"Sanguinius sent me an astropathic message? I know what he wants to say," Rhodes said.
"Lord Rhodes, Lord Sanguinius requests that you enter the channel," announced the ship's astropath.
This was a code, a hint for Rhodes to use a private means to communicate, ensuring security.
After fusing with the cosmic phantom beasts, the Primarchs could actually contact Rhodes directly via the system channel, letting the beasts relay messages. But to avoid unnecessary trouble, Rhodes hadn't granted this permission to the other Primarchs. Regardless, they could still use their minor warp god powers to communicate across space.
As a being who'd survived the warp for 10,000 years, Sanguinius's psychic communication was even stronger. He could freely reach out to anyone in the warp.
This secret method of communication was reserved for Primarchs and the Emperor. Of course, Rhodes could also use the system to chat with the cosmic phantom beasts even more secretly.
Usually, such a secure method was only used for matters of utmost importance.
"I understand. You may go," Rhodes nodded, dismissing the ship's astropath and letting his soul enter the warp.
He quickly found Sanguinius there and began communicating.
"What happened, Sanguinius, for you to contact me in such secrecy?" Rhodes asked.
"Rhodes, not long ago, a Necron Overlord visited the homeworld of the Blood Angels," Sanguinius replied.
"A Necron on your turf? What do those boneheads want with us? When Necrons meet humanity, fights usually break out immediately, not negotiations," Rhodes frowned.
With Sanguinius's current power—plus the upgraded cosmic phantom beast—he was a match for anyone in the real universe.
A Necron Overlord coming to visit, and he wasn't killed? And as his own plans were progressing, the Necrons were already making moves?
"How did you even come into contact with a Necron?" Rhodes asked.
Sanguinius was kind, but only to humans. He wasn't as extreme as the Emperor toward xenos, but he wasn't far off.
"During the battle for the Cryptus Campaign, my gene-sons formed an alliance with two Necron Overlords. One was the Traveler, Anrakyr. That's who visited—saying he wants to negotiate with the Imperium," Sanguinius explained the situation.
Interesting. Despite all the secrecy, the Necrons still sent someone to investigate.
Anrakyr the Traveler was a big name among the Necrons, even surpassing some phaerons of smaller dynasties. He was both powerful and fully self-aware.
The Silent King sending him to investigate the Imperium made sense. Only Trazyn the Infinite and Anrakyr had history with humanity.
Trazyn was out of the question; both Necrons and humans wanted him gone.
So, Anrakyr was the logical choice. Rhodes recalled a short story where the Tau encountered Anrakyr, and he dismissed them as foolish lesser beings.
"So, do you want me to deal with this Necron Overlord, or should Guilliman handle it?" Rhodes asked.
"We can't just take him out, Rhodes. While humanity and the Necrons have had some skirmishes, we're not at all-out war. The Necrons are still very strong, and their technology is far more advanced than ours," Sanguinius shook his head.
Rhodes smiled slightly; the Necron tech was indeed overpowered, but that wouldn't last.
"I've learned that during the Cryptus Campaign battle, this Necron used a C'tan shard—a terrifying being thousands of meters tall, made of pure energy, just like the Void Dragon we dealt with on Mars. I thought this intel might be useful for you," Sanguinius continued.
"I see. So you want me to acquire this C'tan shard from the Necron Overlord?" Rhodes asked.
"Exactly. I did some digging: Anrakyr claims he lost the shard during the Cryptus Campaign, but I've seen no major energy surges in the area. I suspect the shard is still hidden in his tomb world. This is our chance—we can steal it," said Sanguinius.
"Good idea. I'll handle it," Rhodes nodded.
Rhodes was certain the C'tan shard was still in Anrakyr's tomb core—it was too valuable a power source to give up.
"I've already assigned a company of Blood Angels to escort Anrakyr's tomb world to Holy Terra. Guilliman has been notified. When you return, you can plot with him," Sanguinius said.
"Leave it to me. Can you have him alter his route to come to me directly?" Rhodes asked.
He didn't want to head back to Terra yet. After dealing with Trazyn, Rhodes intended to inspect his own territory and implant some Necron technologies there.
Most importantly, he needed to delay for a year, so his two Eldar women on his ship could give birth safely. He planned to secretly raise these children, while officially his eldest would remain Stark.
Sanguinius nodded, sending Rhodes the psychic mark the Blood Angels had placed on Anrakyr, letting Rhodes directly instruct his gene-sons to change course.
How Rhodes would convince Anrakyr not to go to Terra was not Sanguinius's concern; he was busy enough with the Leviathan Hive Fleet's invasion and rebuilding his devastated home sector.
After the communication ended, Rhodes instructing the Blood Angels to tell Anrakyr that they had news of Trazyn, and he should come to Rhodes instead of Terra.
Receiving the message, the Blood Angels' psyker reported to the company captain, who then went to negotiate with Anrakyr.
…
"You're saying your human Primarch, Rhodes, is going after the Necron Overlord Trazyn?" Anrakyr asked, surprised.
So even humans wanted to deal with that shameless thief!
"Yes, Lord Anrakyr. On Cadia, Trazyn betrayed the alliance with the Imperium, ambushed the Emperor's avatars at the moment of victory, and captured two of them, as well as several companies of Space Marines, many Sisters of Battle, Inquisitors, Astra Militarum, and even cloned Primarchs. Lord Rhodes decided long ago to bring him to justice. This campaign is already seeing some success," the Blood Angels captain explained.
"Interesting. Then let's change course. I'll go meet this Lord Rhodes," Anrakyr said.
"Understood, Lord Anrakyr. I'll relay Lord Rhodes's coordinates," replied the captain.
…
Meanwhile, Rhodes prepared to receive the Necron Overlord—one of the rare few with full self-awareness and formidable power, even among his kind. Rhodes had no intention of letting him slip away.
Anrakyr would take some time to arrive, so Rhodes turned to other matters—specifically, the cloned Primarchs, who still needed dealing with.
These cloned Primarchs, physically, were about half as strong as the originals but retained full intelligence. However, they possessed only normal human souls, not warp-god souls.
Their bodies were powerful, rivaling the Custodes and overwhelming Space Marines, but still inferior to true Primarchs.
Rhodes planned to discuss their fate with Rogal Dorn; after all, Fabius Bile only ever cloned traitor Primarchs.
Horus, Lorgar, and Fulgrim.