…
Half an hour later.
At precisely 9:09 AM, a thousand psykers appeared at the heart of the Toyuke Plain. Their flesh twisted, melding into grotesque forms that resembled doorways. From these blood-forged portals, the first demon emerged.
This time, they did not face the Talon Thirteenth Regiment's hundred Soulless warriors, but rather the Celestial Engine itself. The satellite array, now positioned directly above the plains, unleashed a barrage of light lance strikes at the psykers below. Enormous beams of light crashed into the ground, obliterating the flesh-bound gateways and banishing demons back into the warp, leaving behind only a colossal crater a kilometer wide, resonating with lingering psychic energy.
As the temperature dropped and psyker energy coalesced, a psychic portal snapped open, and the arch-demon Carlos, with a mortal psyker by his side, materialized in the crater's center.
The second lance strike descended, a crimson shaft piercing the atmosphere. Carlos looked up with one of his two heads, calmly observing the beam approaching, yet neither casting a protective spell nor seeming concerned. Instead, he searched the vicinity—for a specific coordinate, a singular mark. Upon finding it, he struck the ground lightly with the Staff of Tomorrow, causing blue crystals to bloom across the psyker at his side. These crystals rapidly spread, enveloping the crater in a peculiar crystalline terrain.
In mere moments, the lance strike reached its target, only to refract off the crystal field, redirecting the energy back toward the Celestial Engine's satellite array. Thankfully, the golem within had not fired at full power, wary of obliterating Cadia, and the deflected lance merely caused a brief flicker in the energy shields protecting the array.
Carlos stood at the heart of this crystalline domain. As more psykers emerged within its confines, transforming into gates, he gazed upon past and future alike.
In the past, he saw himself on a battlefield within a crystalline magic realm, where his ever-shifting master briefly looked away from endless cosmic conflict to glance upon the battleground, casting a mark upon Cadia and a mortal psyker's soul.
In the future, this crystalline territory would become a forbidden zone for mortals, immune to any assault. Legions of demons would pour forth from it, overwhelming the defensive lines around the plain and teleporting across the field to assault the fortress walls. The Book of Fates upon the Staff of Tomorrow flicked through its pages, revealing each event to come—even the faintest movement of a mortal soldier was inscribed there. However, thirty minutes hence, the pages turned blank, followed by an odd notation:
*"In the Talon System lies a dead man. He and his wife perished from hunger. A merchant sold their ashes; one was fashioned into a torpedo and fired from the Eternal."*
The book continued, foretelling that the crystalline zone would eventually dissipate and that Carlos would flee, mistrusting his master.
"I have absolute trust in my master!"
"Flee? For what reason?"
Carlos' two heads spoke, each voicing an opposite reaction. He struggled to understand the blank pages and the cryptic passage about a torpedo made from a dead man's ashes. Yet he held steadfast faith in the Book of Fates. It was this certainty, the prophecy's assurance that the enemy would not exploit trickery to restart events, that prompted him to use the mark in the first place. Confounded, Carlos resolved to wait and watch.
…
**Miracle Fortress, High Command of Cadia**
A logistic machine flew out of the command center, having just printed a hologram displaying the battlefield's overall situation. Gathered were not only Cadia's high-ranking officials, but also Mordian Iron Guard officers, the Abbess of the Sisters of Battle, the Wolf Lord Sven Bloodhowl, and various Space Marine commanders and psykers, as well as the Soulless bodyguard Yorn…and even an Inquisitor. Cadia's elite were assembled.
The hologram quickly outlined the battlefield on the Toyuke Plain, where demons surged against the defensive lines in all four directions. Pink horrors closed in under cover of larger demons, spewing flames that incinerated soldiers within the fortifications, leaving not even ashes. Fallen soldiers were swiftly replaced by others, who continued the fight.
Without needing Kreed's report, all present could see that the grueling battle on the Toyuke Plain might last for days. Yet the threat was not limited to the plains; with each passing moment, the map marked new warp disturbances elsewhere, indicating breaches that the Celestial Engine barely managed to contain.
As the gathered leaders observed the worsening situation, Kreed and the Space Marines seemed mildly surprised, while the Inquisitors and Sisters exchanged complex glances, sharing a resigned understanding. Some had known of the demons and endeavored to keep their existence hidden; others, oblivious to the truth, would face censure if they learned.
"My lord," an Inquisitor spoke with a strained smile, "why did you not consult us privately before gathering everyone here?"
"If you have a strategic insight, speak plainly. We don't need private meetings," Kreed replied.
Kreed had his suspicions. If demons could now assault Cadia directly, their existence must have been actively concealed, using methods including evidence erasure and silencing witnesses.
The Inquisitor offered a forced chuckle, exchanging a silent look with the Abbess of the Sisters, who raised her eyebrows but remained silent.
"That area is impervious to attack," Kreed remarked, reaching for the hologram to manipulate it, but the display automatically shifted, zooming in on the crystalline zone on the plain.
Within the crystal field, every inch was packed with twisted, flesh-crafted gates, each spilling forth endless demons by the second.
Kreed turned to Yorn, "With your experience, can you clear that place?"
Standing in a shadowed corner, Yorn met the hostile stares of the gathered leaders. "Perhaps," he replied, eyeing the dense mass of demonic portals with uncertainty. It would be simple for him, a single Soulless, to cut through to the crystalline area, but he could not dispel the entire field alone. With the Thirteenth Regiment at his side, success was certain—but given that teleportation was impossible and the field was immune to attack, the survival rate of any force pushing through was bleak.
"I'll go with you," Sven growled, "but if you flee like a craven mutt…"
"Make your preparations and request any support you need," Kreed interjected, cutting Sven off. "And don't throw away your lives recklessly. I'd hate for your governor to return only to find his right hand and an entire squad of Untouchables gone."
Yorn nodded and handed a small teleportation shielding device to Sven, who glanced at it dismissively, saying only, "We'll use drop pods," before departing.