Chapter III: Invasion

Blackness, vivid colours, eerie silence, loud screams, the scent of flowers, the stench of decay, slow changes, rapid displacements.

Iakashneth felt all of these impressions at the same time and one after the other. Thus was the way of the Warp: all at once and nothing at all. Always changing, always flowing. He though was able – unlike most others – to derive some sort of meaning and sense from those impressions.

There was a planet, painted in green, a double-headed eagle, winding in it's death thrashes. And there was something else, something...fast and undetectable, shrouded in darkness. His focus was concentrated on this occurrence, his whole mind set on unravelling this secret, all that defined him was tasked to find, what was kept from his sight. With all his might he pushed apart the black veils, he advanced through the dark mist, the colours changed from black to a dark blue, then again to purple. He'd almost revealed this mystery, there was only one dark layer left. He slowly pulled it away, the image still blurred. It became more accurate, showing what was hidden from him. It was...

"You there! Sorcerer! Shyloth requires you on the bridge!"

His focus was broken, the image blurred again, the shrouds were back in place. Iakashneth stood up slowly, trying to contain his anger. He had been so close, so unimaginable close to exposing this anomaly.

"Tell the Lord I'll be on my way." he replied to the waiting Marine.

"Go tell him yourself!" barked the impatient courier.

"Of course I will. As soon as I have arrived on the bridge. Oh, and, next time watch your tone or you may find the consequences most...unpleasant."

To keep the Marine from bothering him, he followed the call to the bridge. As he walked through the narrow corridors, he focussed on remembering every little detail he had seen in his visions. Maybe he still was able to find out, what so furiously tried to stay hidden from him. The darkness, the colours, the vague image...he put it all together like pieces of a puzzle.

Then he smiled.

His instincts had not deceived him. There was another presence on the planet, which they were apparently orbiting, a dark presence, not unknown to him.

The sorcerer of Chaos was not yet sure, what part this presence would play in his plans, an important one for sure. But – once again – someone else wanted his attention.

"Ah, there you are, sorcerer. Took you long enough. Now, tell me if this planet is worth raiding and think long, for your life depends on the answer. I am aching for a fight, no matter if it is on my ship or on that planet." Lord Shyloth's voice boomed across the bridge.

"Then it may please you to here I already evaluated this planet. There is not much here, that may draw your interest." while he spoke, the Chaos Lord's mood worsened drastically. "I warned you, sorcerer, this was your..." - "I was not yet finished, my Lord! I said 'there is not much', I didn't say there was nothing. Of course, this world is crawling with alien filth, just like every other planet. Yet I detected something else, something that may very well draw your attention. I have to say it wasn't easy to decipher the visions. Yet, in the end, I unravelled it. There are Loyalists on this planet. I admit, they are just an Imperial Guard regiment, but Loyalists nonetheless." Iakashneth finished, secretly enjoying the power he held over his adversary by a simple choice of words.

"Hrmpf...very well...you'll live. I warn you though: next time you say or do anything I dislike, your head rolls. Understood?"

He replied: "Of course, my Lord, I would never question your authority."

Shyloth eyed him distrustful, yet seemed...content for the moment. Turning to his crew, the Champion of Chaos bellowed: "Finally the time has come, we will not simply enjoy battle once more, we will let our blades taste the blood of our old enemy. They may be weak and feeble puppets, yet their misguided belief in the corpse-emperor gives them strength. But this strength pales before the gifts of the Dark Gods, the gifts of Slaanesh foremost. These gifts grant us pleasures these imperial dogs can not even fathom. We will ravel in their ignorance and bathe in their blood. Prepare the invasion in the name of Slaanesh!"

Once the Lord had finished his speech, Iakashneth turned away and left the bridge. Again, he smiled, having successfully manipulated Shyloth.

As he returned to his accommodations aboard the ship, so did his mind return to the dark presence on Zephar II...