Upon arriving in orbit above Indra-Sul, the fleet of the Shadows of Order's Seventh Chapter immediately deployed into attack formation.
Data from the world's liberation during the Second Rangdan War was retrieved.
The Simulus Chambers, overseen by the "Knowledged Keepers," guided the gunnery officers, who were all "Pyromaniac."
Lances, like fingers descending from the heavens, struck precisely at the defense network's key nodes.
The sudden burst of light consumed the orbital defenses.
Missile platforms and anti-aircraft arrays were reduced to rubble without firing a single shot.
The multiple sonic booms of hypersonic shells echoed, their deafening roar reverberating through fortresses and bunkers.
"Ah..."
A terrible, shrieking cry, transcending the material world's clamor, echoed through the void.
On the bridge of the Relic-class battleship Void Hunter, Okafor, recently advanced to "Constellations Master" through his study of the constellations and mystical knowledge of the Sak'trada Deeps, stared at Indra-Sul through his ever-open "Eyes of Mystery Prying"
The telepath saw tendrils reaching from beyond the shadowy veil, taking root in Indra-Sul.
The rising beams of light, like a thousand blades, shattered the tendrils into fragments.
Tendril after tendril dissolved, rapidly dissipating.
"Orbital bombardment has been highly effective. At least one-tenth of the xenos have lost their host bodies."
Chapter Master Sanchez opened the comm network. "Begin orbital drop."
He glanced at the Vessor chieftain beside him. The Khrave could not see into this place, so he spoke directly.
"The Khrave aboard the ship are yours."
"Reaper Lord, I have them in my grasp." Okafor blinked his mystically charged eyes.
As the drop pods rained down upon Indra-Sul, a whisper from beyond reality seeped into Edwards's mind.
He murmured, "Yes... I understand... it's time..."
"Captain? What?" one of the deck enforcers asked in confusion.
Edwards's gaze fell upon his team. His voice was deep, as if from another world.
"The Shadows of Order has betrayed the Emperor! We must stop them!"
"What?" The enforcers thought they had misheard.
"Captain, but..."
"We must act now! Go to the armory. Get the melta bombs," Edwards repeated.
A distant power grasped the enforcers' necks. They spoke in unison.
"Yes... that's right... we must act."
Their movements were synchronized. They raised their left legs simultaneously, their steps landing in perfect unison, like high-ranking servitors tuned to the same frequency.
"We just need to cross this deck section..." Edwards said, though it was his first time going to the Shadows of Order's armory. The layout was burned into his mind.
Stars materialized above them, brilliant and resplendent.
Not the distant star that beat for Edwards alone.
They hung above him, casting down beams that converged into a magnificent pillar of light, enveloping them.
"Ah..." The surrounding enforcers dissolved and scattered in the starlight.
The distant star throbbed. A scream made Edwards's neck prickle.
"Shadows of Order..." Edwards raised his hand to fire at the black-armored warrior.
The roar of gunfire came before his movement. The thought-servitors flanking the Librarian raised their Bedrock-pattern boltguns and opened fire.
Okafor the "Constellations Master" watched the host body, which had survived both the "Star Pillar" and the bolt rounds, as it crouched, its joints bent at unnatural angles.
The damage had caused black lines to surface on its face and hands; its intestines, covered in patterns, were strewn across the deck.
"Shadows of Order..." it gasped, scanning the bloody remains on the deck, and roared.
"You have killed my slave."
As it roared, it swung its arm, squeezing the last psychic power from this body.
Bang! Bang!
The two durable constructs of Squat craftsmanship were pulverized into clouds of black sand.
Okafor's body turned transparent, like a statue made of starlight.
The statue shattered, and the brilliant stellar radiance surged, moving beyond the reach of the telekinetic field.
Points of starlight re-formed, revealing Okafor's body.
Using his "Stellar Self ," Okafor evaded the Khrave's attack and opened his mouth.
"Roar!"
The gryphon's roar struck Edwards directly.
The Khrave shrieked in agony. It had witnessed the fall of stellar empires and the birth of gods, but the pain of that roar was unlike anything it had experienced.
Every nerve in its distant, transcendent form bled from the scream. The impact tore apart the psychic tendrils it had used to drive its slave.
The "Gryphon's Roar" echoed across the Seventh Chapter's warships, shredding the psychic tendril network covering the fleet.
Indra-Sul, the Planetary Governor's mansion.
A hundred children raised their laspistols. Though they did not aim, their beams converged into an ocean of fire that engulfed the swift, green wolves.
Catachan wolves were burned to cinders. Shadows of Order crashed heavily to the ground.
The Mark IV Maximus armor on their legs smoked, scarred by the heat, no longer looking like the new-issued wargear.
They ran, charging into the collapsed buildings.
A hundred elderly people raised their arms. Their lasguns fired before they had even aimed at the ruins.
Blinding beams pierced the smoke, striking the visors of the running Shadows of Order.
Bang!
A body crashed to the ground.
The ordinary citizens, driven by the Khrave and who had never held a gun before, fought with the prowess of elite Solar Auxilia.
Amidst the horrifying crackle of ionized air, black-armored warriors fell on the path of their charge.
Suddenly, the defenders stopped. The people looked around in confusion.
The swirling smoke filled their dazed minds. The wreckage of black-armored warriors came into view.
"By the Emperor! What have we done..."
Bang, bang, bang...
They dropped their weapons in terror, as if the ones who had killed with such proficiency moments before were someone else entirely.
"Attack!" The Reaper Lord Sanchez's voice cut like a blade through the Chapter's command channel.
Silently, Catachan wolves leaped. Captain Thibault of the 1st Company, Captain Stevens, recently promoted to the 5th, Captain Porti of the 7th...
The "Conspirer" Captains charged the Planetary Governor's mansion. They did not unleash their flames, to burn the people who had killed their battle-brothers to ash.
They knew these were the xenos' slaves. Killing them was pointless.
Their objective was clear, the Khrave Progenitor within.
They did not avoid the crowd. The Catachan wolves ruthlessly pushed through, their claws tearing apart those in their path.
As blood sprayed, the Captains of the 4th and 13th Companies were the first to leap inside the mansion. Flocks of flame-crows rose above their heads.
The "Conspirer" Captains swung their arms, about to guide the crows with their spirituality.
"Shadows of Order, die!" Two dazzling, colorful psychic flames moved faster than the cold voice that came after them, having already been loosed before the words were spoken.
The 4th Captain's personal energy shield shattered instantly, torn like tissue paper.
His Cataphractii-pattern Terminator armor, his body, and his Catachan wolf were all consumed in a boiling fireball.
The 13th Captain's Catachan wolf collapsed. The "Conspirer" pressed his hands down, and two serpents of flame rose.
Pfft!
The psychic flames swallowed the crimson fire. The multicolored light consumed the black-armored form.
The Thunderwolf King, its body far larger than a Rhino transport, surged past the crowd. Sanchez's gaze narrowed.
The terrifying Khrave Progenitor had just instantly killed two "Conspirer" Captains with flame.
No wonder only Lord Sanguinius and Lord Angron had ever defeated them.
....
If you enjoy the story, my p@treon is 30 chapters ahead.
[email protected]/DaoistJinzu