Who Agrees, Who Objects

After Guilliman revealed the grave threat posed by the ancient Orks, Diocletian, the Custodes tribune, voiced his support with little hesitation.

As the perfect humans meticulously created by the Emperor, every Custodian was an outstanding military strategist, statesman, and historian.

They had countless channels and methods through which they could learn what had truly happened in the distant past.

And an event as immense and ancient as the War in Heaven naturally had dedicated research within the Custodes.

Humanity had gained some understanding of the War in Heaven long ago, but as latecomers, that understanding was inevitably incomplete and one-sided.

"I never expected ancient Orks to still exist in this era."

"We had assumed those ancient beings had long since been utterly destroyed by the Necrons, their path of evolution severed."

Diocletian had not suffered much injury from Guilliman's outburst.

For those clad in auramite armor, even if Guilliman threw them down from low orbit, they would not suffer serious harm, much less from merely being plastered against a wall.

This had been more of a humiliation, and even more a warning. Guilliman was putting the Custodes who opposed him in their place.

Diocletian did not care about personal honor or disgrace. Unlike those Astartes who were so prone to emotional extremes, the only thing the Custodes cared about was the Emperor's safety.

He understood that if Guilliman was telling the truth, Terra, the Throne World where the Emperor resided, would face its greatest threat since the Horus Heresy.

The best choice now was to cooperate fully with Guilliman, restore his authority, and reclaim the supreme powers held by those mortals.

The Custodes bowing their heads was the last thing the other High Lords wanted to see.

In terms of military strength, the Lord Commander of the Astra Militarum and