Terra, the lakeside villa adjacent to the Heroes' Square.
Barton Drake, dressed in military uniform, strode through the villa's entrance. He immediately felt his skin prickle as if pricked by needles, and an unnatural bitterness rose in his throat.
His appraising gaze swept across the ground-floor reception hall, moving over the Shadows of Order encased in black armor, the Primarch's Aide Arsena, and finally settling on a person with a short sword at his waist.
He was not a Shadow of Order, yet he was taller and more robust than Barton himself, who had undergone numerous enhancements.
He carried a Falcon short sword at his waist and bore a long spear on his back, a weapon that would be considered a lance even for a man of his size.
'The Dionysian Spear.'
'He must be someone trusted by Lord Nareth, to be entrusted with the spear given by the Emperor.'
Barton curiously examined the giant of a man. The warrior's resolute face and sharp gaze made the battle-hardened Barton unconsciously tense his body.
'This man was a powerful warrior.'
Barton's gaze paused briefly and then moved on.
He felt not the slightest liking for this warrior. He instinctively felt disgust and discomfort.
'A Blank!'
Barton looked towards Lord Nareth in surprise.
'Within the Imperium, only the Emperor's Claw, the Sisters of Silence, were Blanks.'
'Yet Lord Nareth also had a Blank following him.'
Barton's steps shortened; it took him three paces to regain his normal stride.
He stopped and saluted respectfully.
"Lord Nareth."
The Primarch leaned back against his black throne. Light and shadow, intermingled with dark specks, flickered in his eyes as he appraised the veteran before him, the man who had missed out on becoming Lord Commander of the Solar Auxilia because of him.
There was no resentment in the veteran's demeanor.
He had missed the highest command of the Solar Auxilia, yet he had recommended the First Medical Officer, Aevos Jovan.
"Barton, sit." Nareth nodded slightly, satisfied.
With a thought, in the first layer of the Kingdom of Disorder, the Jokaero immediately set to work, feeding materials like Vostroyan-made chainswords into a furnace to concoct "Warrior" potion.
After issuing the command, his attention returned to Barton.
Barton picked up a cyan-green berry, moist and smooth as jade.
He bit through the jade-colored skin, savoring the sweet, dew-like lychee top note.
Jade berries were all the rage on Terra, an essential delicacy at the banquets of the mighty, a symbol of status and wealth.
Yet Barton didn't spend a single Terran credit on them. Every year, a thousand fresh jade berries were delivered directly to his estate.
He used these berries to entertain visitors and reward his officers.
As the crisp, mid-palate notes of fresh pear lingered in Barton's mouth, Nareth spoke.
"Do you know the lord of the Sanga region in North Africa?"
Barton wondered why Nareth was concerned with such a minor lord. Sanga was just a small territory in North Africa; its lord wasn't even qualified to set foot in the Terran court.
Nevertheless, he quickly searched his memory.
A dozen or so seconds later, he replied.
"My lord, one of my great-nieces married into the Sanga region."
The great-niece Barton spoke of was from a collateral branch of his family.
Her father, killed in action, could no longer protect her. She had chosen to sell her assets, leave the high-cost Terran court, and marry down to a noble in the Sanga region.
Nareth nodded slightly. "I need you to have her watch the Sanga lord closely. If a wealthy merchant from the Mobayi region, named Lemuel Gaumont, marries the lord's daughter, Malika, inform him immediately."
"Keon will be staying on Terra temporarily."
Nareth was planning for the future. He had even specifically detached 5th Company Captain, "Gatekeeper" Keon.
The Inquisition had not yet been formed, its very concept not yet a seed. But Nareth was already planting his spies.
Lemuel Gaumont was one of the four founders of the Inquisition.
Of course, to honor his friend, Knights-Errant Dio Promus, he would change his name.
In the future records of the Inquisition, only Promus would appear among the founders, not the name Lemuel Gaumont.
Beyond planting a spy within the Inquisition, Lemuel held another value.
He was closely connected to Magnus. After the Burning of Prospero, he even briefly merged with one of the five shattered fragments of Magnus.
Barton silently resolved to watch that Sanga lord and Lemuel Gaumont closely.
"By Your will."
Nareth's right hand turned, and a vial of blood-red potion appeared in his palm.
"Barton, you have served me loyally. This is your reward."
Without hesitation, Barton took the red vial, opened the stopper, and was met with a thick, coppery scent.
He tilted his head back and drank. The potion slid into his stomach like writhing flesh.
Moments later, his form swelled, almost bursting from his form-fitting armor. The newly elevated "Warrior" knelt on one knee, visibly moved.
"I thank the Lord for this gift. I will surely hone my skills and serve you well."
"My lord, I shall enact your will," Keon said, armored, as he saluted the Black Emperor.
Mindful of Barton's presence, he avoided using the more formal "Thy."
As Keon left with Barton, he felt a pang of loss at leaving his battle-brothers, but he trusted that the Black Emperor had given him a sacred mission.
Moreover, the Black Emperor had promised that, for the next century, the shadow guards for Terra's nobles would be selected from his company.
Five days later, after completing a series of propaganda events arranged by Malcador, Nareth boarded an Aquila Lander.
As the elegant black mechanical bird rose from the spaceport, he turned his gaze to Grandmaster Hurzeler seated opposite him.
"The war is over. Your Legio will return to Stygies VIII."
"By Your will." Hurzeler looked at Lord Nareth with a mixture of regret and gratitude.
Lord Nareth had given him the chance to earn glory. He himself had hung the Dark Fire's banner within the Eternity Gate.
Nareth caught Hurzeler's hint of disappointment and said with a smile.
"Don't be impatient. You'll have more chances to earn glory."
"Your task now is to maintain close contact with the High Princeps of the Lord of Ruins."
'Since the Lord of Ruins could influence the Dark Fire to side with Horus, then Hurzeler should be able to influence the other Legion, which was also split off from the Legio Atarus, in return.
'Even if he can only sway a few Titans, that's still a force.'
Hurzeler shot to his feet. "By Your command!"
At the same time as the Dark Fire transports entered the Gate of Hades, the black Aquila Lander descended slowly at a Martian starport.
Nareth, accompanied by Ramsey, his mirror image, walked towards the Mechanicum's Envoy Magus.
"Lord Nareth, Mars welcomes your visit."
His mechadendrite raised, pointing towards a colossal voidship docked at the starport.
"Allow me to present it to you. This battle-barge, converted from the Furious Abyss, is 18.16 kilometers long and has a mass of 110.04 megatons..."
After listening for a moment, Nareth said with a smile, "It belongs to Ramsey."
The Envoy Magus understood. He immediately said: "The Magos supervising the conversion is already waiting on the boarding deck."
As Ramsey left to take possession of the battle-barge, Nareth fixed his gaze on the Envoy Magus before him and spoke.
"I promised Valia-Maximal that they could retain three star systems."
The Envoy Magus's bionic eye flickered. His cogitator array immediately displayed a message sent by another Envoy Magus, who was negotiating the accord with Valia-Maximal: 'Valia-Maximal was delaying the agreement process.'
'So that was it. They had the support of a Primarch, Nareth.'
"Lord Nareth, with all due respect, although you were responsible for the surrender of Valia-Maximal, you have no authority to interfere in matters pertaining to Mars."
Nareth said calmly, "I will provide an STC template to Mars."
An array of 0s and 1s scrolled through the Envoy Magus's cogitator array. The numerical values formed were far greater than the value of three star systems.
Tremors colored the voice from his vocal array. "Truly?"
Nareth smiled serenely. "Of course. But I have one condition."
"Name it," the Envoy Magus said, the tremors in his voice lessening.
"The STC I provide relates to power armor. It will aid Mars in developing a new generation of armor." Nareth spoke.
"I request that Techmarines be permitted to participate in the development of this new generation of armor."
Nareth was willing to pay an STC not only to fulfill his promise to Valia-Maximal but also to seize the opportunity to acquire Mark IV manufacturing technology, which the Loyalists lacked.
The Envoy Magus was silent for a moment, data surging through Mars's noosphere.
After a moment, he spoke. "Lord Nareth, the Fabricator General has approved your proposal."
"When will you deliver the STC?"
"Within thirty years," Nareth said calmly. "I believe I do not need to prove that I will provide it on time."
The power armor STC he would provide came from Orios.
The corrupt Horus had obtained two STCs from there and given them to the then-Fabricator General of Mars, Kelbor-Hal.
"Of course," the Ritual Magus immediately agreed, without hesitation.
Other Primarchs, even Lords Ferrus Manus, Perturabo, and Magnus, who had each found multiple STCs, might not be able to fulfill a promise.
But Lord Nareth was even more trustworthy than those three Primarchs.
Lord Nareth was the Beloved of the Omnissiah. He had guided Archmagos Lian Ramirez to recover the Ramilles-class Starfort STC, and Magus Wojciech Blyek to recover the Blyek battle tank STC...
If he promised something, he would not break his word.
He must have already received the sacred revelation of the Omnissiah.
A month later, the Tenth Chapter's new flagship, the battle-barge Weeping Needle, sailed through the Port Bliss.
At the same time, within the Forge Temple of Valia-Maximal, the newly appointed Archmagos Intendant, Unai-9, signed the accord.
In the noosphere, 0s and 1s flickered rapidly.
....
If you enjoy the story, my p@treon is 30 chapters ahead.
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