M42
Blackstone Fortress — Sublevel Gamma-Prime
The fortress groaned under the strain of unreality.
Ancient blackstone walls shimmered, wraithbone flickered like dull glass under strain, and the sickly glow of the warp bled through cracked wards. Every corridor was a tomb waiting to collapse.
Into this dying edifice, the combined force of Battle Shinobi and Eldar Harlequins moved as phantoms.
Jonin Seiji led his force with practiced detachment, helmet sealed, his measured gaze sweeping over data runes and sensor pings. Flanking him, the Harlequin leader, Tethrian, danced through shadow without sound.
They reached the designated breach point.
"Split unto three teams," Seiji voxed, voice flat.
His hand gesture his order making a show for the eldar.
"Extraction. Weapons cache. Loyalist survivor. Raito and Gin outwardly lead Two and Three. Bruno holds overall command on comms."
As an added precaution, Seiji personally selected Nao and nine of the most disciplined Sealing Platoon operatives to accompany him. If things went wrong, and Seiji assumed they would, the Machinist's most valuable specialists would remain under his direct command.
With a final sharp hand gesture.
They advanced.
In mere moments, Seiji's team arrive in jail area.
They reached the cell chamber in eerie silence.
Roboute Guilliman hung in midair, suspended in twisting chains of warp-forged sorcery. His battered armor bore the scars of battle and torture alike, but his defiant glare hadn't dimmed.
Two chaos astartes standing guards.
He turned to Sylandri Veilwalker, who had materialized beside him like a painted specter.
Seiji gestured toward one of the Chaos Astartes.
"Left."
Sylandri's mask tilted ever so slightly, her voice low and amused.
"A small death before the final verse. As the Dance commands."
They moved together.
He turned to Sylandri Veilwalker, who had materialized beside him like a painted specter.
Seiji gestured toward one of the Chaos Astartes.
"Left."
Sylandri's mask tilted ever so slightly, her voice low and amused.
"A small death before the final verse. As the Dance commands."
They moved together.
A monomolecular blade pierced a gorget seam as Veilwalker's shimmering dagger found an eye-slit. Two bodies fell as one, crumpling without sound.
"Clear," Seiji voxed.
Only the Primarch remained
As Seiji's team approached the cell chamber, data runes flickered on his HUD — a warning glyph hovering beside Guilliman's vitals. The Primarch wasn't merely bound by sorcerous chains. A shimmering, barely-visible containment field crackled around the chamber itself, its emitters sunk into the blackstone walls.
"Containment field confirmed," Naon said grimmly.
Seiji opened a private comm channel. Undetected by imperial and eldar.
"Silent Veil. We are in position. Release all the prisoner." Seiji said softly.
The AI's response came like a cold wind.
[Confirmed. Bypassing security daisy-chain. Initiating silent node collapse.]
Seiji's HUD displayed a flickering overlay as the AI's subroutines wormed into the ancient system, redirecting sensor feedback and disabling the energy field one power node at a time. The containment shimmer dimmed.
[Containment veil disengaged. Cell isolated from network grid.]
Seiji stepped forward and removed his red mask showing that he is human.
'at least this will ease his caution a bit.' Though Seiji
"Lord Guilliman," he addressed formally. "I am Jonin Seiji. My forces were dispatched to extract you." bowing showing cordial respect to his master's supposed nephew.
The Primarch's eyes narrowed.
"By whose authority? Why are you with eldar?" Gulliman asks
"it is all a coincide lord primarch. We just met on the way here." The eldar replied in his jester tone.
Gulliman raised an eyebrow at that but with Seiji's nod he decided to let it go. After all, he was resurected with eldar help.
"we are sent by a patron beyond your present acquaintance." Seiji's said, expression didn't shift. "But one with mankind's survival in mind. You may call us the exiled."
Guilliman's face hardened.
'The exiled?' he has no knowledge of such forces. Perhaps a new force that arises when he was in statis? But that is impossible as he has read all the data slate.
This could be a trap. Yet, he has no other choice.
"I neither know you, nor trust you. But I've little cause to refuse another blade in this hell."
Seiji inclined his head, the gesture one of measured deference.
"Understood, my lord. We request nothing but temporary accord."
With Seiji hand gesture,
Naon stepped forward without a word, activating her EFA.
She makes hand sign to mold purified warp energy to its intended use. Warp-disrupting frequencies rolled out in concentric waves, making the sorcerous chains flicker and writhe.
Seiji met Guilliman's gaze.
"When the doubt falters, sever it."
The Primarch gritted his teeth, resolves harden. The chains gnawed at his will, pressing horrors against his mind. But he was still Roboute Guilliman.
"I do not yield."
With a roar, Guilliman tore the chains free, sorcerous links snapping with an audible shriek. He dropped to one knee, catching his breath.
Seiji extended a hand. Guilliman hesitated, then took it.
They moved swiftly through sublevels to a gathering chamber where released prisoners waited — hundreds of Astartes from various Chapters: Ultramarines, Black Templars, Salamanders, Iron Hands, White Scars. A squad of Grey Knights from the 3rd Brotherhood stood apart, their Grand Master radiating silent judgment.
Thousands of freed Imperial Navy and Guard personnel gathered behind them, weapons reclaimed, eyes wary.
And then, inevitably — came the muttering.
Glares were cast at the Eldar and Shinobi. Disdain, suspicion, old hatred. Astartes murmured. A bolter clicked.
"Xenos and tech sorcerers!" spat a Black Templar — The Emperor's Champion Malric, bolter half-raised. "You profane this sanctum with your filth!"
Kael regarded him coolly, his mask remaining sealed.
"We bleed in the same warzone, Astartes. Nothing more."
Bruno's cut in the argument.
"You'd be corpses without us. Remember that."
The Grey Knight Grand Master stepped forward, his voice grim.
"Who sent you?"
Before Seiji could speak, Guilliman's voice cut through the tension.
"Enough."
Instant stillness. Every bolter lowered.
"I care little for your origins," the Primarch declared. "You've bought me one more day, and for that, a debt is owed. But betray the Imperium, and it will claim your lives."
His stare lingered on Seiji and his forces.
Seiji gave a sharp, disciplined nod.
"Acknowledged."
Without warning, the fortress shuddered.
A shrill, ancient klaxon howled. Red sigils flared across every surface.
The AI's infiltration had frayed the cogitator. Accumulating anomalies and stray security subroutines overwhelmed its forged sensor data. Alarming the heretic tech marine on duty.
The final spark — a lone cultist searching for his absent overseer stumbled upon the lifeless corpse of a Chaos Astartes.
He ran.
Too late.
The alarm cascaded.
[INTRUSION DETECTED.]
The fortress immediately do their emergency subroutines.
The Gellar Field died. Warp-light bled through the walls. Distant, bestial howls filled the air. The already corrupted fortress will become far worse.
Sylandri Veilwalker's soft laugh floated through the gloom.
"The stage is set. The actors must shine."
Seiji's voice remained like stone.
"All units — fall back to extraction points. Exfil Sigma-One. Move."
Guilliman quickly retrieved his bolter and blade.
"Weapons ready. Lead the way."
Imperials, exiled, and Harlequins surged together, death at their backs, only grim resolve ahead.