Warhammer 40: Starting as a Rogue Trader

Chapter 223 Blackrock Fortress and the Ominous Ark

Digglis even saw Macurag burning in his psionic vision.

But within this illusion, he also saw hope.

He immediately informed Karga, who was searching for Vashtor, of this unusual sight. Karga's trust in Digris led him to immediately abandon his current mission and return to Macurag with all his might, for there was no place more important than this.

As the head of the think tank, Diggris is definitely among the top psykers in the Imperial Astartes Chapter. He can even glimpse a corner of the powerful swarm's will. Normal psykers might have their brains burned by the swarm's will even when facing the cerebrates.

Digglis possesses unique and powerful abilities in the spiritual realm of prophecy and divination.

He had a feeling that this so-called hope might come from the few people in front of him.

Gao Yi also looked at Diggris in front of him.

"How could Guilliman's son produce a psionicist of this caliber? It shouldn't be like this."

Gao Yi could sense the spiritual energy emanating from Digglis; the spiritual energy of Blood Raven's chief think tank was utterly insignificant in comparison.

In Gao Yi's eyes, the seemingly most stable gene seed is either excessively unstable or produces some outrageous existences. For example, a gene prototype with negative magic resistance can produce a Titan with maxed-out magic resistance.

Gao Yi then looked at the psionic staff in Digglis's hand. This thing was the real holy relic. There were too many holy relic in the Warhammer world, most of which were actually useless. Even the cup used by the Primarch could be considered a holy relic.

However, the scepter in Digglis's hand has a special function, and his powerful psychic abilities are inseparable from this scepter.

The great Macado, a being who rivaled gods in mortal form, held the psychic scepter that Digris once used. This scepter would occasionally bring Digris some psychic illusions.

In the idealistic world of Warhammer, Gao Yi even suspected that the scepter might have been imbued with a remnant of Makador's soul due to people's veneration of him.

If Blood Raven were here, would it try everything to pick it up and take it home?

"Honorable Imperial Guard monks and great sages from the Order, I am Diggris, curator of the Ultramarines Think Tank. May I ask why you have suddenly come to Macragge?"

As Digglis walked up to the crowd, his gaze was immediately drawn to Gao Yi.

Gao Yi activated his psychic energy to probe it, causing it to suddenly lose its connection to psychic energy, and the surrounding subspace energy seemed to suddenly become a vacuum.

"Untouchables? No. Not at all." Diggris quickly dismissed his guess.

“Astartes, we have come to carry out the Emperor’s orders! We need to see your Chapter Master!”

The accompanying Imperial Guards spoke first, and Caul followed suit.

“Digris, I have come to fulfill my promise to the Lord of Alteramar!”

"The Emperor's decree? The Lord of Alteramar's agreement?!"

Diggris was equally shocked by what the other party said.

"The commander of the Calgary campaign is not in Macrag; he is on his way back to Macrag."

“Calga isn’t here? Where is he? Digglis, time is of the essence; this is a matter of life and death for the Empire.”

"The Calgary general led a company of soldiers to hunt down a chaotic fleet."

Upon hearing this, Gao Yi understood why Macurag was so nervous; it seemed that the Red Pirates mentioned by Cipher had already launched an attack on Altramar.

"Then he definitely won't be able to get back anytime soon?"

"I think so. It will take at least two or three more days."

Digglis hadn't expected Gao Yi's tone to be so urgent, and the interruption of a wandering merchant was not stopped by the Imperial Guards or the Great Sage. Gao Yi then looked at the Imperial Guards and Kaul beside him, and they understood what Gao Yi meant.

"Diglis, as the Emperor's representative in the Empire, the Imperial Guard, in the Emperor's name, now requests that you, along with the Archsage and Lord Highlord, travel to the Sanctuary where Lord Guilliman, the Emperor's son, slumbers. They will awaken the sleeping Primarch and bring him back into the Emperor's grand plan to revive humanity."

The words of the Imperial Guard startled Digglis. He had seen hope in his imagination, but he never expected that hope would appear in this form, awakening the great Primarch.

The Ultramarines have never stopped searching for a way to awaken the Primarch, but all attempts have failed. Now, some outsiders have suddenly arrived and claim they can awaken the Primarch.
However, Digglis was not authorized to allow these people into the sanctuary where the Primarch slumbered, even if they were members of the Custodian Guard.

"I'm sorry, but even with the Imperial Guards accompanying me, I am not qualified to agree to your request. This matter is of great importance, and I must report it to the Commander and obtain his permission before I can proceed!"

“Digris! There’s no time for you to hesitate. The Red Pirates’ attacks on other planets are just bait! Their target is me! Macragge! And your Primarch!”

Gao Yi thought that the appearance of the Imperial Guard would allow him to go to Guilliman's side without any obstacles, but he did not expect that these Ultra Warriors were too disciplined.
"Astartes! Obey the orders of Lord Highlord; his words are the will of the Emperor!"

The Imperial Guards were also slightly angered by the Ultramarines' reaction. Even these loyalists could not stop them from carrying out the mission given to them by the Emperor. They walked towards Digglis, while the Ultramarines honor guards beside Digglis warily placed their hands on the power swords at their waists.

Meanwhile, the nearby Olaramar auxiliary troops also turned their weapons on Gao Yi and his group.

They would probably choose loyalty to the Empire or loyalty to the Ultramarines.

This is an unavoidable drawback of the empire's loose system of governance.

Just as Digglis was struggling with his decision, Gao Yi looked up at the sky above Macurag.

An urgent communication has been transmitted from the Star Pioneer.

"They're coming."

"them?"

The next second, Diggris also sensed the anomaly in the warp.

In the warp, the Omen Ark sails at the forefront of the Red Pirate fleet. Known as the Soul-Guiding Pillar, it is a blasphemous creation that requires the burning of psionicists as fuel, guiding all the Chaos fleets behind it.

At this moment, the Soul-Guiding Pillar was just a small, movable star torch to Chaos.

Meanwhile, Tzeentch, having regained his power, used his divine strength to quell the warp storm that the Red Pirates could not cross.

A massive rift in the warp was torn open by the impact of Tzeentch's divine power, which washed over the veil between reality and the warp.

One after another, chaotic warships poured out from the cracks that tore through the veil of reality.

The chaotic fleet of alien pirates, mixed in with other aliens, immediately rushed towards the nearest Ultramarines fleet.

The arrival of Blackrock Fortress and Ominous Ark has brought unprecedented pressure to the Ultramarines.

"My lord! It's the Chaos Fleet!"

Diggris and Gao Yi received the report from the fleet at almost the same time.

Gao Yi had anticipated that Chaos's attack would be fierce, but the arrival of a Blackrock Fortress and an Omen Ark still surprised him.

The Empire has never seen the Omen Ark before. The entire Omen Ark is now like a huge subspace energy radiator, and all the physical laws of the void it reaches are beginning to distort.

Macurag's defensive fleet immediately began to engage Chaos, with countless defensive platforms firing simultaneously.

The Ultramarines stationed on Macurag also joined the battle.

(End of this chapter)