The deck of the Tachyon was filled with a tension so thick you can fit ogruri appetite.
Fulgrim stepped through the airlock, his boots heavy against the deck plating. The moment he crossed the threshold, the harsh racking of weapons locking into place echoed through the corridor. Multiple barrels held with deadly, precise discipline were aimed straight at his chest.
"I have Mother," Fulgrim said, his voice raw, holding out his bundle. "I need to bring her—"
"Give Mother to us and surrender," an Uma Marine interrupted, stepping forward, her weapon leveled at his head. Her eyes burned with pure malice. "As much as I want to kill you... drop Mother and surrender."
Fulgrim's grip tightened briefly before he acquiesced. "I will. But promise me that you will put her in a stasis pod."
Without another word, he surrendered himself. He handed Agnes over to the Uma Marine, who took her with immense care before signal-ordering the surrounding squad to secure the traitor. A squad of UmaMarines immediately rushed Agnes toward the medical bay, placing her inside a stasis pod.
Shortly after she was secured, the Tachyon's blast doors opened to welcome reinforcements. The Night Lords and the Dark Angels had arrived, their combined presence making the remaining orbital and surface clean-up infinitely easier. Yet, despite the sweeping purges, a dark cloud hung over the victory Alpharius and Lorgar were nowhere to be found on the planet.
Inside the quiet bay, however, reality began to warp around the stasis pod.
A blinding, warm golden light erupted from within the glass chamber. The pod's automated locks hissed, failing under the sudden surge of raw energy, and the heavy door burst open. Agnes's body tumbled forward, only to be caught in mid-air by a quick-reflexed Uma Marine stationed on guard.
--
Meanwhile, within the metaphysical expanse of the Warp...
Agnes stood face-to-face with the towering, shifting mass of a Chaos God. The void around them thrummed with malevolent power, but her stance didn't waver.
"You want it? You got it. No sign of ever stopping the souls of all?" she spat, her voice ringing clear across the immensity of the immaterium.
"You call yourself a god... yet you can't understand your own thievery. Most think they must be dreaming, but they are trapped inside your shell... I am never bowing down!"
"I want you in the ground!" Agnes roared at the entity. "I don't understand how you thought you'd take me down I have already won this round!"
She snapped her fingers. A shockwave of pure spiritual force exploded outward, driving the shadowy tendrils of the Warp back into the gloom.
"I've also invested in spiritual power," she noted dryly as the surrounding realm shifted, hardening into an endless expanse of fractured mirrors and towering obsidian pillars.
"How can you stop an idea? Well, I'll give you a hint You walk the endless halls forever 'til you're forced to admit the worlds you can corrupt... and burn. You could be standing there. It's about time for your turn."
She turned her back slightly, casting a cold side-eye toward the darkness.
"So don't look to me. I'm just passing through. Don't give me your praises I don't want them. I was here when you started, I'll be here when you end. But the strings of fate remain... and you can't stop it."
She paused, her gaze locking onto a twisting, many-eyed silhouette manifesting from the shadows.
"So don't you try to cheat."
Tzeentch's shifting face stretched into a sickening, knowing smirk.
"You know that you don't like to play this role?" the Architect of Fate whispered, his voice echoing from every direction at once.
"You know I'm sitting on the edge of my seat. It's almost silly how little you know... and what I'd do to keep it from ever breaking free." He said still smiling.
"How can you stop an idea? Well, let's make a bet," Agnes cut in, taking a step forward. "I'll let you know I'm pretty lucky, so when you lose, don't get upset. You thought I was your friend... and I suppose I am."
She leaned in, her eyes flaring with divine light.
"But in the face of FEAR... you've got no power here!"
Tzeentch's grin faltered slightly as she pressed on, driving her presence through his realm.
"So don't look to me, I'm just having a ball. Don't give me your praises, I don't want them. I was here when you started, and I could make it end. I'm sure you'll love the show..."
"So don't call me your champion! You don't know what I am. Don't give me your promises, I don't want them."
Suddenly, a pull snapped at her soul a tether yanking her back toward the physical realm. Agnes noticed the golden thread wrapping around her wrists and smiled softly.
"Well, it was not nice to see you. When we meet again... I will kill you."
The golden illumination faded from the bay of the Tachyon.
Agnes's eyelids fluttered, and she opened her eyes to see the steel-reinforced ceiling of the starship and the face of a uma marine hovering right above her.
"Alright, I am back..." Agnes coughed lightly, looking directly at the Uma Marine catching her. "What did I miss?"
The Marine stared down at her, the bloodlust and cold discipline vanishing in an instant, replaced by overwhelming relief. Tears welled up in her eyes, trickling down past her cheekguards.
"Mother..." she sobbed softly, clutching Agnes close.
With the battle for the surface concluded, the loyalist forces systematically purged the remaining pockets of traitors. With Fulgrim safely captured and in chains, the enemy line was broken; only two traitor Primarchs remained at large, their legions decimated and their fleets crippled.
The Dark Angels, Night Lords, Salamanders, Iron Warriors, and Iron Hands were deployed into the deep void on a relentless crusade to hunt down the lingering remnants of the rebellion. Meanwhile, with her injuries slowly recovering, Agnes and the rest of the legions set their course home back to Terra.