"I need a scout at that position."
At this moment, Acheran was conversing with another Ultramarines, engaged in strategic deployment.
"Commander." Titus said, walking towards Acheran .
Upon hearing Titus's voice, Acheran turned and looked at the group, while instructing the other Ultramarines to temporarily leave the bridge. Acheran was about to issue new combat orders to Titus and his group, but upon seeing Marcus in his carapace armor among the team, he immediately questioned, "Titus, you'd better explain why you brought a mortal onto a battle barge."
Because Titus and his team had been busy reactivating the orbital cannons, they hadn't had the time or energy to contact the Unyielding, so Acheran was unaware of Marcus's existence. Without further ado, Titus briefly recounted to Acheran everything from encountering Marcus, traversing the swamp with him, Marcus demonstrating psychic-like abilities, and finally the process of reactivating the orbital cannons. Devoid of any extra emotion, Titus calmly and coldly recounted everything that happened during the mission, including Marcus's achievements in killing Venomthropes and a lictor.
After listening to Titus's account, Acheran immediately became serious. Acheran first waved his hand, signaling the mortal servants on the bridge to leave. Then, he summoned the two members of his honor guard behind him, having them stand on either side of Marcus. At the same time, the power swords in the hands of the two honor guard members began to emit a faint blue light, their disintegration fields already active, ready to strike at any moment.
Acheran first let out a long sigh, then spoke, "Titus, you've really brought me a lot of trouble." As a Commander of the Ultramarines Second Company, with extensive combat experience, who personally participated in the Battle of Vigil and survived, Acheran was not unfamiliar with soldiers who suddenly awakened powers on brutal battlefields.
Among them, some unexpectedly awakened psychic abilities, using their psychic power to crush the flesh and armor of enemy units. Some were corrupted by Chaos, showing no initial abnormalities, but later becoming semi-demonic. And others were indeed blessed by the Emperor, erupting with power that was not their own, relieving friendly forces. But no matter what, most of these individuals represented danger and uncontrollability.
Suddenly awakened psychics might lose control of their powers, killing friendly units. Chaos-corrupted soldiers might be unaware of their state, eventually summoning a large number of demons. Even those truly blessed by the Emperor often deviated from orders, leading friendly forces into dangerous actions.
Since the return of the great Gene-Seed Primarch, and having personally witnessed Living Saints and Imperial soldiers who awakened powers at critical moments to turn the tide of battle, Roboute Guilliman quickly drafted some guiding directives to standardize what Imperial forces should do when encountering such situations.
According to the Gene-Seed Primarch's instructions, if Imperial forces encountered such a situation: Firstly, the target needed to be temporarily detained, then examined by accompanying Chaplain units to prevent any disguised Chaos corruption. Additionally, their genes needed to be tested to determine if they were truly Human, and not a disguise from another alien race.
Marcus's Compliance
"According to the Gene-Seed Primarch's instructions, we need to temporarily detain you and conduct examinations," Acheran said, looking at Marcus. He didn't bother saying anything about Marcus cooperating. After all, this was not a request, but an order.
Marcus, who had anticipated this situation, nodded, indicating his compliance with the order. "It seems I'll be spending some time on the battle barge," Marcus thought to himself. He wasn't too worried about not being able to access the psychic disaster energy source fragments and failing to complete the system task. After all, there was still some time before the Thousand Sons faction invaded the Rixidioss Star System.
Moreover, according to the Gene-Seed Primarch Roboute Guilliman's instructions, for personnel who awaken powers on the battlefield, if initial examinations show no signs of Chaos or xenos, then Imperial forces would adopt a "pragmatic" approach, which meant allowing the individual to act freely. As long as the individual did not jeopardize Imperial operations and missions, the Imperium of Man would not interfere.
Of course, this was only theoretical. After all, the factions within the Imperium of Man were complex, and even the Gene-Seed Primarch's orders were often outwardly obeyed but inwardly defied by many factions. When it came to saying one thing and doing another, the various factions within the Imperium of Man were very adept.
Fortunately, Marcus encountered the Ultramarines, a well-established founding Chapter, and furthermore, descendants of Roboute Guilliman. So he wasn't too concerned that Acheran would violate the orders issued by Roboute Guilliman.
A New Mission for Titus
Acheran called two Ultramarines and one honor guard member to escort Marcus to the detention chamber. Marcus complied without resistance, following behind the Ultramarines as they left the bridge.
After Marcus had left, Acheran walked over to Titus and spoke in a low voice near his ear, "You should know that even though your return was permitted by Lord Calgar and Lord Tigurius, some in the Chapter still have different opinions about your return; there are always some who wish to send you back to the Inquisition." With that, Acheran patted Titus's shoulder. "I advise you to act cautiously, and don't bring any more trouble like this."
Having finished speaking, Acheran returned to the holographic map, pulled up an image of a person, and began to issue a new mission to Titus Squad. "This is Belisarius Cawl, the Great Sage of the Adeptus Mechanicus. He was supposed to board an hour ago, but he refuses to leave Kadaku before getting his research data. Cawl is of vital importance to the Imperium of Man. Return to Kadaku, retrieve the data, and bring him back."
After a moment of contemplation, Titus raised his hand and pointed to a location on the holographic map. "We can destroy the mining facilities here, divert the promethium into the valley, then ignite it to burn the Tyranid."
After confirming the plan was feasible, Acheran did not hesitate, saying, "I will assign you a squad to destroy the promethium storage tanks. Three men, that's all I can spare. Notify them quickly."
Titus nodded, then turned and, with Chairon and Gadriel by his side, stepped onto the elevator they had arrived on, leaving the bridge. After Titus left, Acheran looked at the holographic map in front of him, his brows tightly furrowed.