There was some minor confusion on what the devil was going on at the end of the last chapter and I will try to correct that in this chapter. This might take a turn in a different direction than what the teaser first promised. Next, I shall be working on Infiltrator Part 3!

LeKan found himself being lead through the great labyrinth of passageways, the trio always around him, as if still untrusting of him and his 'strange' garb. His hip was still in agony, but he felt that he could run if necessary. The center figure, the one who wore the badge of honor, had introduced himself as Kimenchan, stopped suddenly and LeKan almost walked into him. They were still in the middle of the passage, which seemed to go on for miles

Kimenchan spun on his heel and carefully removed his helmet, a rush of air billowing out from the seal. Kimenchan had a long, regal face, with three golden service studs set into his skull above the brow. A ragged scar almost bisected his face; it looked like he had been slashed by a chain-blade of so sort.

"Explain again what has happened since the Heresy ended with Horus's death."

"The Emperor was mortally wounded in the battle against Horus, the very same battle that slew the great Primarch Sanguineous and was interred in the Golden Throne to keep him alive. The traitors were driven back into the Eye of Terror and the Cadian Gate established to stop the Arch-Traitor Abaddon from attacking. So much has happened; I cannot begin to describe it. But one thing I do know is that the Heresy is long over and you should be long dead." LeKan began, only to be interrupted by one of the other Guards.

"What is this, thing, the Golden Throne?"

Kimenchan cut in, "We are alive for one reason, Captain LeKan, and do not forget what I say, for I shall not repeat it again, in any company. When Horus and his legions lay siege to this very Palace, it was a very dark time. Millions were dying and the World Eaters were piling mounds of skulls that were level with the very walls themselves. Rivers of blood flowed and the Custodian Guard were battered by the constant fighting. The 4th Tier was wiped out to a man when a siege titan shattered the section of wall they were defending and the 5th Tier took 90 percent losses holding the gate when the White Scars, with Jaghatai Khan, sallied out to retake the spaceport. The 2nd and 3rd Tiers lost a huge amount of men when Angron and a company of his chosen warriors, all daemons with the forms of men, forced their way under the wall and counterattacked from behind. The men of the Tiers fought back to back for three hours until the Emperor himself, with the entire 1st Tier, hit Angron from behind and forced him back.' Kimenchan paused for a moment, his face ashen and one of his hands shaking. 'I was with the 1st Tier when we relieved them. The seventy survivors of the Tiers were defending piles of their own corpses and every single one of the dead was missing his head."

"How large were the Tiers in that age?" LeKan asked, before Kimenchan could go on.

"Each Tier was three hundred Custodians. Just three days before the three of us came down here, looking for a store of weapons guarded by Captain Haldon-Tai and his terminators, the Emperor lead us to a secluded Apothecarion, deep in the Custodian barracks. He spoke only to me and what he told me was astounding."

LeKan interrupted again, disbelief running through his mind. "You expect me to believe that the Emperor himself spoke to you?"

"I am a Custodian Guardsmen, honored with the Red Sash, with over four centuries of experience, promoted to Chief Custodian, and blessed by the Emperor himself, and I do not lie!' Kimenchan was shouting so loudly that dust sprinkled down from the ceiling high above. 'Now, if I may continue, whelp, I will finish my explanation."

"Forgive my outburst, Chief Custodian. Of course you may continue."

"What the Emperor told me shattered my devotion and honor to the core. He said that He did not expect for any of the Custodians, or himself, to survive the battle, and so wanted someone to carry on His legacy. He was planning to give each of us a blood-transfusion, so that a third of our blood came from Him, and thus, even if He was killed, He would continue to rule the Imperium for eternity. For long minutes, the Emperor gave us His blood and afterwards, we fell into a three day sleep, unable to be awoken by the Apothecaries. When we finally awoke, our only orders were to travel to Haldon-Tai's storehouse. We never found it. For what seemed like days, we wandered about, trying to find the Captain. Then, we stumbled across you."

LeKan hung his head for a moment, digesting what had just been said for a long moment, before speaking again.

"So the Emperors blood kept you alive for the last ten millennia?"

"It would seem so, Captain."

The first Custodian, who had interrupted, barged in again, his voice harsh and glaring.

"What is the Golden Throne!"

LeKan stepped out of the circle, so he could face the trio without having to turn. "The Golden Throne is an archaic piece of technology, much of whose purpose has been lost to the ages, that keeps the Emperor alive after His terrible injuries at the hands of Horus. In order to keep Him alive, though, one-thousand pyskers souls have to be sacrificed everyday."

Kimenchan stepped back in disbelief, and the two whose names LeKan did not know shook their heads in shame and clenched their weapons in anger.

"The Emperor would never allow Himself to use such a measure to sustain His life!"

Kimenchan spoke up next, anger making his voice hard. "The Emperor we knew would not do such a thing! The Emperor you worship is false and must have been corrupted during the battle with Horus!' Kimenchan turned to face the other two, speaking louder this time, 'we must remove this false Emperor from the Throne!"

LeKan was horrified, "NO! The Emperor is still true and pure! You do not understand! Those men and women willingly go to their deaths, in order to preserve the Imperium!"

Kimenchan spun sharply on his heel, brandishing his Guardian Spear, "If you cannot see the abomination that lives on the black throne, then you have been corrupted, along with this entire Imperium, and thus, do not deserve to live."

LeKan stepped back and slapped the grip of his own Spear into his hand, aiming the ancient weapon directly at Kimenchan's chest.

"What you speak of his treason and heresy in the highest degree. You are no longer fit to be Adeptus Custodes and I shall not let you live." LeKan opened fire on Kimenchan, his arms shaking with the recoil of the weapon. Kimenchan dodged the bolts inhumanly fast and stepped forward, smashing LeKan across the face with the butt of his Spear, cracking LeKan's helmet and sending him flying, to land heavily on the hard stone floor.

Kimenchan stepped forward again and laid the blade of his Spear against LeKan's throat, his face hard and set as stone. "I think that you are not fit to be a Custodian, for you have let an abomination sit on the throne of the Imperium."

"You have no say over me." With that, LeKan slapped the haft of Kimenchan's weapon aside and kicked him square in the chest with both of his feet. Kimenchan fell backwards and LeKan flipped to his feet, grabbed his Spear from where it fell and took off down the long hall. The other two Custodians opened fire on LeKan, but no bolts struck him directly. One grazed the Captains arm, but failed to detonate, another slammed into his back, knocking him off his feet.

LeKan flipped over and blazed away, forcing the two to take cover. With that, LeKan stood again and began running again, determined to warn the other Custodians of the threat within their midst.