Chapter 24: Chapter 24

For the seers of the Craftworld Eldar, a crisis was brewing. The skeins of the future, once a sprawling web, had burnt out until all that was left were drawn inexorably into a single point in time and place. The intricate web of fate now swirled around a Nexus, and they had to peer past that impossible tangle to find the sprawling paths towards the future once more.

 

However, not even the most skilled and experienced of Farseers could delve into that singularity. To try and untangle the massive convergence courted madness, and already Farseers of various craftworlds were reduced to comatose states, their colleagues desperately diving into the edges of the all-consuming Nexus to fish out their lost souls.

 

Realizing that the singularity of fate could not be altered by scrying, Eldrad Ulthran, renowned Farseer of Craftworld Ulthwe, embarked on a journey through the Webway and the stars to meet that point head on. The mission drew the warriors of each Aspect Shrine, not only from Ulthwe itself but other craftworlds as well. Such was the importance of the journey that Saim-Hann and Iyanden each contributed a warhost towards ensuring its success. 

 

The journey was initially uneventful. Too uneventful, according to some seers and commanders. Their travel through the damaged Webway faced no stray daemonic incursion. Similarly, the stars held no obstacles or threat that threatened to slow them.

 

That changed as the combined fleet drew closer towards the Nexus of Fate. It was not a subtle thing; at about two-thirds of the journey, daemonic presence within the Webway increased significantly. Fortunately for the Eldar host, most of the daemon swarms were too distracted to notice their presence.

 

Unfortunately, it seemed that the denizens of the Warp were all clawing over each other towards the same destination that the Eldar were headed. The infestation was so thick in some passageways that the fleet had to exit into realspace several times to find an alternate route. And despite their focus towards the Nexus of Fate, not all of the daemons ignored them. 

 

Ships were lost as the servants of the Four breached and overran them, extinguishing every precious soul within. Scrying and nudging the near future as best as they could, the Farseers of the expedition could only lessen the grievous toll taken, not avoid it entirely. With each entry into the increasingly infested Webway, more ships and souls were claimed by the Warp. With each exit into realspace, the Eldar despaired as they tallied their growing losses.

 

The threads of fate calcified towards the end of their journey. All points of entry into the Webway at this point became impossible to survive. There were simply too many Neverborn. Yet all signs pointed towards the gateway with the highest concentration of them held the single path directly into the Nexus of Fate. 

 

Eldrad and his fellow Farseers did their best to pick out every detail of that inevitable path, and found little comfort. Great loss was all but guaranteed if they continued on, yet it also brought the lifting of the veil beyond the Nexus. Is the future worth the best and brightest lives of the dying race?

 

Yes, it was decided. 

 

Eldrad and a few of his strongest peers had caught glimpses of the threads beyond the singularity of fate. They saw a potential resurgence of their race, a miraculous salvation from the brink of extinction. Some even saw a new dawn of the Eldar. Those futures came at a severe cost however, more than just the sacrifice of this expedition; it would take many lives to build a mound to reach that glimmer of light. 

 

But the chance, however slim, was impossible to ignore.

 

The battered fleet remained in realspace for two full cycles, giving precious time for every Eldar to make peace with their impending demise.

 

They were beset upon the moment they reentered the Webway. The massive tunnel was so filled with Neverborn that they seemed like a solid obstruction. Torn from their internecine fighting, the Neverborn united against the new arrivals. The fleet burned through the daemons barring their path with pulsars and fusion lances, diving ever onwards towards their goal at the other end of the Webway tunnel.

 

City-sized daemons were blasted with pinpoint precision fire and vortex bombardments tore apart whole legions of Warpspawn. Winged monstrosities of the Butcher and the Schemer were shredded in the thousands by Eldar point-defense fire, while the nimble creations of She-Who-Thirsts and the diseased children of the Plaguefather were scoured off the Webway’s walls.

 

For all that, the display of firepower was not enough.

 

Several Eldar corvettes and destroyers were slowed and then halted by the sheer volume of daemons descending and swarming across their hulls. The lucky ones managed to detonate their generators in time, sparing unnecessary torment while removing more daemons from the battlefield. The luckier ones were able to teleport most of their crew to the safety of the capital ships, leaving only the barest of resistance before their ship self-destructed.

 

Not all were fortunate however, and several escort ships became charnel playgrounds of the Warpspawn, the crew enduring an agonizing death before their souls were snatched up by the Dark Prince.

 

The Eldar cruisers and battleships fared only a little better. Weapon bays were disabled one by one from the unceasing attacks of the daemons infesting their hulls, while engines were slowly getting clogged by suicidal charges. Fortunately, the stronger hulls on the larger ships minimized the breaches to manageable but still costly levels. 

 

Despite their hopeless situation, the children of Asuryan fought valiantly against the inevitable, giving as little ground as they could. Every second of defiance meant a second closer to their destination. More escort ships were evacuated before they were lost to the claws and blades of the Warpspawn, and then, the smaller cruisers too began a desperate race to flee as the daemons slowly began to overwhelm the defenders.

 

Yet they still pushed forwards. They had no choice but to push on. More and more ships blazed and then died in cataclysmic explosions within the Webway as they dove through the tide of Neverborn towards the end of their path. Tens of thousands of Isha’s favored were snuffed out, their souls lost to the eternal torment of the Great Enemy. Great heroes were made and ended in the struggle towards their destination.

 

Eventually, all that was left were the larger capital ships, all of them fighting for survival. The light cruisers and escorts had all been devoured by the unending waves of Neverborn. Barely a quarter of the expedition remained alive and fighting, and their numbers were steadily dropping.

 

Eldrad and the Farseers had abandoned their scrying to join in the defense, lending their psychic might towards extending their existence for precious time. They were so close to the Nexus of Fate, they only needed to last for just a few more-

 

Something stirred within the Webway, causing a ripple of confusion through the endless tide of daemons. Bloodthirsters and Keepers of Secrets froze mid-strike, their attention yanked to something beyond the semi-material realm. Though they sensed it as well, the Eldar did not hesitate like their enemies, seizing the opportunity to thin down the invaders. 

 

The second pulse sent the Warpspawn reeling and rocked the seers back in surprise at the foreign power. It poured through the same breaches the Neverborn used to breach the Webway, a deathly stillness in the usually roiling currents of the Immaterium. A strange beacon of non-light entered the Webway tunnel, and the daemons barely had time to panic as the eldritch illumination washed over them and dissolved them like shadows under the sun.

 

A third burst of the unknown energy shot out from the beacon, and even the strongest of daemons within the Eldar ships were blasted into nothingness. The Eldar themselves were knocked off their feet, their psychically-attuned souls suffering a flash of searing pain. Eldrad had to fight for consciousness as he felt rivulets of blood trailing down his eyes and ears. Even as the agony lingered, he managed an exhausted grin.

 

Was this it? Had they reached their destination?

 

As the beacon’s strength diminished and order was slowly restored throughout the remains of the fleet, the bridges picked up a signal originating from the foreign object. Surprisingly, it was the same communication frequency used by the Eldar of old, one that was often still used by…the Commorites.

 

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Eldrad frowned at that realization. Was the Nexus of Fate a creation of their dark kindred? 

 

That notion was proven false as the signal was received and a link established to allow for a clearly non-Eldar voice to be heard.

 

“This is Sev from Mekhane. Is anyone alive out there?” It was spoken in the mon’keigh tongue, or at least some variation from it. Eldrad was familiar enough with the primitive race to be confident that the speaker was a male specimen. And… The Farseer frowned as he realized he couldn’t sense any sentient presence from the beacon. That made things even more puzzling.

 

How did such a blinkered race suddenly achieve such power of the Warp?

 

The bridge crew of Lileath’s Smile, exchanged similarly confused glances. Admiral Yvena Sunblade stared questioningly at Eldrad as she offered him the communication disc. Wearily, the Farseer accepted the device and its burden.

 

“This is Eldrad Ulthran, Farseer of Ulthwe, aboard Lileath’s Smile,” he replied in the same primitive tongue. Underevolved or not, borrowed technology or not, this stranger had saved them from obliteration. “We thank you, Sev of Mekhane, for your timely arrival.”

 

“De nada. I’m glad my test fire worked.” Test fire? “Didn’t expect to try it out anytime soon, but then the sensors picked a massive buildup alongside your ships falling to the creatures.”

 

So many questions cropped up in Eldrad’s mind after the unenlightening explanation. “I…see. Regardless, we are grateful for your assistance.”  

 

“Eh, no worries. If you want, I can keep watch while you people patch up? I’m not in a hurry, and I might as well continue weapons testing.”

 

Eldrad shared a look with Admiral Sunblade, and then realized that with the absence of the daemon swarm, the broken wrecks of the fleet had crashed onto the Webway’s surface. There were lost souls in each that could be recovered. A quick psychic link with the other leaders of the fleet resulted in a unanimous decision.

 

“The Eldar of Ulthwe, Saim-Hann and Iyanden thank you for your noble aid, Sev of Mekhane.”

 

As recovery crews were sent out and bonesingers closed the gaping wounds on the ships, Eldard, alongside the remaining Farseers, Autarchs and admirals, met with the mysterious human aboard the Lileath’s Smile. Usually, the presence of a lesser species would be decried as a desecration, but considering the circumstances, perhaps even the firebrand fanatics of Biel-Tan could make allowances.

 

The man was dressed in black, and moved with far less clumsiness of his species. He also had no visible soul that Eldrad and the other Farseers could perceive. In fact, if not for seeing his corporeal form, the seers might as well discount his existence completely.

 

What put every Eldar on guard though was the power radiating from him. It was more than a psychic radiance, something beyond the real and the Immaterium that incited a primal, existential dread to any that dared reach out to it. Eldrad had foolishly tried skirting the edges of that mysterious aura, and found himself staring for the briefest of moments at a constellation of eyes that were forever open but somehow locked in slumber. Something told the Farseer that if even one of those eyes came to awareness, the existence of anything - physical or Warp - that drew its attention would be forfeit.

 

Eldrad snapped out of that vision trembling uncontrollably, and glancing at the cries of alarm, he found other Farseers in similar states of distress, some of the younger seers even collapsed and sobbing in terror from brushing the edges of a greater power. The human shell of Sev though simply cocked his head to one side with confusion. Eldrad was not versed enough with mon’keighs to discern whether that emotion was feigned or genuine.

 

What was certain though was that this Sev, this eldritch mimic of a human, had the web of fate tangled around him. The future of the Eldar as a race, the future of the galaxy, rested in his hands.

 

Forcing himself to calmness, Eldrad stepped forward to receive their guest, somehow managing to fit in some measure of hospitality into the human language. “Be welcome, friend of the Eldar. I am Eldrad Ulthran.”

 

Sev gave a polite bow (far more than an average mon’keigh could parody) as he announced himself. Surprisingly, his reply was in the Eldar tongue, eloquent and formal as if spoken from old nobility. “Greetings, Eldar of Ulthwe, Saim-Hann and Iyanden. I am Sev, ruler of the Nexus Unity.” Despite the smile he offered, Eldrad spied wry amusement in his tone. “I am glad my second meeting with your people is a peaceful one.”

 

Confusion and horror filled the thoughts of the Eldar present. It wasn’t the fact that this Sev had met other Eldar, but rather the notion that those kin would be foolish enough to antagonize him.

 

Seemingly picking up on the sentiment, Sev elaborated, “Ah, the first time was with raiders from Commorragh. They thought my people to be prey. I proved their assumption wrong.” The smirk Sev gave, along with the unsubtle tones in his speech gave no doubt as to the dark fate of the Commorites.

 

“We are thankful then, that you have not allowed our dark kin to color your impression of us,” Eldrad replied with genuine relief.

 

“Well, without their…assistance, I would not be so enlightened about the Eldar race, so I suppose I shouldn’t hold too much against them.”

 

The meeting that followed, for all the latent dread, went smoothly. The Eldar leadership kept their airs low, most fearing the eldritch man too much to be involved in the discussion. Precious information was exchanged: The Nexus Unity was a lone system, and had recently fended off an attack from the young Imperium and shortly after a marauding fleet from Commorragh. It was an impressive showing for his realm’s recent entry onto the interstellar stage.

 

But then again, with a creature like him with power to rival the Y’ngir of old, it shouldn’t be surprising. Eldrad now only hoped that this Sev had far less dangerous ambitions, and did not seek to devour the galaxy like they did.

 

“So, you will be expanding your realm?”

 

Surprisingly, Sev did not harbor much of the flames of conquest. “I’ve already secured some worlds to terraform and settle into. Ah, right. Your people have some sort of legacy worlds right? Maybe I’ll bring up a map and we can check if my claims are overlapping yours next time.”

 

He then paused for a moment in thought, and Eldrad soon learned that it was a habit that heralded unsettling news.

 

“Then again… Since we’re here, do you mind if I tried some things out with your wraithbone and Spirit Stones?”

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