This Is Our Warhammer Journey

“It’s the end of 740.M41 now, the timeline fits, and that cruiser we encountered earlier also had Genestealers on board.”

Romulus mused.

Genestealers are classified within the Imperium as a xenos species capable of corrupting human genetics and forcibly assimilating humanity.

But the transmigrators all knew clearly—this so-called xenos species was actually a vanguard force sent by a terrifying race from beyond the galaxy.

Once this race locks onto a target system, they begin to cut it off from the Warp, causing psykers to go insane. In the Warp, this manifests as a thick, ravenous shadow made manifest.

“Should I say this planet is lucky or unlucky?”

Upon hearing this, Garna put down the fruit platter, tilted his neck to glance at the star system display, but found no signs of gravitational anomalies.

Still, he couldn’t shake a bad feeling.

If nothing goes wrong, this war is probably going to get really wild.

Looking out at the densely packed ice debris and the growing wreckage of a system fleet showing up on the detectors, Ramses instinctively expanded his shadow to shield the psykers within the expeditionary fleet.

He couldn’t help but sigh.

“A storm’s brewing, that’s for sure.”

“We’ll know for sure once we land on Pierde and check for any Genestealers.”

Within the so-called ‘Imperial Sight’—Ramses’ daemonic vision—Romulus stared at the numerous warships near Pierde’s orbit.

“And I’m guessing we’ll have to fight a brutal battle just to land.”

Right then, the ship’s internal comms relayed a transmission request.

It was a comm request from the Inquisitorial fleet.

That fleet was currently stationed in the orbital path of a gas giant’s moon, the sixth planet in the Pierde system.

“They’re within range of the Explorator Fleet. One battleship, one battlecruiser, three cruisers, and twelve escorts.”

Kaur’s voice came through the fleet communications.

“There’s a Word Bearers primary fleet group near Pierde’s capital world.”

“Any sign of the Avengers Chapter, Great Sage?”

Asked the Deathwatch priest.

“The Avengers Chapter’s cruiser Pride of Terra has been captured. We can’t confirm whether the Inquisitorial fleet is collaborating with the Word Bearers.”

The Avengers, a Chapter formed primarily of Terra-born Ultramarines, were given the Claw of Law, a Queen of Glory-class ship, when they split off.

Back during the Great Crusade, that very same Queen of Glory, then called Chronicle of Ashes, was the flagship of Lorgar, Primarch of the Word Bearers.

At the time, it had taken the Avengers, then still the Ultramarines’ Destroyer Company, three months of brutal boarding actions to capture the ship. Otherwise, the Ultramarines wouldn’t have been rich enough to split two Queen of Glory-class ships between them.

To the Word Bearers, this was an unprecedented humiliation.

“D*mn... how many enemies do we have now?”

Ramses counted off on his fingers like reading off a menu.

“Tyranids, traitor Inquisition, multiple Chaos entities watching us—definitely the Changer of Ways and the Prince of Pleasure—and now the Word Bearers show up too.”

Noticing the transmigrators seemed to be imagining even more behind the scenes, Aglaea shot Arthur a questioning glance.

Arthur shook his head.

Chaos traitor secrets were fine to spill, but not the loyalists’.

“Should we sink them?”

Great Sage Kaur, who was overseeing naval operations, asked.

Romulus looked at Aglaea, whose curiosity was nearly bursting.

“I request to communicate with the fleet.”

Having just jotted down Ramses’ poetic line, Aglaea raised her hand.

Then she turned to Ramses.

“Sorry to trouble you, Lord Ramses.”

Ramses got the hint and used his shadows to envelop the Inquisition’s flagship.

“Approved.”

Romulus immediately connected the comm line.

“I am Inquisitor Aglaea Taranhos.”

“Lady Aglaea, the Grand Inquisitor warned you not to enter this sub-sector.”

The message from the other side didn’t include any identity.

“Of course. Without his warning, I wouldn’t have realized you all already pledged yourselves to Chaos.”

Aglaea sneered, “You still have a chance to prove your loyalty, Captain. Right now—go assist the Imperium in purging the Word Bearers fleet.”

“Baseless accusation, Lady Aglaea.”

The captain’s tone remained flat.

“I require you to serve the Imperium.”

A hidden device near her wrist began vibrating at a specific frequency. Confidence returned to Aglaea’s eyes.

No wonder Ramses was called a psyker master who could guide ancient warriors safely through the Warp—his psychic channel was more stable and calm than any she’d encountered.

“We obey only the Grand Inquisitor. He ordered us to remain here and strike when the Word Bearers begin retreating.”

Of course, the battlecruiser captain didn’t mention one more thing:

If necessary, they had orders to carry out an Exterminatus on Pierde.

“You can refuse, but I guarantee that within twenty-four Terran hours, the Officio Assassinorum will erase thirty-one noble houses on Terra—including the Horvath family—from history, Sir Kebar.”

D*mn!

Aglaea’s cold voice echoed in the captain’s mind. Or rather—Sir Kebar realized he couldn’t bluff his way past this junior Inquisitor.

“Shall I recite your names in full, witnessed by the Emperor’s Angels and the Great Sage?”

She didn’t want to argue with the captain. For now, she had to use a bit of her own investigative findings.

Since the other side hadn’t joined up with the Chaos traitors, that meant the old man hadn’t revealed his full plan.

Or perhaps... no one ever knew the full plan to begin with.

Could even these enforcers be questioning the Grand Inquisitor’s orders?

Aglaea monitored the faces of everyone on the bridge through a covert data line as she received messages.

She could use this doubt.

The other end of the comm fell silent. Then came the sounds of unrest.

“The Grand Inquisitor has already betrayed the Imperium, betrayed his oath.”

Aglaea pressed the attack.

“And you will be loyal to the Imperium. Obey orders.”

After the commotion, Kebar’s voice came back, sounding slightly drained.

“...We will follow your orders, Lady Inquisitor Aglaea.”

He didn’t know whether the Grand Inquisitor had really turned, or how Aglaea had learned their exact identities.

But none of that mattered anymore.

If Aglaea reported their current behavior, their families would vanish from Terra without a trace.

Elsewhere, the Great Sage Kaur canceled the attack order.

Watching the Inquisition fleet begin moving toward Pierde’s capital world on the detector, he looked slightly gratified as his core processors spun up.

Aglaea was highly efficient—just a few words had resolved their biggest headache.

That was honestly unexpected.

In Kaur’s calculations, if they treated both the Inquisition and Word Bearers as enemies, the two fleets might’ve deadlocked for ages.

Kaur had even worried they wouldn’t reach Pierde in time to investigate after the naval battle. Yet Aglaea had turned the Inquisition fleet with a few lines of dialogue.

“Looks like the girl’s not completely useless after all.”

Kaur nodded in satisfaction. He didn’t mind weirdos—he only hated people who couldn’t contribute to humanity.

And as an ally, Aglaea had just earned a spot on the Great Sage’s record-worthy list.