Webway, Ilmarin
068.M41
Sanguinius
Sanguinius hovered lightly above a broad terrace perched on one of Ilmarin's spires, where his private quarters were located. A few miles below, in vast, interconnected plazas stretching tens of millions of square meters, his strike force was embarking on large, sleek ships, destined to accomplish the impossible: strike at the very heart of the enemy of every mortal race.
For the first time in history, the mortal races would dare attack the domain of one of the Chaos gods, and Sanguinius vowed to do everything in his power to make these vile creatures feel true fear. The cards were about to turn. And the Ruinous Powers were about to realise that a new player had entered the game, one who had no intention of playing by their rules.
His gaze swept over his elite forces, which had been trained for this very purpose for the past few millennia. Under Raldoron's command, his 10,000 Angel Custodes, genetically modified by the Old Ones - masters of genetic engineering—stood at the peak of human capabilities, each serving as an extension of his own powers and proving deadly against chaos and psykers, rivalling even the mightiest of the Blanks.
They wore gold and black armour, modelled on Krork's own armour, which he considered the pinnacle of powered armour, and nearly a third of them wore the mighty Raeper Armour, a refinement of the Terminator one used by the Imperium.
Further along, in neat rows, stood the battalions of the Heirs of the Flame, in their sleek white-gold armour. 15,000 elite Aeldari warriors, each at least a Warlock psyker trained by Mind, and all of them bound to Sanguinius's own soul by a pact that protected them from Slaanesh and the influence of the Chaos.
Further north, the embarkation of 30 legions of Titans, adapted for combat in the Immaterium, was underway. They were protected by powerful protective fields developed by the Old Ones specifically for this purpose, far more advanced than the Gellar Field.
The immense colossi formed an impenetrable metal forest, and even the virtually indestructible walls of Ilmarin trembled slightly with the procession. Each one was commanded by one of his fallen sons, who, even in death, had served him faithfully, choosing battle over rest.
And finally, two thousand Kroks under Varrok's command, each immune to the powers of Chaos, their racial psychic ability enhanced by the technology of their creators, destined to be a vital element alongside Sanguinius himself in the fight against the influence of Nurgle's domain.
He turned his gaze to the Old Ones floating nearby, their minds as full of anticipation and excitement as his own. His eyes fell on Mind. "Are you sure this will work? I can still try to do it," he said, his voice worried, for the task they were about to undertake could destroy them. "This amount of Empyrean energy..."
"You forget that even crippled and a mere shadow of our former selves, we were the first gods of the Immaterium," Prophet replied, his voice carrying traces of tartness and wounded pride. "And you, young Sanguinius, had better focus on Nurgle himself. The Chaos Gods are now at the peak of their power, as dangerous as ever, and it would be unwise to underestimate them."
"Trust us. We will keep the energies in Nurgle's domain stable as long as you keep his attention," Mind added, and Sanguinius felt a twinge of shame, doubting his teachers.
"I understand. I'll leave it to you then," he replied, then, after another glance at the combat units boiling below, added, "The time has come."
"Go ahead. We've been waiting for this all this time," Prophet admitted.
Sanguinius teleported directly to the Inner Sanctum; the wards protecting it allowed him through without issue, considering he had the highest level of access. The chamber had not changed since last time, except perhaps for one thing.
The Spear of Destiny, floating in the air at its centre, glowed brighter than ever, to the point where it seemed made of pure light.
Sanguinius flew closer—though "glided through the air" would probably be a more accurate word, for he didn't use his new wings or psychic powers but rather the sheer force of will and control he now had over matter as a half-C'tan. Aeglos began to tremble slightly and practically sing a song only he could hear.
How long he had waited for this moment, and how many times he had imagined it. Now the moment had arrived. He stretched his right hand out in front of him, and the spear of light leaped from its levitating position and flew into his hand with a force that would have shattered even his former body.
When he grasped it, he was nearly blinded and overwhelmed by the amount of energy it held. Millions of years of accumulating the power of hundreds, then thousands, of Shards of C'tan meant that in his hands lay a weapon capable of causing destruction on a previously unimaginable scale.
However, he intended to use it for an entirely different purpose: to bring everlasting peace to this grim-dark universe.
Oh, he had no doubt that this process alone would involve a tremendous amount of death, suffering, and destruction, and that all who opposed it would have to be assimilated or eliminated. He was an idealist, but not a naive idiot, and his blood had been dipped in countless beings.
He quickly regained control, however, as thoughts began to creep into his mind that with such power he could challenge Chaos Undivided. The last thing he wanted was to scupper all his plans through sheer arrogance.
He tightened his grip on the Spear of Destiny and used one of its primary powers. Suddenly, space ripped open before him, revealing a circular passageway, on the other side of which lay Terra, surrounded by the emptiness of space, countless ships, and docks suspended in the void.
He flew through the portal and emerged on the other side, for the first time since the attack on Mars, saturating himself with the energy and matter surrounding him.
Moreover, now a completely new being, his understanding of the universe around him was entirely new, revealing previously hidden secrets. He saw the fundamental forces that created the universe, the bonds and interactions of atoms and their smaller components.
He perceived the influence of gravity on Terra and Luna and the fact that it completely ignored him, the various waves that traversed the cosmos, and much more.
He could now understand why the C'tan considered themselves gods. Not only did he perceive how the reality around him worked, but he knew he could influence it, even bend it to his will. And not through the powers of the Immaterium, but through pure manipulation of energy and matter, for he knew its fundamental principles and laws.
He could probably eliminate the corrupt, fanatical rulers of the Empire, the High Lords, the Ecclesiarch, and all the rest, but he would have to sacrifice trillions of human lives for something that wouldn't actually work, for the Empire was too vast and too saturated with corruption and fanaticism at every level, not to mention the ubiquitous servants of Chaos infiltrating the Empire from within.
He couldn't help but think of his father, the Emperor. How would he react, seeing him now, now more like some xenos deity than a human? Would he be furious? Disappointed? Or perhaps this had all been part of his plan all along, and he would be pleased that it had worked. As was always the case with his father, he didn't know what to think.
He closed his eyes, clearing his mind, and then stepped into another gaping hole in spacetime. On the other side, Commoragh, drenched in blood and suffering, awaited him, a grim conglomeration of cities, planets ripped from their orbits, and everything in between, creating a creation of almost incomprehensible vastness. But instead of delighting, it felt like a repulsive parasite feeding on the Webway.
However, he had to put those plans on hold for now. Attacking the Lord of Decay's domain and freeing Isha were the top priorities right now. However, that didn't mean he couldn't stir things up a bit and give the Drukhari something to do.
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He tightened his grip on the C'tan-fleshed shaft of Aeglos, pouring his intent and will into the Spear of Destiny. The space before him ripped open as if slashed with a scalpel, transforming a moment later into a circular gateway, from which the stench of rot, decay, and corruption immediately poured. Chaos energies surged against the warpgate, but Sanguinius blocked them easily, then gradually expanded it.
First, the warpgate grew to the size of a Dreadnought, then a Knight, and finally a Titan. Once ready, six of the largest Titans could pass through it side by side. Sanguinius was the first to cross it, feeling the technologically enhanced presence of the three Old Ones, who would be the only barrier between his forces and the deadly energies of the Immaterium.
The moment the passage to his Garden opened, Nurgle must have sensed their presence, for his sinister will struck Sanguinius almost immediately, and he responded accordingly. Nurgle attempted to crush his mind with his very presence, but all he encountered was an infinite Void that struck fear even in the god. But this unimaginably powerful deity in its own domain refused to let up.
As their minds clashed on metaphysical and psychic levels, his army pressed forward, growing larger with each passing moment as more forces passed through the warpgate he had created. Daemons of the Lord of Decay began to converge on them from all sides, from small Nurglings to the equally powerful and disgusting Great Unclean Ones. The marching, sprawling Titans opened fire with the newest weapons based on his own powers, while energy beams and Void-infused projectiles wreaked havoc among the daemons.
It seemed as if two worlds had collided, and in this first phase of the battle, his forces seemed to push back the Plague Lord's daemons, unprepared for their attack.
His Custodes and the Aeldari Heirs of the Flame were trained for this purpose, to combat the forces of chaos above all else. Their minds were not only tempered but also protected by his own divine essence, with which they were inextricably linked.
Sanguinius, knowing he must exploit every advantage in this initial phase to have any chance of reaching Isha, ignited the Asuryan fire burning within his soul and lent it to an attack on Nurgle, who recoiled as if burnt under the onslaught of what seemed to be two opposing forces.
The Immaterial and Material power of the new god clashed with the strength of the chaos god, theoretically invincible in his own domain, entrenched over millions of years.
Before focusing entirely on their duel, he cast his thoughts back to his mentors, checking if they had begun to counter the energies of this realm. Indeed, he clearly saw something beginning to push the corrupted energies of chaos and corruption away from the Destiny Gate.
He turned his full attention to the Lord of Decay, who had also noticed what was happening, but even he couldn't allow himself to lose focus on their clash for even a moment. The slightest mistake could spell irreversible disaster.
For the first time, mortals had set foot in the Garden of Nurgle of their own free will, and for the first time, they had launched an assault on the domain of one of the Chaos Gods. Sanguinius knew that this moment would change the future of this entire grimdark universe.