|3rd POV|
Iven Rannick paced anxiously. It had been an hour since the connection between the Mourningstar and the forces he deployed to establish a base at Abandoned Factory 12-V-23C was lost.
He personally sent two Imperial Guard companies and five PDF companies. The reason was simple: the heretics had seized Tertium's main drop points, controlling over half the hive. They needed a new foothold—and this time, Rannick intended to go big. With permission from Inquisitor Grendyl, he had chosen Factory 12-V-23C as the site for a proper fortress. It was the safest location in the area.
The deployment proceeded smoothly; the zone was unexpectedly secure. The reason? A group known as Sanctuary had already purged the surrounding sectors of heretics and cartel elements. Rannick planned to contact them once construction was complete and his power base was stable.
Reality, however, had other plans.
The last thing he saw on the feed was three massive daemons being herded toward the fortress. All vox channels had gone dark. Now he was blind again.
Hadron Omega-7-7, senior Tech-Priest and member of Grendyl's warband, was attempting to activate the emergency vox channel. He wanted to shout at her for taking so long, but held his tongue. Angering the Mechanicus—especially now, during a full-scale rebellion—would be foolish. He is not an Inquisitor and does not have the authority to make enemies of the Mechanicus.
"Omnissiah be praised!"
Iven snapped from his thoughts and turned to Hadron as her synthetic voice crackled through the air.
"What is the situation, Hadron?"
"I have restored communion with the Machine Spirit. Visual data will be relayed in three… two… one…"
At the end of the countdown, a hologram flickered to life.
Chaos.
That was the only appropriate word. A Beast of Nurgle had already reached the inner wall, but Rannick also saw unfamiliar fighters assisting his deployed troops. The warband stared in silent dread—worry for the troops, shock that they still fought, and fear at the sight of enraged daemons. However, they get attracted by the sight of the unknown troops fighting fearlessly alongside the PDF and the Imperial Guards.
"Who are they?" someone asked.
"They are the people of Sanctuary," Hadron replied.
She pulled archived images and matched them to the live feed. Sergeant Major Marrow studied the data. He then looks at the live feed once again with newfound respect after reviewing the data.
"They're disciplined. Not as polished as Imperial Guard, but far better than local PDF. They fight like trained soldiers."
Rannick nodded. He saw the same.
"Can you connect to Commander Taro's vox?" he asked Hadron.
"No. A jammer is active. It covers the entire sector. As long as it persists, communication with surface forces is impossible."
"Grox shit."
He muttered a curse and kept watching. The loyalists were now executing a fighting withdrawal. Hadron switched to the feed carried by the caster-trooper near Taro. They watched as Kael hurled white flame and manipulated stone with a mere gesture.
Rannick frowned. He tolerated sanctioned psykers… but Kael was something else. A powerful unsanctioned psyker. A bomb waiting to explode.
Yet the more he watched, the more conflicted he became. Kael cast ability after ability, yet showed no signs of corruption or instability. No frothing madness. No warp-taint bursting from his skull.
Strong will. Iron discipline. Unshakeable self-belief.
Perhaps… an exception. He thought in his mind.
The troops eventually escaped the Hive, crossing the barren outskirts until they reached a large fortress beyond the walls. Rannick hummed thoughtfully. He was already considering taking control of the fortress in exchange for granting Kael and his people formal recognition.
'Granting them nobility might be the perfect lure.'
He turned to Marrow.
"Sergeant Major Marrow, prepare five companies of the Imperial Guard for deployment. Bring seven gunships and as many Arvus Lighters as you require."
"Yes, sir. Artillery support?"
"Almost everything is under repair. The one working piece will not be deployed until we have a foothold. Bring heavy weaponry instead. A quarter of our stockpile."
"Yes, sir!"
"Good. Deployment in thirty minutes."
Rannick turned back to the hologram as Taro and Kael entered the fortress. Subtlety was no longer an option. The situation had collapsed beyond careful politics. He would use every authority at his disposal to secure a foothold—and Sanctuary was his best chance.
==| Line Break |==
The battlefield outside Tertium was a scene of utter chaos.
Missiles arced from the fortress alongside lasers, bullets, and plasma. Heavy stubbers thundered nonstop, chewing through mountains of ammunition. But even with all that firepower, the heretics continued their advance. They are also firing their weapons and exchanging shots with one another.
In the distance, the surviving Beast of Nurgle finally cleared the hangar and oozed toward Sanctuary.
Kael's eyes narrowed. His [Banishing Fire] kept the infected from reaching the walls and was valuable to make sure they could survive for long. However, those beasts will change the flow of battle. If they reached the base, the casualties would be catastrophic. He wants to attack them before they can even reach the base. Yet abandoning his position would risk infection spreading among the defenders.
He bit his lip, weighing his options.
The cultists' heavy weapons were also becoming an increasing threat.
He inhaled deeply.
He needed to strike at the heart. He prepares to depart to kill the two beasts, then return to the base as quickly as possible.
Before he could act, missiles rained down from above. He looked up. He sees something that makes him smile.
Reinforcements. The Inquisitor Warband has arrived, bringing its firepower.
Seven Valkyries streaked in, unleashing hellstrike missiles into the densest clusters of cultists and right into the Plague Ogryn ranks. Arvus Lighters landed behind the fortress as the gates opened to admit incoming Imperial troops.
Leading them was Sergeant Major Marrow.
"Who is in charge here?!" he shouted. "I am Sergeant Major Marrow—reinforcements have arrived!"
Taro and Kael exchanged a glance before Taro waved him over.
"Over here, Sergeant Major!"
Marrow climbed up to their position and scanned both men.
"So—who commands here?"
Taro pointed at Kael.
"Kael, sir. Leader of Sanctuary."
"Oh?" Marrow raised an eyebrow. "Why give him command, Commander Taro?"
"I am not fit for command, sir. I only follow orders. Kael has led well—and continues to."
Marrow studied Taro for a long moment, then nodded. He turned to Kael.
"What is your plan?"
Kael pointed at the two remaining daemons.
"We need to kill those."
Marrow followed his gesture and nodded.
"We can focus Valkyrie fire on them. We are also bringing a lot of missiles with us. We can do a bombardment and kill those things with enough time and firepower."
"No," Kael said sharply. "Have them focus on the cultists' artillery. We can't let them fire."
"You said the daemons were the priority."
"And they are. I will handle them. Your troops must stop the heavy weapons."
Marrow looked at him as if Kael were insane… but then saw the burning determination in his eyes.
"Very well. Handle the daemons. I'll manage the battlefield. Take your team and kill those things."
Kael grinned.
"I am more than enough."
"What?"
He summoned the Boosted Gear. Marrow and Taro reeled in shock at the crimson gauntlet. Then—
"Boost."
The jewel glowed. Kael felt his entire being amplify. He rose into the air with [Floating], streaking toward the daemons. The cultist underneath him notices him immediately and takes out their corrupted weapons.
A torrent of sickly green bile shot toward him—but he swerved aside.
"Boost."
He accelerated sharply, unleashing a massive wave of white flame onto the cultists below, turning infected and pox hounds to ash.
"Boost."
Dust and earth rose around him as he invoked [Primordial Earth], tearing through the battlefield with crushing force. Earth split open and then closed up a second later, crushing the cultist trapped inside.
"Boost."
Hundreds of pebbles ripped from the ground, hung above the cultists, and grew two hundredfold under [Enlarge]—then plummeted like meteors.
"Boost."
He should not be able to handle more than twenty boosts from the Boosted Gear, but because of his [Curse Devouring Physique] trait, his limit increases the longer he stays on the battlefield. His boost also increases the power of this trait and makes his body absorb an even bigger energy of the warp, purify it, and enchant his body further.
Not only that, it also increases his recovery speed tremendously, making his boosted gear last longer as his stamina recovers faster.
"Boost."
Kael reached the first Beast of Nurgle, thrusting his fist and unleashing a colossal torrent of white fire. The daemon shrieked, its flesh boiling away. The [Banishing Fire] eats away the beast and slowly kills it.
"Boost."
The torrent intensified, devouring bile, toxins, and corruption the creature hurled at him. He uses [Blink] to evade its grasp by teleporting away.
"Boost."
Another blast of white fire lashed out toward the second charging beast. It ignored the pain and leapt, jaws splitting open—but Kael teleported and countered with another blazing inferno.
"Boost."
Clapping his hands, he released an enormous shockwave of Banishing Fire that tore into both daemons. Their bodies burned, blessings unraveling, corruption evaporating.
After several minutes of relentless flame, both beasts released one final, agonized roar and collapsed. Kael swept his hand, purifying their remains completely. He pants slightly, but after a few seconds, he is ready for another fight.
He prepared to aid the frontline—until he felt a foul surge ripple across the battlefield.
A figure floated above the cultists. She is wearing a symbol of Nurgle on her clothes. She is holding Grimoire with Nurgle's symbol in her hand and hugging it as if it were the most precious thing in her life.
"That is not a normal cultist, partner," Ddraig warned. "Something is tethered to her—through one of the cancers."
Kael's eyes narrowed.
The woman shrieked and pointed her finger at him.
"How dare you?! HOW DARE YOU?! Grandfather is ANGRY! He demands RETRIBUTION! He shall use ME to bring His blessing! LET THIS WORLD ROT IN HIS LOVE!"
Her laugh twisted into a demented cackle as the skies churned overhead—a warp storm formed across the Moebian System. The heavens twisted into a kaleidoscope of diseased colors. Nurgle's wrath causes a Warp Storm.
And then her head exploded. Her body split open like a bursting boil.
Kael's eyes widened as swirling energy erupted from her corpse—and a vision of the most foul place imaginable unfolded.
A realm of rot. Of plague. Of living decay. Trees of flesh and bone. Rivers of pus. Land made of pulsating disease.
Eli Barthos had opened a portal to the Realm of Chaos.
And through it… the creatures of Nurgle began to emerge.
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