712.M30
In the void stood 3 souls, different in every way yet connected by origin. Caspian Valerios, Custodian Aurelian Gaius Trajan, and Magos Ferrum-Rho.
They stood there looking at each other in recognition of what they are, and the implications of what they could become.
"[Analysis]: This unit was cognizant of the biological template's infancy," Ferrum-Rho's voice was a grating burst of static and synthesized vowels.
"[Statement]: The current physical development of the Source Unit is statistically improbable. [Query]: Custodian, did your development also suffer the same caloric depletion before the 100% integration?"
Aurelian stood like a pillar of gold, his voice booming with a resonant, somber depth that seemed to vibrate in the very air.
"It was a hunger that gnawed at the spirit as much as the flesh. I adapted, for duty demands endurance. It is no wonder the price was so high for the one who remains at the center."
"I..I…I did …. not …expect this." Caspian Valerios spoke for the first time in seventy years. His voice was cracked, rusty, and carried the unmistakable cadence of one that was not of this world.
How did he come into this place, and why did these people seem to know who he was. He looked at the machine-man in red and the golden giant. Then, the realization hit him like a bolter shell.
'FUCK' he thought to himself, a machine man dressed in red, and a giant armored in gold with a spear gun. 'FUCK, FUCK, FUCK' he couldn't curse himself enough. His eyes bulged and you could see the panic in his eyes.
Aurelian Gaius Trajan and Magos Ferrum-Rho could see the face he was making and found it comical. The expression Caspian presented is not something you see in a person who looks like him.
A 10ft tall mass of muscles that look like steel cables wrapped around bones that would probably be auramite to carry that much muscle and height. Considering what they know, he might have as well been a Primarch.
"[Query]: Source Unit, provide an assessment of your current state. You appear to be experiencing a significant systemic shock."
"Whataa,,wha,,,What do you mean?" Caspian said as he cleared his throat, trying to get used to speaking.
"Are you asking how i ended up in 40K? No i don't have a FUCKING, FUCKING CLUE." Caspian is so angry that he just couldn't stop cursing.
The other 2 could sympathize with him to an extent, they were born here and have had years to adapt to the situation.
"Control your humors, Calvin," Aurelian said, the use of the pre-transmigration name hitting Caspian like a physical strike.
"You must realize the temporal error in your assessment. This is not the forty-first millennium. The Great Crusade has but begun. This is the Age of the Emperor."
Aurelian called his original name, making him call down a bit, but also raised the question of how he knew that name, then he said the second part.
"FUCK YOU!" Caspian shouted, his mental state fracturing. "30K? That's worse! That's the Heresy years! That's just... pure human madness! At least in 41K, I could have hid under Guilliman, but now? Now I'm in the middle of a tragedy!"
As he thought about it he kept getting angrier and angrier, to the point that the space around them started to quake, like an angry God coming into being.
Caspian didn't notice this at first until he was reminded that the Custodian guy just called him by a name that was his previous name, not the one given to him by the father who killed him.
"Wait," he muttered, the 'Transmigration Tropes' finally kicking in. "System? Newbie pack? Status screen?"
Silence. No holographic window appeared.
Then on instinct, he looked at both Custodian Aurelian Gaius Trajan and Magos Ferrum-Rho, and he felt it truly for the first time, he understood who they were.
He looked down and saw the tattoos on his right and left shoulder completely black, a glaive and a gear.
Then he also noticed his muscular body, even bodybuilders would be jealous of his body, and he realized both were shorter than he was. That should not be possible. Custodians were like 9ft tall.
"[Conclusion]: The Source Unit possesses metadata currently unavailable to this unit's data-stacks," Ferrum-Rho observed.
"[Request]: Provide illumination on our shared nature."
Magos Ferrum-Rho noticed the look of recognition in his eyes and saw the tattoos on his body. Aurelian also noticed it.
"Agreed"
"Emmm…So… we are the same person, or more like you are part of me," Caspian started
"My soul is too strong for my body so, you guys give feedback for my body to grow, that is why i am more like a null right now. Until all the tattoos are complete like yours," he said as he pointed to the gear and glaive tattoos on his shoulders, which are fully black and the others being outlines and faded
"I will continue to be a null".
"Ahh, yes even if i come back to full, i don't think i would be able to accept you guys back into me, i mean, who the hell designed these parameters?" Caspian went back to complaining.
Meanwhile, Aurelian Gaius Trajan and Magos Ferrum-Rho looked at each other, and they started looking at his body to see if they could identify the other possible people based on the tattoos
"[Query]: how many of us are there"
"It is only you 2 for now, i have to saturate your abilities before the next batch can be released"
"[Analysis]: I can see a gear tattoo for this unit, probability of gliave for you, Custodian. I can identify an Apothecary in the staff and Caduceus, possibility of sextant relation with navigator or trader."
"I can also identify the laurel for a general, the dagger and vine for a hunter, possibly catachan, and the eye, possibly assasinorum", added Aurelian
"How do you guys know this? I don't even know who they are to be, or are you just guessing?", Caspian said in confusion
"[Response]: Pure logic, Source Unit. The symbols are foundational archetypes of this era."
"[Directives]: This unit departs the Sol System immediately. Destination: Null set. Goal: STC recovery, forge-world establishment, Knight and Titan legion creation, and the creation of a logistical net for the Crusade."
"I will hone myself, I should stand as captain general after Valdor. I need to see if I can mitigate the damage Horus does, or at the very least reduce the damage the battle on Terra causes," replied Aurelian
"We're gonna need a psyker for Magnus," Caspian muttered.
"If we don't have a brother that can touch the Warp, we're toast."
At the mention of Magnus by Caspian, everyone got quiet, because they knew none of them could challenge the one-eyed Red giant.
"I, on the other hand, have to get used to this body, I need to find a safe area to hide. I don't think I can be active in the universe until all other brothers are born, the risk is too great. I will search my area, because this world is too unnatural."
"Does anyone have any information on where I am?"
"[Response]: I can feel a great distance from where you are to here, possibility of outer rims 100%."
"You are born of a Knight house, Ferrum-Rho. Do you have records of the Knight houses?" Aurelian commented
"[Response]: Within this unit's banks, there is no reference to Knight House Valerios."
"Then there is no need to worry," "Yeah i forgot to mention, with permission from each of us, we can appear beside each other in abstract form, no one will notice us. All you have to do is think deeply about the person, and you can communicate and even share information directly."
"[Analysis]: A vital tactical advantage," Ferrum-Rho agreed.
"[Statement]: I will require your eyes in the warzones, Custodian, to identify priority salvage."
"It shall be done," Aurelian vowed.
"Great. Now, get out of here," Caspian waved them off, his modern cynicism returning.
"I need to figure out how to stand up without falling on my face. This body is too big."
Like this the meeting was the start of what will become a change that will sweep through humanity taking them from playthings of the Gods to the very antithesis of their being.