998.M41. The planet Aiur-4 was originally a dark, frigid rocky world situated far from its system's star. Now, after five years of development by the Zerg swarm, this rocky planet was blanketed in a thick, purple fungal carpet.
Rippling gently like ocean waves under the solar wind, it resembled a living organism when viewed from near-Earth orbit. At this moment, Abathur stood before the evolution pool of the insect swarm. Beside him were Alexei, clad in heavy power armor, and Ellie, who drifted through the vacuum of space without any protection.
Alexei looked at Abathur through the insectoid swarm's mental network and asked, "How is the deciphering of the Ork genes proceeding?"
"Genetic coding is extremely complex, resilient to intrusion, and progress is slow," Abathur replied, turning his massive frame. "The only current success lies in enhancing the overall vitality of the swarm."
Alexei could only sigh upon hearing this. It was an expected answer; after all, the Orks were a creation of the Old Ones. It was already a significant feat that Abathur could make any headway at all. It would be a monumental achievement if the Zerg swarm could one day truly assimilate all the characteristics of the Greenskins.
"Alright, we are heading out then." Alexei waved his hand and turned to depart. He had come here to inspect the development of the insect swarms across several planets. Seeing the nests that choked almost the entire surface of the worlds and the vast, teeming swarms, he felt a sense of grim satisfaction.
"Hmm?" Suddenly, Alexei seemed to sense a disturbance. He turned to look toward Mandeville Point at the edge of the galaxy, a faint feeling of revulsion welling up in his heart. Ellie also sensed the shift and stopped in mid-air to peer into the distance.
The next moment, Colton's grave voice rang out within the swarm's psionic network: "Sir, an unknown fleet has manifested at the system's Mandeville Point."
"How many ships in total?" Alexei asked, his brow furrowing.
"Two light cruisers and three assault ships. They have not responded to our hails."
"Then intercept them. Get all battlecruisers ready. If they attempt to force their way through, sink them immediately."
"Understood."
As Alexei listened to the fleet configuration, a sense of foreboding took hold. Based on the current timeline, a large number of small Chaos fleets had begun to infiltrate the Materium near the Eye of Terror, posing a dire threat to the entirety of the Misty Starfield.
This fleet composition looked suspiciously like a small Chaos Squadron, especially considering their previous encounters with the forces of the Four Gods...
With this in mind, he contacted Zagara: "Zagara, gather all the Leviathans. If an engagement begins, coordinate with the fleet to annihilate them. Do not give them a single opening to retaliate!"
"Understood, Master."
"I hope this isn't what I think it is..." Alexei looked back toward Mandeville Point. A fleet of this size was not a direct threat to his power, but the real problem was the prospect of the Aiur system becoming a transit point for Chaos Warbands. If all sorts of scavengers and raiders began arriving here, it would be a constant, bloody nuisance.
"My lord, there is a fleet of comparable size on the other side. Should we strike first?" A Traitor Astartes wearing black and red power armor spoke in a hoarse, grating voice. His armor was draped with the skulls of mortals. They had been ordered by their master to hunt down the soul of an individual who should not exist.
"Bloodblade" Augustus, also clad in power armor bristling with bone spikes, gazed into the distance while emanating a sickening stench of gore. "...As expected of a remote star sector. These ships, smaller even than merchant vessels, dare to obstruct our path," he grinned, revealing jagged, deformed teeth. "Full speed ahead! Crush them and offer their blood to our Master!"
Brandt stood in the command center of a Gorgon-class battlecruiser, intently observing the small fleet that continued to ignore his communication requests.
Suddenly, the enemy fleet began to accelerate toward them, clearly intending to punch through the blockade by force. Their macro-cannon arrays and light spears opened fire, the beams splashing against the Gorgon's void shields. Seeing this, Brandt snorted disdainfully; the enemy clearly mistook his warships for mere merchant ships. "Relay my orders: charge the Yamato Cannons in two volleys. Concentrate all fire on the light cruiser on the right flank."
Just as "Bloodblade" Augustus was sneering at the enemy's array of small laser batteries—which he likened to water guns—the prows of dozens of enemy warships suddenly erupted with blinding energy. In an instant, the void shields of their right-hand light cruiser were catastrophically overloaded.
Before Augustus's expression could even shift, the second wave of Yamato rounds tore into the warship's starboard side. The resulting explosion was violent and absolute, turning half of the warship's Chaos Astartes and their thralls into frozen space debris.
"Kill them all!!!" Augustus roared in a fury as he regained his bearings. The remaining members of the warband prepared for boarding actions, craving the blood and skulls of their attackers.
However, Brandt had no intention of granting them a glorious melee. "Our mission is accomplished. Leave the remainder of the battlefield to the beasts." Then, to Augustus's utter astonishment, all the enemy ships vanished from their scanners and sight.
"Tear them apart! Devour them!" The next moment, a dozen Leviathans—massive bio-ships far larger than the Chaos light cruisers—materialized around them. Numerous sacs on the Leviathans began to rupture and hatch, releasing a deluge of organisms. Countless Mutalisks, Scourges, and Guardians gushed out, completely encircling the trapped fleet.
Faced with these swarms whose flight paths defied conventional physics, the ships' Void Shields proved useless. Potent acid began to hiss and corrode the metal hulls of the battleships.
Finally, the Chaos fleet managed a desperate approach to a massive Leviathan. With a roar from Augustus, the remaining eighty-eight Astartes launched a final, suicidal assault, boarding the living vessel in a fit of rage.
Zagara observed these foolish creatures, struck by the simplicity of their intelligence. Just as the invaders finally breached the space swarm's blockade and slammed their boarding craft into the Leviathan's underbelly, they were greeted by a sea of Zerg that filled the entire internal cavity.
No swarm would refuse such a concentrated source of biomass. Tens of thousands of organisms quickly drowned out the defiant roars of the Khorne Warband.
"A tedious battle. A foolish enemy," Zagara commented indifferently. He then ordered the total destruction of the enemy ships without leaving a single survivor—this was his Master's decree.
However, just a few hours later, when Alexei received word that the battle was over, he felt a lingering confusion. He didn't understand how a Khorne Warband dared to invade Aiur with such meager numbers. They hadn't even reached the inner system before being erased near Mandeville Point.
"It seems I have managed to slightly alter the course of the conflict in the Segmentum Obscurus," Alexei sighed to himself. He knew this was by no means the last Chaos Warband he would face. The skies above Aiur were about to become very busy.
It was time for him to set off and find his old friend.