The Alliance Takes Shape

"I remained cautious about the Space Marines," Oedmeir said, silencing everyone. "There had always been something wrong with those gene-seeds, especially after I learned where you Primarchs came from."

"After learning Imperium history, reading some Inquisition records, and seeing how you people controlled the genes of the Space Marines... honestly, even the Finalizers who dabbled in mind control were nowhere near as twisted as you."

"The Emperor is the Great Demon King, you are Demon Princes, and the remaining Space Marines are little demon legions loyal to you. But the Space Marines in the neighboring Macragge Sector seemed fairly normal. Only certain individuals' arrogance annoyed me."

"That is Great Astartes-ism—the pride Space Marines felt toward ordinary humans," Rogal Dorn said.

"But they forgot that they had once been ordinary humans themselves. That was the flaw of genetic surgery. There would always be idiots who saw themselves as a species above humanity. We needed stricter screening and recruitment standards."

"I thought Chapter screening was already strict enough," Fulgrim said thoughtfully.

"Not enough. The closed culture of Space Marine Chapters was one reason for their arrogance. Outside, they received the worship of ignorant Imperium citizens; inside, they formed warrior fraternities worshipping The Emperor. The Chapters' organizational structure needed to be dealt with. At the very least, these warriors needed to be able to fight alongside the Astra Militarum instead of each fighting their own battles. Besides, I had been considering the Imperium's current reform policies."

Oedmeir laid out her plan. She did not want to waste a moment.

T'au souls were nearly invisible in the Warp. Especially after Oedmeir installed reliable Gellar Fields aboard T'au warships, so long as their luck was not abysmal and they did not happen to ram straight into the face of some Warp creature, no daemon would