"Greetings, Brother Romulus."
The Chaplain behind Orlando clearly could not stomach the way the Marshal was handling the talks. He briskly stepped forward to take over.
"Before we reached the Pierrde Subsector, two companies of the Vengeance Goddess Chapter went silent. Now there is only complete silence. The Emperor's Tarot revealed the peril of this mission. The crusade fleet only deployed three hundred brothers, so we must seek every possible source of aid."
His tone was much smoother, calmly explaining the situation.
He then produced his augury records and displayed them.
The Emperor's Tarot — the divination cards of the faithful — could, through ritual, reveal glimpses of the future. Only the most devout could draw true visions from them.
"The omen shows we walk toward death, but that within the darkness remains a faint light. With strong allies, hope endures."
Canoness Arabella translated for the ancient saints before her. After all, the Ecclesiarchy as it now stood had only become dominant after the Age of Apostasy. Before that, Imperial faith in the Emperor had not been so codified.
"..."
The Chaplain began to sense something odd.
A Canoness was of equal rank to a Chapter Master, often wielding even greater power in moving Imperial forces. Deathwatch was notoriously difficult to deal with: eclectic, prickly, used to working with alien tech. At best, they tolerated you.
Yet this Canoness seemed almost too respectful toward these supposed Deathwatch brothers.
"Understood," Romulus said, raising the importance of this mission in his mind.
This was the Black Templars, a Chapter under the Emperor's direct gaze. If their auguries said aid was vital, then the matter was serious indeed.
"Thank you for your explanation, Sister Arabella."
Even after reviewing the outdated Shark archives and seeing the absurdities of the Imperium, Romulus bore no prejudice against the Sororitas. He knew the state of the Imperium was not their fault.
Everyone knew — if fixing the Imperium were as simple as killing a few High Lords, those same High Lords would probably jump from a spire themselves.
As for the long-term? The transmigrators intended to watch carefully. At the very least, they would not allow their own future Chapter homeworld to devolve into such madness.
"It is my honor," Arabella replied, bowing.
What she appreciated most was that these ancient saints, though they did not endorse today's Imperium, never dismissed it outright. They respected millennia of human faith and sacrifice.
The Emperor's manifestations had earned the awe of the Sisters.
But in conversation, it was the saints' simple stance — "we may not fully understand, but we respect," "we do not blame those who fought and died against monsters" — that easily won the Sisters' heartfelt reverence.
More than a little reverence, in fact.
The Chaplain studied the warriors again, Deathwatch marked with the sigils of Ultramarines and Blood Angels. Something about them did not add up.
"So you want us to purge the Dark Eldar as a way to secure the Explorator fleet's aid, is that it?"
Romulus pressed.
"But Inquisitor Aglaea forced through harsh terms with the Archmagos to secure their cooperation. We lost twenty-seven brothers for nothing. No gains at all."
Marshal Orlando cut in sharply, then glared at the Inquisitor.
"You will answer for the deaths of our brothers, slain because of your witchcraft."
"It was the Emperor's revelation!" Aglaea shot back.
"That was no revelation, only witchcraft's illusion! Were you not wearing the Emperor's sigil, you would be nothing more than another witch to be purged on the spot."
Orlando's eyes were filled with open disgust.
The Chaplain, ready to speak, only sighed as the Marshal once again descended into a shouting match with the Inquisitor.
He led the others a few steps away and apologized.
"My apologies."
"Understandable."
Romulus did not care much.
It was the Black Templars after all. In every crusade fleet, either the Marshal or the Chaplain had to be unhinged.
"So, within the Black Templars, there are differences of opinion on aiding the Explorator fleet?"
"The Black Templars also support the Inquisitor's decision. The Emperor has shown us that we must seize every possible ally. The Explorator fleet's involvement is therefore good."
But his voice hardened with indignation as he glanced at the Archmagos.
"Yet Archmagos Cawl's demands are… excessive."
"What do you mean?"
Clack—
A servo-skull flew over. The Chaplain slotted the mission record into the socket at the base of his skull and began recounting the events.
"Through Inquisitor Aglaea's introduction, the Archmagos agreed to accompany the fleet into Pierrde. The Black Templars would secure him upon landing. In return, once the task was complete, he would provide ships, depending on the results."
He deliberately glossed over the class of ship promised, then pointed at the star map.
"We were to regroup in the Pierrde system and advance together. But when the Explorator fleet arrived, before we could rendezvous, a Dark Eldar fleet ambushed them."
"The Dark Eldar were clearly hired to delay the Explorators here. After losing the naval battle, more than five hundred of them boarded the Steel Soul, seized the aft forge-core, and entrenched themselves in the rear of the Ark Mechanicus."
The holo-display showed the silhouette of the great vessel, its stern highlighted red where the xenos now lurked.
The Chaplain drew a circle with the marker.
"Their purpose is obvious: to pin the Explorators in this system, even at the cost of an entire fleet."
He lifted his hand, drawing their attention out the viewport toward the drifting silhouette of a Dark Eldar Torturer-class cruiser.
"And the Archmagos has clearly been constrained. Even after winning the space battle, he left them that cruiser, and let us withdraw early."
"But the Inquisitor still insists?"
Romulus looked over at Aglaea, still red-faced and sparring with Orlando.
"Indeed. She insists her visions are the Emperor's will. She demands the Archmagos accompany us. And the Archmagos, in turn, demands that unless the Dark Eldar inside his Ark are eradicated within five minutes, the damage to his ship will be unacceptable."
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