While the Great Crusade swept across the galaxy like a tide of steel, enforcing conformity by force, Julius Braveheart pursued a different path. His Helldivers, exploring remote regions overlooked by the vast Imperial fleets, made a most promising discovery: the Diasporex.
The reports described a unique nomadic civilization, not based on a single world, but living within a vast fleet of starships. What made this discovery crucial was its composition: a mixed society where Humans and aliens had coexisted and cooperated peacefully for centuries, perhaps even since the Age of Strife. Their itinerant lifestyle seemed to be a response to the horrors that had ravaged colonized worlds during that dark era. They traveled through space, maintaining a discreet network of hydrogen collection stations to power their ships.
For Julius, this was an unexpected opportunity. While the nascent Imperium saw xenos as a threat to be exterminated, he saw potential for trade and a beneficial alliance. He immediately ordered a flotilla of "Raynor"-class scouts, escorted by several Valkyrie frigates, to make contact. Their orders were strict: avoid all hostility and open communication channels.
The meeting took place in a neutral star system, far from the Crusade's routes. Julius's ships, which did not use the Warp, emerged from their space-folding travel with remarkable precision and discretion, guided by beacons left by the Helldivers. Their sudden but non-aggressive appearance surprised the Diasporex scouts.
The Diasporex fleet was a marvel of heterogeneous engineering, an amalgam of Human and alien technology, worn but well-maintained. After complex signal exchanges and demonstrations of restraint from both sides, a video link was established.
Julius himself, from the bridge of the Star Walker, addressed the leaders of the Diasporex. He did not present himself as a conqueror, but as a peer, the ruler of another independent faction seeking partners.
"People of the Diasporex," he began, his image projected into the void. "I am Julius Braveheart. My explorers have found you. We are not the Imperium. We do not seek to conquer your fleet or impose our ideology. We see in you what the Emperor refuses to see: the strength born from diversity and cooperation."
He explained his offer: a pact of mutual trade and a discreet alliance. The Braveheart Legion could offer the Diasporex protection, advanced technology for their hydrogen collectors and life-support systems, and extensive stellar data. In return, the Diasporex, with their unparalleled knowledge of space lanes unknown to the Imperium and their contacts with other independent civilizations, could serve as an intelligence network and exclusive trade partners.
"You have survived by staying hidden, by fleeing," Julius concluded. "I offer you another path: to survive by becoming stronger, together. You will not have to flee our ships, for they will not come with hostile intent. We can forge a future that belongs neither to the Imperium nor to Chaos, but to us."
For the Diasporex, who lived in constant fear of being discovered and annihilated by the Crusade, Julius's offer was a lifeline. It was the first time an external power did not see them as heretics or monsters, but as potential partners.
Negotiations began. The encounter with the Diasporex, which Imperial history would have simply marked for future extermination, became in Julius's hands the foundation of a clandestine network that would extend his influence and resources far beyond what mere brute force could ever accomplish.