Chapter 344: The Old Ones' Third Treasure |
Panic gripped the bridge of the human fleet.
The Magos frantically hammered at his keyboard, searching over and over for any trace of the enemy.
The master of communications compiled reports from every ship, passing them to the master of scribes for editing before they were handed to Horus.
Horus stood on the command platform, a massive stack of reports in his hands. He read through them carefully, his expression incredibly grave.
The very thing he least wanted to see had happened.
Five minutes ago, the moment the fleet arrived in this sector of the Webway, they had been attacked by The Old Ones' defense batteries, forcing them to abort sub-light travel.
Concentrated fire had pinned the fleet in place. The Webway gate they had entered through was blown to pieces, and the only other gate leading out of this space was completely destroyed.
When the bombardment ceased, the fleet had sustained considerable casualties, and the only two Webway gates in this space were rendered useless.
Horus immediately ordered the detention of the Eldar envoys.
Horus ordered the ships to hold their positions, patiently waiting for his men to capture the Harlequins alive.
Just then, the encoded transmitter used for relaying messages within the Webway hummed to life.
The master of the vox-array glanced at the identification code and the brief message on the transmitter, his face draining of color.
"Lord Horus! A message from Valdor, Commander of the Adeptus Custodes! The sealing ward at Calasta has been deactivated by the Eldar. The Warp rift is expanding rapidly and is projected to consume the entire Webway space within twenty-four hours. The area outside the Golden Gate will be turned into The Warp! Valdor has ordered us to return to Calasta immediately to assist the Adeptus Custodes and the Adeptus Mechanicus in defending the Imperial Palace of Terra!"
"What?" Horus barked, caught between shock and fury. "Are you certain the source is authentic?"
The vox-array master double-checked the identification code.
"Yes, my lord. The message is undoubtedly from Valdor himself!"
"Damn it!" Horus slammed his fist onto the tactical table. The holographic screen sizzled, flashing with a massive burst of static.
Fortunately, anything produced by the cogboys was of the highest quality.
Despite the immense force of his punch, the tactical table's high-strength ceramite casing prevented it from breaking down.
"Is all of this truly an Eldar conspiracy, just as the Palu Orks claimed?" Horus muttered.
The Palu Orks' prophecy had come true. The Eldar's betrayal was practically a foregone conclusion, yet Horus couldn't shake the feeling that something didn't add up.
However, there was no time to dwell on it now.
The most pressing priority was to return to Terra, reinforce the palace, and stop the Warp rift from expanding any further.
Over the past few days, the masters of the Adeptus Mechanicus, led by Magos Land, had been researching methods to close the Warp rift.
Before Horus departed, this group of the Imperium's greatest technical minds had already developed a prototype device.
If he turned back now and coordinated with the actions of the Adeptus Custodes and Mars, there was a very high probability of halting the Warp rift's expansion.
But the price would be allowing Lino to ascend to godhood.
At that thought, a sharp glint flashed in Horus's eyes, his gaze turning ferocious.
Control over the Universal Hall was in the hands of the Palu Orks. The command to have The Old Ones' defense batteries attack the fleet must have been issued by them as well.
Therefore, trapping the fleet within this Webway space was absolutely a Palu Ork scheme.
The disappearance of the sealing ward at Calasta and the accelerated expansion of the Warp rift appeared closely tied to the Eldar, making it seem as though they had betrayed the Imperium of Man. However, he couldn't rule out the possibility that the Palu Orks were pulling the strings.
After all, a sealing ward was, at its core, simply a solidified energy field.
If Mars could comprehend its underlying principles, then there was no reason the Palu Orks, who had mastered Webway technology, would be completely ignorant of the ward.
Putting everything together, Horus heavily suspected that the anomaly at Calasta was just another measure taken by the Palu Orks to stop him from leading his forces to the site of the ascension. Their goal was to force him to turn back and defend Terra.
"Check the identification code again," he ordered.
"Yes, my lord." The vox-array master lowered his head, dedicating his utmost attention to examining every detail of the code.
"My lord, I have confirmed it. This is undeniably Valdor's code. It's not a forgery by the Palu Orks."
Horus nodded and stood up straight.
"Pass down my orders. Halt the hunt for the Eldar envoys. Open a ship-wide broadcast and tell those envoys that I've concluded the fleet's ambush and the anomaly at Calasta are a Palu Ork conspiracy. It has nothing to do with the Eldar; they are victims of this plot as well. Tell them to come to the bridge. I expect them to provide a plan to repair the Webway gates in short order, and to implement it immediately."
"Yes, my lord." The master of communications relayed Horus's orders, and the broadcast echoed simultaneously throughout the ship.
The master of tactics asked, "Lord Horus, do we continue to advance, or do we follow Valdor's orders and return to Terra?"
Horus furrowed his brows. Instead of answering, he turned to the master helmsman.
"Assuming the Webway gates at every subsequent node on our path have been sabotaged, how long do you estimate it would take us to reach our destination?"
The master helmsman pulled out a Dataslate. Calculating as he spoke, he replied, "My lord, we still have to pass through eight Webway spaces, totaling nine Webway gates. If the Eldar can keep the repair time for each gate under two hours, we can reach our destination with relative ease."
Just then, several Eldar envoys, drawn by the broadcast, arrived at the bridge and volunteered their cooperation.
Horus had them contact Elina to ask how long it would take to fix the Webway gates.
Normally, having lost control of the Universal Hall, repairing the gates in such a short time would be a pipe dream.
But these were desperate times, and the Eldar brought out their most closely guarded Webway technologies.
"Horus, we will dispatch a Farseer and a team of Bonesingers to support you, accompanied by at least three Psychic Engines and three ships loaded with Wraithbone. Please protect them well. Without any external interference, we will only need one hour to repair a single Webway gate."
Elina's promise was an undeniable shot in the arm for the human fleet. The atmosphere on the bridge grew fervent, morale skyrocketing.
Before Horus could offer his thanks or deliver an impassioned speech, the vox-array master cried out, "My lord, a comms signal from the Palu Orks is forcing its way onto the bridge! It has seized the highest priority access for the vox-array. I can't block it!"
"Oi, oi, oi! Can ya hear me talkin'?" A booming Ork voice shoved its way onto the bridge. The vox-array master desperately tried to sever the signal, but it would take some time.
The Ork continued, "Horus, da boss told me to tell ya, dat Warp rift over in Calasta is gettin' bigger. Ya better head back and guard dat yellow weasel's arsehole!"
"Shut your mouth!" the vox-array master shouted. "Cease your arrogant prattle, Ork! We already know about the situation at Calasta, and Lord Horus has formulated a swift, correct, and magnificent response!"
"Oh, ya already knew? Well, hang on a sec, lemme flip through me script and see what I'm s'posed to say next."
The Ork muttered a few words to himself, accompanied by the rustling of a hide scroll.
"Aha! Found it! So, uh, Horus, are ya gonna surrender to us? If yer willin' to head back, we can help ya fix the gate ya came through."
"Surrender? Arrogance!" Horus cursed. "You greenskin filth..."
Before Horus could finish, the Ork dropped one last line and cut the channel.
"If ya don't surrender, then go die, ya stupid humie."
Click.
A torrent of furious words caught in Horus's throat. Staring at the darkened comms screen, he was forced to swallow his rage.
Everyone on the bridge scarcely dared to breathe, terrified of provoking the Warmaster of the State Religion.
The oppressive silence dragged on for over ten minutes.
A Harlequin received a message from Elina through their personal encoded transmitter and announced gladly, "Horus, our fleet has reached the previous Webway node. They are about to begin repairs on the Webway gate."
"Hmph. Make it quick," Horus said, his face sullen.
A few minutes later, the Harlequin's expression shifted to one of sheer horror, their teeth chattering wildly beneath their mask.
"What is it? Bad news?" Horus asked in a low voice.
The Harlequin swallowed hard.
"The fleet... the fleet was destroyed by the Palu Orks. The Farseer and the entire team of Bonesingers were killed in action. The Psychic Engines were blown to pieces, and the Wraithbone was plundered by the Palu Orks. Lady Elina is currently mobilizing another fleet; it should arrive here within two hours."
Horus let out a heavy, stifled breath.
"There's no need. Thank you for your assistance..." He paused. "Call back that comms signal from earlier."
The vox-array master froze. "My lord, you aren't going to..."
A majestic primarch, the Warmaster of the State Religion, was actually going to submit to the Palu Orks!
Morale on the bridge plunged to an unprecedented low.
"Do you need me to repeat the order?"
"No, my lord. I will dial that Ork back right now."
A few seconds later, the connection was established, and a holographic image popped up.
Only this time, the Ork in the feed was not the one from before, but Palcador.
Horus did not look surprised.
He took a deep breath and said evenly, "You win, Ork. We will return to reinforce the Imperial Palace of Terra right now. To think that you would disregard even the safety of Terra just to stop our crusade... It's hard to believe your boss used to be human."
"Oh, Horus. Do you truly believe that we are the ones responsible for the Warp rift slipping out of control?"
"Of course it's you," Horus scoffed. "It aligns with your interests. If not you, who else? The Eldar?"
"Why couldn't it be the knife-ears?" Palcador asked.
Horus replied, "Because the Eldar do not want to see Lino ascend to godhood. They would not sabotage us! Enough nonsense. Fix the gate, and we'll head back."
Palcador signaled to the Paru Boyz beside him, and the repairs on the Webway gate commenced.
"Before ending this transmission, I must warn you about one thing," Palcador said, pausing.
"Don't think that just because the knife-ears are stopping our boss from ascending, they're actually against it. The knife-ears are a despicable race who will throw away all dignity just to ensure a prophecy comes true. When us Orks or you humies do something, it means that's what we're thinkin'. But the knife-ears are different. They're only stoppin' our boss from ascending 'cause the prophecy tells 'em to. Their true and absolute goal is only one thing... to seal the Dark King. Look out for yerself, Horus. That's my final piece of advice to ya."
The comms feed abruptly vanished.
Horus knitted his brows in silence. Not far away, the Eldar envoys remained quiet, acting as though they hadn't heard the Ork's slander.
A few minutes later, the Magos spoke up cautiously, "My lord, the gate we came through has been repaired."
"Move out."
"Yes, my lord."
As the fleet began its return journey, the atmosphere on the bridge livened slightly, yet it remained terribly gloomy.
Reinforcing the Imperial Palace of Terra was of the utmost urgency. The human fleet wished they could simply tear open a wormhole and travel directly to Calasta.
But the Eldar were even more anxious.
The Palu Orks had lifted the sealing ward early, causing the Warp rift to expand ahead of schedule and posing a lethal threat to the Imperial Palace of Terra far sooner than anticipated. There was a certain probability that the Dark King would descend into The Emperor's physical body, yet the Eldar were not yet prepared to seal the Dark King.
"What do we do now, Lady Elina?"
The Troupe Master guarding the doors to the Obsidian Archive asked impatiently the moment he saw Elina emerge, desperate to know the revelation from the Book of Destiny.
Elina halted her steps and spoke gravely, "Sacrifice. The Book of Destiny tells us to sacrifice ourselves to forcefully complete the sealing ritual."
Self-sacrifice!
The Harlequins shuddered internally, but not a single one showed cowardice.
When they first embarked on this path, they had already prepared themselves mentally for such a fate.
"The threat from the Warp rift alone is not enough to guarantee the descent of the Dark King. We also need the help of the Chaos Ork Warlord."
"My lady, I am willing to contact the Chaos Ork Warlord and guide him and his fleet to lay siege to Terra."
"My lady, I am willing as well."
Elina raised her right hand, cutting off the Harlequins' words.
"You are very brave, but the Chaos Ork Warlord doesn't need our guidance. He will besiege Terra at the most opportune moment. This is the revelation from the Book of Destiny. I do not know how fate will guide the Chaos Ork Warlord, but I believe that as long as we proceed step by step, the prophecy will certainly come to pass."
"Yes, my lady!"
The Harlequins responded in unison.
...
...
At the same time.
In a star sector in the northeast corner of the Segmentum Solar, bordering the Segmentum Obscurus.
The Chaos Ork Warlord, Urg, led the Chaos Orks as they devoured an Imperium world. Hundreds of millions of living beings were brutally slaughtered.
After a long and intense slaughter, the Chaos Ork Warlord returned to the newly constructed Wolf Blade to rest.
A tiny figure stood beside the Warlord's throne, seemingly having waited for a long time.
"Humie?" Urg flared his nostrils, deciphering the scent. "No, ya ain't a humie. Ya look like a Lizardman?"
"Urg, you're finally here. If you had returned any later, you would have missed the most important gift of your life."
Facing a fifty-meter-tall behemoth, the Lizardman remained completely fearless.
He reached into his pocket, pulled out an object, and tossed it to Urg.
The object expanded in mid-air, growing from less than ten centimeters on each side to roughly the size of an anti-grav tank.
Urg found this Lizardman somewhat amusing. Combined with the fact that he was in a good mood after slaughtering so many humies, he didn't instantly squash the creature's miserable life.
He caught the Metal Box and opened it. It was completely empty. He flipped it over and over in his hands, examining it.
"Ain't this the treasure I got after openin' the third seal of The Old Ones' treasure? How'd it end up in yer hands?" (Note: See Chapter 247 for details.)
"I know where the contents of this box went," the Lizardman said with a faint smile.
"What do you say? Do you want to acquire The Old Ones' third treasure? If you do, then go attack Terra now. Once you defeat The Emperor, you will see this treasure."
