Chapter 425: The Plan and Departure
"I basically know the full picture of the event."
In the high-domed central command chamber of the Rock, Arthur stood before the massive holographic star map. In various guard stations, Pyrewing members were handing over local files. He himself conversed with several Chapter Masters, gradually piecing together the complete context of the event.
It seemed Vashtorr was indeed the mastermind behind this attack, intending to take advantage of the Dawnstar Sector being tied down by Nurgle to exploit a time gap. Judging by the reactions of Typhus and Abaddon, they probably hadn't expected the Dawnbreakers to move so quickly this time.
Indeed, apart from spending some time clearing the blocked Webway after leaving the Dawnstar Sector, the first half of the journey had already possessed the capability for strategic military transfer under the Dawnbreakers' long-term 'maintenance', saving a lot of time.
It could be considered preparation for a rainy day.
"Did you get anything out of Typhus?"
After issuing preliminary analysis tasks to various tactical terminals, Arthur turned to Ramesses, who was standing quietly aside.
"Here are the coordinates."
Ramesses turned slightly, signaling the Grey Knight behind him to insert a data crystal into the interface of the Rock's central console.
He didn't forget to mock the Nurgle Chosen who was scared witless by a single sentence from the Lion back then.
"Guaranteed authentic. Typhus is spineless after all."
"Synchronize Caliban coordinates. Time: ten thousand years ago. Linear progression to before Caliban's destruction."
Arthur ordered the Master of the Rock.
"Yes, my lord."
The Master of the Rock seemed to be able to manipulate the fortress with his consciousness. A stack of disk arrays was transported via hidden conduits. The disks began to spin with his thoughts after being powered on. Then, ancient coordinates leapt onto the tactical platform with his gaze.
No wonder such people had to stay in life-support pods deep within the Rock all their lives. Given the Dark Angels' past internal environment, it was indeed impossible to fully trust an existence with such power.
If he could send disks, he could naturally send bombs.
Gazing at the slowly changing star map.
The coordinates symbolizing the Dark Angels' homeworld moved slowly with the retrospective timeline, finally overlapping precisely with the current position of Vashtorr's fleet.
"As expected."
Arthur and Ramesses exchanged a look.
Others might be confused, but for them who possessed a lot of advanced information, it was basically confirmed at a glance.
Nothing more than intervening in the unification of the three artifacts. After all, the Ouroboros completely lost its material form with the destruction of Caliban, so it existed in all space-time. As long as time or space aligned, it would naturally trigger the forced fusion of the three artifacts.
Without their interference, in a hundred years, a time travel event triggered by the three artifacts, planned by the escaped Fallen Astelan and participated in by the Death Lord and Night Lords, would erupt, and Azrael would become the culprit who shattered Caliban.
Just didn't expect Typhus to choose to advance this event under their pressure, and Vashtorr was also involved.
"What do you say, do it or not?"
Ramesses leaned forward slightly, obviously eager to try.
Time travel events were no secret to the high-level officials, even for the Imperium. There was even a special Ordo within the Inquisition to deal with this series of time travel issues. The Dawnbreakers also needed to use this time travel event to conduct an experiment.
It could be said that their goal was the same as Vashtorr's. Even if passively waiting, they had already made similar contingency plans in these thirty years.
"Then we need to reach a consensus with the Tuchulcha Engine."
Arthur crossed his arms, gazing calmly at the star map.
All three artifacts had their own consciousness. The Ouroboros fooled Luther into rebelling, and the Tuchulcha made a deal with the Lion for a safe hiding place. If the engine itself didn't cooperate, it would be difficult for them to achieve their goal using these creations. After all, leaving other artifacts aside, the Tuchulcha could run away with its material shell when necessary.
And because they were likely creations of the Old Ones, they would exist eternally in infinite space-time even if they lost their material shells. So dealing with them was extremely troublesome for the C'tan and Necrons of the past or humans of today.
But the Dawnbreakers were nobler; they could issue a serious death threat to the three artifacts.
Arthur looked at the Master of the Rock.
The Master of the Rock shook his head slightly and replied immediately: "The Tuchulcha Engine remains in its primal state, unable to communicate."
Strange.
Ramesses was also puzzled. Tuchulcha aside, why wasn't there a single Watcher in the Dark?
At the very least, they should have brought Azrael, the Chosen of the Robes.
His gaze wandered around for a while, finally landing on his partner.
That body capable of blinding a bunch of psykers and daemons was full of 'read but not replied'. Ramesses even saw messages instigating Arthur to kill the Lion, saying He had no objection.
Truly a biological father.
Being the Emperor's son was enough for a lifetime.
Complaining inwardly, noticing Ezekiel's soulless expression, Ramesses thought for a while, patted Arthur's shoulder, and transmitted a frequency.
Arthur understood immediately and lowered the lockdown level of his domain through this frequency.
Hum~
As ripples appeared in the surrounding air, amidst a clatter, the representatives of the Dark Angels successor Chapters raised their guns. Suddenly, a pile of small figures in grey-green robes rolled out at Arthur's feet.
They were piled up, squeezed together, as if they had pushed open a door suddenly unchained together, and then fell to the ground because they used too much force.
"Xenos?"
A successor representative was surprised.
"Emperor Spirits."
Ramesses corrected.
These little things were likely some kind of Old One creation, probably maintenance personnel for the three artifacts, entrenched on Caliban. They had intentionally guided humans on Caliban to fight Chaos long before the Lion arrived.
Caliban's Chaos pollution was quite severe. The famous Great Beasts on this planet were all Chaos creations. Worthy of a planet almost located inside the Eye of Terror.
"?"
Surrounding Dark Angels, whether they knew about the Watchers in the Dark or not, all showed the same strained expression.
Pop~
A robed figure pulled its head out of the pile of companions, greeted Ulthran, ignored the people with various expressions around, then ran to Arthur holding a green helmet and raised it high.
The Lion Helm, once worn by the Lion, a symbol of recognition by the Watchers in the Dark.
As members of the Dark Angels, every member present had clear information emerge in their minds upon seeing this helmet.
"Is this identity verification?"
Arthur took the Lion Helm, looked at the gesturing robed figure, and continued: "Rest assured, our goal is not to kill the Lion."
The robed figure visibly relaxed, then looked with lingering fear at the divine words coiled around Arthur: 'Save the adult or save the child'.
All saying save the child.
The Emperor was going crazy again.
On one hand, urging them to wake up the Lion to defend the Rock; on the other hand, telling people here to kill him before he wakes up. It was like left brain fighting right brain.
Fortunately, these few who looked like Old Ones, C'tan, and warp entities but couldn't be identified as any creature were very rational and good-tempered.
"We intend to try to promote this time travel event through the Tuchulcha Engine, to verify whether we can interfere with space-time, and try to save Caliban."
Putting the helmet on the table, Arthur, who had no intention of wearing it, said directly.
For cultural reasons, none of the four Dawnbreakers liked painting green on their armor, especially the head.
'The Lion of ten thousand years ago cannot be killed either.'
The robed figure continued to gesture. Those who had fallen also reorganized their formation, surrounding them, emphasizing their understanding of space-time and the special nature of the four Dawnbreakers, explaining that if the past Lion was gone, the current one would be gone too.
Ramesses translated sentence by sentence, struggling to hold back laughter more and more.
So you also know what kind of person the Lion is. Otherwise, why would everyone assume the Dawnbreakers wouldn't welcome the Lion's return?
After all, the Dark Angels were thriving now. Internal cultural differences were gradually decoupled from military affairs, and ideology was more unified. Suddenly, a Lion who popped up in everyone's stereotype seemed to have no function other than splitting the Legion, causing conflict, giving the Dawnbreakers a troublesome opponent, and dampening the Dawnbreakers' enthusiasm.
Seeing that even the Watchers in the Dark defaulted the Lion as a heavyweight, Arthur couldn't help but smile.
"Instead of hostility, I hope we can communicate. Past lessons have alerted us to the importance of communication in various events, and we cannot make mistakes like in the past."
He explained as calmly and clearly as possible.
"I, and we, should actively communicate, collect information, and then analyze. Just like us now, you and I understood each other's demands through communication, confirming my attitude towards the Lion. So when I face the Lion, I will naturally do the same—"
"Instead of assuming the other party will do so based solely on stereotypes or wishful thinking."
Even without foresight, Arthur would choose to talk first. After all, in the past, he didn't know Gareth, nor did he know those strange Fallen.
The Watchers in the Dark were stunned, remembering the orbital bombardment they failed to stop back then.
You refused to communicate, fine. But activating orbital bombardment directly, then boarding and missing the target, and hacking people when meeting new recruits welcoming you—what does that mean?
Maybe the Lion should just keep lying down?
Those 'Fallen' who joined the Dawnbreakers with Lord Cypher also showed complex and envious expressions at the same moment.
If this Prince had commanded the First Legion back then, would they have avoided such a cruel misunderstanding? Would the Legion still be intact today?
"It's not too late now."
Kay whispered, intending to continue recruiting for the Prince.
After receiving news of the Watchers in the Dark's appearance, Kay returned with Lord Cypher. Out of safety concerns, he also brought Galahad, a Knight-Preceptor from the Great Crusade era, and former Dark Angel Librarian Belphadon.
After the meeting, emphasizing the Dawnbreakers' policy of accepting the Lion mainly, during this short reunion with Lord Cypher, Kay also learned his purpose.
Find the Watchers in the Dark, relying on the power of these ancient creatures to reforge the Primarch sword on his back.
Give the Lion a stab.
"..."
Kay rubbed his brow.
If this one really planned to do something, he couldn't stop him. So he had to find a few reliable people to watch him, lest he go crazy suddenly.
Sigh, time really changes many things and many people.
Glancing at Lord Cypher again, seeing the other party still maintaining an elusive posture, Kay sighed helplessly.
If he didn't know better, he would have thought the person under the hood was Astelan.
'We agree.'
The Watchers in the Dark felt this Prince made sense and gestured again.
"What about Tuchulcha?"
Arthur asked again.
The Watchers in the Dark continued to gesture.
"As long as you don't enter within a hundred meters of it, it will cooperate fully."
Ramesses translated.
Although he didn't know what use drawing this distance had for Arthur, who could also teleport short distances, just treat it as a psychological safety circle.
After all, Master Art's deterrence against these immortal things was a bit too terrifying.
'That is a lie. Don't turn off the field. Just whitelist the Watchers in the Dark. Tuchulcha wants to run; the teleport button is smoking.'
Ramesses's voice sounded in his heart.
"Fine."
Arthur nodded, expression unchanged.
The Watchers in the Dark stopped gesturing. These strange creatures seemed to melt into the air and disappeared, leaving only two by Arthur's side. One of them, seeing Arthur had no intention of changing helmets, simply held the helmet and came to Arthur's feet.
"Data comparison complete."
The voices of the Pyrewing also came at the right time.
Ramesses's translation helped them clarify the full picture of the event, and they also agreed to launch the plan.
After all, from beginning to end, even after the boarding party and the home party reconciled accounts back then, they couldn't figure out who blew up Caliban.
Because everyone was loyal. Even though the current Dark Angels frantically hunted 'Fallen' to cover up the truth because they suspected they were traitors, even the Dark Angels remaining in orbit at that time were loyal. It was precisely because no one knew what happened that they fell into madness after losing the Primarch.
Several Dreadwing and Pyrewing members gathered to study it. With their experience of wholesaling hundreds of Exterminatus orders, they carefully analyzed and agreed that the orbital bombardment at that time was insufficient to destroy Caliban.
Perhaps a bystander's perspective from ten thousand years later could allow them to uncover the truth of Caliban's destruction.
So—
"Next objective: intercept Vashtorr, facilitate the unification process of the three artifacts, open the space-time channel."
Arthur defined three goals. The Pyrewing warriors immediately bent over to operate the control interface. The holographic projection expanded rapidly with their movements, tactical routes and data streams gradually taking shape amidst screen flashes.
"If the mountain won't come to me, I must go to the mountain."
Ramesses played with the coordinates in his hand. As long as they arrived, the development of the situation would be out of Vashtorr's hands.
All the young people present were expectant. Although they didn't understand what it meant, why the Watchers in the Dark persuaded the Prince not to kill the Lion, it didn't hinder their expectations.
After all, the conversation between the two sides undoubtedly proved that the Lion had a chance to return.
This meant they would also have two Primarchs like the Ultramarines.
This made these young people who had never experienced that legendary era inexplicably excited, their beating hearts urging them to start acting impatiently.
"Secondly—"
Arthur scanned the surroundings, his gaze falling on those still anxious members.
"Members participating in the defense of the Rock, please stand by."
"Huh?"
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