Aboard the Shadow's Sovereignty, in the Primarch's office.
Nareth gazed at the Khrave, each encased in amber. A flicker of light passed through the Primarch's eyes, and they spun towards him.
His hand, like a marble statue, rose. The Khrave fell into his palm, then vanished silently into the black mist.
'With the Khrave, the potion ingredients for the Visionary Pathway's Sequence 5 "Dreamwalker" are complete. All that remains is a psychic wyrmling for the advancement ritual.'
The advancement ritual for "Dreamwalker" was similar to the one in his memory, but the creature was different. He needed a psychic wyrmling.
The "Dreamwalker" advancement ritual: Find a psychic wyrmling, enter into a contract with it, then, holding one of its scales, consume the potion in a state of intense emotion, whether joy or anger.
Nareth recalled that in the 42nd Millennium, Lord Inquisitor Kyria Draxus of the Ordo Xenos was accompanied by a psychic wyrmling named Vivatus.
After decades of negotiation and study with the Aeldari, she concluded that the Necrons were the true threat.
Relying on her exceptional telepathic and empathic abilities, and combining human and Aeldari psychic techniques, Draxus tamed the wyrmling as a pet.
'It wouldn't be difficult for "Hypnotists" like Pat and Diana Pauline to form a contract with a psychic wyrmling. The key is finding them.'
'Perhaps I can use the Dice of Prophecy for guidance. I hope Santiago can locate the source domain, saving this divination for later.'
His gaze fell upon the ginger-colored form crouched nearby.
The gyrinx, John, held a data crystal in both paws, studying intently.
If the highest nobles of Terra and certain other worlds saw a gyrinx studying, they would be astonished.
These low-intelligence pets were thought to act only on instinct.
But the "Winner" John, even at Sequence 8 "Robot," already possessed intellect and computational power far exceeding most humans.
John was not studying ordinary material either. It was information Nareth had extracted during his psychic duel with the most powerful Khrave Progenitor.
Among all of humanity, only the Emperor, Malcador, and Magnus, with their immense psychic power, could extract such ancient information from the Warp.
Nareth took in the gleam of intelligence in the gyrinx's obsidian eyes and its focused posture, and thought to himself.
'While the psychic wyrmling lacks the gyrinx's many psychic abilities, it possesses far greater perception and intelligence, and can even undertake solo reconnaissance missions.'
'Especially independent reconnaissance in the Warp or similar environments.'
He turned his attention to another prize: the Exterminator Carbines.
He beckoned, and one of the weapons, larger than a bolter and sized to match the Khrave's three-meter frames, flew into his hand.
Unlike the Warp Distortions, which were made of Warp material, the Exterminator Carbine, though it fired psychic ammunition, had a physical structure and, unlike Aeldari weapons, was not controlled psychically.
However, Nareth knew the Mechanicum and the Imperium strictly forbade the use of Exterminator Carbines. Only the Blackshields had briefly used them during the Heresy.
'The difficulty in replicating the Exterminator Carbine lies in tracing its psychic runes and forging ammunition from Warp-shards.'
He turned to Arsena, standing nearby. "Have the Forge Lord study it first, then pass it on to Santiago."
Santiago Borgkamp, the Shadows of Order's premier psychic artisan, was best suited to study psychic weapons. But his current focus was finding the source domain.
"By Your will." Arsena noted the command. A buzz from the comm-bead in his ear.
He pressed it, then reported to Nareth.
"Our full-scale assault has made significant progress on the Khrave ships. The Khrave are retreating. They have deployed their most powerful war machines, psychic Titans."
"William reports he has encountered one."
"Another has appeared on enemy vessel E-13. The Fourth Chapter has lost twenty-six Shadows of Order."
Nareth rose at once.
"Compared to the Titans of the Imperium and the Aeldari, the Khrave's are true psychic Titans."
The Imperium's psychic Titans are piloted by Blanks who enslave and drive Alpha-level psykers.
The Aeldar Titans are mostly powered by the souls of the dead, and in the future, will use spirit stones.
Khrave Titans are different. They are commanded and piloted by the living.
"William can handle the one he's facing. His Chapter will deal with it."
"Tell Petronella she will accompany me to this battle."
The fighting on Muspel had been against rebel forces controlled by the Khrave. Apart from the black veins on the possessed, they looked human.
Such a counter-insurgency action was unsuitable material for a biography aimed at a noble audience.
The battle in the source domain, however, was too dangerous, the Khrave Titans were perfect.
The six systems of the Khrave homeworld had no exploitable value, so there was no need to conceal this territory.
Also, Petronella's biography would provide a convenient justification for inflating casualties.
"Miss Vivar will be overjoyed to hear this," Arsena said with a smile. Over their time together, he had become somewhat familiar with her, no longer using the distant "Lady Carpinus."
As Nareth headed for the flight deck, William Wood, Lord of the Twelfth Chapter, stared at the strange construct before him.
In the wide chamber, the Khrave Titan continually shifted in size between a Knight and an Emperor-class Titan, yet it occupied the same deck space.
'Just as my Lord said, the Khrave Titan can assume any size at any moment.'
'But it is on a completely different level from the physical constructs of the Mechanicum.
'If the Khrave's chambers weren't so vast, it might appear even smaller.'
The Khrave fleet, the Nest-Web, was overall spiderweb-shaped. The individual web-ships were twenty-kilometer-long needles, clustering together, forming a spindle shape when viewed from above.
Countless arms rose in unison. The Khrave Titan had no visible weapons.
A sudden, invisible pressure spread from the psychic Titan. The shockwave rippled, reaching the Chapter members two kilometers away.
Boom! Boom!
Two Shadows of Order neophytes collapsed as if struck by lightning.
Their First Level Thelema midstate shattered instantly. Their superhuman brains short-circuited under the psychic pressure.
Their two hearts and three lungs, driven by the psychic shock, stopped. They collapsed.
Dozens of Shadows of Order blazed with spinal light. Their minds went blank; they stood frozen like the living dead.
The Honour Guard's thoughts stuttered, then steadied under the protection of the Third Level Thelema midstate.
They raised their Bedrock-pattern boltguns, aiming at the Khrave Titan, and fired.
Silently, the Titan's mutable form shifted to the size of a Knight.
Boom, boom, boom...
The bolt rounds all missed, hammering against the fibrous walls.
....
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