As their hands clasped, one from the lowest depths of Terra and the other from a cold Forge World, these two "outsiders," shut out of the centers of power, forged their first and strongest alliance in a realm built on pride and prejudice.
Meanwhile, in a concealed observation post on the top floor of a distant classroom building, an old man in a cleaner's uniform paused in wiping the windows and lowered his rag. Through a high-powered optical telescope, he had watched everything that had just happened on the landing pad.
When he saw Eli drive Valerius away with his unique brand of "Eli logic," then shake hands with the young man from the Adeptus Mechanicus, an almost imperceptible smile appeared on the old man's deeply wrinkled face.
"Phase one, social environment stress test... passed."
Alpharius picked up the communicator hanging at his waist and spoke quietly in a raspy, elderly voice.
"The model predicted an eighty-five percent probability that Eli would endure the provocation and back down, a ten percent probability of emotional collapse, and a four percent probability of violent resistance. In the end, however, he chose the one-percent option... 'killing the conversation with sincerity.'"
"Conclusion: when confronted with extreme arrogance, this individual's 'pure empathy' produces an unpredictable 'dimensional reduction strike.' His behavioral logic... cannot be explained by existing models."
"Very interesting."
Alpharius-or rather, the cleaner "Old Al"-switched off the communicator, picked up his rag again, and leisurely resumed wiping the windows.
He was eager to see just how fiercely this little sun from the underground could burn when thrown into the most brutal, most elite military meat grinder, fueled by a "purity" that even Alpharius himself could not understand.
The first month at the academy was a hellish double onslaught of physical conditioning and basic theory.
For