The Crimson Scar Sector.
Compared to most Imperial sectors, the Crimson Scar was a realm of extreme hostility. Radiation pervaded the sector, staining the surface of every planet in each star system a blood-red hue.
It was within this sector that Baal, the birthplace of Sanguinius, the ninth Primarch, was located. To the Blood Angels and their angelic kin, Baal was the hallowed cradle of their lineage. But to Foros, Chapter Master of the Lamenters, another world held greater significance—a third planet in the Netherworld System, a place he once called home, long before he ever bore the Emperor's gene-seed.
And so, the Storm's Daughter's first destination was not Baal, but the Netherworld System.
As the flagship emerged from the Warp, Foros and his captains stood on the bridge, gazing upon the Netherworld. Tessa, who had hurried from the engine chambers, joined them.
To avoid alarming the system's defensive fleets, Tessa had set the Warp exit point at the system's edge. Ahead lay a dense asteroid belt they would have to cross to reach the system's inner realms.
"Don't head straight through," Foros ordered Tessa. "The frigid temperatures there can freeze any ship that passes."
"Understood," Tessa nodded, casting a glance at the asteroid belt beyond the viewport, murmuring, "So this is the Radiant Shield you once spoke of?"
Foros gave a slight nod, impressed by her memory. In the past, when he'd rescued the young Tessa and her sister from a plague-stricken world, he had taken on the unexpected role of caregiver. Every night until they entered the Talon Orphanage, he had told her stories of the Netherworld System, of the Radiant Shield—a glacial defense that could encase ships in solid ice. He had told her how it formed a natural barrier, preventing enemy ships from reaching the Netherworld if they couldn't find the right path.
"We have energy shields," Tessa reported, after completing her calculations. "We should be able to pass through directly."
Foros did not answer right away, lost in memories of an ancient voyage through the frozen ring, on a ship far less resilient than the Storm's Daughter.
"Continue," ordered the First Captain, breaking Foros' reverie as he directed Tessa to proceed. The flagship advanced at full speed.
Frost gathered upon the energy shield as they entered the Radiant Shield, its edges crystallizing and forming a visible, icy barrier. The ship pushed through, scattering asteroids as the view ahead gradually cleared.
As they neared the inner system, the bridge crew could finally behold the ghastly state of the Netherworld System.
It was a nightmare.
The sector was infested by gargantuan, ship-sized organisms floating in space, their massive black cloud-like swarms drifting between planets. Aside from the system's two twin suns, the rest of the star system lay in devastation.
Tessa looked toward Foros, worry in her gaze. She could see the Chapter Master tremble.
The ship's automated scan probed the area, projecting its findings on the bridge.
**[Tyranid Bio-ships: 39,782.]**
**[Tyranid Organisms: Countless.]**
**[Human Presence: None.]**
**[Assessment: All planetary bodies in this system have lost value. No allies remain. No humans. Only Tyranids. The majority of planets appear to have been scorched by solar flares for reasons unknown.]**
"Chapter Master!" A Captain approached Foros, urging him to give the command to retreat.
Several bio-ships had noticed the Storm's Daughter emerging from the Radiant Shield. A colossal swarm of smaller creatures began to hurl themselves toward the ship, some even striking the energy shield head-on.
"Two more kilometers," Foros muttered. "Just let me see the ocean of Netherworld Three once more."
It wasn't an order; it was a plea.
"Prepare for combat," the Captain instructed the crew as he moved to defend the ship's outer hull.
Inside, every one of the seven hundred Lamenters mobilized to join the serfs in defending the outer edges. Though, in truth, they all knew the ship's energy shield could easily protect them until they reached the orbit of Netherworld Three and returned.
When the first bio-ship came close, the ship's weapons blazed to life, beams of charged particle lances tearing apart the organisms, splitting them, or setting them alight in flashes that extinguished in the void of space.
"My home had vast oceans," Foros spoke again, almost to himself, "though they were as wild as the storms on Talon Three. We lived on great mobile machines to escape the waves and the tsunamis. We fought the seas. We fought the radiation…"
He trailed off, but the swarms around the Storm's Daughter continued to amass, colliding with the energy shield while close-combat defenses fired endlessly.
At last, through a break in the swarming masses, Foros saw it—a barren, desolate world, stripped of any ocean.
Tessa glanced at Foros with confusion. Either his tale had been fiction, or the Tyranids had drained the seas dry.
"Warp engines at full charge."
The report echoed through the comms as Tessa turned to Foros, her voice soft. "Chapter Master…"
He stared at the arid planet a moment longer, then nodded. "To Baal."
Tessa relayed the command, and the Storm's Daughter leapt back into the Warp, escaping the living nightmare they left behind.
None aboard the ship saw what emerged in the Netherworld System the very instant they departed. A titanic, black sphere surfaced, drifting between reality and the Warp. Only its tendrils reached out, ripping mineral veins from the planets' depths, retreating swiftly back into the void.