The fleet popped out from the Immaterium fairly close to Nocturne, barely a week away on our rather advanced Ares sub-light drives.

Also, close enough to intercept FTL comms flittering about Imperium Nihilus, which FTL network had greatly expanded since the events of the Days of Blindness, when most of the astropaths and other psykers died when the Zone Mortalis split the galaxy asunder.

Not the Noctis Aeterna is remembered from my lore, but something else. Not a barrier of Warp energy preventing travel, but an area of dead space, where anyone with a soul would wither and die. Blanks excepted, for some reason. Must be my luck.

Blanks were found suddenly rather valuable, as they were the only one able to conduct trade and other missions from one Imperium to another, including messenger and emissary missions.

And while the Emperor Nihilus had a stash of Silent Sisters for his own use, the Emperor Sanctus had precious few Blanks in his Imperium Sanctus. Plenty of psykers, all rather useless against the Zone Mortalis.

I grinned a bit too wide, as my Lancefire clan of Blanks was the direct beneficiary of the disaster. I could guess my clan had become rather rich in my absence.

Then the pressure of the Omnissiah almost drowned me, taking over my mind impulse unit. "My long-awaited Emissary returns from the Hidden Library. I hope you saved some books for me." The Emperor spoke into my mind, perhaps amused at my situation, balls deep inside a lovely concubine.

Damn my luck!

"Yes, of course. I grabbed a few million of those corrupted books before the Grey Knights showed up." I admitted with a sad voice. There goes my loot. Again.

"Hmmm. Much less than I expected, then again, the Starchild was pretty much on the doorstep, and had over 600 years to prepare. I hear you chose Perturabo and Corax for your next redemption ark?" The powerful voice muttered in my head.

"Corax is almost ready, I think. I also noted a distinct lack of FTL comms mentioning the Lion." I answered with a curious tone.

"The Great Game never stops, Pef Lancefire. You are now also a minor god, with the C'tan cores unlocked." the Emperor replied in a more diplomatic manner.

"This must be about the Silent King of the Necrons. And maybe the Hive Mind?" I wondered, while taking a shower.

As cool as my fucking duty was, there was a certain method to diplomatic protocol. Like not fucking, when also speaking with the Emperor of Mankind.

So the Lion stayed at the side of the Starchild? Add Fulgrim and Lorgar to that mess, and I was rather happy I emerged on the other side of the dead zone.

"The Necrons, yes. They can traverse the Zone Mortalis without problems. Or even hide inside it." The Emperor answered with a sad voice.

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

I was probably much smarter now. I could also see the trap, and be powerless to avoid it.

"Thus, you need a Blank army to clean them out. Perhaps even my C'tan friends." I allowed with a shrug, as I sat at my hololith screen and allowed the Blade to power up and display the new galactic map, updated with the latest data-points obtained from the noosphere.

"There are other means, like the Excindio arsenal used by the Lion, but Men of Iron have their own problems." The Emperor said in a casual voice.

You don't say. Men of Iron might be dangerous to the user too. News at 11.

The map showed me a galaxy torn by war, and a far larger Lancefire Domain, maybe 20 times larger than when I left, covering the length of the Eastern Fringe from north to south. Over 40000 worlds, and 10 times as many outposts and controlled stars. Wait, did he say six hundred years? Time does fly when you're having fun. I didn't feel a day older.

But to expand so much...Vulkan and his clones must have been quite busy. Or maybe the Speranza took over and expanded like a rogue AI.

"Men of Stone should be more reliable. I know a few of those too." I added in a lighter voice.

The Emperor fell silent for a minute. "Most of the Votann Leagues remained inside the Imperium Nihilus. But they haven't been friendly to the Imperium."

Oh. He meant other Men of Stone, not my own. Fair enough. I should probably go deal with the remaining Votann too.

"Your Imperium Nihilus has under 300 thousand worlds. The smallest Votann League starts around half a million stars, and go easily 10 times that for a single major League.

I know a dozen major Leagues, and another dozen minor ones...including three under my nominal control." I mused in a low voice in my head.

"I spoke with the Votann Thethys, Pef Lancefire. About old times, and newer ones. And I heard about another one called Ironhead, out in the Fringe." the Emperor revealed, partly as a threat, I think.

I hesitated for a minute, then sighed. "Men of Stone, Men of Iron or Men of Gold, we are all of the mankind, just like the Blanks and the cloneskeins. The Omnissiah is worshiped by the Priests of Mars, many of them more machines than men. But they, too, are also of Mankind."

Not my best speech, perhaps, but I was rather tired of intolerance. We had plenty of external enemies anyway.

"I didn't choose wrong then. You will remain my Emissary, Pef Lancefire. And...Justine is fine now, with Patrocles and Purity on Terra. Your Blank brothers lacked the ability to become Astartes, but Isha and Cegorach figured a way to transform them into Solitaires." the voice spoke in a milder tone.

I already saw that, but never considered why human Solitaires would be needed. "Messengers?" I asked on a hunch.

"Of a sort, yes. The Webway rejects people or races that were not created by the Old Ones. Plus, Solitaires can be returned from death with little effort, unlike most Blanks."

The Emperor said in a lighter voice.

I nodded inward. Of course, the Emperor would not stop his project of an Imperial Webway, and how better to interface with the old Webway than with human Solitaires that didn't cause the rejection.

"You intend to create a passage into Imperium Sanctus, safe from the Zone Mortalis." I deduced with my smarter brain.

"Smart people are much easier to talk to. Yes, both me and Starchild have been drilling towards the Zone Mortalis for centuries, but recent Necron attacks on the Imperial Webway have halted the progress." he said in a sad voice.

I see. I saw it all. Then I glanced to my left, and Zash the C'tan wolf nodded in agreement. We could go kill some Necrons.

"Consider it a favor, for my godson. I haven't really given the Starchild any gift, despite being his Godfather." I spoke in a kind voice.

What? I kinda engineered the birth of the Starchild as well. Even sent Purity to help.

Zath laughed again in my head, and soon the Emperor joined too. I wasn't joking, though.