Chapter 33: This Order Is Quite Remarkable

"So, what exactly is the Originator Order?"

Arthur and Ramses exchanged glances.

"No idea."

Ramses looked at Karna, who appeared equally bewildered.

"I only know of the Holy Hammer, the Purge, and the Extermination."

These three corresponded to the handling of daemons, heretics, and xenos, respectively.

"Actually, this order is quite capable. While they don't compare to the mainstream three, they definitely have substance," Romulus, who had been conversing with Aglaia, suddenly interjected through their private four-way communication channel.

"Oh? Tell us more." The others were intrigued.

"Put it this way: their duty is to attempt to reconstruct history—from the founding of the Imperium to the present—that has been relegated to myth, by reviewing archives, conducting field investigations, and trading with warp entities."

"And then?"

"And then—the Imperium's mythical history is naturally linked to the Primarchs, which of course includes the histories of each Primarch's homeworld."

Romulus emphasized, "Including Caliban, the homeworld of Primarch Lion El'Jonson."

"Oh."

The three understood immediately, and they looked at Aglaia, who stood before them alive and well, with the stunned expression of someone thinking, *How are you not dead yet?*

She was actually a living person? How rare. The fact that the Originator Order still existed was considered a miracle by the transmigrators.

"?"

Aglaia, who was still trying to use rhetoric to discern the nature of this "Kill Team Leader," frowned. She didn't quite understand the looks these towering warriors were giving her. It was the kind of shock one might show when looking at a terminally ill patient who was still jumping around with vigor.

Aglaia considered herself healthy; her stable biological-type psychic powers granted her an extraordinary lifespan. Even with her innate precognitive abilities, she never touched forbidden knowledge regarding daemons, contenting herself with using her fleet and macro-cannons to gather the histories of various planets. She sincerely believed she would live longer than her mentor, who had gradually descended into madness.

Or was it that these Deathwatch warriors had seen something in her? Could it be that her mentor had truly placed some kind of warp spell upon her? The young Inquisitor quickly fell into a state of self-scrutiny, yet she could find no issues.

Aglaia’s brow began to bead with cold sweat. *As I thought, I knew that old man had some conspiracy going on at Pierde.*

"Lord Romulus," Aglaia’s tone became deeply sincere and polite. "I hope the Deathwatch will assist me in purging the Drukhari from this Ark Mechanicus, in the name of the Inquisition."

Romulus, hearing her repeat the request to eradicate the Drukhari, instinctively sensed trouble. But before he could begin to fish for information, the sound of metal scraping against cables echoed from the elevator shaft. Everyone’s gaze shifted toward it. Aglaia could only swallow the words of persuasion she had prepared.

*Clack—*

As the chains tightened, the rapidly descending elevator came to a steady halt in the vacant chamber. On the mechanical platform, a massive mechanical construct began to move its limbs. As it approached, the transmigrators truly realized why this Archmagos was classified as a "Behemoth" unit on the tabletop. Compared to a cultured title like Archmagos, this giant before them should be called a steel behemoth.

"Is the armor okay?"

"Rest assured, it's all fine. Except for Ramses here, who’s afraid of dying and is still wearing his Tartaros pattern, yours are all Cataphractii that I’ve carefully cross-referenced with the data. The paint job is absolutely perfect, too," Romulus said to put everyone’s mind at ease.

"I can use psychic teleportation, so why would I wear Cataphractii?" Ramses muttered, defending his non-conformity.

"As for the height, don't worry about that at all. While the average height of Primaris Space Marines is rare among the Firstborn, it’s not to the point of being unique. Tyberos is even bigger than us; he’d have to use a modified Dreadnought if he wanted to wear Terminator armor."

The group looked at the approaching Archmagos with curiosity, but to their surprise, Cawl didn't even glance at them, naturally seeking out Tyberos instead.

"Cargo."

He spoke, his entire mechanical frame vibrating at a harmonious frequency. Tyberos nodded to the Third Captain, Akia, who led several Carcharodons to drag a massive black container from the transport craft.

*Squelch!*

The Archmagos violently plunged a mechadendrite into the container. Seeing that both parties had entered a trade mode, the others, left out and harboring various unvoiced emotions about being ignored, resumed their interrupted conversation.

"Greetings, Great Sister. My name is Orlando, Marshal of this expedition fleet."

Before the Inquisitor could speak, the Marshal struck his chest with a gauntleted fist, offering a salute to the Sisters.

"Greetings, Lord Marshal. My name is Arabella," Arabella replied, returning the Aquila salute immediately.

"May the Emperor's light shine upon us both." Because of their shared, fanatical belief in the Emperor as a god, the Black Templars and the Ecclesiarchy had always maintained a good relationship and were happy to fight alongside the Sisters.

After a brief greeting to the Sisters, Orlando looked at Romulus. He didn't recall the Deathwatch being wealthy enough to equip a squad in a remote sector with Cataphractii Terminators.

"I do not recall the Captain of the Eternal Hunt Watch Station being named Romulus," he said bluntly, his tone as rigid as an interrogation.

"They were wiped out by a Chaos attack while purging Drukhari on the edge of the Pierde sector. You can consult Great Sister Arabella for the specific details," Romulus replied. "Apothecary Sifris Gage fought until the very last moment, allowing us to recover some of the gene-seed."

"There were no Black Templars among them."

"Are you still fulfilling the mission to support Pierde?" Marshal Orlando wisely steered away from the topic.

"Of course." Since they were already here, they had intended to go anyway; otherwise, those who died on the ship would have done so in vain.

"We can travel together." Orlando nodded, the candlelight flickering with his movement. "Are the Carcharodons loyal to the Imperium?"

"Naturally."

The Marshal invited them solemnly, "Could you have the Carcharodon Chapter join the operation?"

*Are all sons of Dorn like this?* Romulus marveled at Orlando’s lack of social awareness, while simultaneously lamenting that such a person knew to avoid the topic of gene-seed. *And if you want me to get into a fight with Tyberos, just say so.* You can't ask a nominal Deathwatch squad leader to persuade a Chapter Master in front of everyone; even if that Chapter Master wanted to go, he couldn't do it now.

"You may extend the invitation to the Carcharodons yourself," he replied tactfully.

"Very well." Orlando nodded seriously.

The stereotype had deepened once again.