Trajann Valoris, who had just stepped off the transport aircraft, glanced at Guilliman's towering silhouette before speaking.
"At present, only Roboute Guilliman, the Imperial Regent, is staying on Terra."
Trajann Valoris seemed to sense something unusual in Aurellion's tone.
"Why do you ask?"
Aurellion looked past Guilliman, staring fixedly toward the moving crowd nearby, but the other two powerful presences had already vanished without a trace.
"Nothing. Perhaps the journey has tired me, and my senses are slightly off."
He could not explain what he had sensed in that instant, much less determine what it meant. In this unfamiliar world ten thousand years later, caution was necessary.
He finally spoke in a low voice, setting his doubts aside for the moment.
Trajann Valoris did not press him. After briefly exchanging formal greetings with Guilliman, he motioned for the others to follow him.
Guilliman's gaze swept over the ancient Custodian. That suit of auramite armour without an Aquila insignia was far too conspicuous, but he said nothing more.
The Adeptus Custodes had their own way of operating, and Guilliman had no desire to meddle in their affairs.
Trajann Valoris led the group through heavily guarded corridors, deep into the heart of the palace.
Aurellion's presence was like a stone cast into a deep pool, sending enormous ripples through the Conclave of the Adeptus Custodes.
The style of his armour, the emblem on his pauldron representing an ancient Terran continent, and his stated identity—one of the first Custodians created by the Emperor's own hands—were all profoundly startling.
To confirm his identity, Trajann Valoris had to bring Aurellion to a Temple deep within the palace, where the Dreadnoughts housing ancient heroes slumbered.
Contemptor Dreadnought
Amid a low hum and the hiss of activating servo systems, a group of technical Attendants disengaged the Stasis