The Promise of March

Under Guilliman's iron rule and the hard fighting of the Imperium's allied forces, the starry skies of the Ultramar Sector had finally been cleansed of most of Chaos's filth.

The shattered star systems gradually returned to order, and the damaged worlds began their difficult recovery.

Time slipped through his fingers like sand, quietly approaching the three-month deadline promised to "General Kent."

On the bridge of the flagship Macragge's Honour, the atmosphere carried a barely perceptible tension.

Guilliman stood before the viewing port, his calm gaze sweeping across the sector that had only just regained its peace.

He did not hold much expectation for the impending "material support."

What substantial aid could a planetary governor provide, even one from the mysterious and powerful Hilling Empire?

At most, it would be some symbolic supplies—better than nothing.

What concerned him more was whether they truly used a wormhole to transport supplies.

Calgar, Greyfax, Celestine, Cawl, Evelyn, and the others gathered around the tactical hololith.

Their thoughts were clearly more active than Guilliman's.

Around Archmagos Cawl's massive mechanical body floated dozens of humming precision instruments—high-precision gravitational wave detectors, Warp rift scanning arrays, quantum energy fluctuation monitors, multispectral psychic sensing nodes... Every advanced device that could be used had been deployed. The faint lights of countless probes flickered in the corners of the command room, greedily capturing every minute abnormal disturbance in the surrounding space.

"All detector power to maximum, calibrated to peak sensitivity!" Cawl's mechanical voice carried barely restrained excitement and tension. "Objective: capture any form of unnatural spatial distortion, energy concentration, or dimensional transition signal! Record all data! Do not overlook even the slightest trace! This will be an invaluable observation sample!"

Greyfax crossed her arms, her gaze beneath the hood still sharp, though a trace of grave curiosity hid deep within it.

Holy light flowed around Celestine as she silently sensed the psychic currents of space.

Evelyn leaned against a corner, her star-like eyes narrowed as if listening to the whispers of the Void itself.

At that moment, a miniature projector port on Captain Carter's MJOLNIR Armor gauntlet suddenly lit up.

A small virtual screen popped up and floated before him.

On the screen, a clear progress bar flashed with steady blue light, accompanied by simple text: [Beacon Record - Completion: 100%].

"The general's signal." Carter's deep voice broke the waiting silence in the command room.

The team members immediately stood at attention, their gazes focused on the tiny screen.

Bzzzz—

The screen flashed, and General Kent's figure appeared once more.

The image remained somewhat blurry, as if the signal had crossed an unimaginable distance.

But this time, the scene behind him instantly stole everyone's breath!

No longer was it a spaceport, but a deep cosmic backdrop.

In the background stood an immense fleet beyond counting! Countless sleek, sharply angular starships, filled with the cold beauty of technology, spread across the limits of sight like a forest of steel.

They were not stationary. They were slowly adjusting their formation, their prows all pointed in one direction—toward a colossal gate of light slowly rotating in the Void, radiating a gentle glow that contained destructive power!

The gate of light resembled a wound torn into the universe. Rainbow-like vortices of energy flowed within it, and it was so vast that even Macragge's Honour appeared tiny before it!

"We have received the data you uploaded." The general's voice came through the interference, calm yet carrying unquestionable authority.

Without hesitation, Carter and his team raised their hands and performed a standard Hilling Military Salute, their movements perfectly synchronized and filled with silent respect.

This was a farewell for their compatriots about to depart for a distant front.

The general's projection gave a slight nod in return.

His gaze seemed to pierce through the screen and fall upon Carter. "Captain Carter, the beacon is stable, and the coordinates have been locked. I will be unable to contact you again for some time. The Third Fleet of the Seventh Expeditionary Sequence will head to the 'Blade Edge' Sector to undertake rotational combat duties."

His words were clear and forceful. "Your team will temporarily detach from its original organizational sequence. New orders: remain stationed within Imperium of Man territory and await further instructions. During this period, you will undertake a temporary mission—serve as the temporary guard detail for the Hilling Empire's diplomatic inspector dispatched to the Imperium of Man, responsible for their safety and necessary guidance."

A diplomatic inspector! Guilliman's gaze instantly sharpened. Greyfax's breath caught slightly.

Ignoring their reactions, the general continued, "As for the supplies... deployment begins now."

The moment he finished speaking, the projected image abruptly shifted angle! Before the massive fleet formation, an unusually shaped vessel resembling a gigantic diamond crystal lit up at its prow with blinding white radiance! Unimaginable energy gathered wildly at its tip, distorting space itself!

The next instant, a colossal beam composed purely of energy, with a diameter far exceeding the length of an Imperial warship, shot out and slammed fiercely into the Void before the fleet!

Screeech—!

There was no earth-shattering explosion, only a teeth-grating shriek, as though space itself were being forcibly torn apart!

A deep, dark wormhole, its edges crackling with unstable arcs of electricity, was forcibly ripped open and held apart at the point of impact!

Within the wormhole flowed an incomprehensible torrent of bizarre colors.

Then came an astonishing sight: the belly hatch of a transport ship opened with a roar, like the door to an extradimensional warehouse! Countless huge standardized cargo containers, gleaming with metallic luster, were drawn by an invisible force and precisely fed into the entrance of the newly opened wormhole!

There were so many containers, on such a scale, that it was like dumping an entire mountain range of metal into space!

Almost at the exact same moment!

Woooo—!

Piercing alarms rang out across Macragge's Honour and every nearby monitoring vessel!

"Detected ultra-high-intensity spatial distortion!"

"Coordinates... directly ahead of the fleet! Distance... zero distance?!"

"Energy readings off the scale! Shield overload warning!"

On the bridge, Cawl's instruments shrieked madly as a tsunami of data engulfed him!

Greyfax abruptly took a step back.

Celestine's holy light surged violently.

Less than ten kilometers ahead of the flagship, space cracked open like fragile glass, forming a savage black fissure edged with violent lightning of leaping energy! Within the fissure churned the same bizarre torrent! Then, beneath everyone's disbelieving gazes, countless enormous standardized metal cargo containers identical to those in the projection burst from the spatial rift like floodwaters released from a dam!

Clatterrr—!

A torrent of metal! A true torrent of metal! Tens of thousands of massive containers gleamed with cold silver-gray light as they surged from the rift like meteors under their own inertia. Then, through some precise braking mechanism, they rapidly decelerated, adjusted their orientation, and finally formed an enormous, motionless floating... mountain range of supplies in the Void!

The containers were piled layer upon layer, densely packed, forming a boundless metallic plain beneath the starlight! The scale was so immense that their cold metallic reflections shone across every stunned face on the bridge.

Time seemed to freeze.

Only the faint hum of the containers' braking systems echoed through the silence.

In the projection, General Kent's voice sounded once more, as casual as if he were describing something trivial. "Supply deployment complete. Five hundred thousand standard basic survival support packages, with simplified instructions included. I hope they will be of some help to you." He paused slightly. "The diplomatic inspector will arrive soon. The exact timing depends on wormhole stability. Captain Carter, ensure their safety at all costs. Communication terminated."

The general's image flickered and vanished into the air.

A deathly silence filled the bridge for a full ten seconds.

"F-five hundred thousand..." A tech-priest's tearful voice broke the silence. The scanning data before him showed that the number of containers in that metal mountain range precisely matched the astronomical figure of five hundred thousand!

Guilliman's pupils constricted sharply. The knuckles of the hand gripping the command console turned white from the force. The authority of a planetary governor? This quantity of supplies was enough to sustain an entire campaign!

"Wormhole... stable... controllable... directional... matter transfer..." Cawl's massive mechanical body trembled violently before finally releasing a shriek filled with absolute reverence and terror. "A miracle! This is a miracle of physical law!"

Greyfax stared blankly at the floating metal mountain range beyond the viewing port. This was not merely supplies; it was a silent declaration, a display of power across the sea of stars!

Holy light flowed gently around Celestine as she gazed at the mountains of supplies, her eyes filled with complicated emotions that ultimately became a long sigh.

Evelyn nodded slightly. Everything matched her image of an empire fighting against cosmic-scale calamities.

"Calgar!" Guilliman's voice rang out, steady but carrying a barely discernible excitement. "Organize transport forces immediately! Receive and transfer these supplies!"

The orders were swiftly issued.

Imperial transport vessels, like busy worker bees, began carefully approaching that cold, massive mountain of supplies delivered by alien technology.

On the bridge, everyone remained immersed in the enormous shock.

Greyfax watched the containers being moved in an orderly fashion, then looked at Carter's silent team—especially the projector port on Carter's gauntlet that had just gone dark. She felt that her Imperial Truth had cracked open a fissure that could not be easily healed, just as the wormhole had opened and closed.

The cold torrent of metal floated in the Void like a silent monument of steel, proclaiming power and efficiency that spanned the stars.

Calgar personally commanded the transport fleet as they began dismantling and loading this "mountain of hope" with unprecedented efficiency.

Amid this busy yet orderly scene, an urgent report filled with disbelief suddenly cut into the flagship's public communication channel:

"This is transport formation Anvil Seven! Reporting! An anomaly has been discovered! In sector K-7, we have found... found a humanoid target! Repeat! A humanoid target! In... in the Void! No protective gear! No propulsion unit! Posture... posture appears to be walking?!"

The report's voice had warped from overwhelming horror.

The entire busy bridge instantly fell silent! Even Calgar stopped giving orders and stared at the hololithic star map in astonishment.

On the star map, sector K-7 was rapidly magnified.

Less than a kilometer from the Anvil Seven transport vessel, a figure dressed in ancient robes resembling those of some ascetic floated leisurely in the cold vacuum!

His hands were casually tucked within his wide sleeves, his posture as relaxed as if he were strolling through his own backyard.

Even more astonishingly, he seemed to notice the transport vessel's scans and the bridge's attention. He slightly turned toward Macragge's Honour, revealing a gentle, friendly, even somewhat... mischievous smile, then lightly waved!

"This is impossible!" a navigator cried. "Vacuum! Absolute zero! Cosmic radiation! No protection whatsoever..."

"A psyker?" Celestine immediately reached out with her senses, but her brows soon furrowed. "No... there are no strong Warp fluctuations! His presence... is abnormally stable! As if... he has merged with the Void itself!"

Greyfax had instinctively raised her Bolter halfway, her eyes sharp as blades. "Unknown xenos? Some new trick from a Chaos sorcerer?"

Guilliman's expression instantly turned exceedingly grave. "Bring him aboard." His voice was low and powerful, carrying an unquestionable command. "Maximum alert, but... do not attack first. Calgar, assign people to watch him."

A Thunderhawk Gunship shot out like an arrow loosed from a bow, its engines spraying dark blue exhaust as it sped toward the strange figure.

A blue column from its tractor beam precisely enveloped him.

Yet what made everyone's hearts jump was that when the figure was caught in the beam, not only did his face show no panic, but his gentle smile grew warmer. He even gave a slight nod of greeting toward the gunship's pilot.

He offered no resistance, allowing the tractor beam to "capture" him and pull him toward the flagship's hangar.

When the Thunderhawk's hatch slowly opened behind the hangar's heavy blast doors, the atmosphere was tense to the extreme. Fully armed Ultramarines of the Honor Guard stood in a semicircle, Bolters and power swords ready.

Guilliman, Calgar, Greyfax, Celestine, Cawl, Evelyn, and the others were already waiting on the hangar deck. The Spartan Squad stood at attention to one side as well.

The figure in ancient robes emerged calmly from the Thunderhawk's shadow.

His steps were steady yet light, as though he stood not upon a cold metal deck, but on solid ground.

His expression was gentle, carrying the radiance of one who had weathered countless years yet remained full of wisdom. His short brown hair was meticulously combed, and a neat short beard framed his jaw.

Most eye-catching was the unusual metal hilt hanging at his waist, emitting a warm sheen—it was clearly no ordinary ornament.

His gaze passed over the Honor Guard who faced him as though confronting a great enemy, swept across the Imperial leaders with their differing expressions, and finally settled on the Spartan Squad standing at attention.

At that very moment!

Bzzzz—!

The visors of the Spartans' MJOLNIR helmets instantly erupted in blinding red light!

Their internal tactical AI sounded within their helmets and across the synchronized Imperial command channel in an unprecedentedly sharp synthetic voice carrying the highest-priority alert:

[Warning! Extremely high energy signature detected! Biological signal identification match! Database comparison confirmed!]

[Identity: Hilling Empire · Jedi Order · High Jedi Master!]

[Authorization Level: Top Secret!]

Swish—!

Without the slightest hesitation or delay, the Spartans straightened like precision machines whose switch had been flipped and performed an impeccable Hilling Military Salute in perfect unison!

Their voices emerged through their armor amplifiers, clear and resounding, filled with heartfelt reverence:

"Sir! Noble Team, led by Captain Carter, reporting in!"

The entire hangar fell into deathly silence!

The Jedi Order? A High Jedi Master?

Those words exploded like heavy bombs in the heart of every Imperial present!

Greyfax completely lowered her Bolter, leaving only utter shock on her face.

The holy light around Celestine fluctuated intensely. From the gentle-robed figure, she sensed an energy field utterly unlike Warp psychic power, yet equally deep and vast—tranquil and powerful as the universe itself!

Cawl's mechanical eyes flickered madly as his scanners returned nothing but an unresolvable fog of energy!

The Jedi Master's gentle smile did not change in the slightest. He gave a slight nod, elegant and natural. "At ease, warriors. It is heartening to encounter soldiers of the Empire in such distant territory."

His voice was calm and soothing, carrying a strange power that put minds at ease, as though it could dispel the tension filling the hangar.

Guilliman took a deep breath, suppressing the storm in his heart, and stepped forward.

His sharp gaze scrutinized the being before him who called himself a "Jedi Master."

"I am Roboute Guilliman, Lord Regent of the Imperium of Man. And you are?"

The Jedi Master placed one hand over his chest and bowed slightly in an ancient, elegant gesture. "Regent Guilliman, it is a pleasure. I am Obi-Wan Kenobi. By order of the Senate of the Hilling Empire, I have come as an Imperial envoy to conduct preliminary contact and inspection within your territory."

He paused, his eyes sweeping over the mountainous stacks of supply containers around them and the ocean of metal beyond the hangar doors that had not yet fully closed, where supplies were being rapidly transferred. A knowing smile touched his lips. "It seems Governor Kent is quite fond of making friends. He has already sent you a modest gift."

Five hundred thousand sets of one month's standard survival supplies for an individual? Guilliman's eye twitched almost imperceptibly. Once again, he deeply understood the Hilling Empire's definition of "modest."

"Lord Obi-Wan," Guilliman said, his voice steady as he recovered the authority of a regent, "thank you for your generous assistance. You must have endured much on your long journey. The Imperium has prepared a humble banquet. Please come with me. It will serve both to welcome you and allow us to conduct our initial exchange." He made an inviting gesture.

"The honor is mine." Obi-Wan smiled and nodded, entirely composed, as though his stroll through the Void and his current presence in the heart of an Imperial flagship were both perfectly ordinary matters.

Under Guilliman's personal guidance, the group left the hangar, where the atmosphere remained frozen, and headed deeper into the vessel.

Greyfax and Calgar followed closely, their gazes fixed on Obi-Wan like searchlights.

Celestine and Evelyn walked thoughtfully behind them. Both had keenly sensed that the invisible energy field surrounding this "Jedi Master" was utterly different from the violent Chaos of the Warp. It was tranquil, profound, and orderly, yet contained unimaginable power.

Cawl's massive mechanical body brought up the rear, every one of his sensors locked tightly upon Obi-Wan's back, especially the unremarkable metal hilt at his waist.

Countless questions churned through Cawl's logic core: What was that energy? How did it function? What was its relationship with psychic power? The Jedi Order... what level of power did it possess...

The Spartan Squad silently followed at the end of the group, maintaining a standard alert formation. Beneath his helmet, Carter's gaze was filled with reverence. The Jedi Order! It was a pinnacle force in Imperial legend, comparable to the Angel Legion! The arrival of a High Jedi Master carried significance far beyond anything they could imagine.