Axis smiled and ignored Kaisa, whose face had gone dark with anger. She was probably still young, though not a child. Sometimes she seemed mature, but at other times she was so willful!
Her identity must be important. Could she be a special Psyker secretly raised by the Emperor from childhood?
It seemed he should find time to ask what a Sensei actually was.
The search and rescue operation continued. With the Imperial Army conducting a massive search, the surviving Astartes of the Second Legion were soon all rescued.
They learned that their Primarch had escaped the Rangdan Xenos' control. The Second Legion had suffered heavy losses, but at least their Father of Genes was still alive.
There were a little over eight hundred survivors in all. Of the tens of thousands in the Legion, only a little over eight hundred had survived.
Axis thought that was decent. With another two hundred, they would have the strength of a standard Chapter in the future.
Once these loyalist Astartes had been examined and cleared, they were immediately sent aboard a ship to return for treatment.
"This planet is temporarily secure. Let's return to the ship first. We can discuss what to do next there..." After speaking, Axis returned with Leman Russ to the Landing Pod they had arrived in. He didn't even bring his sixteen Adeptus Custodes guards, leaving without them.
The Custodes would follow his orders, but to be honest, Axis didn't trust them very much.
Every Space Marine Legion had secrets, to some degree. For the sake of their Primarch, these Space Marines would guard those secrets with their lives—even keep them from the Emperor.
But it was different with the Custodes. Everything they did was for the Emperor. Axis didn't intend to let anyone know about the Saibamen