The arrival of twenty-three black ships spread rapidly through the primary communication networks of the Shadows of Order and the Blood Angels.
The Emperor's Claw, the Sisters of Silence, and the mysterious Ordo Sinister had come together.
The atrocities of Magc'Sithraal, the destruction of human world after human world within the system, had stirred the Emperor's memories of the long Old Night.
He would not tolerate the cruel atrocities of the xenos.
For the first time, the Warlord-class Psi-Titans of the Ordo Sinister set foot upon a true battlefield.
At the same moment the three Warlord-class Psi-Titans, bearing the wrath of the Master of Mankind, landed upon Magc'Sithraal, the Shadows of Order 8th Chapter launched an assault on the node connecting the two dock areas.
Seers who had once walked the Path of the Artisan had woven a vast psychic array here. Embedded within the shimmering crystal dome were stars.
Psychic runes, covering the ground, surrounded the six nodes of the array, madly drawing power from the Warp.
Multicolored, shimmering light refracted into rainbows.
Thierry Vierra's blade spun, tearing apart five Dire Avengers.
He felt a shift in the air and turned his head.
Bolts of lightning tore across the sky. An elegant, massive Aeldari construct strode forward.
The construct's elegant form was imbued with artistry; the exquisite craftsmanship of its creator was a delight to behold.
Its transcendent form towered far above an Imperial Knight; its graceful form made Imperial Titans seem grotesque.
"Wraithknight!" Thierry shouted the warning over the comm network, drawing the attention of every Shadow of Order.
Their gene-father's pre-battle briefing had emphasized this type of Aeldari construct.
A Wraithknight required at least a pair of Aeldari twins. Their psychic connection was far stronger than that of other Aeldari.
They could sense each other's distance, emotions, even thoughts.
When one died, the survivor would often vanish into grief.
At that point, the deceased's soul was often transferred into the Wraithknight, and the living twin would enter the cockpit, falling into a permanent fugue state.
The father had also mentioned that the best way to inter the dead was within the spirit stones of the Crone Worlds, the Aeldari's lost homeland.
Until they found that optimal method, they would inter triplets, even quadruplets, using their deeper connection to pilot the Wraithknight.
Thierry had no doubt about the Black Emperor's foresight regarding the Aeldari, including His prophecy that it would be three thousand years before they discovered spirit stones and built stable Wraithknights.
As the "Guardian" shouted his warning, his obsidian eyes flared with the light of dawn, focusing on the white cockpit.
One Aeldari, bathed in light.
Two forms, dim and shrouded in pale light.
One living. Two dead.
The pale light blazed.
The Wraithknight took a single stride, closing the distance to Thierry. Its shimmering ghostsword whistled down.
Thierry was about to kneel, to use "Guardian" to withstand the blow, when he felt a shift.
He straightened his bent knee, his body springing up.
The Black Emperor had decreed that Court members should not reveal clearly anomalous beyonder abilities in the presence of allied forces unless their lives were threatened.
Whoosh!
The ghostsword cut empty air, slamming into the ground.
Rumble!
The ground shuddered, a massive fissure splitting open.
Raldoron, First Captain of the Blood Angels, watched the battle from afar. The giant xenos Titan's sword blazed with lightning.
Thierry was taller and more robust than any other Astartes, yet against the xenos Titan, he appeared like a small child facing a towering monster.
Yet the "child," amidst the thunderous storm, leaped and bounded, narrowly evading each attack.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!
Three black-armored figures leaped out. Their glowing blades struck the Wraithknight's slender, elegant leg bones.
Bang, bang, bang!
The rock-like bones shuddered. The xenos construct's entire body swayed.
'Powerful!' Raldoron looked with surprise at the three black-armored warriors. Though smaller than Thierry, they were far more massive than other Shadows of Order and Blood Angels.
He roared the order: "Attack!"
Raldoron's battle group opened fire. A coordinated barrage filled the air, raining down on the Wraithknight.
Librarian Kano struggled to raise his force staff. A light flickered on Raldoron's blade. His streaking barrage was also wreathed in shimmering light.
Raldoron broke into a run. His stream of bolt shells streaked with precision towards the xenos Titan's face.
Amidst the detonations, diamond-hard shells pierced the psychic barrier, pounding against the white glow of the construct's cockpit.
Cracks spread.
The living twin, shaken from his grief, raised his arm, which moved as smoothly and fluidly as if it were a living thing, like a spear.
His movements, like the sweeping of the greatsword, were unlike those of an Imperial Titan, where the so-called 'perfect integration' of consciousness and mechanical body was, in reality, crude and clumsy.
Every molecule of the Wraithknight was part of its essential nature, composing a living whole.
Raldoron threw his body back, his power pack almost touching the ground.
A shrieking, howling storm of death-crystals roared past, slamming into the 1st Company.
Forty-two veteran Blood Angels, seasoned by countless battles, were killed in the ear-splitting shatter of thousands of crystal shards.
Kano, in the final instant, raised a barrier.
He was sent flying with a bang, tumbling and crashing to the ground.
A stream of runes flashed across Raldoron's visor. Familiar names seared his eyes.
With a roar of fury, a surge of strength erupted within him, driving his body upright.
Raldoron raised his sword, sweeping it in a howling arc.
Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang!
Raldoron, Knight Lord Thierry, Captain Buka of the 1st Company, Captain Joe Watara of the 2nd Company, and Captain Pierre Wright of the 3rd Company, five blazing swords struck the construct's right calf simultaneously.
Boom!
The brittle, unknown porcelain-like material shattered. The construct's calf buckled.
Raldoron's eyes lit up. He moved to circle behind the xenos construct, to combine his attack with Thierry and the others.
Whoosh!
A massive shadow loomed over him.
Raldoron turned his head. Two more constructs were approaching with elegant strides.
They moved with a flowing grace, unlike the ponderous Imperial Titans.
One of the Titans lunged forward, the mirror image of his own extreme backward lean moments before. Its massive fist crashed down.
Electromagnetic flames, wreathed in heat-haze, erupted from its gleaming fist. The ravening storm tore through the ground.
Whoosh!
Before the destructive flames reached him, the gale-force energy battered his armor.
Raldoron was about to drop his boltgun, raising his sword in both hands for a final, desperate strike.
Then, deafening cheers erupted in his ears.
Raldoron felt his body lighten. The tip of a pristine white wing swept across the edge of his vision.
"Father!"
His body shot into the air. Another pair of golden wings reflected in his eyes.
His gene-father, Sanguinius.
The gene-father of the Shadows of Order, Nareth.
Both Primarchs descended upon the battlefield simultaneously.
The blazing golden light and the pristine white wings intertwined in radiance.
Boom!
Raldoron turned towards the sound. A massive golden fist spun through the air.
....
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