That passage led straight to Holy Terra, where Rhodes and the Emperor were stripping away a Chaos god-fragment. The Laughing God could open this path thanks to Tartarus' help on Rhodes's side.
As soon as he found Jaghatai Khan, the Laughing God notified Rhodes.
Rhodes thought well of this little god. The clown knew how to read the room.
The Death God of the Aeldari had caused some friction, but the Laughing God's handling left Rhodes satisfied. His message was simple: don't kill, keep our alliance intact, and we're fine.
"Where does that lead? Is that Holy Terra? Are we—" Jaghatai's lips trembled.
The Laughing God's grin vanished. The painted mask turned unusually solemn. "Listen, Jaghatai. While hunting Drukhari, you rode into a forgotten web—an Old One living labyrinth used to imprison C'tan.
Each circuit consumes the hunter's sense of time, like—" He flipped out a deck of cards; the top card showed a serpent chasing its tail.
"You've been trapped, unable to sense the flow of time. Now our peoples are allied—we fight Chaos together!
We stand against every doom species in the galaxy. Our cooperation is going well. I was commissioned by the Lord of Humanity and the Primarchs to save you.
I even rescued another Primarch—the Lord of the Salamanders—from the Ork gods," the Laughing God continued, explaining the current situation and his efforts.
"Gene-father, what should we do? Is that really Holy Terra?" a White Scar asked.
Could the warp-tunnel truly take them home? Back to realspace?
Was this an evil xenos' plot? An illusion?
"This eternal chase—this endless ride—is over!
I believe you. I'll trust you xenos this once," Jaghatai said.
If so much time had passed, he had to return to the Imperium, to his sons, to his Chapter.
"Come! Follow me. I'll take you home, son of the Emperor," the Laughing God said.
The White Scars took one last look at the endless road of the Hunt. Engines roared like thunder.
As the column plunged into the prismatic tunnel, they didn't notice their armor shedding ten millennia of dust, nor their packs suddenly showing the correct date—M42.028.
It was the thirty-oddth year since Rhodes arrived in the 40K universe, and ten-plus thousand years since the White Scars' Primarch disappeared.
Seeing that date, every White Scar was struck dumb with shock.
They had truly raced through the Webway for over ten thousand years. Unbelievable—impossible—in their minds, hardly any time had passed!
"There are precedents. Human ships have wandered the Warp for a thousand years. We merely lost our way for ten thousand," Jaghatai clapped a son's shoulder.
Truth be told, he too was shaken. He had been gone for a millennium of millennia. But as a leader, he had to remain composed.
If he faltered, what of his sons?
Within the Imperial Palace, a squad of Custodes awaited them.
At the sight, Jaghatai finally relaxed.
Those guards never leave his father's side. If they were here, he hadn't trusted the wrong being—they truly were back on Holy Terra.
"Jaghatai Khan, welcome home—to the Imperium, to Holy Terra, to the sacred heart of mankind," said the leading Custodian, Ultraman, with a bow.
"Yes. You are my father's Custodes. Is it truly the 42nd Millennium?" Jaghatai asked.
He'd missed over ten thousand birthdays—in a blink, the not-yet-millennial Khan had become a man of ten thousand years.
"It's complicated. You truly were lost in the Webway for ten millennia. Much has happened. But first, I'll take you to the Emperor," Ultraman said.
Jaghatai dismounted from his great white bike. The dozen White Scars followed close behind, gazing at this palace both familiar and strange.
Led by the Custodes, they went deeper into the palace. Besides Custodes, there were Space Marines—massive, nearly matching the Custodes in stature!
"They are the new-era Astartes—Primaris Super Space Marines. They merge advantages from Lord Rhodes's Supers and Belisarius Cawl's Primaris, with added superhuman organs,
and improved gene-seed. Each one can match an ordinary Custodian," Ultraman explained.
The new Astartes' combat power far exceeded what the old-era Firstborn imagined. Even mortal auxilia now nearly rivaled Firstborn in physique.
"Incredible. Can my sons undergo this upgrade?" Jaghatai asked.
"Of course. It's open to all Legions. Your Legion already uses it—over eighty percent have been upgraded.
But the new perfect gene-seed needs your cooperation to extract. The old seed is somewhat outdated," Ultraman said.
Rhodes had found the Primarchs; all had fused with Cosmic Beast, gaining gigantification and overwhelming power in realspace.
Their gene-seeds were vastly improved. Marines born of the new, perfect seed would be stronger and more efficient.
"How do we extract this perfect gene-seed?" Jaghatai asked.
"His Majesty and Lord Rhodes will brief you. All Primarchs have completed their upgrades—you're stronger than before," Ultraman said.
Some things he could tell this long-lost Khan; others only the Emperor and lords could say.
The Cosmic Beast project was classified; only those recognized by Rhodes and meritorious to the Imperium could wield it. Another route to gigantification was the ultrasaur surgical augmentations.
Soon they stood before the Golden Throne. After ten thousand years, Jaghatai saw his father again—and several strangers.
One giant in black, dangerous armor. A slender female glowing with white light.
Darkness and light—a strange pairing.
Another was a green-aura Aeldari woman—the life-goddess, it seemed, confirming the Laughing God's claim of an alliance. And a man shining crimson—likely Rhodes, the new-era Primarch.
"Father!" Jaghatai knelt before the Throne.
They seemed to be doing something. Below, a figure in purple armor lay indistinct, while above him a diamond-shaped object was being pulled free.
"We are in the midst of a critical task, Jaghatai. I can spare only a moment. Guilliman will brief you on the ten millennia and prepare a Cosmic Beast for you," the Emperor said.
When Rhodes told him Jaghatai would return, the Emperor had already arranged with Rhodes to prepare a suitable beast. The Khan's return meant another Primarch back for the Imperium.
At this critical juncture against Chaos, Jaghatai's strength was vital.
"Father, why are you so gaunt?" Jaghatai asked.
The Emperor was emaciated, frail—a far cry from the towering, mighty figure he remembered.
"He's well now. You didn't see him twenty years ago—he wasn't even a proper mummy," a voice said behind Jaghatai.
At that voice, Jaghatai's expression changed. His white saber flashed free.
He would never forget that voice—Magnus, the traitor to mankind and the Imperium.
"How dare you appear here! Who let you in?" Jaghatai thundered.
"Easy, brother. I've returned to the Imperium. Things weren't as you think. I went to Chaos as Father's infiltrator," Magnus blurted.
Every returning Primarch reacted like this upon seeing him.
"Jaghatai, it's as Magnus says. He accepted my special task to infiltrate the Chaos Powers and completed it perfectly.
He endured disgrace for years until I brought him back. Without him periodically taking the Throne's burden, I wouldn't look like this—I'd be a bare skeleton," the Emperor said.
Jaghatai eased, sheathing his blade.
"So that's how it is. My apologies, Magnus. I thought you'd betrayed Father like Horus," Jaghatai said.
Rhodes shook his head silently. Brother, you might not know—Horus has returned too. He was the first revived by the Emperor.
In truth, the first Primarch to fall wasn't Ferrus Manus, but Horus. The instant Chaos corrupted him, the Four tore apart his soul, erasing his feelings, turning him into a perfect war engine against the Emperor.
"Come, Jaghatai. I'll take you to Guilliman. He can't come greet you himself. I can also show you another brother—though he's not in a good state," Magnus said.
"Father, what are you doing? That presence below feels familiar. And that diamond thing—it fills me with dread," Jaghatai asked.
A Primarch shouldn't question the Emperor's work, but curiosity burned—whatever it was, it was formidable.
"A Chaos god-shard. The one below is Fulgrim—though he's already dead," Rhodes answered for the Emperor.
The Emperor had to focus on stripping the shard; the main force here was Emperor, a Chaos-god-level being. No one else matched that.
"I understand. New brother, Father, allies—carry on. I'll let no one disturb you," Jaghatai nodded, then left the palace with Magnus.
Next, they met Guilliman and Malcador, both hard at work.
Seeing Malcador alive, Jaghatai was overwhelmed—he never thought his old friend had returned.
"Haha! I did die—but for certain reasons was revived. All thanks to Rhodes," Malcador said.
"Welcome home, brother," Guilliman nodded to Jaghatai.
"I have many questions!"
"I'm busy, but I can talk while I work," Guilliman said.
In the exchange that followed, Jaghatai learned what had befallen the Imperium.