Aboard the Shadow's Sovereignty, Bridge.
At the hololithic tactical table, Nareth scrutinized the holographic image of Perditus VI.
Arsena held a data-slate, reviewing the report compiled by his "Knowledge Keepers", "Student of Ratiocination," and the Techmarines.
"My Lord, after compiling and analyzing the auspex data and the aetheric readings across the region, we have identified five anomalous zones."
Nareth took in the five highlighted zones, also absorbing the scrolling data on the viewscreens.
"Prepare a Stormbird. Proceed to Zone C."
Nareth remembered that the Tuchulcha engine was in an underground cavern. Combined with the ætheric readings, this zone was the most likely location.
A black Stormbird howled from the Shadow's Sovereignty. Light and shadow flickered in the Primarch's eyes as his consciousness extended towards the surface.
Nareth first perceived a tracking target.
The "Mentor of Disorder's" consciousness swept over, instantly discerning the Yeld-pattern suit's adaptive camouflage form.
After advancing to "Mentor of Disorder," his refined spirit granted him greater mental power and awareness.
Through experimentation, he had confirmed that without the Osiris mind staff, he was now as powerful as he had been with it before his advancement.
As the Stormbird pierced the cloud layer, the "Mentor of Disorder" drew closer to the surface, his area of coverage expanding. More scenes drew his attention.
Okafor, a mentalist psyker, put away his Osiris mind staff.
Then, the newly promoted "Warlock" raised his hand, scattering invisible powder.
As the powder enveloped him, the "Warlock" vanished as if erased by an eraser.
The "Mentor of Disorder" lost sight of the "Warlock" for an instant. With a thought,
he narrowed his area of awareness. His mental power, like a brush, swept aside the mist.
He immediately grasped the "Warlock's" movements, simultaneously confirming that three Kyoometers ahead, there was a brown-clothed doppelganger.
He also noticed a 'person' walking down a street, a lasgun in hand, suddenly freezing as ice spread upward.
The ice crept up from its feet, solidifying.
A tall, slender "Witch" emerged swiftly from the shadows, hoisting the frozen figure.
Nareth nodded with satisfaction as doppelgangers hidden among the populace were continuously discovered, either killed or captured.
Then, his consciousness was suddenly stirred.
The "Mentor of Disorder" sensed something like invisible points of light briefly touching his awareness.
The contact was fleeting, indistinct, like an illusion.
Nareth knew it was no illusion. In that direction lay a network of underground tunnels and deep caverns.
The "Mentor of Disorder" focused his awareness on the deep cavern.
His consciousness penetrated layers of rock, reaching the cavern's center.
He immediately noticed a black-and-white marble sphere, 10.6 meters in diameter, suspended in the air.
Golden specks moved slowly across its surface, like a spinning disk.
As it slowly rotated, figures around it rapidly vanished.
The Primarch keenly sensed that those figures were doppelgangers.
He also perceived the ebb and flow of Warp tides.
With the surging tide, figures rapidly appeared, then vanished from his perception.
Nareth immediately confirmed this was the Tuchulcha engine he sought.
There might be similar objects, but the ability to teleport beings into the Warp was unique to Tuchulcha on Perditus VI.
'The doppelgangers found the Tuchulcha engine. It's playing with them, teleporting them away.'
The "Mentor of Disorder" noticed bright spots flare on the silver-white sphere.
'Trying to run.' Nareth's thoughts raced.
He had not anticipated Tuchulcha trying to escape. When discovered during the Great Crusade, it had not fled.
It had even cooperated with the Tech-Priests, spending thirty years establishing a neural link with a boy servitor.
During the Heresy, when it encountered the Lion again, it had willingly followed.
'Did it sense my powerful mind when our consciousnesses brushed?' The "Mentor of Disorder" focused. Spiritual energy surged.
His consciousness enveloped a doppelganger. In an instant, he projected an invisible egg into its mind.
His spiritual energy rapidly drained. The egg grew, forming a "Mind Gate."
The "Mentor of Disorder's" body became ethereal, vanishing from the Stormbird in an instant.
CRACK!
The black-armored, golden-winged giant materialized in the cavern's center.
The "Mentor of Disorder" unleashed his spiritual energy without reserve. The golden specks churning in the sphere became chaotic.
A doppelganger was suddenly flung from the Sea of Souls, slamming into the cavern ceiling.
Another, farther away and not within the teleportation range, vanished from its spot, reappearing in a city a thousand Kyoometers away.
Amidst the "Chaos," Nareth felt something dissolve within him. His body, mind, and spirit grew purer.
The discomfort of psychic exhaustion vanished instantly.
Black mist flickered in his eyes. He felt certain the Kingdom of Disorder had unlocked a new layer, the ninth.
The "Mentor of Disorder" took one step and was before Tuchulcha, its teleportation interrupted.
In his Spirit Vision, the engine was saturated with psychic luster.
The black-and-white sphere trembled. Golden specks scattered chaotically.
The power of teleportation churned within the zone of psychic "Chaos." The sphere flickered between reality and the Warp.
With a thought, Nareth's right hand was wreathed in thin black mist.
He reached out and grasped the sphere. It was hot to the touch.
With a thought, the 10.6-meter sphere vanished.
He felt the third layer of the Kingdom of Disorder now held the sphere.
Black mist churned. The scattered golden specks settled and vanished.
'Tuchulcha, even if you can teleport, you can't escape.'
Sensing the Tuchulcha engine's agitation in the third layer subsiding, confirming he wouldn't need force to establish a "link," he reviewed the entire process of acquiring it.
'If I hadn't advanced to "Mentor of Disorder" and gained "Mind Gate" and "Chaos," it might have escaped.'
He also recalled the sensation during the capture.
'Tuchulcha's number is not low. The feedback from using "Chaos" clearly indicates the "Mentor of Disorder" is digesting.'
Drawing on his previous sequence digestion experiences, he quickly gauged his progress.
'Combined with prior roleplay, my digestion is about one-third complete.'
'Based on past experience, one-third digestion unlocks the ninth layer, two-thirds unlocks the tenth, and complete digestion unlocks the eleventh.'
'Indeed, Sequence 6 unlocks three layers, Sequence 5 unlocks four.'
As he thought, he turned. He saw a doppelganger lunging forward, its body hurtling backward instead.
Another leaned back, its body suddenly jerked forward.
...
The "Mentor of Disorder's" field was still active. The doppelgangers were in utter "Chaos."
He channeled spiritual energy into the Hand of Order. Amber formed rapidly.
Telekinesis swept up the doppelgangers, sending them into the first layer of the Kingdom of Disorder.
Then, with a thought, he went to the newly unlocked ninth layer.
.....
If you enjoy the story, my p@treon is 30 chapters ahead.
[email protected]/DaoistJinzu