本文摘选自《Warhammer Quest - Blackstone Fortress》，该译文作为练习仅为个人与交流使用，不用作商业用途。
唯有战争 · THERE IS ONLY WAR
在灰暗的第四十一个千年，人类已经处在了灭绝的边缘上。混沌诸神的嗜血仆从将恐惧于毁灭撒播于群星之间，饥肠辘辘的恶魔大军从现实结构的裂缝中蜂拥而出，心怀敌意的异形种族向人类疆域内的一众世界发起了进攻。和平是一种遥远的梦想，而唯一的幸存希望就是将外敌与内患尽数消灭。然而，对于弥漫在银河系中的诸多恐怖之物，很少有人能够知道全部的真相……
In the grim darkness of the 41st Millennium, Humanity stands on the brink of extinction. Bloodthirsty servants of the Chaos Gods sow terror and ruin across the stars, ravenous hordes of Daemons pour from tears in the fabric of reality, and hostile alien races advance upon the worlds within Mankind's domain. Peace is a distant dream, and the only hope for survival lies in the complete annihilation of the enemies without and within. Yet few know the full truth of the horrors that pervade the galaxy...
【资料图】
大约四百个世纪前，人类在初次登入寒冷的太空后，便迅速地在群星间开枝散叶了。人类在银河间的众多截然迥异的星球上定居了下来，然而关于他们究竟是何时以及怎样办到的记录，不是佚失于岁月的长河之中，就是被之后长达千年的战火尽数焚毁。在这个纪元中，发展进步宛如流星赶月，而科学技术则发蒙启缚，当它结束后，人类以更快的速度陷入了一个黑暗的时代。变种人在无数的世界上泛滥成灾，灵能者的出现频率变得愈来愈高，而原本设计用来为人类提供服务的机器也转而向自己的主人发起了猛烈地进攻。人类殖民地之间的联系被空前激烈的亚空间风暴尽数切断，这为异形的入侵和灾难性的内乱打开了大门。
After first stepping out into the cold of space some four hundred centuries ago, Humanity swiftly spread out amongst the stars. Records of when and how so many disparate planets across the galaxy were settled have been lost to the ages, destroyed in the fires of war in the long millennia that followed. After this era of meteoric development and technological enlightenment, Mankind was plunged even more quickly into an age of darkness. Mutation ran rampant across countless worlds, psykers began appearing with ever-greater frequency, and the machines designed to serve Humanity turned violently upon their masters. Warp storms of unprecedented ferocity severed the connections between Mankind's colonies, leaving them open to xenos invasion and catastrophic civil strife.
在这个混乱无序的时代，一位领袖挺身而出，人们只知道他叫皇帝。在组建了被称为星际战士的基因强化军团后，为了将分崩离析的人类重新统一起来，他展开了一场漫长的战役。星炬的灵能信号就是在这个时候产生的，这使得导航者能够在群星间的遥远距离上绘出航线。这场大远征旨在将散布于银河间的失落殖民地收复归一，然而就在它达到高潮的时候，皇帝的景愿破灭了。战帅荷鲁斯以及整整半数的星际战士背叛了皇帝，并且站到了混沌诸神的那边。尽管这场叛逆被打败了，然而它的代价极大，皇帝被砍翻在地，他羽翼未丰的帝国就此一蹶不振。皇帝被置入了黄金王座之中，在那里，他被埋葬了一万年之久。
From this time of anarchy emerged a leader known only as the Emperor. After forging Legions of genetically augmented warriors known as the Space Marines, he began a long campaign to unite the fractious elements of Mankind. The psychic signal of the Astronomican was created at this time, allowing Navigators to plot courses over the vast distances between stars. But at the height of this Great Crusade to reclaim the lost colonies scattered across the galaxy, the Emperor's vision was undone. The Warmaster Horus and fully half the Space Marine Legions betrayed the Emperor and sided with the Chaos Gods. Though the Heretics were defeated, it was at great cost, for the Emperor was cut down and his fledgling Imperium was brought to its knees. The Emperor was placed within the Golden Throne, where he has been interred for ten thousand years.
人类的新纪元由此展开——这是一个理性让步于迷信、进步为停滞所取代的时代。混沌和异形的威胁已是迫在眉睫，帝国战争机器的零件被驱动了起来，任何偏离帝国教义机构的行为都被无情地碾碎了。每天都有千百万人死在银河各地的战场上，而那些为了生产大量补物资而苦干无休的人压根就不敢仰望天空，因为他们害怕见到藏匿在群星间的东西。
This was the beginning of a new era for Humanity - an era in which reason gave way to superstition, and progress was replaced by stagnation. The looming Chaos and xenos threats drove the gears of the Imperial warmachine, and any deviation from the dogmatic institutions of the Imperium were ruthlessly crushed. Millions died every day on battlefields across the galaxy, while those that toiled endlessly to produce the vast supplies of materiel dared not look to the skies for fear of seeing what lurked amongst the stars.
然而现如今，就连这个压迫成性的政权也被分成了两半。被称为大裂隙的亚空间风暴劈出了一条横跨银河的通路，将人类帝国一分为二。通过这道巨口一般的裂痕，至高天的能量得以注入到现实之中，与其同在的还有混沌诸神的仆从，从恶魔的疆域中蜂拥而出的它们前来吞噬世界了。那些位于大裂隙北部的帝国行星被隔绝在了星炬的光芒之外，这使其无法呼叫援助以对抗围攻它们的恐怖之物，而在帝国的其它地方，身陷重围的守军比任何时候都要捉襟见肘，因为他们试图拼命阻挡从四面八方杀来的混沌大军和好战的异形。对于人类来说，这场生存之战避无可避。
Yet even this oppressive regime has now been divided. The lattice of warp storms known as the Great Rift has cleaved a path across the breadth of the galaxy, bisecting the Imperium. Empyric energies flow from this maw-like gash in reality, and with them the servants of the Chaos Gods emerge from their daemonic realm to devour worlds. Those Imperial planets to the galactic north of the Great Rift are cut off from the light of the Astronomican, leaving them unable to call for aid against the horrors that besiege them, while in the rest of the Imperium, the beleaguered defenders are stretched thinner than ever before as they desperately try to hold back the Chaos hordes and warlike xenos races encroaching on every side. For Mankind, there is no escaping this war for survival.
然而在这场灾难性的巨变中，有传言开始在银河间散播说，一件刚被发现的人工造物可能会扭转无数的战局。这些私言片域所指的并非仅仅只是一件武器，而是一个古老的物体——一座黑石要塞，其大小堪比行星，威力深不可测。在过去的一年中，曾经有过六座黑石要塞，尽管它们后来不是被摧毁了，就是被大裂隙覆裹而去，但其在群星间制造出来的毁灭依旧是可怕的传说。
But amidst the cataclysmic upheavals, rumours have begun percolating across the galaxy of a newly discovered artefact that could turn the tides of countless wars. What these whispered accounts tell of is no mere weapon, but an ancient planetoid-sized object of unfathomable power - a Blackstone Fortress. In millennia past there had been six other Blackstone Fortresses, and though all have since been destroyed or enveloped within the Great Rift, the devastation they wrought across the stars was the stuff of fearful legend.
第一则与这座新近发现的黑石要塞有关的小道消息来自帝国的西部湾区，而且传言已经开始向帝国疆域的最深处散去。那些正在赶往战区和从陨落世界逃出来的舰艇探测到了一个奇怪的信号，它来自一片从未有人踏足过的宙域，之前那里还是无法通航的。只有那些最勇敢也是最鲁莽的星际旅者才会去试图找出这些脉冲信号的来源所在，因为在这黑暗的时代，探索未知是一件危险的差事。实际上，那些敢于冒险接近信号的人几乎有去无回。不过，少数回来的家伙不仅声称见到了黑石要塞，而且还谈论到在黑暗的走廊里堆满了大量的神秘技术。
The first whispers of this newly uncovered Blackstone Fortress came from the Western Reaches of the Imperium, and have spread towards the furthest extents of Mankind's domain. Ships en route to war zones or fleeing from worlds already lost have detected strange signals emanating from a previously uncharted and unnavigable region of space. Only the bravest and most foolhardy star-farers attempt to locate the source of these impulses, for in these dark times it is perilous to journey into the unknown. Indeed, almost none of those who have ventured towards the signals have returned. Those few who have, however, not only claim to have seen the Blackstone Fortress, but speak of a bounty of arcane technology that lies within its darkened corridors.
第四十一个千年的交战派别无法对这些故事视而不见，但他们也无法将集结起来的部队从战争前线上分拨出去。因此，任务就落到了那些狡猾而又富有冒险精神的人的身上，他们要去找到黑石要塞，然后进入其古老的舱室，继而揭开这艘艨艟星舰的秘密。
The warring factions of the 41st Millennium cannot afford to ignore these stories, but neither can they divert massed forces away from their battlefronts. So it falls to the cunning and the adventurous to find the Blackstone Fortress, to enter its ancient chambers and to unlock the mystery of this monolithic starship.
黑石要塞·THE BLACKSTONE FORTRESS
黑石要塞广袤而又邃黯，它就像是一颗暗无天日的行星，这件造物远远超出了银河系任何种族的知识范围。究竟是谁建造了这艘巨大的飞船？他们的目的是什么？许多人都想知道这些问题的答案，因为即使处于目前的瘫痪状态之下，黑石要塞也依然拥有极大的力量。然而，这种神秘的构造体并非只有一座。许多世纪之前，人类帝国发现了另外六座黑石要塞，它们造成的破坏将银河一分为二……
As vast and dark as a sunless planetoid, the Blackstone Fortress is a creation far beyond the technological ken of any race in the galaxy. Who built this colossal craft and for what purpose are questions that many wish to answer, for evenin its current state of torpor the Blackstone Fortress is possessed of immense power. Yet this mysterious structureis not unique. Six others like it were found by the Imperium many centuries ago, and the destruction they wrought helped to tear the galaxy in half...
帝国关于黑石要塞的最早记录可以追溯到皇帝治下的第二个千年。对休眠星站进行的大量分析以及将其激活的种种尝试被证明是徒劳无功的，不过它们每一台都能产生足够的能量来为机械神教安装的防御炮台和主武器系统供能。很快，黑石要塞就拥有了足以与帝国海军最为强大的指挥站竞相匹敌的军事能力。然而，黑石要塞所蕴藏的潜能将会成为其控制者的阿基里斯之踵。
The earliest Imperial records of the Blackstone Fortresses date back to the second millennium of the Emperor's rule. Extensive analysis and attempts to activate the dormant stations proved fruitless, though each generated more than enough power for them to be fitted by the Adeptus Mechanicus with defence turrets and primary weapons systems. Soon, the Blackstone Fortresses boasted military capabilities that rivalled the greatest command stations in the Imperial Navy. But the untapped potential of the Blackstone Fortresses would prove the undoing of their controllers.
在143.M41左右，掠夺者阿巴顿的混沌舰队涌入了哥特星区，这标志着第十二次黑色远征的开始。作为帝国星区防御的强化海军要塞，六座黑石要塞全都在重要的世界和前哨上占据着封锁阵位。正是在韦伯五号，一支庞大的混沌舰队冲破了帝国的阵线，直接向一座黑石要塞发起了围攻。当入侵舰队进入射程时，黑石要塞的动力系统彻底关机了，这使其无法抵御入侵。
Around 143.M41, the Chaos fleets of Abaddon the Despoiler flooded into the Gothic Sector, marking the beginning of the Twelfth Black Crusade. All six Blackstone Fortresses served as fortified naval bases in the Imperium's defence of the sector, taking up blockading positions above vital worlds and outposts. It was at Rebo V that an enormous armada of Chaos ships broke through the Imperial lines to lay direct siege to one of the Blackstone Fortresses. As the invading fleet drew within range, the Blackstone Fortress' power systems shut down completely, rendering it defenceless against invasion.
在战争期间，阿巴顿的部队还夺走了另外两座黑石要塞。通过某种神秘的手段，异端阿斯塔特让古老的系统运转了起来，而且要比技术神甫所能想象的还要强大。这三股刚刚唤醒的力量全都被用来破坏塔兰提斯的恒星了，那颗由其导致而成的超新星将整个星系抹得的一干二净。然而，通过坚定的决心和血腥的牺牲，哥特星区的守军们还是将入侵者击退了，阿巴顿带着两座被其虏获的黑石要塞遁回了亚空间之中。然后剩下的四座不知怎的就碎成了数千块裂片。
Over the course of the war, two further Blackstone Fortresses were captured by Abaddon's forces. By some arcane means, the Heretic Astartes brought more of the ancient systems into function than had been thought possible by Imperial Tech-Priests. The newly awakened power of all three was used to wreak havoc on the Tarantis star, leading to a supernova that wiped out the entire system. But through grim determination and bloody sacrifice the defenders of the Gothic Sector were able to drive back the invaders, and Abaddon fled into the warp with two of his captured Blackstone Fortresses. The remaining four then mysteriously shattered into thousands of pieces.
黑石要塞的力量再次释放到帝国头上是在第十三次黑色远征期间。阿巴顿将其中的一座巨型星站砸进了卡迪亚的地表，由此产生的亚空间风暴席卷了整颗行星，并导致了卡迪亚之门——这座堡垒已经和恐惧之眼相峙了一万年之久——的崩溃。六座黑石要塞中的最后一座被阿巴顿赠给了红海盗的暴虐之主休伦·黑心，现在就坐落在大裂隙中央的大漩涡里。在整个银河系中，尚未发现其它黑石要塞的存在迹象，直到最近……
The next time the power of a Blackstone Fortress was unleashed upon the Imperium was during theThirteenth Black Crusade. Abaddon hurled one of the colossal stations into the surface of Cadia, and the resulting warp storms that enveloped the planet led to the collapse of the Cadian Gate - the bulwark against the Eye of Terror that had stood for ten millennia. The last of the six Blackstone Fortresses was gifted by Abaddon to Huron Blackheart, the tyrannical master of the Red Corsairs, and now sits within the Maelstrom at the heart of the Great Rift. In all the galaxy, there had been no sign of any other Blackstone Fortresses in existence, until recently...
行商浪人贾努斯·德莱克
Rogue Trader Janus Draik
行商许可令R38-79N1
Warrant of Trade R38-79N1
数据日志条目：11657
Datalog Entry：11657
甚嚣尘上的谣言激起了我的兴趣。我是一个疑心甚重的人——在某种程度上，这也是我依然存活于世的原因——但要是这些故事所言非虚，而且在我们的银河境内真的出现了一座黑石要塞，那么就应该由我来将其拿下【（订正）为了帝国的荣耀】。通过在迪达利安亚星区里的线人，我得到了《纪念之书》和《拉文斯堡的哥特战争论》的副本，以及其它与黑石要塞有关的著作，不过它们的名气要逊色一些。在这些文本中，有许多足以让胆小鬼为之却步的内容，但人类是幸运的，因为会有贾努斯·德莱克这样的勇者为其效力用命。我已经设定了一条前往西部湾区的航线，待抵达之后，我便会尽我所能地对那些引人入胜的谣言展开调查。
The rumours that abound have piqued my interest. I am a sceptical man - in part, that is why I am still alive - but if the stories are true, and a new Blackstone Fortress has indeed appeared within the borders of our galaxy, then it shall be me that claims it <<AMENDMENT> for the glory of the Imperium>. Through my contacts in the Daedalian Sub-sector I have procured copies of the Liber Monumenta and Ravensburg's Treatise on the Gothic War, amongst other less reputable works on the subject of Blackstone Fortresses. There is much in these texts that would give a pusillanimous man pause, but Humanity is fortunate enough to have one as bold as Janus Draik as its servant. I have set a course for the Western Reaches, and upon arrival will investigate - to the fullest extent of my powers - these intriguing rumours.
西部湾区·THE WESTERN REACHES
随着大裂隙的撕开，整个银河都被混沌的能量之涛淹没了。至高天的洪潮冲毁了无数个星系，它们不是被卷入了刚刚形成的亚空间风暴，就是被饥焰中烧的恶魔围困住了。不过，其余被遮蔽了数千年之久的宙域也突然揭开了自己的面纱。在帝国的西部湾区，远在太平星域的边陲之境，一片被认为是完全无法通航的，而且连星语都为之默然的现实宙域开始发出奇怪的信号。事实证明，想要找到这些信号的源头是很困难的，然而从那些达成旅途的船只那里传来了私言切语，那事关一项重大发现——另一座黑石要塞。
As the Great Rift tore open, the entire galaxy was flooded with waves of Chaos energy. Countless systems were destroyed by the empyric deluge, embroiled in newly formed warp storms or beset by ravenous Daemons. But other regions of space that had been shrouded for millennia were suddenly unveiled. In the Imperium's Western Reaches, at the far edge of Segmentum Pacificus, a patch of reality known to be completely unnavigable and astropathically silent began to emit strange signals. Reaching the source of these signals proved difficult, but from those vessels that made the journey came whispers of a monumental discovery - another Blackstone Fortress.
太平星域·SEGMENTUM PACIFICUS
人类帝国最西端的部分被称为太平星域，它是构成皇帝治域的五大星域之一。就像所有的帝国管区一样，太平星域并不是一个栉比相邻的星系网络，而是一片被大块死寂宙域和敌对领土分隔开来的、零星散布的星区和亚星区。甚至在大裂隙打开之前，这个星域就已经被大量的起义和混沌入侵弄得四分五裂了，后世将其称之为千叛之夜。
The westernmost division of the Imperium is known as the Segmenum Pacificus, one of the five Segmentae Majoris that comprise the Emperor's domain. Like all Imperial territory, the Segmentum Pacificus is not a contiguous network of systems, but rather a loose scattering of sectors and ub-sectors, divided by large swathes of dead space and hostile territory. Even before the opening of the Great Rift, this Segmentum was riven by mass uprisings and Chaos invasions in what came to be called the Night of a Thousand Rebellions.
黑石要塞·THE BLACKSTONE FORTRESS
黑石要塞所在的位置曾经是一片寂静区。没有途径这一区域的亚空间航路，附近的宙域中也没有出现过已知的网道桅门。然而现在有人声称自己已经进入了这片区域，并在它的正中央看到了一个巨大的造物。这种谣言很快就传了开来，因为黑石要塞是与无与伦比的宝藏。
The Blackstone Fortress is located in what was once a silent zone. No routes of warp travel passed through this region, and no known webway spars emerged into realspace within the vicinity. Yet there are now those who claim to have entered this space, and to have seen the gargantuan creation that lies at its heart. Such rumours have spread quickly, for a Blackstone Fortress is a treasure without compare.
卡迪亚·CADIA
尽管那座被称为 “永恒意志” 的黑石要塞在卡迪亚围城战期间受到了重创，然而，通过将这艘巨舰撞入星球，阿巴顿得以将帝国的世界一击成齑。
The Blackstone Fortress known as the Will of Eternity was crippled during the siege of Cadia, but by sending the gigantic vessel hurtling into the planet Abaddon was able to sunder the Imperial world in a single fell blow.
帝国暗面·THE IMPERIUM NIHILUS
当大裂隙打开之际，位于其北部的宙域陷入了黑暗之中。将帝国的星系之间的昭昭千里相互钩连起来星炬之光被阻断了，这让无数的世界被隔绝在了不断显现的恐怖之中。现在，人类帝国、混沌和异形部队正拼命地在这个噩梦一般的现实区域中寻找着能够施加影响的武器。
When the Great Rift opened, the region of space to its north was plunged into darkness. The light of the Astronomican that had bridged the vast distances between Imperial systems was cut off, leaving untold worlds isolated amidst the emerging terrors. Imperial, Chaos and xenos forces now desperately search for weapons that can be brought to bear in this nightmarish zone of reality.
大裂隙·THE GREAT RIFT
狂烈的亚空间风暴席卷了整个银河宽面，而大裂隙就是它们的汇合点，该裂隙又被称作“诅咒之瘢”、“毁灭之口”，它还有其它一千个名字。混沌诸神的脏仆污隶、饥肠辘辘的恶魔和嗜血成性的异端阿斯塔特从至高天的伤口中倾涌而出，他们将恐怖与毁灭撒播于群星之间。除非通过那些稀少而又危险的、可以跨越汹涌风暴的星廊栈道，否则大裂隙既无法通过，也无法隔着它进行星语交流，
Known as the Cicatrix Maledictum, the Mouth of Ruin and a thousand other names, the Great Rift is a confluence of raging warp storms that stretches across the entire breadth of the galaxy. From this empyric scar pour the foul servants of the Chaos Gods, ravenous Daemons and bloodthirsty Heretic Astartes, who sow the stars with terror and destruction. Navigation and astropathic communication across the Great Rift is impossible, save for through those rare and perilous passageways that bridge the roiling tempests.
大漩涡·THE MAELSTROM
作为最大也是最猛烈的亚空间风暴群之一，大漩涡已经咆哮了数千年，而如今，它已与大裂隙的破碎节点毗邻相连。在泰拉远征期间，由崛醒的基因原体罗伯特·基里曼所率领的帝国舰队被扯进了大旋涡之中，在那里，他们发现了第六座黑石要塞，现在它已是休伦·黑心及其红海盗的掌中之物了。
One of the largest and fiercest clusters of warp storms, the Maelstrom has raged for millennia, and is now adjoined to the mangled lattice of the Great Rift. During the Terran Crusade, the Imperial fleet led by the arisen Primarch Roboute Guilliman were drawn into the Maelstrom, and there they discovered the last of the six original Blackstone Fortresses, now in the hands of Huron Blackheart and his Red Corsairs.
神圣泰拉·HOLY TERRA
泰拉是人类帝国的中心和人皇的处身之所，它是银河中防卫最森严的行星。百万世界的供给、防御和顺服就是在这里进行组织、筹备和处理的，这是一项极其复杂的任务。通过盘根错节的官僚主义和仪式渠道，人类被引向了生存与制霸的共同目标。
The centre of the Imperium and the seat of the Emperor of Mankind, Terra is the most heavily fortified and defended planet in the galaxy. It is here that the impossibly complex task of organising the supply, defence and compliance of a million worlds is undertaken. Through labyrinthine channels of bureaucracy and ritual, Humanity is steered towards the common purposes of survival and supremacy.
To be continued…
