The voices of these strange Mandrakes were grating and shrill.
"Aurelia Malys," one hissed, "by the command of Lord Vect, we convey his supreme will. Lord Vect demands an audience."
Malys let out a cold, dismissive snort.
"That coward. If he wishes to see me, why does he not come himself? Does he truly believe me ignorant of his puerile machinations?"
"Tell that craven Asdrubael Vect that I know exactly what game he is playing. How does he dare claim to be a living Muse? Does he think his previous flight from Commorragh went unnoticed?"
The Mandrakes exchanged looks of unease. These twisted parodies of the Aeldari were seldom prone to surprise, yet the truth Malys spoke was a secret few dared to whisper.
When Yvraine had breached the Khaine's Gate, unleashing a tide of daemons into the Dark City, Vect had chosen to flee almost immediately. From a hidden bolt-hole, he had remotely manipulated his Kabal of the Black Heart to maintain his stranglehold over Commorragh. Only after the daemons were purged and Yvraine exiled did he slink back into the shadows of the High City to resume his public reign.
…
In the grand spires of High Commorragh, Vect calculated the passing seconds with predatory precision. He turned, stepping into a pool of shadow.
His agents had not yet reported on Malys, a clear sign the madwoman had already deduced his plot. It was no longer safe to remain; he had to depart at once. He never underestimated the silver-tongued Archon of the Kabal of the Poisoned Tongue. While his own subordinates might remain loyal, the Kabal of the Black Heart was not the only power in this sprawling megalopolis.
The Haemonculus Covens and the Cults of the Wyches might not strike at him directly, but Vect remained vigilant. The Kabal of the Iron Thorn had long coveted his throne. Though they were among the first families to rise under his rule, ambition in Commorragh knew no debt of gratitude. As masters of industry, they controlled the weapon-smiths of the city, a standing threat Vect could not ignore.
Melting into the darkness, Vect reached a sanctum hidden deep beneath High Commorragh. Here lay a secret Webway gate leading to the city's outskirts. The passage was cramped, barely a few meters wide.
On the other side lay a heavily fortified chamber. Vect threw open the blast doors to reveal a massive, concealed hangar housing a Venom Blade-class Frigate. As he boarded, the vessel's engines roared to life.
The hangar doors slid back to reveal the Scarlet Harbour, territory belonging to the Kabal of the Poisoned Tongue. Vect had tracked Malys's movements for solar decades. This frigate had long posed as a smuggler's craft, occasionally engaging in the very illicit trades Vect himself had forbidden. He had always kept a close eye on the resources at Malys's disposal.
The frigate pushed its engines to the limit, streaking toward a Webway portal on the periphery of the city. Vect looked down at the war-torn spires of Commorragh and allowed himself a disdainful smirk.
That smirk vanished as the bridge reported a harrowing development.
The frigate was surrounded.
A swarm of Heavy Combat Drones had effortlessly boxed in the escaping vessel. Every Aeldari ship attempting to flee the chaos was being intercepted. A pre-recorded warning from Lady Malys broadcasted from the silver hulls of the drones.
Axion's objective was absolute: not a single soul was permitted to leave.
Sensing the trap, Vect ordered the ship to put about and return to the city. If escape was impossible, the depths of Commorragh offered more protection than a lone frigate in open space. However, the vessel's erratic maneuvers immediately drew the attention of Axion's tactical grid.
The drones converged.
In a panic, Vect ordered his gunners to fire. Dark matter beams and pulse fire lashed out, but the Heavy Combat Drones danced around the incoming fire with ease. A salvo from the frigate's Scythe missile launchers was detonated prematurely by the drones' plasma cannons.
Two Heavy Combat Drones accelerated, slamming directly into the frigate's rear engine housing. The light-bending properties of its shadowfield proved useless against the machines' sensors. The crippled vessel spiraled out of control, crashing into the outskirts of the city.
Malys observed the crash. She had yet to face Vect, and maintaining her standing was paramount. If these strange mechanical entities claimed to be honoring ancient pacts to aid the Aeldari, then the destruction of this ship seemed an opportune moment to test their intent. She led her retinue toward the wreckage to "rescue" any survivors.
Before she arrived, a group of figures scrambled from the burning hull, bolting toward the inner city. One silhouette made Malys's blood boil.
"Vect!"
At her shriek, the figure faltered. Vect spun around, whipping out a pitch-black sphere, a Shadow Orb. A massive arc of psychic lightning erupted from the relic, lashing out at Malys.
Malys summoned the Lady's Blade, driving it forward with her sheer force of will to intercept the psychic assault. Vect would not fall into her hands, not while he still drew breath. Malys was a Haemonculi; if she captured him, he would endure agonies far worse than anything She-Who-Thirsts could devise. He had no desire to be killed, resurrected, and tortured in an eternal cycle.
Seeing Malys parry his strike and close the distance, Vect drew his secondary weapon—the Sceptre of the Dark City. It was a power weapon of deceptive lethality, its ornamental appearance masking its crushing force. As Malys lunged, he thrust the shimmering sceptre toward her heart.
Suddenly, a metallic hand clamped down on Vect's arm.
The TR-09 Morlanad automaton, which had been shadowing Malys, had used its jump-thrusters to intercept. Its mechanical grip tightened, effortlessly snapping the arm that held the sceptre.
Vect let out a harrowing howl of pain.
A group of Automated Sentry-Troopers converged on them, seizing both Vect and Malys by their necks, hoisting them into the air like common poultry. To Axion, these were prime psychic power sources; he would not permit them to slaughter each other prematurely.
Only then did Vect realize that his remaining Kabalites of the Black Heart had already been pinned to the ground by these strange metallic giants.
In her restraint, a flash of madness flickered in Malys's eyes. Under her telepathic guidance, the Lady's Blade flickered through the air, plunging deep into Vect's chest.
As the light of life, filled with disbelief and unquenchable spite, faded from Vect's eyes, a surge of psychic power began to boil around Malys. Axion, sensing the escalating energy levels, felt his cogitative cores spin up in alarm.
Deep within the city, the remaining members of the Kabal of the Black Heart were blindly following Vect's final standing orders. As the Iron Men banished daemons and the Armored Wardens hacked the traitorous Emperor's Children to pieces, the Dark Aeldari were activating ancient, forbidden legacies to deal with the "Iron Plagues" brought by the traitors.