[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-warhammer-the-11th-primarch-the-black-emperor":3,"chapter-warhammer-the-11th-primarch-the-black-emperor-warhammer-the-11th-primarch-the-black-emperor-chapter-625":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"english","Warhammer: The 11th Primarch - The Black Emperor",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},1511292,1962,"Chapter 625 - 624: Doppelganger: How Did You Do That?","warhammer-the-11th-primarch-the-black-emperor-chapter-625",625,"\u003Cp>All the information about Perditus flooded into John's mind.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The \"Calamity Priest\" pulled a piece of parchment with his left paw, and with his right paw, he gripped a quill and wrote rapidly:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>'Perditus...'\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>John memorized the information on the parchment, over and over.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After the eleventh repetition, the \"Calamity Priest\" picked up the paper and leaned back on his wooden bed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Through the psychic link, Nareth saw a illusory scene: three nobles in ornate robes, accompanied by a squad of guards, entering a lavish palace.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The scene shifted. The guards attacked the nobles, their blades piercing silk.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They drew their blades, licking the blood from them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>'Assassination? Coup?' Nareth frowned, puzzled.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The scene twisted again. The guards' bodies contorted, becoming corpulent, straining their silk robes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Images of the slain nobles flashed through the Primarch's mind.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>'Licking the blood of the slain, then taking their form.'\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>'Doppelgangers.'\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>'The main ingredient for Sequence 6 \"Faceless\" on the \"Fool\" path.'\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As the scene shattered, Nareth had the information he wanted.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>'So, this is why the Lion found only silence when he first arrived at Perditus.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>'Perhaps, after reclaiming Perditus, the \"submitted\" individuals launched a rebellion. The Lion, enraged, punished them and, considering it a shame, left few records.'\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>'Another dark secret the Dark Angels habitually kept.'\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Nareth knew that doppelgangers were different from mimics, who also had shapeshifting abilities.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They didn't gain the memories of those they imitated. If they didn't spend long in human society, they wouldn't master Gothic or the use of various devices.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He had long planned to acquire doppelgangers as potion material, but he hadn't expected it to happen so soon.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He recalled that during the Great Crusade, the Imperium considered doppelgangers vermin-like xenos.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Discovering they fed on humans, the Imperium deployed the World Eaters as the vanguard to exterminate them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The 203rd Expeditionary Fleet descended upon Alpha Shalish, wiping out the doppelgangers.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Of course, like other xenos, they weren't completely eradicated.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Doppelgangers were far from easy to exterminate. By consuming blood, they could transform into various creatures, including Astartes, even Custodians.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They had an advantage over mimics: their bodies physically changed, granting them the physical abilities of the transformed target.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>During the Heresy, when Ultramarine Arcadese and Salamander Hekatan were on a diplomatic mission to a neutral world, they encountered doppelgangers disguised as Custodians.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A doppelganger with a Custodian's physical abilities temporarily overpowered the two unarmored Astartes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Doppelgangers still existed in the 42nd Millennium.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They ambushed an Ordo Xenos Inquisitor and a Deathwatch kill team aboard the space hulk Terrorem.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They transformed into Inquisitorial acolytes and Astartes, slowly consuming the killed team.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Nareth leaned back, contemplating how to deal with enemies possessing shapeshifting abilities.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>'The war on Perditus is not a conventional frontal assault. The key is identifying the doppelgangers.'\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As he typed his thoughts onto a data-slate, he considered.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Moments later, he pressed his communication bead, summoning Arsena Dunn.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Assemble the Librarians and Chaplains.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He slid the data-crystal to his Aide. \"The First Chapter will accompany me to Perditus.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After his Aide left the office, he went to the Kingdom of Disorder, extending his spirituality to issue orders to Dementieva and Tierney.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Black mist churned. A data slate appeared before each of them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After Maria Kournikova had stepped into the public eye on 'Terra,' Dementieva, also a \"Pleasure,\" had become the leader of the Assassins.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the sixth month of 885, in the Perditus system.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Aboard the Shadow's Sovereignty, the Arsena reported to the Black Emperor.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"My Lord, the auspex matrix master reports that both Perditus II and Perditus VI show numerous life signs.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"But the Master of Vox's all-frequency, all-language broadcasts have received no response.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Nareth had anticipated this. The doppelgangers had likely already taken control of both planets.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He had arrived before the Lion and Typhon. Fewer doppelgangers would have mastered human language and technology.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>'This will make identifying them easier.'\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Proceed to the sixth planet.\" Nareth decided to go to Perditus VI, where the Tuchulcha engine was located.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Auspex matrix and ætheric reading divination systems to full power. Focus scans on Perditus VI's subsurface.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"By Your will.\" The silver-haired Primarch's Aide replied.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The black fleet met no resistance, passing by the unresponsive second planet in silence before reaching orbit around the sixth.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Aboard a heavy transport, Howard Fender frowned.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Since arriving in the Perditus system, he had felt a strange unease. Now, it felt even more discordant.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Perditans gave no response. Their sparse anti-air fire was also absent.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"The doppelgangers have taken control of this world's upper echelons, but they haven't yet learned how to use human technology.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"This is why my Lord ordered all Court Brothers to land via heavy transports, not drop pods or Stormbirds.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The closer they got to the surface, the more the \"Judge\" felt the planet's disharmony.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As he thought, he felt the transport touch down.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He rose, eager to step off the ramp and restore order here.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A doppelganger stood among the crowd, dressed in dark brown clothing, holding a lasgun, indistinguishable from the surrounding guards.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After nearly a month of learning, he had mastered basic human speech and was chosen for this observation mission.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He had to find out why outsiders had suddenly come to this world, his kind controlled and fed upon.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The doppelganger stared at the black-armored warrior cradling a heavy gun. Every cell in his body seemed to thrum. The thorn-like tongue locked in his throat twitched with hunger.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>'Delicious.'\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He instinctively wanted to extend his tongue, to wrap it around the giant.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He suppressed his feeding urge. 'Patience. They are already my food. How do the humans say it... Delivered to my door... Lambs to the slaughter...'\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He greedily glanced at the lead black-armored warrior, then quickly lowered his head, pretending to be as fearful as the others.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Howard suddenly stopped. As a full-fledged \"Sheriff,\" he intuitively sensed something evil nearby.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He scanned the area, taking in the thousand or so Perditans.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Their appearances and clothing seemed normal.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Their reactions were all consistent with confusion and fear at seeing an Astartes giant.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But more than what he saw, Howard trusted his \"Sheriff's\" intuition.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The \"Judge\" raised his palm, thrusting it forward. Spiritual energy surged. He shouted in Dunnic:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"This place forbids shapeshifting!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The doppelganger heard a commanding voice in a language he had never heard, but he paid it no mind.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The next instant, he let out a bird-like shriek. He had lost control of his body.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He was rapidly reverting to his original form.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The crowd turned to the shrieking. They saw a nebulous creature, a mass of bizarre limbs and swollen flesh.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They stared in terror at the monster among them, screaming.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Ah...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"How did you do that?\" The doppelganger slid backward, his voice incredulous.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His tongue shot out.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Howard raised his power gauntlet. Blue light blazed, slamming into the barbed tongue.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The disassociation field shrieked, shattering the bizarre tongue. The \"Judge\" swung his arm.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>An invisible whip cracked, tearing swollen flesh.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The \"Judge\" raised his arm again and shouted: \"Imprison!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Viscous, almost solid, liquid layered over the doppelganger.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After capturing the doppelganger, Howard shouted to the fleeing Perditans:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Your world has been taken over by xenos! Shapeshifting monsters have infiltrated your society!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>.....\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If you enjoy the story, my p@treon is 30 chapters ahead.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[email protected]\u002FDaoistJinzu\u003C\u002Fp>",1218,"2026-06-06T05:05:28.115Z",1,"novelbin.me","62e3678741c63daa790849ebd5eda04aa56442dd843d72bf20d1005be52cb181","warhammer-the-11th-primarch-the-black-emperor-chapter-626","warhammer-the-11th-primarch-the-black-emperor-chapter-570",698,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fwarhammer-the-11th-primarch-the-black-emperor-cover.jpg"]