68: Chapter 68 The Terra Highlord Council unanimously passed a resolution to...

The summons from Terra arrived on the Wrath of the Emperor three days after the completion of the first test of the Psionic Void Network. It was not an inquiry letter, nor an encrypted psychic pulse; a black shuttle directly under the Council of High Lords jumped to the outskirts of the Ultima Segmentum defense line, and an envoy of the Adeptus Arbites disembarked. The envoy stood straight on the hangar deck, holding a parchment scroll bearing the twelve seals of the High Lords in both hands, and read aloud in the presence of Marcus Aurelian: 'Inquisitor Marcus Aurelian, Chairman of the Swarm War Council, is hereby summoned to the Imperial Palace on Terra within seven days of Terra Standard Time to provide an oral defense before the plenary session of the Council of High Lords regarding the matter of the comprehensive military alliance between the Allied Forces and the alien civilization, the Zerg Swarm. This summons is non-delegable, non-deferrable, and non-appealable.'

Marcus took the scroll. The fracture in his right hand had almost completely healed, and his fingers gripped the edge of the parchment steadily. He glanced down at the twelve seals on the scroll, then looked up at the envoy and said, 'Understood. Give me a few hours to hand over command.'

The door to the briefing room was locked after the last Terminator guard retreated. All members of the War Council sat around the long table, the Brood Queen's quantum-state translator glowing with a cold green light in the corner of the main screen. Marcus spread the summons on the table: 'Terra wants me back for an oral defense. It's not an inquiry letter, it's a summons—all twelve High Lords have signed it. The agenda is whether the comprehensive military alliance between the Allied Forces and The Swarm is legal.' Sebastian rested his helmet on the table, the shoulder pads of his power armor still stained with creep residue from the Psionic Void Network test: 'Do they think the Ultima Segmentum is still just a star map on their office wall? Where were they when the Tyranid main fleet arrived? Where were they when Tzeentch infiltrated the Blackstone Defense Line?'

Bern did not join in the anger. He removed the Psychic Talisman from his neck, gently stroking the stable silver glow of Holy Power on its surface with his fingers, and asked Marcus whom he planned to take to Terra, and whether the Brood Queen needed to attend as the technical representative of the Allied Forces. Marcus turned to the Brood Queen's translator.

The translator lit up. The Overmind did not use diplomatic language, and the text was projected directly onto the main screen: 'The Allied Forces are not a subordinate agency of the Empire. The Swarm will not walk into your palace to be interrogated. But the assessment window for the Void Throat is still open, and the databases of the Old Ones are still being decrypted. The current military presence of the Allied Forces is a fait accompli—not a bargaining chip. Marcus, you can present the following materials to the Council of High Lords as attachments to your defense: the records of coordinated operations of the Allied Forces since the activation of the Void Throat, including the interception of the Tyranid main fleet and the data from the first test of the Psionic Void Network; a copy of the void covenant agreement registered by Nephilak with the Overlord Council, which includes the human buffer zone clause; and the original report on the assessment of human psychic potential extracted from the Old Ones' sealing core. Tell them this report was written before humanity was born; the Old Ones saw earlier than they did that you would burn your own crutches out of fear—and now, for the first time in the Allied Forces, you haven't burned them.'

Marcus forwarded the Overmind's words line by line onto the meeting projection. 'These materials, combined with the War Council's battle reports, are enough to form a complete chain of defense. I will present them to Terra.' He turned to Oldenburg, 'During my absence from Terra, I am handing over fleet command to you. The Blackstone Defense Line will remain on silent standby, and redundancy testing of the Psionic Void Network will proceed as usual. Bern will be responsible for the Holy Power defenses of the Void Gate positions. Sebastian's combat readiness remains unchanged. The Brood Queen will continue to serve as the technical coordinator for the Allied Forces. In case of emergency military situations, decisions will be made through a full-frequency vote by the War Council—the Brood Queen has voting rights.'

The Brood Queen's translator lit up just when everyone thought she would not add anything more, attaching a short new message from the Overmind. Marcus looked down and read the cold green text slowly emerging on the main screen—'The Brood Queen's translator received a point-to-point note from the Overmind: You were the first to use the term "Allied Forces". During the negotiations at the Forge Temple, you first mentioned "coordinated operations". Now all of Terra is asking what "Allied Forces" means. You invented the word; explain it to them yourself. Additional note—Terra can question the Allied Forces, but they cannot change three facts: the Void Throat only recognizes The Swarm's key; the living core of the Psionic Void Network is the Hive Mind, not the Astronomican; and all of your Empire's most precise firing data for the Blackstone Defense Line comes from The Swarm's quantum-state targeting. If the High Lords feel these three facts are not enough—the next assessment window for the Void Throat will expire in several cycles of standard time. At that time, the activator will undergo an assessment on "how to use the psychic legacy of the Old Ones". If the Allied Forces dissolve, only The Swarm will remain as the activator. The Old Ones will deduct many points in the assessment. Supplement: The Brood Queen suggests you wear your formal Inquisition robes.' Marcus slowly looked at Sebastian, who was sitting nearby, rolled up the parchment, and tucked it into his robe. 'I'm going to Terra to tell them what "Allied Forces" means.'