Chapter 143 Fandral and the Battle Sisters
Gao Zhi-Fandar?
Sayid's eyes condensed, and he immediately thought of the culprit of the Apostasy Era. Calculating the time, it should be the one in front of him.
Historically, Fandar became the Minister of the Interior, and then served as the Pope of the State Religion. Like Wangerich, he enslaved the High Lords Council and established a dictatorship.
But unlike Wangerich who did practical things for the Empire, Fandar was purely a selfish person. After he came to power, he only did one thing:
Use various means to strengthen personal power!
Forming spies, engaging in personality worship, forming private armies (combat sisters), purging opposition parties... Anyway, it was all kinds of internal struggles, and nothing useful was done.
Before Wangerich was criticized, he was at least conscientious in logistics and provided material guarantees for the Astartes to purge the greenskins.
On the other hand, Wangerich not only ignored the situation on the front line, but also plundered the Empire's resources everywhere, armed his personal troops, and sharpened his sword against the uncontrolled Space Marines and Mechanicus.
His ultimate goal is to establish an undead empire, or a Gestalt civilization like Sayid.
However... he is just a mortal, but he does things that even the Emperor cannot do. The ending is predictable.
Sayid resisted the urge to shoot him and asked, "Why do you want to form a new army? Are the current troops not enough?"
Fandral bowed respectfully and said, "You are right, Your Highness. As we all know, the civil war between Nova Terra and the Mechanicus originated from the lack of unity of faith within the Empire!"
"So the Empire must have a special force responsible for correcting faith, and the current armed forces cannot do it!"
Sayid said calmly, "Heretics are one of the three evils of the Empire. The Inquisition is responsible for combating the three evils internally. Mortal agents walk around the worlds of the Empire. Once the three evils are discovered, they will summon the Death Watch or the Grey Knights to attack!"
Fandral replied, "God Emperor, if it really worked, why would there be rebellions in Nova Terra and the Mechanicus?"
Sayid's tone stagnated. He suddenly remembered that although the state religion was established, it also spent a lot of effort on ideological propaganda, but the focus was only on literary struggles, ignoring martial struggles.
It is not to say that there was no fighting. Malcador's purge of mortal political elites and Sayid's authorization of Lion to purge the Pacific Star Region after the rebellion of Nova Terra were all part of the fighting.
But this was only a short-term, rapid military action, and there was no agency specifically responsible for it, which led to the heresy being like weeds, which would grow again in the spring breeze.
Fandral continued: "The Death Watch specializes in dealing with aliens, and the Grey Knights specialize in dealing with demons. They may believe in the state religion, but they may not be devout. There must be a regular, sufficiently devout purge force."
Death Watch and Grey Knights do not require faith to deal with aliens and demons, but ideological struggles require fanatical faith, which Death Watch and Grey Knights cannot do.
Sayid roughly understood what Fandral meant and asked, "So this organization is the Battle Sisters, why are they nuns?"
Fandal nodded and said, "Because they are fanatical enough and simple enough. When I was a military chaplain, I saw too many girls wearing single clothes, shackles on their feet, charging towards the enemies of the Emperor."
"They do this voluntarily, just to atone for their sins, even though the sins they talk about are insignificant in the eyes of others!"
When women become fanatical, men have nothing to do. Through the puppet, Sayid knows the facts that Fandral said. If he continues to dig deeper, it will be shocking.
Sayid thought and said, "So you want to arm them and become a purge force specifically for dealing with heretics?"
Fandal nodded and said, "That's right, praise the emperor, your highness is wise!"
After that, he handed over a document, detailing the formation plan, organizational structure, material consumption, etc. of the Battle Sisters.
Sayid did not agree immediately, and said to Fandral: "You go down first, I have something to discuss with Ma Xiang!"
After Fandral left, Sayid asked Malcador: "The reward you asked for is for me to promote Fandral? Let him control the battle sisters?"
Malcador smiled and said: "What is your impression of him, Your Highness?"
Sayid shook his head: "The impression is not good. He has a strong desire for power. He is just a mortal, and the position he desires cannot be given to him by Terra!"
"In fact, I find it incredible that he did not go to hang out with Nova Terra!"
Malcador said truthfully: "Fandal was sick at the time, and his body did not allow him to mix with the rebels. When he recovered, the rebellion had been suppressed."
Sayid sneered: "Then he is really lucky. Do you want to promote him? Use the favor I owe you!"
Malcador Shaking his head: "No, no, no, Your Highness, how could I shoot myself in the foot? Fandral is dispensable, the key is the battle sisters?"
Said laughed: "The Ministry of the Interior has ideas about this unit? The Ministry of Justice and the Assassin's Court can't satisfy you?"
Malcad shook his head again: "No, the Emperor sent me a message and told me that there is a very important Chosen One in the Sisters' Association!"
Said was stunned and said in disbelief: "Liar, why did the Emperor tell you and not me!"
Malcad laughed: "Your Highness forgot that churches and nuns in various places are under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of the Interior. If His Majesty wants to find someone, it is of course more convenient to find me!"
"Do you think you are the only one in the empire who can connect to His Majesty!"
Said gritted his teeth. He did think so before. After confirming it with the Emperor in his heart, he found that in addition to the Prime Minister, there are many people who can talk to the Emperor.
Not to mention the far ones, Sanguinius can also communicate with the Emperor, and Chagatai, Leman Russ, and Vulcan can occasionally communicate with the Emperor.
For a moment, Said was filled with reluctance: "Humph! I thought I was the only one special!"
╭(╯^╰)╮
Malcador was still smiling and seemed to enjoy Said's appearance. After a while, he said:
"The Sisters are a group of fanatical female believers. Since His Majesty attaches great importance to them, we might as well invest more resources and organize them into a combat force."
Said nodded and said with some frustration: "Okay, I agree to form it. The Superman Council will be convened in a few days. I will speak for you!"
Then he picked up Fandral's army-building plan, curled his lips and said:
"Fandral actually plans to make this force independent of the War Council. He is the founder. After that, the Battle Sister will have the final say alone!"
Said continued to read. Gestalt's super computing power allowed him to read ten lines at a glance. He finished reading a thick stack of plans in more than ten seconds, and then said:
"Except for taking over the power, the plan is well written in other parts. It allows Fandral to form the Battle Sisters, but the command power cannot be given to him!"
Macado nodded: "I understand, I don't like him either, but his plan is indeed good. Once the organization is on track, the Assassin's Court will kill him!"
The next day, Said convened the Superman Council and came up with the Battle Sisters' proposal to form a force against heretics.
In any organization, there are only two most sensitive issues, one is personnel and the other is finance.
When it comes to the Battle Sisters proposal, the empire has no shortage of supplies, so command authority has become a focus of debate. However, since the empire has reformed its military, there is no need to debate this issue.
The war committee is in charge, the war zone is in charge of the battle, and the military services are in charge of construction. The battle sisters are a branch of the Tribunal. The military departments are responsible for logistics construction and are under the command of the theater headquarters. The war committee controls the general direction.
Fandal will become a member of the military service department, responsible for building the army, but he will have no command authority, let alone the combat command of each theater headquarters.
In today's Zheng body, it is difficult for Fandal to have a chance to reach the top. The reason why Said wants to kill him is simply because he is unhappy.
Originally, Fandral used the Battle Sisters as maids and bodyguards, changing their status from the Emperor's daughters to the Emperor's brides.
what is this? To find a wife for the emperor, you need to use him as a tauren? It’s so heretical! Even if it hasn't happened now, this person can't stay!
So Said decided in his heart that after establishing the Battle Sisters branch, he would send more puppets to supervise Fandral, especially in terms of life style.
Since there were no major changes to the existing system, and coupled with the lessons of Nova Terra, all the Primarchs understood the importance of ideological struggle and agreed to form the Battle Sisters.
Subsequently, the Superman Council discussed the future direction of governance and unanimously agreed to repair the war wounds of Beast Wars and Nova Terra and restore the strength of the empire.
Guilliman, on behalf of the Home Affairs Council, concluded:
"Everyone, God-Emperor bless you. In the previous wars, the wars were limited to individual star regions. The empire suffered far less trauma in the war than expected!"
"Except for the warring areas, most planets in the galaxy have not been affected by the war, and even a considerable part of the losses are caused by the Great Purge."
After finishing speaking, he glanced at Lion Lion secretly, and the latter looked indifferent. Guilliman continued:
"It is expected that it will take fifty years for the empire to return to its pre-war level and start the Third Centenary Plan, which is the plan of the Internal Affairs Committee for the Centenary Plan!"
After that, everyone was given a copy. The supermen quickly flipped through it, using their super-computing brains to read and analyze. In less than a minute, they put down their plans one after another.
Lion Lion first objected: "You plan to carry out industrial upgrading on the basis of electrification throughout the empire? With all due respect, Guilliman, this is unrealistic!"
Guilliman asked in confusion: "Please tell me!"
Ryan said calmly: "I don't know when the next war will come. We should rectify the army and prepare for the next war!"
Guilliman argued: "Industrial upgrading does not conflict with military expansion and war preparations. It can enhance the industrial output of backward areas, especially the military industry!"
Ryan said calmly: "How can holding gunpowder weapons and primitive cannons help eliminate aliens and chaos?"
Guilliman said categorically: "It helps. Gunpowder firearms can also kill greenskins, and primitive artillery can also banish Chaos. If these backward worlds are armed, it will be a great help to the war!"
Ryan didn't speak anymore. He always advocated cannons instead of butter. As the Beast War progressed, the number of primitives who held the same idea gradually increased.
They gradually see the truth clearly: in the burning galaxy, there is only war, and there is no chance for human beings to develop peacefully!
Humanity has only two choices: fight or prepare for war!
Even Guilliman's Third Centenary Plan prioritizes the development of heavy industry, especially military industry, with civilian consumer goods accounting for only a very small part.
The meeting quickly reached an agreement, and the few Primarchs who supported peaceful development hesitated to speak. In the face of the iron-clad facts, they chose to shut up.
With the end of the meeting, the Empire ushered in the Forging Era, which was generally considered to be another golden age for the Empire after the Era of Rebirth.
Under the unified deployment of the Internal Affairs Committee, the industries of each world are gradually upgraded, from steam engines to internal combustion engines, from being able to only produce light bulbs and cables, to being able to produce auspicious devices.
In the next fifteen hundred years, the empire's productivity ushered in a huge leap, as if it had returned to the age of rebirth.
However, few people have noticed that with the expansion of production capacity and wealth, military expenditures are also rising year by year. New legions are constantly being formed, new fleets are leaving the docks, and new battle groups are being formed...
In deep space, military fortresses and fleet homeports were built one after another, and some key worlds were completely fortified.
A thoughtful person can easily see that the empire's top brass implements a philosophy: cannons, not butter!
Having learned the lessons of the Beast Wars and Nova Terra, the human empire went into a militancy and was prepared to be ready. Development achievements were prioritized in the military instead of producing consumer goods and improving people's lives.
On a certain day, Fandal contacted Said and said: "Can you let the Battle Sisters see you in person? You are the Pope of the State Church. Meeting in person will help increase their loyalty!"
Said was stunned and didn't understand what Fandral was planning. He was now responsible for the formation of the Battle Sisters, and under the supervision of the puppets, he completed the work exceptionally well.
If it weren't for those bad things in history, Said would hardly be willing to take the trouble to kill the donkey.
Said asked: "They are loyal to the God Emperor, not the Pope, so why bother!"
Fandral said flatteringly: "The Pope is the incarnation of the Emperor, and your words are the words of the God-Emperor. Being loyal to you, Lord Pope, is being loyal to the Emperor!"
"The God-Emperor needs someone to act on his behalf, and the nuns need a more specific object of allegiance. If you refuse, Your Highness, heretics may take advantage of you!"
Said complained in his heart: "Are you the one the heresy is talking about!"
Fandal did not notice Said's displeasure and lowered his voice and said:
"These first batch of battle nuns all come from remote and backward agricultural planets. They have never even seen a rose rosary. If you show your hand, they will regard it as a miracle and become your loyal servants!"
This is equivalent to saying that they are easy to deceive. If you don’t deceive them, someone else will!
Said's blood pressure soared when he heard that. Fandal hired the strongest auxiliary army instructors to train them, but he didn't let them see the empire's technology, just to make them stupid and easy to control!
How heretical! Said hesitated for a moment and said, "I'll let the original puppet go inspect them!"
Fandral quickly waved his hand and said: "No, no, the puppets are not human beings, and loyalty is not effective. It is best to let them see you in person!"
Fandral didn't know about the Golden Cage Treaty. The only human beings Said saw in his body were the Imperial Guards and the Sisters of Silence, and they couldn't leave the palace at all.
Said was about to reject this boring trick and let the Battle Sisters receive normal training and instruction, when the Emperor suddenly said in his mind:
"Sayed promised him that the review location would be the palace, and the imperial army would let them in then!"
Said was surprised and asked: "Brother Huang, what is the value of a nun? It deserves your attention! Is it Saint Celestine?"
The emperor was silent for a moment, and then said slowly: "My brother, a woman, can maintain your humanity!"
What will happen to the Battle Sisters? Might as well take a guess~