Mars's Lone Army

Time point: when Terra's Webway had been successfully constructed and put into operation, The Emperor recalled Qin Xa and ordered Quadrant to go to Mars.

Quadrant boarded a transport bound for his own mechanical ark—the Gloriana-class Battleship later built by the Eleventh Legion. Qin Xa had given the battleship to him as a parting gift.

After the transport entered the battleship and stopped at the flight passage of the newly established laboratory, Quadrant entered the laboratory with the Custodes accompanying him.

As a scholar, Quadrant first inspected the laboratory.

The environment was decent, and the experimental equipment was all top-of-the-line.

Only after examining the laboratory did Quadrant begin considering why The Emperor had sent him to Mars.

"What exactly does His Majesty want me to do on Mars?"

After giving it some thought, Quadrant came up with countless possibilities. Unable to determine the answer, he decided to ask the Custodes who had escorted him aboard the ship.

They were a Custodes shield guard squad.

The squad was commanded by a shield captain. Judging from the various marks of honor on his body, he was a veteran who had followed The Emperor since the Unification Wars.

The entire shield guard squad consisted of veterans as well. That meant they had been assembled temporarily—a crack team put together solely to protect Quadrant.

The Custodes held their Halberds in one hand and great shields in the other, standing tall as they stared at Quadrant without uttering a word.

"What is your name, my lord?" Quadrant asked the shield captain.

The captain said nothing.

"May I simply call you Captain?" Quadrant asked.

"Yes." A muffled reply came from beneath the captain's helmet.

"Can you tell me what my mission on Mars is?"

"No."

"Did someone tell you not to tell me?"

"Yes."