He does not walk among the?Dead

怹不在死者之列

From the grim fortress of Baal, the Ebon Drake passed through the ever more turbulent currents of the Warp, directed to the distant star of?Isstvan by her Navigator's deft hand and unfailing guidance. After leaving Baal, Xiaphas Jurr's journals indicate that he had thought to emerge once more at Port Maw, the Imperial navy's greatest anchorage along the Northern Fringe. However, in the wake of the incident at Baal, the Chaplain-Lieutenant decided to avoid further contact with the defenders of the Imperium, unknowingly avoiding translating into the midst of the Warmaster's fleet as it lay at anchor in the newly conquered docks of Port Maw.

離開巴爾陰森的要塞，烏木火龍?zhí)柎┻^愈發(fā)洶涌的亞空間亂流，在導(dǎo)航者巧手的不斷指引下，她飛向了遙遠(yuǎn)的伊斯特萬恒星。在離開巴爾后，夏法斯 朱爾的旅行記錄表明：他曾考慮過在巨口港——帝國海軍位于北部邊境的最大錨地處再次進(jìn)入現(xiàn)實(shí)宇宙。然而，在經(jīng)歷過巴爾上的事件后，牧師副官?zèng)Q定避免與帝國的守衛(wèi)者們發(fā)生進(jìn)一步接觸。不知不覺中，烏木火龍?zhí)柧蜎]有一頭扎入戰(zhàn)帥艦隊(duì)（的包圍）內(nèi)——叛軍的艦船此刻就停泊在被新近征服的巨口港碼頭中。

Instead, the Ebon Drake held fast to her course towards Isstvan, braving the whirling aetheric vortex that scholars in these latter days believe was somehow summoned to form a cage around the northern-most systems of the Imperium, seeking not to bar passage but rather to contain something within its boundaries. Neither Navigator nor Astropath could pierce the veil this storm cast over the Isstvan System, yet the oaths sworn by her crew and the omens cast by Chaplain-Lieutenant Jurr in the flames of his votive forge forced the Ebon Drake onward despite the danger posed by such a voyage. Straining the protective geller field that protected them from the insanity of?aetheric space, the Ebon Drake punched through the maelstrom and into the calm at its centre, the Isstvan System, where the damage sustained in their passage forced them to make an emergency translation at the system's edge.

烏木火龍?zhí)柪^續(xù)沿著航線飛往伊斯特萬星系，她勇敢地穿過混亂洶涌的以太漩渦——后世學(xué)者相信，這團(tuán)亞空間風(fēng)暴是被以某種手段召喚出來的，目的在于圍困住帝國最北側(cè)的星系們；始作俑者并非試圖阻斷通路，而是要將某些事物控制在這片區(qū)域邊界之內(nèi)。導(dǎo)航者和星語者都無法穿透亞空間風(fēng)暴在伊斯特萬星系周圍投下的帷幕，然而船員們曾發(fā)過誓言，牧師副官也在祈愿鑄爐的火焰中看到了預(yù)兆，這迫使烏木火龍?zhí)柌活欉@趟航行所帶來的危險(xiǎn)，繼續(xù)前行。在保護(hù)船員們免受以太空間瘋狂（環(huán)境）影響的蓋勒力場遭受重壓的情況下，烏木火龍?zhí)柎┻^了漩渦，進(jìn)入了亞空間風(fēng)暴那平靜的中心——伊斯特萬星系，而途中遭受的損壞也迫使飛船在星系邊緣緊急轉(zhuǎn)入現(xiàn)實(shí)宇宙。

Bursting forth from the bowels of the Warp, the Ebon Drake translated into realspace prepared for battle, all gun batteries armed and manned, and every warrior of the Legiones Astartes aboard sworn to death before any surrender to the forces of the arch-Traitor. Yet, where they had expected to find the marshalled fleets of?the Warmaster and worlds remade as a monumental and vile shrine to his treachery, they found only the cold remains of a battle long since fought and forgotten.

烏木火龍?zhí)枏膩喛臻g深處突破而出，做好戰(zhàn)斗準(zhǔn)備，進(jìn)入了現(xiàn)實(shí)空間。船上的所有炮塔都被裝填，炮手嚴(yán)陣以待；船上的每位阿斯塔特軍團(tuán)戰(zhàn)士也都發(fā)下誓言，宣誓要在戰(zhàn)死之前，他們將屠戮巨逆麾下的鷹犬。眾人原本認(rèn)為，自己會(huì)在伊斯特萬星系中發(fā)現(xiàn)集結(jié)于戰(zhàn)帥身側(cè)的艦隊(duì)，以及被改造為紀(jì)念其背叛行徑的永恒邪惡圣所的世界；然而他們看到的，只是那場發(fā)生于很久之前的戰(zhàn)斗所遺留的殘余之物——而且這些痕跡已被遺忘。

In the gulf of space between the planets of the Isstvan System floated the hulks of those void craft of Legions, both Loyalist and Traitor, that were too damaged by combat to be easily salvaged, and on the cold surface of Isstvan V were only crude pits filled with the slain, all serviceable wargear long since stripped from their bodies. No vast armada waited on which they could vent their anger in valiant suicide and no grand palace had been raised to mark Horus'?dominion over the world that was now the grave of Primarchs as a target for their wrathful pride. To those who have read the histories of the Horus Heresy, the actions of Horus amid the fringes of the Imperium, conquering and looting those worlds that remained loyal to the Emperor, are no doubt well known, but to the crew of the Ebon Drake they brought only more questions, none of?which could be readily answered.

軍團(tuán)虛空艦船的龐大殘骸漂浮在星系中各行星間的廣闊空間中——既有來自忠誠派的，也有來自叛變方的；它們受損過于嚴(yán)重，以至于無法被回收。而在伊斯特萬五號(hào)的地表，也只有被死者尸骸填滿的簡陋深坑，他們身上還能使用的一切戰(zhàn)爭裝備都早已被剝?nèi)?。在這個(gè)現(xiàn)在已經(jīng)成為原體墓葬的世界處，沒有可供船員們在英勇的自殺行動(dòng)中發(fā)泄怒火的龐大艦隊(duì)，也并未建造起標(biāo)志荷魯斯統(tǒng)治地位的恢宏宮殿——如果有的話，他們會(huì)將之作為展示自己憤怒高傲的目標(biāo)。毫無疑問，那些已經(jīng)讀過荷魯斯叛亂歷史的人們，很清楚荷魯斯在帝國在帝國邊境處的所作所為——征服并劫掠那些仍舊忠于帝皇的世界；但對(duì)烏木火龍?zhí)柕拇瑔T而言，他們心中只會(huì)產(chǎn)生更多疑問，而且這些問題都不是能被輕易解答的。

The Ebon Drake achieved high orbit over Isstvan V without incident, her crew more resentful of the absence of the enemy than relieved, as few among them could deny the sense of grim foreboding that their journey's end conjured within them. Despite the lack of opposition, it was some hours before any dropcraft left the Ebon Drake's hangar bays, for the sight of the lifeless, brutalised orb left in the wake of?the Dropsite Massacre robbed all present of the flicker of hope that they might yet find the missing Primarchs alive. For three days they scoured the surface of the blasted planet; heavily-armed search parties roaming the dust plains almost at random, while in orbit Xiaphas Jurr cast augury after augury as he swept the Ebon Drake's sensors across the world in endless sweepconfigurations. All they found was ruin, wreckage and the silent corpses of the dead; no sign did they ever find of the missing Primarchs Vulkan, Ferrus Manus and Corvus Corax, either living or dead.

烏木火龍?zhí)栱樌M(jìn)入了伊斯特萬五號(hào)的高空軌道。對(duì)于敵人們的缺席，船員們更多是感到憤恨而非寬慰，他們中幾乎沒人能否認(rèn)自己心中的某個(gè)可怕預(yù)兆：他們的旅程即將結(jié)束。盡管并無敵手，但直到幾個(gè)小時(shí)之后，空降艇才離開了烏木火龍?zhí)?，因?yàn)楸娙搜矍暗氖澜?，只是登陸點(diǎn)大屠殺結(jié)束后剩下的一顆倍受凌虐且毫無生氣的星球；他們原本認(rèn)為，自己可能會(huì)發(fā)現(xiàn)那些失蹤的原體還活著，但眼前的鏡像令這絲希望蕩然無存。船員們花費(fèi)了三天時(shí)間，搜索了這顆被炸毀星球的地表；武力充足的搜救隊(duì)近乎漫無目的地探索著塵原，同時(shí)夏法斯 朱爾待在軌道上，一臺(tái)接一臺(tái)地查看著占卜儀（上的數(shù)據(jù)）——他用烏木火龍?zhí)柕膫鞲衅鳠o盡掃描這顆世界的各地。他們發(fā)現(xiàn)的只有廢墟、殘骸和死者沉寂的尸??；對(duì)于沃坎、費(fèi)魯斯 馬努斯與科沃斯 克拉克斯這三位失蹤的原體，他們并未發(fā)現(xiàn)任何跡象，無論死活。

Then on the third day, directed by the now feverish half-dreams of Xiaphas Jurr who had not rested since their departure from Baal, the Ebon Drake's sensors detected an anomaly buried beneath a glass plain that marked the Traitors' use of atomics to finish the massacre —an object of unknown composition and of significant mass— broadcasting an almost undetectable signal in an exotic wavelength known to certain strata of the Salamanders'?command echelons. Lacking any heavy machinery suited to delicate excavations, the post-human crew of the Ebon Drake tore open the fused ground with their bare hands and combat blades, working without pause and in ominous silence for another day to unearth the hidden signal and its origin.

等到第三天，夏法斯 朱爾陷入了極度興奮的半夢半醒狀態(tài)——他從離開巴爾后就再未休息過，在其指引下，烏木火龍?zhí)柕膫鞲衅魈綔y到了一個(gè)埋在某片玻璃化平原（其標(biāo)志著叛軍們用原子武器終結(jié)了大屠殺）之下的異常點(diǎn)——該物體成分不明且質(zhì)量巨大，以某種奇異的波長廣播著一個(gè)幾乎無法被探測到的信號(hào)——火蜥蜴指揮梯隊(duì)中的特定階層才知道其波長。由于手頭并無適合進(jìn)行精細(xì)挖掘的重型機(jī)械，烏木火龍?zhí)柕某舜瑔T們用雙手和戰(zhàn)斗刀挖開了熔化（后又凝固）的地面，他們又在不祥的寂靜中無休止地工作了一天，挖掘著那個(gè)隱藏的信號(hào)及其源頭。

Once uncovered, it took the combined might of?the three Iron Hands cataphractii to heft it from the clutches of Isstvan V's hungry maw, where it had lain for over a standard year, and bring it once more into the light of day.

在將物體挖出后，三名鋼鐵之手鐵騎終結(jié)者合力將其伊斯特萬五號(hào)饑餓的口中舉出；在躺于此地一個(gè)標(biāo)準(zhǔn)年之后，它重見了陽光。

Though fused by unimaginable heat, scoured and blackened by atomic fire and abandoned to rot beneath the surfece of a dead world, what they tore from the dark heart of Isstvan V was still unmistakably the sarcophagus of?a Legion Mark IV Dreadnought, all its limbs but the stump of its right arm shorn away by the violence of its final battle. The ornate heraldry worked into what remained of the hull proclaimed the identity of the machine to the Salamanders present: Cassian Dracos, the last mortal man to hold the title Master of?the XVIIIth?Legion, and the shattered readouts of his sarcophagus proclaimed that he yet lived. There, on the barren grey surface of Isstvan V,surrounded by the unburied dead and the shattered wreckage of his Legion, Xiaphas Jurr, with trembling hands, connected the sarcophagus to an external vox unit and the haunting, hypnotic voice of a man twice dead rumbled forth over the assembled warriors of three orphaned Legions.

盡管它（的外殼）被難以想象的高溫所熔化，被原子火焰燒得焦黑，并被遺棄在了死亡世界的地下，但眾人從地下挖出的物品無疑是一臺(tái)四型軍團(tuán)無畏的石棺；除了右臂的殘肢，這臺(tái)無畏的（其他）肢體都被激烈的最后一戰(zhàn)切斷了。印在機(jī)體殘骸上的華麗紋章向在場的火蜥蜴?zhèn)儽砻髁诉@臺(tái)機(jī)器的身份：卡西安 德拉科斯，最后一名擁有過第十八軍團(tuán)之主的普通星際戰(zhàn)士，而石棺的零碎讀數(shù)表明其仍然活著。夏法斯 朱爾來到了伊斯特萬五號(hào)的荒涼地表，在自己軍團(tuán)被曝尸的死者與破碎殘骸的包圍下，用顫抖的雙手為石棺連接上一臺(tái)外置音頻單元，來自三個(gè)孤兒軍團(tuán)的戰(zhàn)士們聚集著，聽見那位復(fù)死者令人難忘的催眠性話語隆隆傳來。

'You come seeking our father; but he is not here.

I searched for him on the field of battle until they struck me down with a sword of flame that scorched the very heavens, and yet I did not die.

I searched for him in the endless vaults of the dead where the crushing blackness tore at my very soul, and yet I endured.

I was tested once more in fire and in darkness, and passed again through the crucible, and I tell you this:

Vulkan does not walk among the dead!'

“你們前來尋找我們的父親；但他并未身處此地。

我在戰(zhàn)場上尋覓怹，直到他們用那柄燒焦天空的烈火利劍擊倒我為止，然而我并未死去。

我在無盡的死者墓室尋覓怹，令人窒息的黑暗撕扯著我的全部靈魂，然而我忍受住了。

我在火焰與黑暗中再度經(jīng)受考驗(yàn)，再次穿越那片慘烈混亂的戰(zhàn)場，將此事告知諸位：

沃坎不在死者之列！”

The Warmaster's Rage

戰(zhàn)帥之怒

Even as Cassian Dracos rose from the depths of Isstvan V bringing some measure of hope to the beleaguered Loyalists, the annals of the Horus Heresy were to grant them no reprieve from the Warmaster's relentless onslaught. The records of those scholars and archivists in the service of the Warmaster, later captured by servants of the Emperor, speak of?a vast armada assembling at Port Maw, but a relatively short distance from Isstvan. Port Maw conquered by the forces of the Warmaster shortly after the outbreak of Mankind's civil war, was now the centre of?a huge war machine gearing up for the conquest of?all those dominions of?the Emperor that refused to accept Horus as their rightful master. Here the assembled fleets of those Legions loyal to the Warmaster were refitted and repaired for the coming war, appropriating those resources once intended to supply the vast fleets of?the Great Crusade.

盡管從伊斯特萬五號(hào)地下被挖出后，卡西安 德拉科斯為身處困境的忠誠派們帶來些許希望，但荷魯斯叛亂編年史表明，他們并未能從戰(zhàn)帥的無情猛攻中得到喘息之機(jī)。在那些服務(wù)于戰(zhàn)帥的學(xué)者與檔案員們（他們之后被帝皇的仆人們所俘獲）所做的記錄提到：有一支龐大的艦隊(duì)集結(jié)在了巨口港，但它們與伊斯特萬星系的距離相對(duì)較近。在人類內(nèi)戰(zhàn)爆發(fā)不久之后，戰(zhàn)帥的部隊(duì)便征服了巨口港，它現(xiàn)在是一臺(tái)巨大戰(zhàn)爭機(jī)器的中心——后者正準(zhǔn)備征服所有拒絕接受荷魯斯成為自己合法主人的帝皇疆域。聚集于此的艦隊(duì)屬于那些忠于戰(zhàn)帥的軍團(tuán)，戰(zhàn)艦們在為即將到來的戰(zhàn)斗而接受調(diào)整與維修，挪用了那些原本用于補(bǔ)給大遠(yuǎn)征龐大艦隊(duì)的資源。

Here the most recent of the Warmaster's proclamations had arrived, an order to destroy the defiant Forge World of?Mezoa: an order so widely promulgated to the officers of his host that several illuminated copies of the manuscript exist to this day, preserved in the Imperial Archives of Terra. Two previous attempts to invade and conquer the Loyalist outpost had been turned back by the warlike magos of?Mezoa, and at the time it had been deemed more strategically efficient to simply isolate it while the surrounding systems were dominated and a secure base for Horus' inevitable onslaught on the Imperial core was established. Now, as the vast hosts of the Warmaster readied themselves for the push on Terra, all potential weaknesses in their rear areas were to be eradicated so that all assets could be devoted to the battle for those systems at the core of Imperial space.

戰(zhàn)帥的最新公告已經(jīng)抵達(dá)了此地，他命令部隊(duì)去摧毀負(fù)隅頑抗的鑄造世界梅左阿；該命令在其麾下的軍官間被非常廣泛傳遞，以至于仍有幾份裝飾華美的手稿副本留存至今，并被收錄于泰拉上的帝國檔案館中。叛軍之前也發(fā)動(dòng)了兩次入侵并征服梅左阿的嘗試，但都被當(dāng)?shù)氐暮脩?zhàn)賢者們擊退了；彼時(shí)，叛軍們認(rèn)為：在周邊的星域被戰(zhàn)帥所統(tǒng)治，荷魯斯向帝國核心區(qū)域發(fā)動(dòng)不可阻擋進(jìn)攻所需的安全基地被建立的同時(shí)，簡單地孤立該世界在戰(zhàn)略上更有效。但現(xiàn)在，隨著戰(zhàn)帥本人準(zhǔn)備向泰拉挺進(jìn)，其后方區(qū)域的所有潛在弱點(diǎn)都要被根除，這樣所有的戰(zhàn)爭資源就都能被投入到帝國核心疆域星系的戰(zhàn)斗中。

The conquest of Mezoa, however strategically important, would only be bought at a high cost in lives and materiel, and few of the commanders gathered at Port Maw were eager to so weaken their forces at such an early juncture in the war. Yet the order conveyed by the Warmaster's emissary could not be ignored, and so a quiet war erupted within the confines of Port Maw, a war fought with lies, veiled threats and no few fatal confrontations as the various officers sought to see the mission assigned to their rivals. Recently returned to Port Maw after the disastrous failure at Fortress Stranivar, and lacking either influential patrons or a united officer cadre, it eventually fell to the 114th Grand Battalion of the Iron Warriors and the 78th Chapter of the Alpha Legion to prosecute the Mezoan campaign.

征服梅左阿雖然有戰(zhàn)略重要性，但只有付出高昂的兵力與軍備損耗代價(jià)才能將之做到。在集結(jié)于巨口港的軍官中，幾乎無人愿意在這場戰(zhàn)爭中如此早期的關(guān)鍵階段中削弱自身力量。但戰(zhàn)帥特使傳遞的命令也無法被無視，于是巨口港內(nèi)部爆發(fā)了一場無聲的戰(zhàn)爭；這場爭斗中充斥著謊言、隱晦的威脅與為數(shù)不少的致命對(duì)抗，同時(shí)各級(jí)軍官都想看到這次任務(wù)被指派給競爭對(duì)手。在Stranivar要塞遭遇災(zāi)難性失敗后，鋼鐵勇士第114大營和阿爾法軍團(tuán)第78戰(zhàn)團(tuán)于近期返回巨口港，而且他們?nèi)狈τ杏绊懥Φ暮笈_(tái)與團(tuán)結(jié)統(tǒng)一的軍官核心，因此發(fā)動(dòng)梅左阿戰(zhàn)役的任務(wù)最終落在了這兩支部隊(duì)肩上。

Autilon Skorr of the Alpha Legion, as the highest ranking officer amongst the units assigned to the campaign, was placed in overall command of it. Ambitious even in the wake of the failure at Stranivar and well aware of the enmity borne for him by most of the command elements of the 114th?Grand Battalion, Consul-Delegatus Skorr used his authority as commander of the task force and its fleet to appropriate the lion's share of the available resources for his own Legion, leaving the Iron Warriors elements, commanded by Narik Dreygur, little chance to recover from the losses of the Stranivar campaign. With the bulk of the Iron Warriors and their volatile lord, Perturabo, far distant and the other Legion commanders uninterested in the plight of a failed officer, Dreygur and his men had no option but to make what repairs they could.

作為被指派到此次戰(zhàn)役的部隊(duì)中的最高級(jí)指揮官，來自阿爾法軍團(tuán)的奧帝龍 斯考爾負(fù)責(zé)全權(quán)指揮。哪怕是在經(jīng)歷過Stranivar的失敗后，斯考爾這位軍團(tuán)代表仍然野心勃勃，而且也非常清楚第114大營的大部分指揮官都對(duì)自己抱有敵意，他利用自己作為特遣隊(duì)與艦隊(duì)指揮官的權(quán)力，將大部分可用資源都侵吞到了自己軍團(tuán)部隊(duì)手中，這導(dǎo)致納雷克 德雷古爾指揮下的鋼鐵勇士們幾乎沒有機(jī)會(huì)從Stranivar戰(zhàn)役（造成）的損失中恢復(fù)過來。由于大部分鋼鐵勇士都與其陰晴不定的主人——佩圖拉博相距遙遠(yuǎn)，其他軍團(tuán)的指揮官們也對(duì)一名失敗軍官的困境毫無興趣，所以德雷古爾與下屬們別無選擇，只有盡其所能加以修整。

Composed of a dozen capital class warships, including a pair of fearsome Mangonel class bombardment cruisers, 9,000 Legiones Astartes, three full Taghmata from the Forge World of M'Pandex and 20000 auxiliary troops, the Mezoa task force was one of the largest battlegroups Horus assigned to independent command outside of his brother Primarchs listed in the chronides of the early years of the Horus Heresy. More than that, victory in this campaign would have garnered the favour of Horus for its commanding officer, a commodity that would have become invaluable had the Warmaster completed his conquest. Departing in good order the fleet entered the Warp, assured by the Davinite priests assigned to their contingent of Navigators that the passage would be swift and sure, and cleared of?all storms. Within a few short days of the arrival of the Ebon Drake at Mezoa, the Traitor fleet would be in a position to begin the assault.

在荷魯斯叛亂早期階段的編年史中，除了他的原體兄弟之外，梅左阿特遣隊(duì)是被荷魯斯賦予過獨(dú)立指揮權(quán)的最大規(guī)模戰(zhàn)斗群之一，由十二艘主力級(jí)戰(zhàn)艦——其中還包括兩艘石弩級(jí)轟炸巡洋艦、9000名阿斯塔特軍團(tuán)戰(zhàn)士、M'Pandex鑄造世界的三支滿編禁衛(wèi)軍和20000輔助軍部隊(duì)組成。除此之外，此次戰(zhàn)役的勝利還會(huì)為參戰(zhàn)部隊(duì)指揮官博得荷魯斯的青睞，倘若戰(zhàn)帥完成了他的征服，這份恩寵將會(huì)是無價(jià)之寶。艦隊(duì)井然有序地進(jìn)入亞空間，從巨口港動(dòng)身出發(fā)，被指派到導(dǎo)航者分隊(duì)中的達(dá)文牧師們保證到：航路將是迅速且可靠的，而且會(huì)避開所有亞空間風(fēng)暴。在烏木火龍?zhí)柕诌_(dá)梅左阿的短短數(shù)天之內(nèi)，叛軍艦隊(duì)便能就位以開始進(jìn)攻。

Unto the Crucible of War

身赴戰(zhàn)火熔爐

With the recovery of Cassian Dracos, new hope awoke in those who had come to Isstvan. Once again they moved with the purpose and easy camaraderie of warrior-brothers rather than the grim brooding of previous days. Even those of the Iron Hands and Raven Guard who accompanied them, for whom Dracos could offer no words of prophecy were heartened by the thought that where one Primarch had survived so might others. Few among the company doubted the words of Cassian Dracos for even a moment, such was the awe inspired by the history of his deeds and the near-impossible means of his survival. He was installed upon the Ebon Drake with all haste, where his Vulkan-forged shell began to slowly restore his systems without outside aid, a tech-miracle that served only to bolster his growing legend.

隨著卡西安 德拉科斯回歸，趕往伊斯特萬星系的忠誠派們心中被喚起了新的希望。他們再次起航前行，這次心中滿懷著的是勇士兄弟們的意志與輕松的袍澤情誼，而非之前的陰沉思慮。即便對(duì)陪同火蜥蜴?zhèn)冞h(yuǎn)航的鋼鐵之手與暗鴉守衛(wèi)們而言，盡管卡西安 德拉科斯無法為他們提供預(yù)言，但“既然有一位原體幸存下來，那么其他原體也可能還存活著”的想法也令其感到振奮。船員中幾乎沒人對(duì)卡西安 德拉科斯的話語感到過哪怕片刻的懷疑，這位老軍團(tuán)長的往昔事跡與他近乎不可能的幸存（在眾人心中）所激發(fā)出的敬畏就是如此強(qiáng)烈。他被匆忙安置到烏木火龍?zhí)柹?，在沒有外部幫助的情況下，沃坎為其鑄造的機(jī)體緩慢緩慢修復(fù)（操作）系統(tǒng)，這項(xiàng)科技奇跡只會(huì)令其愈發(fā)傳奇。

Despite his long, unsleeping entombment beneath Isstvan, Dracos refused all offers of a return to the slumber that most Dreadnoughts, especially one of his age, craved. Though clearly changed in aspect by his ordeal and often lost to extended periods of near-incoherent prognostication and memories of his centuries of battle, he quickly came to exert a palpable influence over the company of the Ebon Drake. Many of the ship's company came to him to receive wisdom and prophecy, both from amongst the Salamanders and those of their brother Legions that were present. In the few short days the Ebon Drake spent in orbit of Isstvan V after the recovery of Dracos, the Legiones Astartes aboard swiftly began to display a new form of heraldry, myriad devotional icons applied with the care of dedicated craftsmen in honour of?the venerable Dreadnought, and a new title is noted in many log entries, applied to those who sat in attendance on Dracos: the Disciples of the Flames.

盡管德拉科斯被清醒地埋在伊斯特萬五號(hào)地下很久，但他拒絕了所有讓其重新入眠的提議，而大多數(shù)無畏機(jī)甲，尤其是他這個(gè)年齡的古戰(zhàn)士們，都是渴望沉眠的。盡管他的面貌因經(jīng)歷而出現(xiàn)了明顯改變，而且經(jīng)常長時(shí)間沉湎于幾乎不連貫的預(yù)言和自己數(shù)個(gè)世紀(jì)的戰(zhàn)斗記憶中，但德拉科斯很快便對(duì)烏木火龍?zhí)柹系娜藗儺a(chǎn)生了顯著影響。很多船員都來到他面前，尋求智慧和預(yù)言，其中即有火蜥蜴，也有來自兄弟軍團(tuán)的戰(zhàn)士們。當(dāng)?shù)吕扑够貧w后，烏木火龍?zhí)栍衷谝了固厝f五號(hào)的軌道上短暫逗留了幾日，而在此期間，船上的阿斯塔特軍團(tuán)戰(zhàn)士很快便開始展示出一套新型的紋章，專注敬業(yè)的工匠們仔細(xì)繪制出無數(shù)虔誠的圣像，用于紀(jì)念這臺(tái)可敬的無畏。很多日志條目中也都記錄下一個(gè)新的頭銜，用于稱呼那些侍坐于德拉科斯身旁的人們：烈火門徒。

It was not just the human crew who fell under the strange charisma of the twice-dead Dreadnought: the servitors and simple automata that performed many of the ship's more mundane functions became unreliable in his presence. Many of the service-automata had to be forcibly- removed from the chamber where he rested after developing anomalous routines in their neural-cortexes, while a number of high-grade servitors detached themselves from duty in the Armorium to operate as attendants to the Dreadnought, seemingly without orders. No explanation for these events is recorded in any official log retrieved from the Ebon Drake, indeed, it seems unlikely that any real attempt was made by the crew to fully investigate the phenomenon.

復(fù)死者無畏的奇怪魅力不僅令人類船員們拜服，當(dāng)?shù)吕怂乖趫鰰r(shí)，機(jī)仆和用于執(zhí)行飛船上諸多簡單功能的自動(dòng)機(jī)械也變得不可靠。在他休息的房間中，很多服務(wù)用自動(dòng)機(jī)械的神經(jīng)皮層都出現(xiàn)了異常程序，之后船員們不得不將之強(qiáng)行移除；同時(shí)還有一些高級(jí)機(jī)仆離開自己在軍械庫中的職責(zé)，去充當(dāng)無畏機(jī)甲的侍從——這一切似乎是在沒有命令的情況下發(fā)生的。從烏木火龍?zhí)柹鲜栈氐娜魏喂俜饺罩局校嘉丛涗泴?duì)于這些事件的解釋說明，事實(shí)上，船員們似乎也不可能真去試圖對(duì)這些現(xiàn)象進(jìn)行全面調(diào)查。

Those command logs recovered in later years show that when the Ebon Drake departed Isstvan V, it was Cassian Dracos, the Dragon Revenant, who commanded her course and that of?those who now followed him. With their original mission, Lord Keeper Rhy'Tan's charge to investigate Isstvan V,now complete, many of the crew's company expected a triumphant return to Nocturne, yet Dracos would not allow such a course to be plotted. Instead the inscrutable Dreadnought, still little more than a semi-coherent metal shell, insisted they set course for the Forge World of Mezoa, and few among the crew voiced objection. The Ebon Drake translated once again to the tempestuous seas of the Warp only a few short days after the retrieval of Cassian Dracos, never to return to the silent grave that the Isstvan System had become.

之后幾年恢復(fù)出的指揮日志表明，當(dāng)烏木火龍?zhí)枏囊了固厝f五號(hào)出發(fā)時(shí)，就是“復(fù)仇之龍”——卡西安 德拉科斯在指揮飛船航程與那些已經(jīng)成為其信徒的船員們。現(xiàn)在，烏木火龍?zhí)栆呀?jīng)完成守衛(wèi)官瑞’坦閣下交付的原本任務(wù)——調(diào)查伊斯特萬五號(hào)，很多船員都想要?jiǎng)P旋，返回夜曲星；然而德拉科斯并不想如是設(shè)定航線。這臺(tái)神秘莫測的無畏機(jī)甲（但他此刻仍然不過是一臺(tái)半連貫的金屬機(jī)體）堅(jiān)持要人們前往鑄造世界梅左阿，而船員中幾乎無人提出反對(duì)。在德拉科斯回歸短短數(shù)天之后，烏木火龍?zhí)柋阍俅芜M(jìn)入了狂風(fēng)暴雨籠罩下的亞空間之海，再也未曾回到已經(jīng)淪為寂靜墓園的伊斯特萬星系。

However, the situation at Mezoa was far more grim than they had anticipated. The mighty Forge World, a glowing ember encircled by a dense ring of orbital stations and ordnance satellites, was besieged by a Traitor armada intent on stopping any craft from approaching or leaving the beleaguered Loyalist fortress. Emerging at the very outermost edges of the Mezoan System, the Ebon Drake broke from the depths of warp space into the heart of?a chaotic void battle, with squadrons of?heavy cruisers marked by the sigils of the Iron Warriors and Alpha Legion striving to gain local space superiority over a rag-tag fleet of craft bearing insignia ranging from marred Legion icons and Imperial navy markings, to the eternal flame symbol of Mezoa itself.

然而，梅左阿的境況遠(yuǎn)比眾人的預(yù)料惡劣得多。這個(gè)強(qiáng)大的鑄造世界是一顆發(fā)著光的余燼色星球，軌道空間站與衛(wèi)星炮塔緊密圍繞著它；一支叛軍艦隊(duì)現(xiàn)在圍困住了梅左阿，意圖阻止任何飛船靠近或離開這座被圍困的忠誠派要塞。烏木火龍?zhí)柺菑拿纷蟀⑿窍档臉O外側(cè)邊緣現(xiàn)身的，它從亞空間深處突入現(xiàn)實(shí)宇宙，扎進(jìn)了一場混亂虛空戰(zhàn)的戰(zhàn)場中央。噴涂著鋼鐵勇士與阿爾法軍團(tuán)紋章的（多支）重型巡洋艦中隊(duì)們發(fā)起進(jìn)攻，意圖在當(dāng)?shù)刂嬗驃Z?。☉?zhàn)略）優(yōu)勢；與之交戰(zhàn)的是一支破爛不堪的艦隊(duì)，飛船們的標(biāo)志不一而足，從被污損的軍團(tuán)紋章和帝國海軍標(biāo)記，到梅左阿自己的永恒之火圖案，盡在其中。

As void craft of both sides fought and died, the titanic explosions that marked their passing lighting up the void like miniature suns and shaking the Ebon Drake with their blast-waves, the crew of the lone Salamanders cruiser strove to make sense of the jumbled web of identification signals broadcast by the combatants. Several tense seconds passed as the ship's command crew established friend and foe, a period of time that left them vulnerable to any number of deadly strikes. It was only the confusion sowed amongst the enemy by the Ebon Drake's sudden arrival that forestalled their immediate destruction. With the enemy marked, the Ebon Drake let loose its weapons batteries, manoeuvring to join the Loyalist fleet that stood sentinel over Mezoa, a fleet that was at a serious numerical disadvantage to their foe.

隨著雙方艦船激烈廝殺并被摧毀，標(biāo)志其消亡的巨大爆炸火團(tuán)如微縮恒星般點(diǎn)亮虛空，釋放出的沖擊波令烏木火龍?zhí)栴澏稉u晃。在那艘孤零零的火蜥蜴巡洋艦上，船員們奮力搞清楚參戰(zhàn)者們播放出的雜亂身份識(shí)別信號(hào)。緊張的數(shù)秒之后，飛船的指揮官分清了敵人與盟友。在這段時(shí)間中，烏木火龍?zhí)栐救菀自馐苋我鈹?shù)量的致命進(jìn)攻，只是由于它的突然抵達(dá)在敵人中所造成了困惑，才讓這艘飛船未被立刻摧毀。隨著敵人被標(biāo)記，烏木火龍?zhí)柕奈淦髋谒兓鹆θ_，（同時(shí)）采取機(jī)動(dòng)，加入到守衛(wèi)著梅左阿的忠誠派艦隊(duì)中——相比于敵人，這支艦隊(duì)處于嚴(yán)重的數(shù)量劣勢。

The battle above Mezoa continued to rage for nine long hours, both sides locked in bloody stalemate as the Traitor admirals spent the lives of?their ships to grind down their opponents. Hampered by the fractured nature of their fleet, with the various detachments of craft answering only to their own lords and no other, the Loyalists were eventually forced to abandon orbital space around Mezoa, pulling back to the outer planets to regroup. Some few ships amongst the fleet, including the Ebon Drake, risked crippling fire to close with Mezoa one last time and release flights of?dropcraft, and of?the half dozen Legion and navy craft to attempt the manoeuvre, only three rose once again from the Forge World. With the retreat of the Loyalist armada, there was no force left to stop the wallowing troop barges and heavy cruisers of Horus' host as they took up station over Mezoa and began to sweep its skies clear of?defence platforms and killsats. The final invasion of Mezoa had begun.

梅左阿上空的戰(zhàn)火持續(xù)肆虐了九個(gè)小時(shí)，由于叛軍的海軍將領(lǐng)們依靠犧牲己方艦船來碾碎對(duì)手，雙方陷入了血腥僵局。受自身艦隊(duì)碎片化性質(zhì)的妨礙，忠誠派麾下各種不同的艦艇分隊(duì)僅聽命于自己的領(lǐng)主，他們最終被迫放棄了梅左阿周圍的宙域，撤往外環(huán)行星以進(jìn)行重整。在艦隊(duì)中，只有極少數(shù)的飛船冒著足以重傷自己的炮火，在最后時(shí)刻接近了梅左阿并釋放出空降艇，其中就包括烏木火龍?zhí)枴Ｔ趪L試進(jìn)行機(jī)動(dòng)的那六艘軍團(tuán)與海軍艦艇中，再次從鑄造世界中升起的僅有三艘。隨著忠誠派艦隊(duì)撤退，當(dāng)荷魯斯軍隊(duì)的部隊(duì)運(yùn)輸船和重型巡洋艦在梅左阿上空就位，并開始掃清空中的防御平臺(tái)和殺戮設(shè)施時(shí)，已經(jīng)沒有部隊(duì)能來阻止他們了。對(duì)于梅左阿的最終入侵已經(jīng)開始了。