The Emperor’s Angel of Death

Hearing Sorkjarn mention Rozhim in advance, Ustad didn't understand what he meant for a moment. After thinking for a few seconds, he replied ambiguously:

"Rozhim is a good man, although sometimes..."

"These are all things we must endure. Don't use our standards to demand of them. It's neither appropriate nor reasonable. When we want to take something from them, we can try to make them as comfortable as possible. This is not weakness, nor is it indulgence, but simply a compromise we must make to human nature."

"I'm sorry... I've disappointed you, Chapter Master."

Sorkjarn walked over and placed his hand on Ustad's shoulder.

"You're not doing badly, but you can do better. As the Legion grows stronger, it's becoming increasingly difficult for me to do everything myself. I hope you can share my worries. There are few people left who came out of the Obsidian Fortress. You are all pillars of the Legion's future, and you are the ones I value most."

"Chapter Master, I'm afraid... I'll fail to live up to your expectations."

"If you're afraid, then go learn, go improve, make yourself more capable and stop being afraid."

Such speculation sent shivers down the spines of both Sorkjarn and Vedrian. If the Cerberus Hive Fleet, with its massive scale, could serve as a scout, then what terrifying scale and power must lie behind it?

Sorkjarn immediately decided to immediately send a fleet to attack Sandheim V in a surprise attack, using the most powerful bipolar torpedoes to directly shatter the planet!

As the reconnaissance team carefully investigated the planet's situation, they discovered something terrifying: a giant cone-shaped structure over a thousand meters high, composed of chitin and soft brain matter. Even with the naked eye, they could see it was filled with immense warp energy. Just approaching it caused the Space Marines to suffer splitting headaches. Then, a large number of newly hatched Tyranid creatures burst out of the holes opened in the ground. The Deathwatch could only hastily take a few photos before retreating, and the ship was even attacked by bio-plasma from the creatures that came to the ground as it left orbit.

This matter was very strange, after all, Tyranids have always gone wherever they eat, and never have such "construction" behavior.

Actually, there is nothing too new. It's just that this Tyranid contains an abnormal amount of sulfide, and their devouring cycle is much longer than that of ordinary Tyranid Hive Fleets, because their capillary towers seem to be able to penetrate deep into the earth's crust and absorb various metal elements.

But one thing caught Sorkjarn's attention.

After receiving Sorkjarn's encouragement, Ustad cheered up again and nodded vigorously.

Not only that, but Sorkjarn also sent him a gift: a ritual shield made from the skull of a Tyranid Norn-Queen. The Imperium has rarely encountered such rare and extremely dangerous Tyranid creatures. Fortress Warden Vedrian was even more surprised when he saw this thing. Sorkjarn told him that he personally killed it as compensation for tearing off his shoulder pad last time.

The atmosphere was actually a bit tense and awkward when the two met again, but fortunately Sorkjarn wasn't the kind of person who insisted on saving face. He took the initiative to admit to Vedrian that he had been too impulsive at the time and apologized, which surprised Fortress Warden Vedrian, after all, in the culture of the Astartes, admitting mistakes is something that may be more difficult than death.

Then Sorkjarn made a guess that this thing might be a "beacon" or "signal tower."

It was on Sandheim V, which had already been devoured, that an anomaly was discovered by a Deathwatch infiltration team led by Vedrian himself. The planet's atmosphere didn't seem to have been erased, and the entire planet's surface was covered in thick spore clouds. When they ventured onto the planet's surface, they discovered something shocking.

After ending the meeting with Ustad, Sorkjarn found Fortress Warden Vedrian, who had just finished investigating the Tyranids.

But Vedrian told Sorkjarn that this might not work, because after discovering this thing, he also made a similar judgment, but at that time there were no Exterminatus weapons on board, so he could only return to the main fleet stationed in another star system—because he was worried about being discovered by the Tyranid fleet, the fleet did not dare to get too close to the star system, and could only send a small ship.

Fortress Warden Vedrian gladly accepted the gift, and the previous conflict between the two can be regarded as having been resolved. Then Vedrian shared with Sorkjarn the results of their investigation this time.

The Cerberus Hive Fleet and the Tiamet Hive Fleet may be playing the same role—scouts for a larger Hive Fleet. Once they discover a target worth devouring, they will immediately build this beacon to precisely attract the unimaginable swarm here.

"I will!"

"Yes!"

This planet had not become a dead world, but instead had a large number of peculiar landforms composed of chitin, tentacles, and spore towers. There were also many clusters on the ground that could spray thorns, but strangely, there was no sign of any Tyranid creatures.

However, Sorkjarn then thought of something. A Hive Fleet codenamed Tiamet seemed to also have this behavior. The legendary Ranger Night Spear had personally investigated it, but after Sorkjarn mentioned the Tiamet Hive Fleet, Vedrian said that he also thought of this. The Watch Fortress Trench had sent Kill-teams more than once to try to destroy this creation, but all had failed. The psychic energy emitted by this thing was too powerful.

"Well, the next series of matters related to the Ecclesiarchy will still be your responsibility. This time they were very generous. At least the Cardinal World should not have any problems with the supply of materials. The Faith Watch will also be sponsored by them, and there will be no problems. Other places in the diocese can only be done slowly. A large fleet will arrive soon. You should first convene a meeting of the Deaconate to inform them, and by the way, make arrangements for the allocation of berths in the port area in advance. In addition, this fleet must be kept secret. They will not have any markings. You must also make arrangements for this."

But when he returned to the fleet, Vedrian was dumbfounded. The Astropaths and Navigators told him that a strong warp storm was forming in this area. If they didn't leave quickly, they might not be able to leave at all. At the same time, scans also showed that a Tyranid fleet was approaching here. Realizing that the Tyranids were already prepared, Vedrian really wanted to risk it all, but after thinking about it, he gave up. At that time, he thought there would be opportunities later, and the Tyranids would always relax their vigilance.

But for several months, although the warp storm dissipated, an even more terrifying warp shadow appeared. Now nearly half of the sector's space is shrouded in warp shadows. The Navigators all said that they couldn't even see the way, let alone make a warp jump, and they couldn't go to that place at all. And to "sail" from the nearest warp node that can be jumped to Sandheim V, it would take decades at the very least, and possibly hundreds of years, at the speed of Imperial ships in real space.