Kayvaan stared at the strange garment in front of him, running his fingers over the smooth material. “What is this made of? It doesn’t feel like fabric or ceramite. The texture’s… odd.”

  Jacob, standing beside him, grinned proudly. “Master Kayvaan, you have no idea how special this is. I pulled a lot of strings to get this suit from the Meicus.” He held up the outfit and gave it a firm shake, revealing a sleek, bck, gel-like bodysuit. “This is the test in experimental scout gear. It’s still iesting phase, but it’s impressive. The suit has a built-in gravity interference device that distort surrounding light. When bined with this special cloak, it provides full invisibility. The attached mini-super battery ensures 24 hours of funality when fully charged. The cloak isn’t just invisible—it’s roof, heat-insuting, and even shift its color like a chameleon for camoufge.”

  Jacob then handed over aem—a moh a thin, transparent le in a golden frame, ected to a delicate golden . “This is the Lens of Farseeing, an a device recovered from a fotten fe world. It allows enhanced perception aultiple spectra—infrared, low-light, and ultraviolet. Once you put it on, the frame bonds lightly with your skin, so you won’t lose it even in intense bat.”

  Finally, he presented a massive sniper rifle. “And this… this is a heavy sniper-pattern bolt rifle, blessed by the Omnissiah and secrated for precision strikes. At 1.7 meters tall, it delivers righteous judgment from unimaginable distances. With this gear, you’ll embody the Emperor’s will as the ultimate scout.”

  Kayvaan raised an eyebrow, pig up the gear one by one. After suiting up in the bodysuit, donning the gsses, and slinging the cloak over his shoulders, he stepped baire the rifle. “Not bad,” he said, his voice tinged with approval.

  Kayvaan's invisibility cloak and color-giures underweiculous testing with the aid of a Tech-Priest. The Meicus’s meticulous attention ehat the Mae Spirit of each artifact eased, quickly bringing the equipment to optimal performahis marked only the beginning of his preparation.

  Standing at just 1.75 meters, Kayvaan was signifitly shorter tha Space Marines, who exceeded two meters i even in their lightest armor. For him, finding power armor that fit was out of the questioe searg across the empire, noed that would suit his size. Moreover, his physical strength wasn’t what it used to be, making it nearly impossible for him to wield the colossal armor designed for Space Marihis harsh reality forced Kayvaan to reevaluate his role. Instead of a frontline warrior, he found his niche as a scout.

  In this new position, Kayvaan could provide invaluable le sniper support during battles or act as the unit’s eyes and ears, scouting eerritory for intelligence. A scout could also carry out surgical strikes on strategiemy targets, a role perfectly suited to Kayvaan's current capabilities. With his basic equipment finalized and his path clear, Kayvaan and Jacob left the testing site and headed home.

  The night air was cool, and the streets glowed softly under warm mplight as the two men walked through the city. Their spirits were high, and their versation buzzed with ideas about the future of the Knights Tempr. From restructuring leadership to base development, soldier training to tactical pnning, their enthusiasm carried them through the winding alleys. Before they k, they were standing in front of Darius’s residence, whiow doubled as the temporary headquarters.

  As they entered, a young voice called out from the dimly lit room. “Master Kayvaan, you’re back! And Master Jacob too.” Someone had been waiting for them.

  Kayvaan flipped on the light, revealing Magos Ferratus, his gray robes trimmed in green ahe colors of Mars, draped over a wiry frame reinforced by cyberic augmentation. His folded hands rested within his wide sleeves, but what truly atentiohe four meical limbs extending from his back, moving with an eerie, serpentine precision. His face was a study in cold logic, carved like a mae’s blueprint. One eye gleamed with human sharpness, while the other, a telescopis, whirred softly as it adjusted focus.

  “Magos Ferratus,” Kayvaaed him, his toral. “What brings you here at this hour?”

  “I’ve e to deliver a report,” Ferratus replied in his smooth, almost robotie. One of his mechadendrites exteoward the desk, pg a folder ly on its surface. “The report is plete. It includes all teical specifications and schematics relevant to the battleship. I trust the Mae Spirit of the data will satisfy your inquiries.”

  Kayvaan opehe folder and skimmed through the dense pages of teical data. Closing it, he asked, “You just returned from Mars, correct? How did the iations proceed? And the battleship—has it been sanctified?”

  Ferratus was a ret addition to Kayvaan’s retinue, a Magos of the Adeptus Meicus tasked with supp his chapter in both teological and strategic matters. Alongside him had e fessor Marius Beus, a zealous preacher of the Ecclesiarchy. Their first mission had been to Mars to secure a battleship for the chapters.

  “It went smoothly,” Ferratus said, his monotone voice tinged with a rare note of excitement. “The battleship transfer is plete. We acquired a Lunar-css cruiser, the Dros Sn. I personally ducted the rites of iion, and I am pleased to report it is in pristine dition. It is a marvel of design—robust, effit, and highly adaptable. While it cks the sheer firepower of a Retribution-css or the vast holds of a Dominator, its modur stru allows for easier maintenand refitting pared to other vessels of its size.”

  Kayvaan frowned, leaning forward. “You’re telling me we could maintain something like that ourselves?”

  “With assistance from the Meicus, certainly,” Ferratus replied, his meical arms gesturing in emphasis. “And do not fet, Chapter Master, your chapter has trol over fe world in the Eastern Fringe.”

  Kayvaaated. “But that’s barely a funing fe world by Imperial standards.”

  Ferratus’s augmented eye whirred as he focused on Kayvaan. “True, but repairs and modur repts are well within its capacity if supplied with suffit raw materials. The Dros Sn was structed in a sub-sector where much of the material came from mining and industrial worlds. pared to those facilities, your fe world is a notable step up in capability, albeit requiring substantial iment to achieve its full potential.”

  Kayvaan's astonishment turo excitement. “This is incredible. When we put the battleship into a?”

  Ferratus’s mechadendrites twitched as he spoke. “It will take han two Terran years to plete the modifications, assuming all goes acc to the Omnissiah’s will. The Lunar-css cruiser, inally structed for the Imperial Navy, was designed with naval es in mind: firepower, armor, and speed. While excellent for fleet as, certain modifications are required to align it with the needs of the Knights Tempr.”

  As he spoke, a meical arm extended from Ferratus’s servo-harness, retrieving a data-scroll encoded with sacred schematics. The arm unfurled it onto the table with precise, meical efficy. “Observe,” Ferratus intoned, pointing with another mechadendrite at a se of the schematic. “This is the primary crew deck, positioned in the most stable portion of the ship. It has been designated as the site of a grand sanctuary to honor the Emperor. stru has already begun uhe supervision of fessor Marius, who remains on Mars to ehe spiritual sanctity of the work.”