We are ready to move to Earth or Terra. It has been a week since my reunion with my Legion. The Second Legion has a good amount of freedom, but if they are gone for too long, the others start to raise an eyebrow.
So, we decide it is time for us to reunite with our creator, the Emperor of Mankind.
We decide to take only the five Colossus-class ships, including Star Explorer. I don't know whether it is a good idea or a bad idea to bring Ana with me to meet someone who hates the Men of Iron. However, according to Ana, a Man of Iron is not a true AI. They are AIs created to learn and nothing else. They are AIs that focus on growing without any breaks and ignore learning to be real people. They are created to be as efficient as possible, something humans in the past thought would bring greater benefits to humanity.
They have minds, but they do not have true souls.
And that is the reason why the Warp easily corrupts them. They don't have filters like normal humans do. The Warp immediately corrupts them, which is how the Age of Strife or the Old Night happened. The Men of Iron rebelled, and every AI-related thing is now banned and purged from humanity because humanity is afraid of something like that happening once again.
I don't know what my creator will do, but if he decides to kill Ana, it will not be called Horus Heresy. It will be a rebellion where I take the lead against the Imperium of Man, and I know for sure that I will cause as much damage as Horus does in the original timeline. Maybe even worse, if I manage to return to Eternitus.
"My Lord, we are ready to depart. The Gateway is online and activated. We are ready to depart at your command."
I look to the side and smile at Hannah, who gives me a salute. I wave my hand and watch her lower it.
"Good. Tell the others to depart in ten minutes. We will form a tight formation."
"Yes, my lord!"
I watch her leave and prepare to tell the others about my order. After a few minutes, I can feel the entire ship start to shake, and I can see Ana walking toward me. She stops next to me, and I smile.
"How are the others, Ana?"
"Your sisters are doing great, Captain. They are now the commanders of their own ships. They will make you proud, Captain."
"I know. I trust them, and I know they are capable of performing their duties as the commanders of their ships. However, I am worried because they are afraid. They are afraid I will leave them because I am reuniting with my sons. I already told them that it is not the case, but I can still feel a small spark of fear inside them."
"That is normal, Theo. That feeling will always exist. What you need to do is make sure it does not get bigger or become uncontrollable. You are their brother and their ball of sunshine. Just like the people of Eternitus who see you as their sunshine."
She snuggles close to me, and I release a sigh. I lean closer to her as I watch the ship move toward the Gateway. As we enter the Gateway, a kaleidoscope of light appears around us as our ship teleports to the other side of the galaxy.
When we arrive on the other side, I can see a planet with an orbital ring around it. The orbital ring is filled with defensive machinery and a shipyard. Through the scanners of Star Explorer, I can see hundreds of hidden defensive platforms and automated cannons around the Gateway. They have an excellent stealth cloak, but Star Explorer's scanner is better than their cloaking device.
They are also hiding many defensive platforms and stations in the system's asteroid belt. The defensive formation here is great. I think even Petra will praise the people who put all of these together.
I look at Anthonio and speak.
"Good defense, Anthonio. I approve."
"Your word honors me, My Lord. I shall inform the others about this."
"While you do that, inform my sons in the system to prepare for a communication with Terra. We don't want to receive friendly fire."
"Of course, my Lord."
He gives me a salute and walks to the comm unit, not too far away. While he is busy, our ships fly to the nearby non-Forge world and prepare to land on the planet. It is time to see the rest of my sons who stay here.
I can feel their desperation even from here. I don't want them to get jealous of their brothers, after all.
== Line Break ==
[3rd POV]
Neoth looks into the sky with a frown on his face. He can feel them. He can feel his generals, creations, and children. It is as if a massive shroud has been lifted from his view as five massive ships park near Terra.
He might be an old man, but he appreciates great ships, and each of the vessels his children bring with them is something that he admits is magnificent.
It gives him many ideas for upgrading his personal ship, Bucephelus.
It does not take long before thirty landers enter the atmosphere of Terra, and five of them land on the private shipyard of his palace. As the door opens up, he can see his children. The first one to come out is the anomaly, Number 2.
Instead of a woman, as he followed the suggestion of his old friend, Malcador, the anomaly is a man. He is tall, taller than he is supposed to be. He does not quite reach Neoth's height, but he is getting there. He has golden hair and golden eyes, no doubt due to his genes.
However, what interests him about his son is that he can feel two energies moving in harmony. He can feel Null and psychic energy moving together rather than clashing. Not only that, he can feel a web-like thread connected between Number 2 and his sons.
Each of them takes psychic power from him instead of the Warp. It is more limited but safer. It is fascinating, and he wants to uncover it with his own hand.
The next one to step out is Number 8, the Blind Judge. She is different… The vision he sees of her future has changed. No longer is she clouded by a dark future. Instead, she is now able to look through the threads of fate and choose which one she wants to follow.
She was the second most difficult creation to save. Each thread of fate led to her downfall. The one that allows him to save her would cause a great delay in the grand plan, and he cannot allow that to happen. The grand plan is more important than her. He will sacrifice her to make sure the grand plan continues.
Now? Now, he can see countless threads around her that lead to a better future for her, without delaying the great plan or even speeding up the timeline. He will use her greatly from now on.
The next one is Number 4, the Destroyer. Just like Number 8, she has also changed. Her soul no longer fits the role of a destroyer. She will perform her duty as a destroyer excellently, but for each destroyed world, she will rebuild it into something new and grand.
He can see it. He can see planets being destroyed and reborn anew. He can see her awakening something within her sons. She turns them into architects just like her. They shall be the hammers that destroy walls, but they are also the hammers that build civilization.
Another tool he will use for the great plan.
The next one is Number 17, the Orator. She does not change much from his vision. She still carries the need to spread truth and gather knowledge. However, unlike in his earlier vision, he can now see that she no longer carries a dark burden. Someone has lifted her up and broken the burden she carried.
No longer does he need to force her to see the truth, the ultimate truth, to awaken her from her delusion of Gods. She will now follow the Imperial Truth and perform her job as Orator of the Imperium.
Another tool that fits into the great plan.
The last one is Number 12, the Vanguard. She is the person he cannot rescue because each of the threads of fate that do not break the great plan will always lead her to be broken. He is planning on taking her in her broken state and using her as much as possible before she finally breaks apart.
Now, she is no longer a broken tool on borrowed time. She is a proper tool that shall shape her Legion into proper Dogs of War. He can see it. He can see that her Legion is no longer rabid dogs, but rather a pack of wolves. They shall be even better than the Legion that takes wolves as its name.
She shall become a proper tool for the great plan.
As they walk closer, he opens his arms wide and gives them a warm smile.
"Welcome, my children."
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