Chapter 272: To Vigilus
Plans, oversights, and consequences.
Romulus constantly pondered these things, summarizing and analyzing. Compared to his usual composure, he was now beginning to feel overwhelmed. His opponent was starting to make their moves, and he knew nothing about them.
Romulus could have waved his hand, ignored the subsequent effects, and continued with his plan. But the more responsible approach was to deeply consider the gains and losses of doing so. However, the more he thought, the more rigid he became. For a moment, he even had the feeling of wanting to turn back, to see what kind of trick this unknown opponent was trying to pull. The fear of the unknown was making it difficult for him to move forward.
"Old Rom's stuck," Ramesses muttered, seeing Romulus's face morph into the grim, serious expression of a regent.
"After all, this was unexpected," Arthur said, understanding. Unlike the previous crusade, this campaign against Vigilus was aimed directly at them. It was unforeseen. It was normal to feel caught off guard.
"It's probably one of a few suspects," Ramesses began. "The Four Gods... Tzeentch is unlikely to get involved again, but you can never be sure with Chaos. Then there's Vashtorr. It's confirmed the Cult of the Demiurge is active, but he hasn't made a move. Instead, he's increased his investment in the warp. I can't even get a hold of his people. The ones we'll be fighting are most likely Chaos warbands. The rest are a few Primarchs and Abaddon. They're the only ones who can mobilize Legion-level forces. The key now is how to stop them."
Having summarized, Ramesses leaned back against the command console, the metal frame creaking under his weight. He casually patted the hololithic projection, putting on an air of observing the grand affairs of the world. The projection rippled under his palm. "I'm not too worried about a one-on-one fight. It's just that I don't think this fleet is big enough. It doesn't give me a sense of security."
You're still the biggest coward. Arthur sighed silently, but he also understood Ramesses's attitude. "Then I will go and mobilize the troops," he said, turning, his cloak tracing an arc.
"I'll go and check the warp again, see if I can find those guys' new domains and stick a straw in," Ramesses said.
"Mm," Arthur waved a hand and approached Aglaia, who was getting the current situation from Trazyn. "Aglaia."
The voice interrupted the two, who were once again beginning to spar. Aglaia quickly came back to her senses. Trazyn also tactfully fell silent, wanting to see what Arthur had to say. This xenos, though annoying, was surprisingly talkative, with an almost arrogant composure. He didn't have to consider the consequences of his words, so he was not averse to communication. Although his tone was a bit irritating and he was blunt, at least he was willing to tell the truth.
Thinking of the other's appointment letter, she complained internally and then made a proper sign of the Aquila. "Lord Arthur."
Arthur returned the nod simply and asked, "Do you understand the situation?"
"I do," Aglaia replied immediately.
Seeing this, he got straight to the point. "Can you contact the Grey Knights?"
The Grey Knights. All of them psykers. Founded jointly by the Emperor and Malcador, their core mission was to study, combat, and seal warp-entities. Through rigorous training and psychic rituals, they could obtain forbidden knowledge about the true names of daemons, which were key to defeating or banishing them. One of their most famous deeds was the banishment of the Daemon Primarch Angron during the First War for Armageddon.
Their gene-seed had been specially treated and could not be traced back to any Primarch, which had led to many hints that their bloodline might be traced directly back to the Emperor. And the high command of the Inquisition had the right to know of the Grey Knights' existence. Even the Ordo Malleus and the Ordo Hereticus maintained a considerable degree of cooperation with them. The Grey Knights were, to the outside world, subordinate to the Ordo Malleus.
? Aglaia was stunned. She instinctively felt this topic was a deadly one, but she immediately replied, "I can."
Having received confirmation, Arthur, analyzing his recent discussion with Ramesses, said, "We need the true names of the Daemon Primarchs, or objects connected to them, and any information the Grey Knights have on them. If possible, it would be best to send a Grey Knight squad. Please help us to convey this."
"Not the 'Prognosticars' of the 7th Brotherhood. And do not come as Grey Knights."
This path had been problematic from the start. Tzeentch had known they could use the power of the C'tan shards and had begun to search the galaxy to release them. He had also tried to trick them into going to Cadia quickly with lies. And now they had discovered the movements of the Dark Mechanicum. There were not many beings who could lay such a trap for them.
Ever since he had begun to count the anomalies of this journey, Arthur felt it was necessary to take precautions. The strongest beings the Four Gods could currently deploy in the universe were the Primarchs and their accompanying legions. The Cult of the Demiurge was clearly Vashtorr, but even though the four of them were arrogant, with Vashtorr's cowardly nature, how could he dare to scheme against a Primarch without some support? To be safe, it was better to find more professionals. At the very least, Angron was arrested by the Grey Knights every time he manifested in reality, and in the future, they could provide the Regent with timely information on Mortarion's movements, which showed that the Grey Knights probably had some means to detect the movements of the traitor Primarchs.
"Understood," Aglaia said. She also knew of the small conflict between the 'Prognosticars' and the Wolves, and naturally had no objection to Arthur's decision.
Arthur then strode towards the exit, intending to meet with the representatives of the Departmento Munitorum and the Imperial Navy who were stationed with the Dawnlight Fleet. After all, in the current situation, every unit that could be mobilized was precious. He didn't need this representative to show her face. The Imperial officials who were liaising with the Dawnbreakers did not have high demands for power. The important thing was that they had to have specific information about their duties in their sectors. The rest would be left to the Primarchs.
On the other side, Karna, after thinking for a long time to no avail, saw that Arthur had finished his conversation and had gone out, and turned to the still-contemplating Romulus. "So?" Karna's voice broke the silence of the command room.
Romulus looked up from the tactical map, the furrows on his brow deeper than before. "So what?" his counter-question was tinged with the relief of having been broken out of a strange loop.
"Let's go to Vigilus first," Karna said. He felt that just floating in Drol's orbit was not a solution. A virus bomb to properly disinfect the place would be about right. "What else? Go back? Wait a minute—"
Noticing the hesitation in Romulus's eyes, Karna leaned in as if having discovered a new continent. "You're not afraid, are you?"
"Who's afraid? This is caution," Romulus instinctively refused to admit defeat and quickly explained, "I have such a large fleet in my hands, and a thousand worlds of the Dawnlight Sector on my shoulders. There is no precedent for this in history. Of course, I have to be cautious."
"Doing nothing is not caution," Karna said with a mischievous smile, leaning casually against the tactical table in the lounge area. Now you know the pressure of those commanders. Everything is out of control, and if you want to move, you can only improvise. But the Imperium usually doesn't have much of a chance to improvise.
"Don't be afraid. Let's move first. Master Arthur is contacting the Imperium to mobilize troops. The intelligence network we've set up over the years is monitoring the region's movements. And I'm on the front line. Don't give up so easily. You just make the plan, and we'll execute it."
Romulus took a deep breath. The data stream on the tactical table flashed rapidly in his eyes. "I've told you how many times, I haven't given up," his voice finally regained some of its steadiness. "I just need to think about the next step, to avoid falling into a trap."
"Then what are you explaining for? Don't just suddenly forget how to operate. The purpose of this trip is to advance the construction of the supply line, to clear out the nobles on the node-worlds. We have to achieve our goal, right? It's just that now there are some extra preparations."
"And we've encountered far more accidents before. The Pioneer system, the initial Tyranid invasion and the Chaos outbreak... which of those did we anticipate? Why are you suddenly getting so worried?"
"..." Romulus was stunned. They had all come from a sea of blood and corpses. Romulus knew very well the reason for choosing this path, and he clearly remembered every oath he had made when he had chosen it. The slogans were from the heart, the declarations were earnest and powerful. He had stepped onto this path with hope in his heart, dreaming of making a difference, of becoming a hero, of leaving a heavy mark on history.
But it could not be denied that, in a corner of his heart, Romulus did have some thoughts of 'just follow the script, it's more stable, safer, and keeps everything under control.' Who would want to make a mistake?
Romulus shook his head. To put it bluntly, he had always been thinking about events from a third-party perspective. Now that he had become the main cause of the events, he was having a hard time adjusting. Now that he thought about it carefully, what had been expected from the beginning of their transmigration? It was just that at that time, he had always maintained a more macro perspective. He had always been a participant.
Suddenly understanding this, Romulus couldn't help but rub his head again. He had indeed been thinking too much, for too long, and had been protected too well, so much so that he had forgotten the risks his companions had always been taking for him. Having been a political animal for too long, he would instinctively think about problems from the perspective of pros and cons, stability, and influence, to the point where he had almost forgotten their original intention.
This was not good. If Arthur knew about this, he felt he would get at least the same beating as Ramesses.
Romulus took a deep breath and looked at the still-smiling Karna. He suddenly realized that this guy had no serious plan at all. He was just waiting for him to pull himself together and make a decision. Look at him. He still has to rely on me.
You're lucky to have me as a teammate.
Romulus smiled to himself. You're right, he said, acknowledging Karna's words. "Whether it's caution or recklessness, this is our home turf. We can't waste time and miss the opportunity to deal with the threat."
It was also an opportunity to correct his own mindset in time. This thought flashed through his mind. Romulus took a deep breath without showing it, and at the same time, straightened his expression, stood up, and returned to his position.
"Prepare the virus bomb Exterminatus protocol. We will cleanse the two renegade planets," he ordered.
Faced with the gazes of the crowd, a confident smile appeared on his lips. Romulus's fingers traced a clear trajectory across the hololithic star-chart. "We will proceed to Vigilus immediately, integrate the fleets, and establish a nearby supply point."
"Archmagos," his gaze turned to the silent red figure. "Speak, my Lord."
"The reconstruction of Omega III will be left to you." The Dawnlight Sector currently had no spare manpower to rebuild a forge world, let alone to purify a world that had been deeply contaminated by Chaos. The Adeptus Mechanicus's monopoly was too severe. They even had a monopoly on how to burn incense and kowtow to please the machine-spirits. Romulus couldn't even imagine how the current technician training program would proceed without Cawl's help. So he needed Cawl to coordinate. This ten-thousand-year-old Archmagos had plenty of ways and connections.
All they wanted was to quickly control the military chokepoints of the Nachmund Gauntlet. Whether to absorb or to cleanse in the future could be discussed later. "Agreed," Cawl's reply was crisp and decisive.
Romulus looked around the conference room and finally gave the order. "Everyone else, return to your respective ships. Prepare for warp jump. Maintain constant contact. Dismissed."
"Yes, my Lord!" a chorus of replies echoed in the conference room. The sound of metal boot-heels clashing was incessant as the commanders saluted and departed.
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