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Chapter 237: The Threat of the Custodes
🕑 Added 2025-08-22 14:08:20 +0000 UTCChapter 237: The Threat of the Custodes
Everyone looked at the uninvited guest, Trajann. He looked up at the High Lords sitting in their high seats and did his best to suppress his own anger.
"In the name of the Adeptus Custodes, I guarantee the authenticity of this matter! The High Council of Terra must cooperate with this action!"
Everyone was surprised by Trajann's arrival. Under normal circumstances, the Custodes would not participate in the council. They would only stand fast in the Imperial Palace. And Zlata had not informed Trajann of the astropathic message beforehand. But it was as if he had known all along.
And this time, Trajann had not come alone. Behind him followed several squads of Custodes, including two Shield-Captains. Although the Custodes had not displayed their strength for a long time, the High Lords all knew very well their combat prowess. They could, of course, hear the anger in Trajann's voice, but having been in high positions for so long, they still did not show any panic. It was precisely because of the Custodes' loyalty to the Emperor that they felt the Custodes would not violate the Emperor's command and act against them.
And the Master of the Administratum, Irthu, had even begun to call for the personal executioners of the High Lords, the ferocious Minotaurs Chapter.
Trajann looked back at the corridor he had come from. The sound of neat footsteps came from the hallway outside the great hall. The mortal guards retreated in terror to the side, clearing a path for the newcomers. Astartes of the Minotaurs, clad in bronze power armor, were gathering in the hall. And at their head was their Chapter Master, Asterion Moloc. His physique was even larger than that of a Custodian, and the weapon known as the Black Spear was held tightly in his hand. A master-crafted storm shield was held firm.
Trajann looked at the Minotaur Astartes before him. He knew of their Chapter Master. He was strong, but not strong enough. His combat prowess could be compared to that of a Shield-Captain, but there was still a gap between him and himself. These loyal lapdogs of the High Lords had still come to back up their masters, even knowing that they were facing the Custodes.
"Captain-General Trajann, the Custodes are bound by the Oath of Terra. You should not participate in the internal politics and decision-making of the Imperium!"
And some other High Lords sat on the sidelines, not expressing any opinion. For example, the Grand Master of the Assassinorum.
"No oath can be placed above the Emperor and the Imperium. When truly necessary, the Custodes will once again go and help His people, just as they once accompanied the Emperor at His side. High Lords! It seems you have forgotten! You are not the owners of the Imperium. The master of this vast empire will always be the Emperor. And you are the shepherds to whom the Emperor has granted authority. The Emperor did not give you power to satisfy your own private interests. The Custodes know everything you have done! And now, are you still thinking of your own interests?
"And you! Pope-Militant Lester! As the leader of the Ecclesiarchy, who believes in the great Emperor and has sworn to dedicate everything to Him, when a son of the Emperor returns, you are also unwilling to assist him? Instead, you stand by and watch coldly? Or is your faith not as firm as you claim?!"
Trajann's words made Lester break out in a cold sweat.
"Of course not, Captain-General Trajann! The return of the Primarch is good news for the entire Imperium. The Ecclesiarchy will, of course, follow the son of the God-Emperor! Please rest assured!"
"I hope so... Pope-Militant Lester. There are not a few hidden heretical cults on Terra. I hope your priests and inquisitors can cooperate fully. I believe you also do not want Lord Guilliman to see such a Terra when he returns."
Trajann's voice was undisguisedly threatening. He had no good feelings for the priests of the Ecclesiarchy. In a sense, the Ecclesiarchy had violated the Emperor's will by deifying Him.
"I will immediately inform all the cathedrals and priests on Terra. I will also contact the Adeptus Arbites and the men under Lord Veth to fully investigate the heretics!"
"I hope so! Pope-Militant Lester, please remember! Although the Emperor sits on the Golden Throne, He is always watching us!"
Trajann's words made the expressions of some of the High Lords change, a mixture of anger and fear. The forcefulness of the Custodes had exceeded their expectations. Calling the Minotaurs Chapter had only been to display their own authority. But to actually fight these Custodes... the High Lords did not dare. There were still ten thousand Custodes in the Imperial Palace.
Seeing the reaction of the High Lords, Trajann had the urge to chop them all down, but he suppressed this impulse.
"Captain-General Trajann, everything we do is also for the Imperium... I will immediately arrange for the Administratum to begin coordinating resources. I believe the Departmento Munitorum and Admiral Peres of the Navy will also do their best!" Irthu said, looking at the other two High Lords.
"Then act! The Custodes will also send personnel to depart with the fleet!" At this moment, a fierce light was hidden in Trajann's eyes.
He did not trust these High Lords. Some people were already on his death list. He would hand over their evil deeds to the great gene-primarch when Guilliman returned to Terra. At that time, their life and death would be decided by him. He could not pronounce their death sentence now. Firstly, the Custodes did not have the right to kill them. Secondly, these High Lords had not truly betrayed the Imperium. And at this critical juncture, the Imperium did indeed need their efforts. None of the people who could sit in the position of a High Lord were useless. Their abilities were all recognized by everyone. The various aspects of the Imperium still needed their coordination.
And some of the High Lords did indeed make Trajann feel helpless... He knew that there were some situations that he and the Custodes could not solve. The Custodian who had returned from Lorysia had already told him everything he knew. The information he had now was the key that had made him tear up the oath he had once made.
Trajann seemed not to have participated in the politics of the Imperium, but he understood the current state of the Imperium very well. The moment he knew of the existence of the jump drive technology, he knew the importance of Lucan. Not to mention anything else, this point alone was enough for the Emperor to have them fully assist him.
Lucan had told the Custodian that the jump drive technology had not yet been successfully mass-produced. And before it was fully mass-produced, the Imperium still could not do without these Navigators, who had already developed into a behemoth. The Imperium still needed the countless Navigator houses to provide assistance for the navigation of its warships. And once the Navigator houses knew of the existence of the jump drive technology, they would inevitably threaten the Imperium before the technology was popularized. Once that happened, the Imperium would be paralyzed. The appearance of the jump engine would completely replace these Navigators, turning everything they now possessed into nothing.
And the existence of quantum communication would threaten the status of the astropaths. However, the business scope of the Adeptus Astra Telepathica was not only astrotelepathy. The impact on them would be much smaller than on the Navigator houses. And many astropaths did not even want to do this dangerous job. One mistake could drive you mad. Before a Chaos invasion, they were often the first to be targeted or killed.
From the performance of some of the High Lords just now, Trajann knew that this conflict was almost inevitable. How to solve this matter had completely exceeded his ability. It could only be left to Lucan and Guilliman to solve.
Under Trajann's forceful coercion, countless astropathic messages were sent from Terra to all parts of the Imperium. Some cumbersome procedures were forcibly reduced. The sternly worded astropathic messages made some sectors that had been on the sidelines begin to transfer the fleets they could mobilize and move toward Guilliman.
A vigorous purification campaign began on Terra. Trajann also dispatched the Custodes to participate in the action. Not only that, but Trajann also transferred a hundred Custodes and a contingent of the secretly recalled Silent Sisterhood to Cadia.
Countless resources were also being transferred from various depot worlds and resource planets. Under the threat of the Custodes and the return of the Primarch, the High Lords did their best to mobilize resources and manpower in the shortest possible time. And when they cooperated as much as possible and, for the first time, reduced some useless procedures, they also found that the resources in their hands were more than they had imagined... Some planets had so many resources piled up that they had to be destroyed. Even so, the taxes collected were still being transported to these planets. A round of transfers had instead reduced the pressure on these planets. The cost of maintaining and transporting these supplies was even higher than their own value.
Once this massive war machine of the Imperium was fully operational, it was enough to make any race in the galaxy tremble.
