Northeastern galaxy, the farthest reaches of the Ghoul Stars.
Ethereal dust seeped from a special dimension of the Warp, distorting the surrounding spacetime, forming a long, thin corridor.
Spindle-shaped Khrave web-ships, clustered together, filed out.
Each ship felt both like cold metal and supple plastic.
They were utterly colorless, reflecting no starlight, as if existing at the smallest wavelength of light.
On the bridge of the Fifth Chapter's flagship, the Relic-class battleship Starcaller, the daemonologist Santiago Borgkamp stared into the void with deep-set eyes.
The black ships increased engine power, deploying into formation.
Tendrils, from a supernatural dimension, materialized in the void.
They struck simultaneously, slamming against the elliptical, shimmering force barriers.
Boom, boom, boom...
Colorful ripples spread, like blooming fireworks.
Whoosh!
'The Jokaeron Force Field successfully resisted the Khrave's primary method of attack: psychic assault and possession.'
'On ships of other Legions, at least a third of the ordinary crew would have mutinied, causing significant losses.'
'More importantly, their consciousness is blocked from the ships; they cannot see what is happening inside.'
The Jokaeros were deploying the force fields on the Seventh Chapter's ships; only a few completed vessels were participating in the void battle.
As Santiago pondered, all the tendrils withdrew simultaneously.
'Their ethereal realm has bled into reality.'
'If they suffer damage in the material world, their true forms are also wounded.'
The "Constellations Master" Santiago, as he pondered, withdrew his gaze and traced lines on his astrolabe.
Blazing light shot forth, like javelins, striking the force barriers of the crustacean-like ships.
The Khrave shields flickered without light, causing no ripple in the void.
Santiago took in the stream of runes on the view screen.
[Augur array scan 1: Shield type unidentifiable.]
[Scan 2: Aetheric reader at maximum power. Identified as psychic type.]
[Scan 3: Unidentifiable...]
Santiago's obsidian eyes flashed. Blinding aetheric light filled his world.
The aetheric light twisted, collapsing into a vortex. Waves of the Great Ocean, like a siphon, poured into the Khrave spindle-ships.
Colorful beams, from the Khrave's warp weapons, shot out, hammering against the Jokaeron Force Field.
Santiago watched the supernatural collision. The raging aetheric explosions tore at the void.
An Aeldari ship, five kilometers long, collapsed into the aetheric vortex, erased from reality like a pencil mark.
Another patchwork, ugly wreck exploded into a cloud of dust.
...
Santiago glanced at the view screen.
[Port Jokaeron Force Field: 0.17%... 0.29% depleted…]
[The Khrave possess psychic weapons that can damage the Jokaeron Force Field.]
Santiago, traced rapid arcs on the astrolabe, issuing commands.
"Aetheric cannons, fire!" The Starcaller fired first. From beneath its prow, aetheric beams lanced through the ethereal dust.
Blinding light flashed through the dim system, striking their targets.
Bang!
The blazing light struck the shields.
The scream of aetheric explosions rumbled.
An elegant pod-ship exploded. The Khrave within, its tendrils clutching Aeldari prey, was erased, body and soul, by the aetheric beam.
Santiago assessed the void battle. The Shadows of Order's fleet had gained an advantage.
The Khrave's psychic weapons caused limited damage to the Jokaeron Force Fields, but the aetheric cannons had torn through their shields.
'I must lock onto the teleport target.' Santiago thought.
He knew the void battle would cost too much. He had to follow the Black Emperor's command: lock onto the Khrave ships' positions and launch a teleport assault.
The runes on Santiago's Yeld-pattern Armor blazed, as did those on the three thought-servitors around him.
The daemonologist's consciousness rose, detaching from his body. Layers of 'Web' unfolded in his vision.
The Web was not any form of display; it had no concept of length, width, or height.
The left side of Web twisted and rose, interweaving.
The right side was like a scroll, twisting and intertwining.
Every part of Web was in constant flux, emitting a harsh light.
The daemonologist felt a familiarity, a level his spiritual intuition was tightly bound to.
The ninth "layer of the cake" was in constant, chaotic grey.
The Formless Waste.
Santiago had personally traveled to the Warp to mark this special space.
Through his aetheric vision, the daemonologist Santiago studied the Web, discerning the interwoven, colorful visions.
His consciousness flowed, sweeping across layers of Web, finally settling on a single point.
A 'spider' crawled along a web, the web extending to various points in reality.
Whoosh!
An unsettling presence seeped in, like cold tendrils brushing across every part of him.
Santiago's consciousness projected onto that dimension, fixing its coordinates.
He dissected and mapped it, rapidly recording the supernatural coordinates.
His eyes deep, he rapidly wrote a string of numbers on the console.
Aboard the black ships, Terminators queued for teleportation.
Captain Dixon of the First Chapter's 1st Company, clad in a Saturnine-pattern Terminator prototype, stepped onto the teleportation platform.
The teleport flash blazed. The chamber, built of buttresses and lead-sealed energy cells, vanished.
The flash faded. The dissipating steam dispersed. An unsettling stench filled the air.
It smelled like rotting leaves and decaying insects, as if one had been shrunk to the microscopic level and cast into a spider's nest.
A gaunt Khrave xenos materialized from the wall, like a premature reptile emerging through an eggshell membrane.
It lunged at the middle of the Honour Guard formation, its claws striking the Saturnine-pattern Terminator armor.
The psychic shockwave tore through the thermal dispersion field, turning the black armor into a ball of burning plasma.
Its claws then tore through the armor, as if it were paper.
Its talons pierced the "Disciplinary Paladin's" flesh, tearing away a chunk of muscle and pulling out a heart.
Bang!
The "Disciplinary Paladin" at the rear raised his power fist.
The blue force field screamed, slamming into the Khrave.
The Khrave, with black crystal spirals at the top of its chest, threw back its head, unleashing a piercing psychic scream.
"Ah..."
The corridor shuddered at the terrible psychic scream, echoing in the "Disciplinary Paladins'" minds.
The Khrave raised its claws, reaching for the Honour Guard members.
....
If you enjoy the story, my p@treon is 30 chapters ahead.
[email protected]/DaoistJinzu