Chapter 258: Celebration

The triumphal ceremony and the celebration welcoming the return of the Primarch overlapped, and Terra ushered in a grand military parade.

Five hours before the celebration began, ribbons swept in parallel across the clouds above Terra, quickly covering every sector.

With Stormbirds at the center, fighters and bombers formed the two wings.

The special fuel Malcador prepared for the majesty of the celebration allowed the colorful light from the exhaust flames to pierce through the dim clouds.

As the warplanes whistled overhead, every citizen of Terra intuitively felt the power of the Imperium.

Countless citizens of Terra gathered under the giant holographic screens set up in each Hive City, looking up at the images above.

As the video runes flashed, the giant holographic screens lit up simultaneously.

The Master of Mankind, clad in golden armor, occupied the entire screen.

The citizens of the Imperium stretched their necks and widened their eyes, looking at the Master of Mankind.

In Iphigenia Hive, golden light shone in the eyes of the citizens of Terra.

The first person crossed their hands over their chest, performing the Imperial Eagle salute.

Influenced by them, the people around them followed suit, one after another.

"The Emperor!"

"The Master of Mankind!"

The cheers of the citizens of Terra rang out in every Hive City.

The same scene occurred on the high platform built of steel.

Nobles, Imperial officials, and representatives of wealthy merchants praised the Emperor in unison.

Amidst the cheers, the Emperor raised his arm and pressed his hand downward.

The cheers ceased accordingly, and the Emperor then spoke.

"Today, I wish to introduce to you one of my sons."

"He is the fifth Primarch to return to the Imperium, he is the Primarch of the Tenth Legion, he is the Iron Hands..."

Manus walked to the Emperor's side, and in the giant screens of every Hive City, one could also see the giant clad in black armor and his silver hands.

"Ferrus Manus!"

The audience cheered thunderously, shouting loudly.

"The Emperor's son!"

"Lord Ferrus Manus!"

The Emperor smiled and said to Manus.

"My son, I expect you to lead the Tenth Legion, campaign across the galaxy, purge the Xenos, and reclaim human colonies."

Manus felt the enthusiasm of the people, and his stern face overflowed with excitement.

He crossed his arms, performed the Imperial Eagle salute, and his leaden voice drowned out the cheers.

"Father, I swear by my hands that I will surely carry out your will, lead the Iron Hands, and crush the enemies of humanity!"

Manus took light steps toward the throne where his personal banner hung.

"Let the parade begin!"

The Order Shadow, clad in black armor, were the first to step onto the parade avenue, which was five hundred meters long and five kilometers wide, to accept the cheers of the audience.

Other Chapters did not follow Ninglu to the Solar System, so the parade formation consisted of this batch of three thousand and ten members of the Honor Guard.

They were all the most outstanding Order Shadow from the Flame Wheel System campaign, and even the one with the fewest combat achievements had killed over a hundred Ork.

They wore at least two commemorative medals, and among them, one hundred and thirty had Iron Halos hanging behind their heads, personally bestowed by the Primarch.

This represented that they had all shown extraordinary initiative in at least one battle and achieved results that influenced the course of the battle.

The cameras captured the images, converted them into video signals, and transmitted them to the sound arrays.

The Sages of the Adeptus Mechanicus led a team of Tech-Priests to maintain the operation of the sound arrays and distribute the video signals to each Hive City.

Following the Order Shadow, the Space Wolves appeared; Wolf Lord Jorin and Enoch Lashwin, clad in dark gray power armor, led their Great Companies onto the parade avenue.

Standing on the high platform, Ninglu looked down and could see the unwillingness of the Space Wolves.

Especially from the anger flickering in the eyes of Jorin and Lashwin, one could see they had hoped to win the hunt and be the first to appear.

The third unit to step onto the parade avenue was the Faceless, clad in amber armor.

Suarez, Erlin, and Madsen led their units respectively, marching forward with large strides.

The "Faceless" had only joined the war in the middle and late stages of the Flame Wheel System conflict, and they had no dissatisfaction with being arranged at the end of the Astartes Legion.

The three Astartes Legions stood in neat formation under the high platform.

The citizens of Terra let out enthusiastic cheers; the Astartes were the main force with which the Emperor launched the Great Crusade, and they had reclaimed one lost colony after another for the Imperium.

The propaganda machine activated by Malcador made them know even more that it was the Eleventh, Sixth, and Second Legions that had fought desperately in the Flame Wheel System to purge the evil Xenos.

They knew that the Order Shadow, clad in black armor, were the fewest in number but were positioned at the center.

This was because the Order Shadow had achieved the greatest results, and the Primarch Ninglu had personally slain a powerful Ork Warlord.

On the right side of the formation were the Space Wolves in dark gray armor; they had suffered the greatest sacrifices, and their results were second only to the Order Shadow.

On the left were the Faceless in amber armor; they had joined the war last, and Lord Hannibal was the previous Primarch to return to the Imperium.

"Order Shadow!"

"Space Wolves!"

"Faceless!"

In Iphigenia Hive, a manual laborer with calloused hands said to his two sons:

"Soon there will be a new selection; you must work hard to become an Order Shadow and fight for the Emperor."

"The Luna Wolves would be fine too."

His intelligent and quick-witted second son asked: "Why not the Space Wolves or the Faceless?"

"Lord Horus and Lord Ninglu are not only the first two Primarchs to return."

"More importantly, the 'Luna Wolves' and the 'Order Shadow' are the two Legions with the greatest combat records."

Nearby, another female technician said loudly.

"My son is among the new batch of Candidates who passed the selection; he came home to say goodbye before leaving for Luna."

"I heard him say that in the current selection, the top twenty belong to the 'Luna Wolves' and the 'Order Shadow'."

"In the past, the top fifteen were Luna Wolves Candidates, and the rest were from other Legions; when Lord Ninglu first returned to the Imperium, the sixteenth to the thirtieth were Order Shadow."

"Now, the first place is a Luna Wolves Candidate, the second is Order Shadow, and the third is Order Shadow again..."

She said proudly:

"The most outstanding Candidates all go to these two Legions, and only the rest go to other Legions; my son, Ethan, is the second-place finisher."

"He will become an Order Shadow Candidate, serving the Emperor and working for Lord Ninglu!"

The worker father who spoke earlier exclaimed, "That is truly remarkable!"

He widened his eyes, looking at the woman with envy.

As they talked, the ground of the parade square rumbled and shook as the Titans of the Adeptus Mechanicus marched over.

Ninglu looked down; the paint on the Titans was not the green of the "Morning Star Titan Legion," but the red of Mars.

He understood that they were there as a ceremonial force for the parade.

Malcador had them participate with the intention of demonstrating the Imperium's military strength, boosting the morale of the people of Terra, and making them more active in serving the Imperium.

The Skitarii marched in perfect unison, stepping forward alongside and beneath the Titans; they looked like ants beneath the feet of giants.

After the Titans stood still, the Emperor's majestic voice rang out once more, and the cameras focused on the high platform.

"At the end of the celebration, honors will be bestowed upon the three Primarchs with the greatest combat records in the 'Wheel of Fire' campaign."

"My three sons, please step forward."

Ninglu, Russ, and Hannibal walked out from under the banners and, amidst the envious gaze of Manus, walked behind the Emperor.

Ninglu stood in the center, Russ on the right, and Hannibal on the left.

The Emperor turned around; he saw the light flickering in Manus's eyes—that was ambition, that was the burning fire of a desire to achieve great things.

He turned his gaze back to the three Primarchs before him with satisfaction.

(End of chapter)