"The Warrior King has arrived."
A Custodian messenger approached the council table, bowed deeply, and reported to the Master of Mankind: "Large-scale object signatures detected emerging from the Warp."
As the golden-armored guard spoke, the great hall's tapestries were slowly drawn back. The palace shutters retracted, allowing brilliant sunlight to pour into the Emperor's chambers. The light flowed through the golden hall like silk, heightening its regal opulence.
The port side of the Bucephalus (Imperator Somnium) was bathed in an orange-red glow as a massive star occupied the entire field of vision. To the starboard, the starry sky remained silent, the crystal viewports reflecting the sector of space where the Mandeville Point was located.
Unlike the usual exit of ships from the Warp, the calm of realspace was suddenly torn asunder, looking like a shattered corner of a mirror.
"What is that?" Ferrus asked curiously, his interest piqued by the Warp rift.
When Imperial ships enter or exit the Warp, they typically use Warp engines to weaken the veil of reality, "squeezing" through the thinned spot. The Imperium did this, as did many races with Warp-travel technology—creating a weak point to intrude upon the Immaterium.
The Warp gap before them, however, clearly utilized an unknown technology that completely tore reality apart. If there were sufficient energy to maintain such a rift, it could not only allow the ship itself to pass but could project an entire fleet in both directions, vastly enhancing mobility.
Ferrus Manus, extremely sensitive to advanced technology, watched the eerie, hollow Warp gap with great interest. What incredible technological marvel had his brother acquired now?
Realspace soon provided the answer. From the three-dimensional rift, a corner of a colossal entity emerged. Black obsidian-like glass reflected the shifting currents of the Warp as it slowly entered the physical universe.
That massive structure defied the human imagination of what a warship or star fortress should be. It was not made of steel, but appeared to be constructed from some kind of black stone. Its material and composition defied the laws of physics; a mass of that size should have collapsed inward, yet it stood proud, held together by some inconceivable force.
As the stone leviathan sailed out of the rift, the observers finally saw its full form. It did not conform to human engineering, yet it possessed a unique aesthetic. Two four-pointed stars, one above and one below, rotated in opposite directions around a central axis to form a unique eight-pointed star structure. From the central axis, four-way weapon barrels extended, rotating in unison with the overall architecture.
The Auspex projected an informational display: the Blackstone construct measured 500 kilometers at its longest diagonal point. From the tip of the upper pyramid to the lower, it stood 400 kilometers thick.
Without a doubt, from any perspective, the Blackstone ship was a symbol of absolute power.
Just as the Primarchs were marveling at the fortress-class vessel, multiple Warp gaps opened. Five more constructs of the same specifications completed their Warp jumps simultaneously.
Seeing this, some at the council table could no longer remain still.
The Primarchs wore varied expressions, their gazes searching, a sharp glint hidden in their eyes. Everyone present was a "dragon among men"; they naturally understood what the appearance of a large number of weapons of the same specification meant.
Standardization.
To combat the Rangdan on all fronts, these fortress-class ships would surely be distributed among the Legions to serve as peer-level weapons against the alien Battle Moons. With six fortress ships in total, Blazkowicz would likely keep one or two for himself; how the rest would be allocated remained to be seen.
Everyone at the table, save for the Emperor himself, was now a potential competitor!
"Let us speak elsewhere," the Emperor said, his gaze sweeping the room. He understood his sons' private thoughts perfectly.
He looked out into the void, his eyes locking onto the ships radiating Warp power. He raised his left lightning claw, and as it swept down, it tore a golden rift in the air.
At the same time, inside the central command hall of a Blackstone Fortress, a golden Warp rift appeared out of thin air. Blazkowicz glanced back but did not linger, focusing instead on the navigational data sent by the fortress's intelligence.
The eight-pointed form of the Blackstone Fortress was trembling, emitting massive Warp energy that distorted the space surrounding the hull. As fortresses of the Old Ones, when they entered the Warp, their hulls passively absorbed energy to form psychic shields. However, upon entering realspace, the excess energy had to be converted and released through the Blackstone to prevent a catastrophic accumulation of Warp power.
This was not a design flaw, but a necessity born of the War in Heaven. The intensity of the battlefields these fortresses were built for was beyond the imagination of their successors. The Old Ones' designs were entirely subservient to total war. Upon leaving the Warp, the ultra-heavy Vortex Cannons were already charged, shields were at full power, and energy was even overflowing.
The moment it entered a battlefield, the Blackstone Fortress was combat-ready, capable of operating at full capacity instantly to oppose the Necrons and C'tan. If there were no immediate combat, the need to bleed off excess energy was a minor inconvenience compared to the design's benefits.
"Brother! My dear brother!"
The voice arrived before the man. The loud shout was instantly recognizable. Russ stepped out of the golden rift with a beaming smile, his enthusiasm far exceeding his usual temperament. The Wolf King almost jogged to Blazkowicz , giving him a massive embrace, the gears in his head spinning rapidly.
"Awoo~ Awoo~" Freki and Geri also rushed to Blazkowicz's side, rubbing their massive wolf heads against his shins, their green eyes watery and their tongues lolling out.
To secure a fortress ship, Russ had thrown his dignity aside. He brought his wolf brothers and squeezed past the Emperor to be the first through the spatial rift. The Space Wolves were meant to execute harassment operations behind enemy lines; deep in enemy territory, they needed a weapon that could counter a Battle Moon and deliver a decisive blow. Otherwise, every time they encountered a megastructure, the "pups" would have to board it manually, resulting in staggering losses.
Regardless of other considerations, Russ had to get a fortress ship from his brother to reduce his Legion's casualties.
Blazkowicz pushed Russ aside and looked up at the other brothers and the Emperor as they emerged from the golden rift. He wasn't surprised the Emperor could reach this place. The Blackstone Fortress was venting Warp energy, making the surrounding space highly unstable. The Emperor, as one of the universe's premier psykers, would find it simple to use that spatial turbulence to teleport.
Ferrus nodded to his brother, then crouched down to stroke the Blackstone floor with his silver-grey iron hand, attempting to sense the technology within. His thick brows gradually furrowed. For the first time, his iron hands—usually successful in deciphering any machine—encountered something they could not understand.
There was no "technology" inside the Blackstone. The deep-layer atoms were arranged in a unique structure; the atomic nuclei contained not just neutrons and protons, but psychic runes inscribed upon them. The driving force of the Blackstone came from the psychic runes contained within every single atom of the fortress.
Releasing his arm and shaking his head powerlessly, Ferrus guessed that the psychic runes were operating not just within the atoms, but perhaps down to the level of quarks. This fortress ship was driven entirely by immaterial forces, transcending the shackles of the physical universe.
And as for studying immaterial forces—
Ferrus glanced at the Emperor. Imperial law strictly forbade any institution from studying Warp powers without the approval of the Master of Mankind. Should such a thing be discovered, the Imperium's lightning-fast judgment would show no mercy.
"What is this?" Before any of the other brothers could speak, Russ grabbed Blazkowicz's arm, putting on an air of intimacy.
Seeing the curiosity in his brothers' eyes, Blazkowicz did not hide the truth, revealing the fortress's origin: "A Blackstone Fortress. An extraordinary creation of an ancient race."
He noticed the golden passage closing and no one appearing after the Custodians. "Where are the others?" he asked.
Aside from Russ and Ferrus, only Sanguinius and the Lion were present. Vulkan, Guilliman, and Dorn were missing. Alpharius and Solas were also absent.
"It's a long story," Sanguinius said with a sigh, shaking his head. He pulled out a projector, tossed it onto the floor, and activated a holographic image. "Look at this."
Seeing the solemn expressions of his brothers and the regret etched in their brows, Blazkowicz felt a sudden sense of foreboding.
The holographic image lit up, revealing recent delayed intelligence and hidden secrets: strategic deployments, Legion assignments, and the rebellion of the Second Legion triggered by the investigation—and Solas being taken away by the Rangdan.
After watching the summary, Blazkowicz also sighed with regret. He hadn't expected Solas to leave so resolutely, turning completely to the Rangdan for the sake of revenge, leaving the Second Legion severely crippled.
However, Blazkowicz also noticed that the report was incomplete, with many key points left vague. There was no mention of Alpharius; the Hydra had chosen to hide, and the Emperor had sent emissaries to mind-wipe witnesses.
He finished reviewing the information and looked up with a serious expression. He understood the general situation, but the specific details would have to wait until he returned to his Legion.
Guilliman had not come to the meeting because he had temporarily taken command of the Second Legion and was currently deploying defenses in two major war zones; he had no time to leave. Vulkan was the same, leading the Salamanders and the Eleventh Legion at the front lines to relieve the pressure on the human defensive perimeter. The Imperial Fists were likewise deploying lines in the fourth war zone.
With Solas's identity revealed, all the defensive commanders—except Ferrus—were busy deploying their forces, not daring to relax for a moment.
They all knew that once the fighting began, they would be facing their own kin.