Krrrsh!
Under the terrified gazes of the Haemonculus Ancient and the Drukhari pirates, a Warp rift tore open across the battlefield.
Pink mist poured from the rift. Loathsome silhouettes stirred within it as decadent whispers spread through the air.
They were ravenous.
The security force's surveillance officer had used a sacrificial ritual to summon a Greater Daemon of the Prince of Pleasure!
It was the Drukhari pirates' ultimate terror.
If their souls fell into the hands of the Prince of Pleasure, they would suffer the most agonizing torment imaginable.
"Run!"
"Slaanesh! Slaanesh!"
"She Who Thirsts is hungry! She's come for us!"
Some of the Drukhari pirates literally pissed themselves. They screamed in terror as their morale shattered, leaving them without the slightest courage to continue fighting.
"Humans, you... You fools! You would actually choose to perish alongside us..."
The Haemonculus Ancient no longer dared to remain. He turned and floated away as spatial distortions flickered across his body.
He intended to use his personal teleportation device to escape this horrific place.
But it was already too late.
Power from the Palace of Slaanesh had sealed the entire area, and a gaze overflowing with desire locked onto the ancient creature.
She craved the extreme emotions emanating from him. They were the most delicious nourishment imaginable.
Shhk!
A claw covered in exquisite gemstones emerged from the rift, impaled the Haemonculus Ancient, and dragged him into the pink mist.
What followed was a prolonged chorus of terrified screams and the wet crunching of something being slowly chewed apart.
When the chewing finally ended, something was spat back out.
They were the metal components once implanted within the Haemonculus. His flesh and soul had both been devoured, transforming him into a damned spirit destined to wail for eternity.
The sight drove the Drukhari into even greater panic. Some fired madly into the mist, while others fled in every direction, screaming.
The Greater Daemon of Slaanesh and her Daemonettes overtook them with ease.
The slaughter began.
"Savior preserve us!"
Even the security captain was shaken, and his voice trembled.
He turned toward the surveillance officer in disbelief.
"This is a special security tactic? Isn't it a little too dangerous and extreme?
"Those things from the Warp aren't going to devour us too, are they...?"
The security captain suddenly felt that summoning such a terrifying Greater Daemon of Chaos might be even more dangerous than the Drukhari pirates.
The surveillance officer was also beginning to panic. The power summoned by the Warp ritual array appeared far more malevolent than he had imagined.
He swallowed hard.
"By the Savior, I followed every step in the manual when constructing the Warp ritual array.
"It even contains instructions left by the Grey Knights. They claimed this was a safe summoning ritual and that we wouldn't need to worry about the summoned entity harming us."
As both a surveillance officer and a psyker, he had originally assumed the ritual would summon the legendary Legion of the Damned.
He had never imagined that it would call forth a Greater Daemon of the Prince of Pleasure.
Still, the Special Security Tactics Manual had certainly lived up to its claims. Not a single word had been exaggerated. The entity it summoned really could frighten the Drukhari xenos into wetting themselves.
It was unquestionably the most effective force to use against the Drukhari.
If anything, it was a little too effective. There was a genuine risk that they might get caught in the aftermath.
"So... what do we do now? You can't seriously expect us to charge in too, can you?"
The security captain looked completely lost.
That was an entity capable of destroying an entire fleet. Were they expected to banish the Greater Daemon they had summoned once the battle ended?
They were not proper Astartes, much less professional daemon hunters or Grey Knights. They were merely corporate security warriors earning a salary.
"The Special Security Tactics Manual says to remain calm and avoid provoking the Greater Daemon.
"It should leave on its own."
The surveillance officer said this without much confidence.
After all, they had summoned a Greater Daemon of Chaos. Corrupting the entire vessel would be effortless for such a being.
Worse still, they possessed no strategic-grade armaments such as sanctified weapons or infernal weapons.
"What the hell?
"How did a Genestealer end up in the Warp and become a Greater Daemon of Chaos?"
After finally getting a clear look at the Greater Daemon, the security captain was astonished.
It was an enormous pink Genestealer, five or six meters tall. Its daemonic body was covered in exquisite gems and ornaments. It had even applied makeup and possessed a pair of elegantly shaped eyelashes.
Oddly enough, it was almost attractive.
At that moment, the Slaaneshi Genestealer Greater Daemon named Banieni sensed their gazes. She turned her head and smiled gently at them.
She was so alluring that the security captain shuddered, goosebumps spreading across his entire body.
For a moment, he even found himself thinking that perhaps a Genestealer would not be so bad after all.
The corrupting power of Slaanesh was truly terrifying!
Just as the security warriors grew increasingly frightened, the power of the Warp ritual array began to weaken.
Banieni did not linger. The Slaaneshi Genestealer Greater Daemon led her Daemonettes back into the Warp.
Before long, the ship's chapel plaza returned to normal.
The security warriors stared at one another, still stunned by everything they had just witnessed.
In truth, ever since the Chaos Gods had suffered grievous injuries and withdrawn from the outside world, Greater Daemons had gained far greater freedom to act.
Turncoat Genestealer Greater Daemons like Banieni, whom the Savior had cultivated, occasionally cooperated with the Grey Knights so that both sides could add a few achievements to their records.
After all, they were all loyal servants of the Savior. In a sense, they could be considered colleagues.
That was why the Grey Knights had included this Warp ritual array in the Special Security Tactics Manual. It was a targeted summoning ritual designed specifically to call forth the Slaaneshi Greater Daemon Banieni whenever the security forces encountered a deadly Aeldari threat.
There was no better weapon against Drukhari pirates.
For Banieni, Aeldari souls were also the finest nourishment.
Consuming them would earn her even greater favor from the Prince of Pleasure. That supreme deity would never refuse an offering of power.
"Move! Eliminate the remaining xenos pirates!"
Once the Greater Daemon had departed, the security captain immediately issued new orders.
The security warriors hunted down and executed the remaining xenos pirates. They then launched a counter-boarding action against the Drukhari sailship, killed the enemies still aboard, and seized control of the vessel.
"Reporting to the captain.
"The security battalion has exterminated every invading xenos!"
After securing control of the sailship, the security captain immediately reported their victory.
On the bridge, the captain listened to the report and sighed with emotion.
"The Empire has become an untouchable colossus. Even the most ordinary merchant vessel conceals immensely powerful military forces..."
According to the information they had gathered, these Drukhari pirates were remarkably powerful. They had previously raided and harassed numerous frontier systems throughout the Imperium Nihilus.
Yet now, they had fallen before the Gantz Industrial Group's Third Security Battalion.
And these were merely merchant-vessel security forces.
If the Drukhari had dared raid one of the corporation's headquarters or factory complexes, the elite security warriors stationed there would probably have pinned them to the ground before they even made it through the front gate.
"The age of piracy within Imperial territory is over. Pirates no longer have any room to survive."
The captain sighed wistfully.
As His Majesty the Savior often said, a person had to recognize the direction in which the age was moving and keep pace with it.
That was precisely why the captain had responded so decisively to the Empire's policies. He had surrendered and accepted rehabilitation.
Had he failed to seize that opportunity, he would probably have become space debris long ago.
How else could he have become a captain in the service of the Gantz Industrial Group?
The captain returned to his seat and took another sip of black coffee. He enjoyed its cheap but distinctive bitterness.
The threat had been eliminated. The remaining xenos sailships had damaged sails and stood no chance of catching the corporate transports, which were equipped with the latest propulsion engines.
As for the xenos corpses and filth left behind in the ship's plaza, specialist personnel would deal with them.
The crews of Imperial vessels already possessed a complete set of procedures for handling contamination and corruption.
In fact, services dedicated to removing Warp contamination had already given rise to dozens of major corporations.
Those corporations had developed countless products to assist with the cleansing process.
That was the advantage of a stable environment and a healthy market economy. Wherever a demand existed, enough people would eventually step forward to solve the problem. The market would provide a sufficient supply.
The Gantz Industrial Group's transports left the remaining xenos sailships behind and sped away.
The security warriors even planted Imperial banners in the bodies of the dead xenos pirates before throwing them into space.
That was their response.
"Filthy human maggots! How dare they steal property belonging to our Kabal?!"
The Archon stared at the corpses drifting through space and at the brazen human transport fleet towing away one of his sailships.
He could barely restrain his fury.
His voice was cold enough to freeze blood.
"Pursue them!"
The Archon would never allow anyone to humiliate him and then escape openly and unpunished.
The damage to their void-sails was being repaired rapidly. Before long, the sailships would regain their speed and catch up with the humans.
"My lord, perhaps we should abandon the pursuit," his lieutenant said.
The detection array before him was filled with an enormous number of high-threat contacts.
There was no doubt that the system ahead was likely home to a major human void station, complete with numerous space fortresses, weapons platforms, and other defenses.
It was not a region that a fleet of xenos pirates could enter recklessly.
"This isn't even the capital of a human sector. Why would they build void defenses on this scale?"
The Archon was astonished.
None of the nearby systems contained planets suitable for colonization.
As far as he remembered, there had been no sign of human activity anywhere in this region two hundred years ago.
Those space fortresses and weapons platforms seemed to have appeared from nowhere.
"End the pursuit. Withdraw to a safe distance!" the Archon ordered.
His sailship fleet could not advance any farther without exposing itself to enemy fire.
He gritted his teeth.
"Mark them. No matter how far these humans run or where they attempt to hide, the Children of Intrigue will find them and tear them apart without mercy!"
Once the human transports and the spiritual signatures of those aboard had been marked, they would never escape pursuit.
The Drukhari possessed more than enough time and extraordinarily long lives. They could take their revenge piece by piece until every marked enemy was dead.
These Drukhari pirates were exceptionally vindictive. They would cross immense distances and wait for centuries to take revenge upon their enemies.
They had once spent several hundred years plotting against a human planetary governor. Their scheme ultimately ended with the governor and his entire bloodline being tortured to death, while his domain was reduced to ashes.
That was why they were feared by humans and other xenos alike.
Who would not fear an enemy willing to pay any price to avenge even the smallest insult?
The Drukhari sailship fleet slowly withdrew from the system. They chose to lie in ambush along the route they believed the human transports would eventually use to return.
Their parched souls yearned for vengeance.
To these xenos, what they plundered was irrelevant. All that mattered was the process of inflicting pain and torment.
They had not been waiting long when their detection arrays began shrieking with alarms. The projected star charts filled with red contacts.
Red.
Everything was red!
The lieutenant stared at the sea of crimson before him, unable to speak.
The sheer number of high-threat enemy contacts caused the flagship's detection array to freeze. Moments later, smoke began pouring out of it.
"By the shadows..."
The Archon and his lieutenant stared at the malfunctioning array as their faces grew increasingly pale.
Their bodies went rigid, and terror welled uncontrollably within them.
They did not even need the detection array.
One glance through the observation dome revealed an unbroken wall of dark human warships stretching across the void.
It was an Imperial escort fleet.
The warships had surrounded the xenos pirate fleet from every direction, forming a spherical encirclement.
They were like a pack of wolves surrounding a flock of trembling lambs.
"Ha! We finally found you!"
The escort fleet commander's voice carried both excitement and fury.
The moment he received the Gantz Industrial Group transport fleet's distress call and the admiral's orders, he had mobilized his forces at maximum speed.
In truth, the admiral commanding the escort forces had been furious when he heard the news.
"What vile xenos! How dare they jeopardize the Voss Pan-Industrial Zone Escort Force's Exemplary Unit honors!"
The escort divisions were currently being evaluated for the Empire's Exemplary Unit commendations.
This escort fleet had eliminated threats along numerous shipping lanes, driven away wild void whales obstructing traffic, and kept the trade routes clear.
More importantly, they had maintained a flawless record of zero raids within their patrol zone for five consecutive years.
Transport fleets passing through the region showered them with praise. They were unquestionably an exemplary Imperial escort force.
Unless something unexpected happened, their force was certain to appear on the list of Exemplary Escort Units.
What an honor that would be!
Yet during this critical evaluation period, a corporate transport fleet had come under xenos attack, potentially disrupting the Empire's broader industrial strategy.
Was that not a direct slap in the face of the Voss Pan-Industrial Zone Escort Force?
Worse still, it might cost them their Exemplary Unit honors!
"These are no longer ordinary xenos pirates.
"Deploy every escort fleet capable of combat operations and find them.
"No matter where they flee, even if they escape into the Warp or run to the very edge of the galaxy, these xenos pirates who dared plunder Imperial merchant vessels and harm Imperial citizens must be exterminated!"
The admiral issued his orders in a towering rage.
And he was far from alone.
The fleet commanders, captains, and every last member of the escort force were howling for the xenos pirates' execution.
Everyone understood how important the Exemplary Unit designation was. It meant honor, prestige, and better benefits.
They had worked far too hard to let everything collapse at the final moment.
Almost the entire Voss Pan-Industrial Zone Escort Fleet mobilized. They searched across more than a dozen sectors before finally locating the heinous xenos pirates.
They then surrounded the enemy with a fleet several dozen times larger than the pirate force, sealing off every possible escape route.
"Humans, perhaps there has been a misunderstanding."
The Archon's tone had lost much of its earlier arrogance.
"No! You are precisely the xenos we were searching for, the ones who dared raid a merchant fleet and inflict catastrophic losses upon the Empire!"
The escort fleet commander's voice overflowed with righteous indignation.
"Catastrophic losses?"
The Archon was bewildered.
Their raid on the merchant fleet had failed completely. The humans had barely suffered a scratch.
His own forces were the ones who had taken heavy losses. They had even lost one of their ships.
Had another pirate fleet attacked those transports afterward and shifted the blame onto them?
When the Drukhari learned that the human fleet had come specifically because of their earlier attack, they were left utterly numb.
"Why go this far?" the Archon asked in disbelief.
They had not attacked the Empire's core territories or insulted the Throneworld.
Why had the humans deployed so many warships merely to intercept them?
Was energy free for these people?!
"Abominable xenos.
"Not only did you refuse to surrender upon encountering an Imperial escort fleet, but you even dared attempt to return fire?"
The escort fleet commander's voice thundered across the communication channel once more, carrying a fury that made the xenos tremble.
What?
The Archon was dumbfounded.
When had they returned fire?
Who would dare fight back while surrounded by a fleet like this?
They had not even dared move!
This was an injustice of the highest order!
At that moment, the Archon and his followers looked as aggrieved as loyal xenos falsely accused of treason.
The Archon surrendered his pride.
After all, no one could remain defiant with hundreds of cavernous shipboard cannons aimed directly at their face.
Abandoning all dignity, he made one final attempt.
"Human... Commander, I... we request a peaceful settlement. We will compensate you for every loss and offer additional property as a personal gift to..."
Rumble!
Before he could finish, the escort fleet unleashed a supersaturated bombardment from its shipboard batteries.
Several cyclonic torpedoes could be seen among the incoming barrage.
They illuminated the black void in a dazzling display of lethal beauty.
(End of Chapter)
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