The Last Primarch
The Discovery

Year 983:M30

Planet Inoue
Vega System
Aureus Sector
Segmentum Tempestus

The void, the cold and unending lonely black canvas, where silence is everything and your only company being the soft twinkling of millions of stars and colourful plumes of vibrant nebular that filled the void around you but only too far away to feel any measure of companionship, nor feel the warmth and gentle caress of light from stars upon your skin, that is what normally would occur in this unforgiving void... But not this time.

For we find ourselves in part of the void surrounded by celestial bodies so willing to embrace our need for companionship.

A yellow class F star dances in a ballet of push and pull with the system's single planet and moon, a garden world no bigger then Terra seemingly untouched by Man and Xenos alike, filled with rich skies of aqua blue, void of any unwanted white cloud. It's ecosystem thrived with bountiful alien flora and fauna, it's entire land surface was covered with golden grass plains home to herds of large long furred stag like creatures with twisting spear like antlers that thundered across the plains in a stampede of pure primordial energy as they tried with all their might to escape the snarling pack of carnivorous large six legged maroon furred dogs that pursued them in nature's cruel never ending game, their bodies holding scars of previous hunts that could be seen under their spike like fur. Each dog as large as a Predator tank; they uprooted great chunks of earth as their powerful paws hit ground and pushed forward in an act to gain greater velocity even though they were already moving at tremendous speeds.

The plains in which this cruel game took place was bordered by snow peaked mountains where alabaster white four winged hawks the size of Thunderhawks glided upon the high altitudes' relentless currents as they circled mountain peaks, their high pitched calls reverberating throughout the mountains, causing many smaller prey to dive for their borrows in the snow covered mountain side. While down below large patches of burnt orange leaf and smouldering brown bark forests covered parts of the golden plains like land born tides, one forest in particular, perhaps the largest upon the planet, seemed to glow slightly with an ethereal gold light. Each forest a hub of life, a virtual bastion of safety for the smaller animals that dwelled within as the larger plain roaming predators and those skyward that patrolled ever vigilantly could not hunt with desired movements within the thick forest fauna. But it was not as safe as it may at first seem, within the forest, upon the orange leaf filled floor, a group of small mouse like creatures with dull brown leaf like fur scurried to the hollow corpse of a downed tree, none noticing the vibrant slitted green eyes of the feline in the branches above that followed their every movement.

Within the forests, plains and beyond sprinklings of aqua blue lakes and oceans separated continent and country alike, while veins of transparent blue tributaries ran down mountain sides to connect to larger streams in the valleys between mountains and plains. Others flow off steep vertical mountain faces in a spectacular display of falling water to eventually join the lake below while the mouth of caves and catacombs hide behind the curtain of the waterfall.

Inoue.

A life filled world seemingly frozen in Autumn while it's lifeless moon of golden brown above sat a constant vigil, it's protector filled with the scars and creators worn proudly upon it's surface, evidence of it's sacrifice in protecting it's celestial kin from those who wish her harm, all the while lulling her oceans' tides in a way a mother would cradle her child.

But now the moon could only watch on in despair as an event far out of it's control threatened both their existence.

In the far background a kindred star much closer then any other shone erratically, chaotically even, as it reached the end of it's life and in a dying act of defiance is willing to take any of it's kin and their children worlds to the eternal abyss with a cataclysmic explosion, a supernova.

Just outside the small system another anomaly was occurring, a cosmic flash of bright light suddenly burst into existence, like the birth of a new star it lit up the void around it but only to disappear as soon as it came and in it's place a giant swirling vortex of purple and dark pink energy with a wormhole structure crackling with pink lightning that illuminated the surrounding space. Like a scar, a gaping wound even, in the very fabric of the materium it made itself known.

A Warp portal.

From within the rift in space, this gateway to the chaotic Immaterium, nine fortress like starships burst forward, pink lightning sticking and crackling upon their hull. The ships taking a multitude of sizes and class but all sharing the same long bodied gothic design, colours of black with red and gold details and a unique skull insignia upon their starboard sides; half side bone, the other mechanical as it sat within a cog of dark metal, and finally the soft blue glow of the multitude of thrusters upon their stern finished the ships foreboding designs.

A Mechanicus Explorator fleet.

Consisting of a giant 21km Ark Machanicus class Battleship acting as flagship and dwarfing many others in the fleet, situating itself at the centre front of the fleet while being flanked both sides by pairs of 3km Mechanicus Light Cruisers. Behind the Battleship positioned in the guarded centre of the fleet sat two 15km Goliath class Factory Ships also flanked by a pair of 5km Mechanicus Cruisers and finally taking up the rear guard of the fleet another two pair of Light Cruisers.

The fleet soon escaped the greedy grasp of the portal from which they arrived, as said portal slowly and unwillingly drew back it's whips of lightning that were clinging to the Machanicus fleet allowing said fleet to sail gracefully into the calm void of real space and come to a stop just outside the doomed system, closer to the autumn planet than the system's star, though the fleet seemed uninterested in either as each ship locked their prowls to face the chaotic mass of fluctuating blue light in the distance, the supernova.

The warp portal snapped shut in a seemingly angry manner, healing the wound in space allowing the void to return to it's calm self as residual purple and dark pink energy seemingly dispersed and vanished.

Ark Mechanicus Battleship: Will of the Omnissiah

Bridge

Dark, gothic, arcane and gigantic, all these words described the Mechanicus' starship's bridge to the letter, taking the shape of a half octagon, the floor was a dark noble brown made from some strangle metallic compound that resembled marble, the side and back walls were a cold metallic grey decorated with scripts of the Omnissiah and the golden Mechanicus Cog sigil, the air seemed to be filled with a slight hew of light grey smoke, it's source coming from the many spherical golden holders that hung from the walls and ceiling their purpose being the burning of holy incense, an offering to the Omnissiah and a way to appease the multitude of machines spirits that dwelled with the bridge itself.

Windows that wouldn't look out of place in a cathedral covered the entire front and angled sides allowing those within the bridge to look out into the void and gaze at the system they occupied and the chaotic star in the far background. At the centre of the back wall a large blast door in the design of an ancient Terran Lancet arch stood unmoving with a golden Cog sigil upon it's face, two armoured soldiers with blue glowing eyes set in a respiratory mask of cold steel stood at either side, said soldiers wore gun metal grey armour with sigil of the Mechanicus at it's centre, over a hooded red trench coat with a small powerpack upon their backs coupled with a small smog light on their right shoulders, to complete their intimidatingly machine-like appearance they held an advanced long bronze Galvanic Rifle in their arms held across their chests and the hilt of a sheaved Transonic Blade upon their left hips.

Mars Legiones Skitarii.

The entire bridge was bathed in a soft green light from the cogitators upon the workstations, screens hanging from the pipe riddled ceiling and most notable the large round holo-table that dominated the centre of the bridge that showed an image of the system they were in, along with the fleet location to the far left and the supernova to the far right. The star, planet and moon shown in green, the fleet in blue and finally the supernova in red.

In front of the green glow that was the holo-table a large ornate throne sat, consisting of dark golds and other metallic metals that glistened a slight green from the radiance of the holo-table, slightly elevated it stood regally as it held it's single occupant, a fully organic body sat with it's hands gripping the thrones arms, the figure was physically attached to the throne by a multitude of crude wires. Covered in full red robes lined with gold, over said robes a balefully yellow coat of short sleeves made from the same material as the robes, a chain of gold attached to the hip held an Imperial aquila and over the chest and shoulders an ornate high collared breastplate of gold metal, imprinted with a large aquila holding an open eye in it's talons, it's wings from spread one shoulder to the other. A red hood with golden lining covered most of the figures head from view though not the face, a feminine face of pale white bordered by long strands of hair resembling ocean waves that was the embodiment of night while two amber orbs stared passively out into the void past the observation windows, seemingly seeing something other than the material realm, something only her eyes could see. A rune of red sat at the centre of her forehead, depicting an open third eye.

A Navigator of the Navis Nobilite, one that was sworn to the duty of the Priesthood of Mars.

The bridge was filled with dozens of red and gold outlined cloaked and hooded figures, some standing watch over the holo-desk, others wandering across the bridge and siting at the workstations, each one seemed to have a different shape to each other, some more machine than man, metallic crane arms sprouting from their backs, glowing blue eyes, augmented limbs anything they could do to be closer to the Machine God.

The Cog sigil upon the blast door suddenly started to rotate making a deep clunking sound as it did, the Skitarii guards on either side stiffened their stance with mechanical precision at the sound, the Cog finally stopped rotating when the skull was on it's side and with deep unlocking sound the door separated vertically with the sigil splitting in half and a figure walked in causing the Tech-Priests around the holo-table to halt their conversing and give the figure their undivided attention as said figure made it's way to them.

The figure in question was dressed similar to those on the bridge only he had two crane like arms extending from upper back while a mass of thick mechanical tentacles with what looked like clamps and other tools extended from his lower. He wore a Mechanicus sigil medallion around his neck and in his right bionical hand he held a Mechanicus Omnisian axe. His 'face' was devoid of organic tissue, a cold metallic skull with three glowing blue eyes in it's place and a thin line of green light running vertically across where his mouth and nose used to occupy, a multitude of pipes that connected to/wrapped around his torso, his red and gold lined hood covering the rest of his head from view, a servo skull with a red bionic eye followed closely behind him, hovering at the left side of his head.

He soon came to a stop with a clank of his Omnisian axe in front of the holo-table and Tech-Priests, on the opposite side so he could face the Navigtor within her throne.

The closest Tech-Priest, one who's face was only covered in some form of respirator allowing what little of his human self remained to be seen, stepped forward and bowed his head in respect.

''Magos Hextes, we have arrived at the doomed system in time, the star Mortuus Est:002364 has yet to reach the last stage in stellar evolution but is moments away, we have little time to prepare the Factory ships for the collection of the stars energy'' said the Tech-Priest in a rather emotionless robotic tone.

The now named Magos Hextes responded with a slight nod of his head and then turned his gaze to the female Navigator who's eyes seemed unfocused as she stared seemingly through the Magos, this didn't seem to bother Hextes in the slightest as he once again nodded his head.

''You have our thanks Navigator Celestenya Belisarius, for guiding the Omnissiah's vessels safely with your talents'' said Hextes in his mechanic voice in a most respectful tone, the green line of light upon his face flickering in brightness at every syllable he spoke, his head was still bowed slightly, those from the House of Belisarius the oldest and most respected of the Navis Nobilite were of great value and skill, and held great power, therefore deserved every ounce of respect as a Magos of the Mechanicum he could muster or risk the loss of their support.

A second of silence filled the bridge as the Navigator's; Celestenya's amber eyes seemed to regain there focus of the material realm at the mention of her name, with nearly imperceivable movement she turned her head, not her eyes, to gaze at the Mechanicum Adept, her silky black locks that cascaded slightly over her golden breastplate offering the most discernible movement. She did not speak, only inclined her head slightly in an acknowledgement to the Magos' words and then returned her gaze to look beyond what can be seen by normal eyes.

With that Hextes turned to another Tech-Priest to his left, during this the servo skull to his left hovered in front of him and passed the Tech-Priests to seemingly scrutinise the holo-table, it's red eye flashing three times as it did so.

''Lexmechanic, hail the Factory ships and have them prepare for collection of the star's energy, I want 100% efficiency in this task, the energy this dying star will supply us with, will fuel an entire Sector's forge worlds for a millennia, by the blessed will of the Omnissiah we must not waste a single ounce of energy'' said the Magos in a regal tone as he stared at the Lexmechanic to his left.

''At once my lord'' replied the Lexmechanic with a bow and then walked off to perform his duties.

The Magos then walked forward to stand directly in front of the holo-table his Omnisian axe tapping the ground with each step while the servo skull continued it's scrutiny.

''Have we taken the necessary steps for the fleet to avoid the blast of Mortuus Est:002364 when it reaches the final stage of stellar evolution Priest Galatia?'' Asked Magos Hextes as he join his servo skull in the scrutiny of the holo-table, idly taking notice of the Tech-Priest Galatia moving to his right side and entering a number of commands upon the holo-tables controls.

''Yes my lord, our calculations have been assessed a million fold and at our current position we will be out of the vicinity of the blast with over a 100km margin of error, as you can see'' replied Priest Galatia as he waved his hand over the holo-table.

In response the red supernova upon the holo-table started to flash and then after a short while expanded into a giant red sphere across the holo-table, consuming the green planet and moon in the process but dissipating before it could reach the green star and blue fleet, the scenario then started to loop, throughout all of this the servo skull moved in a flurry of movements, recording everything from every angle and finally returning to it's master.

''As you can see we are within a safe parameter my lord'' said Galatia once more while turning his head to the Magos.

''Very good priest Galatia, the Omnissiah will be most pleased with your diligent work'' replied Hextes while he continued to gaze at the table.

Galatia bowed his head deep.

''Such words are wasted on me Magos Hextes, I am but a humble tool to be used to his desire, his will is my will, to be of the Machine God's service is of it's own reward'' replied Galatia, head still bowed, reverence could be noted in his tone.

The Magos nodded once more.

''No words are truer in there meaning than the those you speak priest Galatia, to serve the Omnissiah is a great honour.'' replied Hextes making Galatia raise his head

A klaxon like sound suddenly cut through the bridge effectively halting any further conversing between the two as they diverted their attention to the bridge around them.

''Magos, the star has entered the final stage of stellar evolution, we are moments away from fulmination'' said a Tech-Priest from a cogitator to the side of the holo-table, he tapped a few commands into said cogitator at fast and practised speeds, his mechanical crane arm upon his back also helping the typing and moments later a green timer appeared on the holo-table ''5:00''.

Hextes didn't bother to respond as he turned around to face the direction the Lexmechanic had headed to carry out his order.

''Lexmechanic what is the status on the Factory ships'' said the Magos, a sense of urgency within his voice.

''Both ships are reporting preparation for the collection of energy to be complete my lord, the Enginseers have spoken their litanies to the ships machine spirits and their void shields are fully charged to combat any harmful background energy that would wish harm upon any of the Omnissiah's holy vessels'' said the Lexmechanic at his workstation, the soft green light from his cogitator giving his body a halo of green aura.

''Excellent, now let us observe the event which will grant us a tribute to the Mechanicum's forges in his name'' said the Magos as he moved from the holo-table to the observation windows with an aura of slight excitement to stare out at the abyss and it's occupants, his servo skull following his lead meanwhile the timer had reached ''2:00''.

Looking out into the void the Magos locked his glowing mechanical eyes on to the fluctuating blue glare in the distance, not even spearing a glance to the autumn planet nor it's moon to the far left, the Mechanicus had no need of doomed garden worlds.

''One minute 30 seconds till star's fulmination'' came the voice of the Tech-Priest at the cogitator at the side of the holo-table.

Some of the Tech-Priests across the bridge turned their cold gazes to the void beyond just like the Magos, some had an aura of anticipation, while others (the more augmented priests) were cold and emotionless, logic the only thing driving their actions, seeing the current objective as beneficial to the Mechanicum and Omnissiah, no personal gain or interest.

''One minute till fulmination''

Another more organic Tech-Priest on the right side of the holo-table unlike his fellow priests had his attention solely on the cogitator in front of him, his eyes seemingly staring accusingly at the screen and it's contents, the screen while mostly black held an image of the autumn planet depicted in green and seemingly acting as a base for said planet a cyber like grid sat at the planet's southern pole. To the left of the planet was a script of green Low Gothic paragraphs holding information about the celestial body and it's smaller orbiting kin, while to the planet's right at the top corner of the screen an increasingly fluctuating wave graph sat, said graph seemed to be the perpetrator to the accusing glint within the Tech-Priest's gaze.

After holding his gaze and witnessing far too many spikes in the graph for it be written of as an anomaly he voiced his concerns.

''My Lord, we're detecting prodigious energy readings coming from the planet within the system'' said the Tech-Priest, due to him being more organic then his other brothers, a slight twinge of concern could be heard within his croaky martian dialect.

His statement had the desired effect of gaining the Magos' attention almost immediately along with many others of the bridge's crew.

Hextes tore his gaze from the dying star beyond the observation windows and spun round almost mechanically, to glare inquisitively at the Priest, annoyance seemed to fill his movements, his servo skull however remained stationary with it's eeire gaze held upon the star.

''Be more specific Priest Vadik, a planet of this class extrudes a multitude of energies many of which are beyond our concern, no matter how prodigious they may be.'' said the Magos in an irritable voice, the Mechanicus thrived on information and efficiency, such a vague statement would not suffice as it would only waste time.

''That is where a problem lies my lord, the energy is not from the body of the planet in question, rather something upon it's surface and neither can I identify it's type, only that it shares similarities in structure to that of psychic energy, whether it is biological or mechanical in nature can not be discerned, it is a complete anomaly in the Mechanicus' data banks.'' responded the now named Tech-Priest Vadik as he looked from his cogitator to Hextes, slight concern flashing through his organic eyes although it was greatly shadowed by a sense of curiosity.

An anomalous energy, that started the churning of gears within the Magos' brain, one wouldn't be too surprised if he did actually have a gear or two within his skull, stranger things happen within the higher echelons of the Cult Mechanicus, Fabricator-Generals being a perfect example of this.

This was unprecedented and in this situation unwelcome for it could be anything, perhaps even an STC and in less than a minute the planet in which it resides would be atomised due to the blast of the supernova and they would never know the source of this anomalous energy, the loss of information would deal a substantial psychological blow to the fleet as it would be seen as a failure to the Omnissiah and could invoke reprimand and penalty from the Mechanicus.

In his thoughts Magos Hextes almost missed the call of a countdown.

''Star's fulmination in 10'' came the cry of warning.

Hextes turned around once again only this time more sharply and less jubilant, his gaze now switching from the star then to the planet, a sense of resignation around him as the anomalous energy was now out of his control and out of his reach, never the less he would still complete the fleet's indented task.

''9''

''8''

''7''

''6''

''5''

''Activate solar visors to the observation windows'' ordered the Magos in his martian tone which was met with a 'Yes my lord' from a member of the crew, seconds later the bridge visibly darkened with only the green glow of cogitators fighting back the creeping shadows as the observation windows turned a transparent black, the Tech-Priest's blue mechanical eyes stood out in stark contrast.

''4''

''3''

''2''

''1''

''Judicium''

FLASH

The void set ablaze, as white replaced black.

The dying star had met it's end in way akin to it's birth, it erupted in a brilliant display of bright blue and white light that illuminated the system and fleet, even going so far as to triggering their void shields to defend against the harmful rays, shown by the spheres of shimmering blue that materialised around the mechanicus ships. Where as the autumn planet protected by it's atmosphere was cast into eternal state of day, the dark side of the planet that was currently basking in the cool of night was thrown into the mist of a summers day in an instant.

Inside the Will of the Omnissiah's bridge the Magos and Tech-Priests that gazed beyond the observation windows could only see white as the glare of the initial explosion had yet to fade. The bridge itself even with the solar visor activated was shades lighter than previous, the shadows had been beaten back and the green glow from the cogitators was being overwhelmed slightly. Those that retained their Human eyes were forced to look away from the death of the star, a problem their mechanical brethren did not share as their eyes could easily adjust to the bright light.

Soon after the initial death of the dying star the glare soon faded allowing the black void to be seen once more along with the doomed system. In the far distance where once the erratic twinkling of the blue giant could be seen was no more, for in it's place a titanic uneven wave of blue and white fire and energy replaced it, like a vicious predator it crashed through the void looking for prey with an eerie silence that would unnerve even the most hardened hunter. Setting it's sights on the system in rushed forward, akin to a tidal wave fuel'd by a monsoon each plume of fire at the forefront of the wave bowled over one another in a desperate fight to reach the doomed system first and lay claim to it's destruction.

The Ark Mechanicus crew watched on as the silent wave of intense fire and energy crossed 100,000s of kilometres in seconds and soon reached the boarder of the system, the asteroid belt that bordered it had cowed instantly as the wave blasted through them, disintegrating many in an instant and sent others shooting throughout the system and beyond alight with blue flames, some being kilometres in length and width narrowly scrapped across one of the Mechanicus Light Cruisers void shields.

The wave with it's indomitable blue and white energy filled flames that could reach heats high enough to liquidise diamonds instantly posed as the bringer of end to the celestial bodies as they would offer no resistance to their ever encroaching demise.

Only an act of divinity would save the system now.

''My lord, augur arrays are detecting a spike from the anomalous energy upon the planet's surface, we have been able to ascertain it's position and have pinpointed it to the northern most continent coordinates -27.8996 56.7890, it seems to be growing in magnitude and rising'' came the sudden voice of Vadik in a hastily manner as he looked to the Magos, his statement having the effect of snapping the crew from their observations.

The Magos didn't show any visible reaction to Vadik's new observation as he continued to hold his back to his crew and gaze out into the void, other than the slight tilting of his head to look towards the servo skull that sat midair to his side, his action having the purpose of confirming that it was indeed still recording the events that were happening within the system and would continue to do so. Satisfied Magos Hextes returned his gaze to the void, in doing so noticing the supernova blast had already consumed over half the system.

If he were still fully Human he would have frowned at how this relatively standard resource mission could have potentially become an evaluate, excavate and recover procedure that would have at the most proved beneficial to both the Mechanicus and the Imperium, and at the least a welcome addition of information and data for the vaults of Mars.

''Is it reacting to the death of Mortuus Est:002364?'' inquired Hextes as he continued to gaze out the observation window.

''Unknown my lord, it could be just a coincidence'' replied Vadik, uncertainty laced in his voice.

''You understand how I have my doubts of such a notion Priest Vadik, this energy makes it's presence known moments before Mortuus Est:002364 makes it's final step in stellar evolution and then shows erratic behaviour at it's death... this is far more than a mere coincide-'' Hextes stopped mid sentence as he was unable to finish and he snapped his gaze from the wave of encroaching ruination to the autumn planet, or more specifically the northern continent of said planet as a flash of gold light caught his eye, like looking at the birth of a small star light-years away, in the middle of the golden planes and burnt orange forest filled continent a glimmer of gold light was born, it seemingly challenged the supernova.

Hextes Idly noticed the servo skull turn as the golden flash caught it's attention also, it's singular red eye blinking as it recorded it in interest.

''My lord, augurs are detecting a sudden emergence of vast psychic energy coming from the same source as the anomalous energy, we can now confirm it is of an organic nature and is measuring Beta / Alpha on the Psionic scale...no... it's rising to Alpha-Plus... now beyond Alpha-Plus and still rising!'' Vadik almost shouted, surprise and shock in his voice as he watched the charts upon his cogitator rise rapidly into the red zone and the number measurement to the side ascending in a blur of motion, and for good reason too, Alpha-Plus Psykers on their own were a threat to entire worlds, they were know to be have been able to turn a man inside-out with a glance, snap even the largest of Imperial Titans in two with but a flick of their wrist and summon an entire legion of Greater Daemons, although the last fact was only know to those that knew the true nature of the Immaterium, whatever being was currently residing upon the autumn planet was measuring beyond Alpha-Plus and rising by the second, whoever this being was it was stepping into the realm of psychic 'deities' like the Primarch Magnus, the Sigillite Malcador and the Emperor.

Vadik was suddenly immensely pleased with the fleet's current position at the rim of the system and not within the gravitational field of the planet, as whatever being was planet-side could easily sink it's psychic claws into the Ark Mechanicus Battleship and the fleet to bring them crashing down to the planet's surface and there they would be at it's sadistic mercy.

Many other priests also noticing the sudden change in events stopped their work, many looking to one another in uncertainty, while others gazed out into the void, none noticing the drastic change in the Navigators composure. Celestenya's eyes were wide staring un-movingly at the planet, her face locked in an expression of shock and slight terror, her breathing erratic. For none could feel what she as a Psyker could feel, within her mind this presence that had hid itself so deceivingly perfect till now that she had not known it was there, was now causing vast waves within the warp with truly monstrous might, Celestenya felt as though she was standing before the feet of a being that could make an Imperator Titan and mountains alike seem small, a being that shone with a radiance akin to a star that made her third eye sting, a being that had the power to crush entire worlds, it willed her to fall to her knees and weep.

But even so.

Celestenya's eyes grew wet and thin trails of tears ran down her cheeks to then fall off the slope of her jaw and splash against her golden breastplate.

Even so.

She scrunched her eyes tight along with her mouth as if she were holding back a sob, her eyebrows knitted together tightly.

Even so.

Her eyes shot wide open once more, tears still flowed freely and her eyes seemed to quiver as if they hurt, but a peaceful expression and small smile replaced that of shock.

Even so!

The presence was so pure!

It radiated benevolence, light and peace, it opposed the malevolence, darkness and chaos of the warp that Celestenya was so used to, it held traits so powerful a mere mortal could only comprehend with words of divinity, the feeling of a paternal heart that held a love and kindness that not even a thousand mortal hearts could match. While she stood at the feet of this celestial being she felt safe and willingly wanted to kneel before it, to lay herself bare before it's gaze.

As a member of the Belisarius House she had access to knowledge of the on goings in the Imperium that many did not and as such she heard of similar experiences to what she was in now, even as she would gaze at the Astronomican a similar feeling would pulsate her body albeit less to what she was feeling now. Tales from those that have stood within the presence of The Emperor and his sons spoke words that rung true now, words muttered in hushed whispers that sung tales of divinity, songs of Gods in corporal bodies walking among mortals in the materium, leading vast legions of humans turned angels of death; the Astartes to unite Humanity once more. She knew how the Astartes Legions would look upon their fathers with such reverence and awe going so far it would be akin to worship, some going even further, the Word Bearers spoke of their father to be a Demi-God and converted all worlds they conquered to the worship of the ''God-Emperor'' using the teachings within the scripts of the Lectitio Divinitatus, a book written by the Primarch Lorgar Aurelian himself that claimed to hold proof of The Emperor's divinity, that no mortal man could achieve such deeds in which he had. But the Lectitio Divinitatus conflicted with the Imperial Truth and The Emperor always denied his divinity and condemn his son's faith like the many other faiths he'd crushed under foot while spreading Imperial Truth.

Reverence and awe those two words were a few of many that she could use to describe this feeling... though fatherly was not one of them, this presence while immensely powerful lacked the strict hard edge of a patriarch or at least kept it hidden underneath the soothing ocean of gentle warmth that could only be described as matriarchal.

This presence was motherly.

''I was under the impression that this world was uninhabited of sentient life, how is it we could have missed such a being?'' questioned the Magos in his grating tone, his aggravation at the events clear.

Vadik made to reply in his defence until the bridge suddenly gained a slight golden glow as light pored in through the observation widows, seemingly not caring for the solar visor at all.

A thin beam of seemingly star filled golden energy shot out from the golden star on the autumn planet's surface, it pierced the planets Troposphere, Stratosphere and Mesosphere in seconds and soon tore through the Thermosphere to carry on even passed the planet's moon. The beam's form suddenly pulsated with a wave of brighter gold, shooting up the beam from it's source upon the planets surface to the very tip within the void and soon after the head of the beam split into six smaller kin, each moved in a graceful arching motion through the void, one moved above, another moved below, two moved to the far right passed the moon and the final two to the far left of the planet. Seconds later the beams seemingly connected to each other as a titanic golden shield materialised into existence, stretching to engulf the entire planet and moon, it's purpose now understood as it shielded the autumn world and it's singular moon, to deny the chaotic wave of the supernova any semblance of satisfaction in it's dying act of defiance by protecting it's charges from the now imminent wave of energy filled flames.

Meanwhile the Magos and his crew watched on in silence, too stunned to speak at these new events.

The wave of fire and energy had finally reached it's prey, the golden shield brightened slightly, seemingly already at battle with the encroaching heat that acted as emissary to the snarling beast of blue fire. The blast soon came into contact with the shield and to announce the beginning of the gold and blue battle, at the moment of contact between the two opposing forces a great disc shaped shockwave burst from the contact point, like an invisible wall coated with blue energy stolen from the supernova it stormed through the void, what little remnants of the asteroid belt remained disintegrated instantly as the shockwave cut a swathe through them, merciless in it's action it did not discriminate in it's choice of victims.

As the battle of gold and blue continued it soon became vicious, in what would seem like anger the blue flames clawed and slashed at the golden shield as it tried to encased it but was still being held at bay, like a wolf clawing at the mound of a rabbits barrow it seemingly snarled in indignation, furious that something would dare stand in it's way, much less push it back.

Having enough of this pitiful display, the golden shield started to glow brighter as it prepared to retaliate, not caring for the increasingly furious thrashing of the flames, it's surface grew brighter and brighter, until the planet underneath could be seen no more as the shield mimicked a star and soon reached it's pinnacle.

Once more a powerful shockwave burst from the shield, only this time taking the shape of a circular wall, the build up of light seemingly following with it as it burst forth and struck the snarling blue flames causing it to flail wildly as many 'arms' of fire were snuffed out in an instant, while what remained was carried away from the autumn world within it's care as the shockwave continued unhindered.

It's result being a wall of blue fire that followed shortly behind the smaller disc shaped shockwave, both heading to the systems boarder once more.

The occupants of the Will of the Omnissiah took notice of this almost immediately causing the Magos to spin round to face the crew.

''Divert emergency power to the void shields immediately and forward the order to the fleet, pray that the Omnissiah smiles upon us and soothes the fleet's machine spirits or calamity will fall upon us if their plasma drives overload'' the Magos practically preached to his crew sending them into a flurry of mechanical movements, many if not all chanting litanies of the Machine God as they worked.

Satisfied Hextes turned away once again, only for him to stiffen slightly at what he sees and then immediately slam his Omnisian axe to the floor and then hold onto it with both hands.

''Brace!''

Outside the disc shockwave finally came into contact with the fleet, transparent blue spheres of energy instantly materialised around the Mechanicus ships as their void shields reacted to the threat the shockwave promised, like the ships of ancient Terra once sailed through oceanic storms the Mechanicus ships road out the shockwave, the prow of each ship raising slightly as the wave passed underneath them to then disperse into the void behind them.

But it was far from over, for soon after the wall of blue fire was bearing down upon the Mechanicus fleet, in response with their void shields blazing the fleet pushed forwards, the multitude of warp engines upon their sturns roaring to life as streams of blue propelled them forward, straight to the maw of the encroaching beast and soon burst through the opposite side of the wall of fire filled energy, as they broke through the wall, the flames around their exit turned orange as it tried to grasp a hold of the ships and seal their fate by dragging them back into the fiery maw but only for them to be denied by the shimmering blue of void shields.

Free from danger at last the ships cut off their engines, while behind them the wall of fire slowly dissipated, having failed in it's act of dying defiance the last specs of the once great star faded from existence, leaving no legacy in it's wake.

At the same time within the bridge it was less than graceful, nor as aesthetically artistic as arcane ships riding upon a wave of blue energy and breaking through a wall of cosmic fire within an ocean of stars.

''Brace!'' shouted Hextes, only too late as the bridge and more than likely the entire ship shook violently and some cogitator screens flickered as the shockwave 'cut' through them, tech-priests within the bridge that had failed to acquire a sufficient grip in time were lifted off their feet by the powerful kinetic force to viciously collide with workstations, walls and one another, and then lay crumpled and broken upon the bridge's many surfaces, though none had perished as their enhanced bodies twitched and contorted as they tried to raise themselves up only to be lifted up once more as the ship crashed through the wall of fire and energy. Proof that the flesh was indeed weak while the machine was strong when everything had calmed they once more raised themselves up, the Skitarii helping the more 'damaged' priests to their stations.

Hextes had weathered it well, though one could hear the harsh raspy sound of his mechanical lungs trying to draw in as much air as possible, after righting himself he pulled his Omnisian axe from the floor in which it had embedded itself, gathering himself he set his attention to his crew.

Most had returned to their stations and were looking to him for orders, whereas one priest in particular, who just so happened to be the Lexmechanic from earlier had disconnected his mechanical arm at the elbow joint with his crane arm and brought his other arm over to then proceed to weld an obviously broken part together via a miniature blow torch within his index finger causing sparks to fly through the surrounding area, after finishing and inspecting his work he then reattached it to his elbow with a hiss and returned his attention to his cogitator, none of his fellow adepts taking notice or caring in what was probably a normal occurrence within the Priesthood.

''Lexmechanic what is the status of the ship and fleet'' ordered Hextes in an urgent tone as he walked over to the Lexmechanic's station, the string of present events starting to grate on him.

The priest in question bust into a flurry of movements upon his cogitator as he set forth to acquired the information the Magos desired, bringing up vast amounts of data upon his screen until seconds later he stopped and turned his blue bionicle gaze upwards at Hextes who now stood directly behind him.

''In short my lord thee Omnissiah has so graciously answered our prayers as the ship and fleet respectively has suffered minimal damage. Both Cruisers and Factory ships are reporting no damage, that being a miracle of his will itself due to the fragility of the Goliath-class factory ships. Two Light Cruisers to our rear are reporting the loss of their void shield capabilities and one no longer has operation of it's starboard armaments. Two of the four Light Cruisers upon our flanks seem to have suffered the worst of Mortuus Est:002364 wrath my lord, the starboard cruiser is reporting the loss of warp drive capabilities along with it's geller field generator, although their void shields are recharging as we speak and their full armament is intact. The port cruiser was not so fortunate I'm afraid, the entire ship has gone dark due to the loss of it's plasma drive and is currently drifting aimlessly as it's propulsion systems are inept, only short range vox communications are still active and there is a report of an atmospheric breach within their cargo bay, unfortunately the contingent of Skitarii within it's hold are failing to respond on the vox network so we can only assume that they are now with the Omnissiah.'' finished the Lexmechanic in an emotionless voice that seemed to make the report seem so much more tragic.

Hextes let out a raspy sigh as the Lexmechanic finished relaying the report, such a meaningless death for a Skitarii that should have died in the never ending quest for knowledge for the Omnissiah, not some freak void accident.

''May they find peace in his embrace'' responded the Magos while bowing his head slightly causing many around him to follow his lead.

''Indeed my lord. As for our own losses they are minor, but since we absorbed the brunt of the shockwaves our void shields have diminished and we have lost the use of three of our warp-engines due to the vast amount of electron neutrinos that struck our shields and caused an electromagnetic charge to cripple our systems, several servitors within the engineerium and the manufactorum have also malfunctioned. His will alone has spared our atmospheric controller, gravity generator and plasma and warp drives as they are resistant to electromagnetic warfare and have overcome the threat, I have already sent the repair protocol to the servitors on every deck, we shall have full functionality once more in minutes my lord, it will take far more to destroy a sacred Battleship of the Machine God.'' said the Lexmechanic once again in his emotionless tone.

Hextes gave a shallow nod.

''Very good, you will inform me as to when the fleet is once more fully operational'' said Hextes and with that he turned around once more and walked to the observational window just in time to see the golden shield around the autumn planet seemingly disintegrate into the void like the shedding of thousands of tiny stars, while the golden beams that connected it all travelled back down to the planet's surface and then disappear as if it had never been there.

Hextes gave a raspy sigh once more and shifted his Omnisian axe irritably, he had failed his mission to collect energy for the ever ravenous forge worlds of the Mechanicus, lost fine warriors of the quest of knowledge and inflicted damage upon a sacred fleet of the Omnissiah and had nothing to show for it other than excuses in which he knew his superiors one Fabricator-General Kelbor-Hal would not accept, thus he had sullied his name and that of the fleet. He hoped that what ever being resided upon the world in front of him was enough of a danger or a blessing to the Imperium and Mechanicus that the achievement of it's discovery by his hands would over shadow his failings or at the very least lessen the reproach he and his crew would suffer.

Looking away from the void to his front and once more gazing at the hovering form of the servo skull to his right, Hextes seemingly beckoned it's attention without having to say a word, a split second later the servo skull spun round to face him and then drew closer until it was but a breaths length away.

''Transmit all you have recorded to the Astropaths to be sent to Mars and Terra, this will no doubt be a matter of great interest to both'' commanded Hextes as he gazed into the single red eye of the eerie skull.

In response it's red eye blinked three times in confirmation of it's order, neither knowing that two on Terra and one on Prospero already knew what had transpired and so much more.

But also; four malevolent gazes within the hell-scape, the Immaterium turned their sight's to the star of Vega, one of unrelenting fury and a bloodthirst unquenchable, another of deception and cunning no mortal or never born could comprehend, next a transcendent feeling of hopelessness and despair of death itself, a great sickness, and finally a gaze of twisted pleasure, sadistic excess peaked and cold sensuous amusement.

All turned to the autumn planet and the being it cradled.

End of Chapter

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Next Chapter: The Emperor finally meets his last child and only daughter.

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