The young psyker Librarian, Ramsey, had already ascended to the second layer of the Thelema mind state before setting foot on the surface of Osiris III.
The moment he landed, he instantly sensed a frigid consciousness slamming against his psychic barrier.
Ramsey's black eyes flickered; using the impact, he roughly pinpointed the enemy's location.
Without hesitation, he moved toward the direction of the Osiris Psybrid Species.
The enslaved human rebels charged toward him, shouting madly.
Raising his staff, Ramsey unleashed a surge of bio-energy, sweeping through the rebels like a storm
Their hearts thudded violently; their blood rushed faster, their movements accelerating unnaturally.
But within seconds, their speed faltered, their limbs went limp, weapons fell from their hands, and they collapsed unconscious.
Ramsey had used Boiling Blood to overload their bodies with fatigue, rendering them insensible.
Stepping past the fallen humans, he marched toward the psychic presence he had detected.
He found the xeno lounging in a pool, forcing enslaved humans to construct the surrounding structure for his leisure.
A flicker of anger crossed Ramsey's eyes. He lifted his hand toward the xeno.
Because the Gene-Father had ordered that the creatures be captured alive, he refrained from using psychic lightning and instead cast Weakness.
The creature's icy-blue threads went slack and limp.
The humans it had been controlling halted mid-stride, confusion replacing their rage-filled faces.
Ramsey approached the unconscious xeno, knelt, and picked up the blue psychic staff in its hand, feeling the pulsing mind-energy stored within.
At that same moment, invisible waves rippled across the surface of Osiris III, everywhere, Librarians donning "Howling Masks" unleashed psychic screams.
Though not as devastating as their Primarch's, these screams were potent enough to knock out several, or even dozens, of Psybrids at once.
The psykers then extracted energy from the captured psychic staffs, amplifying their next screams tenfold. Their efficiency rose dramatically.
Meanwhile, the First Catachan Banshee Regiment deployed on Osiris V.
As soon as they stepped onto the surface, their commander, Michi, froze, a crushing will pressed against her mind.
"Submit to me!"
Michi, one of only three psykers among the Catachan women, had been chosen as commander by Marlena.
She threw her head back and let out a piercing psychic scream; the green runes on her red wooden mask glowed, and the shriek was amplified through sonic emitters.
Six kilometers away, inside a spired building, an Osiris Psybrid cried out in pain, several icy threads snapped from his heart-shaped head.
Michi's power wasn't lethal like that of the Librarians, but it grievously wounded the alien.
It hastily drew energy from its staff to heal and then ordered its enslaved humans to attack.
Michi howled again and led her Banshees into the assault.
They moved like a storm between buildings, lasguns spitting beams that cut through rebel ranks, creating a breach in the enemy lines.
Before the rebels could regroup, the Banshees darted through, refusing prolonged combat, for they knew, as their mistress Marlena had taught, that killing the enslaved was meaningless.
The true enemy was the xeno.
The women fought like spirits of vengeance, swift as the wind, but unlike the Aeldar Howling Banshees, they relied not on melee alone.
By the age of ten, every Catachan woman had been forged into a marksman in the deadly jungles of her world.
They sprinted, firing with precision even while in motion, weaving through gunfire with the same instinct they used to avoid jungle predators.
Compared to those beasts, the movements of these enslaved humans were slow and predictable.
They stormed through empty factories, deserted administrative towers…
Then Michi suddenly stopped, her gaze fixing on a strange structure ahead.
She noticed the rebels around it hadn't joined the assault, they remained stationed, guarding it.
Her unit advanced, unleashing a rain of lasfire. Bullets grazed several Banshees, drawing streaks of blood, yet none fell. They were used to pain.
Michi led the charge, drawing her half-meter-long Catachan Fang.
Blades flashed; enemy heads rolled.
The Banshees stormed forward, slicing through every obstacle, until they reached the alien's lair.
Michi let out another piercing wail, and her squad echoed in unison.
The creature screamed in terror, its psychic field collapsed, and its body dropped lifelessly to the floor.
After Nareth discovered that the Osirian Psybrid were linked through a shared psychic network, he and the Librarians became the driving force of the campaign.
Using the Howling Masks, they eradicated the aliens efficiently and harvested materials for potions.
By the 11th month of 834.M30, rebellion across all eleven star systems of the Osiris Cluster had been quelled.
Upon returning to the Throne Shadow' Sovereignity, Nareth received a report from Arsena.
"My lord, during the campaign, we rescued five hundred and thirteen War-Borns. A message has been sent to Lord Comander Gren Vosotho of the Thirteenth Legion."
"The liberated humans across the eleven systems have formed a delegation requesting an audience."
Nareth nodded.
"And their petition?"
"The terrified Osirians, fearful of falling under xenos enslavement again, beg for your protection."
"They swear loyalty to the commands of the Shadow of Order."
After brief contemplation, Nareth smiled faintly.
"I accept their request. The Osirians shall have our protection."
But he suspected that some Psybrids had survived by remaining disconnected from their psychic network.
'"Sheriffs" would be the best for this kind of cleanup,' he thought.
Nareth issued his next command:
"The First Chapter of the Arbiter Lord will garrison Osiris and rebuild order here."
After the briefing, Nareth turned to the next step, the Dice of Prophecy had recharged, and he had to choose a new focus.
His options:
A particular world designated as a recruitment ground for the Fourth Chapter, Posul, rumored to conceal both a Forge World and a Knight World.
A world where STC technology was rumored to exist, especially relics discovered during the Great Crusade.
His mind raced. Then he decided: 'Divine the STC, to cut ahead of the Baal Predators' discovery.'
'The Blood Angels discovered an STC but never handed it to the Mechanicum, causing centuries of tension.'
'This way, I'll save them the trouble. No need to thank me, Sanguinius.'
He entered the Kingdom of Disorder and picked up the Dice of Prophecy, recalling the data of Auten III, the domain of the arch-techno-heretic Lord de Ladt, where the Baal Predator STC lay hidden.
He muttered quietly, "Star chart from Osiris to Auten…"
After eleven recitations, he cast the dice into the air.
The tetrahedron spun and landed in his open palm, at that instant, a holographic star map shimmered before his eyes.
Nareth memorized it and recorded it into a data crystal.
.....
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