Saoirse and Gammamon were both assisting in the armory when they overheard something concerning. While staying innocuous, they overheard Astartes and Tech Priests speak of something that happened on the surface of Kadaku.
"Archmagos Nozick is dead," she heard a Tech Priest say in their machine language, still surprised she could understand their words. Everything else was said too fast for her to comprehend, but it appeared the news was traveling fast among the priests.
"Was that the Archmagos we heard of earlier?" Saoirse asked Gammamon as they exchanged concerned glances. "The one Galeo was going to discuss the situation with?"
"It might have been," her ghostly partner said.
They both silently sneaked over to the armory entrance to peak out into the flight deck, seeing a Thunderhawk return from Kadaku and land neatly before the rear ramp lowered. Both child and Digimon felt something was very, very wrong as they watched an object wrapped in chains be carried out of the craft and a chill ran down their spines. Saoirse could've sworn she saw a shadow skitter around the container. Then a familiar figure was carried off.
"Titus!" Saoirse almost ran out, but Gammamon held her back before anyone could notice her. "What happened?"
"I don't know, but I bet whatever they brought back is the reason for this," her partner tugged her away to a quiet spot away from anyone not a Mechanicus priest. "We've gotta warn the ship! That thing they brought back has got something attached to it."
"You saw it too?"
"Yeah, and I'm sure it's not friendly."
"I wished Nan was here, or even another Tamer. We're in way over our heads and so is the Mechanicus."
Titus woke in his quarters some time after returning to the battle barge. His vision blurred, then focused as he stood up.
"The captain is withholding something."
"Acheran would not deceive us, Gadriel."
"Then where did Demetrian Titus serve previously? And why is he back in battle so soon after such grievous surgery?" It appeared he had worried his battle brothers, though Gadriel was asking questions he would rather not answer. This felt eerily similar to a previous situation long ago.
"Sargent Ventiad spoke of a Deathwatch team that deployed the virus bomb on Kadaku. Perhaps our Lieutenant was one of them. I am far more concerned with what we just saw at that crash site."
He walked out of his quarters slowly and his brothers turned to face him.
"Lieutenant," said Gadriel.
"Brother, are you recovered?" Chairon asked.
"I am," he replied, though his instinct said something was amiss not with his body, but with whatever was recovered from Kadaku.
"The apothecaries should run a diagnostic," Chairon continued.
"I neither have the time nor need for such a process." While the suggestion was sound, the current war against the invading Tyrranid fleet would not allow it such an extensive diagnostic procedure.
"Magos Galeo expressed his concern as well. Consider his counsel, if not ours."
"If there is risk of recurrence, it puts the whole squad in jeopardy," Gadriel pointed out, thinking like a leader he would undoubtedly become one day.
"It can wait," Titus said, knowing his brothers were right, but was in no realistic position to take the needed time for an exam. "I must speak with Captain Acheran."
"As you command," Gadriel and Chairon knew a losing battle when they saw it. With that, they followed Titus to the lift that would take them to the command bridge. Once the lift was moving did Gadriel speak, "While you were out, that Atrates child asked about you."
"And she gave you a fright with her politness," Chairon jested with a smirk.
"What do you know of House Atrates?" Titus asked them, curious to see if Gadriel did any investigating on their company's unexpected guest.
"They are among the oldest Rogue Trader Houses," Gadriel said. "Ordained by the Emperor himself when he walked among us. They are well experienced in dealing with Xenos and artifacts of varying origins, including technology from the Dark Age."
"They are experts in handling the strange and unexpected, and train their children to be prepared to handle anything the universe might throw at them," he added to Gadriel's assessment. "It is why she has been assigned to tend to a Tech Priest until her family comes to collect her."
"They will be eager to avenge their fallen kin," Chairon added and caught him off guard.
Titus looked his brother in the eye and commanded, "Explain."
"The child's parents were confirmed dead yesterday."
A silent moment passed before he continued, "Has she been informed?"
"I am not sure, sir," Chairon then appeared to understand where Titus's thoughts had gone to. "But I will not be the one to break the news to her."
"Nor I," Gadriel solemnly swore as well. "That duty should be in the hands of her guardian."
"In the meantime, make no mention of it."
Cassie had no idea what to make of the so-called Tech Priest she'd met yesterday. The terminal she encountered on her first day in this grim dark universe gave her a whole trove of information to work with, but it didn't prepare her for when she'd meet a cyborg in red robes.
Currently said priest, an odd ball named Leuze, was poking and prodding poor Rasenmon while throwing a million and one questions regarding their abilities together.
"Fascinating," the man said, clearly excited like a kid on Christmas, as he made more notes regarding Cassie and her partner's abilities. She was secretly glad she didn't mention the rest of her roster; she didn't want to imagine the man's head imploding from that revelation. "A magnificent boon you two posses. It is clear you two hold great favor with the Omnissiah!"
"I don't think getting thrown into a different universe counts as being 'favored' by your god," Cassie snorted. She could argue with him until she turned blue that she was called by a Digital World and not by a god, but with how zealous this reality's people were, there was no way he'd ever entertain that idea. "Still, I-"
Her Digi-Bracelet began to beep an all too familiar alarm, cutting her off.
"What is it?" Leuze asked, watching her check the device and read the information it was feeding her. "What does that alarm indicate?"
"That was a distress signal alarm," she explained, remembering the first time she got that signal in the peak of the battle for Earth. "Another Tamer is calling for help. Mind if I borrow a terminal?"
Leuze gestured to the large terminal he'd been recording his discoveries in and Cassie quickly tapped her Digi-Bracelet against the monitor screen. A map of the planetary system popped up, showing an incoming ship where the signal was coming from.
"It's not an urgent signal," she explained, bringing up information regarding the ship. "And with the lack of any other data, I'm guessing this Tamer is relatively new to being a Tamer. In any…" She trailed off when an additional data stream began to roll across the screen. She squinted, then her eyes widened when she fully processed what she was reading. "Please tell me this terminal can send signals to something that connects to that ship."
"What is it?" the priest asked.
"There's something on that ship that had a really, really nasty Digimon attached to it," she explained as Rasenmon read the data stream. "Everyone on that ship is in danger!"
"There are capable Astartes on that-"
"Capable soldiers with weapons that won't work on a Digimon if it's not entirely physical!" That put everything into perspective for the priest and he showed her where she and Rasenmon needed to go to.
Something was wrong. More so than usual. Saoirse and Gammamon both encountered web-like material during their work and others were encountering the stuff all over the ship. Even the Astartes were on edge.
"Why do I feel that whatever they brought back from Kadaku is biting us in the rear now?" Saoirse said, holding onto the still invisible Gammamon. They were both huddled near Magos Galeo, too afraid to venture out of the armory. She didn't even relax at the sight of three familiar Ultramarines.
"I have received the reports, Titus," Magos Galeo said as the Lieutenant approached the Magos's station. "I am concerned."
"It was brief-" Titus sounded as though he were about to downplay whatever happened to him, but cut off when a string shot out from above and stuck to Saoirse's arm. With blinding speed, he brought up his bolter and took aim as the child was quickly pulled up, her pained screams she was sure echoed down the ship. With insane precision, a bolt tore through the string, dropping the girl from high up.
Chairon had quickly caught her and the other two Astartes hurried over, forming a circle around her. Saoirse held her throbbing arm, seeing Gammamon hurry over to her and look for what tried to take her.
"Are you hurt, little one?" Chairon asked.
"My arm," she gritted out, looking up to see glowing red eyes and the flickering figure of a spider-like Digimon.
"What is that?" Gadriel brought everyone's attention to the monster observing them with a wide, sadistic grin. The Digimon looked half human and half spider with white hair. It didn't seem to care when someone sounded the alarm and it dropped down close to the group.
It let out a manic giggle and said, "Oh, it will be exhilarating to hunt you down, Tamer!"