Solemn gazes all converged on Romulus.
They were waiting for an answer, not even caring that the Archmagos was monitoring the eting.
"We already know the invasion pattern of this type of swarm. Genestealers infect the citizens of the Imperium and transmit local data to their respective Hive Fleet. The Hive Fleet then plots its course, devouring every inhabited planet along the way."
Romulus pointed at Macragge, a star system composed of a civilized world, a shrine world, an agri-world, and a Hive World, capable of a perfect internal cycle of sustenance.
"Ultramar is a prosperous realm, with Macragge as its crown jewel. Moreover, Lord Guilliman is the only Primarch who can still be gazed upon by the citizens of the Imperium. Countless transport fleets travel to Ultramar every year. As for the infiltration capabilities of the Genestealers, I believe everyone who has read the combat reports has seen it firsthand."
Compared to Dorn who left behind a hand, Ferrus who left behind a head, and Sanguinius who left behind a re stain, Guilliman was in a much better state. Suspended within a Stasis Field, he could even be considered the only living Primarch in the present-day Imperium, as well as the only one still making "public appearances."
"Damn it, I knew the vanity of those Ultramarian descendants would bring them a world of trouble."
Erlon, Chapter Master of the Nesis, slamd his fist hard onto the table. It was obvious that these warriors of Terran descent had inherited the original fiery temper of their Primarch.
Only then did he realize that the leader of the Invincible Iron Guard from ten thousand years ago was sitting right beside him.
"...My apologies, Elder. I did not an you."
"It matters not."
Drakus shook his head. He could understand such an arrangent. After all, compared to the high-pressure environnt of the Imperium, Macragge possessed a sense of ease that other human worlds lacked, operating entirely on a democratic parliantary system.
Back when the traitorous Night Lord Konrad Curze infiltrated Macragge, there were even citizens protesting the lockdown, which had left their group of Invincible Iron Guards anxiously pacing in circles.
Putting their Primarch on display for public reverence now was not an entirely unexpected move. A mistake was simply a mistake.
Unfortunately, they had failed to protect the Primarch, and they had even failed to protect Lady Tarasha Euten, who had raised him.
"My Lord, based on your past experience, how long will it be until the Hive Fleet reaches the Macragge sector?"
Hiding the sorrow in his eyes, Drakus asked straightforwardly.
The origins of the four Transmigrators could not be clearly explained. The Dark Angels and Thousand Sons absolutely could not be ntioned in the open. Even the Stormcast Eternals could only attribute their existence to the miracle of The Emperor, simply treating this group as if they were another chapter's Primarchs.
Up until now, not only the Transmigrators themselves, but even Cawl had taken the initiative to block genetic verification. Thus, they could only rely on existences like Drakus, whose identities and genetics had already been verified, to constantly fill in the gaps.
Extragalactic enemies served as an excellent pretext.
"A conservative estimate would be four Terran years."
Romulus replied swiftly.
It really had to be the Ultramarines. Dantioch and the other Imperial Fists' Stormcast Eternals were like sealed jars, not uttering a single word.
"My Lord, we can make it in ti."
Macragge was located in the southeastern part of the Galaxy, separated from their current position by nearly half the Galaxy.
After rapidly questioning the Navigators and receiving a response, Supre High Marshal Ledodes spoke up.
For so unknown reason, after the God-Emperor revealed His miracle, the current currents of The Warp were incredibly calm. The four Evil Gods of The Empyrean seed to have turned their attention inward, no longer choosing to focus their efforts on interfering with reality.
Then, with a slightly conflicted expression, he added.
"However, the Black Templars can only provide four thousand warriors for this crusade, along with a fleet consisting of one Gloriana-class battleship and three standard battleships. We will need to split the fleet along the way to answer the distress calls of other allies."
Look at that. What did it an to have a massive enterprise? What did "only" even an here?
"The Nesis can provide the Combat Power of a full Codex-compliant Chapter. The Nesis fleet will also accompany the expedition."
Erlon chid in, making it sound as if the three companies they had previously lost on Piedmont Pri had been instantly replenished.
Look at this—a veritable Schrödinger's thousand n.
"..."
The Transmigrators sized up the two who had spoken first. One was entirely unrestrained, while the other held back just a little.
'I finally understand. Every single one of you Terran descendants is running an over-recruiting guerrilla squad.'
But it was understandable. A Chapter capable of operating a Gloriana-class battleship absolutely had to number more than a thousand warriors.
As for how to reach this conclusion, one only needed to look at the strictly Codex-compliant Ultramarines. Their Gloriana-class ship could only be parked at Macragge as a tourist attraction, just like Guilliman. Hoping for it to form an active Fighting Force was pure delusion.
The remaining Crimson Fists and Executioners also stated their positions. They had not arrived at full Chapter strength, but they still retained operational autonomy.
Everyone understood why Romulus brought this up. He wanted to borrow their strength to participate in a sufficiently grand war, thereby forging good relations with the Founding Chapters of the new era. This would bring them into the Imperium's field of vision and raise their prestige, facilitating their future army-building efforts.
One could only say that he truly lived up to being a progeny of Lord Guilliman.
However, none of them had any objections to this approach, even if it could be seen as using them.
Why would they refuse?
Please, being able to follow the Elders on a crusade spanning nearly half the Galaxy to fight a great enemy that coveted a Primarch—just thinking about it was incredibly cool.
And The Sharks had no objections either.
Tyberos looked at the manifest in his massive hands.
An Adeptus chanicus escort fleet, a comprehensive upgrade for the Space Sharks' fleet—redeed on the spot.
Twenty percent of a Forge World's output for an entire century, which could be collected at any ti from several designated Forge Worlds as ti went on.
Then he looked at the number of casualties his Chapter had suffered in this war: just over two hundred warriors.
The towering giant sighed softly.
After fighting this battle, the favor had not been repaid; instead, the debt had only grown larger.
'When will we ever be able to return to the Outer Dark?'
Calculating the ti they had spent entering the Galaxy this ti, Tyberos fell into a state of blissful frustration.
Moreover, the four Elders were probably about to distribute Relic equipnt once again.
Just as Tyberos expected, Romulus presented another manifest.
"Well, for this operation, we cannot provide as much as the Archmagos, but this is a modest reward."
The classic trio: aircraft, tanks, and power armor.
Looking at the equipnt listed, everyone got to experience a wave of extravagance uniquely flavored by Ultramar.
"My Lord, we cannot—"
Ledodes almost instinctively chose to refuse, but he was interrupted by Romulus.
"We no longer have many n left who can use this equipnt."
He stated, instantly plunging the conference hall into an eerie silence.
"Accept them."
"Yes, my Lord."
Everyone nodded gloomily.
"By the way, I hope you can send a warning to the various Chapters that still possess the remains of their Primarchs. Tell them to lock down all information regarding their Primarchs and to prepare contingency plans for relocation at a mont's notice."
Romulus added once more.
"Leave it to us, my Lord."
Ledodes patted his chest and took on the task.
The Black Templars had crusaded across the Galaxy for ten thousand years. Their debts of Honor were too nurous to count. Aside from not getting along with their own kin, they maintained close ties with all the Founding Chapters.
Of course, out of brotherly camaraderie, he would definitely send them a notification. As for where the information ca from, his brothers shouldn't ask.
"Good. I will leave this troubling matter in your hands."
Romulus nodded in approval. Having this band of "Black Orcs" act as social butterflies certainly made things easier. Then, after a mont's thought, he appended.
"Also, the information must ideally be delivered face-to-face by a dedicated courier. Avoid all other thods, including psychic transmission, as much as possible. You must only share the information after the recipient's genetic tests are confird to be completely error-free. You can obtain this type of genetic testing Instrunt from Archmagos Cawl."
"The Explorer Fleet will continue to accompany you on this operation, and the entire fleet can be fully resupplied when we pass through the Forge World of Tigrus."
Cawl accepted the opportunity Romulus offered him and continued speaking, though he felt exceptionally frustrated internally.
He had just resolved the surgical flaws of the Primaris Space Marines and tackled the technical difficulties of the Armor of Fate. Yet, right on the heels of that success, the very person he was supposed to help was about to be eaten by Xenos.
'Why did Xenos and heretics always have to oppose ?'
"Then we will leave the navigational route planning to you."
Romulus smiled and nodded. After working so hard for so long, he could finally slack off a bit.
"My Lord, the Black Templars can share our navigational routes with you, excluding the classified ones."
Ledodes chid in once more.
The Supre High Marshal really knew how to read the room.
Navigational routes were highly guarded reserves for any fleet. Aside from the standard ones, they were rarely shared because a single misstep regarding them could determine a fleet's survival.
If the enemy learned the routes you controlled, they could essentially dictate your movents within a sector. A fleet lacking sufficient strength would be ambushed and obliterated.
"Thank you, Supre High Marshal. In that case, the eting is adjourned."
Romulus and his companions were the first to stand up.
"Oh, right. Aside from Techmarine Dantioch, who still needs to provide us with assistance, we will not interfere with the departure or stay of the other mbers."
Taking a few steps toward the door, Romulus turned his head back and dropped another pleasant surprise on the Chapter mbers.
"Huh?"
Everyone looked at the Elders beside them with pleasant surprise.
These Veterans from the Great Crusade era nodded in unison. The Transmigrators had initiated this discussion with them.
The first batch of Stormcast Eternals was fundantally a brute-force experint, rely ant to verify the correctness of the concept. Upon death, they still returned directly to The Empyrean like the daemons of the Four Gods, requiring another ritual to be summoned again. In truth, the cost was quite high.
Just over two hundred n couldn't accomplish much in the hands of the Transmigrators. After Romulus individually recorded their combat models, their imdiate usefulness was more or less exhausted. It was better to let them use the military experience they had soaked up on frontline battlefields—where the intensity far exceeded anything in the 41st Millennium—to guide and improve these juniors.
Rases was already researching a completely new ritual procedure. Only units that could be rapidly pulled back to reform their Combat Power after dying in battle were within their scope of consideration.
Aside from technical talents like Dantioch, there was no need to keep the rest tethered to them.
'Hiss... Thinking about it this way, The Emperor truly had deep underlying intentions.'
'The others were all company seniors from before the various Chapters' Second Founding. Only Dantioch was a solitary Loyalist Iron Warrior. Wasn't he left specifically for them?'
Walking along the outer pronade, Romulus increasingly felt that The Emperor was acting more like a real person.
"..."
Rases looked at Romulus's expression and shook his head with a smile.
Sotis, when a person suddenly treated you well, it wasn't because their personality had suddenly changed; it was because they were afraid.
"What do we do next?"
Arthur asked.
"Arthur, go transport the equipnt. Rases, hurry up and finish writing the manual, then send it to . Dantioch and I will discuss technical issues."
Romulus quickly gave out instructions.
"Alright."
Arthur nodded, called out to several Veterans, and headed for the landing pad together, ready to empty the warehouses on the Dawn where Romulus had prepared the equipnt.
Seeing that there was nothing for him to do, Karna very decisively took off before Arthur could draft him, slipping away into the crowd of Mortals.
—
"This is the equipnt for the mission, and here is the accounting manifest."
"Thank you, Elder."
Aboard the Eternal Crusader, Ledodes, who had only recently returned to his battleship, was in the cargo bay receiving the equipnt transport team.
"Mhm."
Arthur nodded. He scanned the surroundings, and after making sure there were no outsiders, he returned to the transport craft and pushed out a gene-seed containnt vault that was twice the height of a man and still emitting cold vapor.
"This is..."
Ledodes peered inside as Arthur slid open the cover, only to find it completely filled with gene-seed.
Based on the volu of the containnt vault, a conservative estimate would be around five hundred vials.
He was instantly rendered speechless.
"They are perfectly complete, and the surgical procedures are included."
Arthur interjected with a reminder.
Ledodes took a deep breath.
"This is far too precious!"
Never in his wildest dreams did Ledodes expect that not only would these Elders hand over a massive gift, but upon opening it, they found it stuffed with solid gold.
These were complete Imperial Fists gene-seeds.
It had to be understood that for the Sons of Dorn, the issue was fundantally not as simple as having lost the surgical procedures. How could a dignified Founding Chapter fail to procure complete surgical protocols? The truly fatal issue was that after Dorn's disappearance, their rapid conscription asures triggered a degradation in their gene-seed. This caused the cultivated organs to be completely ineffective, forcing them to abandon certain surgeries out of necessity.
And now, pristine, complete gene-seeds were laid out right before them.
This filled Ledodes with an undeniable sense of mission, while also igniting a fierce sense of Honor for his own Chapter, the Black Templars.
'As expected, they were the true inheritors of Dorn's will. Why else would the Elders have chosen them?'
"As I said before, we need n to put these to use."
Arthur stated, his tranquil deanor making it impossible to refuse.
"My Lord, I swear to you, we will screen for the most outstanding initiates to bear the Honor of the Elders!"
Ledodes imdiately contacted the Chapter's Apothecaries while offering a solemn salute to Arthur, then made his vow.
"Naturally. I have faith in you."
Arthur returned the salute with earnest respect.
"Furthermore, I require compensation."
"Na it, my Lord!"
Ledodes puffed out his chest.
Arthur did not reply imdiately. Instead, he raised his head and swept his gaze over the various high-ranking officers of the Black Templars. Every single person who t his eyes puffed out their chest.
"..."
Arthur nodded silently. Then, he casually tossed aside his Shield, grasped his black sword, and stepped up to a clearing on the landing pad.
"Co."
The Black Knight raised his blade, extending an invitation to the mbers of the Sword Brotherhood.
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