As a massive rift in the Warp tore open, the Dark Angels, who had remained behind to conduct search-and-rescue operations, immediately brought their damaged vessels into a combat posture. An aperture of such cyclopean proportions was unheard of; the Imperium possessed no ship capable of generating a translation wake of this magnitude.
However, as hundreds of silver-gleaming mechanical vessels filed out in disciplined formation, the Dark Angels realized the identity of the newcomers. In all the galaxy, only the ancient Iron Men possessed such a fleet.
According to Unforgiven intelligence, the Iron Men commanded super-dreadnoughts the size of small planets. For a vessel of that scale, generating a Warp-rift of this size was not merely possible; it was expected.
The reality surpassed even their expectations.
A colossal Titan-class vessel drifted slowly out of the Empyrean behind the main flotilla. Its sheer mass was staggering. Though the Dark Angels were aware of this class of ship, most were seeing such a terrifying behemoth of war for the first time.
As data-feeds synchronized, the Dark Angels, who maintained close ties with the Inquisition, quickly realized that this vessel did not match the Imperial records for the Titan's Spear or the Void Sword. This was a third, unrecorded titan of the void.
It was the Heart of the Forge, the third Titan-class ship newly completed by Axion.
The Heart of the Forge was equipped with a "Doomsday" weapon array entirely different from that of the Titan's Spear. Its prow housed twin Oblivion Cannons designed for the annihilation of super-massive targets. Furthermore, Axion had integrated an additional hyper-scale quantum computing module and a payload of "Grey Tide" Annihilators—nanite swarms of terrifying lethality.
The Grey Tide Annihilators were less a conventional weapon and more a matter-extraction apparatus. They allowed the Heart of the Forge to effectively consume an entire star system within mere minutes. Countless nanomachines would form a grey wave, resembling a vast dust cloud sweeping through the cosmos. Driven by the processing power of the Iron Destroyer, this nanite dust could devour most planets until nothing remained but their burning, active cores, stripping away every ounce of useful matter.
Burning stars and certain exotic celestial bodies remained immune, but for everything else, the process was absolute. Unlike the Dimension Collapse Bombs or Dark Matter Singularity Chain-Reactors, which were designed for pure destruction, the Grey Tide was recyclable. All consumed matter could be reprocessed. If necessary, these nanites could execute self-replication protocols, using the matter they consumed to duplicate themselves infinitely.
The weapon did have limitations. Due to the infinitesimal mass of individual nanomachines, they had to be deployed in massive concentrations to navigate a star system independently. They lacked the capability for interstellar travel; once removed from a gravitational well, they would become little more than drifting space dust. If every planet in a system were consumed and the Grey Tide was not recovered, the swarm would eventually be captured by the system's sun and incinerated.
Furthermore, unlike its sister ships, the Heart of the Forge was technically an incomplete Titan-class vessel. Axion had prioritized using vast quantities of hull materials to construct the initial Grey Tide swarms, intending to extract the necessary matter to complete the ship from Tyranid bio-mass during the upcoming campaign.
Axion had only just reached the Mandeville point of the Eastern Fringe when he received urgent reports from the local Inquisition and the Departmento Munitorum: a massive Chaos incursion had struck the northernmost reaches of the eastern front. Leaving a detachment to patrol the Segmentum Ultima and monitor the Ork empires, the main mechanical fleet plunged into a Warp-conduit.
The Iron Men did not care for the nuances of Chaos plots. Against any identifiable foe, they had but one protocol: total annihilation.
Upon arriving and analyzing the residual energy wakes, the mechanical fleet pursued the trail into the Ghoul Stars. After a period of high-speed transit, several violent energy signatures were detected.
The tactical situation ahead was complex. Within this dim, star-starved reach of space, debris was scattered across the void. Abaddon's Chaos fleet was locked in a brutal struggle.
…
Under the Warmaster's command, the Chaos fleet had entered the Ghoul Stars first, heading for a pre-planned rally point provided by the Ashen Claws. However, during the transit, the Carcharodons Chapter, lurking in the shadows of the stars, launched a sudden ambush.
These Astartes, whose savagery rivaled that of the World Eaters, launched boarding strikes against over a dozen Chaos vessels. They moved through the ships like ghosts of the void, rapidly overwhelming the daemonic entities and Chaos warbands onboard.
Abaddon did not hesitate to abandon the "chaff" currently being dismantled by boarding actions, commanding the core fleet to accelerate. The Dark Angels were closing in, and the previously vanished Arks of Omen were already lying in wait at the coordinates provided by the Ashen Claws. This time, he intended to wipe the "leashes of the False Emperor" from the stars.
But as the fleet accelerated, another Despoiler-class Battleship flanking the Vengeful Spirit suddenly veered off course, ramming through the formation in a chaotic frenzy.
A furious Abaddon contacted the Black Legion adjutant aboard the vessel. Only then, under the pressure of the Warmaster's wrath, did the subordinate admit the truth: a contingent of Black Templars had successfully boarded the ship controlled by his direct subordinates.
On the bridge of the battleship, lights flickered and sirens wailed. As Abaddon cursed his warriors as worthless failures, the feed flickered to reveal the Emperor's Champion and a handful of Black Templars.
Thien's black power armor, inlaid with golden icons, shimmered in the emergency lighting. Beneath his helm, his eyes burned with a righteous, holy fury. He gripped his Black Sword, the blade eerily clean despite the slaughter. His massive frame moved with heavy, rhythmic thuds against the deck plating. Looking around, Thien realized with a jolt of frustration that they had made a fatal error – this was not the Vengeful Spirit, and the Warmaster was not here.
"Kill this 'chosen' of the False Emperor! Hang his corpse from the external hull spikes as a trophy!" Abaddon roared over the vox, his face contorted in a sneer.
The surrounding Black Legionaries moved instantly. They knew Abaddon's temperament; killing this champion might mitigate their failure. To fail a second time would invite a fate beyond imagination.
However, Abaddon's wish went unfulfilled.
These Black Legion veterans were indeed formidable, and against any other foe, they would have secured a bloody victory. But Thien was different. Since receiving his augmentations from Axion, he had seamlessly integrated the Sapient Machine technology into his combat style. His swordplay was refined, yet underpinned by a terrifying, mechanical wildness.
The sheer durability of his Iron Man limbs allowed him to parry strikes with his bare forearms, while his explosive strength enabled him to punch through the helmets of traitors and daemons, literally obliterating their skulls with a single blow.
Standing amidst a carpet of mangled corpses, Thien looked into the vox-display where Abaddon watched. Though his breathing was slightly labored from the intensity of the struggle, his defiance was undimmed. He flicked the traitor blood from his blade with a sharp motion and pointed the Black Sword at the screen.
"Hmph. Chaos filth! Face me if you dare!"
Abaddon's lip curled, his eyes dark with malice.
"You are not worthy of my blade, little insect. Enjoy your final, pathetic struggle."
Elsewhere on the ship, the tide of Black Legionaries and daemons had already martyred the other Black Templars attempting to sabotage the engines. On this gargantuan vessel, only a handful of loyalists remained.