Warhammer: The 11th Primarch - The Black Emperor

While deep in thought, Nareth stepped into a circular plaza. The colorful mosaics forming the plaza depicted abstract geometric patterns, almost like a mural.

The plaza is connected to twenty buildings, not a coincidence. These were the residences the Emperor had prepared for the Primarchs.

Walking along the lakeside path, Nareth entered a courtyard built from pale stone blocks.

Within the courtyard stood a training ground. Upon seeing the Primarch return, the twelve members of the Shadow of Order halted their movements and saluted their gene-father.

After nodding slightly in return, Nareth raised his head toward orbit.

His consciousness extended into the void above, locating the Void Hunter among the many ships and locking onto Tierney's position. He then sent a telepathic message to the "Marauder," along with the dark symbol he saw on the observatory dome.

"Send someone to investigate. You are not to take the risk yourself."

What Nareth wanted to avoid wasn't Malcador's surveillance, given his sharp senses, not investigating the mythic creature would've been more suspicious.

The treasure-hunting team couldn't avoid Malcador's notice anyway. The real threat came from other powers; if they caught wind of a creature that even the Primarchs were curious about, they'd dispatch agents either to claim it or curry favor, likely disturbing the being, if it still lived.

Nareth then stepped into a three-story black villa, painted that way on Malcador's orders.

The building looked more like obsidian than marble.

The first floor contained a large lounge and a dining room by the window. Members of the honor guard lived in the guest rooms on this level, allowing them to stand watch and train in the courtyard.

After sitting in his alloy chair perfectly suited to him, Nareth thought for a moment, then activated his communicator.

He issued commands to the Master of Vox, mobilizing the 2nd, 4th, 5th, 7th, 11th, and 12th Chapters to converge on the Sol System.

He knew that Necromunda was currently ruled by the Araneus Continuity, a six-system civilization linked by warp gates.

Their rulers were Technobility, who referred to their homeworld as Araneus Prime, renamed Necromunda after its conquest by the Imperium.

Considering how the Imperial Fists could blitz a star system in a day, taking Araneus Prime in two months, the fall of the Araneus Continuity wasn't a challenge.

But Nareth recalled how the Continuity destroyed the warp gates of the other five systems, leaving only Necromunda intact after the blasts.

He wasn't about to let that go to waste. He wanted all six systems, and the warp gates were worth studying. He aimed to conquer them even faster.

Besides blitz tactics, there was another possibility: using the Dice of Prophecy he had just obtained to glean insight.

Rising from his chair, he ascended the stairs.

The second floor was for his personal aide and his staff. The "Reader" and his assistants had already departed for various libraries to gather and record knowledge.

Nareth climbed to the third floor, which housed a large bedroom, study, bathroom, and spacious balcony.

He entered the study, sat down in a matching alloy chair, and opened the transparent box holding the three-sided die.

The Dice of Prophecy required two human hands to hold, but Nareth lifted it easily with two fingers.

It felt cold, like metal.

With a casual toss, the die spun and landed on the long table. No projection appeared.

'Just as Malcador said, when inert, it's like any ordinary die. Still eleven months until it's "recharged."'

Contemplative, he picked it up again with two fingers and studied it in his palm.

At that moment, on the capital world of the Brenna System:

Elegant red aircraft swooped through the skies toward a building.

One red hover-bike carried a tall figure in a crimson robe, white mask over her head, raising a staff and issuing a command in Aeldari tongue:

"Attack the mon-keigh. Save our kin."

Through prophecy, the Aeldar had confirmed only 34 mon-keigh in black armor were present. They believed they could rescue their wounded brethren in a swift raid.

This was to be a quick strike. Before they could react, the Aeldar would free their kin and withdraw with elegance.

At that same moment, Howard, sensing an intrusion in his jurisdiction, issued a command via comms:

"Xenos incursion. Prepare for combat."

His eyes gleamed. For nearly a year, he had waited for this moment.

To lure the "bait," he had even relocated his office to the very building where Aeldar prisoners were held.

Now the opportunity had come. If he could capture their seer, he might uncover Sam-Hann's purpose and fulfill the Primarch's command to locate Vigilus.

Howard sprinted to the balcony just as the Aeldar jetbikers struck.

Diving, they unleashed their attacks on the black-armored warriors below.

From their grav-bikes, hundreds of monomolecular star darts launched in nets at their targets.

These star darts were signature Aeldar weapons, advanced and nearly impossible to replicate.

They operated on gravity accelerators, using crystal cores as ammo.

When fired, high-energy pulses peeled off monomolecular shards from the core and launched them through the barrel at high speed.

Magnetic antigrav devices held the core steady for the pulse, enabling hundreds of shots per second. Each core supported over a dozen salvos.

The drawback? No rifling in the barrel, sacrificing precision.

But they didn't need aim; hundreds of razor darts blanketing an area were harder to dodge than a few accurate bullets.

Yet the 1st Chapter's Shadow of Order warriors were even faster.

Alerted by their lord commander, they sensed the oncoming jetbikes and, just before the Aeldar struck, executed tactical maneuvers, dodging the attack and raising their boltguns for a counterstrike.

At close range, ideal for retaliating, their bolt rounds tore through several bikers before they could evade.

The Aeldar seer, shocked by the failure of the initial blitz, raised her staff to attack the black-armored warriors.

But Howard was faster.

The "Interogator" burst onto the balcony, his black eyes glowing faint blue as invisible light flared.

A bolt of psychic lightning struck the Aeldar's soul directly.

The "Psychic Piercing" attack sent the seer reeling with agony too intense to think.

Within his jurisdiction, Howard's psychic amplification struck her with devastating force.

The Aeldar tumbled from her grav-bike.

Howard drew his power sword, lunged forward, and appeared before her in a blink.

With a swing, blue energy crackled, and the blade sliced through her right shoulder and arm. Her staff clattered to the ground.

The "Interogator" reached out, grabbing the seer by the throat.

The sudden reversal stunned the Aeldar bikers.

Their precious seer, captured by a mon-keigh.

Enraged, the Windrider jetbikers veered and charged toward Howard.

.....

If you enjoy the story, my p@treon is 30 chapters ahead.

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