（小说翻译）战帅
'Warmaster…’
“战帅…”
The word hung in the silence as it left Horus’s lips. Beyond the high crystalflex windows, the light of distant stars hung in sickly folds of gas and dust. Armoured and enthroned, the Primarch of the XVI Legion gazed into the shadows as though waiting for an answer.
说出这个词后，荷鲁斯便陷入了沉默。在高大的曲面水晶舷窗外，遥远群星的光亮悬挂在气体和尘埃组成的病态褶皱中。身披甲胄的第十六军团原体端坐在自己的王座上，他凝视着阴影，好像在等待答案。
‘The title is heavy around my neck. Horus. Lupercal. Father, son, friend, enemy– all are lost beneath the weight of that one word.’He turned his head, looking to the black iron arms of the throne. His eyes moved over the bronze of a mace as tall as a mortal man. It was called Worldbreaker, and he had accepted it from his father’s hand along with the title of Warmaster and command of the Great Crusade. His gaze came to rest upon the eagle-head pommel. A ghost of a smile touched his lips.
“这是个压在我脖子上的沉重头衔。荷鲁斯•卢佩卡尔、父亲、儿子、朋友、敌人——所有的这一切都消失在这个词的重压之下。”他扭头看向王座铁黑色的扶手。荷鲁斯的目光移到某根一人高的青铜锤杖上——这件武器被称为“破世者”，荷鲁斯是从自己父亲手中接下了它，也一并接下了战帅头衔和大远征指挥权。荷鲁斯凝视着锤杖尾端鹰首状的配重球，唇上现出一丝鬼魅般的微笑。
‘Our father never spoke of what it meant, only the limits of its authority. A dangerous word to leave unqualified. Perhaps he intended me to discover its meaning. Perhaps he did not care what it meant, as long as it freed him from us, his sons. Perhaps he did not know what it would mean for his Imperium.’
“我们的父亲从未说过它意味着什么，只说明过它权力的限制。它是个不受限的危险词汇。或许父亲期望我自己发现它的意义。或许父亲并不在意它意味着什么，只要这个词能让他们摆脱我们——他的儿子们就行了。或许他不知道这个词对他的帝国而言将会意味着什么”
Horus raised his hand, and a column of hololithic light filled the air before the throne. The shapes of men and women formed in the grainy projection– twisting, shouting, dying, their pleas and screams looping over and over as the thunder of bolter fire rolled through the silence.
荷鲁斯抬起手，一道全息投影的光柱便填满了王座前的空气。颗粒状的投影形成了男男女女的身形——他们在扭曲、喊叫和死去，他们的哀求和嚎叫在反复循环，同时爆弹枪雷鸣般的开火声也响彻了这片寂静的空间。
‘He knows now.’He nodded to himself, the reflected light of the hololith flickering across the liquid black of his eyes.‘The fire is lit, and all that was is cast to the wind. We are committed– he and I, my brothers and our Legions. All humanity’s futures bound together in this circle of blood. We are all the storm now. The Imperium will fall and rise by my hand. Or fall, and fall, and fall.’
“他现在知道了。”他自顾自地点点头，全息投影的光亮闪烁在他乌黑的眼中。“火焰被点燃了，而过往的一切都已随风逝去。我们都是坚定的——他和我，我的兄弟们和我们的军团们。所有人类的未来都与这份血脉紧密相关。我们现在都是风暴。帝国将在我手中陨落再崛起，或者不断陨落。”
Slowly he stood, his armour whispering and clicking. He gestured again, and more cones of cold light surrounded him, turning with images of blind faces. Some screamed, with words, blood and smoke spewing forth from their mouths, while others droned on in their dead, monotonous voices. Horus inclined his head, listening.
荷鲁斯缓缓起身，他的动力甲发出沙沙声和叮当声。他再次做了个手势，更多的圆锥状冷光投影围绕在了他周围，一些失明的面孔随之出现。一些人在嚎叫着某些话语，他们口中呕吐出鲜血和烟雾，其他人则用死一般单调的声音嘟囔着什么。荷鲁斯的头向前倾去，聆听着这一切。
‘All is blood and the screams of change. Anarchy is this age’s king. We fall apart and this war slips from our fingers to spin into oblivion,’ he said, his voice clear even over the cacophony.
“到处都有鲜血和对变革的呐喊。混乱无序在这个时代称王称霸。我们分崩离析，而这场战争从我们指缝间溜走，迅速恶化成了毁灭”。他说到，话音即便混在噪音间也是清晰可闻的。
Horus turned, watching the holographic recordings bloom around him, and the throne room danced with the ghost-light of a thousand messages.
荷鲁斯转过身，观看着自己周围的全息影像记录。数千条信息（投影）幽灵般的亮光在王座室中跳动着。
‘Isstvan was supposed to burn in silence so that our war could be won before it ever truly began. The Angel’s wings were to be broken at my feet. And still failures come tumbling one over the other. And on, and on.’He paused, his eyes fixed upon the image of a shrunken astropath.‘Calth burned, yet our brother lives. Roboute. Wise Roboute. Roboute with his scratching quills, his plans and his hope. Too understanding, too strong. Too damned perfect.’ Horus let out a long breath, and turned back to his empty throne. ‘I wish he was with us.’
“伊斯特万星系本应当默默燃烧，这样我就能在战争真正开始前便获胜。我也本该踩断那位天使的双翼。而且失败仍旧接踵而至，凡此种种，应接不暇”他停顿了一下，双眼盯着某个星语者缩小的图像。“考斯被焚灭了，然而我们的兄弟仍在活着。罗伯特，睿智的罗伯特。拿着羽毛笔写个不停的罗伯特，以及他那些计划和愿望，都太善解人意，太强大，也太过该死得完美了。”荷鲁斯长长地呼出一口气，转身背对着自己空荡荡的王座。“我希望他本是我们的同道中人。”
With a flick of his bladed fingers, the throng of images vanished and silence flowed back with the returning shadows. Horus shook his head, his eyes still fixed upon the throne.
他那利刃状的手指一挥，成群的影像便消失了，寂静也随着阴影的回归而流回此处。荷鲁斯摇了摇头，双眼仍旧注视着王座。
‘You would say that I listened too much to Alpharius and Lorgar– that a war fought with deceit is doomed to fail. Perhaps you would be right. The Hydra does not see all, and now his blindness places a knife at his own back. Corax would not have made such an error.’He gave a mirthless laugh.‘Strange is it not, that so many I wish beside me stand against me, while at my back are only the flawed and damaged. I am a master of broken monsters.’
“你会说我听了阿尔法瑞斯和珞珈的太多谗言——以欺骗手段进行的战争注定要失败。或许你会是正确的。九头蛇没有看到一切，而他的失明让自己的背后被抵上了一把刀。克拉克斯不会犯这种错误。”他露出一幅悲伤的笑容。“很奇怪吧，很多我希望能站在我身边的人现在却反对我，而站在我背后的尽是些有损伤和有缺陷的家伙。我成了一群支离破碎的怪物们的主子。”
Slowly he began to circle the edge of the great hololithic table, the sound of his footsteps lost in the echoing silence.
他绕着那张巨大全息投影桌的边缘缓缓走动，脚步声消失于回荡在此处的寂静中。
‘I cannot control them or their sons, and they know it. Mortarion and Perturabo and the rest, they can all feel it. They all know that this war is no longer something that can be guided, only ridden out. But they never understood me, not truly, and they understand less with each passing second. They doubt. They think that I have lost my way. I can see it in their hearts– the pettiness, the pride, the seeds of ruin driving them on, feeding the tempest. With such creatures must I remake the future!’
“我无法控制他们和他们的儿子，他们也知道这一点。莫塔里安、佩图拉博和其他人，他们都能感受到。他们都知道这场战争不再能被引导，只能被驱赶着向前。但他们从未理解过我，没有真正理解过，而且每过去一秒，他们的理解就更少一分。他们怀疑我，认为我已经迷失了道路。我能从他们心里看出来——卑劣，傲慢，毁灭的种子驱使着他们，助长了风暴。而我必须和这种生物一起重构未来！”
He stopped again at the foot of the throne, and reached out. His hand closed over Worldbreaker’s haft. With casual ease he raised it up, so that the chamber’s thin light caught every dent and scar on the polished metal.
他又停在王座脚下，并伸出手来。他的手握住了破世者的柄。他漫不经心地把它举起来，这样，房间里的微弱光线就能照到抛光金属上的每一个凹痕和疤痕。
‘A thousand battles. Ten thousand. Ten times ten times ten thousand, to bring about the new age. All of the certainties of the past torn down, all the beliefs that made them turned to ashes. War on every front, stretched across time until none can know when the final blow will come. There is no disaster, for all disasters serve me alone. The storm rises only so that the thunderbolt may fall.’
“一千次战斗，然后是一万次，再然后就是一百万次战斗，目的就是为了开创这个新时代。过去的所有确定性都被摧毁，构成它们的所有信念也都化为了灰烬。战争在每条战线上展开，它跨越了时间，没人知道最后一击何时到来。现在世间没有了灾难，因为所有灾难都在为我服务。只有卷起了风暴，雷霆才可能落下。”
He looked down at the throne again, shaking his head sadly. His arm relaxed and Worldbreaker rested at his side. His gaze shifted, as though he were looking at something beyond what lay in front of him.
他再次低头看向王座，悲伤地摇摇头。他垂下手臂，破世者靠在他身边。他移开了目光，好像是看穿他面前的事物，盯着其后面的某些存在。
‘No other would have dared this. Not even you. Perhaps that is why our father chose me. Perhaps that was his only moment of honesty.’ Then his gaze focused and hardened, black eyes like reflective pools in the face of an unforgiving king.
“没有其他人敢这样做，即使你也是如此。或许这就是我们的父亲为何选择了我，或许那是他唯一坦诚的时刻。”此刻，荷鲁斯注视前方，眼神变得冷酷，他能如同水潭那般倒映出事物的黑色双眼面对着一位无情的王者。
Upon the arm of the throne, the skull of Ferrus Manus stared back at Horus with empty sockets that had once been eyes. A thin fracture-web of cracks ran across the perfect dome of the slain primarch’s crown, spiralling back to a splintered pit in its temple. Even reduced to polished bone, the skull still seemed to radiate strength and defiance.
费鲁斯 马努斯的骷髅被摆在了王座的扶手上，用曾是眼睛的空洞眼窝回望着荷鲁斯。骨骼裂纹所组成的细网覆盖着原体完美的颅盖，旋回到太阳穴破裂的骨坑中。尽管沦为了被抛光的骨头，但这颗颅骨似乎仍旧放射出力量和蔑视。
‘It does not matter how the galaxy burns, only that it does. Warmaster– that is what it means, my brother. The strength to do what must be done.’
“银河怎样燃烧并不重要，只有令它燃烧才是要紧的。这就是战帅的意义，我的兄弟。那是去行必为之事的力量。”
