In the Hord system, the white Janzar, like a spear, pierced into the Nephilim's egg-shaped warship.
On the bridge, Hasik Noyan-Khan stood before the strategic table, gazing at the hololith.
Behind the Janzar was the Legion's flagship, the Swordstorm.
Hasik had earned the honor of leading the vanguard of the final hunt. He had been personally chosen by the Great Khan to open the path to the xenos homeworld.
Though he had already been elevated and become a son of Jaghatai, as a Chogorian, he still called his gene-father the Great Khan, Khan of Khans.
His gaze swept the hololith. Gahuin's Heaven's Lance was to the right of the Swordstorm.
Gahuin's white lance followed a different path, but still had to advance behind the Janzar.
"Khan," Stormseer Berghau spoke, "a storm is rising in the Sea of Souls."
"The xenos ships?" Hasik asked.
"I cannot be certain," Berghau's eyes deepened, wind and waves seeming to swirl within them. "But the pattern of the waves doesn't suggest egg-shaped vessels."
"Perhaps it is Shadow of Order."
Hasik shook his head. "They can't be as fast as us."
Berghau nodded in agreement. The plasma conduits in the Legion's ships had been doubled in capacity, the boosted lines shortened accordingly.
They moved faster within each system. The White Scars' cleansing of each system was also swift as the wind.
"Besides," Hasik continued his analysis, "of the hundred worlds enslaved by the Nephilim, we have cleansed fifty-three, they fifty-one."
"This time, Shadow of Order has only deployed four Chapters. To achieve a comparable record, their fleet must be scattered across various systems."
"They cannot be here now. By the time they arrive, we will have already left."
Hasik was about to give the order to slow the advance and avoid falling into a trap, when his helmet comm suddenly sounded with Jaghatai Khan's voice.
"Hasik, leave a space in Hord's orbit for Shadow of Order."
"My brother, Nareth, is here."
Hasik heard the excitement and fighting spirit in the Great Khan's voice.
The Warhawk of Chogoris was eager to hunt.
He thought of Targutai Yesugei, who had spoken of the hunt on the Rangdan homeworld. Lord Nareth had hunted the worm-creature leader.
Then, Hasik had still been undergoing augmentation and had missed that hunt.
He stared curiously at the hololith, at the flickering black runes.
'Shadow of Order truly is this fast.'
'Hmm, if Lord Nareth won that hunt against the Great Khan, then Shadow of Order could indeed match our pace.'
'Perhaps only Shadow of Order.'
As Hasik gazed curiously at the hololith, in the lower decks of the Shadow's Sovereignty, the Chief Apothecary Mikael was alone in his laboratory.
The lab was dark, but the "Potion Professor" could clearly see the pale arm in his hand.
With a psychic scalpel made of dual-numbered black gold, he cut a palm-sized piece of pale flesh.
His own pale hand, long unexposed to light, placed the flesh into a crucible.
His arms and the mechandrites on his back moved rapidly, tipping miniature tubes from the rack on the table into the crucible: blackened maggots, Catachan vines...
The "Potion Professor" completed the addition of all materials in a dozen seconds. As he stirred with a crystal spoon in his right hand, he felt a slight fatigue.
He quickly tapped a rune on the lab bench. A drawer slid open.
Deactivating the stasis field, he took a small black vial. Inside was a single drop of ruby-like blood.
It was from the Primarch Omegon, diluted a hundred times with Red Vosvoth vodka.
The "Potion Professor" carefully popped the cork with his thumb. The sharp smell of alcohol, mingled with a rich aroma, hit his nostrils.
Unlike other potions, which were mixtures of various ingredients, a Primarch's blood was best enjoyed alone. Adding anything else would only ruin its taste and effect.
The "Potion Professor" had only added Red Rath vodka.
His throat moved as he swallowed his saliva.
Then, he eagerly drank.
As the red liquid slid down his esophagus, a thick black mist instantly billowed from behind the "Potion Professor."
The grey Nephilim, paralyzed on the examination table, stared wide-eyed at the pair of ethereal bat wings that unfolded.
A second later, clusters of black flames rose.
A black flame flickered before the Nephilim.
The luminous lines on its skin twisted.
Had any green or blue Nephilim been present, they would have immediately sensed their commander's terror.
Mikael turned, smiling. His pale face and crimson eyes made the grey Nephilim's skin writhe even more.
The black flames flickered, like ghost fire.
Over a dozen seconds later, the "Potion Professor" controlled the surging power. The black flames and the crimson glow in his eyes vanished.
He looked up, exhaling a long, satisfied breath.
He felt his physical and mental fatigue vanish. Strength filled him.
Based on thirty-eight prior experiences, he knew his speed and strength would have a small, permanent increase.
Though each subsequent dose had a lesser effect, the improvement remained significant.
A flash of red light flickered in his eyes. He instinctively reached for a rune.
His hand stopped. The Black Emperor's voice echoed in his mind: "Control!"
The twisting patterns on the grey Nephilim's skin did not vanish with the black flames. Instead, they became more chaotic, like an overturned palette of paints.
It saw the mechandrites lower, then rise again. The pale figure in the black robe turned.
Mikael walked to the grey Nephilim. His right hand picked up an orange vial from the examination table and injected it into the grey body.
"You..." The Nephilim's voice was hoarse as it regained speech.
"There's no need for this. We can live in peace."
"I must say, you are truly skilled in sound." Mikael said admiringly. He glanced at the standard timer on the wall.
"Four days and six hours without speaking, and you recover in two seconds."
As he spoke, the Chief Apothecary's syringe descended like lightning.
"Don't..." The grey Nephilim's voice cut off. Its eyes widened in disbelief.
Mikael's left hand tapped a red lightning rune on the lower side of the examination table.
ZZZAAAP!
Lightning crackled, enveloping the grey body on the table.
The "Potion Professor" watched the grey Nephilim. Through previous experiments, he had found that electric shock stimulated the Nephilim's bodies.
Their metabolism accelerated. Their recovery sped up.
The grey Nephilim's vocal ability recovered five times faster, green three times, blue two times.
ZZZAAAP...
The grey body trembled. Minutes passed.
After three minutes and fifteen seconds, the "Potion Professor's" eyes lit up.
"Adding Barbarus Overlord arm as a material has greatly improved the silence potion's effectiveness."
"The Overlord's body is more toxic than Catachan snakes and other materials."
The "Potion Professor" had previously used various materials to concoct potions. They had been effective on the battlefield, accelerating the cleansing of the Nephilim.
But an effect lasting less than four minutes was not decisive in battle.
With a thought, his gyrinx raised a paw.
A data slate and stylus flew into Mikael's hands. He reviewed the information stream on the viewscreen.
He recorded key data on the slate.
After a full cycle of the standard timer, the Chief Apothecary's surgical saw descended with a happy hum.
As the saw teeth spun, grey flesh scattered, revealing the mouth and the alien organs resembling a throat and trachea.
At the same moment the "Potion Professor" achieved his breakthrough, the white and black fleets synchronously deployed at opposite ends of Hord's orbit, the Nephilim homeworld.
Hasik Noyan-Khan landed on the grey-white world, mounted his jetbike, and looked up at the black craft piercing the miasma.
'Shadow of Order. Let's see who reaches the center first this time.'
He lowered his head, started the engine, then raised his curved blade.
Fifteen relatively complete brotherhood squadrons, six hundred bikes, their jets screaming, followed their Khan.
.....
If you enjoy the story, my p@treon is 30 chapters ahead.
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