What if deep in the imperial palace there was another project never told about to anyone else other than the emperor, stuck in a stasis field for 10000 years, the field is failing, and the infant held within lets out its first sounds in 10000 years.

Chapter 1

The Shadowkeepers, the group of the Adeptus Custodes had guarded over the jails which held eldritch horrors far beyond the comprehension of a human being for 10000 years. Today was to be no different for Borsa Thursk elected to the position of Lockwarden for his merit of being able to stand unflinching and alert against the anguished cries of such corrupt beings. He stood his watch without intervention for 20 years so far, unmoving, unflinching, guarding over threats that threatened to compromise the sanity of any mortal man.

Until he heard a sound he had not heard before in all those years of standing watch, it was coming from the wall which had stood as unmoving as he had for all these years, he ignored the sound at first, perhaps it was a sign that his mental faculties were beginning to tell him that his watch should end for a moment of brief rest. He heard it again, it stood out among the cries of the prisoners in the cells. It sounded almost childlike, too pure to be in the presence of the foul beings living out their eternal prison sentence in these prisons. He thought perhaps he should immediately stop his watch for rest and call in another Shadowkeeper to fill in his watch while he rested. But for the fact that he heard it a third time, now he doubted that it was his head that was at fault, he contacted the other Shadowkeepers to corroborate his story, they had heard it but discounted it as another warp trick, they did not serve as long as he had, the Lockwarden knew this was not the voice of the creatures held in this chamber but something else entirely, he immediately decided to report it to the highest echelon of leadership in the Adeptus Custodes, for he knew that something like this could not be left uninvestigated, for anything unknown in the imperial palace was a threat to the person they were protecting.

Trajann Valoris strode down the hallways of the imperial palace, quickening his pace as he pondered over the information received. The Lockwarden did well to report this to him, no anomalies could exist within the confines of the most secure place in the imperium. The leader of the Custodes walked down the steps that led to the Shadowkeepers section of the imperial palace, the stairway shook as he stepped down, the sheer weight of the Custodes in full battle armor burdened the steps greatly. Finally, he approached the 3 Shadowkeepers present at the site of the disturbance, the Lockwarden spoke first.

"Captain Valoris, I appreciate your willingness to personally investigate this disturbance", the Lockwarden spoke in high gothic, as expected of the Master of Mankinds personal guard. The uncouth language of low gothic should not be spoken among the ranks of the Adeptus Custodes.

"Get to the point, what is this disturbance and why is it in the dark cells of all places, nothing was to get in here or out!", Trajann snapped at the Lockwarden, he had no time for false positives and if that were the case, the Lockwarden should have stepped down from the ranks of the Custodes years ago.

"Approximately 2 hours ago I heard a noise, too pure to be here among the screeches of the warp horrors, at first I thought it a sign that I was to end my watch and take a brief respite from my duties to rest", the Captain-General looked at him with a confused look on his face.

"Then perhaps you must take that sign, but I see no reason for a man of my position to be called to be told thi-", the Lockwarden interjected sharply

"I am not done, I then heard the sound another 2 times, by then I realized then that this was something new entirely, I corroborated the story with the other Shadowkeepers which they ignored as a trick coming from the warp horrors, however, the sound was not coming from any cell but this particular wall", the Lockwarden stared at the Captain-General, awaiting his response.

Just after Borsa said that the reported sound was emitted from behind the wall, both were startled by the sudden sound, it sounded like an infant was crying behind this very wall, the Custodes were recognizing of the sound, they had heard it many times before when selecting the infant aspirants to join their ranks. He was first to break the silence.

"How an infant could not survive down here, surely this must be a trick", said Trajann, bewildered

"We had deduced before you arrived that there was an empty space behind this wall where this came from, however, the place does not show up on our maps, even the historical records do not reveal this place"

"Then what do you ask of me, you Shadowkeepers have patrolled this place for 10000 years, I do not know any better than you do"

"That's why I'm asking for your permission to break down this wall Captain-General", the air went stale as the posthumans stared at each other.

"You understand that if that wall holds back a horror so terrible that the emperor himself purged the location of its prison from imperial records and even his own guard, we would all die in the next hour or so"

"Your jumping to conclusions, if it was so dangerous why would he hide it from the jailkeepers, our very job was to keep in the horrors, not leave the responsibility to a wall that looks like it's about to collapse in the next few centuries", the Lockwarden crossed in arms smug defiance to the Captain-Generals.

"Still it could be dangerous"

"Even if it was, isn't our job as Custodes is to quell any danger that lurks in the Imperial Palace, that could be a sign that a new horror is in those walls, one that will have to be contained before havoc is caused when it inevitably breaks out", He thought about what the Lockwarden was saying for a moment, thinking, his time in the companions fostered a burning desire to know every infiltration point, entrance, and angle no matter how unrealistic where the emperor could be harmed, Borsa was making sense, if there was something horrible in there it would only make sense for the Custodes to dispatch it now before it caused any more trouble.

"Alright, I've made up my mind let's try to get in there", he shouted, giving in the Lockwardens wishes.

"Ok, now the only question is how to get in, there must be some secret entrance around her-"

"I'm not waiting for us to find a secret entrance, there's something behind there and it is our duty to find it, if we can't find an exit them make one!", as he said that he slammed his hand into the wall, it set off a chain reaction which collapsed the wall revealing a room with something in the middle of it.

"Well that's one problem solved", they entered the room dust caked the edges of the room but the middle was untouched, pristine, pure. "Well, there's no telltale signs of warp corruption or danger here, in fact, I feel safer here than out there!"

The room was filled with terminals, medical monitors, lab equipment, and file cabinets, the electric equipment long ago ran out of power, the electricity source probably broke down a few millennia ago. The file cabinets were in various states of disrepair, long overdue for maintenance if the exterior was anything to judge on.

The sound, Trajann heard it again, this time its source was clear, the middle of the room where the object looked, it had the words XXI branded on it, under those numerals lied a symbol of an angel, minimalistic but still gave the person the realization when one gazed upon it. Trajann walked cautiously over to it careful too not let down his guard, men have died for less. He hunched over the object that just now occurred to him that it looked like a cot for infants which lined up with the sounds heard at the start of this mess. He saw what he was looking for.

"Well, what is it?", asked Borsa

Trajann looked back, his eyes wide open, he had looked incredibly surprised and opened his mouth in front of the Lockwarden.

"I-Its... A child Borsa!", he said bewildered "The crying wasn't a warp trick its an actual child!"

"Impossible, how could a child get so far down here", Borsa walked quickly to the center of the room. "How could one survive her- Ohhh…", the Lockwarden had his mouth agape, they both stared in absolute disbelief at the small child in front of them. The 2 other Shadowkeepers looked at each other confusingly, their 2 leaders seemed to be paralyzed looking at the cot, the information processed was absurd but with the 2 leaders reaction they concluded that it was truthful, they pondered on what they should do in the room, should they wait for their captains to stop gawking at the cot or should they gather more information about the supposed child in the center of the room, when the Captain-General spoke it made the right answer clearer.

"You", pointing at the first Shadowkeeper "stay with us and help us search the room, there might be some information we have yet to discover, and you", shifting his arm to point at the second Shadowkeeper. "Grab a tech-priest and tell him to bring a power adapter and battery, we have to restore power to these terminals and medical equipment, perhaps also have useful information", Without questioning the 2 Shadowkeepers went on with their orders, one staying and one rapidly departing the room and ascending the stairs.

"Search the file cabinets, the metal may be rusted but the files inside might contain something valuable"

"We must convene a meeting of the Custode Captains", the Lockwarden said with urgency in his voice "this child could not survive here, we must get to the root of this mystery"

"Sir", Trajann looked to the source of the noise, it was the Shadowkeeper he had ordered to help them search, "this device looks like a stasis field generator, it might be the reason that the middle is so pristine, it looks broken, seems like it failed a few hours ago"

"Huh that definitely explains it" he replied, this answered a few questions but raised more, how long was it here? who put it here? and what was it as too need a stasis field "Do the cabinets have anything in them?", he said to Borsa who was currently rummaging through them

"Yes, a few files that haven't decomposed enough and seem to be in readable condition"

"So what do they say?"

"Here read it yourself," Borsa said after throwing the still good files on the desk with the terminals on them. He sifted through them, see titles on them such as 'psionic amplifier test logs', '21st gestation development', and 'gene hybridization feasibility'. He decided to open the last one, what sort of gene hybridization happened here that was no doubt connected to the child on the cot next to him he wanted to know. Sitting down on the chair on the desk he started reading:

Using the genetic material from XV and the psionic lifeforms in the galaxy we have made an incredibly potent psionic gene which would theoretically be able to project psionic power 3 times stronger than previous estimates, which puts her at alpha+, however, this is an understatement to her projected capabilities, we believe that she would be the most powerful psyker in the galaxy, given time and experience she could potentially surpass the sigillite in physic power at the age of 17, combined with her physical alterations could make her incredibly powerful. Aeldari genetic material was used in this however I assure you no physical of mental similarities will be present with only the physic gene being implemented in the final process, though there is one downside, no progenoid gland can be produced inside a female subject, she will be affected by mortal human physiology while growing into adolescence and will have to go through puberty like a normal human but other than that no peculiarities or oddities have occurred in the subject. Leading us to believe it is the most stable out of all the prim-

It ended there, the rest ripped out or too unintelligible to read, this new information raised new questions, what did the 21st mean? Were there 20 others before it? Where were they/, what did the infant mean to the imperium?. His thirst for knowledge unquenched he then reached for the next file, one labeled 'Psionic Amplifier Test Logs':

PATL, or as the researchers call it, the 'punishment assignment' is the development of a physic amplifier which could theoretically amplify the physic power of a being massively, this was created directly in conjunction with the creation of the 21st, designed specifically to be portable (well for a superhuman at least), low maintenance and easy to fit in armor, it can amplify physic power by a good 15%! That may not sound like much but this could even work with the emperor, this man made a legion kneel without batting an eye imagine what he could do with that much more power! Prototypes are already underway and designs were sent to all terminals concerning the development of the 21st, the prototype designs however cannot be mass-produced, lest you want critical warp overload in the beings using them. Hopefully, in the future, we can minimize them enough and simplify them enough to be able to produce for librarians, astropaths, and sanctioned psykers.

After finishing that passage he wondered about how much of an impact it could have on the imperium, the grey knights could amplify their already powerful abilities, increasing their demonic kill ratio while astropaths could send messages farther then they had before, hell if the emperor could be equipped with it the astronomicon would shine brighter then it had been for millennia! The tech-priest better arrive soon with that battery… But in that time he better read the last file, '21st Gestation Development'

Over the course of 5 years will gestation be done, the extra organs require and the nurturing of the soul require much more time than the previous subjects, we expect it to be done by 014.M41 by the time that comes I believe the betrayal will be over, I have faith that the Emperor will strike him down, for now though, he urges us to continue our project and have it done by the due date.

356.009.M31

Fertilization has occurred, the embryo will start growing cells soon, grim news from outside, the traitors activated a warp beacon on Ultramar, thousands of Astartes converged on it before the beacon could be destroyed, terra will go without those Astartes on the defenses, for the time being, I do not understand how the warp beacon works, but it provides with fascinating new avenues of research into navigator tech.

413.010.M31

Dawn of a new decade and the embryo has grown into a fetus, the primary systems of a lung, heart, and a brain are reaching sufficient complexity as I write, good news Vulkan will return to terra, he will shore up our meager defenses and bring his salamanders with him.

767.011.M31

The base skeletal structure is forming, primary systems are formed, extra organs are also beginning to be made, I will be sure to put more nutrients through the bio-placenta for the increased genetic workload. Good and Bad news, alpha legion broke into the Sol system but were beaten back at pluto, good news, the white scars have arrived to bolster defenses! At least we have that going for us, the emperor is hardly seen anymore, last orders were to finish the project and bring it to him when it was done but not if in immediate danger.

889.012.M31

The skeletal structure is hardening and setting in, the formation of sensory organs will be finished by approximately 345.013.M31, the first few extra organs are forming, secondary hearts and lung have formed while the more tertiary organs such as the organic physic controller which allows her to control her powers more effectively will have formed by the end of 013.M31. Nothing of note has happened outside, this new 'Adeptus Mechanicus' sounds shady to me, I like the old name mechanicum more.

999.013.M31

Gestation has finished, but the timing is, unfortunate. All organs have formed, it is ready to be taken out of the artificial womb, I worry about horus's fleet, they will lay siege to this palace but I have faith that the emperor will strike him down before their bolts can harm these walls.

001.014.M31

Horus has reached orbit, conscription is being enforced, no exceptions, I will leave the child in a stasis field for when we inevitably come back for it. I don't have high hopes that me and my fellow researchers will survive but the emperor will, he'll be able to come back for his daughter when this is over.

Trajann closely closed the book, his hands trembling from the new information he had to process. The child in the middle of the room was the daughter of the emperor?, furthermore her birth dated back to the horus heresy, making her older than all the custodes and almost all of the citizens of the imperium. It made sense to him now, why she was labeled the 21st and put here in the dark cells. She was a primarch, made here in secret in these dreaded halls to not invite any intruders. He continued to sit in silence staring at the cot until his companion the Lockwarden spoke up.

"Trajann, hey", the Lockwarden said snapping his fingers as to break Trajann out of his trance, "what'd you find out from the files?".

"Read it yourself, I can't bring myself to form the words necessary to tell you myself", the Custode said tossing the file which the Lockwarden catched immediately, perks of their superhuman reflexes. He saw as the Lockwarden opened the file and read its contents, his eyes widening a little more after every paragraph, finally once he finished the file he tossed it onto the desk.

"We'll have to convene the entirety of Custodes leadership for this, every shield host and captain must be present, hell even the fracking dreadnoughts must be woken for this!, this information cannot leave the imperial palace, not just yet", Borsa urgently said.

"The tech priest that will be here very shortly will also have to be sworn to secrecy, the mechanicus can not know about this, one whiff of lost technology and they turn into rabid dogs", He replied

"What lost tech?"

"Psionic amplifiers, reliable stasis fields and whatever else is on those terminals, I read about them on the file, they were made specifically for the primarch in the middle of the room"

"I suppose you're right then, I was more thinking of swearing them to secrecy because there's a random child in the middle of the room miles underground in the most dreaded place in the imperium but that works as well." As he said that there was a sound of clattering footsteps and the whirring of mechadendrites coming from the stairwell, the Shadowkeeper appeared from the stairwell, accompanying was the Magos commanding the techpriest cadre in the imperial palace, responsible for maintaining the Adeptus Custodes equipment and machines.

"Speaking of which is right there", the Lockwarden said when he was still out of earshot of the Magos. "Magos Vriken, I had expected a tech priest to come here, not the commander of them, to what do we have the honour of seeing you here"

"Do not joke with me Custodes, when I heard that one of my tech priests was wanted in the dark cells for the first time since the Horus Heresy, I had thought its structural integrity was failing, however I did not expect a literal child to warrant the attention of one of my adepts", Vriken sounded robotic, the replacement of their voice box as well as their oesophagus did that to a member of the Cult Mechanicus

"We did not call you here for the child, in fact if you want to leave here alive you will speak of this to noone outside the imperial palace, we called one of the tech-priests here to restore power to the terminals here", he said, slightly annoyed by his sudden appearance.

"I will swear to secrecy, even to the fabricator general but I wish to know what is going on here", Vrikens Vox box crackled more urgently this time, quickening his words in harsher static.

"FIne, this 'child' you see here, is a new primarch, found her because her stasis field finally failed and we could hear her cry again, these files" Holding it up for the Magos to see "Contain her Gestation, genetic development and one of the tech files of a piece of equipment designed specifically for her use."

"You understand what statement you're making right?"

"No matter the significance of the statement, I speak the truth, that child there is a primarch, I didn't know that could happen to females but here we are"

"And by swearing me to secrecy you wish to conceal her from the rest of the imperium"

"And from the ruinous powers, you know what happened last time primarchs were made, I don't want to have to subject my Custodes to leave the emperor's side to go across the galaxy to find the emperor's daughter again"

"This could easily be some trickery by the denizens of the prison around this room, have you checked if she is really the Omnissiahs's creation, the evidence is fragmented, easily faked,this could be something else entirely different from the primarchs"

"Then how do you think we should proceed"

"Call the grey knights, have them comb this room and that thing for corruption or malign connections, have them also draw a reading of the Omnissiahs Tarot, only the omnissiah knows if she really is her daughter"

"I… see, we'll have to swear them all to secrecy, that shouldn't be a problem, the grey knights are devoted to the emperor and only the emperor, very well contact the grey knights, they will be briefed when we get here, in the meantime we'll bring her to the incubation chambers, we'll set her down with the aspirants, they have the necessary equipment to raise children there", he stood up and walked over to the cot, he looked down at the fragile being who looked back at him with innocent eyes, he could not comprehend how this could be a daemon, she seemed too pure for this world, never mind the warp. Scooping her up carefully using his massive superhuman arms he rested her in the palms of his hands, so small yet in the future could be the thing that turns the galaxy over. Picking her up he waked up the stairway out of the dark cells where everything was dark and dreary and into the light underneath the sun within the imperial palace, probably was the only place on terra where you still could see the blue sky along with the sun, being so high up the himalayas and all. The path was paved with gold shipped from all corners of the imperium while surrounded by the only trees still growing on the Imperiums throneworld. As he entered the place where the aspirants were kept, incubation chambers lining the room with cots of Adeptus Custodes aspirants. Only a few of them would reach the rank of Custode, most would die in the process of being imbued with such a powerful geneseed, there bodies thrown into a mass grave and their names left unrecorded, only by the Custodes who trained beside them.

"Apothecary?", he shouted, the apothecaries already walking to meet his superior officer.

"Yes Captain-General, what do you require?"

"Take this child into an incubation chamber, make sure she remains untouched and safe, be sure to feed her and let her sleep"

"I know how to take care of a child Captain-General, but may I ask why you're taking a girl to the incubation center for Custodes aspirants whose genessed process only works for males, she can't undertake the operation to become a Custodes, she can't even go to the sisters of silence because she's not even a blank!"

"How do you know that?"

"Blanks don't cry, they don't have emotions either, best she can do is the sisters of battle so take her to thel fanatics at the chapel, why here?", Trajann looked down at the apothecary again.

"All in due time apothecary, all in due time.", as he said that he settled her down in an empty cot, walking out of the room to the sight of a dumbfounded Custodes Apothecary.