Temporary Savior's Sanctuary
Zzz—
Eden ended the encrypted transmission with the daemon spy and took a long swig of ice-cold cola. A rush of cold clarity surged through him.
Based on Beel's report, Ka'Bandha had truly gone all-in. After years of scheming and brooding, he had emptied his reserves—deploying his full daemon legion. On top of that, he had even taken "loans" from other Supreme Bloodthirsters.
The size of the force was enough to drown Baal in sheer demonic wrath, forming a third major force in the war between the Imperium and the Tyranid Hive Fleet Leviathan.
"My good brother Ka really went too far this time..."
Eden's eyes shimmered slightly.
"His burning passion... how could I not return the favor?"
"I have to make sure he gets a proper arrangement!"
He was genuinely touched.
"Brother Ka must lead the charge, blazing with glory for the Imperium on the fiercest battlefield."
Without delay, he sent new orders to the master strategy room.
He instructed Tarko to initiate Plan 13—adjusting the fleet's positions to shift the main theater to Baal Secundus.
Plan 13, officially titled "Demonic Contingency Protocol 13: Codename Loyalty," was designed to reroute both Hive Fleet Leviathan and Ka'Bandha's daemon forces toward Baal Secundus through fleet positioning and arcane warp rituals—
Pitting the two against each other and weakening both.
The goal was simple:
Minimize Imperial losses.
After transmitting the order, Eden continued reviewing Baal's defense network.
With Ka'Bandha's arrival, fewer fleet assets were needed around Baal Secundus, freeing resources to reinforce other sectors.
However, fleet deployment alone wasn't enough to repel Leviathan's assault.
Tyranid bio-attacks were relentless.
Their spore pods were nearly impossible to intercept, and would eventually breach planetary defenses—
Spawning overwhelming waves of xenos horrors.
Thus, ground defenses were equally vital.
Nearly all of the Imperium's ground forces were now concentrated on Baal.
They had entrenched themselves in vast fortress complexes, forming heavily fortified battle zones.
Key defenders included:
– The Storm Group Army's Titans
– Imperial Knights
– Armored Tank Divisions
– Artillery Regiments
– Combat Armor Squads
– And vast numbers of standard infantry
The Adeptus Astartes would act as elite strike units, executing decapitation strikes against critical Tyranid synapse beasts.
The operation was coordinated using advanced real-time strategic data networks—
A modern warfare doctrine.
Meanwhile, Baal's two moons:
– Baal Primus was held by the Ironfang Ork Clan and T'au battlesuit teams.
– Baal Secundus was about to become Ka'Bandha's warzone.
The defense lineup was... undeniably loyal.
Due to this shift in strategy, the core pressure of the war now lay on Baal Secundus and the daemons of Ka'Bandha.
Which greatly reduced the strain on the rest of the front.
"Brother Ka, you'd better get here on time. Don't be like my other bro Guilliman—always late…"
Eden's only concern now:
Would Ka'Bandha be delayed in the Warp?
Would he simply... not show up?
If that happened, the entire Plan 13 would collapse.
They'd be forced to redeploy Imperial fleets around Baal Secundus.
And if those defenses weren't ready in time—
Leviathan's main horde would breach it.
Then, they'd have to trigger Plan 13 Emergency Protocol:
Destroy Baal Secundus completely,to deny the Tyranids any biomass gain.
Having reviewed the situation, Eden rose from his desk.
Moments later—
A small assault shuttle lifted off from the Savior's Sanctuary, heading toward one of the towers in the Angels' Bastion.
The Holy Day Vault
This terrifying Blood Angels archive was sealed behind six massive iron-rock gates.
Now, the gates rumbled open to receive a new visitor.
Eden walked slowly down the long, dim corridor.
The statues lining the passage looked twisted—gruesome, but ancient.
The Vault housed countless secrets and horrors:
– Ten millennia of war archives
– Every cursed relic ever collected by the Blood Angels
– And the remains of every powerful enemy they had ever slain
It was also... a prison.
The deeper he went, the more the candle flames flickered and twisted.
From the cells came monstrous howls, maddening whispers, and the stench of corruption.
Many warped, terrifying Chaos items were slowly decaying in those depths.
"Hissss—fresh meat! Come here, let me have a bite! AHAHAHAHA—"
A barbed tongue suddenly lashed out from one cell.
A twisted half-demon, one wing sprouting from its back, let out a piercing shriek—an attempt to terrify and bait the visitor.
He had flayed many Librarian apprentices before.
According to the cell records, he'd been locked up for over 300 years, impervious to both physical and psychic death.
Labeled extremely dangerous.
Eden turned his head and glanced at the thing.
In that instant—
The creature screamed and scurried into the corner, trembling like a leaf.
Just a glance—
And it knew.
This human could obliterate it with ease.
Of course he could.
The Savior, the Devourer—made even daemons weep in fear.
Not every creature of Chaos had Ka'Bandha's courage or power.
Even Eden's aura silenced the entire prison.
Not a single creature dared make another sound.
He didn't say a word.
Just turned away and kept walking.
The prison wasn't the real threat.
Deeper still lay greater secrets... and horrors.
His destination was beyond—a location known only to the highest ranks of the Chapter:
The Tomb of Malefice.
If the Hall of Blood Caskets was the sanctuary of the Blood Angels—
Then the Tomb of Malefice was a place of death.
This forbidden sanctum defied all known laws of physics and the Warp.
It was far larger on the inside than it should have been.
The Chief Librarian often meditated or performed rituals here.
"Lord Savior, the ritual is ready. Allow me to guide you…"
Mephiston hurried to greet Eden, guiding him toward the Tomb—
Or rather, to his own blood casket.
They entered a vast shaft.
It plunged deep into blackness.
Moving mechanical platforms filled most of the space.
Ruby-like blood caskets floated on tracks in seemingly random paths.
Folded mechanical ladders crisscrossed the platforms like gears grinding in motion.
Whenever they intersected, the clanging of steel echoed through the darkness.
Eden stepped carefully onto a predetermined path.
From here, he could see the blood caskets.
He felt faint psychic energy emanating from them.
Upon asking, he learned—
The Blood Angels routinely fed blood into the caskets to keep the remains of fallen Librarians fresh.
Even if their gene-seed was removed, fragments of consciousness and psychic power lingered.
High-ranking Librarians could tap into these remnants for advice and visions.
Soon—
He arrived at his true destination.
A large mobile platform—like a room without walls.
It held bookshelves, desks, chairs, and thick carpets lined with adamantium thread.
At the center was a blood casket covered in abstract, intricate Blood Angel runes.
The white-eyed relief of Mephiston adorned the lid.
Surrounding it were copper poles strung with silver skulls.
Clearly—
This was Mephiston's own casket.
For Blood Angels, both the living and dead loved to lie in coffins.
Mephiston climbed inside.
Soon, it began to glow.
Runes flashed red, and silver skulls clanged against copper.
It resonated with the nearby caskets, triggering a cascade of psychic harmonics.
This wasn't rest—
It was a ritual.
He was reaching into the Warp, searching for signs of the Supreme Bloodthirster.
A daemon force of that size couldn't cross into realspace without disturbing the Warp itself.
They needed to estimate Ka'Bandha's arrival window to activate the next phase of the plan.
Eden's presence here was to protect Mephiston.
Even a Chief Librarian's soul was fragile in the Warp.
Any mishap could obliterate him.
Fssh!
Mephiston unleashed his psychic might, activating a hidden ritual array.
An illusion overtook him—ripping his soul halfway from his body and hurling it into the Warp's flow.
In an instant—
Shifting hues of gray and green sliced through darkness, then shattered into dazzling light—
Reflected like ripples on a broken water surface.
But this was no physical reflection—
It was the psychic mirror of the Warp.
Eden followed, watching as Mephiston's spirit descended deeper.
Within this kaleidoscopic chaos, they glimpsed countless images.
In the Warp, time had no meaning.
They tore through thought-eddies and emotional storms.
Visions exploded around them, fragments of futures that might be.
They didn't linger—
Those weren't what they came for.
Eden had come to guard Mephiston, whose soul, though powerful, was fragile in the Immaterium.
FWOOSH—
Mephiston's soul was ripped halfway from his body, then hurled into the Warp's tide.
Instantly—
Kaleidoscopic chaos surrounded them.
Eden followed.
They glided through Warp reflections, time-blurred fragments, and glimpses of countless possible futures.
But those weren't what they sought.
Then—
They arrived in a crimson desert, eerily resembling Baal.
The Blood Angels' towers were collapsing.
The sky trembled, flames licking the horizon.
Inaudible screams filled the air.
"Destruction!"
More towers crumbled.
Flames surged across the heavens.
"Destruction!"
More voices joined—anguished, desperate.
The air reeked of blood and brass.
This was a Warp premonition—
A vision of Khorne's daemons invading Baal.
Hell itself rolled above them.
Mephiston's soul shivered under the psychic pressure.
He tried to flee—
But something intercepted them.
Laughter.
A flash of a silver mask.
The scent of Aeldari sorcery.
A musical, mocking voice:
"Blood Angel… how delightful to see you!"
A female Farseer, a natural master of the spirit paths, struck at Mephiston's soul.
But before the attack landed—
"Golden Mega Fist!"
Eden appeared, golden psychic energy surging—
A massive golden fist slammed into the pale witch, hurling her into the Warp's depths.
"Praise the Savior…"
Mephiston whispered, shaken.
He hadn't understood the Chinese phrase Eden shouted—
But it sounded ancient, sacred, and… incredibly powerful.
The encounter ended.
Mephiston was then pulled into another scene:
A mountainous region made entirely of skulls—
Every slope a hollow eye socket, every ridge smeared in filth.
Winged beasts scavenged soul fragments in the skies.
Suddenly—
A burning fog erupted across a plain.
Rivers of blood and fire surged forward.
A black-and-red legion approached rapidly—
Khorne's daemons.
Massive daemon wings beat the air.
At the vanguard: groups of eight Bloodthirsters arranged in terrifying formations.
Eight by eight.
At the summit—eight supreme Bloodthirsters.
Horn-blaring.
Brass chariots burned across the ground, slicing flesh and bone with spinning blades.
"The Angel's Bane…"
Mephiston whispered, staring at the figure in brutal rune-etched armor—
Ka'Bandha.
ROOOOAR—
"Destruction! Death!"
Ka'Bandha howled in rage and ecstasy, leading his legion to Baal.
"He's coming!"
Eden, hidden in the Warp, smiled.
Ka'Bandha would arrive on time.
As expected, the big bro was reliable.
With a sudden pull, Eden yanked Mephiston's soul back into reality.
Upon his brass chariot—
"Who dares chant my name…?"
Ka'Bandha paused, sensing a fleeting feeling—someone had called him, not with fear... but gratitude.
The sensation faded quickly.
He shrugged it off and accelerated, urging his legion to charge faster.
He would arrive on Baal faster than anyone expected.
Baal Secundus
Beneath the ruins lay mercury-etched ritual arrays inlaid with brass.
Mephiston and Librarians from the Blood Angels, War Angels, Void Angels, and Sons of Man hurried to prepare a grand trap.
Behind the array: mountains of bio-waste, radioactive junk, fuel, and garbage.
"The stench… that ought to make the bugs crazy."
Eden covered his nose but smiled in satisfaction.
To lure Leviathan—
The Imperium had dumped every scrap of biomass from Baal and Baal Primus here.
The Hive Mind wouldn't ignore such a feast—
It would see Baal Secundus as the perfect spawning ground.
Then...
Eden sensed something.
He looked up.
The red streak of Baal's scar faded—replaced by black clouds blotting out the stars.
"The war has begun…"
Every direction: more clouds.
Hive Fleet Leviathan had come—its bio-ships uncountable.
If unchecked, they'd devour the entire system.
Eden knew this hunger.
Leviathan had already consumed entire asteroid fields nearby.
Now, it was ravenous.
Only the Savior's fleet could match its might.
"Lord Savior, Leviathan has arrived. Space combat has begun," Tarko's voice came in over comms.
"Have the fleet hold the lines at Baal Secundus," Eden replied briefly, then cut the transmission.
He didn't need reports.
He could see the flashes of shipboard weapons in the sky.
The wreckage of destroyed vessels rained down like fire.
Without full anti-air defenses, Baal Secundus couldn't stop the debris.
BOOM—
A ten-meter-long hull chunk slammed into the earth—
A geyser of dust shot skyward.
Eden braced himself and activated his forcefield.
He needed to finish his task and retreat.
In the void above—
The Hive Mind noticed Baal Secundus.
It saw the biomass.
It wanted it.
It redirected its main fleet here.
"Lord Savior… has the Angel's Bane arrived?"
Mephiston asked, nervous.
Eden nodded calmly.
"He's already here."
He pointed skyward.
Mephiston looked—
A rift, burning like fire, was splitting open.
A malicious will pierced reality—
A blood-red psychic storm surged forth.
Ka'Bandha had arrived.
The veil between the Warp and realspace tore.
Chaotic lightning flashed across Baal's skies.
Without doubt—
Baal was the daemons' target.
BZZZT—
Blue lightning crackled around Eden.
His power surged.
"Mephiston," he said gently, "let's begin."
"Let's... reroute Ka'Bandha and his daemonic allies."
(End of Chapter)
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