Half a month slipped by in the blink of an eye.
The Hive Fleet besieging Baal collapsed with the death of the Hive Mother, Norn, and the mothership. The star system was still crawling with bio-ships and creatures, yet now they were little more than instinct-driven beasts, turning on each other or hunting aimlessly. It would take time to cleanse them completely.
After Adam informed the Burning One that Qin Mo would come to Baal personally, this star god seemed to drop everything and wait. Baal was not its home, nor were its people bound as servants. It had all the reason in the universe to abandon this place.
The Talon and Imperial fleets joined forces to hunt the remaining bio-ships, while the Angels' Scions began purging Baal and its moons of any lingering swarm remnants. In tandem with these operations, construction had started on a massive dimensional beacon, with orbital shipyards near Baal's star anchoring the beacon's base.
Once completed, a blue radiance engulfed the entire star system. An interdimensional rift, vast as a planet, opened within its bounds, and from within its depths, a colossal metal planet emerged, flanked by two protective moons, settling into Baal's orbit.
The Astral Engine had arrived in full.
One satellite's weapon arrays focused on the rampaging bio-ships across the system, while the second readied its arsenal in silence.
A transmission request reached the Angel Fortress.
Grey, the liaison with the Blood Angels, expected to see one of their captains or a lower-ranking officer. Instead, a man with a golden mask appeared, flanked by the Blood Angels' highest command. Having heard from Foros about the Space Marine chapters, Grey recognized the man before him as Dante.
Out of courtesy, he intended to salute, but Dante spoke first, "We are grateful for the armaments and fleet support you have extended to Baal."
"I'll pass that on to the Governor," Grey nodded. "I've heard of the ordeals you've faced on Baal. Highest respects to all warriors who fought valiantly for humanity."
Dante nodded in return, then inquired, "The Angel Fortress is secure. Lord of Talon may enter whenever he desires."
Grey paused, startled. This visit had no scheduled stop on Baal, nor plans to meet with the Blood Angels. Given the chapter's likely reservations about Talon and the Inquisition's looming presence, any direct interaction was carefully avoided.
Both Dante's unexpected appearance on the transmission and his suggestion that Qin Mo could visit the fortress took him by surprise. Grey had only intended to notify them that the Astral Engine's arrival wasn't an assault.
"Please relay the message," Dante reminded him.
After reporting to his superiors, Grey replied, "Our purpose here is to retrieve a dangerous asset. We won't linger long in the system."
As Dante prepared to respond, the Burning One appeared on-screen. It cast its gaze toward the heavens, then soared directly off Baal toward the Astral Engine.
After collecting the Burning One, the Astral Engine disappeared into the dimensional rift, leaving in its wake an arc of energy that swept clean the bio-ships scattered across the star system. The Talon fleet reclaimed the beacon base near Baal's star and then activated the Dimensional Engine, departing the system.
"They... they just left?" Mephiston asked, incredulous, looking at Dante.
Calarn, casting a glance between the Librarian and the Chapter Master, was equally astounded. The whole assembly had presumed that the Talon had arrived to exact some price. The powered armor, fleet support—none of it seemed likely to come free.
Perhaps the Astral Engine had come to claim its due, intending to transform the Blood Angels and their successors into another Choir. Dante had even prepared his response. Yet they had arrived, then departed, taking only the blazing figure with them.
"Isn't this a favorable outcome?" Calarn shrugged. "Who here truly hoped to serve under them as the Choir does?"
"Of course not," Dante replied. "But we owe them our thanks... and perhaps a debt of honor."
…
The Astral Engine and the fleet did not travel far, entering the adjacent Netherworld star system. Here, too, the bio-ships were in disarray, while the Leviathan automaton fleet had already withdrawn from their previous combat. The ferocity of the Tyranid-Ironclad war had left the system devastated, and a little more destruction hardly mattered.
The Burning One found itself transported to Netherworld III, while both satellites of the Astral Engine turned their weapons upon the planet. A colossal cannon, seventy kilometers long and mounted on the planetary structure, also aimed at Netherworld III.
But against a mostly intact and uncorrupted star god, even these weapons were insufficient.
When the Burning One appeared on the surface of Netherworld III, Qin Mo and the Mimic followed, confronting it.
"So, only two of the Seven Hermits remain? Perhaps cowardice was no shield after all."
The Burning One wasn't angered by its forced arrival on Netherworld III under weapon sights. Instead, it seemed gratified to finally meet a god it had sought. As for the Astral Engine's weapons aimed at it, in its eyes, they were as harmless as a wary glance—something to be expected and of little consequence.
"Still clinging to your creations?" It sneered at the silence from Qin Mo and the Mimic, shifting its gaze to the Astral Engine. "You chose humans as your wards and servants? A wise choice; they tend to keep secrets well."
Qin Mo, unsure of how to respond, glanced toward the Mimic.
The Mimic had assumed its amorphous battle form, ready for combat. Yet Qin Mo sensed not courage in it but fear.
"Standing before you is not the Forger," Qin Mo declared. "If you seek to reminisce, find another to converse with."
The Burning One's flaming eyes narrowed, studying Qin Mo closely.
At the moment they met, it had felt something was wrong with the Forger. There was undoubtedly the essence of a star god within, yet its soul—its true nature—was markedly young.
The distinction lay not in power or purpose, but in something akin to spirit.
"But you possess the Forger's skill," the Burning One murmured, as if doubting its own words. It hoped Qin Mo indeed had the Forger's abilities. "You can help me, can't you?"
"What help do you need?" Qin Mo asked.
"Help me become whole." The Burning One raised its hand, and space around it began to tear and warp, revealing a new scene.
Two versions of the Burning One were imprisoned within a fragment of the warp—one spouting flames wildly, screaming to burn all life, and the other sitting slumped, head bowed in despair.
"You can't imagine how long I've searched for myself… a full hundred thousand years."
"I've tried piecing myself together... though the largest fragment is bound by those wretched, usurping slaves. It matters not; as long as I can continue, there's hope for wholeness. But I lack the means to bring myself together."
In the Burning One's voice, Qin Mo discerned a profound, relentless despair.