"You ambitious sons of Guilliman, get out here!!!"
With Lemont Icefang's roar, all of Macragge was thrown into an uproar.
No one dared to lay a hand on a ten-thousand-year-old Dreadnought, especially since the Ultramarines were the ones in the wrong. As for Captain Metellus, despite being an elite Sword Guard veteran, he was little more than a grandson before this ancient warrior. Of course, it wasn't just him; even if Calgar himself were here, the reaction would be much the same.
"Go on, bring out your own ancient Dreadnoughts. No, even they wouldn't be enough..."
It wasn't that the Ultramarines lacked ten-thousand-year-old Dreadnoughts, but they couldn't quite compare to this Wolf Guard of the Vlka Fenryka. It just went to show that there were tiers even among the ancients. At the very top were those in Zhou Ye's service—Rylanor of the Emperor's Children and Aldrich of the Dark Angels. Add to that Ahriman, whom Zhou Ye was currently contemplating entombing in a Dreadnought chassis, and you had the truly most ancient of all. Below them were the next tier, which included this Space Wolf Dreadnought. In the present day, each of them was a relic among relics.
Seeing him raising a fuss, the Imperial Fists, who had just rushed over from the battle for Cadia after hearing the news from the Black Templars, wisely chose to keep their mouths shut. All eyes were on the Wolf Guard.
At that moment, Lemont Icefang grabbed Metellus by his Iron Halo and dragged him toward the shrine where Guilliman rested. None of the Ultramarines along the path dared to intervene. The main issue was that this Contemptor Dreadnought was battered and broken, sparking with unnatural flickers of energy.
It felt like you were in an argument and had dragged your paralyzed old grandfather out of the house to make your point. Faced with such a figure, even high-ranking officials would have to give way. The Ultramarines were genuinely afraid that any sudden movement might cause the ancient machine to fall apart.
Those damn Space Wolves! Why aren't they keeping a decrepit Dreadnought like this properly enshrined at home instead of letting it run loose?
"Come with me to stand before Guilliman right now, and let him be the judge! How dare you lump that Lord and all of us into one of your successor chapters! Even if Guilliman himself woke up, he wouldn't have the gall to do such a thing!!!"
"Venerable Elder, please calm down! We didn't know at first!"
"Didn't know? From submitting the application to its approval, it must have taken decades. You had countless opportunities during that time to explain or retract it, but you did nothing! And you still say you aren't ambitious?!"
"Squawk...!"
At these words, Metellus, the veteran Ultramarine and mentor to Titus, let out a sharp, choked sound. He couldn't form a coherent defense even if he wanted to. The truth was, they had intended to intercept the filing. But who knew the bureaucrats on Terra would be so damned efficient for once? The registration was completed just as they were preparing to stop it.
And so, a large portion of Macragge's inhabitants witnessed the bizarre spectacle of a tattered Dreadnought marching at the forefront, dragging one of their own veteran captains. Trailing behind was a sea of multi-colored ceramite armor, including some from their own Chapter, none of whom dared to utter a word.
Soon, the sacred shrine of Macragge, before the stasis field of Roboute Guilliman, was filled with a clamorous crowd.
This was far enough. Lemont Icefang was here to demand an explanation, not to start a fight to the death with the Ultramarines. He kept a respectful distance from the Honour Guard standing vigil around the Primarch's body.
Even so, the scene was chaotic. Metellus tried to explain several times, only to be shot down within two sentences.
The nearby Iron Hands, meanwhile, quietly reached for the shards of a blade placed to the side. They didn't have a ten-thousand-year-old Dreadnought in this delegation, so their tempers were more in check. However, the way they caressed the fragments sent shivers down the spines of the hastily assembled Ultramarines. They had a bad feeling about this. After all, that was the very sword that had nearly cloven their gene-father's head. It would be perfectly normal for them to fly into a rage. If this were the Iron Hands of old, a brawl might have already broken out.
"Calgar!!!"
Metellus finally broke, calling for his Chapter Master. The connection was immediately severed. It was obvious Calgar had sold him out.
He had no choice but to endure the verbal onslaught from the ancient Space Wolf Dreadnought, backed by a chorus of howling wolf pups. For a moment, all of Macragge was abuzz with activity, with only Guilliman remaining motionless as a statue within his stasis field.
Of course, since these weren't his own pups, Lemont Icefang refrained from performing an Aruba. Like his Primarch, Leman Russ, he knew how to make a scene but was still measured. Rough on the outside, sharp on the inside—that was a quality inherited from Russ.
---o---
As for Calgar, he hadn't sold Metellus out. He was at another landing field, welcoming a different delegation: the ancient Archmagos Belisarius Cawl, the Living Saint Celestine, and a Black Templar crusade fleet.
Calgar wasn't worried about the rowdy group at the shrine. He knew they were just making noise and wouldn't actually come to blows. This new arrival was far more important. Although the presence of a few unsettling xenos in the delegation irked him, he tolerated it for the sake of the humans they accompanied. They had a much more critical mission to attend to.
The moment he arrived at the port on Macragge, Belisarius Cawl activated the beacon in his possession. Just as Zhou Ye felt things wouldn't end so simply, Cawl too suspected matters were more complex. Witnessing the grand scale of the war on Trailblaze, he now understood how terrifying the Chaos Gods' intervention in the material realm had become. If Trailblaze hadn't been the Lord of Trailblaze's home turf, with two Primarchs in residence, the Imperium would have surely lost that entire star sector forever.
"Welcome!!!" At this moment, Varrus Tigurius, Chief Librarian of the Ultramarines, stepped forward. He had received a vision from the Emperor: their gene-primarch would return with the help of the people before him. That was why he had insisted Calgar come here personally.
"We come from the domain of the Lord of Trailblaze, a hidden and mysterious Primarch of the Imperium," Living Saint Celestine announced softly, looking at the assembled Ultramarines. It was the Emperor's guidance that had led her to that sanctuary when she was being hounded by the Black Legion. It was best to clarify their origins now to avoid any misunderstandings. After all, the existence of a previously unknown Primarch was a monumental affair for the Imperium.
"I know..." Calgar rubbed his forehead. His thoughts drifted back to the crowd in the grand hall, and dark lines creased his brow.
"What kind of person is this Lord?"
Although he was speechless about this Lord's stunt of impersonating an Ultramarines successor chapter, the man hadn't actually done them any harm. On the contrary, he had provided them with a great deal of precious gene-seed. Therefore, Calgar still held a deep respect for him. The whole situation was filled with such bizarre coincidences that he couldn't even be bothered to untangle it anymore.
"Let us proceed to where Guilliman rests first. As for that Lord..." Here, Cawl fell silent, unsure what to say.
"He is merciful, powerful, and radiant!!!" Celestine declared without hesitation. At the time, when she first saw the twenty-eight Bloodthirsters and nine Lords of Change, she had felt a suffocating despair. Yet, not only had they won, it had been a resounding victory. That Lord had fought eight Bloodthirsters single-handedly, dominating them throughout the battle. More importantly, in her eyes, he shone with a brilliant light, second only to the Emperor... or perhaps, in some ways, not inferior to the Emperor at all.
"He is the hope of the Imperium. He has remained hidden for ten thousand years, searching for the Imperium's salvation. In him, I witnessed the return of the most glorious era from millennia ago," Black Templar Marshal Amalrich added slowly.
Calgar's gaze followed his words, and the corner of his mouth twitched involuntarily. Standing among the crowd were two warriors in unpainted grey armor. Of course, they weren't completely bare; the Black Templar cross was still emblazoned on their shoulder pauldrons.
"This is a symbol of honor! Proof that I fought alongside that Primarch and countless other venerable warriors!!!" the two Templars declared proudly. To have banished a Bloodthirster was the highest of honors. They had decided to forgo painting their armor from now on to commemorate this glorious event.
Hearing this, Calgar's mouth twitched again. It reminded him of the mob still causing a scene on Macragge, and he had no idea how to clean up that mess.
"Let's go together," Calgar sighed. Letting them continue their ruckus wasn't a solution; sooner or later, he would have to deal with it himself. He sighed again. He was already exhausted. Why did more and more problems keep piling up for him to solve?
---o---
Meanwhile, on Trailblaze, inside the machine spirit sanctum.
"See? Isn't this great? I used an extremely rare, super-modified version of simulated Wraithbone to make this for you. In a direct confrontation, not even a Custodian could match you."
Zhou Ye poked and prodded at the small, floating figure before him. Only in a place like this could he truly relax. Prometheus, however, wore a look of utter speechlessness.
"As an artificial intelligence, my body does not possess such functions. Besides, given your status, you are not lacking for such companionship."
"Don't even mention it," Zhou Ye waved off her comment dismissively. "But your range of movement is still limited. You can't stray too far from this computer. This universe is a real bastard, after all."
He wasn't bothered by Prometheus's reaction. He casually sat down, picked up a glass of fruit tea, and took a sip. As the guardian of the computer, her new body was merely a temporary vessel and processor; her core remained deep within the machine. Of course, if true danger arose, she could take the offensive. After Zhou Ye's insane modifications, her body's combat capabilities were comparable to an entire Custodian squad. Combined with her various defensive systems, even a Primarch would find it difficult to break in and harm her.
According to Zhou Ye's design, the greatest threat she would face was Vashtorr. As for Tzeentch, that one was all about schemes and trickery; science wasn't entirely within his domain. But Vashtorr, who sought to ascend and become one of the Chaos pentagram, was a different story.
Of course, if that entity truly decided to go all-in against him, Zhou Ye wasn't afraid. Killing the five great blobs in the Warp was incredibly difficult, but Vashtorr was different. Since he already had a tabletop model, his power level couldn't be that high. Zhou Ye wouldn't mind making him meet his permanent end right here.
Since his long-term plan was based on one day consuming Vashtorr, Zhou Ye had to be prepared. Although it was still a distant prospect, he knew that as long as he continued on his path, he would inevitably attract Vashtorr's attention. This was called proactive prevention, not an excuse to be lazy by telling his subordinates he was working on a grand plan while he was actually getting cozy with his mecha-girl. In a world this insane, if he didn't have a few small hobbies, he would genuinely go mad.
"Captain, I want one too!!!"
Ai-chan's voice suddenly rang out, making Zhou Ye roll his eyes in exasperation.
"Didn't I already give you one?"
"That was an Armed Puppet! I want one like this!!!"
Clearly, she was a little jealous. She had come first, after all.
"Fine, I'll get right on... huh?"
Just then, Zhou Ye shot to his feet, his expression turning serious.
"The anchor is active, but it's extremely far from us. This time, it will require both of us, and we'll need to mobilize a colossal amount of energy to establish the connection."
"Throw the insane, Chaos-corrupted psykers into the converter." After a moment's thought, Zhou Ye gave the solemn order.
He generally treated ordinary psykers well, providing them with good food and lodging. But the truly insane ones, those who had fallen to Chaos, were kept in stasis fields. Each one was a tentacle of Chaos, their souls burdened with countless screaming spirits. They deserved their fate. Now, Zhou Ye would mercifully grant them eternal peace and allow them to atone for their sins.
"And assemble everyone. A new war is about to begin."
As Zhou Ye spoke, his command sent ripples across the entire world of Trailblaze, setting it into motion.