Steel & Oil: Warhammer 32K

Urgidex was jolted awake by the violent sound of the door being thrown open.

As a Tech-Priest who had embraced the machine, every physiological need—including sleep—was regarded as a sign of weakness. But Urgidex was simply too exhausted. When the sound of the door startled him awake, he had been slumped over a desk piled with calculation drafts, taking a brief nap.

He rose to his feet in a panic, accidentally knocking the mound of draft papers to the floor.

The cogitator system had not sounded any alarm, which meant the intruder had entered the factory through proper procedures—and in all likelihood held a rank higher than his own.

He looked toward the entrance of the data-processing chamber, and the sight of the figure clad in red robes filled him with delight. "Thank the Omnissiah, I can actually still meet another Tech-Priest in this place!"

"Do not be so surprised, High Priest Urgidex." Pavonis identified the man from the identity codes. "You will no longer be alone."

The Imperial fleet had returned!

A sudden surge of joy overwhelmed Urgidex. From the moment the Imperial Navy had withdrawn from the shipyard, he—dispatched by Mars to serve this facility—had been ordered to maintain the factory's basic operations entirely on his own.

This small shipyard, situated on a moon orbiting the fifth planet of Port Sanctus, now held only himself and those Servitors. He had believed he would be left alone on this world until the orks killed him. He had never imagined he would live to see a fellow brother of Mars.

He hastily ushered Pavonis into the central control room and briefed the sage on the shipyard's current condition.

Although the Port Sanctus system was gripped by panic, Urgidex had never shown the slightest negligence toward his duties. Pavonis was pleased to discover that there were indeed ample reserves of resources here, along with Servitors ready to be put into production at any moment.

The situation was considerably better than he had anticipated, and he gave Urgidex an encouraging pat on the shoulder.

"You have done well, High Priest. I believe the Omnissiah too would praise your faithful devotion to the Omnissiah. Perhaps afterward you could come and serve under me."

"It would be my honor." Unaware of the man's dual identity, Urgidex gladly accepted. But soon he remembered the data he had earlier calculated, forgetting food and sleep in the process.

He snatched up the scattered calculation drafts and presented them before Pavonis.

"My lord sage, these are the results of my personal research over many days. I hope these findings might merit your attention."

Pavonis took the draft papers. Although the material fell outside his own specialty of spatial technology, he could still make out what this priest had been calculating. "You've been calculating the void shield output of the ork Battle Moon?"

"Yes—so long as we can produce a result, we can provide theoretical grounding for the Imperial fleet's counterattack—"

"Do not attempt to destroy a treasure, Urgidex."

Pavonis tore the calculation drafts to shreds, gazing through the fluttering fragments of paper at Urgidex's stunned face.

"Get to work, priest. Contribute your strength to this shipyard, now taken over by the Adeptus Mechanicus. We shall win the most precious treasure of this entire war!"

The Solar Fleet did not proceed to Port Sanctus. They halted at an industrial moon adjacent to Port Sanctus, and the entire fleet began a new round of refitting alongside the newly reactivated shipyard, as if utterly indifferent to whether Port Sanctus lived or died.

This was precisely the outcome Ayash and Egrimm had anticipated.

Whether it was the one who had glimpsed something more but, because his own objectives took priority, chose not to pursue Pavonis further in his capacity as an Inquisitor—or Admiral Lansong, who placed the preservation of his own forces above all else. Their standing aside provided fertile soil for the forces of Chaos upon Port Sanctus.

They were now conducting a final confirmation of the situation.

"The Imperial fleet isn't coming back—and what of the ork Battle Moon?"

"It was damaged in the earlier battle. Even if the Imperial fleet does nothing to obstruct it, it would take more than half a month to reach the skies above Port Sanctus."

"And the Imperial Fists?"

"They are still in the underhive. I have sent men to confirm it—it was in the course of dealing with those corrupt cultists that they discovered the ritual circle we had set up in the underhive, and destroyed our arrangements there."

"In the two days after destroying the ritual circle, they have been occupied with clearing out the remaining resistance in the underhive. But rest assured, the evidence in their hands should not be sufficient to turn their suspicions toward you."

"And those Chaos Space Marines discovered earlier by the Planetary Defence Force?"

Ayash paused for a moment before realizing the Governor was referring to that Night Lord discovered earlier by the Planetary Defence Force.

In truth, Ayash had never known that a Chaos Astartes was lurking within Port Sanctus. The intelligence, it was said, had been relayed back by the Planetary Defence Force under the Planetary Governor's command.

Yet he firmly believed that his not knowing meant the other party was simply not among the variables of the plan. He had racked his brains for this scheme, and overlooking a few elements irrelevant to it was only natural.

"Rest assured, my lord. Those lone-wolf Astartes are nothing but beasts who take pleasure in slaughter. They are few in number and will certainly have no impact on our plans."

Ayash spoke as if explaining to the Governor, and as if explaining to himself. "If they were to clash with the Imperial Fists, that would in fact hasten the unfolding of our plans."

It seemed all developments were unfolding just as they wished, and Egrimm nodded in approval of Ayash's performance. But there was still one crucial matter he needed to confirm.

"And that female Inquisitor?"

This concerned his own safety, so of course he saved it for last as the key point of confirmation.

Only a day earlier, the Inquisitor's attendant had quietly infiltrated Egrimm's governor's palace. The attendant seemed to be trying to get close to Egrimm, but at the last moment was inadvertently exposed by Ayash.

Ayash naturally understood what the Governor was worried about. "Rest assured, my lord. I have already issued martial law in the upper hive and, under the pretext of rebels and war preparations, launched a full-scale sweep of it. Though we did not capture that Inquisitor, neither she nor her attendant will find it easy to approach us again."

In truth, that Inquisitorial attendant had long since triggered the Psychic alarm Ayash had laid down. Ayash had feigned stumbling upon the operation by chance and slain the attendant at the last moment. Unfortunately, the attendant had bitten down cleanly on a suicide pill and died so decisively that Ayash could not extract intelligence through a soul-search.

But this had also exposed the whereabouts of that Inquisitor who had vanished after delivering the fleet intelligence—she had been in the upper hive all along, watching their every move.

Ayash was quite curious how much intelligence that Inquisitor possessed. For many days, he had been attaching his Psychic power to his subordinates, remotely controlling them to hunt down this Inquisitor. Though he had not yet caught her, this Inquisitor could no longer have any effect on his plans.

"Then, let the sacrifice begin." Egrimm gave the order.

Ayash maintained his practiced show of outward obedience. He bowed respectfully and relayed the Planetary Governor's will. Yet the command of the Governor—who wished to devote himself to the Lord of Pleasures—was, after passing down through layer upon layer, ultimately carried out by cultists of Tzeentch. Several cultists from the lower levels of the midhive stood at the center of the sacrificial ritual, offering themselves to the daemons in the grip of fanaticism.

"I call upon you, supreme existence from the Warp! May your descent tear asunder the veil of reality! I offer up my soul and my loyalty, asking only to witness your power of destruction! Come—let terror and despair devour this world, let the will of Chaos rule over all!"

The lingering Psychic energy was drawn along by the ritual circle, and using the souls offered by these cultists as an anchor, a temporary small entrance leading to the material universe opened within the crystal Labyrinth.

The Horrors, who had earlier been humiliated in the underhive, came surging aggressively into the material universe. Here there were no Astartes to obstruct them—only those terrified, helpless civilians.

Had it been the underhive, perhaps everyone would have possessed some capacity to resist. But this was the midhive, the domain of law-abiding, model Imperial citizens.

They lacked the martial vigor of the lower hive, nor did they enjoy the army's protection as in the upper hive. Wanting only to change their circumstances through hard work, they had once been the most suitable objects of exploitation in the eyes of the nobility—and now became delicious lambs in the eyes of the daemons.

The Horrors shrieked in excitement, pouring all their fury and their desire to toy with human hearts upon these helpless civilians.

The chaos had begun.

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