"What did he say?" the Emperor asked his Custodes-General.

"...Lord Lancefire said it was a bad idea, Sire. Your sword accepted him anyways." Trajann Valoris answered as his knee hit the floor.

"It had to be done. I would have preferred someone more controllable, or maybe yourself as the Warmaster. It is a sad galaxy, when I can't trust anyone with too much power." The Master of Mankind mused in a distant voice, while his eyes fell on his Custodes right arm and were met with a pair of alien, measuring eyes of a xenos device.

"This is an etheric detector, Sire. Lord Lancefire assured me it will detect hidden assassins or infiltrators of any origin." the Custodes spoke quickly.

"And so it will, Custodes-General. It's a C'tan omni-scan eye. What does it say about me?" the Emperor asked with a faint smile.

"Type 5 Delta Plus. Threat level: Anathema. Recommended safe distance: 100 light-years." the Custodes spoke while the Emperor waved a hand and erased all the injuries he sustained while fighting the Norn Emissary.

"Good enough. Go tour the Dark Cells and scan every prisoner." the Emperor demanded with a distant voice, as a Lamenter Tech-Marine appeared via dimensional shift in front of him.

"Your Majesty! I broke the seal, while fighting a Tyranid Norn Emissary. And...I've been ordered to deliver this data-slate into your hands. I also brought a huge cogitator-core for the Administratum." Patrocles Lancefire reported as he retrieved a STC-grade slate with a few new templates uploaded on it.

The Emperor touched the slate to confirm its contents, then poked the tesseract to peek inside. An intact Federation-grade data-core, with its own Man of Stone guarding it!

'Blade Lancefire, Stonekin of the Lancefire League. Ready and waiting.' the ancient Machine Spirit sent at the second he made contact.

The data-core shifted dimensional coordinates for a nano-second and re-appeared in the Emperor's own tesseract. "How did the Blood Angels react to the news?" he asked in a mild voice.

"...Outrage, Sire. The Primarch calmed the spirits in a few minutes, with the threat of more Tyranids and Necrons." Patrocles answered in a curt tone. Angry and outraged as well, perhaps.

"You have a personal opinion on this matter, Patrocles?" the Emperor asked a bit amused.

"My father is only a man, Sire. He gets tired after a day of hard work, just like a Guardsman or a factory worker. Your Space Marines and Primarchs are much more durable." Patrocles answered honestly.

"Oh? And if he were to face Horus Lupercal in battle? One Warmaster against another?" The Emperor of Mankind asked a bit rhetorical.

Patrocles Lancefire smiled, and shook his head. "I wouldn't know, your Majesty. Yourself got mauled pretty badly. And my father wouldn't have faced Horus in a honorable duel." the Tech-marine replied with a masked reproach.

The Emperor laughed at the polite snub, then nodded. "Horus would have lost to your father the second he dropped the shields. And I lost because I tried to save Horus, my favorite son. But maybe I was supposed to lose, and learn my lesson nailed to a tree like Wotan."

"Did you, Sire? Learn a lesson?" Patrolces wondered with a sad voice.

"See? You've lost all fear, my brave Space Marine. You think I am causing another galactic crisis, by enraging Pef Lancefire after I just granted him the Warmaster title. Repeating the same mistake, despite suffering so long for the last one." The Emperor allowed with an amused voice.

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Patrocles Lancefire fell to his knees, head hung low. "Abusing Lady Justine like that won't end well, Sire. Even if you extract and grow all her eggs into more uncles of mine..."

"You told me that before, Patrocles. And you are still wrong. We produced the first human Solitaires already. These Solitaires can't take the gene-seed, but they can be resurrected in the same way as the Eldar Solitaires and Lady Justine herself. " the Emperor said with a curt voice.

Patrocles nodded, but held his grim face. "It's still wrong, Sire. You can use the Ferryman protocol instead. Convert more Grey Knights into Pariah. Maybe all of them."

The Emperor of Man frowned in deep thought. "I will try a Ferrymen Company for your sake, Patrocles. But the Grey Knights are not Silent Sisters and don't have a doctrine for using Pariah powers in combat."

"And because they are not Silent Sisters, the Grey Knights can take the gene-seed. You already have a solution, Sire, and a method to use a billion psykers in a safe way. Maybe even safer than fueling the Astronomican with their souls." Patrocles proposed with a detemined tone.

"It would fit, for a Dark Imperium. It seems I can't avoid this Fate either way. A Dark King or a King of the Dark, the Imperium Nihilus. And humanity's light fades to black, a race of Blacksouls like your father wants." The Emperor sighed with deep sorrow.

Patrocles perked up, and raised his eyes. Could it be? Did he manage to convince the Emperor?

"Go help with the Exodus, Patrocles. I need to deal with the Administratum now." the Emperor ordered and moved Patrocles Lancefire to his House's spire on the other side of Terra, where a tall adamantium spire rose from the smog and ended with a docking facility in low orbit called Port Stanley.

"My lord, it's good to see someone from the Lancefire bloodline has arrived." a Blank woman adressed him in a servile tone, as he stood still to regain his bearings.

"And why is that, Proctor Seneshal?" Patrocles asked with a tired voice.

"Errrr. There is a company of Grey Knights Astartes living here...and training, on all floors from -666 to 6666. Lead by a Prognosticator seer of theirs." the Proctor said in a fearful voice.

Patrocles sighed, feeling a headache incoming. "I'll deal with that. Anything else?"

"The number of letters and invitations from other Houses has increased 40 times since House Lancefire ascended to Primus rank. As did the insults." the Proctor complained with a grim voice.

"No more assassins?" Patrocles wondered with a smirk.

"Well, the Grey Knights see the intruders as their prey and training material. And your traps and turrets can deal with the stupid ones that try a forward approach." The Proctor said with a faint smile.

'Stay on Terra and look after the House Spire, my son. And help the Emperor if he asks for help...easiest job ever.' his father said with that stupid grin of his.

Patrocles took a deep breath and recited the Unceasing Service canticle. Machines were so much more logical and easier to understand than people. Which is why he chose to become a Tech-marine and not a Chaplain for his Chapter.