To unravel the mystery of the Lion and Dante's whereabouts, Guilliman once again sought out the Second Fleet, which had been operating relentlessly within the Imperium Nihilus.
By chance, Marshal Gheidon had just returned at the head of a Black Templars fleet following a successful relief and command mission. Beyond gathering intelligence, Guilliman wished to meet these obstinate Sons of Dorn; they had not crossed paths since the dawn of the Crusade. More pointedly, they had previously rejected his offer of Primaris Space Marine reinforcements and had even come into conflict with the Adeptus Custodes tasked with delivering them.
The Custodians were the living avatars of the Emperor's will. To raise a hand against them was, in certain lights, an act indistinguishable from treason.
Soon, Gheidon, accompanied by two Company Champions, boarded Guilliman's flagship, the Dawn of Fire. As the Lord Regent of the Imperium and the "only" active Son of the Emperor, Guilliman's summons was a mandate that even the recalcitrant Gheidon had to obey.
"Marshal Gheidon, the valor of the Black Templars is spoken of throughout the Imperium. The combat record of the Heimdel Crusade is nothing short of exemplary. Your courage and spirit of sacrifice are among the throne's most precious assets. All who fight alongside you do so with pride."
Taken aback by the immediate praise, Gheidon, who had removed his helm and knelt on one knee, felt a surge of confusion. As a commander of the Black Templars, he had fully expected Guilliman to reprimand him for the rejection of the Torchbearer Fleets and the altercations with the Custodes.
"My Lord Guilliman, I thank you for your commendation. You are the sacred manifestation of the Emperor's will. All we do is for Him; we shall give our all until the final hour, regardless of the cost."
Gheidon paused, then spoke more bluntly. "Have you come regarding the matter of the Torchbearer Fleets? The Black Templars have long been an independent elite force; we possess our own tactical doctrines and traditions. The Torchbearers may not have grasped our need for autonomy, and thus we declined their inclusion. However, our lethality and resolve remain beyond reproach. We shall continue to serve the Imperium in our own fashion."
Unable to discern the Primarch's true motive, Gheidon chose to lay his cards on the table. Though they had rejected the reinforcements, they had not refused the Primaris transformation technologies. Furthermore, the Crusade continued to bleed for the Emperor, a fact Gheidon believed Guilliman, as the extension of the Imperial Will, could not ignore.
Guilliman offered a tempered smile and stepped forward to personally assist Gheidon and his Champions to their feet. Even for a veteran like Gheidon, such a gesture from a Primarch was electrifying.
"Gheidon, none can deny your achievements. I have summoned you because I require specific intelligence."
Intelligence? Gheidon was perplexed. Should he not be consulting the Inquisition or the Officio Assassinorum for such matters?
Guilliman sensed the Marshal's confusion. But this matter concerned the Lion and Dante, the Dark Angels and the Blood Angels. The Inquisition lacked the nerve to pry into their inner sanctums, and the Assassins fared no better. While the Blood Angels were reasonably transparent, news of the Unforgiven could only be gleaned from fellow Chapters fighting on the front lines.
Guilliman had one objective: to find the coordinates of the Somnium Stars.
If it was a place significant enough for the Lion to travel to in person, there was no reason his sons would not have noticed. If he could track the movements of the Dark Angels, Guilliman was certain he could find their destination.
However, the moment Guilliman broached the subject of the Dark Angels, the Black Templar Marshal's face twisted with indignation.
"My Lord, the Dark Angels have vanished."
"In the battles preceding our return, a company of Dark Angels was operating in coordination with us. At the critical juncture of the engagement, these 'battle-brothers' suddenly claimed they had received a more 'urgent' mission. They abandoned the theater in haste, leaving us to bear staggering collateral losses. An operation intended to last four Terran days dragged into ten."
Gheidon's voice grew cold. "It is a dereliction of duty to the Emperor and an insult to the art of war. They are unworthy of the honor of the Adeptus Astartes! A brotherhood obsessed with ancient secrets and past sins cannot fight for the Emperor's cause with a whole heart. They have lost their way."
Before his brothers had begun to reappear, Guilliman had paid little mind to the eccentricities of their lineages. But since his awakening, reports of the First Legion abruptly abandoning war zones or deserting allies to pursue clandestine agendas had become a recurring theme. It wasn't just the Black Templars; it seemed every Chapter in the galaxy had a similar grievance.
Even Guilliman's own sons, the Ultramarines, had frequently lodged complaints against these unreliable allies. Yet, as Space Marines possessed the authority for independent command, none could challenge the validity of their "secret missions." Busy with their own wars, few had the luxury of hunting down the Rock to demand an explanation.
After placating the Marshal's fury, Guilliman extracted what data he could. Combining this with records seized from the Departmento Munitorum across various sectors, he began to map every sighting and departure of the Dark Angels across the Imperium Nihilus.
The sheer volume of data was a headache even for a Primarch's mind. He stepped out, intending to find a Magos to assist in the analysis, only to find a strange atmosphere permeating the ship.
The Tech-Priests were frantically auditing their private hoards, pulling out relics they had either fully mastered or failed to comprehend. They were sorting them into "Ancient Era" and "Xenos" categories before rushing toward a specific section of the vessel. They would return shortly after, clutching small tokens with expressions of digital glee.
Axion had been busy. Though he could transmute almost anything, the spare parts in the armory were running dangerously low. He hadn't quite reached the point of dismantling functional wargear, though a Dreadnought had already been sacrificed for parts. The materials he received in exchange were being stockpiled. Once he secured a full production line and mixed in a few supplemental alloys, he would be able to field a high-quality legion of automata.
Clutching his data-slates, Guilliman watched the spectacle with curiosity. He didn't fully grasp what Axion was up to, but it seemed harmless for now. He even intercepted a few of the "Omnissiah's Commendations" from the priests to examine them. To his eyes, they looked like miniaturized, hyper-efficient versions of standard Imperial weaponry, though the underlying physics eluded immediate logic.
Reasoning that this might lead to technological advancement for the Imperium's arsenal, Guilliman did not intervene. Instead, he "earnestly invited" several Tech-Priests to abandon their bartering and help him process the data to find the Somnium Stars.