Consequences (PA short story - SPOILER discussion)

[jaxom]

 

In all seriousness though, I think it makes sense - except for the part that the Primaris have never met their parent Chapter, and are from the same gene-line rather than the geneseed of their intended Chapter. I guess the Custodes is suspicious because the Greyshields must have underwent indoctrination/psycho-therapy to understand and share the culture and knowledge of their intended chapter?

Bingo. The Soul Drinker's tactical and philosophical doctrine turned out to be written by a massive heretic who "Everything is Going as I Have Foreseen"-ed the entire chapter into going renegade centuries after his supposed death.

 

One detail the relates to the idea of interpreting the story from the modern viewpoint is there aren't a lot of current examples of the sort of doctrinal absolutism which revolves around the Custodes and their role in the Imperium. They are the only pre-Heresy organization to last into M41 with no alteration of their legal powers or political fiefdoms. Their authority stems directly from the Emperor. To gainsay them is to overturn the entire premise upon which Imperial power-flow is based.

 

The rationality of responding to actions in such a system have to be judged through the actor's and object's relationship to an absolute tyrant. Loyalty to the tyrant must come before all other considerations or the tyrant is at risk. This is why the Custodes are so wary of space marines. The ideal psychological profile and conditioning of the Astartes was always a pack-mentality. That doesn't work without a degree of loyalty and trust which becomes an inherent weakness that can be leveraged against the tyrant. The ideal subject is the one who can immediately severe any other connections in service to the tyrant or better yet have no connections other than the tyrant. The Custodians have that level of superiority within the system. They are the only power structure in the Imperium that has nothing leverage against their loyalty. Even something benign - like faith in brotherhood - can cause problems, e.g. the Badab debacle.

 

The problem the Custodes pose in M41 is they cut the proverbial Gordianian Knot in situations like these. They're the ultimate adjudicators. Tethering them to the Imperial Palace (or very limited movement/placement around the galaxy) was/is a necessary requirement to limiting their power to impact the setting. Just look at the Siege of the Ecclesiarchal and Imperial Palaces; they show up and ten minutes later (hyperbole) they've completely altered the power dynamics and Groge Vandire is dead. Imagine if they had showed up at the outset of the Badab War and noped over the Astral Claws. All those mislead loyalists would have a fiat Emperor Says the Astral Claws Are In The Wrong to contend with and either switch over to the other side or accept they just disobeyed the Voice of the Emperor. The intelligence of Custodes in applying such power to the setting got to be hand-waved out of the picture because it would never come up.

 

Other agencies, like the Inquisition, are on shaky ground when it comes to exercising their legal rights and authority over the Astartes. Part of it is competing claims of sovereignty and (perhaps a larger) part is that Inquisitors are as human as anyone else with all the foibles. It is known they often lose themselves in pursuit of being "right" and end up everything they once fought. There's no concrete chain of institutional loyalty because every Inquisitor is an individual. It's the old chestnut of "are they acting in the office of or are they using the office of?" On the other hand, the Chapters that can (and do) stand up to the Inquisition are the ones who can point at a specific record of loyalty, internal policing, doctrinal stability, and service over thousands of years. Disloyalty on their part requires something to break them out of a pattern of stasis/stagnation; the old is comfortable and safe. The Promethean Cult and the Fenrisian schtick may be unnerving to the orthodox devout, but they're stable and part of a tradition of loyalty. If the Ultramarines in M39 started branding themselves and talking about a crucible of flame to test humanity or saying that Macragge was talking to their Librarians, who all of a sudden aren't really psykers, that would raise flags.

 

The Custodes are even weirder because their intellectual orthodoxy is completely removed from human baseline. They do unspeakable things to protect the Emperor twice before breakfast. The entirety of human civilization is nothing when put on the scale compared to the Emperor's safety. Let's assume for a moment that the Primaris marines were Greyshields as we understand them. They fought in the Indomitus Crusade as part of a mixed-squad unified multiple gene-seed organization (which goes against any previous official Emperor-approved concepts of Astartes organization) with the express purpose of learning about other Astartes, their character, how they think, how they prefer to operate, and bringing that information to a Chapter once they are done. That information, in the hands of renegade Astartes can be disastrous (e.g. Alpha Legion). Space Marines can take down Custodes - assume the worst - anything that looks like buying for time is the Marines preparing to draw weapons or spring a trap or ... etc. They'll have operational knowledge on Indomitus, fresh gene-seed, Primaris implementation rites and resources, and no one will know until it's too late and Abaddon is leading a Black Legion full of renegade Primaris to Terra. Or murder 1,000+ Space Marines just to be safe because they've already shown they're capable of not obeying the Will of the Emperor by not immediately laying down their arms? It's not even a moral question for the Custodes, it's calculus. It's working the numbers and figuring out back up plans. Who needs to die so the Emperor is safe? Who needs to live so the Emperor is safe? What are the time frames for those questions? What needs to get done by when so the Emperor is safe? How do I, a Custodes, best position myself to ensure the answers to those questions are doable? It's a servant-fanaticism which goes way past 11.

[Volt]

Wow. One short story and the whole fanbase collapses on itself. This really doesn't show anything new. Would a Custodes butcher some marines for refusing his order? Some would, yes. The Grey Knights murder guardsmen who see Daemons and one time even butchered some loyal Sisters of Battle to fight Khorne daemons. It happens. Not every Custode would react the same way and even the Sister of Silence seems rather shocked by what they just did. 

 

Were the Primaris loyal? Yeah, probably. They wanted more info. The Custode believed he had all the info he needed. That's the tragedy of the Imperium. That's what the story shows. The irony is the last line. I don't see why everyone is so riled up. This is a staple of the lore and the entire basis of Badab. The Imperium is dumb. They wouldn't be compelling if they solved all their situations with grace and expert statesmanship. 

The Imperium isn't dumb, that should be self evident considering it's the most successful human civilization in history by surviving for ten millennia. Dumb states and dumb people don't live long, they self select against themselves and result in a very short lifespan, crumbling in a literal manner of years. Yet, the Imperium has existed longer than any prior human attempt at statecraft, and encompasses literal quadrillion strong of a population. If the writers think the Imperium is dumb and they want to write the Imperium as dumb, then they should be writing for a civilization which has only existed for at most a couple centuries and rapidly crumbling into dust, not one that is ten thousand years old and by and large indifferent to being bisected by the great rift with both halves somehow surviving relatively intact.

 

Nevermind that a Custodes is a several thousand year old individual schooled in literal centuries of education, study, and refinement, and should have a grasp of rhetoric that makes mortal men weep. Yet Andy Clark's best is to give us a Custodes who... squanders military resources by acting like a binary minded buffoon who doesn't even realize that Primaris Greyshields don't share the same gene seed as the Chapter they're "adopted" by, but sourced from Terran gene-vaults. Killing guardsmen can make some sense in that mortal human life is exceptionally cheap in 40k. Posthumans aren't. Space Marines are ridiculously rare (only roughly above one million on the loyalist side) and it is supposed to take a chapter decades or even centuries to recover from nasty episodes of attrition. They are a very valuable resource, literally more precious than any precious metal in the Imperium besides Adamantium or Aurumite. Yet the Custodes Shield Captain, despite being a posthuman figure who is supposed to possess an intellect and education beyond the greatest of mortal generals, has a grasp of logistics and practicality that is inferior to most children who play Command and Conquer.

Edited April 21, 2020 by Volt

[Hellex_The_Thanatar]

jaxom nailed it more eloquently than I have. This was a perfect representation of Custodes as they are written. They are not out to save the imperium. They are out to protect only one individual.

[Lucerne]

 

Wow. One short story and the whole fanbase collapses on itself. This really doesn't show anything new. Would a Custodes butcher some marines for refusing his order? Some would, yes. The Grey Knights murder guardsmen who see Daemons and one time even butchered some loyal Sisters of Battle to fight Khorne daemons. It happens. Not every Custode would react the same way and even the Sister of Silence seems rather shocked by what they just did. 

 

Were the Primaris loyal? Yeah, probably. They wanted more info. The Custode believed he had all the info he needed. That's the tragedy of the Imperium. That's what the story shows. The irony is the last line. I don't see why everyone is so riled up. This is a staple of the lore and the entire basis of Badab. The Imperium is dumb. They wouldn't be compelling if they solved all their situations with grace and expert statesmanship. 

The Imperium isn't dumb, that should be self evident considering it's the most successful human civilization in history by surviving for ten millennia. Dumb states and dumb people don't live long, they self select against themselves and result in a very short lifespan, crumbling in a literal manner of years. Yet, the Imperium has existed longer than any prior human attempt at statecraft, and encompasses literal quadrillion strong of a population. If the writers think the Imperium is dumb and they want to write the Imperium as dumb, then they should be writing for a civilization which has only existed for at most a couple centuries and rapidly crumbling into dust, not one that is ten thousand years old and by and large indifferent to being bisected by the great rift with both halves somehow surviving relatively intact.

 

Nevermind that a Custodes is a several thousand year old individual schooled in literal centuries of education, study, and refinement, and should have a grasp of rhetoric that makes mortal men weep. Yet Andy Clark's best is to give us a Custodes who... squanders military resources by acting like a binary minded buffoon who doesn't even realize that Primaris Greyshields don't share the same gene seed as the Chapter they're "adopted" by, but sourced from Terran gene-vaults. Killing guardsmen can make some sense in that mortal human life is exceptionally cheap in 40k. Posthumans aren't. Space Marines are ridiculously rare (only roughly above one million on the loyalist side) and it is supposed to take a chapter decades or even centuries to recover from nasty episodes of attrition. They are a very valuable resource, literally more precious than any precious metal in the Imperium besides Adamantium or Aurumite. Yet the Custodes Shield Captain, despite being a posthuman figure who is supposed to possess an intellect and education beyond the greatest of mortal generals, has a grasp of logistics and practicality that is inferior to most children who play Command and Conquer.

 

The Shield Captain probably knew full well, but was a butcher waiting for an excuse to happen.

[Volt]

jaxom nailed it more eloquently than I have. This was a perfect representation of Custodes as they are written. They are not out to save the imperium. They are out to protect only one individual.

And they do that by... causing an entirely contingent of loyalist, rare war assets to go rogue because of instantly escalating to violence over a literal nothingburger of a situation. Meaning the safety of the Emperor is literally worse off than had those Custodes in question never existed.

 

 

 

The Shield Captain probably knew full well, but was a butcher waiting for an excuse to happen.

 

I don't disagree, but the problem is that this clashes completely with the intention of what Custodes are supposed to be, in a similar fashion that the Black Library utterly failed to write 'great figures' of the Primarchs in the Horus Heresy by virtue of not even grasping rudimentary tactics in war, making the Primarchs come off as braindead barbarians slamming bricks together without a shred of tactical acumen while simultaneously lauding the intelligence of these actions. Intelligence and refinement must be shown, not told. Otherwise you end up with the discrepancy of a character being supposedly the pinnacle of the noble warrior scholar yet utterly fails to grasp something like diplomacy.

Edited April 21, 2020 by Volt

[Felix Antipodes]

Yeah, you don't give someone who just had their entire world turned on them who's been indoctrinated to be a warrior his whole life literally seconds to disarm himself at the end of the gun.

Of course the Marines going to bloody argue, but if he's loyal, he'll back down if you give him a minute to process and explain that he needs to have his men conduct themselves with honor to the brig while they get this settled.

Instead it's "I must fight to preserve my and my brothers honor by killing those emperor forsaken traitors wearing my colors!"

*Blam*

Cue Custodes acting like a dumbass.

Your a shield-captain, a trained diplomat and one of the scariest people in the galaxy to have standing within reach of you.

You have the legal *and* the physical advantage here, way to blow it by shooting a loyalist who wasn't threatening you.

Maybe try talk first, THEN threaten the stubborn warrior with execution if that doesn't work.

Always roll diplomacy first, cause if it fails you can try intimidate. But its hard to convince someone your on their side after pyou put a gun to their head.

Like, we get it GW, the Custodes don't like Astartes, can we get some other characterization going please?

This was probably my biggest problem with the story. Custodes are trained diplomats. The shield-captains actions don't reflect this in any way. I actually like Custodes and the way they gave been portrayed by Wraight and others but this doesn't fit that profile except as an aberration on the part of this one individual.

The story also continued the 'you will accept Guilliman's gift or you will die' meme which I find baffling as it almost definitely wasn't Guilliman's directive and something else that reflects badly on the thought processes of Custodes.

[Hellex_The_Thanatar]

 

 

jaxom nailed it more eloquently than I have. This was a perfect representation of Custodes as they are written. They are not out to save the imperium. They are out to protect only one individual.

And they do that by... causing an entirely contingent of loyalist, rare war assets to go rogue because of instantly escalating to violence over a literal nothingburger of a situation. Meaning the safety of the Emperor is literally worse off than had those Custodes in question never existed.

 

 

The Shield Captain probably knew full well, but was a butcher waiting for an excuse to happen.

 

 

I don't disagree, but the problem is that this clashes completely with the intention of what Custodes are supposed to be, in a similar fashion that the Black Library utterly failed to write 'great figures' of the Primarchs in the Horus Heresy by virtue of not even grasping rudimentary tactics in war, making the Primarchs come off as braindead barbarians slamming bricks together without a shred of tactical acumen while simultaneously lauding the intelligence of these actions. Intelligence and refinement must be shown, not told. Otherwise you end up with the discrepancy of a character being supposedly the pinnacle of the noble warrior scholar yet utterly fails to grasp something like diplomacy.

Your interpretation of loyal is very different than the Custodes. Any form of questioning is betrayal. That was jaxom's point.

 

Further...we are lacking context to this story in some ways. Why WERE so many Custodes escorting this particular fleet and with SOS accompanying?

[Blindhamster]

To be fair. I think it comes down to lacking context or other things conversation has. I think what you originally said and what you meant were different things, when others questioned it saying that it wasnt true (which, with the context provided (referencing the preview, and what bile was doing in it) didnt match.

 

Theres a reason it was the latest image of bile from the latest preview that I got.

 

I dont think people were disagreeing that he had been/will be working on primaris. He is bile and we have known he wanted them since 8th dropped. But just that the thing previewed was something else :)

 

Anyhoo, sorry if I was rude. Wasnt the intention, doubt it was anyone else's either. Just an attempt at clarifying things.

 

Cheers!

 

P.s. sooo yeah, renegade primaris. An actual renegade codex would be a cool eventual addition, not that I necessarily expect it.

[DeadFingers]

Does it really matter what or who Bile decides to harvest? He can and will dissect and experiment on anything and everything. That includes Astartes, Primaris, Custodes, Skitarii, Sisters of Silence, a multitude or humans, Beastmen, Ogryns, Ratlings, Squats, Eldar, Orks, Tau, Kroot, etc. He's probably tested Necrons and their necrodermis too, just for kicks.

 

And yeah yeah, I get it, Primaris are new and Custodes were on Terra until now, so he couldn't cut them up before. I still think chances are it goes nowhere outside of the lore saying Bile's happy about getting new and bigger test subjects. Maybe a couple of funky rules that they say it's because he's been experimenting on Primaris/Custodes but could've been made regardless of the lore excuse, but that's about it.

Edited April 21, 2020 by DeadFingers

[Volt]

 

Your interpretation of loyal is very different than the Custodes. Any form of questioning is betrayal. That was jaxom's point.

 

Further...we are lacking context to this story in some ways. Why WERE so many Custodes escorting this particular fleet and with SOS accompanying?

 

And you missed my point. Such a definition of loyalty is literally incompatible with the idea of the noble warrior soldier, one who is highly educated and schooled in diplomacy and rhetoric. Instead it makes Custodes out to be troglodytes incapable of reason or nuance, even blunter than space marines as instruments and flies in the face of the constant lauding of the skills and refinement. Custodes are either actually smart and capable warriors or they are braindead weapons which behave like binaric automotons. GW can only pick one without making their writing look incompetent.

Edited April 21, 2020 by Volt

[Hellex_The_Thanatar]

 

 

Your interpretation of loyal is very different than the Custodes. Any form of questioning is betrayal. That was jaxom's point.

 

Further...we are lacking context to this story in some ways. Why WERE so many Custodes escorting this particular fleet and with SOS accompanying?

 

And you missed my point. Such a definition of loyalty is literally incompatible with the idea of the noble warrior soldier, one who is highly educated and schooled in diplomacy and rhetoric. Instead it makes Custodes out to be troglodytes incapable of reason or nuance, even blunter than space marines as instruments and flies in the face of the constant lauding of the skills and refinement. Custodes are either actually smart and capable warriors or they are braindead weapons which behave like binaric automotons. GW can only pick one without making their writing look incompetent.

There was reason. He gave the Marine an out. To surrender his weapons and let it be resolved. We are only going to argue in a circle on this I see though. Oh well!

[Shield-Captain]

Shield-Captain, well not surprising they're your favorite really ;)

And that's fine.

But this isn't the first time this sort of characterization has happened.

Pretty much anytime the Custodes and Astartes interact the Custodes comes across as a haughty :cuss who looks down on the Astartes pretty severely.

Its in several of the horus heresy novels, where they treat loyalist astartes like they're liable to turn traitor any second, and its REALLY bad for those that stayed loyal when the rest of their legion didn't.

Okay everybody keeps bringing up that one instance of a Custodes being haughty but there's another story "Hands of the Emperor" where a Custode confronts an Imperial Fist and the Space Marine is dumb and forces the Custodes hand. He then commands his fellow Custodes not to use lethal force against the Imperial Fists. Custodes, like a lot of factions in the lore, are not a monolith. It's easy and convenient to generalize a whole faction by looking at a single instance and using that to reinforce a bias. But that bias isn't supported by the lore.

 

There is a bit of irony in a passage from the codex where they talk about Custodes Shield-Captains and well, I'll let the quote speak for itself.

 

"The warriors of the Adeptus Custodes disregard the idea of blind obedience, and look with disdain upon those who follow the orders of their superiors without question."

 

So yeah. I can better understand some people's issues with this contradicting the fluff and being dumb, but the fluff does that often enough.

[Volt]

 

 

Your interpretation of loyal is very different than the Custodes. Any form of questioning is betrayal. That was jaxom's point.

 

Further...we are lacking context to this story in some ways. Why WERE so many Custodes escorting this particular fleet and with SOS accompanying?

And you missed my point. Such a definition of loyalty is literally incompatible with the idea of the noble warrior soldier, one who is highly educated and schooled in diplomacy and rhetoric. Instead it makes Custodes out to be troglodytes incapable of reason or nuance, even blunter than space marines as instruments and flies in the face of the constant lauding of the skills and refinement. Custodes are either actually smart and capable warriors or they are braindead weapons which behave like binaric automotons. GW can only pick one without making their writing look incompetent.

There was reason. He gave the Marine an out. To surrender his weapons and let it be resolved. We are only going to argue in a circle on this I see though. Oh well!

 

That's not an out, that's already a ridiculous accusation that makes no sense considering the Greyshield doesn't have any connection to the marines who turned traitor. It's not even a matter of proximity to heresy either, they were literally hundreds of lightyears removed from it and never even knew the marines who went traitor. For all intents and purposes a Greyshield isn't even a member of the Chapter until they assimilate into it after decades of life in its ranks. And from the Primaris point of view, they have no idea what the Captain is even thinking, or if they won't be blammed as soon as they put down their guns, it's completely in their interest to not surrender.

 

 

Lol is this a story designed to appease Frothing-at-the-mouth Primaris Haters?

 

The Greyshield geneseed is derived from one of the 9 loyalist Legions directly. The Custodian commander is way out of line, and frankly appears childish and stupid. These guys are supposed to be shrewd diplomats who study negotiations as much as they practice sword play! Instead we get blinkered ignorance and lack of any nuance. This is more insulting to the lore than anything I've seen in a while.

Hell must be really chilly today.

[Kriegsmacht]

I was surprised when I opened it see the first line is the Custodes demanding their arrest. Thought there would be some build up before something like this happens.

 

This might be one of those times where the idea is good but the execution is lacking.

[Irate Khornate]

Custodes Captain: Tell your men to disarm and comply

Primaris Captain: What?

Custodes Captain: I'll give you the courtesy a second chance, tell your men to disarm and comply.

Random Primaris: : no!

Custodes Captain: BLAM!

SoS Captain: Oh we just opened a can of worms.

Both sides equivocally screwed the pooch here. However I have to side with the Custodes on this one. Things were going to devolve into a fight just by the reaction of that lone primaris. He was likely to be the catalyst that made this turn violent. A good diplomat knows when he's lost the situation and what to do afterwards. Now did the Custodes have a chip on his shoulder? Oh absolutely. That's why he didn't hesitate to shoot, but he still waited till he felt that they wouldn't comply/the situation was lost.
You don't argue or persuade those who refuse to listen. Better at that point to shoot first and get the drop on them so you have the advantage even though they have numbers.

Edited April 22, 2020 by Kelborn

[Volt]

Custodes Captain: Tell your men to disarm and comply

 

Primaris Captain: What?

 

Custodes Captain: I'll give you the courtesy a second chance, tell your men to disarm and comply.

 

Random Primaris: : no!

 

Custodes Captain: BLAM!

 

SoS Captain: Oh we just opened a can of worms.

 

Both sides equivocally screwed the pooch here. However I have to side with the Custodes on this one. Things were going to devolve into a fight just by the reaction of that lone primaris. He was likely to be the catalyst that made this turn violent. A good diplomat knows when he's lost the situation and what to do afterwards. Now did the Custodes have a chip on his shoulder? Oh absolutely. That's why he didn't hesitate to shoot, but he still waited till he felt that they wouldn't comply/the situation was lost.

You don't argue or persuade those who refuse to listen. Better at that point to shoot first and get the drop on them so you have the advantage even though they have numbers.

This is not how diplomacy works nor is it in favor of the Custodes because they needlessly created the problem in the first place, and possibly just made 180 marines turn traitor in the first place by their own lack of diplomacy. That's a state of failure, not a good job.

Edited April 22, 2020 by Kelborn
spoiler tags

[shandwen]

terrible fluff like this snippet reminds me of why i drastically cut down my spending on GW. They missed the whole direction they had told everyone custodes operated in, and gave us stupidity... again.

[Irate Khornate]

 

Custodes Captain: Tell your men to disarm and comply

 

Primaris Captain: What?

 

Custodes Captain: I'll give you the courtesy a second chance, tell your men to disarm and comply.

 

Random Primaris: : no!

 

Custodes Captain: BLAM!

 

SoS Captain: Oh we just opened a can of worms.

 

Both sides equivocally screwed the pooch here. However I have to side with the Custodes on this one. Things were going to devolve into a fight just by the reaction of that lone primaris. He was likely to be the catalyst that made this turn violent. A good diplomat knows when he's lost the situation and what to do afterwards. Now did the Custodes have a chip on his shoulder? Oh absolutely. That's why he didn't hesitate to shoot, but he still waited till he felt that they wouldn't comply/the situation was lost.

You don't argue or persuade those who refuse to listen. Better at that point to shoot first and get the drop on them so you have the advantage even though they have numbers.

This is not how diplomacy works nor is it in favor of the Custodes because they needlessly created the problem in the first place, and possibly just made 180 marines turn traitor in the first place by their own lack of diplomacy. That's a state of failure, not a good job.

That's because he wasn't planning on being a diplomat. The situation didn't call for a diplomat. (I might have gotten caught up in my own writing there ) He took charge of the situation. It was up to them if they complied or bucked his charge. Pretty much in this situation it feels like he got backed into a corner through outside means and put up with the hand he'd been dealt.

Edited April 22, 2020 by Kelborn

[Volt]

 

 

Custodes Captain: Tell your men to disarm and comply

 

Primaris Captain: What?

 

Custodes Captain: I'll give you the courtesy a second chance, tell your men to disarm and comply.

 

Random Primaris: : no!

 

Custodes Captain: BLAM!

 

SoS Captain: Oh we just opened a can of worms.

 

Both sides equivocally screwed the pooch here. However I have to side with the Custodes on this one. Things were going to devolve into a fight just by the reaction of that lone primaris. He was likely to be the catalyst that made this turn violent. A good diplomat knows when he's lost the situation and what to do afterwards. Now did the Custodes have a chip on his shoulder? Oh absolutely. That's why he didn't hesitate to shoot, but he still waited till he felt that they wouldn't comply/the situation was lost.

You don't argue or persuade those who refuse to listen. Better at that point to shoot first and get the drop on them so you have the advantage even though they have numbers.

This is not how diplomacy works nor is it in favor of the Custodes because they needlessly created the problem in the first place, and possibly just made 180 marines turn traitor in the first place by their own lack of diplomacy. That's a state of failure, not a good job.

That's because he wasn't planning on being a diplomat. The situation didn't call for a diplomat. (I might have gotten caught up in my own writing there ) He took charge of the situation. It was up to them if they complied or bucked his charge. Pretty much in this situation it feels like he got backed into a corner through outside means and put up with the hand he'd been dealt.

 

The situation was created by the Custodes.

"These primaris marines who literally have no relation to the chapter we are delivering them to because the chapter went heretical are now heretics" is a situation invented by the Custodes for no actual reasoning and serves no purpose at all. To actually surmise the events, there was no problem, the Custodes create a problem, and then the problem becomes even bigger, until finally escalating into actual heresy. These are not the actions of a smart man, which is what custodes are supposed to be, and unless the author was setting out to paint Custodes as braindead thugs with less intellectual capacity than a human child, he failed. The only proper response to the Custodes randomly accusing people of heresy with literally no basis is "are you fething 'avin a giggle m8", because that's the level of absurdity this Shield-Captain was operating on. The situation also quite clearly called for a diplomat after the Custodes invented it by virtue of spurring ~180 marines to go renegade. That is a colossal screwup that actually further endangers the Imperium compared to if the Custodes had literally done nothing and thus no problem would have existed in the first place.

Edited April 22, 2020 by Kelborn
spoiler tags

[Dosjetka]

=][= All discussion about the short story has been moved from its original thread to here. Keep it civil please, folks. =][=

[Karthak]

This was the most idiotic story I've read in a while. Really been spoiled by Wraight's depiction of the Custodes. 

[b1soul]

These Custodes are more like the grimderp Commisars we love to poke fun at

[Kelborn]

Ehm....

okay...

what's going on, guys?

 

I'm at work, so the Warhammer Community site is blocked. Would someone mind to elaborate what is it about this story?

[b1soul]

Custodes suspect the loyalty of Greyshield Primaris reinforcements to a destination chapter that has unfortunately gone renegade post-Rift. Custodes essentially tries to arrest the Primaris Greyshields.

[Kelborn]

:facepalm:

 

 

 

Who came up with that idea? Blood unequal loyalty

But well, Custodes don't like the Astartes at all, so it's not a surprise that they're so suspicious...