Prologue
Five individuals, or as closest as mortals could understand it, fought using chess pieces that existed both on the Materium, plane of the physical world, and the Warp. Their chess pieces ranging from selective individuals that had the ability to change the fate of entire worlds and beyond or large armies and fleets that could conquer large scathes of the galaxy. They played like master chess players to determine who would reign supreme when the chill washed over them.
This threatening sensation was not that of a new minor player being spawned or fully gestating into warp by the countless alien species that called the Milky Way Galaxy home. It was something akin to when the Fourth Chaos God, Slanneash, had been born. A mighty power that had should have been detectable centuries in advance before showing any signs of appearing.
The lone chess player that fought against the Four Chaos Gods frowned. At first, he had wondered if this new major chess player was Ynnead, Eldari God of the Dead, or maybe one of the minor players that had once been a powerhouse rivalling His current self like one of the fallen Eldari Gods or the Ork Gods. As He peered into the new presence, He was faster to discern the new chess player was faster than the Chaos Gods.
"Impossible!? I thought the interference of the Old Ones, Necrons and the effects of the War in Heaven should have permanently prevented THAT from manifesting!" thought the Emperor of Mankind in disbelief.
Yet, the results spoke for themselves.
- O -
The eyes of an entity, which had forever been part of humanity when the first humans branches off from their biological cousins, opened It's eyes for the first time. It took a second, a very short time for mortals, but for entities of It's level it was a long time where millions of decisions could have been made in that single second.
What It found was alarming and never like it had been expecting.
The first thing it noticed was that It's connection to Its other counterparts from other universes had been cut off. For this to happen was akin to a person from Medieval Europe being thrown across an entire ocean with no way of contacting their former home.
Yet, at the same time, It discovered a universe that was very different from what it had been expecting. Instead of a planet filled with a few dozens humans, It's worst case scenario, or billions, according to It's best case scenario, what It found baffled It.
It found that humanity had not just expanded beyond Earth, but had colonized not just a few planets, but large sections of the Milk Way Galaxy. Humanity colonized millions of worlds. What surprised It the most was humanity had established footholds in other galaxies.
To describe It's satiation was like comparing Itself to noble sent off to supervise the establishment of a new colony. The noble had met with unforeseen circumstances that forced them into a coma and after awakening only to find the colony they were to supervise had spread to conquer and tame an entire continent.
The shock of It's discovery quickly passed as It assessed the universe It had been tasked to supervise. What It found greatly disappointed It when compared to reading the glorious past of humanity had achieved without It.
Humanity was facing myriad of problems from within and out. Something akin to a person facing debilitating conditions such as multiple cancers, diseases and injuries while fighting off multiple attackers. What troubled It the most was how much of humanity's problems had been self-inflicted.
Another problem was that humanity's attackers were not out to rob humanity of their resources, but out to snuff out mankind's very existence.
This wasn't something that It could allow!
It turned to bring to bear the weapons that It's other counterparts had used to ensure survival of humanity in other universes. To It's shock, the unusual tools It had It's disposal was very different, but similar to what It was used to. The shock of It's different toolset didn't stop It from deploying them.
Across the Milky Way Galaxy, humanity felt the influence of It's Counter Force for the first time.
- O -
Captain Tor Garadon of the Imperial Fist glared at the cognitor's display before him. The battle over Cadia was grim. By all accounts, while he wanted to deny it, it was likely Cadia was going to fall if the situation didn't change drastically. The Imperial defenders were disadvantaged in every way; they were outnumbered, outgunned and starting to run low on supplies to sustain the necessary firepower to keep the Chaos traitors from winning.
Reinforcements were coming. The Imperium might be besieged from all sides from within and out, but it would never allow Cadia, a lynchpin in containing the forces of Chaos within the Eye of Terror, to fall. It was only a matter of time that reinforcements, would arrive, but Tor wondered if they could hold long enough for reinforcements to arrive.
His fists tightened.
The situation of the battle could be in the Imperial defender's favor if the mighty Phalanx possessed the incredible technology that it had once contained during the Great Crusade. It had been at this time when even the Phalanx alone without any support warships could turn entire fleets to space debris or whole planets to barren worlds.
But like so many wonderous technologies that the Imperium has lost that sapped away its technological power, the Phalanx too had lost the knowledge to maintain or replace the components that powered its mighty weapons.
Tor quickly shook his head. Technology was all good and all, but the Imperium's greatest strength were humans. It was the man that created, maintained and commanded technology to humanity's whim.
If Tor had the choice of wishing what he could have in the defense of Cadia, it was not the Phalanx at its peak. He would have wanted his entire Chapter, and several more brother Chapters if possible. No, what he wanted would be return of his lineage's greatest gathering of brothers and heroes: the Imperial Fist Legion.
He let out a tired sigh as he put away his wishful thinking and returned to the battlefield projection before him.
Yet, unknown to Tor, a skeletal fist, started to glow almost as if reacting Tor's thoughts.
An Imperial Fist Honor Guard, whose sole duty unlike many of his peer's that was to protect the Chapter Master of the Imperial Fist, had been vigilantly protecting his Chapter's most sacred relic when he noticed this abnormality.
"Captain Garadon!" shouted the honour guard.
If the speaker had been any other man then Tor might have had the honor guard punished according to the Imperial Fist's laws as he was overseeing a battle where thousands of lives died every second and the fate of billions mattered. This was how important the honor guard was for they rarely ever talked during the duty.
"What is it, Brother Sacrius?" asked Tor politely, but carefully containing his annoyance.
"Our Primarch's hand is glowing!"
"What?!" shouted Tor in disbelief, having felt lost his composure for the first time in decades.
Captain Tor Garadon turned to stare at the skeletal fist, the only remaining part that the Imperial Fist had been able to recover of their progenitor, Primarch Rogal Dorn. The Battle Brothers and Serfs of the Imperial Fist within the Strategium turned from the battle ranging above Cadia and to the fist.
What they witnessed was a scene unbelievable to any to see. The fist that had only been a bone started to grow flesh. More bone started to appear as muscles and blood vessels soon followed along. It was not long before what had only been bones of a human hand turned into one of greatest heroes that the Imperium had ever seen.