Terra.
Qin Xa, Master of the Keshig, withdrew his gaze from the infinite starry expanse in the distance.
Outside the viewport, Terra revolved slowly within his field of vision.
The cradle world of human civilization was now encased in dense layers of orbital installations—from starports to shipyards, defence platforms to communications relays—countless artificial structures weaving a silver-grey halo around low Earth orbit.
"It really has changed a lot," Qin Xa murmured under his breath with a soft sigh.
The last time he had beheld Terra was back during the Great Crusade.
Even then, the sheer volume of orbital traffic had been enough to leave him breathless, but compared to the spectacle before his eyes now, it had been practically nothing.
Innumerous vessels crisscrossed the orbital pathways, grouping and reorganizing at speeds hundreds and thousands of times more efficient than in days of old. Guided as if by an invisible hand, every ship maintained immaculate distance and velocity; not a trace of the ancient congestion or chaos remained.
Scientific.
Methodical.
Precise and efficient.
This aesthetic, once seemingly foreign to Imperial technology, delivered quite a profound shock to this Great Crusade hero who had returned from death.
Qin Xa pulled his gaze back from the distance and meticulously adjusted his wargear.
He set the alignment of his pauldrons, inspected his power armor, and stepped toward the docking bay doors.
As one among the heroic souls resurrected from the Legion of the Damned by Lord Adam to serve in realspace once more, Qin Xa's experience differed markedly from that of other revived legends.
Consider, for example, the loyalist Astartes from the traitor Legions. Upon resurrection, they often found themselves in an awkward predicament.
Qin Xa knew that across the Imperium, several mixed-lineage Chapters similar to the Deathwatch had sprung up overnight, their genetic fathers virtually impossible to trace.
Meanwhile, returned Astartes from standard First Founding Legions generally refrained from overhauling their original Chapter structures. They preferred joining flexible units like Honor Guards rather than supplanting descendants ten thousand years their junior.
Dante, for instance, remained Chapter Master of the Blood Angels, rather than the resurrected Ladon.
Qin Xa, however, was an exception.
The White Scars Chapter was perhaps the sole outlier inclined to break from convention.
After a brief stint proving his merit, command was passed smoothly into Qin Xa's hands as he assumed the mantle of Chapter Master of the White Scars. The previous Chapter Master stepped down gracefully, and the entire transition was as calm as routine business, without a single White Scar voicing objection.
Because that was the White Scars' way.
"Chapter Master."
A deep voice echoed from behind.
Qin Xa turned to see a Stormseer standing at the corridor entrance, gripping a polished, exceptionally smooth staff.
The Stormseer's gaze fell outside the viewport, his brow furrowing slightly.
"My psychic senses registered a subtle shift just now. Right at that moment, a... discordant fluctuation seemed to ripple from the direction of the Astronomican. Do you know what happened?"
"Oh?"
Several accompanying White Scars battle-brothers perked up at those words.
Their eyes turned toward the viewport, though since the Astronomican burned strictly within the Warp, looking with raw eyes yielded nothing.
Even so, Qin Xa raised a hand to halt their speculation.
"There is no need to worry."
His voice was calm and firm, devoid of hesitation. "This is simply how the Imperium operates now. Some things are best left unquestioned."
The Stormseer paused, then nodded thoughtfully before stowing his staff.
At that moment, heavy footsteps resounded from the far end of the docking bridge.
Qin Xa looked up to see a familiar silhouette approaching.
It was an Adeptus Custodes—tall as a mountain, clad in golden Custodian armor. Beneath his helmet, his face was set tight, his lips pressed into a thin line.
His presence felt like an impenetrable iron wall, radiating unreserved displeasure.
" Diocletian?"
Qin Xa had known him before his death.
In fact, he recalled this fellow slamming his fist on a table in an argument with Jaghatai Khan during the Great Crusade.
Seeing an old acquaintance now, he offered a slight nod by way of greeting.
"It seems you've returned as well."
Qin Xa spoke in a casual, direct tone.
Diocletian was clearly caught off guard at being recognized by a White Scar. He paused, scanning Qin Xa up and down.
"...So it's you, Qin Xa."
The Custodian Tribune's voice was low and cold, as if reading from an official file. "The hound at the Khan's side. I remember your face."
"Likewise. Putting on such a sour face to greet me means you don't actually object, doesn't it?"
Qin Xa let out a hearty laugh, casually shrugging off Diocletian's dour mood.
For a man like Diocletian, showing such an expression meant he lacked any genuine grounds for opposition.
Had he truly disapproved, he wouldn't have come to meet them in person at all.
After a brief exchange of glances, Diocletian waved indifferently and turned to lead the way.
"Follow me."
Before the words fully landed, an unknown technological relic activated, and an invisible forcefield rose beneath his feet.
Space folded and unfolded in an instant, as if gently flicked by an unseen hand. In a heartbeat, their surroundings shifted entirely.
Before Qin Xa could even express surprise, he and his fellow White Scars found themselves standing in an entirely unfamiliar location.
A towering gateway stood before them, forged from a material with a pearlescent sheen, its surface carved with intricate and elegant patterns.
The style of those relief carvings bore an ancient, unique beauty—flowing like water, unfolding like leaves—utterly distinct from any Imperial architectural school.
The air was quiet and cool, heavy with an archaic atmosphere.
Qin Xa's eyes lingered on the portal's ornamentation, his brow knitting slightly.
"...Is this... xenos design?" he muttered under his breath, a note of vigilance creeping into his voice. He glanced around, his pupils shrinking.
Standing across the hall were several robe-clad figures.
Had ordinary Imperial citizens walked in here, they might well have been fooled by these figures' human-like stature.
Having dealt with this breed of xenos before, Qin Xa reached a conclusion instantly.
Pointed ears.
Slender builds.
An understated elegance in every gesture.
Instantly recognizable!
"Aeldari."
The moment the word left his lips, every White Scars warrior reached for their weapons by sheer reflex.
For the White Scars, interactions with these pointed-eared xenos traced all the way back to the Great Crusade.
They shared a deep, entangled history—an "ill-fated tie" long enough to fill an entire Chapter chronicle.
For ten thousand years, owing to the disappearance of their Primarch, the elders of the White Scars had believed these xenos were inextricably linked to his vanishing.
Even as ancient heroes were resurrected and returned, no definitive conclusion had ever been reached.
One thing was indisputable: the White Scars and the Aeldari were anything but close allies.
"Chapter Master..." a Keshig veteran whispered.
Yet Qin Xa made no move.
As the former chieftain of Jaghatai Khan's personal guard and his most trusted lieutenant, Qin Xa knew he possessed a cooler head than his brothers in certain respects.
He slowly raised a hand, signaling everyone to exercise restraint.
If the Custodes had personally escorted them to this hidden realm—and even allowed Aeldari to be present—it meant only one thing: the presence of these xenos was indispensable.
Furthermore...
Qin Xa's eyes settled once more on the massive portal. His pupils contracted slightly as a realization rapidly took shape in his mind.
"...This gate... why does it look so much like an Aeldari Webway portal?"
"It is," Diocletian spoke up.
The Custodian Tribune's sour expression remained, but without a moment's hesitation, his voice rang out as stern and resolute as ever.
"Moving forward, the Imperium will launch a large-scale exploration initiative into the Aeldari Webway."
He raised his hand and retrieved a heavy volume from his waist pouch.
It was not a book of traditional paper, but a strange relic whose translucent pages flowed with innumerable shifting points of light. Dense, intersecting lines crisscrossed to form a dazzling, three-dimensional star chart.
"This is a comprehensive, detailed map of the entire galaxy's Webway network," Diocletian stated, his tone as matter-of-fact as if stating a mundane truth.
"What did you say?!"
Qin Xa snapped his head up, shock written across his face.
While the White Scars behind him hadn't fully grasped the weight of those words, Qin Xa was thoroughly stunned.
As someone familiar with the Webway, he knew better than anyone what this implied.
A complete Webway map of the entire galaxy?
Not even the pointed-eared xenos he had encountered in the past possessed such a priceless atlas!
When on earth had the Imperium acquired such a thing?
The question lingered in Qin Xa's mind for less than a second before he squashed it.
He didn't need to ponder long before the answer surfaced naturally.
It could only be the divine power of the Emperor and that esteemed Lord!
Diocletian waited for Qin Xa's astonishment to subside slightly before continuing.
"The Adeptus Custodes will serve as the primary force exploring the depths of the Webway. We will push forward step by step, surveying every node until the entire structure of the Webway is thoroughly mapped out."
"And you shall march with us."
Hearing this, Qin Xa's brow twitched imperceptibly.
He seemed to understand why Diocletian looked so displeased.
Given the Custodes' usual way of doing things, having Astartes included in such a grand undertaking naturally irked them.
Indeed, this was the Webway Project newly devised by Adam.
To bring the entire Webway into the Imperium's territory, turning it into another path of salvation for human civilization.
Even with trump cards already in hand, Adam's cautious nature habitually drove him to stack contingency upon contingency.
One could never have too many backup plans.
As the White Scars Astartes heard this, their expressions shifted rapidly—from vigilance to shock, and finally to a subtle surge of excitement.
Could there really be such a good opportunity?
In truth, a subtle, indescribable sentiment had recently developed among the Imperium's Astartes.
With the return of the Primarchs and the sweeping reforms of the Adeptus Mechanicus in full swing, Imperial technology had advanced by leaps and bounds.
Superweapons from the Dark Age of Technology were unearthed from forgotten vaults, and the fleet's firepower grew exponentially day by day.
Amidst these earth-shattering transformations, the role of the Astartes had inevitably begun to shift.
Chapters stationed within the Imperium's interior to maintain order were largely unaffected, but the Astartes who served as the sharp tip of the spear, fighting on the galaxy's front lines, began experiencing an unprecedented sense of aimlessness.
Especially on battlefields where the Necron Dynasties were awakening, war no longer resembled what the Astartes knew.
Those xenos crawling out of ancient tombs would periodically pull star-destroying superweapons out of nowhere.
The combat intensity had vaulted straight to War in Heaven levels, with superweapon exchanges becoming the main theme of warfare.
Against small, newly awakened Necron dynasties, the Astartes could still board enemy ships and carve through foes just as they had during the Great Crusade.
However, when larger dynasties joined the fray, war assumed a completely different nature.
When main fleets led by Primarchs and armed with cutting-edge Imperial tech stepped in, enemy forces were often vaporized into cosmic dust by super-heavy lances before the Astartes even had a chance to deploy.
This left honor-bound Astartes feeling somewhat lost.
They suddenly felt as though they were no longer needed.
Of course, in Qin Xa's eyes, such feelings were the height of self-indulgence—mere aimless whining.
What was there to complain about?
Did they truly think they hadn't fought enough wars?
Now, as Diocletian presented the Webway map, Qin Xa instantly recognized its significance.
Exploration and surveying within the Webway did not call for massive superweapon barrages; it demanded small, elite units performing infiltration, reconnaissance, and clearing operations in unfamiliar environments.
This was precisely the traditional strength of the Astartes.
Moving forward, Astartes Chapters across the Imperium would likely flood into the Webway in droves, mapping out the entire network step by step, starting from forgotten city nodes.
And the very first Chapter summoned to Terra for this duty was none other than the White Scars.
At this realization, Qin Xa's eyes burned bright.
"So, what are our orders?"
He raised his head, looking straight into Diocletian's cold eyes.
Diocletian paused briefly before speaking evenly.
"Your primary task going forward is to enter the Webway and begin searching for traces of your genetic father—Jaghatai Khan."
Qin Xa clenched his fists tightly.
Behind him, the Keshig veterans—men who normally stood like bedrock and never retreated a single step—collectively drew in a sharp breath.
The lingering caution and hostility toward the Aeldari vanished into thin air in an instant.
The Warhawk of Chogoris, Jaghatai Khan.
Their genetic father, missing for ten thousand years.
Legend had it that Jaghatai Khan had pursued a powerful Dark Aeldari deep into the Webway and was never heard from again.
The Webway was an endless labyrinth, trapping that unbridled King of the White Scars in its vast depths.
And now, their opportunity had arrived.
"Furthermore," Diocletian continued in that same unruffled tone, "the Raven Guard, the Imperial Fists and their Black Templars successor Chapter, as well as the Space Wolves, will deploy forces into the Webway one after another to locate their own missing Primarchs."
His gaze rested on Qin Xa's face for a brief moment.
"In the wars to come, the Imperium will require every bit of strength it can gather."
"No matter who it is."