V3 Chapter 108: The Great Purge... Begins
Once the Eternity Gate had closed again, Guilliman still stood at the foot of the broad steps. Exhaustion he couldn't quite hide showed on his face, though his eyes were clearer now than they had been before he entered the Throne Room. Several of his Ultramarines Honour Guard had already returned to stand behind him.
A squad of Custodians came across the plaza from the far side, escorting a bald, heavyset official at their centre. The man, richly dressed, walked in obvious haste, sweat already beading on his forehead, and made to bow the moment he reached Guilliman.
"No need for formality." Guilliman looked at him. "State your identity and your purpose."
"Lev Tyrion, Chancellor of the Imperial Council." Tyrion fought to steady his breathing, drawing several data crystal chips from the document case he carried. "Honoured Primarch, an assassination attempt against a member of your retinue has just occurred in the Outer Palace. I request permission to report to you at once."
Guilliman's gaze settled on the data crystals, and he gestured for Tyrion to go on. Tyrion laid it all out at once: the Vindicare's attempt on Duvette, the Callidus assassin's exposure, and the Adeptus Arbites' encirclement of the black chapel.
"I personally pulled the Council of High Lords' original resolution." Tyrion wiped the sweat from his forehead. "What the Council approved covers only detention, security review, and contamination assessment. No execution order exists within it. Both Lord Inquisitors have already proven they act of their own free will, and have registered the pursuit of the assassins as an emergency Inquisitorial Tribunal investigation."
The warmth drained fast from Guilliman's eyes. He'd been through the Eternity Gate only a few hours, and already those High Lords couldn't wait to launch an assassination against Duvette, going so far as to deploy the Imperium's most dangerous killing institution to do it.
Did they truly believe the power in their hands let them do whatever they pleased?
Guilliman thought back to the answer he'd received before the Golden Throne, and to the promise he'd made his father in return. Duvette might carry a great many secrets, but the Emperor had made it explicit: protect and watch this man, and judge him by the choices he made.
And now, a pack of rotten bureaucrats had tried to have him executed on the strength of a doctored order.
"Tyrion. Convey my order at once, in your capacity as Chancellor of the Imperial Council." Guilliman said, low. "Every armed unit in the Outer Palace is to hold its current position. Lift the cordon around Duvette's group. Every arrest and execution order previously issued against Duvette is rescinded, effective immediately."
"Yes, my lord." Tyrion answered at once.
"Notify Custodian Tribune Italeo. Have him personally lead a detachment out to bring them in." Guilliman went on. "Duvette, Juno, Heinz, and Fidicus are all to come see me, and bring the relevant evidence with them. Notify Captain-General of the Custodian Guard Trajann Valoris as well. I'll meet with him at the Tower of Hegemony."
The tension in Tyrion's body finally eased somewhat. Guilliman had already emerged from the Eternity Gate, and with the Primarch willing to take direct charge of the matter himself, the political pressure Tyrion would have had to carry eased at once.
Guilliman boarded a grav-vehicle the Custodians had prepared, his Honour Guard with him, Tyrion following along with the group. The party crossed the plaza before the Eternity Gate and set out toward the Tower of Hegemony, deep within the Palace.
"Custodians?"
Duvette stood before the black chapel, watching a small convoy closing fast in the distance.
Several gold, heavy grav-transports came down the already-sealed road. The Adeptus Arbites Arbitrators ahead lowered their weapons fast, and the Lucifer Blacks withdrew to either side as well, clearing a lane for the convoy to pass through.
The convoy stopped before the chapel, and the hatches opened at once. Italeo, wrapped in his black cloak, was first to step out, several Custodians carrying halberds following close behind him.
Italeo came to stand before Duvette and struck the ground once with the butt of his halberd.
"I come under order from Roboute Guilliman, Imperial Regent and Lord Commander of the Imperium, to escort Duvette Erdmann and his party." His voice carried across the entire block through his vox-amplifier. "The road is open. Any act obstructing this convoy will be treated as direct defiance of the Imperial Regent's order."
Duvette glanced at the Adeptus Arbites judge in the distance, whose expression had soured considerably, and felt the corner of his mouth curl upward. His turn, now.
Fidicus was already under Juno and Heinz's protective Inquisitorial custody. Duvette gave Markus a single nod, and the thirteen Shadow Wolves of Luna escorted Fidicus aboard the Custodian convoy.
Before departure, the Custodians ran a full scan over Fidicus with their sensor equipment.
The Grand Master of the Assassinorum finally surrendered the deactivation code for the sensor bomb inside his own heart. Custodian technicians locked out the detonator and stripped him of every device on his person capable of sending a remote signal.
The convoy left the black chapel behind quickly. The Adeptus Arbites Arbitrators and the Lucifer Blacks stood along either side of the road, watching them pass through the cordon; no one dared so much as raise a weapon.
On the way to the Tower of Hegemony, Duvette leaned back in his seat, turning over what might come next.
Lord High Admiral Merelda Perez could sway the Imperial Navy's highest strategic deployments, while Lord Commander Militant Mar af Ashariel held vast power throughout the War Office and the Astra Militarum's command structure.
If the two of them were driven to desperation, they could easily incite parts of the Sol System's fleets and garrisons into open rebellion. Add the strength of the Adeptus Arbites, the Ecclesiarchy, and the Administratum on top of that, and Terra could erupt into a conflict of massive scale at any moment.
But the moment that thought crossed his mind, Duvette glanced over his own skills, and then at that ten thousand points of Emperor's Wrath.
Fight?
Could they even win, if it came to that?
Duvette found himself genuinely curious. If the Ten Thousand took his full buffs, would they come out the other side as a Ten Thousand of Primarchs?
He also wanted to see it for himself: if ten thousand points of Emperor's Wrath lit up all three fleet skills, could the Macragge's Honour, with the fleet behind her, break the main strength of whatever Solar Fleet could currently muster in Terran orbit, head-on?
Just picturing that scene widened the smile on Duvette's face. Heinz, sitting across from him, glanced over once, and in the end chose to stay quiet.
After nearly four hours on the road, passing through checkpoint after checkpoint of identity verification, the convoy finally entered the zone under the Tower of Hegemony's control. The administrative personnel around them thinned out and vanished entirely, and the only craft visible in the sky now were Custodian grav-vehicles and jetbikes.
The Tower of Hegemony rose up from among the dense ramparts of the Inner Palace, its broad base fused seamlessly into the defence installations around it.
Narrow sensor apertures ran across the tower's dark surface, gold structural beams climbing along the outer wall toward its heights, and great numbers of weapon platforms and comm arrays lay hidden between the armour plating.
The convoy pulled into the Tower of Hegemony's sealed internal hangar, and Duvette's group went through one final identity check. Ten of the thirteen Shadow Wolves of Luna were assigned to wait in the outer hall; Markus and two other warriors were granted permission to continue on with Duvette to the meeting area.
By the time Duvette brought Fidicus into the command chamber under guard, Guilliman was already standing behind a long, black metal table.
Another Custodian in gold armour stood just behind and to his side, that resolute face betraying no emotion at all.
Italeo saluted Guilliman, then turned to the other Custodian and bowed his head once more.
Seeing that, Duvette knew at once who the man had to be. Commander of the Ten Thousand, supreme leader of the Emperor's Custodian Guard: Trajann Valoris.
"Duvette Erdmann. My greetings to the Imperial Regent, and to the Captain-General." Duvette raised a hand in salute, then signalled for Heinz to hand over the evidence.
Heinz set the documents and data crystals down on the long table. Guilliman picked them up one after another, reading at a speed far beyond any ordinary man's; within moments, he'd already gone through the Council's original resolution, the execution rider, and the communication records Fidicus had kept.
His expression darkened steadily as he read.
Guilliman set down the last document and raised his head to look at the one High Lord in the room who'd been brought in under guard. Fidicus still stood ramrod straight, his black eyes meeting the Primarch's gaze calmly.
Guilliman rose slowly to his feet, his towering frame casting a shadow over Fidicus.
"You knew perfectly well the Council of High Lords' original resolution covered only detention and review, and yet you accepted an execution rider that overrode it entirely." Guilliman held the fury out of his voice by force. "Tell me, Fidicus. Whom do you actually serve? The Imperium? Or whoever happens to be holding the seal that stamps an order?"
Facing down an angry gene-Primarch, Fidicus's breathing finally shifted. Even with the harshest training the Assassinorum could give him, his body still couldn't fully suppress the instinctive response of standing before a Primarch.
"The Assassinorum exists to carry out the will of the Imperium's highest authority." Fidicus answered. "The execution rider carried the joint authentication of five High Lords, and quoted the original resolution's file number. I verified their seals. I never cross-checked the Council's original vote record."
"You have the authority to cross-check the record." Guilliman stared at him. "You command the most dangerous weapon in the entire Imperium, and you chose to trust five seals instead. You sent out the Vindicare and the Callidus, and only confirmed the order had been falsified after the assassination failed."
Fidicus fell silent. He couldn't deny the charge; the evidence itself included the original orders he'd issued.
"The man you tried to kill is the one the Emperor Himself ordered me to protect." Guilliman went on. "You want to use 'following orders' to justify yourself. Very well. Now you've heard an order that outranks the Council of High Lords."
Fidicus's black eyes shifted slightly, as though trying to read the truth of those words from Guilliman's face. Trajann Valoris, standing to the side, watched him closely, his hand resting the whole while near the Watcher's Axe.
"I won't pardon you. And I won't kill you now, either." Guilliman said at last. "You'll remain Grand Master of the Assassinorum until this purge is finished. You will recall every asset you've deployed, hand over every record you hold, and help me arrest whoever falsified that order."
Guilliman took a step closer to Fidicus.
"Withhold one name, destroy one piece of evidence, let one assassin slip away without authorisation, and I will have the Custodians take over every one of the Assassinorum's facilities. Your crimes are more than enough to earn you death. Before that happens, you're going to kill this conspiracy for the Imperium first."
Fidicus lowered his head.
"I accept your judgment, my lord Regent."
Guilliman turned his attention back to Duvette and gave him a slight nod. Duvette understood: it was both an acknowledgment of his safe return, and Guilliman's own confirmation of the promise he'd made before the Golden Throne.
Tyrion was brought into the command chamber by the Custodians soon after. Guilliman stood before the long table, his gaze sweeping across everyone present.
"Record the order."
Tyrion opened the data-slate he carried at once.
"First. Notify the Council of High Lords that the Emperor Himself has personally confirmed me as Imperial Regent and Lord Commander of the Imperium. As of this moment, every Council order concerning military deployment, emergency execution, or Terran security must be re-certified through the Regency."
"Second. Suspend every power held by Ilthor Cimotrion, Baldo Slester, Avelisa Delakhma, Mar af Ashariel, and Merelda Perez. Restrict their communications and movement. No one is permitted to destroy, transfer, or alter any related record."
"Third. The Tower of Hegemony takes over the Palace's key transit and military communications. Every armed force on Terra and in its orbit is to hold its current deployment. No order issued by those five is to be carried out without re-certification."
Guilliman looked to Fidicus.
"Order the Assassinorum to halt every execution operation within Terra's boundaries immediately. Seal the cryo-armoury. Recall every assassin currently deployed, and submit their positions to the Custodians."
"As you command." Fidicus answered.
Guilliman turned to Trajann next.
"My father has already rendered his judgment. The restriction binding the Ten Thousand is to end. Your duty will no longer be confined to the Throneworld alone. From this day, the Custodians will walk the width of humanity's domain once more, and hunt down, of your own initiative, whatever threatens the Golden Throne."
"Set aside your black robes. Wear the red once more."
Trajann was silent for a moment, then struck the ground once with the Watcher's Axe.
"If this is the Emperor's will, the Ten Thousand accept it." the Captain-General said, low. "We will work with you, my lord Regent."
Guilliman nodded, and went on issuing orders.
"Notify the lunar anchorage and the Solar Battle Fleet. Open the designated transit lane. The Macragge's Honour and her escorts are to enter high Terran orbit; the rest of the fleet remains in the Jupiter and lunar defence zones."
"Approve the 112th's advance combat cluster for landing at the designated military spaceport in the Outer Palace. The rest of the force holds in orbit, standing by. Every action falls under the direct command of Marshal-Commissar Duvette Erdmann."
Guilliman looked to Tyrion last.
"You're responsible for keeping the Imperial Council and the administrative apparatus running normally, and for preparing five interim successors. Juno and Heinz are responsible for securing the evidence. Anyone who resists the investigation, attempts to flee Terra, or moves troops without authorisation will be treated as a traitor."
"Execute all of the above at once."
Tyrion closed his data-slate and bowed his head deeply. The Tower of Hegemony's comm systems came alive at once, and Guilliman's will began travelling out across the whole of Terra, channel after channel, each one carrying the highest authority's certification.
Duvette stood on the other side of the long table, watching the markers shift rapidly across the strategic map. Everyone in the room understood exactly what this meant.
The Great Purge... was about to begin.
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