Holy Terra.
On the Golden Throne, the Emperor of Mankind has sat for ten thousand years. He is the Lord of Humanity, a god, an eternal beacon, illuminating the dark universe with his endless psychic light.
Beneath the throne, Reinhardt knelt, his body trembling slightly under the vast psychic pressure.
He was not a Space Marine, not a Custodian, not even an Inquisitor. He was but a mortal, a lucky soul chosen from among countless billions of humans for his absolute, pure loyalty.
He was to receive a personal blessing from the Emperor.
This was no mere gift, but the beginning of a mission.
Golden radiance flowed down from the throne—warm, majestic, and carrying an unquestionable will. The light enveloped Reinhardt, permeating every cell and every atom. His soul felt as if it were being stripped from its mortal shell, soaked in a sea of pure will.
The Emperor's voice—or rather, the Emperor's will—echoed directly in the depths of his soul.
It was not language, but a concept beyond words.
*Humanity is the rightful master of the galaxy.*
*The alien is filth, a threat, an error that must be purged.*
*Suffer not the alien to live.*
*For Humanity!*
Each sacred teaching became a brand, forever etched into the essence of Reinhardt's soul. This was the Emperor's truth, the sole law for humanity's survival. Before this great will, Reinhardt's consciousness was as small as dust, yet it became incredibly firm because of it. The meaning of his existence was to carry out this truth.
He would become the Emperor's messenger, traveling to forgotten and fallen human worlds to bring back the Emperor's light and purge all heresy and uncleanness.
At the very moment the blessing ritual reached its zenith, the light on the Golden Throne suddenly stalled.
A psychic storm of rage and sorrow that seemed to have been suppressed for ten thousand years, far exceeding what the ritual required, erupted without warning from the Emperor's body.
It was a momentary fluctuation of will in the Emperor's eternal war against the Chaos Gods.
This momentary fluctuation alone possessed enough energy to tear reality asunder.
Space warped and shattered around Reinhardt. The sight of Holy Terra dissolved into countless fragments, and his soul was pulled into an indescribable dimensional rift. Endless colors and frantic geometric shapes flashed past him, as if he were traveling through the torrent of time and space.
The Emperor's will still firmly protected his soul's core, but that great power was also being constantly pulled and twisted by the spatial turbulence.
He lost all his senses.
A moment seemed to pass.
Yet an eternity seemed to pass as well.
When consciousness returned, Reinhardt smelled a faint scent, similar to disinfectant.
He slowly opened his eyes.
What met his eyes was not the grand Gothic dome of the Adeptus Custodes, nor the flickering candles and fluttering banners of an Ecclesiarchy cathedral.
Instead, it was a pure white ceiling.
Smooth, flat, without any carvings or decorations. Soft light spilled evenly from the edges of the ceiling, neither glaring nor casting any shadows.
It was excessively quiet here.
There were no low prayers from Tech-Priests, no buzzing of Servo-skulls flying by, and certainly no incessant war alarms from the distance.
There was only a rhythmic, slight "beeping" sound.
Reinhardt moved his eyes, taking in his surroundings.
He lay on a soft bed, covered by an equally white quilt. The room was not large, and the walls were made of a slightly curved metal material. The style was minimalist to the extreme, with no rivets or decorative patterns in sight.
This was a cold and efficient technological aesthetic he had never seen before.
It was the complete opposite of the Imperium's Baroque style, which favored grandeur, complexity, and religious overtones.
The "beeping" came from a device beside the bed, showing several slowly fluctuating lines of light.
Reinhardt tried to sit up, but found his body somewhat unresponsive. He looked down at his hands; the skin was fair, without scars or the calluses left by long-term prayer and labor.
This was his body.
But it felt somewhat unfamiliar, like a machine that had just been assembled.
He could feel a subtle disconnect between his soul and this body.
The Emperor's blessing remained branded in the depths of his soul. That golden, warm power lay hidden, serving as his only reliance in this completely alien environment.
A metallic, disc-shaped object slid in silently. It hovered in mid-air, emitting a soft blue light, and a synthesized mechanical voice spoke.
"Vital signs detected as stable. Consciousness is clear. Notifying the duty medical officer."
Reinhardt looked at the small drone, his brow furrowing slightly.
The technology in this thing was not low, yet its shell bore no gears or skull symbols of the Adeptus Mechanicus.
This was sacrilege.
It was a betrayal of the omnissiah.
Soon, the door slid open silently, and a man in a white uniform walked in. He looked to be in his thirties, with black hair and black eyes—a typical descendant of the Terran race. A gentle, formulaic smile was on his face, and he held a thin, glowing tablet.
"You're awake. How are you feeling? I am the medical officer of this ship, Ryan."
He spoke a language that Reinhardt could understand.
It was very similar to the Low Gothic commonly used in the Imperium, but the pronunciation was clearer, without the many accent variations caused by region and class.
Reinhardt did not answer immediately, instead scrutinizing the man.
This man named Ryan wore no badges of status—no Aquila, no Inquisitorial insignia, nor any family or legion crests. The only symbol on his white uniform was a blue-green circular pattern at the chest, resembling Earth.
This caused Reinhardt a wave of inexplicable discomfort.
A person without symbols of faith, an environment that offered no reverence to the Emperor or any deity.
"Where am I?"
Reinhardt's voice was somewhat raspy; he cleared his throat and repeated himself.
"Where is this place?"
Dr. Ryan's smile became more pronounced.
"This is the science vessel 'Hope'. We found you near a gravity well on the outskirts of the 'Trappist' system during a routine exploration mission."
He paused, seemingly weighing his words.
"To be honest, it's incredible. You were floating in a vacuum without any life-support equipment, yet your vital signs were miraculously maintained. We brought you back to the ship, and your body recovered on its own in a very short time."
Reinhardt remained silent.
He knew it was the Emperor's power protecting him.
"'Hope'..." he mulled over the word. "Which faction do you belong to? The Astra Militarum? Or some Rogue Trader family?"
The expression on Dr. Ryan's face froze for a moment, his eyes filled with confusion.
"Astra Militarum? Rogue Trader?" He seemed to search his memory for these two terms but found nothing. "Sorry, I don't quite understand what you mean. We belong to the 'United Earth Goverment'."
"United Earth Goverment?"
Reinhardt's heart sank abruptly.
Earth.
This word held a special meaning in the Imperium.
It was the ancient name of Holy Terra.
Could this be... Ancient Terra from tens of thousands of years ago?
Impossible. Although the style of technology here was vastly different, some aspects clearly surpassed the Imperium's standard, such as these anti-gravity drones and efficient medical technology.
"Yes, the United Earth Goverment. We are the mother nation of humanity," Dr. Ryan said proudly. "Our mission is to explore the universe, establish peaceful and friendly relations with all intelligent species, and develop together."
Establish... peaceful and friendly relations with all intelligent species?
Reinhardt's brain buzzed.
Every word in that sentence felt like the most malicious mockery of the Emperor's teachings.
Suppressing the shock in his heart, he asked in as calm a tone as possible, "Does 'all species'... include aliens?"
"Aliens?" Dr. Ryan laughed, as if he had heard an outdated term with some discriminatory undertone. "We generally refer to them as friends now. Of course, as long as they are friendly and willing to abide by the federation charter and the Galactic Community Convention, they are welcome. Pluralistic coexistence and common prosperity are the basic national policies of our government."
Reinhardt's blood seemed to freeze at that moment.
His lips parted slightly, but he could make no sound.
This human before him, a compatriot from the same roots, was speaking the most profound heresy with a matter-of-fact, even proud, tone.
To equate humanity with those filthy, base, and cunning aliens?
And to call them "friends"?
What depravity! What sacrilege! HERESY!
Dr. Ryan did not notice the upheaval within Reinhardt, assuming the newly awakened patient was simply unfamiliar with and curious about the outside world.
He walked to the wall and pressed a button.
A portion of the wall immediately became transparent, revealing the deep universe outside.
"Look, we are traveling at sub-light speed, preparing to return to the Relay Station. You can receive a more comprehensive examination there, and we will also help you contact your family."
Through the porthole, Reinhardt saw a magnificent sea of stars.
However, what drew his attention was not those distant stars, but the scene inside the ship.
It was a wide corridor where crew members came and went with relaxed expressions. They wore the same uniforms as Ryan, only in different colors.
Then, he saw it.
A human crew member was walking side-by-side with... a monster.
That "monster" had an insect-like carapace, four jointed legs moving silently on the floor, and two large compound eyes shimmering with an eerie light. It seemed to be talking about something with the human crew member, and the atmosphere appeared quite harmonious.
At the other end of the corridor, a tentacled alien with slimy skin was operating a public information terminal, while several young human crew members gathered around it, watching curiously.
Reinhardt's pupils contracted sharply.
This scene made him feel more disgusted and angry than the most twisted daemon worlds he had seen at the edge of the Eye of Terror.
Daemons were enemies, beings that needed to be purified and destroyed; their evil was explicit.
But this scene before him...
Humans and aliens... coexisting in peace?
This was a deeper level of corruption, a betrayal that denied "human uniqueness" and "human supremacy" at its very roots.
They, these humans who called themselves the "United Earth Goverment," were not ashamed but proud!
"What... are those?" Reinhardt's voice was dry as he pointed at the insectoid alien outside the window.
"Oh, you mean Krieg. He's our geologist, from the Krill Swarm, a very friendly species with a unique talent for crystal structure analysis," Dr. Ryan explained as if it were common knowledge. "Half the crew on our ship are non-human friends. This is a model project for multi-species cooperation."
A model?
Reinhardt closed his eyes.
The Emperor's will roared within his soul.
*Purge them!*
*Burn the alien!*
*A world tainted by the alien is better off destroyed!*
He remembered the grand vision he saw during the Emperor's blessing: the Great Crusade fleet filling the entire galaxy, conquering all enemies, and planting the banners of humanity on every planet. It was a pure universe ruled by mankind.
And now, what did he see?
An 'utopia' filled with heretical thoughts, where humans and aliens lived together.
Seeing Reinhardt's pale face and closed eyes, Dr. Ryan thought he was unwell.
"Are you alright? Are you too tired? You need more rest. I'll go get you some nutrients."
With that, he turned and left the room.
Once again, Reinhardt was alone in the room.
He slowly opened his eyes, the confusion gone, replaced by a cold, ice-like determination.
He had confirmed it.
This was not the Terra of the past, nor any corner of the Imperium.
The accident during the blessing ritual had brought his soul to a completely alien, fallen universe.
A universe... that needed to be saved, that needed the God-Emperor's light.
The Emperor's blessing was no accident.
This was perhaps a more profound arrangement by the Emperor.
He had cast himself—a spark carrying the truth of human supremacy—into this world shrouded in darkness and heresy.
His mission was no longer to return to the Imperium.
It was to bring the Emperor's radiance to this new universe.
To lead those lost sheep who consorted with aliens back to the correct path.
To purge all those aliens that polluted the living space of humanity!
Reinhardt looked out the window at the endless sea of stars.
His expression was calm, but in the depths of his soul, a new plan was beginning to take root.