The flames of Elyos could still be seen from orbit. The once-holy planet now gleamed with patches of living metal. For some, it was heresy incarnate; for others, the dawn of a new age.
Aboard the Gloriam Ferrum, flagship of Vandemar, Lord Alex Augustus studied the tactical holoprojections dancing before him. Data-streams and fleet formations shimmered in the air. His armor, inscribed with glowing binary runes, thrummed like a living engine.
Magos Dominus Lerac Thol approached with a slight bow."The forges are complete, my lord. Over eighty thousand ferro-living units await deployment. The First Legion stands ready."
"And the Oath Worlds?" Alex asked.
"Cyrian and Dravos have pledged loyalty, but Helion and Thassos hesitate. They… fear the Core."
Alex smiled faintly. "Fear is the seed of faith, Thol. And faith is the spark of war."
Beyond the viewport, his fleet stretched across the void — a constellation of warships bearing the sigil of the Iron Core, a metallic sun eclipsing the Emperor's Aquila.
Across the galaxy, on the ruined world of Karsis IX, Inquisitor Marienne Voss gathered what remained of the loyalists. Around her, generals and Sororitas knelt before a makeshift altar carved from blood and oil.
"He's turned the Imperium against itself," she said. "Alex Augustus defiles faith with machine logic, and the Ordo Terra watches in silence."
General Cassian Holt growled, "Then we will not. Give the word, and we march."
"Not yet," she answered. "Not until we understand what he's become."
A servo-probe projected the last intercepted transmission — Alex, radiant in blue light, preaching to his followers:
"We are no longer servants of the Silent God. We are the voice that answers. We are the Iron that Believes."
Marienne's jaw tightened. "He doesn't want to destroy God… he wants to replace Him."
Inside the communion chamber of the Gloriam Ferrum, Alex connected his mind to the Core. Cables sank into his flesh, and his consciousness expanded beyond human limits. He saw everything — Vandemar, Elyos, the fleets, even the Warp itself twisting in unease.
"They still call you heretic," whispered the Core."They still don't understand the dream."
"They will," Alex answered. "Once they see."
"Then show them, my Apostle. Forge faith in iron. Turn flesh into memory."
The first assault struck Dravos Secundus.Through stabilized warp gates came the Iron Battalions, merging soldiers in biomechanical unity, forming colossal living fortresses.
Loyalist forces fought bravely, but the enemy's chants echoed like hymns of damnation:
"Iron lives. Iron believes. Iron never dies."
Dravos burned. Its temples became foundries, its priests — servitors.
"A purified world," Alex murmured. "Elyos will follow."
Thol hesitated. "My lord, the Warp whispers. The gods… they feel the Iron."
"Then let them feel," Alex said. "Let them know their age is over."
Meanwhile, Marienne's fleet advanced toward the Elyan system. Within her logbook she wrote:
"We fight not against machines, but against the idea that humanity must be corrected."
When she looked out the viewport, the stars twisted — Vandemar gleamed in the distance.
"Alex," she whispered, "you've become the god you swore to destroy."
In Vandemar's forges, bells of steel tolled.The Core pulsed like a star reborn. Alex Augustus, now called The Iron Lord, approached the Ascension Platform.
"If you do this," Thol warned, "you'll cease to be human."
Alex smiled. "Humanity was only ever a draft."
The Core opened before him, light pouring from its heart.He stepped forward.
"Flesh fears iron…""But iron dreams of flesh."
And with that, Alex Augustus vanished into the light.