"I support Guilliman's plan, and Father's as well!" Horus, standing aside, nodded and spoke up.
As the former Warmaster of the Imperium, he was naturally familiar with the state of the empire. The Martian Mechanicus was indeed a massive cancer.
These people were nothing like the rest of the Imperium's citizens—they didn't worship the Emperor, but the mythical Omnissiah, the so-called Machine God.
Yet this Machine God didn't even exist in the Warp. They were actually worshipping something else. As one of the Emperor's first primarchs, Horus knew secrets unknown to most.
The Machine God of Mars was probably, at its origin, a shard of the Void Dragon, a being who controlled the laws of machines and creation in the universe.
When Mars was first founded, its earliest beliefs and knowledge may have originated from this entity, until his father—the Emperor—rose to power and defeated it.
Even so, the Emperor couldn't change Mars' devotion to the Machine God. The Imperium's state religion only repackaged the Omnissiah as an aspect of the Emperor.
"But isn't this too ruthless? The Mechanicus has served the Imperium faithfully for ten thousand years. We can't just wipe them out for no reason, with no justification," Vulkan stood his ground.
As the kindest of the primarchs, he couldn't accept the senseless slaughter of technical personnel loyal to the Imperium.
"Lion! Sanguinius, and you too, Rhodes and Elena, say something. We represent the legitimacy of humanity—we can't slaughter Mechanicus members for no reason," Vulkan tried to win over Rhodes, Lion, Elena, and Sanguinius.
Standing beside Rhodes, Elena opened her mouth to speak, but Rhodes held her back. Lion and Sanguinius remained silent.
"Our duty as primarchs is to obey the Emperor's orders. Whatever commands our father, the Emperor, gives, we need only to obey—nothing else. Do you understand, Vulkan?" Lion El'Jonson said.
The primarchs had all been created by the Emperor, and at their first meeting, every one of them had been awed by his charisma and terrifying power.
Vulkan wanted to argue, but his mind drifted back on Nocturne, when the Emperor disguised himself as a stranger and challenged him to a hunting contest—who could catch the biggest salamander. The loser would obey the winner forever.
Vulkan caught the biggest salamander he'd ever seen, but as he was preparing to leave, a volcanic eruption struck. He couldn't escape unless he dropped his prize—and would have to obey the stranger's every order.
Not knowing the stranger was the Emperor, he was naturally unwilling to abandon the salamander. He was trapped on a volcanic cliff, but then the Emperor appeared, carrying an even bigger salamander. Seeing Vulkan trapped, the Emperor didn't hesitate to throw away his larger prize and save him.
Vulkan kept his salamander, while the Emperor lost his. By the rules, the Emperor lost the bet—but Vulkan knew who had truly won. The Emperor only gave up the bigger prize to save him.
Without hesitation, Vulkan swore loyalty to the Emperor, naming his legion after the salamander—a creature of Nocturne that had bonded the two. The other primarchs, each for their own reasons, also lost to the Emperor and willingly accepted him as father. They all swore loyalty. If he disobeyed now, what difference was there between him and the traitors?
At this moment, a hand landed on Vulkan's shoulder.
"First, the Martian Mechanicus never truly submitted to the Emperor—they've always been in a cooperative relationship with the Imperium.
All the Imperium's weapons—be it a battle barge, a Titan, or something as simple as a bolter or lasgun, or power armor—must be ordered and bought from the Mechanicus. They never help unconditionally; everything is transactional.
Second, the Mechanicus has its own army, its own power structure, and controls all the Forge Worlds—a truly enormous force.
The entire industrial might of the Imperium is in their hands, and the Mechanicus has now fallen deeply into corruption. Just look at the secret reports and you'll understand," Rhodes explained.
Rhodes also supported the Emperor's purge. The Mechanicus had become too great a problem to ignore.
Why had Rhodes secretly built his own research base, not on Mars? Why had he sent monster bodyguards to Salome? Because ever since Salome joined the Mechanicus, she'd survived dozens of assassination attempts.
Mars had to be purged. If the Emperor didn't do it, Rhodes would have to take action himself in the future.
Now that the Emperor had resolved to act, Rhodes was naturally willing to help.
"This will cause huge losses to the Imperium. If something happens at Mars HQ, it will affect future wars—even this crusade," Sanguinius sighed.
He actually wanted to help Vulkan, who, though fierce in battle, truly loved the Imperium's people.
But Rhodes' words changed his mind. The Mechanicus needed to be cleansed.
"There will be losses, but it's unavoidable. As rulers, we must weigh all factors. A small loss for a greater gain is worth it.
Previously, Rhodes and Guilliman planned this crusade to unify Imperial power. Now the Eldar have opened up the webway, reconnecting the Imperium's worlds.
The Imperial Saints are being reorganized. Once the legions are formed, we need only destroy the enemies invading the Saints to complete our task.
So even if we lose half of Mars, it's acceptable," the Emperor said.
He had thought this through. With Rhodes' scientists, he was confident.
"If needed, I can have Tartarus use his spatial powers to teleport the Void Dragon and us to another battlefield, minimizing losses," Rhodes said.
He'd intended all along to have Tartarus move the Void Dragon to a remote battlefield, ideally near a red giant—so after killing it, they could absorb the star's energy. But the Emperor also wanted to use this as a chance to purge Mars.
In that case, the plan just needed some adjustments.
"Rhodes! You can use special abilities to teleport the Void Dragon, right?" Guilliman's eyes lit up.
That would indeed minimize losses.
"Yes! So, we can make a concrete plan: after releasing the Void Dragon, let it run wild—but not destroy the Titan factories or vital military industries. After causing panic, I'll teleport it away.
Then, during the chaos, we can send our own forces to carry out targeted strikes on Mechanicus members," Rhodes said.
"You mean, deploy the Custodes?" the Emperor asked.
"Yes. Besides the Custodes, my gene-sons can join the battle—eliminating the old conservative factions, leaving only Belisarius Cawl and Salome's followers.
As for Mechanicus members elsewhere, we can deal with them gradually," Rhodes said.
The Custodes were experts at this. Back when the Thunder Warriors were purged, the Custodes led the attack.
"My Dark Angels can handle such tasks too—they're very skilled at this," Lion added.
Giving this job to the Dark Angels was ideal. Some had already been assigned to the Deathwatch for a hundred years, but the Fallen Angels he had pardoned were all ancient veterans, absolutely capable of keeping secrets.
"My army can help too! My gene-sons can work with the Custodes," Rhodes offered.
"No, Rhodes. Your army is too large, and newly formed. Although loyal, there's no guarantee no word will leak. This is the Imperium's darkest secret—a leak would be catastrophic. Leave it to the Custodes," the Emperor decided.
Rhodes' legion was over 700,000 strong, soon to reach 800,000. Over 90% were new recruits—unreliable in such matters.
The other primarchs nodded.
Rhodes gave a wry smile. Did they not trust that his soldiers were the most loyal? Their unique brain cores were the ultimate insurance—after the mission, he could erase their memories, leaving no trace.
But this special brain core was a top-secret technology, known only to Rhodes' own scientists. Publicly, it was said to be a voice modulator. It had even been modified for the Space Wolves and Blood Angels to help them control their powers.
"It's settled. Four thousand Custodes and a contingent of Lion's Dark Angels will handle this.
These fallen Angels were once First Legion, ancient veterans, trustworthy," the Emperor said.
His own units for secret missions were usually Space Wolves and Dark Angels. The Wolves couldn't be used now, but the Dark Angels had plenty of ancient veterans.
"No problem, Father. I'll send the Fallen Angels into battle too," Lion said.
The primarchs and Emperor then discussed the operation's details to ensure the plan's success.
Before the plan began, Rhodes informed Belisarius Cawl and his scientist Salome.
Salome didn't care—she'd only been in the Mechanicus for two years and had less than a thousand apprentices. She didn't get along with the Mechanicus, who'd tried to assassinate her countless times. She was happy to see the purge.
Cawl was more sentimental. The old guard often hindered him, but with the support of Guilliman, Rhodes, and the Emperor, he was now effectively leader of the Mechanicus.
He'd planned to reform the Mechanicus gradually once in power, but the Emperor was out of patience.
"I understand, Lord Rhodes. Everything is for the Imperium and the Emperor. I'll transfer open-minded Mechanicus members off Mars; please spare the new Titan production lines. The rest is fine," Cawl said.
"Don't worry. Mars won't suffer major losses—especially the infrastructure," Rhodes replied.
…
Three days flew by.
The Emperor issued various orders; many Mechanicus members were transferred, others returned.
Meanwhile, 4,000 Custodes and over 6,000 Dark Angels—10,000 in all—assembled!
At the heart of the Mechanicus, a seal loosened. A colossal creature burst from Mars' surface.
"ROAR!"