As a Living Saint, Celestine was the first to step forward and vouch for Rhodes. After all, this was the Emperor's will. Celestine, resurrected by the Emperor and having appeared on many battlefields across the Imperium, was a Living Saint with tremendous authority—especially in the eyes of the Adepta Sororitas.
"Impossible! Heresy!
You are not any known Primarch," Inquisitor Greyfax was the first to object.
She even harbored some hostility toward Living Saint Celestine. In her era, Celestine had not yet become so famous, and such Living Saints were often suspected of being daemons in disguise.
Even with the endorsement of a Living Saint, the others looked at Rhodes with odd expressions. As everyone knows, Primarchs are usually over 3.5 meters tall, with the more powerful among them reaching over 4 meters.
And Primarchs are not easy to impersonate. Chaos forces have impersonated Living Saints before, but never a Primarch, because Primarchs are so easily recognizable.
At this moment, Rhodes had already removed his armor, standing barely 2 meters tall—a giant among humans, but a dwarf beside the Space Marines, let alone the Primarchs.
And these Space Marines in front of them, each over 3 meters tall, were quite the anomaly.
Space Marines are typically 2.1 to 2.3 meters tall, and even in power armor, they rarely exceed 2.5 meters.
Even the tallest Minotaur Chapter Marines never break this limit.
"This is an Imperial secret. You have no right to know," Rhodes said.
"Nonsense! You're just trying to excuse your crimes, heretic! I—" Greyfax didn't finish her sentence before Rhodes slapped her away.
At that moment, Rhodes radiated a golden light, every bit as dazzling as that of Living Saint Celestine at his side.
If Rhodes claimed to be a Living Saint now, that would be an even more authoritative claim than being a Primarch.
"You call me heretic? Look at yourself. You've been tampered with by the Necrons. All of you who were released from his collection have been tampered with—he's implanted nanomachines in your bodies." Rhodes pointed at the Custodians and the squad of Ultramarines from the Horus Heresy era.
No one dared speak disrespectfully to Rhodes. His many gene-sons had already surrounded the survivors.
Two of the Primaris Space Marines directly restrained Inquisitor Greyfax. No matter how she struggled, she couldn't break free.
Each of her loyal Stormtroopers now had a red crosshair on their forehead.
"This is the Emperor's radiance. Who exactly are you?
If you say you're a Living Saint, I could accept that. But a Primarch?" asked one of the Custodians.
"Primarchs don't look like this," even Marshal Helbrecht of the Black Templars voiced his doubt.
"You dare question our great gene-father? If the Primarch gives the order, I'll blow your brains out right now," said one of the Primaris Marines.
"Whose gene-sons are you? Where did you Space Marines come from? You're enormous!"
"We're products of the old era. We are the new generation of Space Marines, the new Astartes, the Primaris Marines," Rhodes' gene-sons replied.
"Archmagos, you'd better give us a proper explanation! This is already a legion-sized Space Marine force!
This violates the Codex Astartes," said Marshal Helbrecht.
"You talk to me about the Codex Astartes? Aren't the Black Templars the worst at following the Codex?" Rhodes replied, amused.
According to the Codex, every Chapter should have 1,000 Marines, but the Black Templars launch crusades all over the galaxy, and their actual strength is 5,000–6,000 Marines—practically a small legion. The only comparable Chapter is the Space Wolves.
"We always strictly follow the Codex Astartes, but according to Rogal Dorn and Sigismund, our Crusades need more manpower." The Black Templars maintained their numbers with the tacit approval of the Imperium.
Besides, these forces are never concentrated; each crusade is just over a hundred, at most two or three hundred, and some never meet at all.
Officially, the Black Templars claim to have only 1,000 Marines. More importantly, they're a major recruiting force for the Deathwatch.
The reason for their huge numbers is that each crusade recruits new blood, and with old and new mixed together, the actual number is impossible to count.
"Come on! Rogal Dorn was the first to oppose that nonsense Codex! And Guilliman will awaken soon, and I'll have him wipe his ass with it," Rhodes said nonchalantly.
"No need to doubt! Lord Rhodes is indeed the Emperor's Primarch and the most important one at that.
This new generation of Astartes was created at the Emperor's command, by Archmagos Belisarius Cawl," Living Saint Celestine vouched for Rhodes again.
"Wait! What's the Codex Astartes?
And what's a Chapter?
What's going on now?
What's the current status of the Imperium? Has the Emperor suppressed Horus's rebellion?" asked an Ultramarine from the Heresy era, who had been kept in stasis for ten thousand years and had no idea what was going on.
They were captured by a Necron Overlord during the Horus Heresy, true relics of the old days.
The Custodian nodded in agreement, also unfamiliar with the Codex or Chapters.
According to the Emperor's teachings, wasn't it better to have more Space Marine armies?
As a Custodian personally chosen by the Emperor, he'd heard the Emperor say:
"The number of Astartes should be in the tens of millions—the more the better."
"Oh, I almost forgot about you. You've been locked up for a long time. The Heresy was put down ten thousand years ago, and the Emperor now sits on the Golden Throne," Rhodes gave a rough overview of the 41st millennium to the relics.
"Impossible! Lord Guilliman would never split up the Legions! The other Primarchs would never agree!" The Ultramarine Captain clearly couldn't accept it.
Their gene-father, Roboute Guilliman, wrote something so foolish.
These Legion-era Ultramarines were in disbelief—they used to have tens of thousands in a company!
Their force alone could have formed half a Chapter.
"The Imperium is now at the brink of life and death. You are neither High Lords of Terra nor members of the Senate.
Now, let me deliver the Emperor's own will to you," Rhodes, done explaining, simply waved his hand and summoned a new Emperor's Avatar.
An Ace Killer only costs a hundred thousand credits. As long as you infuse it with the Emperor's psychic light and upgrade its armor, it's a perfect stand-in for the Emperor himself. So Rhodes bought one without hesitation.
To deal with zealots, you have to out-zealot them.
If they love faith, give them faith.
Now, he had over 1.8 million credits to spare.
"Emperor's Avatar! The Emperor above!" As soon as everyone saw the giant Avatar, they immediately knelt on the ground.
"Rhodes is my 21st Primarch—no need to doubt, no need to question!
You need only obey my orders," the massive Avatar declared.
Of course, this wasn't the real Emperor speaking, just Rhodes using some tricks to have the Ace Killer speak.
The voice was almost indistinguishable from the Emperor's. For these Ace Killers, mimicking the Emperor was child's play.
"As you command, Great Emperor!" The Custodian was the first to respond.
He'd been captured ten thousand years ago, so he'd heard the Emperor's voice and was sure this was it!
Since the Emperor himself had spoken, this was indeed a Primarch and his words were true.
With the Emperor's Avatar, the Custodians, and the Living Saint's endorsement, no one dared question Rhodes' identity as a Primarch anymore.
Even the stubborn Greyfax was silenced—the Avatar was now authority itself.
"You have some Necron tech in your bodies. Go over there and let the Archmagos treat you," Rhodes said.
These relics released by the Collectormancer had been tampered with; their nanomachines had to be purged.
"Yes, Lord Primarch!" No one dared question Rhodes' identity now.
"Governor Castellan Creed! You're badly wounded," Rhodes said, noticing the blood-soaked Supreme Commander, missing an arm.
"By the Emperor, just give me a bionic arm and I can continue serving the Imperium," Creed replied.
"Or perhaps you'd like a better option—how about undergoing the latest Space Marine transformation and becoming a Primaris Marine, my gene-son?" Rhodes asked.
This was a real talent—a commander! Had to recruit him as a company captain!
"But… Lord Primarch… I'm already over fifty…"
PS: Rhodes slapping people who were calling him a heretic was so funny. lol