The Marshal and the Priest Must Both Be Possessed

"Greetings, Brother Romulus."

The Chaplain behind Orlando clearly could not bear to watch this negotiation any longer and stepped forward quite decisively.

"Before we reached the Piaerde Sector, two companies of the Nemesis Chapter lost contact at Piaerde and have since gone completely silent. The Emperor's Tarot has revealed the grave danger of this mission. With only three hundred brothers deployed in this expeditionary fleet, we must secure every possible form of assistance."

This Chaplain spoke much more reasonably, explaining the situation in a calm tone.

He then produced his divination records and displayed them to the group.

The Emperor's Tarot, a divination tool used by humans who believe in the God-Emperor, allows the user to obtain omens regarding certain events through ritual. Usually, only those with sufficient piety can receive revelations from the God-Emperor.

"The omens reveal that we are walking toward death, yet a glimmer of light remains in the darkness, requiring the aid of powerful reinforcements."

Arabella translated the information for the ancient saints; after all, the current Ecclesiarchy only became mainstream during the Age of Apostasy, and before that, the Empire's faith in the God-Emperor had not yet formed a systematic structure.

"..."

The Chaplain sensed that something was amiss.

One must understand that a Canoness is equal in rank to a Chapter Master, and her ability to mobilize Imperial forces is often far greater than that of a Space Marine. Faced with the Deathwatch—a motley crew of stubborn, unconventional warriors who deal with xenos artifacts daily—it would be normal for her to show them nothing but coldness.

Yet, was this Canoness being a bit too respectful toward these Deathwatch brothers?

"Understood."

Romulus signaled his comprehension, mentally elevating the importance of securing combat strength by another magnitude.

After all, coming from the Black Templars, a Chapter watched over by the God-Emperor, the credibility of such divination was extremely high.

"Thank you for your analysis, Sister Arabella."

Although he had finished reading the somewhat outdated files on the Carcharodons and had his perception of the Empire's absurdity refreshed, Romulus held no prejudice against the sisters of the Ecclesiarchy.

He understood that the current state of the Empire could not be blamed on these sisters.

Everyone knew clearly that if one could set things right and make the Empire great again simply by hacking a few people to death—or even a few High Lords—those High Lords would likely jump from a high place themselves without needing anyone else to do the job.

As for the transmigrators, they intended to keep looking; they would not let their future Chapter homeworld turn into this abstract mess.

"It is my honor."

Arabella bowed in salute.

What she was most grateful for was that while these ancient saints did not identify with the current Empire, they never forcibly denied it, choosing instead to respect the faith and sacrifices of humanity over the past ten thousand years.

If the God-Emperor's successive manifestations had won the transmigrators the awe of the sisters, then the transmigrators' actual interactions with the citizens of the Empire—their mindset of "I don't quite understand, but I respect it" and "We shouldn't blame these victims who are fighting against all sorts of monsters"—easily won the sisters' heartfelt reverence.

And it was likely more than just a little.

The Chaplain carefully scrutinized these Deathwatch members, who bore the heraldry of the Ultramarines and the Blood Angels, finding them increasingly strange.

"So, you intend to invite us to deal with the Drukhari in order to secure the assistance of the Prospector Fleet, is that correct?"

After clarifying his thoughts, Romulus asked.

"But Inquisitor Aglaia forcibly agreed to the Archmagos's harsh conditions to ensure the Prospector Fleet would accompany us. We lost twenty-seven brothers for it, and yet we have gained nothing."

Orlando spoke up directly, then glared at the Inquisitor.

"You must take responsibility for our brothers who died because of your psychic sorcery."

"This was a revelation given to me by the God-Emperor!"

Aglaia argued back firmly.

"That was merely a hallucination granted to you by sorcery! If not for the fact that you still wear the seal granted to you by the God-Emperor, you would be nothing more than another witch who should be purged on the spot."

Orlando glanced at Aglaia, his eyes making no effort to hide his disgust.

The Chaplain, who was about to speak again, watched helplessly as the Marshal—who was even more extreme than himself—fell into another dispute with the Inquisitor.

He led the others a few steps away and then apologized to them.

"My apologies."

"It is understandable."

Romulus was indifferent to this.

They were Black Templars, after all; every expeditionary fleet's Marshal and Chaplain always had to have one of them be a fanatic.

"So, do the Black Templars have differing opinions on whether to assist the Prospector Fleet?"

"The Black Templars also support the Inquisitor's decision. The God-Emperor reveals that we should strive for all the help we can get, so the addition of the Prospector Fleet is naturally a good thing."

The Chaplain then looked toward the Archmagos, his tone inevitably tinged with indignation.

"However, the demands of Archmagos Cawl are truly quite harsh."

"What do you mean?"

Click.

A Servo-skull flew over. The Chaplain inserted the mission record into the slot behind the skull and began to describe the process of the attack to everyone.

"The Archmagos and the expeditionary fleet reached a consensus on entering Piaerde under the introduction of Inquisitor Aglaia. The Black Templars would ensure the Archmagos's safety after landing, and upon completion of the mission, the Archmagos would provide us with ships depending on the harvest."

When it came to the ship's model, the priest was deliberately vague, pointing instead to the star map displayed before them.

"Both sides agreed to rendezvous in the Lesser Piaerde System before heading to Piaerde together, but when the Prospector Fleet arrived, a Drukhari fleet that had been lying in ambush attacked them before our fleet could even provide support."

"Those Drukhari were clearly hired by someone to intercept the Prospector Fleet in the Lesser Piaerde System. After losing the naval battle, over five hundred Drukhari seized the furnace core at the stern of the Steel Soul, using it as a stronghold to occupy a large area of the ship's aft."

The hologram displayed the outline of the Mechanicus Ark, with the red section at the stern representing the area occupied by the Drukhari.

The priest used a marker to draw a core circle within that area.

"The goal of these Drukhari is clear: they want to delay the Prospector Fleet in this system, even at the cost of sacrificing an entire fleet."

At this point, the priest's voice, distorted by the skull mask he wore, carried a hint of helplessness as he gestured for everyone to look out the porthole at a Tormentor Cruiser floating nearby.

"The Magos was clearly constrained, even leaving them a cruiser after the naval victory while allowing us to depart early."

"But the Inquisitor still insists?"

Romulus watched the Inquisitor, who was arguing with Marshal Orlando until her face was flushed red.

"That's right. She insists that the psychic omen is the guidance of the Emperor and demands that the Archmagos accompany us, while the Archmagos insists that the Drukhari invading the interior of the Ark must be dealt with in five minutes, or the warship will suffer damage he cannot accept."