Chapter 21Ka'Bandha
"My lord… will you not intervene?"
"Trust her, Valdor."
Almost the instant the Warp disturbance manifested, the Emperor became aware of it.
He had long suspected that the Ursh Empire's endurance was not solely mortal in origin, yet even he had not expected direct daemonic manifestation.
When the Moranson Federation — whose entire populace had worshipped dark powers — had been annihilated, the entities of the Warp had not intervened.
Now they did.
Because Yuki was present.
This was no coincidence.
Far beyond the veil of reality, something watched with mounting interest.
The Blood God cared little for temples, prayers, or supplication.
But battle…
Battle pleased Him.
When Yuki first came into existence, Khorne had not paid her particular heed.
Others might favor a psychic prodigy.
Others might admire compassion, intellect, or beauty.
But Khorne desired none of these.
He desired war.
He desired fury.
He desired the perfect union of violence and purpose.
And now he watched a being who embodied both command and slaughter.
In Yuki's battles, he sensed something deeper:
a rising tide of fury,
a surge of exultation,
a joy found only in the crucible of combat.
That pleased him.
Other powers would notice her.
They would scheme.
They would whisper.
They would tempt.
No.
First blood claimed first right.
Today, he would test his claim.
The Warp rift widened.
A towering winged daemon forced its way into reality, brass armor fused to corded muscle, horns sweeping backward like blades. Its presence bent the air with heat and violence.
Behind it, lesser daemons surged — yet instinctively parted around Yuki, swarming instead toward the Imperial warriors behind her.
The greater daemon's voice shook the battlefield.
"I am Ka'Bandha, Bloodthirster of the Lord of Skulls.
Yuki — the Blood God marks you.
Join His legions.
Spill blood in His name.
Claim endless war and eternal battle!"
So it truly was Ka'Bandha.
Yuki had not expected to meet one of Khorne's greatest servants upon Terra.
She said nothing.
Her focus narrowed.
The battlefield faded.
Only the daemon remained.
She would destroy it.
She moved.
A golden flash crossed the battlefield.
Blade met hellforged axe with a detonation of sparks and thunder.
Ka'Bandha roared in savage delight.
At last — worthy resistance.
To mortal eyes, Astartes moved like shadows in a storm.
To the Astartes present, the duel between Primarch and Bloodthirster surpassed even that.
They saw only crimson and gold blurs colliding in explosive impacts.
Shockwaves blasted craters into the earth.
Lesser daemons were torn apart by the aftershocks of their blows.
Only Alpharius could follow the flow of the battle, his gaze locked on Yuki. If she faltered, he would intervene — consequences be damned.
Ka'Bandha laughed, voice like grinding iron.
"Yes… I feel it.
You burn with battle-joy.
You crave the struggle.
Serve the Blood God, and you shall know this ecstasy forever!"
"You misunderstand," Yuki replied, her smile cold and terrible.
"I'm excited because I'm about to kill you."
The smile would have frozen any mortal heart.
Ka'Bandha only laughed harder.
Recruitment could wait.
This battle was worthy.
The daemon's axe howled past Yuki's chest, missing her heart by a breath.
She pivoted, her blade carving toward his neck—
Chains snapped outward, binding her sword.
"Tch."
Impatience flickered.
The Astartes behind her could not endure this forever.
She had to end it now.
She released the trapped blade.
Instead of retreating from the descending axe, she stepped inside its arc.
The axe grazed past her skull.
Her remaining blade drove forward.
It punched through the daemon's chest.
With a savage twist, she ripped the blade free and cleaved deeper, tearing open half its torso.
Warp-fire bled from the wound.
Reality itself recoiled.
But she had not escaped unscathed.
The axe's edge tore across her left shoulder, opening flesh to the bone.
Blood flowed freely.
Ka'Bandha dropped to one knee.
Reality rejected him.
The Materium cast him out.
"You cannot destroy me, Yuki.
We will meet again."
"Is that so?"
She inhaled sharply and shouted skyward:
"Father!"
A blade fell from the heavens.
It struck the ground before her, embedding itself in stone.
When she seized its hilt, golden fire erupted along the edge — not flame, but annihilating psychic radiance.
Ka'Bandha snarled.
The Warp surged to reclaim its servant.
A vortex tore open behind him, dragging his form backward.
With a thunderclap of displaced reality, the Bloodthirster vanished.
Banished.
Not slain — but denied.
With the rift collapsing and Warp energy fading, the remaining daemons weakened rapidly.
Without the Immaterium's sustaining presence, they became unstable, brittle things.
They died quickly beneath bolter fire and Custodian blades.
Yuki finished the last few with the Emperor's burning sword.
"Withdraw."
The First Legion needed no further instruction.
They would speak nothing of this.
They were the Emperor's First — and his most silent.
Later…
"So, Father… you're going to explain this now."
"…It is phenomena that may yet be explained."
Yuki stared at him.
Her expression clearly said: Do you truly expect me to believe that?
Medicae servitors finished sealing the wound at her shoulder.
"Everyone out," the Emperor ordered.
Once the chamber was empty, a psychic ward sealed the room from all intrusion.
Then he spoke.
Of Chaos.
Of the Warp.
Of the Primarch Project.
Of forces that preyed upon humanity.
"Why didn't you tell me earlier?"
Yuki pressed her hand to her forehead.
If she had not already known… today might have ended very differently.
"So… will you tell my brothers?"
Silence.
"Oh, Father… you never learn."
Their disagreement resurfaced.
The Emperor believed ignorance protected.
Yuki believed preparation saved.
The sons would be targeted.
Better they be warned.
Few in the old histories had fallen willingly.
She exhaled.
"Let's leave that for now. What's your assessment of the Ursh Empire?"
"Their strength is confirmed," the Emperor replied.
"They possess extensive psychic cadres and a force numbering in the billions."
"…What?"
"And siege engines capable of leveling hive cities."
Yuki stood.
"Father, perhaps you should command personally. I suddenly remembered Mother needs me."
The Emperor caught her by the collar before she could leave.
"You need not fear. I will not assign you an impossible task."
"…Really?" she asked, suspended mid-air.
"Really."
(He looked entirely serious.)