Chapter 1

Every now and then I pause and mourn, remembering how I lost myself and was subsumed. Briefly, of course. When facing a galaxy full of horrors and undying enmity, not to mention four unfortunately literal deadlines ticking away, waiting to rend asunder my body and soul, there’s only so much time for reflection and introspection.

Still, I don’t really regret my choice, there could have been worse results.

When asked which fictional setting I wished to avoid before being snatched away, I might have mentioned something like Midnight, an interdicted fantasy world where good had already lost, or Shadow of the Demon Lord, fairly close to that in its broad strokes. I’d always enjoyed fantasy more than science fiction on the average, despite finding the latter of higher quality, so what came out of my mouth was a bit of a surprise.

For all that, Warhammer 40k made sense for a setting you really didn’t want to visit. Everyone died eventually, and then the Daemons ate your soul. Or possibly something worse – the Empyrean was not well explored or understood by humanity. Perhaps the Emperor preserved the loyal and true in a fortified corner of the Sea of Souls, if only some of them, and if only to use them in his angelic Legions of the Damned.

Among the myriad lists of hereteks, data-thieves and tech-deviants kept by the Ordos, Magos Explorator Infra-Salixis Delta-19 of Stygies VIII deserves special mention. In contrast to the xenos-loving reputation of the Xenarites of Stygies VIII, the magos is noted for his scathing hatred and contempt for xenos and never bargains with such scum, though admittedly he displays little respect for anyone whatsoever.

His penchant for data-theft and tech-robbery is not confined solely to xenos, and there is little doubt that he has amassed a database of templates and knowledge well beyond what his rank might suggest.

Heretek and user of forbidden archeotech and xenotech he might be, but as of this date I judge him to be more useful alive than dead, given his repeated successes and survival when pitted against the vicious and mercurial Eldar. His ego is almost a match for that of these perfidious xenos.

The magos is easily baited by offers of tech and coordinates of xeno planets, strongholds and space assets, and has successfully assisted the Deathwatch in three major and seventeen minor operations, if admittedly with different fortresses and teams, as Astartes invariably refuse to tolerate his company after a single experience.

From Inquisitorial Report XHN993DLK-44Q-TELESTRA5-PAC by Ordo Xenos Inquisitor [Redacted], dictated 6.109.436M38

Archmagos Infra-Salixis Delta-19 of Stygies VIII is a dangerous heretek experimenting with psyker powers, human genetics, forbidden tech and xenos knowledge. Despite his ongoing and deadly feud with the Eldar, his extraordinary knowledge and his past salutary assistance against xenos and traitors, he is judged Excommunicate Traitoris and is to be purged with extreme haste. His obliteration is vital to the security of the Imperium, with a bounty having been posted Segmentum-wide and communicated to Holy Terra.

Inquisitorial Report SNV842KKP-92A-KERESVRA0-PAL by Ordo Xenos Lord Inquisitor [Redacted], dictated 5.635.781M39

Archmagos Eladria Naxos Gamma-5269 is the sole known inheritor of the late and unlamented Archmagos Infra-Salixis Delta-19 of Stygies VIII, who according to all evidence (including psyker divination) perished in Hive Kerata in the Plenus system, almost certainly due to a successful assassination-assault by Harlequins, evidence including scattered remains of fourteen of their dead, identified as belonging to [Redacted] and heavy damage to four lower hive floors from the detonation of heavy ordnance. See report [Redacted] for the results of the investigation.

Unusually for Mechanicus magi, our agents have informed us that she remains fully biological, reputedly being a fanatical member of the Organicist faction, and is known to wear dreadnaught-like power armor with a plethora of mechadendrites, tools and weapons.

The first claim is doubtful, with verification requiring extensive medicae procedures on her person, while the second has been verified by multiple agents.

Her appearance and faction are an indicator that she specializes in matters biologis as an Arch-
Genetor, but reports show that she has extensive and deep knowledge in almost every facet of technology the Mechanicus administers, maintains and produces, with a second focused specialty in Warp-tech. Such omni-capability has won her few allies or accolades.

With the death of her master at Eldar hands, she inherited his properties and databanks, but massive pressure of jealous magi and archmagi resulted in her exile from Stygies VIII. The eventual settlement, needed to avoid Exterminatus-level detonations in critical facilities, provided for her promotion to archmagos, as well as appointment as an emissary and explorator with an attendant fleet.

Her flagship is the Matador, an Overlord-class battle-cruiser, and she departed Stygies VIII in the company of two Lunar-class cruisers, seven Dauntless-class light cruisers, a Sentetia-class light cruiser, twenty-three escorts, four forge-ships, five mining ships and twenty seven macro-transports.

In her role as emissary, she served for ninety-eight years supporting the Astartes chapters of the Crimson Crusaders (Third Founding, Imperial Fists), the Sky Wardens (Fourth Founding, Dark Angels) and the Steel Shadows (Fifth Founding, Raven Guard), repaying major debts from Stygies VIII, then thirty-one years supporting a knight world in service to Stygies VIII, before departing on an exploratory journey, approximately forty-nine years ago.

Her fleet at that time consisted of three Mars-class battle-cruisers in addition to the Matador, nine Lunar-class cruisers, seventeen light cruisers, fifty-nine escorts and seventy-six additional ships. The majority of the ships were captured from pirates or Orks and refurbished by her own efforts, with a minority constructed in the shipyards of the Astartes chapters she supported or Hive Worlds with which she had commerce.

Noted for her devotion to the Emperor, she is viewed with suspicion by her Mechanicus colleagues. The noble knights of House Torryan report her to be competent but icy-cold and impenetrable in mien, while the Astartes were surprisingly complimentary of her, reporting of her diligence in improving the quality and number of their arms and ships, and the bravery, cunning and firepower her troops and ships displayed. She even provided advanced instructions and a small number of templates to their Tech-marines and Apothecaries.

Judged suspect due to her mentor, possibly useful due to noted Imperial leanings, which are in turn highly suspicious. Unusual adherence to biological purity – does not use Skitarii, but biologically enhanced near-equivalent ‘Tech Guard’. Has displayed practical high-level expertise with Warp-tech, having repaired and upgraded Gellar fields, navigator gear and warp engines, as well as evincing absolute contempt for ‘hostile warp entities’.

The Archmagos has displayed unexpected mercantile initiative, having established rejuvenation and medical facilities (reputedly of unusually high quality) in several hive worlds of Pacificus, in return for recruitment rights, mining rights and ownership of manufactorums in the underhives thereof.

Recommended action is investigation of the biological enhancement of her troops and insertion of agents to determine true allegiance, as well as investigation of her influence in the hive worlds in which she has meddled.

Inquisitorial Report JIK327TWE-11Y-VEBREKXP0-KEL by Ordo Machinum Inquisitor [Redacted], dictated 7.761.961M39

“If the artificial intelligences, now known as abominable intelligences, on which the advanced technology of humanity once relied upon cannot be used due to the Great Enemy, the solution is both simple and elegant. Increase the mental capacity of humanity such that the requisite processing power can be made available ... No, I will not explain what the Butlerian Crusade refers to, nor the source of the title Mentat.”

Magos-Mentat Eladria Naxos Gamma-5269, 818M39

Even the least among the ranks of the educated are usually aware that the Imperium is ruled and protected by the God-Emperor, and encompasses a million worlds, divided administratively into subsectors, sectors and the five Segmentum.

None of the above is factually correct.

The God-Emperor protects our souls, powers the Astronomicon and wages eternal war against the abominations of the Warp. It is my belief that he has neither the time nor the inclination to engage in administration.

Malcador the Hero was a greater loss than any loyal Primarch, save perhaps Guilliman, for it was he who tended to the administration, it was he who formed the core of the Officio Assassinorum and the Holy Ordos of the Emperor’s Inquisition.

Naturally, it is the Imperial Navy, Imperial Guard, planetary and space defense forces, and the Adeptus Astartes who protect the Imperium in the Materium, with the God-Emperor’s direct interventions being exceedingly rare, usually manifesting in His Living Saints.

It is in truth rather unusual, but propaganda has on occasion been known to understate numbers. I am not certain how many worlds are governed and administered by the Imperium of Man, as my acolytes could not find a reliable numeration, but it is certainly more than ten million, and the number fluctuates on a daily basis.

While it is rarely relevant, remember that star-maps of the Imperium are not accurate stellar representations, rather they are a reflection of the navigable Warp-currents which allow travel between systems. There are countless Ork and other inimical xenos polities located all too close to Imperial planets, when real-space distance is considered.

As for administration, the commonly-known facts are true, but there are two more layers between the sectors and the four Segmentum capitals and Holy Terra. Sectors are customarily composed of between eighty and a hundred and twenty useful worlds (which includes both habitable worlds and mining worlds – note, worlds rather than systems), and each is generally divided into five to twelve subsectors. In turn, Star Clusters are an administrative layer which includes between forty and sixty sectors, with Star Fields, which report directly to the Segmentum Fortresses or Holy Terra, having twenty to thirty Clusters under their authority.

While this allows for adequately swift response to the ever-present galactic threats from concentrations of strategically positioned fortress-nodes of the Imperial Navy and Guard, and is theoretically optimal for effective administration, the layers of rule allow for much friction and terrible corruption.

Be it the gluttonous nobility, always hungering for more power and wealth, the desperate underhivers who turn to questionable practices, the self-serving indolent bureaucrats, or the self-glorifying and easily duped Ecclesiarchy fools, it is our duty to prune and burn away the infection of corruption in the body of the Imperium, in the God-Emperor’s name and under his authority.

From Lord Inquisitor Danilo Sevkarn’s “Introduction to the Imperial Truth”, Ordo Hereticus, archived 431M37

The origin and cause of the Kursis Crusade are well known and documented.

Increasingly powerful incursions of Orks from the galactic wilds central-north of Segmentum Pacificus pushed the Imperium back from two sectors and four sub-sectors, battering back the Imperial Navy and Guard over a course of two centuries by sheer undaunted weight of numbers and insane bloodlust.

The Astartes in the region were pressed thin, with the closest chapter being the Lightning Riders, of Warhawk descent, their fortress-monastery seven sectors distant.

Eager to avenge this insult, discovered mostly by accident by his granddaughter’s review of certain recently arrived data archives, the incensed Lord High Admiral of Hydraphur petitioned the High Lords of Terra for a Crusade to reclaim these worlds and secure them and the border for the Imperium.

With unusual haste, a mere forty-two years later, Lord Militant Commander Ferren Kursis, originally of the Necromundan Steel Guard, was appointed Lord Solar and received recruitment rights for a grand crusade in the God-Emperor’s holy name.

As the foe was mainly composed of Ork-type xenos, a tithe of over nineteen million Valhallan Ice Warriors was the first to be recruited, with the second being a thirty-four million-men army of the Necromundan Steel Guard.

The remaining Imperial Guard troops consisted of tithes of fifty million guardsmen each from ten great hive worlds of Segmentum Pacificus noted for their military traditions, and twenty three additional tithes from civilized worlds with similar qualifications, as well as elite regiments of Cadian Shock Troopers, Catachan Jungle Fighters, Harakoni Warhawks and Elysian Drop Troops.

In all, the Kursis Crusade initially consisted of over six hundred and eighty million Imperial Guard troops, with the Imperial Navy providing a war fleet of five battleships, two grand cruisers, four battle-cruisers, nineteen battle-line cruisers, and approximately two hundred and sixty lighter warships, the 491st Pacificus Battlefleet, commanded by the veteran Lord Admiral Katarina Tarsine.

The Astartes likewise responded to the call to arms with alacrity, with over eighteen hundred space marines of eleven chapters, including a crusade force of the Black Templars, arriving to make war upon the decks of four battle-barges, sixteen strike-cruisers and over sixty escorts.

The Mechanicus response was unusual and divided.

The exact facts are not known, but sufficient details were leaked to ascertain that the future Fabricator of Forge Vista chanced upon a great space-hulk during her exploratory efforts, and shared the tech-bounty with Mars, thus gaining the right to raise her own forges among the stars.

The details of the agreement remain classified, but the Fabricator General threw a final condition in, that her forces join this crusade and act in His name, winning their forges with steel and flame.

Since the fleet and army of this then-Archmagos lacked titans, the God Machines of Legio Honorum received the honor of supporting the crusade, with five Warlord titans, six Warbringers, eleven Reaver titans and twenty-six Warhounds joining the fray, along with supporting forces from Stygies VIII and over two hundred noble knights.

Given the lack of cordial relations between the two Mechanicus parties, care was taken so that they were never present on the same field of battle.

The Orders Militant of the Adepta Sororitas barely participated in the Crusade, due to a last-minute proclamation by Arch-Cardinal Justinian Melestros of the Lord Solar’s impiety and lack of respect for the Ecclesiarchy.

Only three Preceptories of the Order of the Sacred Rose joined the ranks of the holy warriors, and all were martyred in the battle of Haylon Plains in the thirteenth year of the crusade, overcome by the Gargants which destroyed a half-million guardsmen army caught in open terrain by the beastly Orks.

Shortly thereafter, a large flight of Marauders bombed that Ork army to oblivion, earning the air marshal in charge of the theater a reprimand due to their lateness, rather than a court martial.

Fifty-two years of glorious and bloody battles resulted in a grand victory of the Imperial Crusade, as declared on 7.256.49M40, restoring three hundred and sixty-eight habitable worlds to the holy rule of the God-Emperor.

In addition to numerous Ork armies, there were several terrible foes overcome by the might of Imperial forces:

First were a cursed race of hexapedal weasel-like xenos dubbed Rafellians, dreadful berserkers which often refused to acknowledge their own death. Having settled five life-bearing planets in three systems and traded with heretical pirates, their ferocity and numbers required over five years of efforts to exterminate.

Second was the pirate stronghold of Naulica, a great and derelict ancient space station ruled by warbands of the fearsome Night Lords traitor space-marines. With Mechanicus void-troopers supported by rapier armored carriers and battle-automata, and Astartes teleporting aboard their ships and stations, the records state that none of the heretical traitors escaped, but the fighting was nonetheless exceptionally fierce.

Third and arguably worst was the Dark Mechanicum stronghold of Jolinar, allied with an Iron Warrior traitor warband. Even with the assistance of Legio Honorum, the losses were extreme, with the Victory-class battleship Tenacious Gold lost with nearly all hands in the initial battle to control the system and orbitals, and over fifty million Imperial Guard troops, dozens of Astartes and seventeen God-Machines fallen before the Hellforges were forever silenced.

Fourth and most costly in guardsmen lives and lost machines were the three traitor-hives of Kellata Majoris, Nerandos Tertius and Gurandan Quintus, which refused peaceful re-assimilation, their battle-tested populace (having defeated many Ork invasions) and labyrinthine hive-towers requiring nearly twenty years and more than two hundred million casualties to subdue.

The sectors restored to Imperium were named Anastasia, to honor the Lord High Admiral’s granddaughter, Ferren and Kursis, the latter receiving the greater portion of the remaining fleet and armies, as it bordered on the absolute frontier of the Segmentum.

The newly appointed Sector Lords, by confirmation from Holy Terra, were the three (of eight) surviving now-retired Lord Generals Militant Korun Heyvar, Astrin Makellos and Rellar Telgard, reigning from the greatest hive-worlds of the respective sectors.

The Shrine world of Kursis sanctifies the remains of both Lord Solar and Lord Admiral, who fell in the last great Ork counterattack with the Retribution-class battleship Heavens Wrath, a great space battle in which the invading Ork war-leader of the neighboring polity was slain, the resulting civil war in the Orkish empire bringing a long period of peace to this turbulent frontier.

A major draw of the Shrine World is the perfectly preserved and notably undamaged chapel of the lost battleship, whose immobile remains orbit the planet, serving as a defensive starfort.

The great fortress system of Argentium was raised at the border warp-nexus, only a short warp-passage away from Forge Dalemark, to bar the return of the Orkish menace and serve as a beacon and trap for the war-mongering xenos. Heavily fortified by the forges of Vista, it has proudly stood all tests of war and time, in the Holy Emperor’s name.

Rogue Trader Lady Antersia Nallus and Mechanicus exploratory flotillas provided continuous reports on the situation beyond the frontier, allowing the Imperial Navy and Basilikon Astra to prepare for the renewed Ork incursion in 182M40, and the Medalon Crusade which followed its extermination.

Great Crusades of the 40th Millennium, by Derek Marcher, published by Hydraphur Golden Press 296M41

There can be no doubt.

Archmagos Eladria Naxos Gamma-5269 has received the Omnissiah’s blessing.

If it was merely the blessed recovery of archeotech, however great, one might mistake it for what flesh-beings call luck, but there is clearly much more to her.

Her cursed creator, may his name be forgotten by the Omnissiah, tried to produce a perfected human. He failed five-thousand two-hundred and sixty-eight times.

Of course, definitions of ‘perfect’ differ, and the quest for perfection is an endless abyss of peril and madness, as can be witnessed by the Third Legion’s fall from the Omnissiah’s grace.

He-whose-name-shall-not-be-recalled found humanity’s division into two sexes to be irrational. As a result, the Archmagos and her progeny (who would inherit most features of her design) are somatically female, with male genitals hidden inside a pouch in the birth canal, easily released and withdrawn by a specific internal movement of muscles.

Her progenitor also decided that psychic power is the future of human evolution, and she and her descendants (to a lesser extent) are inherently psykers (with the potential to train as both Navigators and Astropaths, to boot), with notably better control than that of untrained humans, even at a young age.

Not being completely insane, and the primary reason for the many experimental deaths and her status as a Chosen of the Omnissiah, what the tech-less priests would call ‘Saint’, is a psychic ritual the mad heretek devised, to implant a much-diluted shard of the Astronomicon’s light into her soul. And yes, it actually succeeded, eventually – and thanks to the Sacred Omnissiah’s grace is even inheritable.

Naturally there were also massive physical and mental boosts over base-line humanity, with much of the work plagiarized from the enhancements of Astartes, and quite likely the Eldar. The estimated base lifespan of these new abhumans approximates eight centuries.

The Omnissiah’s favor is blazingly evident in the list of technologies she is willing to trade to Blessed Mars, recovered from archeotech, most prominently a great space-hulk her subordinates carved apart to raise her fleet, from her own interesting discoveries, and adapted from xenotech, a significant portion of it likely stemming from her progenitor’s archives.

The list is as follows:

Detailed schematics, construction methods and maintenance procedures for the plasma conduits and advanced lances of the Apocalypse-class battleship. This will allow us to resume production of these magnificent gifts of the Omnissiah.

Detailed schematics, construction methods and maintenance procedures for three venerable grand super-heavy tanks from the days of the Great Crusade, the Fellblade, Fellglaive and Falchion – as well as the venerable Sicaran battle tank and its Venator, Arcus and Omega variants. This includes the templates for the Atomantic Plasma Hybrid-reactor, the Neutron Beam Laser, and the reinforced metaplas alloys of their superior armor.

Detailed schematics, construction methods and maintenance procedures for anti-matter reactors. The power production numbers are accurate.

Detailed schematics, construction methods and maintenance procedures for energized armor, for starships, smaller vehicles and power armor. The recorded numbers for the integrity increase are accurate, and the performance against melta and other disintegration weapons has been tested and found to be exemplary.

Detailed schematics, construction methods and maintenance procedures for a number of improved warp related devices, including a teleportarium, Gellar field, warp drive, psychic hood and the vortex torpedo and grenade. Also included are improved psi-tech augurs, and rather incredibly, a warp-stabilizer to be used against space-hulks, that such precious treasure troves be affixed in the Materium, beyond the reach of the Great Enemy. Praise the Omnissiah!

Detailed schematics for the production of manufactorums designed to produce mid-grade promethium, low-grade plasteel and mid-grade plascrete and ferrocrete from plant matter, which would make agricultural planets of notably more use to the Mechanicus. Fertilizer is a secondary product of these manufactorums.

Detailed schematics, construction methods and maintenance procedures for a starship gravitic drive and tractor beam, as well as a vehicle-sized anti-gravitational field generator.

Detailed schematics, construction methods and maintenance procedures for the conversion beamer.

Detailed schematics, construction methods and maintenance procedures for relic plasma, sonic and volkite weaponry. Several sonic weapon variants are of a non-lethal nature.

Detailed schematics, construction methods and maintenance procedures for a gravi-magnetic macro-cannon, which appears similar in principle to the Nova Cannon, if smaller and notably inferior – other than in accuracy and firing rate, in which it is notably superior.

Detailed schematics, construction methods and maintenance procedures for a powered exoskeleton.

Detailed instructions for the production of a medigel field healing agent and numerous vaccines, especially against warp-powered epidemics favored by the pestilential ones.

Detailed instructions for the production of blood replenishment pills and elixirs, combat drugs, pacification gas, and a regeneration treatment to restore flesh limbs.

Detailed schematics for a number of force-fields of various types and sizes. Production methods were not provided.

The demands of the Archmagos are by comparison modest and beneficial to Blessed Mars, as this tech-bounty constitutes an enormous revolution:

First is the unselfish and unusual requirement that Mars permanently station twelve additional battleships commanded by a single Ark Mechanicus, with appropriate escorts and provisions for supply and maintenance, in the Cadian system.

This battle-fleet is to first make stop in Agrippina, to gift that Forge with a copy of much of the tech-bounty she has provided, in return for instructions and the support required for a long war against the raiders of the Eye. Mars is to claim sole credit for this intervention. Presumably her encounters with the Ruinous Powers have had an effect on her mentality.

Second are twelve Rogue Trader writs, for her daughters. Given her unusual penchant for crass commerce, this is understandable.

Third is the right to establish Forges under her own name, with the full rights and databanks owed to senior Forges, with no tithe required from such forges for the first two centuries of their existence. She claims this is to allow them to establish themselves with greater ease, and the full databanks will only be shared with Forges possessing a minimal level of security. Given what she considers ‘minimal security’ for a Forge World, the transfer of templates and tech-knowledge has my endorsement and unstinting approval.

Fourth is the right to sell the above technological bounty to any Forge outside of Segmentum Solar that is not under sanctions by Blessed Mars. This includes the demand that none of the above templates or any derivative thereof would be granted to Stygies VIII.

Fifth is Mars’ writ to participate in the upcoming Kursis Crusade as the Mechanicus contingent, with one Forge-World being granted unto her for each twenty worlds redeemed from the darkness of ignorance.

Sixth is an assortment of raw materials, mining rights and data-templates, notably including that of the Imperator Titan. In a moment of hubris, she has already name her Titan Legion as “Legio Absortio” and designated as the symbol of her forges a sunburst aurum bursting from a cog argent, on black.

The two most difficult and troublesome demands are highly advantageous to Mars and the Mechanicus. As she and her progeny are psykers one and all, and potentially capable of both navigating the Immaterium and functioning as astropaths, Mars must sponsor the creation of a new Navigator clan, as well as the establishment of an official Collegia Psykana in each Forge World claimed by Archmagos Eladria.

While costly in favors and resources, this would naturally include provisions requiring certain services of such graduates, and directly lessen our dependence on the Navis Nobilite and the Adeptus Astra Telepathica. Obviously, we must also keep their true nature secret from the fools of the Adeptus Ministorum.

In addition to the tech-templates noted above, Archmagos Eladria has provided copies of the extensive ancient cultural and historical data preserved in the databanks of the starships recovered from the space hulk, though a significant portion of the data is damaged or fragmentary.

Last but not least, the Archmagos detailed the precise location of several dozen Webway gates routinely used by the cursed Eldar and their slaves and mercenaries for raids against the Imperium and the Mechanicus, without asking for recompense other than the death of as many of these xenos as we could manage. It is clear that her progenitor’s enmity with that particular race of murderous xenos has been inherited, at least in part.

As for the fleet she garnered from the space-hulk, I judge it sufficient for a crusade favored by Blessed Mars. In addition to her flagship Stormbreaker, an Apocalypse-class battleship, the fleet consists of three grand cruisers, eleven battle-cruisers, seven heavy cruisers, twenty-one cruisers, forty-six light cruisers and nearly three hundred escorts.

Note that attempts to gain covert access to the cogitators and databanks employed by this Archmagos and her subordinates ended in abject failure, and the twelve Data-Predators who made such attempts exploded shortly thereafter.

Extract from a report of Martian Archmagos-Explorator Estricht Relkator Helium-9938, transmitted to the Fabricator General on 3.821.959M39