"I know about this. Remember:
All those nobles, Ecclesiarchy members, High Lords, and Senators were killed by Chaos daemons—not by Rhodes! Understand?" said the Emperor.
Rhodes was his hand-picked second Emperor. As such, he needed a spotless record, so some things must be handled quietly.
All of this could be blamed on the Chaos invasion. With over 90% of civilians dead, it wasn't implausible for nobles to die as well.
Though they hadn't discussed it, the Emperor trusted Trajann would understand.
"I understand, Great Emperor. The deaths of those nobles, priests, and High Lords were caused by Chaos daemons and had nothing to do with Lord Rhodes. He just arrived late and couldn't save them," Trajann nodded, instantly understanding.
The Emperor valued this primarch highly. Clearing out the Senate and High Lords paved the way for his political future. With communication restored, imperial rule would return to the Emperor and the primarchs. The Age of the God-Emperor would return; mortals would lose their power.
This, Trajann believed, was the right decision. The empire was threatened by countless enemies and needed superhuman leaders.
"Good. That Giant Custodian was personally armed by me ten thousand years ago. His status will be second only to yours. He will be vice-commander of the Custodes," the Emperor ordered.
"As you wish, Great Emperor. I'll inform all Custodes of this," Trajann replied.
He had witnessed the giant Custodian's terrifying strength, even greater than the Emperor's avatar, more powerful than even Emperor-class Titans—the strongest ground unit.
Trajann could guarantee that even a primarch wouldn't be a match for him.
Others might not know the primarchs' true strength, but the Custodes did, having faced virtual primarchs in simulated battles.
Against a primarch, the Custodes stood no chance—even Trajann could only last a few moves.
"Giantification is a new technology! In the future, all Custodes will be able to do it, gaining new strength, and their genetic modifications will be upgraded," the Emperor said.
He was inspired by Rhodes's technology. Super-beast modification was costly, but some techniques could be adapted.
As for the primarchs, soon more would return. Rhodes could handle them, whether through super-beast or cosmic beast control.
The Emperor preferred cosmic beasts, seeing that Rhodes could secretly control them. So if a primarch rebelled, Rhodes could use the beasts to cripple or even revert them to mortals.
Rhodes was smarter than him—he hadn't left a backdoor in the primarchs, making the Horus Heresy much harder to stop.
"Trajann, I need to recover. Rhodes's scientists will soon repair the Golden Throne. They're top scientists from the Golden Age.
Don't interfere with anything they do, understand?" the Emperor said.
"Your will is my reason for living, Great Emperor. I didn't know those scientists were Golden Age humans," Trajann replied.
He had resented Rhodes's secret arrival and disguise as a Xenos. If only the Emperor's avatar had spoken, the Custodes would have supported him. But it wasn't too late—at the critical moment, the new primarch arrived with reinforcements.
"Besides Rhodes, there's a female primarch named Elena who has her gene-daughters.
Inform the Ecclesiarchy and have all Sisters return to Terra in batches to receive the new gene-seed. They will be upgraded into female Astartes," the Emperor said.
The Ecclesiarchy had been discussed with Rhodes and Guilliman and would continue to exist. Without it, the Emperor wouldn't have survived on the Throne for ten thousand years. It brought great benefits, despite some harm, and was crucial for the Imperium.
The Emperor issued many orders, most importantly: appointing Roboute Guilliman as Regent, Rhodes as Warmaster, and Magnus as Grand Chancellor.
…
Meanwhile, on Saturn's moon Titan, the remaining Grey Knights could hardly believe Grand Master Draigo and the man standing beside him.
Who was this man? Why did he feel so different, even more terrifying than the Emperor's avatar?
It was as if they had some deep, innate connection to him.
Magnus had returned to human form, so the Grey Knights didn't recognize him at first.
"My gene-sons? I am your gene-father—Magnus, who fell to Chaos ten thousand years ago," Magnus sighed, facing his sons.
"What? Impossible! You're Magnus!"
"Impossible! Magnus is a Daemon Prince. Our gene-seed is holy!"
For a moment, some Grey Knights nearly raised their weapons against the fallen primarch.
"My brothers, I know you're confused, but it's true. We are Magnus's gene-sons, but our gene-father is not a traitor.
He was following the Emperor's orders, infiltrating Chaos. Now his mission is done; he can return," Draigo explained.
The Emperor's avatar spoke, once again vouching for Magnus, repeating that he had infiltrated Chaos at the Emperor's command.
"So our gene-father, you, went into Chaos on the Emperor's orders?" a Grey Knight asked.
All the Grey Knights breathed a sigh of relief—their primarch wasn't a traitor after all!
"Yes, my children, I infiltrated Chaos to learn their weaknesses. Now I know the true names of all Daemon Princes and Greater Daemons.
I'll teach you how to banish them, and a new psychic spell to make it even easier—maybe even enslave Chaos daemons," Magnus said.
"We're just surprised, Grand Master!
We didn't expect this. Welcome back, Lord Magnus. Hail the gene-father!" the Grey Knights accepted their primarch.
"The gene-father has returned! From today, the Grey Knights will abandon their old doctrines.
We will no longer hide—we will step into the light. We are not just a chapter, but a legion!" Draigo declared.