"What!?"
Eidolon's tiger-like body trembled.
The Primarch argued with the Emperor?
"Impossible."
"The Emperor would never argue with his own child over such a small matter. You'd better not be lying to me."
Eidolon's expression was serious.
The Emperor was not the kind of person to get bogged down in trivial emotional matters, let alone make such an emotional critique of a Primarch's choice.
They were all his tools.
At least, that's what the Custodians said.
"Even if I dared to lie to you, I wouldn't dare to spread rumors about the Emperor, Eidolon!"
"It's the absolute truth."
"If you don't believe me, you can ask the Custodians who are coming later," Iulia giggled. "You've been with them in the honor guard for so long. Even if you don't believe me, you can't possibly not believe them, right?"
Hearing her words, Eidolon fell silent for a moment.
"...I'm no longer a member of the honor guard, Iulia."
Time seemed to stop for a moment.
"...I'm sorry, Eidolon. I... I didn't mean it."
Her voice suddenly dropped several octaves, and she said softly.
"It's alright."
"It's all in the past anyway."
Eidolon replied with a smile.
He had indeed been a member of the honor guard before.
After the Betrayal at Proxima and the disappearance of the gene-seed transport ship, the Third Legion's numbers had dropped so low that they could no longer form an independent army, and they were withdrawn from the front lines.
Fortunately, they were all from the ancient noble families of Terra and were more proficient in court etiquette. So, they were arranged by the Emperor to serve as his ceremonial honor guard along with the Custodians.
Lord Commander Eidolon was one of them.
As a Third Legion Space Marine who pursued perfection in all things, he performed his duties in the honor guard very well.
There, he received the careful guidance of his mentor, the Chapter Master of the Third Legion.
He was his older brother's best friend.
After his brother's death in battle, this Chapter Master had taught him all his knowledge of etiquette, combat, and tactics without reservation.
And Eidolon was exceptionally promising.
Under his guidance, he progressed rapidly, quickly growing from an ordinary scout to a company captain capable of standing on his own.
Even many of the Custodians who had previously looked down on Space Marines gradually became his close friends.
Everything was developing for the better.
Even if the rebuilding of the Third Legion was still fraught with difficulties, even if his siblings were all dead.
There was still hope for the future.
Things would get better.
Eidolon firmly believed so.
But fate, fate is just that kind of fucked up thing.
It always delivers the most fatal blow just when you are about to feel a glimmer of hope.
Eidolon remembered it was a quiet day.
A highly respected Imperial Army commander had excitedly found them and told him that the next batch of gene-seed cultivated in the Luna laboratories was about to arrive.
The Third Legion was about to be rebuilt!
He still remembered how excited he was at that time.
He still remembered how the Custodians and his comrades-in-arms had all praised them, wishing the glorious Third Legion a rebirth from the ashes.
After a long wait, they had finally reaped the ripe fruit.
Overjoyed, he and the Chapter Master, under the commander's guidance, boarded the large transport ship loaded with gene-seed.
And then, he saw the poison gas, and the fire.
"Hey, hey, spacing out again!?"
Iulia's shout came from beside him.
"It's time. We need to get on the landing craft."
"Cheer up. We're about to meet our Primarch. This is a time to be happy."
"I really wonder what kind of person she'll be..."
More and more Third Legion Space Marines gathered in the hall.
They were about to go with him to the surface of Chemos to meet their Primarch.
"Relax, Eidolon."
"No matter what the final outcome is, your actions have proven that you are the noblest Space Marine in my heart, and also the Emperor's most devout servant."
A Custodian walked past him, gently patting his ceramite pauldron.
It was the Shield-Captain escorting them.
He whispered in Eidolon's ear.
"...Thank you."
Eidolon replied, and squeezed into the landing craft with the other Third Legion warriors.
Landing craft... yes, landing craft.
At that time, they had boarded a landing craft just like this, and boarded that transport ship full of gene-seed.
However, what welcomed them was not flowers and applause.
But a rebellion, from within.
In an instant, guns and cannons roared, and shouts filled the air.
The Imperial Army commander who had led them there was a member of the Luna Gene-Cult!
He had long since betrayed the Imperium, and he had long since betrayed them!
The landing Space Marines were immediately divided and surrounded. Countless modified cultists, armed with biological weapons, accompanied by various ferocious and terrifying genetically modified monsters, rushed towards them like a tide.
The enemy had even released an extremely insidious virus gas to corrupt all of them, the Space Marines!
Personnel were scattered, weapons and equipment were insufficient, and command and communication were cut off.
The battle situation was very unfavorable for them.
And just at this critical moment, Eidolon's mentor, the Chapter Master of the Third Legion, stood up in the midst of the crisis.
"All soldiers of the Third Legion!"
"To me, and defend the gene-seed vault to the death!"
"We cannot let this scum defile our future!"
"We—will once again, from the flames, rebuild the Third Legion!"
Eidolon's remaining memories of that battle were of endless slaughter and holding the line.
In the battle, he and his commander mentor fought with all their might to reach the gene-seed vault, with their backs to their hope, repelling wave after wave of attacks.
"We must hold this place!"
"This is the hope for the rebuilding of our Third Legion!"
Faced with the endless enemy attacks, he was exhausted many times and was on the verge of collapsing.
But for that ethereal hope, for the rebirth of the Third Legion.
And for the Chapter Master who had fought with all his might to kill the most dangerous genetically modified monsters and had perished with the besieging enemies.
Eidolon fought until the very last moment.
It was only when he saw the traitors being wiped out by the arriving reinforcements that he collapsed in a pool of blood with a sense of relief.
He had succeeded.
Although the Chapter Master and many of his brothers had died gloriously in battle, their sacrifice had not been in vain.
They had defended the entire ship of gene-seed, defended the future of the Third Legion.
When he woke up, supported by an Apothecary, he looked at the ship full of gene-seed and smiled happily.
Hope!
There was hope!
As long as the gene-seed was still there, their Third Legion could be rebuilt again!
The Chapter Master's sacrifice was not meaningless!
But fate, fate just has a way of playing a huge joke.
"It's time."
"Destroy all of this."
The soaring flames from the flamer cast Eidolon's shadow, slumped on the ground, long and far.
It was over.
It was all over.
The entire ship of gene-seed had, in fact, been completely corrupted in the laboratories on Luna long ago.
What he had been defending was not the future of the legion, but an already rotten soil.
What he had been looking forward to had never had any meaning.
His mentor, his Chapter Master, the future star of their Third Legion, a master of swordsmanship and tactics.
And so many kind and upright comrades... they had died for such a ridiculously laughable reason.
"Then, Vespasian, our Third Legion's future—"
"There is no future, Eidolon."
The newly promoted commander was silent for a moment.
"There is no future."
He said with his back to Eidolon, holding the flamer.
"The gene-seed vault on Luna has been completely corrupted."
"The Third Legion is finished."
"...Unless—"
"Unless what!?"
"Don't speak in halves, Vespasian! Unless what?"
"Unless we can find our Primarch right now."
Finding a lost Primarch, that was easier said than done.
The Primarchs had been scattered across the universe by the Warp storms since birth.
Finding them was harder than finding a needle in a haystack.
KSSH!
Eidolon, sitting in the center of the landing craft lost in thought, heard the sound of the hatch opening.
"We've arrived! The photos were real, this place is beautiful!"
"Get ready, the Primarch is waiting for us!"
He heard Iulia's excited shouts from the side.
But just as the Third Legion was on the verge of extinction, just as Eidolon was about to fall into despair...
...they actually went and found her, on Chemos.
Heh, heh heh.
He didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
Perhaps reality is always an absurd comedy, full of bottomless black humor.
You can never guess whether the next step will be for the better or for the worse.
But no matter what, the road must go on.
Keep going, Eidolon.
"Change of plans?"
The group, who were heading to the Kalliston parade ground, stopped in their tracks.
"That's right!"
Before they could even reach the plaza and form up, a tall, magnificent figure abruptly appeared before the Third Legion Space Marines.
Fulgrim.
Their Primarch.
Although he didn't know her appearance, the feeling from deep within his genes made Eidolon come to an immediate conclusion.
How could the show-off-loving Fulgrim ever play by the rules?
"It is your first time on Chemos. You are our honored guests."
"It would be rude to inspect our guests as soon as they arrive."
She spun around excitedly, raising her right hand behind her.
The magnificent dress with Chemosian ethnic characteristics she wore swirled into a graceful arc.
And a sound-caster horn had appeared in her hand at some point.
In this getup, she looked less like a demigod child of the Emperor and more like a hospitable tour guide.
"Here, we have prepared a special trip for all the brave soldiers of the Third Legion—"
As she spoke, several beautiful landscape pictures flashed on the giant screen behind Fulgrim.
Although the ornate floral borders were indeed a bit tacky, it didn't change the fact that the scenery itself was beautiful.
"Ta-da!"
"—A One-Day Tour of Chemos!"
-------
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