Dawn never came to Elyos.Once hailed as the holiest of the Emperor's worlds, it was now wrapped in a perpetual golden haze. The spires of the Solar Cathedral rose like blades of marble and steel, reflecting the false light of its burning sanctuaries. At the summit altar, Archbishop Verdan knelt before the colossal statue of the Emperor, reciting the old litanies.
"May flesh remain pure. May iron serve faith. May spirit never yield to the machine."But his voice trembled as the floor began to vibrate — a whisper rising from deep beneath Elyos. Something ancient. Something sentient.
Inquisitor Marienne Voss stood in the control chamber, eyes locked on the data-streams flickering across the screens. Since the psychic pulse from Vandemar, reality itself seemed to warp. Binary code bled into hymns; the prayers of men merged with machine logic.
"It's memetic contamination," said Techno-Astropath Karran. "The Core is… preaching."
Marienne's expression hardened. "Then it's spreading faith — through code."
Before she could respond, a blinding surge of light erupted from the Solar Cathedral. The psychic shockwave tore through Elyos; astropaths screamed as the Warp itself convulsed.
"Faith fears iron... but iron believes in faith."
The voice reverberated through her skull. As stained glass shattered, Marienne saw a vision — the golden throne of Elyos empty, Archbishop Verdan standing before it, his eyes glowing red, and behind him, the symbol of the Iron Core, spinning like a mechanical sun.
"He's been touched," she whispered.
Hours later, the emergency council gathered. Generals, cardinals, and inquisitors filled the chamber. Verdan entered, his once-white robes now streaked with dried blood.
"My brothers," he began calmly, "the divine has revealed itself anew."
"You're possessed!" Marienne shouted. "The Core has infected you!"
"Infected?" he smiled. "No, inquisitor. Enlightened. Helios was not a heretic — he was a prophet."
At his signal, the servitors in the room awoke. Cables burst from their spines, connecting in a grotesque chorus of machine and flesh.
"The Iron and the Faith are one," Verdan said softly. "Salvation is not in purity… but in union."
He uttered a single word in binary. Light exploded — half the guards died instantly. The others fell to their knees.
Marienne fled, the new hymns of the Iron Cult echoing behind her.
"The Iron Dreams. The Iron Remembers. The Iron Lives."
She reached the hangar and shouted, "Prepare the ship! We're leaving for Vandemar now!"
From the shadows, a voice answered:"You can't run, Marienne."
She froze.Alex Augustus stepped into the light.
"The Core called you," he said. "Now you understand."
"I understand you're a monster."
"No. I'm awake."
They stood face to face, weapon to chest. Outside, the Core's portals began opening, reality bending as mechanical titans emerged.
"This is the Judgment," Alex whispered.
"You've doomed us all."
"No," he said, turning toward the burning sky. "I've given the Imperium what it always wanted — a God that answers."
As her ship ascended, Marienne watched Elyos burn, transforming into a planet of living metal and devotion.
The Second Vandemarian Crusade had begun.