The Adeptus Custodes(DC)

Chapter 22: Political Favor



While he was here on Terra, Justinian decided to offer some assistance. He was still in the air, so he started to fly down to land because he would rather not be surrounded by the Leaguers. 

However, he could always go to Balance Breaker because, unlike Klarion, who could not die, they could. They didn't seem to mind because he had come to help Terra, so he called his Honor Guard to his side when he landed.

Remnosh and the other 39 Elites flew toward his location before moving to flank him without delay. Once they were back at his side, they felt far more confident in their ability to protect him if need be.

Even though they knew their Lord and Master needed no protection, it was better to be safe than sorry. Once at his side, Remnosh looked around the devastated Capital.

She reached up and removed her helmet before holding it under her arm.

"This was quite devastating if I had to say so. Reminds me of the Rubric."

Justinian nodded as he grew back to his proper height of 12 feet.

"That it was, from what the League has said, they will begin to treat the city like Chornobyl. Any tainted buildings will be disposed of by Fate in other dimensions. Corpses will be burned in purifying fires, and even affected soil will be dug up to be disposed of.

People will die in the following days because of Chaos-related curses, so it was worse than expected. From what they told me, me holding Klarion off resulted in the damage being reduced."

Lauralina, who was near Remnosh, smiled.

"This would be a good time to start my sermons and speak the holy word. You did help them, so they must see this as it was—an act of the divine."

She held her hands in prayer, forming a Draconica(Aquilla) with them. The rest of Justinian's Honor Guard began to move away from her, as she seemed kind of crazy. Justinian, though, liked her as she was, without a shadow of a doubt, loyal. He would not discard her faith or burn her city as her namesake had faced.

"If you want to do that, you have my permission. Which reminds me, Helbrecht take a portal to Mars and brings back a Chapter of Marines. Bring my Predacons as well. We will do some aid; while that happens, she can do her sermons. That way, no one will get the smart idea to attack one of my Honor Guard."

Helbrecht placed his fist on his chest and bowed.

"At once, my King."

Helbretch flew off toward the Imperial Embassy. He would take the portal still inside, and through it, they would transport the entire Chapter. While he did that, it seemed some of the Leaguers were starting to gather around him once more. Superman walked over, which caused Justinian's Elites to all lock on him.

They held their Glaives, Swords, and Spears tighter, fully prepared to attack if needed. The other leaguers noticed this as they were not subtle which caused them to, so he gave the order to relax.

'Hold.'

Taking the message, they all relaxed, which Superman took notice of.

"Guess they are not big fans of me."

Each of the Elites shook their heads, which stung. Diana was curious why the Martians saw Superman negatively.

"What makes him different from me?"

Sigismund gave his answer behind his hound-shaped helmet.

"He is a Kryptonian and a powerful foe. As the Honor Guard of our Lord and Master, we must take note of every threat to his life. He may not see you as a threat, but we do."

Justinian nodded.

"Thank you, Siguismind. Don't take it to heart, Kal-el. I don't see you as a threat."

Superman squinted his eyes as that sounded ominous. Much of what Justinian said could be taken as a threat.

"I don't want anyone to see me as a threat, so I am glad. Now I could overhear your talk earlier. And what is this about a Chapter of Marines coming?"

Justinian did not answer as Helbretch moved fast. When he arrived on Mars, he used Psychic Net to place the order. A Chapter of Space Marines moved to the portal built in Cadia City, and the Shapers activated it.

Once the large portal was opened, the 1,000 Marines and the 5 Predacons moved through it. When they crossed the portal, they did so in a giant space as the embassy was not how it seemed. 

It was a small building on the outside, but inside, it had a massive space expansion spell placed on it. The 1,000 Martian Space Marines and Justinians' Predacons all managed to fit in space. 

Once they had all crossed onto Earth in the Embassy, the Chapter Master ordered them to phase out of the building to move out of the Embassy. Justinian's pets started to phase through the walls, which the Leaguers could see. 

Justinian's Embassy was one of the unaffected buildings. Seeing Predaking, Grendel, Devestator, Grimlock, and Rampage, who had all been growing. Now, the five former Bioships were 120 feet long and flew into the sky to get to Justinian's side. 

Behind them, the 1,000 Space Marines in full Power Armor flew after them. Just like the Predakons, they flew to join Justinian, meaning the odds were much more fair now. 

He had 1,000 well-armed, powerful White Martians as well. Martians were one of the few species that could harm Kryptonians like Superman, and seeing the giant force that Justinian had brought worried him. 

The Predakons alone were hissing and growling at him and the other Leaguers. The Space Marines were standing in rank and file, waiting for the order if needed. Diana looked up at Justinian before he raised his right fist in the air. 

"Split up and look for survivors among the collapsed buildings. Administer aid to those who can receive it, using healing magic if you know them." 

At his word, the Marines split into 10 Companies, each led by their Captains. As for the Predators, they joined 5 of the Companies to aid in moving collapsed buildings and sniffing out people. 

Superman relaxed as Justinian began to walk forward until he was in front of Superman. He looked down at the Kryptonian, who observed that Justinian's Marines were already pulling survivors out of the buildings. 

"I get that you consider me a threat, but just know I will do what I can for Terra." 

Batman, who was nearby, asked the question he had. 

"You say, Terra, what about the people on it?"

Justinian hummed. 

"That is more complicated. I will admit that there are people who need to die—criminals, for one, child predators, rapists, serial killers, and others. But I know that you believe that all people deserve to be redeemed.

Let us not lie to ourselves that some monsters in human skin deserve to be put down." 

Batman clenched his fist. 

"And you get to pick?" 

"Yes, I do. But Terra is not mine to rule, so I will respect its choices unless those choices begin to lead it on a path of self-destruction. If need be, I will intervene to ensure humanity survives. 

Until then, I expect The Justice League to keep it safe. Until then, I will remain on Mars." 

Justinian placed his arms behind his back as he walked past the League with his Honor Guard. As he walked past Batman, he turned to him Psychicly. 

'Contingency Plan: Custodes. Password: 91939.' 

That was all he said before cutting the link. Bruce's eyes widened as no one was supposed to know about his Contingency Plans or password. But Justinian had long since downloaded all of them after he had hacked the Batcave. 

Martian Manhunter, linked to all the Leaguers, heard Justinian's words. He squinted his eyes before turning to Batman. 

'Contingency Plans?'

Batman began to protect his thoughts as he didn't want to explain this to everyone. 

'It is for our potential enemies, John, nothing more.' 

'If you say so, Batman.' 

When he cut the link, Diana looked at Bruce before she flew into the air before flying over. She flew over his Honor Guard, but since Justinian allowed it, they did not intervene. She flew near him as she wanted to talk to him. 

"I just wanted to say thank you. Themyscira also has an embassy here in DC, and just like yours, it is also a portal to get to my island. Some of my sisters were stationed there, and you might have saved their lives." 

He looked up at her and nodded.

"It was no trouble at all, Diana. While I have you here, I wanted to inform you about something if you know about it. Do you know you have a twin brother?"

Diana froze at the information as she had never learned of that. 

"Are you certain?" 

Justinian nodded. 

"His name is Jason. Your Mother gave him up to Glaucus, one of the Argonauts. As you know, men cannot go to Paradise Island, which is why the Amazons give their male children to Hephestus so as not to kill them."

Diana looked down at the knowledge. 

"I see. It seems I will need to contact my Mother to get the answers. I will search for him. Thank you for telling me." 

Justinian nodded. 

"Of course, you're my friend. Are you not?"

Diana smiled and patted him on the shoulder. 

"That I am. Now, I will help your Warriors in the rescue." 

She flew off to help them move the buildings to get to the survivors. Meanwhile, Justinian turned to Lauralina. 

"You can go start your sermons if you want." 

She bowed with a grin. 

"OF COURSE!" 

She exited the formation to start finding people and speaking the holy word. Meanwhile, Justinian and his remaining Honor Guard reached the White House. The Portal was still up, but Justinian opened a hole with his thoughts. He and his guards walked through with Justinian, who allowed the portal to close behind him. 

As they walked forward, the front door opened, and some of the Secret Service walked out. They walked forward before one of them stood before Justinian. 

"Sir-" 

Remnosh corrected the man. 

"Your Majesty is not just a sir; he is a King. You will address our King with his proper title." 

The man corrected himself because he would not argue with a bunch of White Martian Elites who could melt his mind with a thought. 

"My apologies, your Majesty. Are you here to see the President? We were about to prepare to move him out of the City until the side effects from the battle were dealt with. We are thankful for your aid in our time of need." 

"I am. I wish to speak to Buren because my embassy was almost destroyed. Two of my Marines were nearly killed in the US capital. How did this happen?" 

The Secret Service agent cleared his voice. 

"We can admit to being underprepared for a Lord of Chaos attack, but the League would have stopped in soon enough. It was just that Klarion's magic messed with their teleportation. We do thank you for preventing further destruction, your Majesty."

Justinian shook his head. 

"I will see the President now. Remnosh, Titus, Dorn, Logan, Cato, you will come with me. The rest of you stand at attention and always keep communication up." 

'YES MY KING!'

Justinian and his five chosen Elites all phased through the White House wall rather than shrink. Once inside, they were led to the President's office, where he was preparing to evacuate. 

When he saw Justinian and his Elites, he swallowed his nerves. 

"Justinian, I could see your battle. You saved my life and that of the people of the city." 

Justinia squinted his eyes. 

"We need to talk about this event. Moving across planets is bothersome, and I had to intervene to prevent the deaths of my soldiers." 

Buren sat down as he expected that other countries with their embassies in DC would also demand an explanation. 

"Let us discuss what you have in mind." 

"Lets." 

Justinian conjured a chair for himself as he would use this chance to get quite a bit of compensation for having to save the city. He could profit here and maybe get a favor from America. 


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