"Gag... This stuff is... blurgh... fucking foul."
"I can't... gag... I can't keep it down."
Two Cadian Whiteshields had been dry-heaving ever since drinking the Queen's Transfusion mucus. Though they didn't know exactly what it was for, their officers had begun large-scale distribution of the green slime.
The city's quarantine zone was established near a forest far from the residential areas. Even in this era of broken humanity, the physicians from Aiur accorded these patients maximum human rights; at the very least, they wouldn't be abandoned or tossed into a pit to be buried alive.
In the low-risk quarantine camps, scores of patients suffering from fever, coughing, and itchy skin were held steady by armored Medics and forced to swallow the difficult-to-ingest healing mucus. Finally, under the glow of a healing beam, their minor ulcerations and wounds began to gradually knit back together.
As for the high-risk camps, most of the occupants no longer had the strength to resist. No one knew if the person next to them might turn into a mindless plague zombie at any second, so Firebats were deployed to accompany the Medics.
In a subterranean space far from the city, Alexei stood with a high-capacity iron bucket in front of a Queen. "Can you still spray?" Seeing the Queen indicate she was completely "milked" dry, he waved her off and gestured for the next one to step up.
A dozen Queens were already huddled in the corner. Tasking them with the epidemic prevention of hundreds of thousands of people was pushing their biological limits. Even at the upstream end of the inner-city river, several Queens were busy pumping Transfusion mucus into the water. Nearby, Cawl and Crane remained immersed in studying the chemical properties of the secretions.
After handing the bucket of mucus to several Medics in power armor, Alexei delegated the rest of the task to them. He clapped his hands, ready to depart, and glanced at the two Archmagi of the Mechanicus; seeing them still lost in their research, he decided not to disturb them.
Stepping out of the underground space, Alexei looked up at the Warp scar overhead. "The epidemic here is largely under control..." He began to consider expanding toward other planets in the sub-sector. Brand had already taken a small reconnaissance fleet to scout neighboring systems, but Alexei had a nagging feeling that this Nurgle "Blood Plague" hadn't just affected Doppler—its true target might be him.
Alexei planned to return to Aiur first. Creed, however, expressed his desire to remain on Doppler III to help the Cadians develop the planet. Alexei didn't stop them; the Lord Castellan had repeatedly emphasized that Aiur would forever be a friend to Cadia, promising that should Aiur ever face hardship, they would come to help.
"A military alliance? Fair enough." Standing on the shuttle back to Aiur, Alexei glanced down at the half-purple agricultural planet. Doppler III was now effectively within his sphere of influence. He wasn't worried about the Cadians turning against him on Imperial orders; after all, Doppler III hosted an Aiur garrison, instantaneous large-scale quantum communication arrays, and numerous Zerg-infested planets within the system. He disliked anything he couldn't control.
Alexei finally returned to his spire chambers on Aiur. Lying on a soft, large bed, he stared blankly at the ornate ceiling. Even though sleep wasn't a strict biological necessity for him, the long-overdue rest allowed his frayed nerves to relax, and he drifted into a deep slumber.
He didn't wake until a psionic communication startled him. "I actually slept that long?" He stretched satisfyingly; it was the most comfortable rest he'd had since arriving in this world.
However, his expression soon turned grim. He had received news from Brand: the sub-sector capital was suffering from psionic riots and a Nurgle plague. The entire planet had fallen, with only one last city holding out. Furthermore, they had discovered the wreckage of the sub-sector fleet in orbit, indicating that a Chaos force capable of easily crushing a fleet was operating in the area.
"Good. It's time the recruits saw a real battlefield."
---
"Captain, where are we heading for this mission?" Hank asked Coste over the comms as he boarded the Hercules transport with his weapon.
"Live combat. You don't need to know anything else. Just hold your gun tight and shoot the enemy right in the ass." Coste finished his last cigarette, flicked it onto the floor of the space dock, and boarded the transport, ignoring the roars of the ground crew behind him.
He glanced at a platform on the far side. Thousands of tall, silent soldiers were boarding a Gorgon-class Battlecruiser. "Looks like this one's going to be dangerous. Hope we make it back alive."
Aboard the fleet flagship, Alexei stood in the bridge with Allie. When Alexei had prepared to leave Aiur again, Allie had flown over immediately. In her view, Alexei had barely returned before leaving again; she insisted on coming along this time.
After some thought, Alexei agreed. The capital likely had a high concentration of psykers, and Allie might be able to help. As an Alpha+ level psyker, backed by the rapidly developing stability of the Hive Mind's psionic network, she shouldn't face a situation as perilous as the last one.
Upon hearing she could go, the girl began darting around happily. Despite ten years of growth, she was still effectively a young woman of about seventeen or eighteen.
To be safe, Alexei took half of the Zerg fleet and the Aiur fleet. This configuration could steamroll almost anything short of a Chaos main battle fleet. The remaining ships and the veterans who had returned from Cadia stayed behind to guard their home; having his "back porch" caught on fire would be a nuisance.
Cawl and Crane also stayed on Aiur. Rather than saving worlds from Chaos, they were more interested in staying home to study Aiur's technology, complaining they didn't have enough time as it was.
"All personnel ready. Fleet is departing. Jump drive charging in thirty minutes," the adjutant's voice rang in Alexei's ear. He looked toward the sub-sector capital. This battle would establish Aiur's absolute leadership in the region; the former capital was about to fall under Aiur's "administrative assistance."
In this crusade, Alexei would lead his fleet to sweep across the entire sub-sector. The Swarm would take root on countless worlds, and planets harassed by Chaos would be liberated by the light of Aiur. He chose to call it the "Dawn Crusade."
Dozens of Aiur warships surrounded over a dozen massive Leviathans. After four hours of preparation, the massive fleet vanished from the skies of Aiur.