Given Cybia's experience, the other party's performance was more than enough for her to recognize the origins of her temporary companion.
"Why is an Eye of the Emperor aboard this vessel?"
The Eyes of the Emperor, the intelligence apparatus of the Adeptus Custodes.
Its mbers were comprised entirely of retired Custodians who believed their skills had degraded and were no longer at their absolute peak. They would cast aside their armor, depart from Terra, and don black robes to wander the galaxy, gathering clandestine intelligence for the Custodes or eliminating catastrophes that threatened the citizens of the Imperium.
"What Eye of the Emperor?"
The man scratched his head, feigning a look of ignorant bewildernt. "I am but a perfectly ordinary Ogryn; I do not understand what you are talking about."
Even with Cybia's vast wealth of experience, she was nearly amused to the point of laughter by this joke.
She looked at the several headless corpses clad in power armor sprawled at the man's feet, all of which had been effortlessly slain by his impossibly fluid, almost divinely natural swordsmanship.
You call this an Ogryn?
Then what purpose did the Emperor have in creating the Adeptus Astartes, did He simply have too much ti on His hands?
Unwilling to be outdone, the man countered with a question of his own:
"And what are you doing aboard this ship? I do not believe a perfectly ordinary Lunar-class cruiser warrants a senior Inquisitor concealing her identity to investigate."
"Naturally, because I am a psyker."
Cybia was not entirely surprised that her identity had been seen through. After all, to rain the Emperor's wrath upon the heretics just monts prior, she had drawn both an artificer bolter and a force sword, all while being protected by a retinue of highly trained Tempestus Scions willing to throw away their lives. Given the insight of an Eye of the Emperor, it would be unnatural if he had not recognized her.
"One month ago, I witnessed an on from the Emperor within my dreams. This on revealed that a hope capable of saving the entire Imperium of Man would manifest upon this vessel."
Given their current predicant, she had no intention of hiding anything from this black-robed Custodian, laying the truth bare with crisp efficiency.
"...Sounds like the trickery of heretics."
Hearing this, the black-robed Custodian offered his sharp critique.
"Even if you are a Custodian, you cannot insult my professional integrity as an agent of the Throne in such a manner. Do not mistake for those fools in the Radical factions."
Cybia replied coldly, "I naturally made absolutely certain beforehand. This on definitively originates from the Emperor, not so Ruinous Power lurking within the immaterium."
"After receiving the on, I endured agonizing pain and sought out two Sisters of Silence to stand watch over as I dread. Yet the on still manifested, entirely free of interference."
This justification was indeed sufficient and utterly unassailable.
As the Imperium's premier anti-psyker force, the Sisters of Silence—comprised entirely of Blanks—could effectively nullify the warp and psychic energies.
However, exactly how this female Inquisitor had managed to locate Sisters of Silence when the vast majority had long since departed Terra, and how a psyker could possibly manage to fall asleep in the suffocating presence of Untouchables, made the black-robed Custodian rather curious.
Of course, he would not actually voice such a trivial question, instead opting to directly explain his own presence.
"...I received intelligence suggesting a peculiar xenos ruin had surfaced on this planet, and that a Martian Archmagos of the Adeptus chanicus had already mobilized toward it. As an Eye of the Emperor, and considering this is the Segntum Solar, it was only natural to investigate whether this location posed any threat to Terra."
"Since when did the Custodes possess such curiosity?"
Cybia furrowed her brow.
As a loyal servant of the Emperor and an agent of the Throne, she genuinely despised the fact that these Custodians hoarded the finest wargear in the entire Imperium, yet did nothing but remain sequestered within the Imperial Palace.
They either amused themselves with those damned Blood Gas, or ventured out rely to act as Terra's janitors, suppressing underhive gangs—tasks even the Astra Militarum were entirely capable of executing.
Naturally, she understood the gravity of her position; she would never dare utter such sarcastic, veiled insults to a Custodian standing guard at the gates of the Palace.
But looking at their current situation, Cybia felt it highly likely that her soul would return to the Throne before she ever found the hope capable of saving the Imperium. Consequently, she had beco entirely brazen.
"Truthfully, I also believe that simply remaining idle within the Palace was absolutely not the Emperor's original intent when He created us. Sadly, the majority of the Custodian Guard do not share my viewpoint..."
Catching Cybia's underlying implications, the black-robed Custodian smoothly voiced his own thoughts on the matter.
"Now that is actually sowhat pleasing to hear."
Cybia nodded. "Then let us agree to this: I have a proposal. As a noble Custodian, surely you do not wish for your corpse to be desecrated by these heretical traitors? When the ti cos, I shall proactively unbind my self-imposed seals and unleash my full psychic might, sacrificing the greater portion of my soul to tear open a warp rift."
"This kind of rift will not be a gateway for daemons to pass through. Rather, it will act much like a vortex grenade, flushing realspace matter into the immaterium like a void-sink. If you allow yourself to be swallowed by it, I guarantee not a single bone will remain, completely eliminating the risk of desecration."
"...An excellent proposal."
The black-robed Custodian seed lost in thought.
Right at that mont.
"BOOM!!!"
A colossal explosion detonated, and jagged bursts of fire erupted across the traitor Space Marines' positions just outside the bridge.
A violent shockwave swept outward, the sheer magnitude of its tremor causing the very deck beneath their feet to shudder.
What was happening?
Looks of shocked bewildernt simultaneously appeared on the faces of both Cybia and the black-robed Custodian.
However, they swiftly understood the reason.
"It sounds like allied reinforcents?"
The black-robed Custodian tilted his head, listening intently for a mont. Through his transhuman senses, he faintly discerned the war cry: "For the Emperor."
"There is no mistaking it, this is no ploy. I can already taste the terror and death of those heretics!"
A look of elation broke across Cybia's face. "We must coordinate with our allies imdiately and launch a counter-offensive!"
"The problem is that we completely lack the capacity to break out. There are at least three quad-barrel Thunderfire Cannons aiming directly at the entrance just outside the bridge. The second we attempt to move out, we will be instantly blown to pieces."
The Custodian cast a sowhat doubtful glance at Cybia, only to see her shake her head and state calmly: "I have a way."
The Inquisitor extended her right hand, revealing a black tallic band clasped tight around her wrist.
She unclasped the band and slipped it into the pocket of her greatcoat.
A truly torrential surge of psychic power erupted from Cybia's form in an instant. Azure lightning violently cascaded from her eyes, and the bleeding psychic energy whipped up a howling gale across the bridge. The ambient temperature began to plumt rapidly, and faint traces of frost and ice crystals silently materialized across the deck plating.
The Custodian was genuinely shocked. "You were wearing that thing throughout the entire battle earlier?"
Clearly, he had severely underestimated this Inquisitor's psychic classification.
"Are you... an Alpha-class psyker?"
"Correct, but now is not the ti to focus on that."
Cybia spoke, "In this state, there is a trendously high probability that I will lose control of my powers. We must end this swiftly."
As she spoke, she drew her force sword once more, cleaving it forward with all her might.
Vast oceans of psychic energy channeled down the edge of the blade, tearing a gash directly through the Veil, and a warp rift violently tore open before them.
"Move!"
"...Absolute madness!"
The black-robed Custodian muttered a curse, yet without the slightest hesitation, he charged into the rift right behind her.
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