The Lord Regent Picks Up the Tab

Lin En had reunited with the Lamenters, so it was time for the Adeptus Custodes squad to leave.

Their duties still lay on distant Terra.

The Custodes captain did not want to go. He made one last attempt. "Lord Lin En, the Eye of Terror is extremely dangerous. Perhaps we could..."

Lord Lin En was merciless. "No. Who brings Custodes on a Penitent Crusade?"

Bringing twenty Custodes on a Penitent Crusade? What would that look like? Anyone who didn't know better would think he was going on vacation.

"But our lord tasked us with protecting you—"

"I'm perfectly safe. No one in the Warp can kill me."

Black Pelt could move in the Warp, after all.

The Custodes captain opened his mouth, then closed it again.

He realized he had no argument.

With Lord Lin En's abilities, he really was safe... He didn't seem to need their protection at all!

Lin En sent the twenty Custodes away without mercy.

The Custodes were selected from the pure-blooded infants of Terra's nobility. The requirements were exceedingly high, and few infants qualified.

Terra's nobles were willing to sacrifice their children, but the genetic compatibility threshold was nearly impossible to meet. Only a handful of infants made it into the laboratories each year.

Transforming a single Custodian from scratch and completing his full training in mind, combat, and philosophy took nearly a century. At most, a few new recruits emerged each year.

After the Emperor took his seat on the throne, the absence of his psychic guidance drove the transformation failure rate even higher, slowing the production of new recruits further.

Then the Great Rift opened in the 40K era, and Custodes kept dying in battle. Annual losses far exceeded the number of recruits produced by the laboratories, and the shortfall kept growing.

Only