Northwestern Galaxy, Serpent's Cradle.
Nareth ordered the Second, Fourth, and Fifth Chapters to land on planets designated two, one, and three, respectively, those currently farthest from the twin stars.
Librarians were assigned to the three Chapters to balance their combat capabilities.
Inside a black Stormbird, Wilshire's gaze pierced the narrow viewport, looking down at the dense forests below and the endless plains in the distance.
Auspex matrix scans showed this planet was the most Terra-like of the twelve.
Of course, that meant Terra in the ancient past.
The images of that ancient past Wilshire knew came mostly from early training, before he was assigned to a Legion, when they were shown images to cultivate a sense of belonging to Terra.
He didn't even know if they were real. By the time he was born, Terra had long been a steel jungle of hives.
What he could confirm was that the second planet was similar in size to Terra, and its rotation period was about one Terran day.
The most obvious difference was that the entire planet was bathed in a pale purple light, whereas Terra was in perpetual gloom.
"A natural hunting ground, but the creatures are unnatural."
Hasik stared at a grey owl-like creature swooping from a conifer at a raccoon-like creature with brown fur.
"Their colors are very bright, pure, and singular."
"Chogoris's eagles have many colors: brown, grey, tawny, black, white."
"The plainest grey eagle I've seen still had lighter coloring on its chest and belly than its back."
Wilshire immediately understood Hasik's point. "Techmarines specializing in geology hypothesize this world has existed for millions of years, but has been in a state like stasis."
"This defies natural law. It shows clear signs of artificial modification, likely by the Aeldari."
"But the force affecting the species may not come from the Aeldari. It could be those organically grown spires. Their architecture is completely different from the Aeldari's."
Hasik gripped his glaive. "I'll take the forest. You take the plains."
"The Librarian team, led by Miguel, will accompany you."
"Good." Hasik nodded. His brotherhood had not accompanied this expedition.
Moments later, Hasik mounted his jetbike, nodded to Miguel, and started the engine. He shot into the forest like a white arrow.
The roar of the engine startled koalas in the trees.
Hasik glanced at them, their cream-colored forms leaping away through the trees. Not only their bodies, but even their eyes were the same color.
The conifers were also a vivid, strikingly bright green.
The whole world was like a painting with vivid colors.
With each breath, cleaner air than Chogoris's filled his lungs.
He didn't lose himself in the beauty. He kept in mind the dangers Lord Nareth had warned of at the pre-battle briefing.
The location rune shrank from 13.6 kilometers. The pale yellow organic spire came into view.
It was like a glowing purple mushroom, its tissues pulsing as if breathing.
A musky scent, seeping through his rebreather, filled his nostrils.
Hasik's head grew dizzy. The greens grew greener, the browns browner...
His Astartes multi-lungs worked in the toxic air.
One lung closed its trachea with a sphincter, stopping normal breathing to protect his lungs.
The other absorbed oxygen from the toxic air, effectively breaking down toxins.
As leaves rustled, a purple rain fell.
The newly promoted "Provoker" suddenly realized the purple wasn't from the ground's pale light, but from dense serpentine creatures.
They opened their mouths in unison, silently exhaling thick mist.
Hasik slammed the throttle. His jetbike, pushed to its limits, sliced through the writhing, coiling purple serpents like a blade.
One hand on the controls, the other rapidly spun the bike's mounted bolter.
Amidst the roar of explosions, he noticed the blood mist was purple, not red.
The purple waves grew higher. The "Provoker" felt himself slowing.
His bike, his white armor, felt trapped in quicksand.
He instinctively knew the cause: the purple mist, thick as slime.
Just as he was about to dismount, his bike suddenly roared, leaping like an arrow.
He didn't need to look back; the location rune on his helmet told him the techno-psyker Miguel had blessed his bike.
Hasik felt the machine-spirit surge.
His jetbike raced at unprecedented speed, faster than any he had known, almost out of control.
CRASH!
The white blade shattered clumps of purple serpents.
Miguel lowered his Heart-Force Staff. Beside him, four Codiciers stepped forward, raising their force staves.
Crimson flames erupted. A blazing sea of fire engulfed the purple tide.
Miguel noticed the purple serpents, pouring from the trees, did not instinctively attack the Librarians, who were more dangerous to them. Instead, they surged towards Hasik, as if he were their only enemy.
The "Provoker" drew the serpents, allowing the Librarians to calmly attack and clear them.
Miguel, the techno-psyker, stared at the organic spire, his eyes deep.
The tower was made of some strange crystal, its pulsing energy patterns unlike anything he had seen.
The full-fledge "Appraiser" spiritual energy rapidly drained. Combining his observations with his Father's mention of gathered energy, he gradually grasped the spire's structure.
Reaching the spire, the newly promoted "Artisan" could confirm the veins of this monolithic, seemingly living structure.
"Blow it up?" Hasik dismounted and asked.
The "Artisan" shook his head. "No. An explosion would release the gathered energy, causing unpredictable disaster."
He stepped forward, swinging his Heart-forced Staff, striking one of the scale-like patterns.
The spire's pulsating rhythm suddenly accelerated.
As the "Artisan" struck an energy-balancing node, a crack appeared in the crystal's surface.
His staff remained against the crystal, maintaining the energy balance.
Only when the shaking stopped, revealing a gap wide enough for an Astartes, did he enter.
Hasik followed closely. The Librarians followed one by one.
The moment Miguel entered the organic spire, he felt he had entered another world.
A tide of shrieks washed over him.
The sound was not from the physical world, but in his mind, in another realm.
The tower's center was a slimy passage. Purple slime dripped from the crystal walls like threads, flowing down as if into an intestine.
Hasik walked to the passage, looking down at the writhing purple tunnel.
The "Provoker" felt an instinctive discomfort, as if something were sliding past his white armor, malevolent eyes fixed on him.
"There's something down there."
Miguel looked around. He shook his head.
"We don't need to go down."
He produced a glass grenade. "Before the operation, I took this from the forbidden vault."
The "Provoker" looked warily at the grenade. The indistinct, sleeping worm within felt dangerous.
"Withdraw." Miguel said to the others. Watching them move to the crack, he pulled the pin.
He tossed the grenade and retreated rapidly, diving through the crack.
The passage writhed like a serpent.
Across the second planet, and even in the void, Nareth heard the piercing shriek.
In the Sea of Souls, the Dark Age of Technology's forbidden weapon released a grain-sized Warp-brain worm.
It flew towards the twin-headed, twin-tailed purple serpent, millions of times larger, its bloated belly filled with faces.
The faces tumbled, emitting pained wails.
BOOM!
The moment the disproportionate creatures collided, a massive wave rose in the Sea of Souls.
The delicious souls the purple serpent had been chewing vanished at the impact.
Its bloated belly lost a huge chunk.
Both heads simultaneously let out a piercing shriek. The echoing cry tore the veil of reality.
In the Serpent's Cradle's realspace, as the sixth planet passed between the twin stars, its blue light suddenly dimmed.
Shrieks echoed across the first, second, and twelfth planets.
At the base of the standing organic spires, musky scent billowed. Stored energy surged, turning the pale purple light covering the planets to deep purple.
From the purple mist poured countless bizarre creatures: some with crab-like claws, others with horns...
The Slaaneshi greater daemon, enraged, drove its daemonic host from the organic spires.
.....
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