Chapter 240: The So-Called Truth

The two groups, having encountered each other in the "Maze," ceased hostilities and began exchanging information. 

Gray informed Greyfax of the current situation since the battle of Cadia, updating her on the timeline, as well as recent developments in the Tyron Sector. 

Greyfax, in turn, recounted her own experiences. 

"I saw a hunched, silver figure—like it was made of iron," she began. 

"Then I was paralyzed. After that, it felt as if I'd been asleep for ages. When I opened my eyes, I found myself here." 

Greyfax gestured to the ancient-looking Space Marines behind her. "They're just like me, though... older." 

Gray looked at the armored figures; their armor gleamed in shades of blue, relics of a time long past. 

Having absorbed the news, the Marines struggled to accept the new reality. 

"So it's really 999.M41 now?" 

"Over ten thousand years have passed… How is that possible? What did we go through?" 

After a moment, the Marines' Captain composed himself and turned to Gray. 

"We're soldiers of the Thirteenth Legion. Does our legion still endure? Is Ultramar intact?" 

"You mean a Chapter?" Gray replied. "All Astartes belong to Chapters now; Legions haven't existed for ages." 

Greyfax interjected, "Oh, they once did. Chapters were formed from the Legions." 

"Regardless, the Legion itself is long gone. But its Chapters endure, and Ultramar, I believe, still stands," Gray said, though he spoke vaguely, unsure of the details. 

The Tyron Sector lay far from Ultramar, and few traveled between them. However, Gray did recall seeing blue-armored warriors in the Cadia conflict, so surely Ultramar still thrived. 

"What of our gene-father?" the Captain asked next. 

Gray had no answer, but Greyfax responded. "You don't even know your primarch was gravely wounded? He's in stasis, asleep like you—has been for ten millennia." 

"You aren't from ten thousand years ago?" Grot suddenly asked Greyfax. 

"Of course not," she replied, shaking her head. 

"You were imprisoned, not asleep," Gray speculated. "Something has now freed you." 

Greyfax looked at the Marines, recalling the iron figure she'd seen. She nodded, concurring. 

After sharing all they knew, Gray produced an object resembling a grenade—but it was, in fact, a new type of teleportation shield capable of generating a wide-ranging protective barrier. 

"I can transport you all to Cadia, where you'll have time to adjust to this age," he said, projecting an image of Abaddon and his forces. "Or you may remain with me and join the battle to slay the enemy's commander." 

"We will remain and fight the traitors," declared the Thirteenth Legion's veterans without hesitation. 

Gray then looked to Greyfax, who also chose to stay. "Eliminating traitors is my duty." 

This statement left a strong impression on Gray, though he was unaware of Greyfax's true intentions. She sought to observe these Tyrons closely, as her suspicion lingered: to her, the Tyrons were heretics wielding dubious, unapproved technology. 

While they fought to preserve Cadia, Greyfax had judged many heretics before—some even willing to sacrifice everything for humanity and the Imperium, only to stray down perilous paths. 

"Do you have a means of countering sorcery?" Gray suddenly asked her. "The enemy has many practitioners of dark arts, and as an Inquisitor, you must have a way to thwart them." 

"There is no such thing as sorcery," Greyfax replied, surprising Gray. 

The Marine Captain agreed, adding, "The universe knows no sorcery, only phenomena yet to be explained by science. So long as we advance in knowledge, one day, all mysteries will be understood." 

The Captain's men echoed his words with fervor. 

"Remember the Emperor's wisdom: remain rational, honor science, and shun ignorance." 

"After forty-one millennia, how can people still speak of 'sorcery'? Even if the Tyron Sector lies distant and remote, after ten thousand years, has the truth not yet reached you?" 

"Captain Gaius speaks rightly," one added. "There is no sorcery, only phenomena we lack the means to explain." 

Gray exchanged a bewildered glance with Grot. 

The Tyron Sector, where even the Ministorum priests succumbed to faithlessness, was a realm where Imperial faith held little sway, yet hearing the Marines' doctrine sounded utterly foreign to them. 

"The Emperor isn't a god?" Grot asked. 

"Of course not. Why would you think he is?" Captain Gaius looked shocked, and after a pause, asked, "Have those zealots with facial tattoos reached your sector?" 

Grot, stunned, struggled to believe these Angelic warriors would deny the Emperor's divinity. 

For his part, Gaius, equally astounded, could not comprehend that after ten thousand years, some still regarded the Emperor as divine, as though the Imperial Truth hadn't spread to humanity's last corners. 

"We have always believed in science," Gray said, nudging Grot to change the topic. 

Grot, though perplexed, recognized this was not the time to debate. "Indeed. We have always followed science; how else could we have built the stellar engines?" 

Gaius surveyed his surroundings approvingly, noting, "I see only the purest creations of science here. It seems few remain in your sector who cling to ignorance." 

"Precisely," Gray nodded, then led the way forward. 

Grot and his squad followed suit, Greyfax positioned herself in the center, while the Marines instinctively arranged themselves in tactical formation, covering both the front and rear of the group. 

"After the battle, my company and I will travel to the Tyron Sector," Gaius said as they walked. "We'll serve as teachers there, ensuring the Imperial Truth is properly instilled." 

Gray could only respond, "That would be… most welcome." 

Beside him, Greyfax said nothing but shared his sentiment, knowing well that while she too believed in the Imperial Truth, few in the Imperium—save a handful of Astartes and rare mortals—held such views any longer.