After a three-day Warp journey, the Crimson Tome had just broken out of the transition veil when all the sensors on the bridge sounded ear-piercing alarms simultaneously.
The hideous outline of a grayish-brown planet slowly emerged on the tactical star map.
Morningstar was completely shrouded in a thick layer of grayish-brown smoke and dust, like a dead star wrapped in a dirty rag.
Electromagnetic storms darted wildly through the atmosphere like countless venomous snakes.
The tactical screen only showed a patch of static snow, and even the basic outline of the surface could not be seen clearly.
“All communication channels are jammed; we can only conduct short-range encrypted communication,” the voice of Intelligence Officer Kaelen carried static.
“Atmospheric visibility is less than five meters, making large-scale drops and transport impossible.
The signals from the Iron Warriors fleet are completely gone; they are expected to take at least another seventy-two hours to arrive.”
Levi walked to the porthole and looked at the smoke-filled planet below.
Sunlight simply could not penetrate this thick layer of smog.
The entire planet was plunged into eternal twilight, and even through the warship’s armor, one could feel that suffocating oppressiveness.
His fingertips tapped lightly against the cold porthole.
He suspected Morningstar didn’t have a five-month disintegration deadline at all, as if it would completely shatter into cosmic dust the very next second.
Furthermore, this order was truly strange.
The human population on a mining planet should at least be in the tens of millions, or even hundreds of millions.
Yet on this planet before his eyes, the vast majority of personnel had already evacuated in advance, and only three million humans had been left behind waiting for the Imperium’s final rescue.
It was truly illogical.
Subsequently, a temporary combat meeting was urgently convened on the Crimson Tome.
There were only three core personnel attending the meeting: Chief Librarian Levi,
Captain Phosis T’kar of the Fifth Fellowship, a Terran-born chief magister of the Athanean School, excelling in telepathy and emotional probing—
Levi glanced at his sharp-featured, eternally expressionless face, remembering that in the near future, he would die in an encounter with Orks— and Captain Maat of the Third Fellowship, Prosperan-born, chief magister of the Pavoni School, excelling in biomancy and trauma healing.
The two deputies Magnus had chosen had extremely complementary abilities that were exactly suited to handle the various unexpected situations of this mission.
Levi voiced his suspicions and proposed evacuating the Imperial citizens early without waiting for the Iron Warriors.
As for the original mission of dealing with the mysterious glowing figures, it had absolutely no priority at this moment.
Maat, who always wore a worried expression, frowned and pointed at the static-filled tactical screen.
“We only have two thousand Thousand Sons warriors, no heavy engineering equipment, and no large transport ships.”
“In this kind of environment, it’s completely impossible to evacuate civilians on a large scale.
We had better wait for the Iron Warriors fleet to arrive; they have more transport capacity.”
Captain Phosis T’kar was also on the side, nodding slightly to express his agreement.
“There is no other choice.
Levi took a deep breath.
“Send out all the Stormtalons.
Divide the Thousand Sons warriors into two hundred squads, each with ten warriors, to penetrate deep into Morningstar’s capital, Hive Zharust, and escort the civilians in batches.
Transport them trip by trip, saving as many as we can.”
He paused, then added, “Phosis T’kar, take your direct subordinate squad and come with me.
All squads maintain a mental link and report immediately if you encounter any anomalies.
Remember, protecting civilians is the priority.”
The Stormtalons on all the warships plunged headfirst into the churning smoke and dust.
In a short while, a giant hive city piercing through the clouds faintly emerged in the thick gray fog.
As its dilapidated and mottled outline fell into Levi’s eyes, his heart grew heavy.
This was indeed not the first time Levi had seen a dying hive city, but he was still alarmed by this deathly silence.
The Stormtalon Levi was in landed in the upper hive of Hive Zharust.
The instant the hatch opened, a hot wind mixed with dust and the smell of blood blew against his face.
The surroundings were dead silent; there was no crying, no screaming, only the occasional sound of buildings collapsing in the distance.
Visibility was only a few meters.
The Thousand Sons warriors turned on the searchlights on their helmets, but the beams of light could only illuminate a small dim yellow area in the smoke and dust.
It illuminated the once ornately carved spires and corridors of the upper hive, which were now covered in cracks, crawling with rust, and completely empty.
The streets were full of abandoned and collapsed houses everywhere, yet not a single corpse could be seen.
“Strange.” Phosis T’kar’s voice carried a trace of unease.
“I can’t sense many emotions of living people.
The entire district is like a hollowed-out tomb.”
Levi frowned and released a psychic ripple.
Psychic energy spread very slowly in the smoke and dust and was constantly weakened by some kind of cold power.
He could perceive scattered life signals, all concentrated near the square in the city center.
“To the square.”
The group advanced carefully along the street.
After walking for about half an hour, they finally saw the massive stone stele in the center of the square.
The central square was crowded with people, about several thousand.
They sat quietly on the ground, heads bowed, as if praying.
An old man wearing a priest’s robe stood beside the base of the stele.
Upon seeing Levi’s group, there was not the slightest surprise on his face; instead, he revealed a bizarre smile.
“Welcome to Morningstar, guests from afar.” His voice was hoarse and calm.
“The Lord of the Storm has been waiting for you for a long time.”
“We are an Imperial legion, here to evacuate you,” Levi said.
“The planet is about to disintegrate.
Come with us.”
There was no commotion in the crowd.
Everyone raised their heads and looked at Levi with hollow eyes.
“Evacuate?” The old priest laughed.
“Why should we evacuate?
Death is not the end but a new beginning.
The Lord of the Storm will take us to the eternal kingdom.”
“You’re insane!” Phosis T’kar couldn’t help but shout.
“When the planet blows up, you’ll all die!”
“Die?” The old priest shook his head.
“We long for death.
Only death can free us from this decaying shell and throw us into the embrace of the Lord of the Storm.
You outsiders simply don’t understand the beauty of death.”
As soon as his voice fell, hundreds of people suddenly stood up in the crowd.
They held machetes and iron bars in their hands, their faces painted with twisted black symbols, and their eyes filled with pure fanaticism.
“Kill these daemons!
Stop them from desecrating the holy edict of the Lord of the Storm!”
They roared and charged over.
The Thousand Sons warriors immediately raised their force staves, and pale blue barriers blocked their attacks.
But these people seemed unable to feel pain, crashing into the barrier wave after wave.
Finding that their weapons were useless, they bit with their teeth and clawed with their hands until their own bodies were torn apart by psychic energy.
Seeing that the situation was bad, Levi raised his hand and released a psychic shockwave, knocking out everyone remaining.
Subsequently, he walked up to the old priest.
The old priest did not resist, merely looking at him with a smile.
Thaniel_a_goodchild.