Chapter 275 — The Codex Astartes
The workshop remained quiet after Gaius's answer.
"A day."
The words lingered in the air long after he spoke them.
Nobody immediately responded.
The machinery around them continued its low hum, filling the silence that had suddenly settled over the room.
Halsey was the first to speak.
Slowly.
Carefully.
"A thousand Psykers a day?"
Gaius nodded.
"Yes."
Halsey's eyes remained fixed on him.
"For ten thousand years?"
Again, Gaius nodded.
"Yes."
The room became quiet once more.
Naruto and Mindy exchanged looks.
Neither of them spoke.
A thousand people.
Every day.
For ten thousand years.
Even without calculating it, they understood the scale was enormous.
The number was simply too large to comfortably fit inside the human mind.
Halsey, however, had already done the calculation.
One thousand per day.
Three hundred sixty-five thousand per year.
Over ten thousand years.
More than three billion lives.
And that assumed the number had remained constant.
The actual total could easily be higher.
The figure itself did not shock her.
The Imperium governed over a million worlds.
Against a civilization of that scale, three billion might not even be statistically significant.
That wasn't what gave her pause.
What mattered was something else entirely.
The sacrifice was deliberate.
Organized.
Continuous.
It wasn't casualties from war.
It wasn't a natural disaster.
It wasn't an unavoidable consequence of conflict.
It was a sacrifice built directly into the operation of the Imperium itself.
Every day.
Without interruption.
For ten thousand years.
Her expression hardened slightly.
Not because she was outraged.
Because she understood.
The Astronomican was not merely a technological system.
It had a recurring cost.
A cost paid in human lives.
And according to Gaius, humanity had judged that cost acceptable.
Or perhaps necessary.
Across the table, Naruto's expression had become noticeably more serious.
He wasn't smiling anymore.
Mindy had lost much of her earlier excitement as well.
The number was difficult to picture.
But the principle behind it was easier to grasp.
An empire so dependent on a single beacon that it had fed that beacon for ten millennia.
Nobody spoke for several moments.
Gaius remained silent.
To him, it was simply reality.
A fact of life.
The Imperium had operated this way for longer than most civilizations in history had existed.
The alternative, from the Imperial perspective, was worse.
Without the Astronomican, countless ships would become lost in the Warp.
Entire worlds would be isolated.
Supply lines would collapse.
Trade would fail.
Communication would fail.
Entire sectors of humanity could disappear into darkness.
The sacrifice was terrible.
But so was the cost of stopping it.
Eventually, Tony shifted slightly in his seat.
The movement alone broke the stillness.
He looked toward Gaius.
"What happened after that?" he asked.
His voice was calm.
"Since Horus was killed, what about the other Traitor Legions?"
The question pulled everyone's attention away from the Golden Throne.
Away from the Astronomican.
Away from the sacrifices.
Back toward history.
Gaius turned toward him.
"The Great Scouring."
He allowed the name to settle for a moment.
Then he continued.
"That was the period when the Loyalists were no longer merely defending what remained of Humanity."
His voice remained steady.
"They began hunting the Traitors."
Naruto straightened slightly.
Mindy looked interested again.
Halsey remained focused.
Gaius continued.
"After the Horus Heresy, the traitor forces were still scattered across many worlds."
"They had not been destroyed completely."
The war had ended.
But the enemy remained.
"So the surviving Loyalist Legions, along with the Imperium's forces, launched a massive counteroffensive."
Halsey's eyes narrowed slightly.
"A purge?"
Gaius nodded.
"In simple terms, yes."
There was no hesitation in the answer.
"It was a long campaign intended to break the remaining traitor fleets, reclaim lost systems, and push the enemy back wherever possible."
The explanation sounded straightforward.
The reality was probably anything but.
The Imperium had emerged victorious.
But victory did not erase the damage already done.
The traitors still existed.
Someone had to deal with them.
Gaius continued.
"After the Great Scouring, and with the Emperor unable to directly govern the Imperium, my Gene-father, the Primarch Roboute Guilliman, assumed much of that responsibility."
A subtle hint of pride entered his voice when he spoke Guilliman's name.
Tony noticed it immediately.
So did Halsey.
Neither commented.
"He reorganized much of the Imperium."
"He established institutions."
"He reformed its administration."
"He worked to ensure Humanity could endure even without the Emperor's direct leadership."
Tony slowly nodded.
"So he became the man holding everything together."
"In many ways, yes," Gaius replied.
The answer came without hesitation.
Then he continued.
"And he created what is perhaps the most influential military text in Imperial history."
Naruto tilted his head.
"A military book?"
Gaius nodded.
"The Codex Astartes."
The name clearly carried significance.
Even the way he said it felt different.
Respectful.
Measured.
Important.
"It was written to preserve the lessons learned during the Horus Heresy."
His gaze moved across the room.
"To ensure that the mistakes which nearly destroyed Humanity would never be repeated."
That immediately caught Halsey's attention.
A military doctrine created by one of the architects of a galaxy-spanning civilization was not something she could easily dismiss.
Gaius continued.
"The Codex Astartes covers strategy, logistics, organization, command structure, battlefield doctrine, and countless other subjects."
Tony raised an eyebrow.
"The way you describe it, I'd actually want to read it."
Naruto laughed.
"A military book?"
Tony shrugged.
"He just called it the greatest military text in Imperial history."
"That tends to get your attention."
Naruto couldn't really argue with that.
Even if military doctrine sounded unbelievably boring to him.
Halsey remained silent.
But internally, she found herself agreeing with Tony.
An empire that had survived ten thousand years after a civil war that nearly destroyed it would possess an immense amount of military knowledge.
Knowledge accumulated across countless campaigns.
Countless wars.
Countless generations.
For a brief moment, she found herself wanting to read it as well.
Gaius continued.
"It was also during this period that Lord Guilliman studied the Horus Heresy and identified one of the major causes of the disaster."
Halsey's attention sharpened immediately.
"Oh?"
She leaned forward slightly.
"What was it?"
Gaius answered without hesitation.
"The Legions."
The room became quiet.
Tony frowned.
"The Legions?"
Gaius nodded.
"Before the end of the Heresy, the Space Marines were organized as Legions."
He paused briefly.
"Each Legion could number in the tens of thousands."
Another pause.
"Some exceeded one hundred thousand Astartes."
That immediately drew attention.
Even Halsey looked surprised.
One hundred thousand warriors.
Not all of them as powerful as Gaius, but the number alone was difficult to comprehend.
An army of superhuman soldiers.
All under a single command.
The amount of military power represented by that statement was staggering.
Gaius continued.
"When a Primarch remained loyal, that power defended Humanity."
His voice remained calm.
"But when a Primarch turned traitor..."
He paused.
"The result was catastrophic."
Understanding appeared on Halsey's face almost immediately.
"One man controlled too much military power."
"Yes."
Gaius nodded.
"Lord Guilliman concluded that no single commander should ever again possess an entire Legion."
Naruto blinked.
"He dissolved them?"
"In a manner of speaking."
Gaius folded his arms.
"The Legions were divided into smaller, independent Chapters."
He continued.
"Most Chapters were limited to roughly one thousand Astartes."
Tony immediately understood the logic.
"If one Chapter falls, you lose a thousand."
He nodded slowly.
"Not a hundred thousand."
"Correct."
Gaius nodded.
"It ensured that never again could half of the Space Marines of Humanity follow a handful of traitorous leaders into rebellion."
Halsey's eyes narrowed slightly.
"Did it?"
The room became quiet.
Tony glanced toward her.
Halsey continued.
"The Legions may be smaller now."
"But Guilliman still exists."
She folded her arms.
"And if a Primarch can still unite multiple Chapters, then the concentration of power still remains."
Naruto blinked.
"Oh."
Tony immediately understood.
"She's got a point."
He looked toward Gaius.
"If Guilliman turned traitor tomorrow, wouldn't a lot of Chapters follow him?"
For a moment, Gaius remained silent.
Then he shook his head.
"Not in the way Horus was followed."
Everyone listened.
"The Legions no longer exist."
"Each Chapter possesses its own command structure."
"Its own fleets."
"Its own fortress-monastery."
"Its own Chapter Master."
He paused.
"They are allies."
"Not subordinates."
Halsey listened carefully.
"So Guilliman does not directly command them."
"No."
Gaius answered.
"He may request."
"He may advise."
"He may lead."
"But Chapter Masters retain authority over their own Chapters."
Tony nodded slowly.
"So if he somehow fell..."
"Some Chapters might follow."
Gaius admitted.
"But many would not."
He paused.
"No single Primarch possesses direct command authority over hundreds of thousands of Astartes anymore"
Not to Guilliman.
That answer seemed to satisfy Halsey.
The system was not perfect.
No system ever was.
But it was significantly harder to corrupt than the old Legion structure.
Gaius continued.
"The Codex Astartes was designed with that in mind."
Immediately, Tony's attention sharpened.
"The Codex again."
He leaned forward slightly.
"You keep mentioning it."
A grin appeared.
"Do you actually have a copy?"
The question immediately drew attention.
"I'd like to read it."
Halsey said nothing.
But her eyes shifted toward Gaius immediately.
She was interested for much the same reason.
A military text influential enough to shape an empire for ten thousand years was not something a scientist simply ignored.
Across the room, Naruto had apparently reached the limit of his interest in military theory.
He had begun staring at the ceiling.
As if something up there was significantly more entertaining.
Mindy glanced between everyone.
Still listening.
Not particularly invested.
But listening.
Gaius looked at Tony.
Then at Halsey.
Finally, he answered.
"I do not have a copy."
Tony immediately looked disappointed.
"Seriously?"
Gaius nodded.
"Even if I did, I doubt either of you would read it in its entirety."
Tony raised an eyebrow.
"How large is it?"
For the first time during the discussion, Gaius looked faintly amused.
"The Codex Astartes is not a single book in the way you imagine."
The amusement remained subtle.
Barely visible.
But it was there.
"It is an enormous collection of volumes."
"A comprehensive body of military doctrine."
"Annotated by centuries of commentary."
"Constantly revised through successive interpretations and battlefield experience."
"Containing tactical analyses from countless campaigns."
"Defining organizational structures for Adeptus Astartes formations."
"Compiled alongside extensive after-action records."
He paused.
"Accumulated over millennia."
Tony's expression slowly changed.
The grin disappeared.
Halsey remained silent.
Gaius continued.
"Many Astartes spend decades learning its teachings."
A brief pause followed.
"Some devote significant portions of their lives to mastering its contents."
Silence.
Tony stared.
Halsey stared.
Naruto stopped looking at the ceiling long enough to glance back toward Gaius.
Even Mindy blinked.
Tony immediately pointed at him.
"Okay."
He shook his head.
"That's not a book anymore."
Another pause.
"That is a library."
A faint smile appeared on Gaius's face.
"A reasonable description."
The room relaxed slightly.
Even Halsey had to admit that her earlier assumption had completely vanished.
She had imagined a military text.
A large one, perhaps.
A significant one.
Not an entire collection of knowledge accumulated over millennia.
Not something people spent centuries studying.
That wasn't a book.
Tony was right.
That was a library.
And somehow, after everything she had learned about the Imperium, that felt entirely appropriate.
The conversation gradually settled.
The discussion had begun with the Golden Throne.
The Emperor.
The Astronomican.
The sacrifices required to sustain it.
Now it had shifted toward something else.
The rebuilding of the Imperium.
Guilliman's reforms.
The division of the Legions.
The Codex Astartes.
A civilization trying to ensure that its greatest disaster would never happen again.
Tony still looked interested.
Halsey no less so.
Naruto had clearly decided military theory was not nearly as exciting as Primarchs fighting daemon monsters.
Mindy remained somewhere in the middle.
~~~
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