A group of people was quickly led into a massive palace, where Captain-General Trajan, along with the three High Lords they had met yesterday, several other High Lords, and even the Archmagos of the Martian Mechanicum, Belisarius Cawl, were all present.
"Welcome! Lord Loki, you've come from afar.
Allow me to introduce these individuals—these are the High Lords of the Terra Council, and this is Belisarius Cawl, the Archmagos of the Mechanicum on Mars."
Captain-General Trajan stood up, nodded slightly at Rhodes, and gestured for him to take a seat.
Rhodes and his three scientists sat down, while Titus and Daram stood behind them.
"Pleased to meet you, Lord Loki. May I be so bold as to ask, where exactly did these human scientists under your command come from?" Trajan asked with a meaningful tone.
"That doesn't seem to be the focus of today's discussions. Aren't we here to negotiate the repairs to the Golden Throne and the terms of compensation?" Rhodes responded with a chuckle.
These guys are still hung up on Salome's identity, huh?
"The terms you proposed—we convened for an emergency meeting last night to discuss them. First, for the three Imperial worlds you wish to choose freely, aside from the homeworlds of certain Space Marine chapters and Holy Terra itself, you may pick any worlds you like.
As for the forty Space Marine chapters and the wartime employment of 500 members of the Imperial Guard, this requires further negotiation.
Mobilizing forty Space Marine chapters alone would take an extraordinary amount of time.
Moreover, we have no idea who you intend to attack with this force or what the casualty rates might look like. Could we perhaps negotiate other terms instead?" suggested one of the Imperial High Lords.
"That's not what we agreed on. If you're unwilling to proceed with the repairs to the Golden Throne, I'll leave immediately," Rhodes said flatly.
"Lord Loki, forty Space Marine chapters, along with their accompanying Imperial Navy and Astra Militarum forces, constitute an overwhelmingly large army. At the very least, we need to know what you intend to do with them," a High Lord of Terra inquired.
"That's no problem. I plan to lead them in an assault on the Overlord of a Necron Dynasty.
You humans don't get along with the Necrons either, do you? To them, you and I are all the same—nothing but lowly creatures," Rhodes replied.
The High Lords of Terra exchanged glances with Trajann Valoris and nodded collectively.
This aligned with their suspicions—there were few enemies of the ancient Aeldari Empire aside from the Necrons.
In addition, the Necron forces and the Imperium of Man were not on good terms, and the Imperium harbored a significant level of disdain for the Necrons.
"May I ask, which Necron Overlord are you planning to attack? And when do you plan to launch the assault?" Trajan asked.
"That's not an issue. But can you guarantee the security of this room? Can you ensure that no one else will know about today's discussion?" Rhodes asked.
"This is the Imperial Palace on Terra, the very seat of the Emperor.
The Necrons' detection devices can't possibly gather any intelligence from this place.
I assure you, today's conversation will not be leaked," Trajan replied.
"Have you heard of the Necron Nihilakh Dynasty? The Overlord I intend to deal with comes from this dynasty," Rhodes said.
"We've heard of it—it's said to be an extraordinarily wealthy Necron Dynasty," a High Lord remarked.
"The Nihilakh Dynasty is far more than just wealthy. Before the War in Heaven broke out, they amassed the wealth of a thousand civilizations.
They should be considered the richest Necron dynasty, Trazyn the infinite," Rhodes declared.
In terms of military strength, the Nihilakh Dynasty might not be the most powerful, but in terms of wealth, they were unrivaled.
"So the Nihilakh Dynasty is your enemy, and you want the Imperium to help you deal with one of their Overlords?" Trajan asked.
"We know of him. This Necron Overlord has frequently ventured into human space.
We have some understanding of him—many Imperial artifacts have been stolen by him," Belisarius Cawl interjected.
According to certain historical studies, this Necron Overlord had even visited Terra before the Emperor himself unified the planet, collecting various items during his time there.
"It seems you're well-informed about him. He's an exiled Overlord from his dynasty, with a penchant for collecting artifacts.
He has a particular fondness for your Imperial creations. For instance, your mighty Custodian Guards—he considers them part of his collection, though they're among his less significant pieces.
He's also collected numerous other items, such as an ancient Ork warlord from the War in Heaven.
He's even collected clones of your Primarchs."
Rhodes explained quite courteously and amicably.
Exactly how much of the Imperium's stuff has been collected—the Overlord's collection is truly staggering!
The treasures Rhodes revealed alone were enough to make the Imperium seethe with hatred.
The Space Marines in the Trazyn the infinite's collection alone could form several full Chapters.
As for the mortal regiments he collected? Too many to count—they are all fully organized and structured units.
"Are you sure what you're saying is true, lord Loki? Are you saying that this Necron Overlord has collected so many of the Imperium's vital assets, even its heroes, as part of his private collection?"
One of the High Lords could no longer sit still.
This wasn't just excessive anymore—this was outright trampling on the dignity of the Imperium.
"No mistake—every one of these details can be verified. I swear in my family's name that everything I say is true. What's more, it's said that he even plans to clone the Emperor himself, and perhaps turn the Emperor into part of his collection.
During the Horus Heresy, many Space Marines were already collected by him.
From the founding of the Imperium to now, a portion of the forces from every famous war in your history—even entire regiments—have been taken into his collection."
Rhodes continued to embellish the story.
Why provoke the Trazyn the infinite? Because something infuriating happened last night:
Rhodes' Ork ranch was attacked.
A shameless Necron Overlord launched a sneak attack on his giant beasts, even attempting to capture all the remaining beasts stationed there in one fell swoop.
Rhodes had been jolted awake by the system alarm in the middle of the night. He urgently spent 200,000 system credits to enhance Mefilas with gigantification powers, giving him combat strength comparable to Ultraman's original form.
With Ace Robot assisting, and with King Joe, Iron, and Bemstar as backup, they managed to repel the Necron Overlord.
However, a small transport Rhodes had sent out earlier to escort Battle Sisters to the agricultural world of Pedan had gone missing.
Using the medium mothership's tracking function, Rhodes discovered that the transport, along with the Battle Sisters on board—as well as Captain Dres, Canoness Anna, and other key personnel—had all been taken by the Trazyn the infinite, packed up, and turned into part of his collection.
Rhodes didn't know when the Trazyn the Infinite had set his sights on his giant beasts, but it no longer mattered.
Initially, Rhodes had only gathered this Imperial military force on a whim. But since the Trazyn the Infinite had been so aggressive, Rhodes decided to retaliate in kind.
"If you're going to provoke me, then I'll drag the Imperium into this mess to deal with you!"
It seemed the defensive measures on the Ork ranch needed to be strengthened. The Trazyn the Infinite definitely wouldn't let this go.
No wonder so many Necron dynasties wanted to take him down—he was incredibly obnoxious.
With no warning, no reason, and no justification, he simply showed up and started taking things.
"This is just your side of the story, lord Loki. Do you have any concrete evidence to prove that he has indeed collected these things?" a High Lord asked.
"Of course. When this Necron Overlord was capturing my transport, he didn't have time to disable its recording functions. As a result, it recorded some footage of his museum."
Rhodes smiled and produced a high-definition projection, releasing footage captured by the Pedan transport.
The projection displayed a massive museum. Inside various cubes and display cases were items that left the upper echelons of the Imperium utterly stunned.
Trajann Valoris looked deeply unsettled. Among the items displayed was a cloned Primarch—albeit a traitor Primarch, Fulgrim.
But that didn't rule out the possibility that loyalist Primarchs had also been cloned.
Custodes, cloned Gene-Primarchs, entire regiments of Imperial forces, Space Marines, Battle Sisters, and even the Imperium's most renowned heroes—all displayed like trophies.
This was the greatest provocation to the Imperium imaginable.
If they had been unaware of this, it might have been fine. But now that they knew, Trajan could no longer sit idly by.
"Lord Loki, are you proposing we join forces with the Imperium to eliminate this common enemy of ours?" asked Trajann Valoris.
"Yes! What do you think?"
"As far as I know, this Necron Overlord's base is not easily accessible—it's located in a pocket dimension," added Belisarius Cawl, who had been sitting quietly nearby.