As always, there are three advance chapters on P-atreon (remove the spaces and dash): p-atreon/ SkySage24


Once, during the early days of mankind's ascension to the stars, Luna had been the proving ground upon which terraforming technologies were tested and developed. Before even Mars, Terra's singular moon had been transformed from a barren rock, into a verdant paradise of sweeping green forests and sparkling oceans.

One of the three Jewels of Sol along with Terra and Mars, Luna had flourished as a center of learning and civilization, sometimes even serving as the capital of whichever polity came to dominate the Solar System.

Even after the Gene Wars, the Cybernetic Revolt, and the Age of Strife, Luna had endured, maintaining its status among the great powers of the system, even outright dominating it at times amid the ruin and horrors of the Old Night.

But those days were long past.

Luna's surface had been scorched and shattered by weapons of ancient power, by invaders and civil wars alike. Its oceans were gone, its forests eradicated.

In some ways, it was worse than what Luna had been like before humanity had claimed it. In those days, at least, there had been no thick clouds of pollution, no lingering radiation, or hordes of monsters crawling across the surface.

The only civilization that remained upon Luna was below its surface, in the subterranean enclaves of the Selenar Cults. Hive cities built inside the planetoid rather than atop it, Selenar enclaves were an ancient marvel, still capable of sustaining an entire civilization even after Luna's surface had become uninhabitable.

Even after Luna had burned, and had been reduced to a shadow of its former self, the Gene Cults had endured. They still followed the ideals of the ancients, striving for perfection, for ascension.

Yet now, the independence of the Selenar seemed at an end.

High Matriarch Heliosa-54 sat atop her crystal throne, her violet eyes cold and focused. The High Matriarch was objectively beautiful, by any standard, with long white hair that practically sparkled, and flawless, elegant features.

In every way, she was the Goddess Selene come to life, from her long, flowing white hair to her cold red her clothes emphasized her divine nature, the flowing, high collared black robes embroidered with silver designs of the phases of the moon, from the crescent to the full orb.

That was what the Selenar Gene-Cults had sought, after all, to transform themselves into gods.

She was the product of over a thousand years of genetic engineering, the latest in a long line of clones of the first High Matriarch, her every feature, every piece of DNA sculpted to pure perfection. And with each generation, she advanced further and further, each new life a step towards ascension, discarding the impurities and imperfections of the past.

Yet, now she had to debase herself by bartering with these madmen from Mars.

But she allowed none of her disdain to show on her face as she spoke.

"Magos Augustus. I understand that Mars will be sending us reinforcements soon?"

The Martian Magi was a vast mass of mechandrites covered by red robes, hardly recognizable as human, and the only sign of life from within his hood were two glowing green lights that passed for eyes. Even in her cavernous throne room, tall and wide enough to even comfortably accommodate the Mechanicum's so-called Warhound Titans if necessary, Augustus was a looming presence.

Heliosa, who was over seven feet tall, would not even have been able to see him eye to eye if not for the fact that her throne itself was high above the ground, placed at the pinnacle of a small marble pyramid that rose ten feet above the floor. The Martian's augments were simply that great.

How disgusting, Heliosa thought distastefully. It was true that the basic human form was imperfect and flawed, but to abandon it in favour of making yourself into a machine? Utterly heretical and vile.

But one could not expect better of the so-called "Tech-Priests" of Mars.

The Martian shifted at her question before speaking, his voice a cold and grating machine sound that was barely human.

"Yes, Fabricator-General Kelbor-Hal has deployed the Nike Squadron and Knight House Taranis to support me."

The Magos paused for a moment, before speaking again, this time with an unmistakable undercurrent of resentment. "Lord Commander Verticorda of House Taranis is to assume command once they arrive."

So, there IS enough humanity left in him to resent his masters, at least, Heliosa thought with amusement.

Not that it was particularly surprising. Though Augustus had assured her he had authorization for his assault on the Imperium's capital, Heliosa had been unconvinced.

Heretics, barbaric, traitors to the human form…yes, these were all words one could use to describe the Martians. But surely the lords of Mars were not so stupid as to attack the Imperium with such a meager force.

Even if Enyo Squadron's assault had been more successful than Heliosa had anticipated, it had still been utterly crushed once the self-proclaimed Emperor of Mankind had taken to the field.

Arrogant and presumptuous witch-lord that he was, Heliosa had to concede the so-called Emperor was tremendously powerful.

Augustus and his forces alone were never going to be enough to assure victory over him and his armies.

"I understand," Heliosa said. "Until they arrive, of course, you are welcome to enjoy our hospitality."

Augustus moved his head in such a way that would have almost been a nod if he were not a cybernetically augmented abomination.

Without saying anything else, he slid away, moving towards the crystalline gates of her throne room.

The guards around her throne bristled at the disrespect, but none of them moved without her explicit permission. They were, each of them, perfect soldiers, created through dozens of generations of genetic engineering and cloning, much like herself. But where Heliosa had been bred to rule, to walk the steps to divinity, her guards had been made to serve.

They would strike the Martian down if she ordered it, but for now, she needed him.

For now.

Once the Magos was gone, Heliosa walked down the steps of her throne. They were intentionally steep, designed to be impossible for the vermin that were baseline humans to use. But for a transhuman such as herself? Child's play.

As she finally left the stairs and stood on the marble floor, her guards knelt in front of her.

Each of them was clad in pristine black armour, perfectly practical in design except for the mask. The mask was pure silver, cast in the shape of a human face—the same face.

And even below the masks, they were identical. Each of her guards was the latest generation of the Endymion warrior line, a match even for the Mechanicum's Skittari soldiers. Without the need for crude cybernetic augmentation.

No, the Endymion was genetically perfect, engineered for servitude and protection, stripped of all things unnecessary to their purpose. Crafted from the firstborn children of the noble houses that owed her fealty, offering their progeny to her as tribute. Hair, reproductive organs, free will…all of these things had been removed from the Endymion. When they were created, they were born without any of these things.

…and they were still not a match for the Emperor's techno-barbarian warriors, Heliosa was forced to admit.

Clasping her arms behind her back, Heliosa walked down the carpet that led to her throne, and her guards followed.

The halls of her throne room held the history of thousands of years, of a lineage that could be traced back to the Golden Age. The white walls and golden pillars were engraved with the history of Luna, of the Selenar Cults, of their rise to prominence, and of how they alone still stood by the ideals of the Ancients.

Of their enemies, those who seek to steal what was rightfully theirs.

And the greatest among those enemies was the Emperor of Terra.

More than any of the enemies recorded in their histories, it was he.

It was not that the Emperor was the most dangerous foe that the Selenar Cults had ever come across, but that he came at a time when they had dwindled and declined before they could rebuild and rise again.

That wasn't to say that he wasn't dangerous, Heliosa acknowledged grudgingly to herself. His super soldiers were crude but powerful. His psychic powers were beyond compare, stronger than any the Selenar Cults had ever encountered.

And then there were those damned fruits.

Twenty years ago, the Imperium had suddenly begun to produce miraculous fruits and crops, genetically engineered to be utterly flawless.

The finest minds of the Selenar, Heliosa herself included, had studied some of those Panacea Fruits and genetically engineered crops, and they had utterly baffled them. The knowledge that had gone into them was far, far beyond them, loathe as they were to admit.

They were utter perfection, capable of miraculous feats. The fruits could heal anything, even warp-based mutations. The crops could absorb radiation, and somehow restore the nutrients and fertility of whatever ground they were planted in.

And the Selenar Cults couldn't make any sense of how. They had gleaned only the barest fragments of knowledge from their studies, fragments which had expanded their understanding far beyond what they had expected, but still only fragments.

The Emperor had found an Ancient database, that much was clear.

And oh, how that thought grated. To think a petty warlord of primitive Terra had recovered an Ancient database with knowledge of their glorious works, while the Selenar were denied such a thing?

The insult was too much to bear.

But we will have that database, Heliosa promised herself. They would crush the Emperor, and be rid of these arrogant Martians who thought they could turn the Selenar into their vassals and claim what was rightfully theirs.

There was a long hard road ahead of her, it was true. The Mechanicum would have to be handled carefully. The squabbling houses that whispered against her rule, that raged against unity in pursuit of their selfish ambitions would need to be watched.

However, Heliosa was confident that she would achieve all her goals eventually. She was immortal, and if she did not succeed in this life, then she would in those yet to come.

And then the Selenar would rise, ascendant and triumphant.

It was their destiny as the only pure heirs of the Ancients-

The sound of thunder rolled across the Selenar hive-city, the ceiling shaking as dust and plaster fell from the ground. Heliosa stumbled but caught herself, shocked.

There was no thunder on Luna. The atmosphere was far too damaged for anything like storms or lightning to occur.

Yet, the sound of thunder continued, shaking the city and sinking into Heliosa's very bones.

There was only one possible conclusion: they were under attack.

Heliosa ran, with all the speed her augmented muscles could muster. She paid no mind to her guards. The Endymion were more than capable of keeping up with her.

The great doors of her throne room slid open at her approach, and what greeted Heliosa as she stepped outside was a vision of chaos.

Her subordinates were all running around frantically, shouting and screaming as the city continued to shake around them.

"ENOUGH!" Heliosa shouted, and at her words, the hundreds of workers froze. Each of them had been indoctrinated from birth to obey her, and a good third of them had been engineered to be genetically loyal.

They knew better than to disobey.

They could not disobey.

"What is going on?" Heliosa snapped, her ominous tone warning that there would be dire consequences if someone did not answer her immediately.

One of her servants stepped forward. A technician responsible for managing the security systems, going by his clothes. His actual name escaped Heliosa at the moment.

The man knelt. "We are under attack, High Matriarch."

"I gathered as much," Heliosa growled. What else could the continuing sounds of thunder be? "Under attack by whom?"

The man swallowed slightly. "The Emperor of Mankind, my lady. He is here."

And as if the mere mention of his name had conjured the Emperor, Heliosa felt a sudden, vivid pressure in her mind, falling to her knees as did everyone else as they heard a booming voice echo in their minds.

+SURRENDER OR DIE.+