The Empire's Extravagant Reward-a Mars-class Battleship!

Guilliman sent Calgar to inform Alvin that the Adeptus Custodes had requested a meeting with him. The news left Alvin feeling rather uneasy.

What did the Adeptus Custodes want with him?!

They weren't just some nobody—they were the Custodian Guard, nominally directly subordinate to the Emperor!

Though for nearly ten thousand years, they had failed in their duty to protect the Emperor. As a result, these "Golden Corn" had all become shut-ins, paying no attention to anything outside their walls. Their only action outside the Palace had been to suppress the Sisters of Battle who had been manipulated during the Ecclesiarchy's rebellion.

If the Primarch hadn't returned and persuaded the Lord Commander of the Imperial Guard, those "Golden Corn" would probably still be holed up behind the walls of the Imperial Palace of Terra.

That was precisely why Alvin felt confused and uneasy when the leader of the Adeptus Custodes suddenly requested a private meeting with him.

After all, he knew what he'd done.

If the things he'd done in secret ever came to light, being executed a hundred times would be getting off lightly. He might even find himself branded a traitor!

That was the first reason.

The second was that the Custodes were unlikely to have much regard for Space Marines. Alvin couldn't very well believe that his privately assembled Space Marine Chapter—and his use of the Gene Seed of the two traitor Legions, the Children of Midnight and the Iron Warriors—had escaped their notice.

The Custodes had always remained behind the walls of the Imperial Palace of Terra, but the truth was that their intelligence network reached almost every corner of the galaxy. Even the Inquisition might not be their equal.

And that brought up another extremely unusual aspect of the Custodes.

The Custodes didn't serve permanently.