"Oh my, oh my, oh my, is this the famous Little Horus Eichmann? You look exactly like your father!"
"Torgaddon! I heard your jokes are unparalleled among the Luna Wolves; let's chat sometime!"
"You're asking about that Ogryn? That's a smart Ogryn newly cultivated by the Blood Priest. The Thousand Sons also participated; they contributed crucial genes."
Mephiston sat in a corner of the hall, built from scrap and steel, holding a crude cup of strong liquor, his face filled with bewilderment.
Alexander told the genestealer patriarch, who claimed to be Horus, that he was Doki Dante, a member of the Saint Blood Guard, a diligent and work-loving Blood Angel, assigned by the Archangel as Horus' personal guard to signify brotherly friendship.
These words were full of holes, but Alexander's tone carried a convincing power, and the genestealer seemed to be of unclear mind, actually believing Alexander's words.
So, this "Horus" agreed to Alexander serving as a personal guard and took Alexander aboard the Vengeful Spirit.
The Vengeful Spirit. Mephiston looked at the dilapidated hall before him. Those genestealers were truly mad, claiming this place was the former flagship of Horus' Sons, the Gloriana-class Battleship Vengeful Spirit.
If this place could be called the Vengeful Spirit, then wouldn't the underground crypt where Mephiston slept be the Terra Imperial Palace? Was it the Emperor's Dream?
What made Mephiston most speechless was that he had only roughly figured out that the genestealer's worldview was stuck ten thousand years ago, during the time when Horus was appointed Warmaster and the Luna Wolves had not yet been renamed Horus' Sons.
Yet, Alexander seemed to be in his element, effortlessly integrating into the genestealer's worldview.
Now, he was holding strong liquor, smiling as he socialized with several genestealers who believed themselves to be high-ranking Luna Wolves.
"Wow, so you are Abaddon! I've heard so much about you, so much! The First Captain of the Luna Wolves is indeed a man of outstanding talent!"
"But Captain Abaddon, why is your head so pointy?"
"What? You're asking me what I mean? You ask me, then I ask you..."
A moment later, Alexander set down his drink slightly and retreated to the corner of the hall, beside Mephiston.
"Interesting," Alexander leaned against the wall and said to Mephiston, "The Luna Wolves are a little hostile to my arrival."
"To become a Primarch's personal guard in a Legion is an honor in itself, and I, a Blood Angel of unknown origin, have obtained this position... Heh heh, some people are displeased."
"Among Horus' advisory group, the Four Kings Council... Little Horus Eichmann went with the flow, not expressing his opinion."
"Torgaddon is full of jokes, not very serious."
"Abaddon is somewhat hostile towards me, looking at me with scrutiny."
"Scyarnus... Scyarnus is dead, exactly as in history."
"Captain Loken has a very serious personality, but he only expressed gratitude to me."
Mephiston listened to all of this, dumbfounded. Alexander's tone, when speaking, truly sounded like he was caught in the same delusion as the genestealer.
"Such a brilliant role-play, are you really not going to participate?"
Alexander raised an eyebrow and retorted:
"They are all echoes of the impressions the populace had of the Luna Wolves members ten thousand years ago, and may even contain fragments of their own lingering thoughts."
"Their mode of operation is likely identical to ten thousand years ago, a replication of the former Luna Wolves Legion."
A smile tugged at the corner of Alexander's mouth. He had felt that these warriors, in their emotions, truly seemed to be replications of the Luna Wolves from ten thousand years ago.
Their spirits were filled with an energy and drive that humans of this era lacked, full of hope and ambition, believing deep down in humanity's manifest destiny, understanding that they stood at a time when humanity was once again moving towards glory.
It's not that the warriors of the 40th Millennium were spiritually inferior to them, but rather that those legendary figures of the 40th Millennium often knew that they were guarding an empire that was slowly decaying.
That was truly an era full of heroes, Alexander thought, looking at the genestealer before him.
From mortals to Astartes to Primarchs, everyone's heart was filled with pioneering spirit. The dust of the Old Night had been swept away, and golden souls shone brightly, each as heroic and magnificent as the heroes of legend.
Even if these genestealers were just madmen with alien appearances, even if they were non-human from soul to body, the behaviors and spirits projected into them were real.
Mephiston's face twitched slightly.
He could understand what Alexander meant, but he really couldn't accept it.
The appearance of these xenos had nothing to do with the heroes of the Great Crusade era. Moreover, at least half of the individuals Alexander had just interacted with were historical traitors, especially Abaddon, who was still a major threat to the Imperium.
Even if the genestealer calling himself "Abaddon" was just a replica, Mephiston scrutinized him with intense hostility.
"The radar staff isn't pointing at 'Horus,'" Alexander suddenly said. "He's not the culprit yet."
Alexander's voice emphasized the words Horus and yet, indicating that he was referring to the genestealer who claimed to be Horus.
"..Not yet?" Mephiston was slightly surprised. "Could he be in the future?"
"Yes," Alexander nodded, slightly pressing down the brim of his deduction hat. "They are playing roles, re-enacting history from ten thousand years ago."
"Re-enacting..." Mephiston glanced around, trying to digest Alexander's words as much as possible.
He naturally knew that the genestealer before him were replications of the Luna Wolves from ten thousand years ago, but the "re-enactment" in Alexander's words clearly referred to something more direct.
"63-19?" Mephiston murmured, as if he understood something.
Planet 63-19, referring to the nineteenth planet conquered by Fleet 63 during the Great Crusade.
On this planet, Scyarnus of the Luna Wolves died.
According to records in the Librarians, the people on this planet believed their planet was Terra, the homeworld of humanity, and there was also a False Emperor and a group of invisible warriors.
Ultimately, Horus personally killed that False Emperor.
"Are you saying that everything that just happened was a re-enactment of the events on Planet 63-19 ten thousand years ago?" Mephiston was slightly startled.
"Almost identical," Alexander's lips curved into a smile. "Gavriel Loken's actions, the False Emperor's trap, and Horus' manner of appearance were all almost identical."
"Although there are slight differences, they can be understood as distortions under the influence of the Warp, as ten thousand years have passed, after all."
"And I must tell you, the events on Planet 63-19, though seemingly ordinary, were actually almost the prelude to the Horus Heresy..."
Mephiston was slightly taken aback. What Alexander said was something he didn't know.
The information in the Librarians itself came from reports of Horus' fleet ten thousand years ago and had been eroded by time, so it wouldn't be this detailed.
63-19 was the prelude to the Horus Heresy? Mephiston pondered for a moment. Here, Horus killed the False Emperor. Could Alexander be implying that this held some ritualistic meaning?
Alexander himself actually hadn't considered that much.
The reason he said Planet 63-19 was the prelude to the Horus Heresy was simply because it truly was the opening chapter of the first book, "Horus Rising," in the "Horus Heresy" novel series from his previous life.
"Since this segment has been replicated, you should know the next part of the story, right?" Alexander asked, glancing at Mephiston.
Mephiston nodded slightly: "Horus was wounded by the annihilus blade, almost fatally, and then sent into Davine's temple, where he was corrupted by the Chaos Gods."
"But there are no Chaos Gods here," Alexander said softly. "What will corrupt Horus then?"
"I suspect it's the Dark Angel in the Baal faith, an echo of Horus, the sum of all emotions people have felt towards Horus during ten thousand years of mourning Sanguinius' death. Sanguinius called it his Black Rage."
"Or rather, the Black Rage of all Blood Angels."
Alexander glanced at Mephiston.
According to the normal timeline, this Dark Angel should have been sealed within Mephiston by Sanguinius during Mephiston's Primaris surgery.
Mephiston thus became the host for the Black Rage.
But now, due to the interference of the hive mind and the effects of Sanguinius' resurrection, this Dark Angel subtly showed signs of losing control.
Alexander again pressed down the brim of his deduction hat, and many fragmented clues in his mind connected into a single thread.
"This genestealer Horus is clearly a body prepared by the Dark Angel."
"He will corrupt the genestealer Horus in place of the Chaos Gods, infusing himself into the genestealer Horus' body to gain a physical form in the material universe."
"I can't say how strong this Dark Angel's power is, but since Sanguinius only sent you and me to deal with this... it should at least pose a considerable threat to other Blood Angels."
"And who knows if the hive mind is involved behind this? It might even want to take a gamble."
"..Kill these genestealers?" Mephiston suggested. "No, that doesn't seem to solve the problem..."
Alexander nodded in agreement.
If it were that easy, it would be simple.
He would just fire a few Perturabo-style defensive lasers, blast the entire Sheath Wing Fortress to ashes, and be done with it.
The problem was that these genestealers themselves weren't special; it was just that their behavior and spirit were influenced by the Dark Angel, turning them into echoes of the Luna Wolves from ten thousand years ago.
Killing them would have no effect on the Dark Angel itself; it could even cultivate the next batch and re-enact the whole thing.
"The old method."
Alexander and Mephiston said almost simultaneously, exchanging a knowing glance and a smile.
"Use the old method we used against Ka'Bandha: first, let the Dark Angel enter the physical universe, then stuff him into my four-dimensional pocket," Alexander chuckled.
Mephiston nodded in agreement.
Just then, a cheer erupted from the genestealer nearby, who believed themselves to be the Luna Wolves.