The scene was identical to the first time he had planted the Tree of Might.
Its roots swiftly bored into the planet's core and began to siphon the life from every living organism across its surface.
Countless soft-bodied creatures of various colors, resembling slimes, were absorbed by the tree's encroaching roots and vanished without a trace. The entire planet's slime population descended into a frenzy, scattering in a state of agitated panic. But the roots of the Tree of Might, like the very talons of death, plunged deep into their bodies and devoured their lives.
The planet's environment began to collapse. Its atmosphere dissipated as all the acidic and toxic substances were absorbed by the tree and converted into life energy.
Watching this horrifying spectacle from the ship, Cassandra was aghast.
She had never imagined that such a terrifying plant could exist in the universe. This was an entire world.
She could understand destroying a planet by dispatching armies and bombarding it with a massive fleet. But to witness such a strange plant consume the life of an entire world, this was a first for her.
"What a terrifying plant."
The Tree of Might grew at a fanatical pace. The acidic soil began to turn to desert, and every nutrient on the planet was systematically stripped away.
A day and a night passed.
The Tree of Might had transformed into a monstrous giant, soaring some fifty thousand meters into the sky. Its root network had spread to envelop almost the entire globe.
This planetary consumption continued for two days until the Tree of Might had successfully absorbed all the planet's nutrients, eradicating every last speck of life.
Once he confirmed that the tree had fully matured, Axis, along with Cassandra and a robotic avatar of Solus Prime, journeyed to a massive hollow in the middle of the trunk.
"It is strange for the fruit to grow in such a place," Cassandra remarked, "Shouldn't it be on the branches?"
"Look at the bright side, we would have a much harder time harvesting it from the branches," Axis replied, "It's far easier for us inside this cavernous space. Come, let's get to work. We need to pick all the red fruit and transport them off the world."
Cassandra nodded and began to harvest the Tree of Might fruit within the great hollow, working alongside Solus Prime's robotic body.
Axis picked the first fruit for himself and ate it on the spot.
This time, the fruit was still incredibly sweet, but it now carried a subtle hint of sourness, likely an effect of the environment in which it was grown.
The life energy it contained, however, was about fifty percent greater than the fruit from the first planting.
This resulted in a larger, fuller fruit with a more pronounced pinkish hue. Even the seeds from this harvest had a faint reddish tint, bringing them closer in appearance to the original first-generation seeds.
This planet was similar in size to Holy Terra, and the fruit it yielded was of a significantly higher quality than the last.
For his third planting, Axis decided he would test these newly cultivated second-generation seeds to see what kind of fruit they would produce.
It took the three of them less than half an hour to gather all the Tree of Might fruit.
"Father, I have completed the calculation," Solus Prime reported, "We have harvested a total of 846 fruits. You have consumed one, leaving 845."
"Good," Axis said. He handed two of the fruits to Cassandra, "Take these two to your comrades. Have them deliver this fruit to the Laughing God. These can only be eaten once per planetary harvest for the most effectiveness. A second dose will have no effect."
The Eldar's Laughing God would become his ally in the future, and they would share intelligence.
Strengthening him now was no issue. Axis wondered just how much of a fight the clown could put up after this boost.
The next time they met, he planned to have a sparring session with the jester. One could not simply eat his Tree of Might fruit for free. He expected to see some results for his investment.
Cassandra nodded gravely, carefully accepting the two fruits.
She took out a communication device and contacted a nearby Harlequin Troupe, entrusting them with the fruit for their god.
Afterwards, the group returned to the Solus Prime.
With its purpose fulfilled, the plundered planet began to break apart.
Its ecosystem had been utterly annihilated, leaving it a dead world, stripped of all its biomass.
"You can tell your companions," Axis said to Cassandra, "that if they ever encounter a planet in this condition in the future, there are two possibilities. Either I am planting a Tree of Might, or the Tyranids are coming."
"Yes, Lord Axis. I will inform my comrades in the Troupes," Cassandra replied, her expression serious.
That evening, a tremor in the Warp tore through the veil between reality and the Immaterium. A lone Gloriana-class battleship, without any escort fleet, materialised in the unfamiliar star system.
It was the flagship of Magnus. Aboard the Primarch's vessel were not only members of the Thousand Sons Legion but also the Great Angel, Sanguinius, accompanied by a hundred of his Blood Angels.
At Magnus's request, Sanguinius had left his own Gloriana-class battleship behind.
"Hasn't Axis arrived yet?" a magnificent figure standing beside Magnus inquired.
He was nearly 3.8 meters tall, clad in resplendent golden armor, with a pair of enormous, pure white wings unfurled from his back. His face was exceptionally handsome.
The ship's sensors depicted a silent and seemingly lifeless star system, with no other vessels detected. Magnus remained silent. It was not in Axis's nature to be late.
"My Lord Primarchs," a mortal naval commander reported from the sensorium station, "this is very strange. The planet designated for Exterminatus should be in this system. However, our scans show no suitable life-bearing worlds. In fact, in the exact orbital path where the target world was supposed to be, there is now a dead planet."
It was exceedingly strange.
One might even say eerie. Had the scout ship provided them with the wrong coordinates? Such a rudimentary error was something the reconnaissance corps should never make, and they had confirmed this was the correct target system.
"Oh? And what does this planet look like?" Magnus asked, a thoughtful look in his eye.
"The target is no longer a living world," a naval officer stated, "There are no signs of life, not even an atmosphere. It is, for all intents and purposes, a dead world."
"My Lords, something is not right. This planet seems... unnatural."
"That is perfectly normal," Magnus said, "It seems the Exterminatus is no longer our responsibility." He knew what had happened.
Axis had told him about the Tree of Might. The planet was in this state because that boy had already arrived and planted the tree.
Magnus had originally intended for this mission to be clandestine, bringing only his own battleship and leaving the bulk of his Legion to resupply in a neighboring system.
Sanguinius's main fleet had also been left behind, with the Angel and a hundred of his sons boarding his vessel. Wiping the memories of the mortals aboard a single Gloriana was a simple enough task for him, but it appeared Axis had been even more thorough.
"Magnus, Axis is already here, isn't he?" the Great Angel Sanguinius asked.
"He should be. Sanguinius, come with me," Magnus said. He gestured for his brother to follow him into a private chamber on the battleship.
The moment the two had entered the room and sealed the door, a flare of psychic energy washed over them. Axis materialized before them, having used a psychic teleportation to board the ship.
His sudden appearance startled the Great Angel, who instinctively reached for his weapon. Magnus, however, raised a hand to signal that all was well.
"Haha! Quite a dazzling entrance, Brother!! You arrived well before us," Magnus commented.
Magnus had hoped to observe firsthand how the Tree of Might devoured a planet's life, but it seemed Axis had quietly completed the task on his own.
"I was just ensuring this remains a secret," Axis said with a friendly smile, turning to his other guest.
"You must be Sanguinius. It's a pleasure to meet you. I am Axis, Primarch of the XII Legion."
"A pleasure to meet you," Sanguinius said, offering Axis a respectful nod, "I am Sanguinius, Primarch of the IX Legion, the Blood Angels."
Axis was not created by the Emperor, but rather modified by him, meaning he did not share the Emperor's blood. Strictly speaking, he was not a brother to the other Primarchs. Furthermore, Axis had married the woman who was, by name, their sister. He did know yet what to address him as.
The Primarchs all held a complex and subtle attitude towards her. There was a touch of happiness, but also a hint of insecurity, for she was born naturally, while they had been forged in incubation capsules.
Some Primarchs even harbored doubts as to whether she would ever acknowledge them as her siblings.
Axis smiled and stepped forward to shake Sanguinius's hand, formally marking their first meeting.
"It has been too long, Axis," Magnus said with a laugh, "I could have simply wiped the memories of every mortal on this ship. You needn't have worried."
Though the two had maintained frequent contact through their psychic link, decades had passed since they had last seen each other in person. The last time, Axis was still a Space Marine; now, he stood as an equal, a Primarch.
"I just didn't want to trouble you," Axis replied, "This way, no official record will ever exist. The planet simply vanished due to some strange phenomenon. That is all."
"So, your movements this time were entirely covert? Where is your ship? How did you even get here?" Magnus asked, his curiosity piqued.
How had Axis traveled to this system? And what kind of vessel could possibly evade the sensors of a Gloriana-class battleship?
"Ah, that," Axis said, "It's an ancient vessel I came across by chance. It's as large as a moon. The ship possesses remarkable stealth capabilities and is extremely fast in the Warp. That is how I arrived. It's parked not far from you now, cloaked in both a physical and anti sensor field."
Axis planned to formally reveal the Solus Prime to the Imperium soon enough. Now was a good time to start laying the groundwork.
"Is it a relic from the Dark Age of Technology?" Sanguinius asked, "Something like Rogal Dorn's Phalanx?"
Axis's description immediately brought another vessel to his mind. The Phalanx, flagship of the Imperial Fists Primarch, was a fortress-monastery from mankind's Golden Age.
Dorn had discovered it long ago and refitted it. It now served as the heart of his Legion, a vessel larger even than the Emperor's Imperator Somnium. If Axis's ship was indeed from the Dark Age of Technology, then it was certainly plausible that it could hide from a Gloriana's sensors.
After all, during humanity's golden era, a Gloriana-class battleship would have very well been little more than a common merchant vessel.
"It's a little larger than that," Axis confirmed, "I'd call it a celestial-class warship."
The current Solus Prime had undergone numerous upgrades and no longer resembled the original vessel created by the Randan Empire.
It was now considerably larger.
"Then let us continue this conversation on your ship, Axis," Magnus suggested. He, too, wanted to witness the power of a giant warship from the Dark Age of Technology.
"No problem," Axis nodded.
He placed a hand on both of their shoulders and with another teleportation, moved the three of them to the bridge of Solus Prime.
"Welcome back, Father. And welcome, Lord Primarchs," a voice announced.
On a virtual screen, the image of a young girl appeared, formally introducing the ship's consciousness to the two Primarchs. "I am the Solus Prime."
As for the Necron and the lone Eldar aboard, Axis had hidden them deep within a sealed chamber of the ship.
They were secrets that could not see the light of day.
While Cassandra had been given a joker's card by the Laughing God, it would likely prove useless against the prying psychic senses of Magnus.
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powerstones!!!