Ten thousand Veritas vessels emerged from a massive spatial anomaly, grey in colour. Sol's light flickered for a split second for all of Terra as these thousands of ships easily slipped in beside the Imperium fleet that orbited the stalwart heart of Humanity in this Galaxy. Multiple fleets that ranged in the Tens of thousands soon aligned side by side with the Veritas vessels, their guns always primed and ready.
At the head of this armada was the Justiciar, it's obsidian black hull pulling all eyes to it as space itself paled in comparison to the 'blackness' that was the exterior of this vessel. Astra Militarum, Adeptus Mechanicus, Adepta Sororitas, Grey Knights, Custodes and the Inquisition all were in attendance for this massive spectacle. Anti-ship weaponry on the home world's surface alit with the litanies and hymns sung to the machine spirits inside.
The people of Terra that were on the surface could look upwards and see the imperial presence of the entirety of Segmentum Solar's mighty forces. Hymns quietened down on the surface before being replaced with the voices of Ecclesiarches, speaking upon the presence of the Emperor's sons and the angels of death. Imperial Fists across the palace exterior lowered their heads and made the sign of the Aquila, their voices softly calling for the Emperor's blessings.
With the prayers beginning the first communications were made between Guilliman's Capital Ship and the Justiciar...
"Sister."
"Brother."
There was a pause as I waited for him to break the silence. It was an awkward meeting as he had just messaged me before and was expecting a delay between our chat and my appearance, something that was impossible for our mode of transport. No doubt he was marking this down as a capability and working on strategies to counter our instant travel, not that there were many.
"I did not expect you here so soon..."
"Yes, well, I heard there was a fight to be had. And, I needed to help those who I had accepted as my brothers."
There was some chatter in the background of Guilliman's communique, the officers and other Astartes that served underneath him no doubt surprised by my claims. He coughed to stop them, continuing when they were silent.
"Well, sister, we have work to do and I do not wish to be stuck here in the Segmentum Solar for long."
"Hmmm. Where would you have me go?"
"I would love if you could share your technology with us, but i will not formally ask that of you. No, I shall brief you first and then we shall decide on our paths... Sanguinius will join us soon, as he is currently in a conversation with father, if all goes well."
Selene, Jean, Pixel and Kali stayed quiet but scoffed a little at the mention of the God Emperor. They had been informed by me briefly about the Heresy, his actions and his strategy. It was useless to say, but, they were not happy about his terrible treatment of his own 'sons' and the subsequent manipulation he held them all under. I tried to explain the complexity to them but unfortunately they entered 'mother-mode' at the time and simply gave me derisive frowns. I folded and just said they were right... I didn't need fucking drama on top of the shit that I had to deal with.
"Very well, sounds good."
"Continuing onwards..." He brought up a map of the entire Galaxy, red spots marking the Warp Storms that were known and a massive purple gouge running through the centre of the Galaxy.
"The Cicatrix Maledictum spans from the Eye of Terror to the most eastern fringes of the Ultima Segmentum. As far as we know, all traversal via warp travel from one side of the galaxy to the other has been cut off, except for minor paths that we have only recently started investigating." His voice gained a slight grit as his voice which was relatively clear before gained a hardened edge to it.
"The forces of Chaos have spread wide and far, corruption seeping into the very marrow of the Materium itself. Xenos that were once inactive, as I have been told, have once again become an imminent threat. One such species in the Necrons, the robotic abominations devoid of biological mortality. Many worlds have begun hard fought conflicts, as they were unknowing bearers of parasitical tombs that hold these beings." He paused for a moment.
"Other than this threat, there is what we have classified as the Tyranids... You have had experience with them, so I will spare details. However, that force you fought was but a cutting of a splinter. We have classified the one that you fought as a variant of the Leviathan Hive Fleet, there are three others also, Kraken, Lyndwyrm and Behemoth... All splinters have been decimated to bare remnants but they quickly grow by consuming entire worlds for their biological material and elemental components. One small shard can once again grow to become a full-blown fleet."
Flexing my muscles I couldn't help but remember the fight I had had with the Hive Mind of the Tyranid fleet that we fought. If that was but a shard of a shard, than the threat of these bugs were monstrous and extinction level. My first thought was to hunt them all down and exterminate them, but I had other missions that were much more important.
"Amongst these great threats there is also the quest that Sanguinius has told me you wish to take up... The recovery of our brothers." Murmurs broke out again on his side as I considered the importance of each facet.
Fighting Chaos back to a certain extent and then looking for them in a stronger position was desirable, but also risky as the Chaos Gods could get wind of my plans and sequester them away. Wiping out the Tyranids would allow resources through the Imperium to be redirected for a time, worlds saved from being wiped out and such. Killing the Necrons could achieve the same, possibly, I could even get my hands on their technology and reverse engineer it. Trazyn came to mind. All options felt murky and distracting, my stomach screeching at me that there was something else that could allow Humanity to gain a foothold faster.
"If none of these interest you at the current moment than perhaps you could start off with assisting in protecting supply lines and quick traversal of supplies. I admit, the idea of being cargo transport is ridiculous for an armada such as yours, but the traversal speed of your vessels would ensure safety and reinforcements to much needed sectors."
From a strategic position his last request made much greater sense for what he actually wanted me for. He did not fully understand our capability in war and merely knew of our speed. To him that was a safe bet and could aid the ongoing wars tremendously. Oddly enough this felt like the right course, my mind peering into the web that was the Materium; reality.
'The Sensei and the Void Dragon... That is what I have been feeling bad about...'
"Brother, my armada will support the efforts of the Imperial Navy then. Our ships will transport armies and supplies to distant worlds. Strategy demands that we do not make decisions hastily."
"Haste is necessary in war, but in this case, I believe it best to support supply lines until such a point that you have chosen a time and place to begin whatever task you set yourself to."
"I already have a task. My Armada shall be taken over by the Admiral of this Armada, Kali if you would please introduce yourself?"
I stepped to the side, allowing the Holographic display to flicker on as Guilliman turned his golden haired head to look at my intensely powerful, Primordial of War, wife. She was dressed in black and white admiral uniform with golden epaulettes that had cords connecting down to the buttons at the front.
"Primarch Guilliman, it is good to meet you. I will be the leader of the Veritas Forces."
He inclined his head in a nod before shooting me a quick look.
"Primarch, if you would allow me to speak freely?"
"Indeed, proceed."
"I believe that if we are to support the supply lines we should secure potential drop points on the other side of this Maledictum you spoke on. A world that you know will be secure would be most apt... Additionally we can manufacture star-bases that can serve as possible anchors for Warp Travel."
His eyes narrowed and he leaned in more intently, the chatter behind him picking up much larger now than before. This was a reveal that was beyond their understanding and included technology and capabilities that superseded their own. I could practically hear the mechadendrites of the Tech Priests whirring in a robotic mimic of a boner.
"If what you say is indeed true, then I suggest creating such structures near pivotal worlds. Valhalla, Baal, Attila and Mordian would be suitable locations on the other side of the Maledictum. On this side it would be greater if you could place them away from Terra, we do not wish for any potential invasions. Catachan, Chogoris, Fenris, Hydraphur, Macragge, Schindelgheist and Cirillo Prime would be necessary places on this side that would be appreciated."
"Understood, then, with permission from our leader, and the coordinates of each of these planets, we will begin construction of these bases."
I gave her a nod, giving her my permission as Justiciara started production of said stations within the expansive interior of her Blackhole/Whitehole core. The number of stations would only require a day or two to be fully completed, defences and atmospheres included.
"We will send the data over in an information packet. Now-" A hologram adjacent to Guilliman opened as Sanguinius joined our conversation, the golden haired angel herself smiling at my presence in the system.
"Brother, Sister... It is good to meet you both."
"" You as well. ""
"I have been informed by father as to the topic of your discussions, I would just like to state that whatever you have planned to do Emelia, it has caused father to be incredibly active. He is doing, something..." Closing my eyes I tried to resist smiling or laughing. The Old man had easily detected the smallest shift in intentions through the timeline skein and moved accordingly. The man was just as crazy as the Chaos Gods, he just focused it on something positive for Humanity.
"He is planning to attempt to repair the broken Webway system of Humanity..."
"The what?"
"Since when did Humanity have that...?"
Both of them were slightly taken aback by the information, leading to an even harder time for me to not laugh. Sanguinius was just cute when he didn't know things, in my opinion, and Guilliman looked just minutely constipated.
"Your brother Magnus destroyed your father's work on a safer method of spatial travel for Humanity. It was torn wide by Tzeentch and then further by Slaanesh. Since then it has been sealed away beneath the palace. He intends to focus his energy towards repairing this bridge... An effort that is heavily burdened by my own actions with relation to my intentions."
They both looked at one another before turning back to me.
""And what are you intentions?""
"To bring together the Sensei. Feed them to your father, our father I suppose you cold say, and then bring a fragmented slice of your father's soul from the Warp to his physical form so he may regain his full power."
"What!?"
"Oh...?"
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