Aboard the flagship of the Fifth Chapter, the Relic-class battleship Starcaller, on its bridge.
Chapter Progenitor Santiago Borgkamp held a data crystal in his left hand, channeling psychic energy to decode the information within.
His obsidian eyes were unfocused; his right hand gripped a brush.
The brush, its handle made of even-stranded black gold, its tip of cold stone, was constantly dipped into various spiritual fluids.
Deep blue, mixed from Kraken blood and seawater, and pale blue, mixed from Sahaduin blood, formed the main lines.
Red, mixed from Salamander blood and magma, and white, mixed from spider-silk and Web-Spinner blood, were used as accents.
The brush, guided by his spirituality, traced line after line.
As the lines grew clearer, sweat beaded on Santiago's forehead. The star chart to the galactic north, thousands of light-years ahead of the Great Crusade, grew increasingly distinct.
The star chart expanded from local detail to a complete map, eventually outlining six star systems.
Santiago reviewed the recorded star chart, confirming its alignment with the information in the data crystal the Black Emperor had given him.
Then, he pressed his right hand upon the glowing, crystalline sphere.
The "Constellations Progenitor," Santiago, channeled spirituality into it, tracing shimmering threads of future fate within the crystal:
Under a dim light, fragments of shattered worlds drifted like shards of magnetic rock, mixed with ship debris, and withered corpses, their minds drained.
The stars grew dimmer, finally exploding in a blaze of light. The entire system was consumed in a thermal storm, reduced to nothing.
The "Constellations Progenitor," Santiago, narrowed his eyes, watching the systems blink out, one by one.
Intermingled with the visions of the future, images of the past resonated from the threads of fate:
Ships translating through shimmering aetheric portals, traveling back and forth.
Tendrils of the Khrave, deeply rooted in the neurons of Aeldari and Orks.
....
"The Khrave abandoned their homeworld in the Ghoul Stars. Those six systems are completely worthless."
Having finished his divinatory reading, Santiago took another data crystal and copied the information into it.
He rose quickly, walking to the altar, and prayed to the Black Emperor.
Black mist materialized, swallowing Santiago.
He found himself in a realm of black mist, looking up at the Black Emperor upon his throne, offering the data crystal with both hands.
"My Lord, I have, as You commanded, charted the Khrave's homeworld."
Nareth beckoned, and the data crystal flew into his hand.
He channeled psychic energy into it, examining the data.
"Well done."
Santiago had not disappointed him. He had used the information gleaned from the Khrave Progenitor's mind to pinpoint its homeworld.
He could now, like Lion El'Jonson, set course for the Khrave homeworld.
Nareth's gaze grew deep, contemplating the source domain and the nature of the Khrave race.
He recalled that when the Lion arrived at the Ghoul Stars, the Progenitor led a force to intercept him.
The Lion had relied on the Exterminatus-class weaponry to slay the Progenitor, causing the entire clan that depended on him to die instantly.
But he had not ventured into the source domain itself, meaning the Khrave race was not truly extinct.
In the 718th year of the 38th Millennium, the Khrave launched a two-century-long war of predation against the fortress world of Kolmag II in the Saraka Sector.
After the Star Phantoms Chapter broke the siege, most of the world's life had become psychic fodder for the Khrave, leading to near-total population extinction. It was reclassified as a penal world.
In the 900th year of the 39th Millennium, the Amraphel of the Orpheus Sector invited the Khrave, disguised as interstellar mercenaries.
Before the entire planet could be consumed, vigilant members of the Ecclesiarchy discovered and foiled the plot.
It was based on these memories that Nareth was certain there existed multiple Khrave clans, each led by its own Progenitor, and thus multiple sources of Sequence 4 "Earl of the Fallen" potion ingredients.
Furthermore, the source domain, as a special dimension, represented a new mode of interstellar travel.
Though humanity was not a psychic race like the Khrave and could not directly utilize it, he could still draw upon the spatial manipulation of the Door Pathway, the study of Khrave mysteries through the Hermit and White Tower Pathways, and the astronomical and knowledge-related abilities of the Paragon Pathway to gradually develop their own interstellar travel capabilities.
On the other hand, judging by the Khrave's future lack of major threat, and that humanity had become their primary prey, the remaining clans were likely not large.
The strongest clan was the one that had invaded Muspel.
'Having defeated the most powerful Khrave Progenitor, and having the strength to seize the source domain, there is no reason not to try.'
'After all, it represents a new possibility for interstellar travel.' Nareth, having considered, made his decision.
"Your task is to find the entrance to the source domain on the Khrave homeworld."
'If we can find it, I can use this divination from the Dice of Prophecy, which is about to be fully recharged, for something else.'
"By Your will." Santiago Borgkamp bowed in acknowledgment, and Nareth returned him to the material world.
He then copied the star chart into other data crystals and distributed them to the participating Chapters.
.....
Source domain.
Countless crystalline spindles and dormant pods were clustered in various regions.
The ships and pods of each region converged on a single point, the Progenitor sitting at the center like a spider in its web.
Each clan existed in thrall to him, their every action subject to his will.
The Progenitor who had lost its tendrils on Muspel spread its consciousness, reaching out to the other "webs."
As their consciousnesses linked, it sensed the eldest Progenitor, the oldest of them all, its death-rot growing ever fainter, like a dried corpse.
"The Shadows of Order's' ships are gathering."
"It has already extracted from my mind the location of our ancestral home."
Its voice echoed through the source domain. Every Khrave heard it.
"Though it has been abandoned..." a voice, ancient and bleak, sounded.
"There is an entrance there. They threaten the entire race."
"We must unite to face this crisis." The Progenitor thought of the black-armored, golden-winged figure, of the tendrils it had permanently lost.
It had intended to capture Primarch Nareth on Muspel, but Nareth's transcendent combat ability and mental resilience far exceeded its expectations. He was not a Primarch that could be hunted alone.
The ancient Progenitor thought of the black-bladed weapon, which had dealt wounds that directly harmed its true form.
"I agree. We must unite the strength of the entire race to face this crisis."
Web after web rippled. The Khrave Progenitors reached a consensus.
In the silent source domain, Khrave that had extended their tendrils into the material world to hunt withdrew them.
They abandoned their centuries-long infiltration and predation efforts, their consciousness and minds returning to their bodies.
Nests of varying sizes, like an archipelago of webs, drifted as the Khrave, awakened from their pods, emerged.
....
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