常見，但對于銀河系的當(dāng)前局勢，朱爾和夜曲星上的火蜥蜴戰(zhàn)士們幾乎一無所知，他們無法忍受這種侮辱大遠(yuǎn)征精神的行為。

In a three day battle, the Ebon Drake scoured the system of its orbital defence platforms, and harried the wallowing squadrons of interdiction barges. The cumbersome system defence craft, though heavily armed, could not match the Ebon Drake's speed and proved easy prey for her guns and the righteous anger of the boarding parties, led by Chaplain-Lieutenant Jurr. In the climactic battle of the short and bitter campaign, Jurr and his warriors fought their way through the primary orbital bastion above Sulis, routing the secessionist Solar Auxilia regiment set as sentinels aboard it.The vengeful Salamanders crippled the complex gravity engine that held the bastion transfixed in orbit and left the station to descend in fiery destruction upon the golden palace-city of the system lords. When the Ebon Drake withdrew from the system, she left behind a world that could offer no threat to the Imperium, little knowing that this would later see it fall without a struggle into the hands of the Warmaster.

經(jīng)過三天的戰(zhàn)斗，烏木火龍?zhí)柮C清了星系中的軌道防御平臺，不斷襲擊攔截艦中隊。那些大而笨重的星系防御船雖然裝甲厚重，卻無法在速度上匹敵烏木火龍?zhí)枺以谂炁诤湍翈煾惫僦鞝柭暑I(lǐng)的跳幫隊的義憤面前，它們也被證明是易于捕殺的獵物。這這場短暫且苦澀戰(zhàn)役的高潮，朱爾和他的戰(zhàn)士們在Sulis上空的主軌道要塞中殺出一條血路，擊潰了充當(dāng)要塞哨兵的分離主義者太陽軍（步兵）團。滿懷復(fù)仇怒火的火蜥蜴?zhèn)儑?yán)重?fù)p毀了將要塞固定在軌道上的復(fù)雜重力引擎，這座空間站在熊熊烈火中墜落，砸在了星系領(lǐng)主們那金色宮城上，將之摧毀。當(dāng)烏木火龍?zhí)柍烦鲂窍禃r，她身后留下了一個不能再威脅到人類帝國的世界。但火蜥蜴?zhèn)儙缀醪恢赖氖?，Sulis之后將會不做任何掙扎便落入戰(zhàn)帥手中。

After Sulis, the information used to chart the movements of the Ebon Drake becomes more unreliable. Fragmentary log entries recovered from the wreck of the Ebon Drake, discovered years later during the Scouring, mention the unexplained disappearance of three Legiones Astartes crewman at the 'Oasis of Nightmares' and a violent encounter with an unknown xenos craft of crystalline composition that left the Ebon Drake adrift for several days without power, but provide few concrete details. Likewise, the annals of?the portmaster of Valthrudnir, a newly Compliant world near the galactic core, mention the sighting of "a craft marked with the sigil of a great black dragon crewed by void-devils" ,yet such sightings can rarely be directly tied to the Ebon Drake.

在離開Sulis之后，用于追蹤烏木火龍?zhí)杽酉虻男畔⒆兊酶硬豢煽?。我們從烏木火龍?zhí)枤埡。ㄆ浔话l(fā)現(xiàn)于數(shù)年后的大肅清時期）中回收了碎片化日志條目，其中提到了三名阿斯塔特軍團戰(zhàn)士船員在“噩夢綠洲”處無法解釋的消失，以及飛船與某艘水晶質(zhì)地的未知異形艦船的激烈遭遇戰(zhàn)——這導(dǎo)致烏木火龍?zhí)栐跓o動力狀態(tài)下漂浮了數(shù)天，但并未提供多少具體細(xì)節(jié)。同樣的，在Valthrudnir（這個新規(guī)順的世界靠近銀心地區(qū)）港口主管的年報中提到，自己見到了“一艘?guī)в芯薮蠛邶埣y章的艦船，由虛空惡魔船員們操縱著”，但此項目擊事件幾乎不能與烏木火龍?zhí)栔苯勇?lián)系起來。

Of these varied partial accounts, perhaps the most interesting is from the chronicles of the IVth?Legion, the Iron Warriors. The grand cruiser Grim Paragon, one of several craft left as sentinels over Olympar,was heavily damaged after an encounter with a vessel of unidentified class bearing the markings of the Salamanders that approached Olympia seeking word of the battle at Isstvan.?

在各種各樣的不完整報告中，最令人感興趣的或許來自第四軍團“鋼鐵勇士”的編年史。留在奧林匹亞世界上空，負(fù)責(zé)進行哨戒的飛船之一：“冷酷完人”號在遭遇到某艘?guī)в谢痱狎鏄?biāo)志的未確定型號飛船后，收到了嚴(yán)重?fù)p傷；后者當(dāng)時接近奧林匹亞世界，試圖詢問關(guān)于伊斯特萬星系中戰(zhàn)爭的信息。

At Anvilus, mighty bastion of the Mechanicum and foremost of the Great Crusade's storehouses of arms and armour, they found that the embers of discontent had burst into open civil war between factions of the Machine God’s followers. Where the Ebon Drake came searching for resupply and repairs, they found only strife and war, the tech-adepts of that most mighty forgefane having bent all of their arcane skills to the utter annihilation of their brethren, with little care for the fate of unfortunate bystanders. For those uninitiated into the mysteries of the Machine Cult, it was impossible to divine where either side stood in the wider galactic war, or to easily communicate their own affiliation, and the Ebon Drake quickly became a target for both factions.

在機械神教的強大要塞，兼大遠(yuǎn)征最重要的武器和裝甲（載具）儲存地——鑄造世界安維魯斯處，火蜥蜴?zhèn)儼l(fā)現(xiàn)萬機神信徒派系們之間的（彼此）不滿已經(jīng)爆發(fā)為了公開內(nèi)戰(zhàn)。烏木火龍?zhí)栐臼乔皝韺で笱a給和維修的，卻只發(fā)現(xiàn)了紛爭和戰(zhàn)火，來自那些強大科技神殿中的技術(shù)教士們施展出自己的所有玄奧技藝，只為徹底毀滅自己的兄弟們。他們幾乎毫不關(guān)心那些不幸旁觀者們的命運。對那些不了解機械教派秘密的人們而言，要猜測出雙方在那場更大范圍銀河戰(zhàn)爭中的立場是不可能的，也不可能輕易傳達(dá)出自己的隸屬關(guān)系。烏木火龍?zhí)柡芸炀统蔀榱藘煞脚上档哪繕?biāo)。

Narrowly avoiding becoming embroiled in the titanic void duels between seemingly identical forces of Mechanicum siege-monitors; the vessel was bombarded by vox broadcasts of incoherent machine code, some interrogative missives from interchangeable steel-faced magos and others insidious codedjinn intended to subvert the systems of the Ebon Drake, leaving her helpless. Were it not for the unique engineering of the prototype vessel, such an assault would surely have succeeded; instead it merely served to cause confusion aboard the Ebon Drake as several non-essential systems suffered cascade failures. Diverting all available power to the Ebon Drake's over-sized drive core, Chaplain-Lieutenant Jurr set upon a course out-system, evading plasma carronade barrages from the Mechanicum monitors while his warriors fought to cleanse the vessel of the frenzied murder-servitors which had boarded the Ebon Drake during her momentary incapacitation.

參戰(zhàn)雙方都派出機械神教攻城監(jiān)測船，組成看似相同的艦隊，進行了一場規(guī)模龐然的虛空對決，烏木火龍?zhí)杻e幸未被卷入其中；飛船遭受了不連貫機械代碼的音頻廣播轟炸，并收到了具有可交替鋼鐵面容的賢者們發(fā)送的某些質(zhì)詢信件，還有其他意圖策反飛船系統(tǒng)的鬼靈代碼，烏木火龍?zhí)栂萑肓私^望。倘若不是原型艦獨特的工程（構(gòu)造），這樣的襲擊肯定會得逞；但這一切只是讓飛船的多個非必要系統(tǒng)發(fā)生了級聯(lián)故障，在烏木火龍?zhí)柹显斐闪死Щ蟆Ｄ翈煾惫僦鞝枺ㄏ铝睿⑷靠捎脛恿D(zhuǎn)移到飛船的特大號驅(qū)動核心中，他設(shè)定了一條離開安維魯斯星系的航線，躲開了機械神教監(jiān)測船的電漿臼炮密集轟擊；同時朱爾麾下的戰(zhàn)士們也一路奮戰(zhàn)，從船上清理掉了瘋狂殘暴的殺戮機仆們——它們是在烏木火龍?zhí)枙簳r失去行動能力時進行了跳幫。

By the time the Ebon Drake had reached a safe distance, where the translation back to the dubious safety of warp space could be attempted, she had sustained serious damage to her outer hull as well as to numerous internal systems. Worse still, the casualties sustained in this, the latest of?many battles the ship's company had faced, left them dangerously short on uninjured warriors. Without refit and an influx of new fighters, the Ebon Drake would have little hope of completing her mission.

等到烏木火龍?zhí)柪_了安全距離，可以嘗試進入安全性不定的亞空間時，她的外側(cè)船體和許多內(nèi)部系統(tǒng)都已經(jīng)遭受了嚴(yán)重?fù)p傷。更糟糕的是，船員也出現(xiàn)了傷亡，船上的星際戰(zhàn)士連隊最近經(jīng)歷了諸多戰(zhàn)斗，毫無創(chuàng)傷的戰(zhàn)士數(shù)量少到可憐。倘若得不到修整，也不補充新的戰(zhàn)斗人員，烏木火龍?zhí)柾瓿扇蝿?wù)的希望就是渺茫的。

For the Sake of?the Dead

看在逝者的份上

The next verifiable data on the Ebon Drake places her at Baal, the throneworld of the Blood Angels. The sons of Sanguinius had not been included in the fleet sent to seek redress from Horus after he was declared a traitor to the Imperium; in fact the majority of the IXth Legion had been marshalled and dispatched to Signus Prime on the far rim of?the galaxy some years before on the orders of Horus himself. Their own Primarch, Sanguinius, would himself be counted among the missing until his fate was revealed in the later years of the Horus Heresy. All that remained to greet Xiaphas Jurr on Baal was a small garrison of the IXth Legion, under the command of the veteran Legionary Warden Arkhad.

烏木火龍?zhí)柹系南乱环菘沈炞C數(shù)據(jù)表明，其抵達(dá)了圣血天使軍團的王座世界——巴爾。在荷魯斯被宣判為帝國的叛徒后，圣吉列斯并未被派去加入懲戒艦隊；事實上，早在數(shù)年之前，荷魯斯便親自命令第九軍團的大部進行集結(jié)，并將之派往位于銀河系遙遠(yuǎn)邊緣處的西格納斯主星。至于圣血天使的原體圣吉列斯，直到其命運在荷魯斯叛亂后期被揭示之前，他一直被算入失蹤人員。巴爾上還能接待夏法斯 朱爾的就只剩一支小規(guī)模駐軍，擔(dān)任監(jiān)理者的軍團老兵阿爾卡德是其指揮官。

The Ebon Drake limped into orbit around the fortress world of the IXth Legion, where her crew were able to secure space at an orbital dock for desperately needed repair and resupply. Playing host to a multitude of battered Imperial companies falling back from battlefields along the northern edge of the Imperium, Baal did not feel abandoned as did their own home world of Nocturne, yet even bustling with activity and a veritable host of Legiones Astartes from different Legions, it carried the same despondent air.

烏木火龍?zhí)柧徛側(cè)肓说诰跑妶F要塞世界的軌道，船員們得以在軌道船塢中獲取急需的維修和補給。巴爾接納了大量遭受重創(chuàng)帝國（阿斯塔特）連隊，后者都是撤退自帝國北部邊境各處的戰(zhàn)場，這個世界上并沒有火蜥蜴故鄉(xiāng)夜曲星上的那種被遺棄感。然而，盡管巴爾上因（各種）活動事項而熙熙攘攘，而且來自不同軍團的阿斯塔特們也組成了一支名副其實的大軍，但此地彌漫著同樣的沮喪氣氛。

Baal granted Xiaphas Jurr his first chance to glean some hint of the tragedy at Isstvan, but even those few who had survived that battle could offer him little but fragmented and vague recollections. None could speak of the final fate of any of the fallen Primarchs, and many mourned their gene-fathers as lost, with no few surrogate tombs under construction at Baal in honour of those broken souls surrendered to the ranks of the dead.

也是在巴爾上，夏法斯 朱爾第一次有機會獲取到關(guān)于伊斯特萬慘劇的某些信息，但即便是那場戰(zhàn)斗的極少數(shù)幸存者，也只能提供一些零碎的模糊回憶。沒人能說出任何倒下的原體的最終命運，很多人都在默哀自己“逝去”的基因生父。巴爾上建造起了眾多衣冠冢，用于紀(jì)念那些逝去的破碎靈魂。

Some few of their own brethren the company of the Ebon Drake found within the fortresses ofBaal, readying themselves to stand alongside the Blood Angels should Horus dare to strike at Sanguinius'?homeworld. Chief among them Praetor Captain Kar'Tor, once numbered amongst the most valiant of Nocturne's sons and heir- designate to the Protectorate of Themis, City of Warlords, a warrior for whom Xiaphas Jurr held an abiding respect. However, the horrors of the battle at Isstvan V had left Kar'Tor broken of spirit, and when Chaplain-Lieutenant Jurr petitioned for able-bodied Salamanders to join the crew of the Ebon Drake in her mission, Kar'Tor grew wroth, forbidding any from joining the ship.

在巴爾的要塞中，烏木火龍?zhí)柹系拇瑔T連隊發(fā)現(xiàn)少量的自家兄弟，后者準(zhǔn)備與圣血天使們并肩作戰(zhàn)——倘若荷魯斯膽敢進攻圣吉列斯的故園母星的話。火蜥蜴殘軍們的領(lǐng)袖是執(zhí)政官卡’托爾，他曾是最英勇的夜曲星子嗣之一，而且被指定為戰(zhàn)將之城瑟米斯的下一任護城官，夏法斯 朱爾向來尊敬這位戰(zhàn)士。然而，伊斯特萬五號戰(zhàn)斗中的恐怖場景令卡’托爾精神崩壞，當(dāng)牧師副官朱爾懇請體格健全的火蜥蜴?zhèn)兊巧蠟跄净瘕執(zhí)枺餐瑘?zhí)行任務(wù)時，卡’托爾勃然大怒，禁止任何人加入船員組。

Despite Kar'Tor's rash orders and the grim sense of doom that had enveloped many of those now preparing to meet their end at Baal, thirty-eight Salamanders joined the Ebon Drake's crew, a group that had escaped Isstvan V aboard the Thunderhawk Ohidoran. These warriors of Nocturne brought with them seventeen battered but unbroken Raven Guard, led by a Legionary named Kirhane whose fresh wounds were evidence of the fury he had witnessed at Isstvan, and a trio of hulking Iron Hands cataphractii, all sworn to rejoin their own missing lords or die in the attempt.

不過，仍有三十八名火蜥蜴戰(zhàn)士無視了卡’托爾魯莽（下達(dá)）的命令，忽略了籠罩在眾多準(zhǔn)備在巴爾上迎來終局的人們身上的殘酷末日感，加入了烏木火龍?zhí)柕拇瑔T團隊；這群戰(zhàn)士搭乘著雷鷹炮艇“奧西德蘭”號逃離了伊斯特萬五號。和夜曲星戰(zhàn)士們一起登艦的還有十七名暗鴉守衛(wèi)戰(zhàn)士，他們飽經(jīng)磨難但仍舊堅韌不屈，由一位名叫基爾哈恩的軍團戰(zhàn)士率領(lǐng)著——這位戰(zhàn)士在伊斯特萬星目睹了（戰(zhàn)爭的）怒火，他身上新添的傷疤便是明證；還有三位身穿鐵騎終結(jié)者動力甲的鋼鐵之手也一并登艦，他們?nèi)及l(fā)誓要重新加入自己失蹤領(lǐng)主們的麾下，或者就在嘗試的過程中成仁。

Kar'Tor was not to be the only obstacle to their quest; Warden Arkhad, the Seneschal of Baal, while happy to welcome the Ebon Drake and her company to his world, was less keen to see a fully armed Legiones Astartes cruiser abandon its defences for what he saw as a suicide mission. Unwilling to acknowledge the importance of jurr's mission or the validity of his orders, it was only the threat of the Ebon Drake's bombardment cannon turned on his defences that eventually persuaded Warden Arkhad to allow them to pass through the orbital defence grid. "For the sake of the dead you have damned all those who now stand in the Emperor's name. Do not return to Baal; for you stand no less as traitors than those who now march under Horus' banner," were Arkhad's bitter parting words as the Ebon Drake left orbit of Baal. Silent in the face of Arkhad's denouncement, the crew of the Ebon Drake pondered the truth of his words as they translated once more into the Warp, passing ever closer to Isstvan, to the heart of the treachery that had befallen the Imperium and the final truth of their Primarch's fate.?

不過，卡’托爾并非是烏木火龍?zhí)栕穼ぼ妶F命運的唯一障礙；巴爾的總管——監(jiān)理者阿爾卡德歡迎烏木火龍?zhí)柵c船員連隊來到自己的世界，但他不太愿意看到一艘全副武裝的阿斯塔特軍團巡洋艦放棄（協(xié)助）保衛(wèi)巴爾，轉(zhuǎn)而去執(zhí)行某項在他看來純屬自殺的任務(wù)。朱爾不愿將肩上任務(wù)的重要性告知阿爾卡德，也不承認(rèn)對方命令的有效性；烏木火龍?zhí)枌⑥Z擊炮對準(zhǔn)了巴爾，這才最終說服監(jiān)理者阿爾卡德放他們穿過了軌道防御系統(tǒng)網(wǎng)絡(luò)?！翱丛谒勒叩姆萆希ㄎ揖头胚^你們，）你們這是詛咒了所有以帝皇之名堅守陣線之人。別回巴爾；你們就和那些頂著荷魯斯大旗前進的人一樣，都是叛徒”，當(dāng)烏木火龍?zhí)栯x開巴爾軌道時，監(jiān)理者阿爾卡德送出了這份苦澀的臨別贈言。當(dāng)烏木火龍?zhí)栐俅芜M入亞空間時，船員們一言不發(fā)地讀著阿爾卡德的譴責(zé)，思索這番話語的真實性。飛船距離伊斯特萬星系越來越久，船員們就要進入降臨在人類帝國的這場叛亂事件的中心，找出關(guān)于原體命運的最終真相。