After placing the Dionysian Spear in the armory, Nareth returned to his palace and reentered the Kingdom of Disorder.
Upon discovering that the Dice of Prophecy had finished charging, he brought it back into the material world.
Information about Ulthanx quickly flashed through his mind:
'Stone World Ulthanx'
'A Standard Template Construct for a Star Fortress exists upon it.'
Nareth knew little about how Lian Ramilies had retrieved the Star Fortress STC, even less than he knew about the Leman Russ, no, the Blyek Battle Tank.
He mentally reviewed everything he knew, then whispered inwardly:
'The star chart from Vostroya to Ulthanx…'
After silently reciting it eleven times, he tossed the Dice of Prophecy.
The die spun several times in the air before landing in his open palm. The moment it touched his hand, a holographic image appeared before his eyes, a detailed projection of the stars.
Nareth memorized the chart and stored it in a data crystal, silently thinking:
'The Dice of Prophecy really is remarkable. Even with limited information, it can still pinpoint and divine a star chart.'
'It may not have combat capability, but its usefulness surpasses any weapon. The Ramilies-class Starfort is, without a doubt, the most strategically valuable STC of all.'
As he pondered, an image flashed through his mind, a broken mechanical figure, as tall as a Dreadnought, dragging its heavy steps toward him.
He turned toward the gyrinx, John. The image had come from the creature's mind, a glimpse of the future it had seen, something that happened occasionally over the past few years.
"You've become a true 'Monster', haven't you?" Nareth asked, having sensed an energy within John like the shattering of a star.
"I…" John's Vostroyan speech was now fluent. His tawny fur bristled slightly. "I don't know."
Nareth opened his psychic sight. John's astral form shimmered pure silver.
"You are indeed a true 'Monster,'" Nareth confirmed.
The Black Wolf Freddy curiously circled around John, his own heightened intuition perceiving something new.
"Yeah, he's different," Freddy said with a grin. "Still not as good as me, though."
While Freddy observed John, Nareth interpreted the vision from the "Monster" mind.
'A mechanical construct will confront me…'
'What the 'Monster' sees is uncontrolled, more random than any diviner's prophecy. It might not even happen on Ulthanx.'
'What I do know is that Lian Ramilies recovered the Ramilies-class Starfort STC during the cleansing of Ulthanx.'
A realization struck him, Cleansing!
If Ramilies called it a purification, that means he found something heretical there.
If he shared the belief that machines capable of thought and will were Abominable Intelligences, then the target of his "purification" must have been intelligent machines.
His eyes gleamed, his mind aligning the prophetic vision with this new deduction.
He then sent the Dice of Prophecy back to the Kindom of Disorder and summoned his aide, Arsen, giving his order:
"Deliver this data crystal to Fleet Navigator-Chief Aiden Visscher. Tell him to prepare the fleet for departure to Ulthanx."
After the pact with the Visscher family, their Navigators had been fully integrated into the Shadowss of Order. The fleet's chief navigator was the young and talented Aiden himself.
"Order the Eleventh Chapter to be ready for deployment."
"Also, inform Magos Lian Ramilies that the location of the Standard Template Construct has been confirmed."
"The fleet will depart within ten work cycles."
Whatever awaited on Ulthanx, if Ramilies's Skitarii had once purged it, then Nareth's Honor Guard, Legion Librarians, and the Eleventh Chapter would be more than sufficient.
His silver-haired aide recorded every word and departed to carry out the command.
Aboard the Explorer, Magos Ramilies received the message. His logic engines churned furiously.
'Truly? I estimated that Nareth's "soon" would mean within ten years.'
'By Terra time, I've searched for twenty-four years, five months, and twelve days without finding a single STC trace.'
'And yet he has already found another one? Impossible… statistically absurd… probability lower than one in a billion.'
Five work cycles later, the Shadows of Order fleet and the Explorer set sail for Ulthanx.
Ulthanx.
On the bridge of the Throne of Shadow's Sovereignity, Captain Diana Pauline examined the screens at her console.
The Punisher-class reactor had replaced the older plasma type, granting the massive battleship immense thrust and a smooth deceleration as it entered planetary orbit, the last 520,000 kilometers executed without structural tremor or instability.
Her turquoise eyes glanced at the crystal monitor: reactor load at 15.42%.
She couldn't help but feel a pang of regret:
'No enemy ships. No battle.'
'No way to test the Punisher reactor or the auto-recharging void shield in real combat… nor to command through the Simulus Chambers during a void engagement.'
She remembered the sensation during simulations, the exhilarating feeling of controlling every ship as if the entire fleet were her own body.
Setting aside her faint disappointment, she refocused on the auger readings and Auspex scans.
Her fingers danced swiftly across the data slate, classifying and forwarding the results to the Primarch's aide.
In the dark throne room, Arsena reviewed the information and spoke:
"My lord, the star system you designated as Ulthanx contains four planets."
He manipulated his control staff, projecting the system's holographic image.
"The Auspex data shows that all four worlds are uninhabitable to humans. However, one planet emits an anomalous signal, unlike any Imperial identification code."
"Further analysis indicates the planet is entirely rock. No atmosphere, no water."
Nareth nodded slightly. The STC was likely on that planet.
"Send a message to Lian, tell him the Standard Construction Template is located there."
Black Stormbirds launched from the decks, descending toward Ulthanx's surface.
At twelve kilometers above ground, the pilot reported:
"Father, the augers have detected an energy reaction. Runic identification marks it as a high-threat hostile target."
"Continue descent," Nareth commanded. Fifteen Stormbirds pressed on.
At four kilometers altitude, blinding beams of light erupted from the surface.
The Shadow of Order pilot yanked the control stick, the gunship shot forward as the beam grazed its belly.
Then, as if a hidden switch had been flipped, dozens more beams streaked upward in coordinated fire.
Nareth peered below. On the rocky ground moved a dozen metal constructs, cables and wires sparking along their exteriors.
Their eyes lit up, crimson, not blue.
He noted their weapon arms showed no adaptive configuration, confirming they weren't Iron Men.
Their polished steel skulls gleamed with a strange psychic luster.
His mind raced, linking their appearance to the "Robot" potion's secondary ingredient, the head of an Andrew-class automaton.
He turned to a member of his Honor Guard. "Lend me your sword."
"Father, it is my honor," the warrior said, offering his blade with both hands.
Taking the sword, Nareth unlocked the bay door. His golden wings flared, and he leapt into the open sky.
Channeling his psychic might into the Dionysian Spear, he hurled it downward.
The radiant spear impaled one Andrew automaton through the abdomen.
The others turned their glowing red optics toward the airborne figure in black armor and golden wings, instantly identifying him as the primary threat.
Streams of binary code flickered across their minds, linking into a synchronized network.
Within one second, a complete fire-control pattern was calculated.
The automatons raised their right arms in unison, weaving beams of energy into a deadly web aimed at Nareth.
He banked sharply left, the automata's fire pattern adjusted perfectly, not a single beam misaligned.
The web engulfed him again.
Their computational precision was extreme, predicting his every movement from velocity and vector data.
Nareth twisted and accelerated again, but the machines held their lock firmly.
Then, between his wings, a rune began to glow.
.....
If you enjoy the story, my p@treon is 30 chapters ahead.
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