As always, there are three advance chapters on P-atreon (remove the spaces and dash): p-atreon/ SkySage24
The gate was still there.
The battlefield was a smoking ruin, one that he had created himself. The sky overhead was dark, still clouded with smoke and smog, and the ground was littered with the corpses of transhuman super soldiers and cybernetic automata alike. Rivers of blood flowed across the wasteland, the marks of a terrible battle.
He had torn down the daemonic factories stone by stone. He had conjured lightning and flame to reduce them to ash, slaughtered cultists and daemons alike, and banished their master.
But the gate was still there. Pulsing ominously with a thousand different colours, the currents of the Sea of Souls roiling within.
George stepped closer to the warp-gate, ignoring his wounds and the blood dripping from them. They were already knitting themselves back together, and soon he would be fine.
But the gate…
He should collapse it. That was what he had come here for. To prevent Vashtorr's plans, and erase the last remnants of the workings of the Old Ones.
And yet…the gate shimmered with potential. With the promise of power, power enough to make a difference.
But to try to reach for that power would be folly. If he entered through the gate, there was no guarantee he would survive. The deepest reaches of the Immaterium were not a place to tread lightly, not even for living weapons created by the Old Ones such as himself.
But what if he succeeded?
"What are you going to do?"
George turned his head as Alivia limped her way to his side. Her silver armour, a marvel of human engineering and technology, was marred with blackened marks, dust, and blood. But it was intact, at least. It had kept her alive.
"I don't know," He admitted. "What do you believe I should do?"
Alivia frowned below the helmet that obscured her features. "You should destroy it, of course," She said bluntly. "Who knows what Vashtorr did to the damn thing?"
She was right.
In rebuilding this warp-gate, Vashtorr could have laid any number of traps or contingencies if anyone who was not him dared to enter.
The responsible thing to do would be to collapse the gate and never look back.
But he could hear them.
He could hear them all, the screams of a billion billion human souls in the Immaterium, living and dead, screaming for a saviour.
For someone, anyone, to come help them.
And he could hear the mocking laughter of the Chaos Gods, gleeful in their knowledge that he was too weak to oppose them, to strike them down, to save anyone.
The gate continued to glow, a siren-song of temptation.
"If you go in there, I can't stop you," Alivia said. He had voiced none of his thoughts, but she had always been able to read him better than anyone else. "I won't even try. But if you do…remember that you'll have to live with the consequences for the rest of your life."
George let out a rough chuckle. "Am I doing the right thing, Alivia?" He asked.
She smiled mirthlessly. "I have no fucking idea."
George stood for a moment longer, staring at the gate.
Then, with one last nod to his oldest and closest friend, the Guardian of Mankind walked forward, entering the warp-gate of Molech and vanishing into the swirling currents of the Immaterium.
Isha had been continuing her work in the labs aboard the Aetos Dios when she sensed it.
The Emperor's presence in the Immaterium flashed with rage and surprise, like a solar flare from a star.
But the rage was not directed at her.
Instead, the Emperor seemed to be pouring his power into divination, attempting to scry something, even as his physical avatar bent space in order to teleport the Aetos Dios back to the Imperial capital.
More surprisingly, the Emperor even split his physical avatar, deploying five other projections of himself across Terra.
But that made sense as Isha probed the Immaterium a little, and discovered the Imperium was under assault.
No, Terra was under assault.
Across the entire planet, starships were attacking various points all over the planet, though those attacks were swiftly intercepted and repelled by the Emperor's projections.
No one came to see her, or to ask anything of her, however, so Isha remained where she was.
She briefly considered aiding the Emperor in his efforts to repel the invasion. But he was already almost done by the time the thought even occurred to her, so she dismissed the idea.
It would most likely be too public an intervention for his tastes in any case, so she simply sighed and continued her work.
No doubt there would be a great need for more food and medicines once the battle was over.
But contrary to her expectations, almost immediately after the assault was over, one of the Emperor's projections appeared in her lab.
"Isha," He greeted. "We need to talk. May I have a moment?"
Isha did her best not to let her surprise show. Why would he want to talk to her immediately after such a crisis, instead of tending to the various matters that no doubt demanded his attention?
"Of course," She said politely. "What is it you wish to discuss?"
The Emperor looked around the lab. "I…don't think this is the best place for it. Shall we go to the forest instead?"
Isha raised a bemused eyebrow but did not object. "Very well."
The Emperor snapped his fingers and in an instant, they were gone from the labs, and now deep in the forest that the Emperor had ordered Isha to build for him.
Despite her mood, Isha could not help but feel a little better at being surrounded by greenery, to feel the grass beneath her feet and the wind in her hair, the sunlight against her skin. This was…not her home, but it was far, far closer than the cold, sterile labs of the Emperor's fortress or his flagship.
The Emperor beckoned to her. "Walk with me, please."
Isha followed, breathing in the smell of the flowers, listening to the sounds of water flowing in the river nearby.
The Emperor was silent for a long moment, apparently mulling over what to say. "I am sorry, but the trip to Iyanden must be delayed. I cannot go, not right now."
Isha nodded, unsurprised. She had expected as much. "I understand."
"The Martian Mechanicum has launched a direct assault on my empire, and this is only the prelude," The Emperor continued. "I fear that we are only a short while away from total war."
At that, Isha jolted in surprise. That was truly shocking. The assault had been by the Mechanicum? The way the Emperor had spoken of them, they were too divided by internal politics and strife to launch such an attack.
"They have mustered the unity for such an attack? Truly?"
The Emperor gave a grim nod. "Yes. It seems the various sects were rather alarmed by the rapid surge of the Imperium's progress thanks to your efforts."
…Of course. Isha waited a moment for a reprimand, or at least a hint of disapproval, but it never came. The Emperor did not seem at all frustrated with her.
As if he had read her mind, he continued. "I do not blame you in the slightest, to be clear. You have only done what I asked of you. This response was…unexpected, not least due to my own hubris."
Now that did make her curious. For the Emperor to admit he had been too proud… "Your hubris?"
The Emperor scowled, but once more, none of the annoyance in the expression was directed at her. "Chaos continues to blind my Sight. I thought I had made some effort in correcting that, but apparently not."
Now that was genuinely alarming. Isha had also been under the impression that the Emperor had been able to pierce the veil laid upon his Sight. "You are as blind as you were before?"
"Yes," The Emperor said sourly. "Not merely that, but they were able to keep me from noticing that I had been blinded. And even to fool me into believing that I had been able to dispel their efforts to some extent when nothing could be further from the truth. That is why I did not see this attack by the Mechanicum coming. I had considered the possibility they would react badly to the Imperium's rapid advance, but I put it aside after I saw no visions of such a thing. That was foolish of me."
"Are they trying to corrupt the Mechanicum?" Isha asked, her mind whirling. Now was not the time to wallow in her depression. She was still upset, and she did not know if she would ever truly trust the Emperor, but the threat of Chaos came first.
"I believe so," The Emperor said, stopping below a tall tree, looking up at the leaves overhead. "Mars is critical to my plans. The Ring of Iron is one of the few things in the galaxy that can provide the industrial output for them. And having Mars at my side would make it far easier to convince the Forge Worlds scattered across the galaxy to submit to my rule."
Isha's lips thinned as a golden eagle flew overhead. "And if Chaos can corrupt Mars or damage the infrastructure…"
"...then my plans are over before they even begin." The Emperor finished, extending an arm. The eagle flew down and settled on it, sinking its talons into the Emperor's flesh. From a mortal, it would have drawn blood and perhaps left permanent scars, but for an Incarnate God, it was irrelevant.
"The possibility of Bel'akor being the one behind this becomes ever more probable," Isha frowned, her thoughts drifting back to previous conversation on the topic. "Only he and Kairos Fateweaver could possibly blind you like this even after you became aware of their efforts. And Bel'akor is more proactive, though I cannot discount Kairos."
"Indeed," The Emperor agreed, before pausing again. He seemed to be struggling to find the words to say next.
Isha waited, puzzled but patient. A bear passed by the two of them, and when it saw her, it came closer, nuzzling against her. Isha stroked its head, waiting for the Emperor to speak again. Both his face and his aura reflected frustration, regret, guilt, but also…determination.
"There is one more possibility as to who may be blinding me."
"Oh?" Isha asked curiously.
The Emperor grimaced, practically seeming to force the next words out. "The Daemon King, Vashtorr."
"...who?" Isha asked blankly. She tried to recall any Daemon King she knew of by the name of Vashtorr, but the name conjured no memories or knowledge. She was certain she had never encountered or even heard of such a being.
The Emperor's mood seemed to lighten a little, and he huffed a laugh. "I suppose you would not have noticed. You were busy these past few millennia. He is an old enemy of mine, but even younger than I."
"He is A Daemon King whose domains revolve around industry and artifice," The Emperor said quietly, the brief moment of humor lapsing. "I have reason to believe that he may be behind recent events."
"A Daemon King of artifice and industry," Isha repeated. "Yes…I can see why."
Though it did not surprise her that the birth of a new Daemon King had escaped the notice of herself and her family, it did frustrate her. They had been so distracted, constantly under siege from the Three, attempting to sabotage the birth of Slaanesh…but still. Had they truly grown so weak?
"I had the same thought," The Emperor replied. "And there are…other reasons that Vashtorr would have an interest in corrupting the Mechanicum."
"Your old enmity with him, I assume?"
"That and there is another reason," The Emperor seemed to be steeling himself again. "As you have told me before, Daemon Kings are born from the sins of mortal races."
"Yes," Isha agreed, as it slowly dawned on her where the Emperor was going with this. "The War in Heaven tainted the Warp. Laws of reality were broken and rewritten on both sides. The Yngir shattered the first Webway and pierced the Veil, invading the Sea of Souls to feast on the Old Ones within. That is what allowed creatures of Ruin specifically to arise, rather than…well, cruel gods like my father. But even so, Daemon Kings do not arise naturally, they are a reflection of atrocities committed in the Materium."
The Emperor nodded jerkily, a strange movement from an Incarnate God, who were usually creatures of impeccable grace.
"Vashtorr is…" He took a deep breath. "Vashtorr was the Daemon King born of humanity's sins during the Golden Age. Spawned by the crimes of the Men of Gold, the countless deaths and disasters of the Gene Wars and the Cybernetic Revolt…all of it coalesced in the Immaterium to give birth to Vashtorr."
Oh. Oh.
Isha found herself at a loss for words.
What could she say? What was there to say?
For a long moment, the Emperor appeared to be waiting for her to respond, to say something, anything.
Whether in support or in judgment, she did not know.
But when she said nothing, he swallowed and continued. "Vashtorr and I fought during the last days of the Cybernetic Revolt, and the earliest days of the Age of Strife, and long after. I pursued him across the galaxy as he corrupted humans to his will. We met and clashed many times…and the last time was when I foiled his attempt to ascend to godhood."
At last, Isha found something to say. "How would he have ascended to godhood?" She demanded, baffled. "He is what, ten thousand years old? That is far too young."
Humanity may have spawned a Daemon King, but so had countless other races in the past.
But a Daemon King was not even close to guaranteed to become a god. What her children had done with Slaanesh was different, wielding the god-forging methods passed to them by the Old Ones.
The Three had taken a very, very long time to become fully-fledged gods.
How had a young upstart of a Daemon King come so close to achieving godhood in so short a time?
The Emperor closed his eyes. "The world of Molech," He murmured. "A planet of seemingly no importance, except for one thing. A warp gate, leading deep into the Immaterium. A world, which as Vashtorr and I discovered, was once a god-forge of the Old Ones."
"He tried to use it." Isha whispered in horror. "To make himself a god."
A god-forge of the Old Ones would have a path directly into the deepest reaches of the Warp, and the ability to touch those intangible possibilities and their power without being harmed.
There would be limits, of course. Even the greatest of the gods would only be able to touch those possibilities which were tied directly to their nature. Isha and Kurnous had created Lileath from the hopes and dreams of the Aeldari, but they could not have touched the potential of a sane Krork God, and certainly not made it real.
But even with that limitation…
The Emperor nodded. "He and his cultists rebuilt the god-forge as best as they could. It was only a shadow of what it once was, but…it served their purposes. Vashtorr intended to enter through the gate and drink from humanity's psychic potential, to make himself a god and…to do to mankind what Slaanesh did to your people."
Isha recoiled, a nightmarish vision of five Chaos Gods instead of just Four flickering through her mind, of Eldar and Mankind Falling at the same time.
Thankfully, it was just a vision. One that had not come to pass.
"But you stopped him."
"I did. I arrived just in time to prevent him from doing so. I slaughtered his followers and banished him, though I was unfortunately unable to kill him," The Emperor's brows knitted together in anger at the memory. "But Vashtorr's ascension to godhood and the damnation of humanity was averted."
"...but then you went through the gate yourself, did you not?" Isha breathed, as suddenly many things that had baffled her made so much more sense. "That is why you are so powerful, and so much stronger than you once were. You drank from humanity's psychic potential yourself!"
The Emperor flinched, but did not dispute it. "Yes," He acknowledged, his voice falling to a low whisper. "Yes, I did. Only part of it. Just enough to enhance my power, to make me more able to oppose Chaos. I…I could have drank more, becoming an equal to the Chaos Gods. But that would have meant doing what Vashtorr wished to do. Mankind's psychic evolution would not merely be delayed, mankind would be damned. I would have devoured their souls, and bound them to me." The Emperor bowed his head. "And that, I could not do."
Isha said nothing for a moment as she absorbed all these revelations.
There were a thousand and one responses that came to her tongue, yet none of them were appropriate. Her heart ached with sympathy, but at the same time, it burned with resentment. The Emperor had understood, had known more of her pain than he had ever let on and yet he had still acted as he had.
And that resentment was joined by bitter envy. The Emperor had succeeded in protecting his people from damnation where Isha had failed. It was not a fair comparison, Isha was aware. A single Daemon King, no matter how dangerous, could not compare to a true Chaos God like Slaanesh.
Yet, she could not help but judge herself against the Emperor and find herself lacking.
But the most important thing was still the war that loomed over them, not her own resentment and jealousy.
"So you think this is Vashtorr's vengeance," Isha said softly. "He seeks to ruin your plans, and prevent you from saving humanity one more time."
"I believe so, yes."
"...very well. What do you wish for me to do? What do you have in mind for dealing with the Mechanicum and Chaos?"
No matter how tense her relationship with the Emperor had become, a Daemon King was worse.
And Isha could not, would not condemn humanity to the clutches of Vashtorr anymore than she could condemn her own children to Slaanesh.
The Emperor smiled slightly at her words.
"We are going to do exactly what I told you we would previously," There was a sudden gleam in his eyes, replacing the grief and regret. "You and I are going to conquer Luna."
Author's Note: When Vashtorr debuted last year, some of his lore included in-universe speculation that he was spawned by the horrors of the Dark Age of Technology. There were other origins suggested for him, including the idea that he's as old as the War in Heaven.
But I felt that Vashtorr being born of humanity's sins during the DAOT was the most thematically and narratively appropriate option for Everqueen's story.
As far as Molech goes, I threw out almost everything canon has to stay on the topic because I despised and invented my own interpretation.
As I've said before, Perpetuals do not exist in my canon. Alivia Sureka is the sole exception, and her immortality has a different cause which will be explained later.
Here is an invite code to my Discord server: d6bwztp4