Iron Skull's chainsword sliced through the final layer of rock, unleashing a torrent of searing air reeking of sulfur. Carlisle squinted with his crystal-covered left eye, taking in the horrific sight at the reactor's core: a thirty-meter-tall cluster of violet crystals surged upward from the planetary rift. Countless human faces writhed across its surface—faces of miners who had disappeared over the past three years—chanting an Eldar dirge in unison.
"Kneel." Iron Skull's sword hilt struck the back of Carlisle's knees, forcing him to the ground. As his knees hit the floor, a beam of light shot from the crystal cluster, forming a holographic projection of Blackrock's subterranean layers. Carlisle's breath hitched as he realized the entire planet's crust was interwoven with glowing purple veins, resembling a vast circulatory system.
"This is Her heartbeat," Iron Skull hissed, his power armor's mandibles greedily licking at the crystals. "And you, human, are the final living conduit."
Runes burned into Carlisle's hand began to sear with unbearable pain. Amid the agony, a vision overwhelmed him: millennia ago, Aetherlin drove a dagger into her own heart, her blood seeping into the planetary core and forming the first crystal veins.