In a clear voice, Cassean announced the pilgrims one by one.
"My Lord Calgar, I present to you the pilgrims which the Sword of Honour has brought, who have braved the Black Legion's blockade to reach Macragge: Archmagos Belisarius Cawl, of the Adeptus Mechanicus, and custodian of the auto-reliquary. Saint Celestine, the Living Saint and Bringer of Hope, with her Geminae Superia.
Katarinya Greyfax, Inquisitor of the Ordo Hereticus. Marshal Amalrich, commander of the Black Templars and the crusaders of the Terravore.
The Living Saint Gerhard, and his company of the Adeptus Custodes, and the Anathema Psykana.
Finally, we have the Xenos known as Yvraine and the Visarch, emissaries of the Eldar."
As the sergeant finished speaking and stepped back, an expectant hush fell over the room.
Explosions blossomed in the sky outside as gunships and Heldrakes raced past, their gunfire muted by the thick insulation of the strategium. The large strategium console continued to rattle and hum, fed by an endless flow of new information.
"I have no notion of who you are, Belisarius Cawl," Calgar said, his strong voice booming through the strategium. "Nor have I ever made any sort of pact with any priest of Mars."
A look of calm acknowledgement dawned on Saint Celestine's face, her golden eyes seeming to see the truth of the matter where others saw only a mess. Beside her, the others in the group, save Gerhard, suddenly wore horrified expressions and looked at the Archmagos. Their hands tightened on their weapons at the idea of such a monumental deception.
Cawl did not flinch. His mechanical limbs whirred, and a series of binary clicks preceded his flat, synthesised voice.
"I have not come to see you, Marneus Calgar," he stated. "I have travelled across the galaxy to attend the Lord of Ultramar, and I require to be taken to him at once."
The Archmagos gestured toward the machine that had followed him through the Warp and Chaos and which he had protected with his life: the auto-reliquary.
"This must be delivered... to the Shrine of Roboute Guilliman."
"WHAT?!"
"HOW DARE HE?!"
"No one shall see our Primarch! NO one!!"
The outcry that followed Cawl's demand was immediate and intense. Marneus Calgar's expression grew enraged as his advisors and serfs shouted in shock and outrage. Auto-quills scratched furiously against parchment as hooded scribes frantically recorded every detail of this dramatic moment.
But they weren't the only ones who reacted. The Celestinians did as well. They reacted with anger and confusion, while Inquisitor Greyfax confronted Cawl.
"Explain yourself, Archmagos! What treachery is this?"
Then she turned to Gerhard to see whether he knew what was happening. And seeing his calm expression, who had been quiet this time, she understood.
"You knew this?!" she asked.
"Naturally. When I said we want to save the Imperium, I was not talking about Chapter Master Marneus Calgar. Only a Primarch like Lord Guilliman is qualified to fight against the dying of the light, which has already fallen upon us."
The Ynnari appeared unfazed by the development; the Visarch stood perfectly still, while Yvraine wore a faint smile on her soft features, as if she were enjoying an inside joke.
Hestia and her sisters did not react, as they were aware of Gerhard's intentions, which Lencillus also understood.
Amidst the loud, angry voices, Captain Agemman's own rose in a powerful, amplified tone.
"I call for silence in the strategium! Remember your positions and the expected conduct they demand!" he said.
As silence slowly returned, Agemman turned to Marneus Calgar and spoke firmly.
"Lord Calgar, I do not trust these newcomers or the mysterious device they have brought with them. Given the immediate dangers and the furious battle to be won, there is only one viable solution.
The pilgrims should be placed in confinement, and their mysterious package locked down in a stasis vault until its contents can be safely examined."
Agemman's gaze travelled to the Eldar.
"Regarding the Ynnari, I recommend that they be swiftly destroyed to ensure the safety of you and the Fortress of Hera."
This made the Eldar grow tense and slowly move their hands towards their weapons. They were ready for battle and to make the humans pay dearly for their lives.
Thankfully, Saint Celestine spoke up, aiming to explain the divine nature of her mission and the visions she had received from the Emperor himself.
"Listen to the truth of the Emperor's will--" she started, but she found herself staring down the barrels of several Honour Guard Bolters.
Inquisitor Greyfax, fueled by her puritanical suspicions, aimed her own weapon at the Saint and activated her power sword, which she pointed at Gerhard, a clear sign that it was time for the rulers of Ultramar to speak, not their visitors.
All eyes were on Calgar as he looked to Chief Librarian Tigurius for further counsel.
The Chief Librarian remained silent for several long heartbeats, his hard features locked in a constant expression of contemplation and worry. He looked at Gerhard most closely, then moved to the Custodes standing right behind him and the four Anathema Psykana who were making him very, very uncomfortable and then back to Gerhard.
When he finally spoke, Tigurius' voice was deep and resonant, full of power and wisdom.
"My Lord Calgar," Tigurius began, turning to his Chapter Master, "you will recall the troubling visions I shared in the days leading up to this siege. I saw a flight of iron birds taking off from a distant, crimson orb: a world filled with churning cogs and industry. In these visions, those avian shapes soared through fire and shadow that spilt from a massive, ruptured castle gate. They clutched a blazing sword in their jagged claws, and their wings shone with a holy light as they set their course toward Ultramar."
The Librarian paused, the gravity of his memory filling the strategium.
"Through that ruptured gateway, I saw a glaring, slit-pupiled eye watching their progress. As the birds approached Macragge, a giant maw, filled with blood-stained fangs, opened wide around them, poised to bite down with crushing, final force."
He looked toward the group, then back at Calgar.
"I had believed these visions concerned only the fall of Cadia and the subsequent arrival of the Black Legion above our world. It was that belief that prompted us to prepare the fortress's defences and send the communiqués that recalled the Defence Fleet in time. Now, however, I am convinced they pertain to these travellers as well."
"How so?"
"Because I also saw something else. I saw a gear-toothed heart, covered in binharic, beating in the darkness of a distant Hive World; a flicker of light that felt pure and just as holy as the wings of the avian creatures. I saw the heart surrounded, and the aforementioned slit-pupiled eye turned away from the avian creatures and focused on this heart... It was then swarmed by filth, but all I saw after that was... what looked like a middle finger, pointed at the darkness..."
Tigurius looked at Gerhard again. The small smile on Gerhard's face said it all.
"Heh, nice."
"I am willing to vouch for these travellers who have crossed such vast distances. Even that of the mysterious Eldar. I believe that their arrival is the Emperor's will made manifest," Tigurius finished.
Hushed whispers travelled through the strategium after the Chief Librarian's words, and Marneus Calgar nodded with solemn seriousness. He knew Tigurius, and he knew that there was almost no one with the foresight he possessed. He trusted his Chief Librarian's words in this regard.
He looked toward the diverse group of travellers. And just like Tigurius, his eyes found Gerhard for some inexplicable reason. There was something about the man that put him on edge and still pulled him in at the same time.
"The Chief Librarian has placed his faith in you, and I respect his counsel," Calgar declared, his gaze sweeping over the people in front of him. "Speak now. Explain your presence here in your own words, and I shall decide what to do."
Inquisitor Greyfax stepped forward, her voice was sharp, precise and unyielding as she began the grim tale of what she had gone through. Beside her, Marshal Amalrich and Saint Celestine added their own testimonies to tell the bloody and bleak tale of Cadia's fall and the desperate flight that had brought them to the heart of Ultramar.
Even Yvraine chose to speak; her tone was melodic yet distant and detached as she provided a few sparse details about their presence in the group and how they got there. The details that led to her becoming an emissary of the Eldari God of the Dead weren't shared, as that was her business alone.
Calgar turned his attention to the Archmagos.
"And you, Belisarius Cawl," Calgar pressed, his eyes narrowing, "you demand entry to the shrine of our father. Tell me precisely what this auto-reliquary contains and what you intend to do within those holy walls."
Cawl's mechanical appendages whirred, but his response remained flat and evasive. He seemed to keep the truth to his mechanical heart.
"The mission is critical, Lord Calgar. The contents are as mandated by the pact, 10,000 years old at this point. Further elaboration is unnecessary and counterproductive for the execution of the task."
Despite repeated and pointed questioning, the Archmagos would not elaborate on what he expected to occur within the shrine, unnerving Calgar and the logical Ultramarines.
"Haha."
A soft laugh cut through the tension and chatter of the strategium. Everyone looked at Gerhard as he shook his head with an exasperated smile.
"You have something to add, Saint?"
Calgar said Saint with a hint of disdain and scepticism, as was his right.
"I apologise, Lord Calgar, I thought the situation had a morbid humour to it, that is so typical for the situation in the Imperium nowadays."
"Explaining."
"Miscommunication is a vital flaw that caused a lot of problems for us, and it continues to do so. And I am willing to lift this redundant veil of secrecy that has descended on this meeting.
What the Archmagos is so worried about is that he might not be able to fulfil his part of a pact he swore to your father, Primarch Roboute Guilliman. What he carries inside the auto-reliquary, in layman's terms, is a suit of armour that will heal the Primarch and keep him alive."
Calgar narrowed his eyes and looked at Gerhard.
"If that were the case, then why couldn't he say so? What else are you all hiding?"
"Well, Chapter Master, it is as they say: Knowledge is power. Sadly, it is also a temptation and a potential for corruption. The Ruinous Powers exploit humanity's inherent desire for knowledge to spread their influence and harm us. You understand how we arrive at a problem, then, don't you?
On one hand, too much knowledge is bad, but too little is just as bad since we might not know how to defend ourselves. I can, however, give you my word that I have spoken the truth, and we are only here to bring back Lord Guilliman and do the Emperor's will. He knows, we'll need him."
...
While the discussion was underway, the war for Macragge raged outside the strategium's walls. A constant stream of information regarding troop deployments, counter-attack patterns, and ammunition counts flooded the consoles.
Calgar absorbed every tactical update even as he listened to his guests, his focus unwavering as he issued curt orders to his subordinates. He was a man capable of doing many things at once. That was necessary, otherwise Ultramar would have been fucked a long time ago.
The Chapter Master sought to understand these strange visitors, but he would not neglect the defence of his fortress while he did so.
Finally, Greyfax concluded their tale. Her hand was resting near the hilt of her blade as she concluded the harsh tale.
"I am empowered to act as the Emperor's representative in this matter," she declared. "And should this Archmagos prove false, I shall gladly take responsibility for his immediate execution."
Marneus Calgar raised a massive gauntlet to forestall any further comments, silencing both the diverse group and the visibly frowning Captain Agemman.
A heavy silence settled over the strategium as the Chapter Master prepared to deliver his verdict.
"Captain Agemman, I have heard your mindful counsel, and in any other era, I would follow it," Calgar began in a sombre tone. "But we live in unusual days. The worshippers of Chaos have set foot upon the grounds of Macragge once again, and the Warp stirs with madness all around us. Our enemy is aided by the supernatural horrors they worship, and I will not turn my back upon the precognitive powers of Chief Librarian Tigurius or the wisdom of not one... but two Living Saints."
He turned his stern gaze toward the Archmagos.
"Even though I have been given precious little reason to trust you, Belisarius Cawl, I will permit you to bring the auto-reliquary to the Shrine of our Lord. You shall do so, however, under heavy Ultramarines watch."
Belisarius Cawl moved as if to speak, but Calgar cut him off.
"I also grant permission for the Ynnari to accompany their allies," he continued. "It is clear to me that significant events are afoot that bear the hand of the Emperor upon them. The presence of these Xenos can be no accident, and whatever the Emperor's will is in this matter, I shall not be the one to work against it."
Captain Agemman, though he clearly harboured doubts, accepted his lord's judgment with the professionalism expected of his rank. Outside, the war continued to howl, but within the strategium, the path toward the shrine had finally been set.