"I did not act without authorization. Everything I did was under the Primarch's command," Axis said calmly.
"And don't forget, I'm your superior. I'm the one giving you orders, not the other way around. You need to get that straight."
How dare she question him! Wasn't this ridiculous?
He was the Shield-Captain of the Custodian Guard, while she was just a psyker assigned to him by the Emperor. Sure, she was powerful, but she had no right to command him.
Kasha was montarily speechless.
Although she was the Emperor's daughter, when it ca to rank, she was indeed supposed to take orders from Axis.
Kasha took a deep breath.
"I was only worried for your safety. You and the Primarch coming here alone is simply too dangerous," Kasha said, her concern genuine.
"Don't worry! We're fine, and in fact, we've had an unexpected surprise," Axis replied, gesturing toward the Second Primarch sitting nearby.
At Axis's hint, Kasha finally noticed the Second Primarch, now fully recovered.
"Wh-what? How is this possible? You… he… the Primarch actually…!" Kasha stared in disbelief at the restored Primarch.
The mind-control device of the Rangda was gone from his head.
This had to be a joke!
Before she'd left, her father had specifically told her that the Second Primarch was beyond saving.
According to research from so Imperial survivors, once that brain-control device was removed, even if the Rangda weren't actively controlling the device, you would die almost imdiately.
And that thing would keep destroying the brain tissue, removing it by force would only result in total brain death.
How on earth had Axis managed this?
And what about the rest of the Second Legion Astartes?
The Second Primarch nodded at Kasha, clearly having no idea what was going on.
Kasha gave him a gentle smile, then turned to Axis and asked, "Axis! What on Terra happened here?"
"Miss Kasha, it's very simple. Using so rather special thods, I was able to repair the Second Primarch's brain damage and free him from the Rangda's control," Axis said with a faint smile, wiggling his fingers.
Russ chid in, "Our brother has survived! There's nothing more worth celebrating."
"Soone, give the Second Primarch a full body examination, just to be sure. My lord Primarch, are you feeling alright?" A mortal Imperial Guard officer stepped forward to ask.
The Second Primarch gave the man a sowhat dazed look, then shook his head.
"I'm sorry, sir, but I've lost my mory. I don't know who any of you are, or who I am, or even where I am," the Second Primarch replied with a wry smile, resisting the urge to clutch at the bald patch of hair, where the phantom pain was still lingering.
Everyone exchanged glances, and a few dics quickly stepped forward to examine the Second Primarch.
Before long, they reached a conclusion.
The Second Primarch was a bit weak at the mont, with bruises and injuries all over his body, with only the shining bald path of his head without any bruises.
But overall, he wasn't in any real danger, his condition was actually quite good.
"Lord Custodian, if you were able to save the Second Primarch, wouldn't you have been able to save those Astartes who were under mind control as well?" the officer approached Axis, visibly emotional.
"I'm sorry," Axis shook his head, "My thod only works on Primarchs whose natural healing abilities, ntal fortitude and toughness far surpasses the astrates. Ordinary astrates won't be can't withstand my healing, at least not at the mont.
"Not to ntion those Astartes have already been deeply controlled by the Rangda mutants, unlike the second primarch who held onto a sliver of reason. All I can do was put them down."
It was only because a Primarch's brain was so resilient and their regenerative power so strong that Axis could repair such damage at all.
If it had been an ordinary human, or even a gene-enhanced Astartes, he doubted it would have worked. The Custodes, on the other hand, might be able to endure it; besides the Emperor and the Primarchs, they were the most powerful and perfect humans alive.
The Imperial officer stood there in disappointnt for a mont, then gave Axis a formal Imperial salute before turning away.
He had hoped that his fellow soldiers, those taken by the Rangda, could still be saved. But it turned out, there was no hope after all.
"There are still a few hundred surviving Astartes on this planet, all from the Second Legion. You can go and help them now," Russ said as he walked over.
Now, there was no need for an Exterminatus order.
The aftermath would be much easier to handle. The Second Legion had taken terrible losses, with only a few hundred survived, but as long as the Primarch remained, they could always rebuild.
The mortal officers all nodded and imdiately began rescue operations on the planet.
Before long, the rescue teams noticed sothing strange: the entire planet seed to have been bombarded by so sort of mysterious energy.
Everywhere there were signs of high-altitude bombardnt, but not a single fragnt of ordnance could be found.
How odd!
Their destroyers and battle barges were all still in orbit, and none of them had carried out any form of bombardnt.
So what had caused all this destruction?
The Imperial scribe racked his brains but couldn't figure it out.
"Lord Custodian, Lord Russ, I need to file a detailed battle report. May I ask what thod or weapon you used to defeat the enemy?" an Imperial administrative officer hurried over and asked.
"That's classified Imperial information. You don't need to know, nor do you have the authority to ask. All you need to know is that the mission is complete," Axis replied, face stern.
All sixteen Custodians standing behind Axis turned their gaze on the official in unison, scaring the man into silence.
"Y-yes, of course, it's Imperial business," the scribe stamred, nodding helplessly before turning and leaving.
A few hours later, after the search and rescue were complete, Kasha approached Axis, her brow furrowed.
Aside from a few hundred loyalist Astartes survivors, everyone else on the planet had perished.
"Did you wipe out all the Astartes on this planet? Did you use your Ki?" Kasha asked.
Axis nodded, admitting it was his doing.
"What?! You took out tens of thousands of Astartes by yourself, and in just a few hours!" Kasha cried out in shock.
A faint smile played at the corner of Axis's lips.
Strictly speaking, it had only taken him a few minutes.
Kasha stared at Axis in disbelief.
She had tried her best to overestimate this man, but she had still underestimated him.
Was this a joke?
These were tens of thousands of Astartes! Even a Primarch could have been overwheld by sheer numbers, yet Axis had cleaned them up in just a few short hours.
"That's classified Imperial information. Don't pry," Axis said flatly.
"Oh, co on! You know I'm the one who reports everything to the Emperor. Whether you write the battle report or I do, it all goes through ," Kasha said, exasperated.
This brat, every other word out of his mouth was now "Imperial secret". It really was really pushing her buttons!
After all, her job was to relay his ssages to the Emperor.
Any conversation between Axis and the Emperor, she would know about, one way or another.
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