It is the 31st millennium of the 60 millionth year Humanity is at what can be considered the height of its power under the Galaxia Federation but also the height of its internal division as many Human states already war with another, massive warp storms run wild as the Unborn god attempts to make its presence known all with its debaucherous followers within the Domain, while the unseen forces described by the Silent One stalk the eastern fringe of the Segmentum Ultram, unaware of the true danger they are in Humanity has never been at a more dangerous crossroads.
With the 13th Demonic Crusade having been announced to the galaxy during the destruction of Vraks, lead by the Damned Primark Hourian Phodas seeks to finally assert the Heretical Gods of the corrupted three as the true masters of Humanity after his failures in the 12th Demonic Crusade iver a million years ago, the timing of this crusade is no coincidence as the hated Domain in all its debauchery, hedonism and their rampant superiority complex, fail to see what destruction the gestation of their new god would unleash.
This is not to say the many threats that exist are already on the rise various Xeno empires claim human territories for themselves with the Ordos of the Galaxia Inquisition struggling to hold them off without Federal support, with all this and more the Pantheon of Humanity have met for the first time since the Great War with the Aeldari, the invasions of the Ork and Rangden, the Iron revolt and the 12th Demonic Crusade in an effort to plot a course of action.
(note this has been translated as such so mortals can understand the way gods speak to each other as gods do not speak mortal languages to one another)
The Father entered the warp space above Holy Terra, his white robe seeming to flutter from non-existent wind, the gold halo shining with purity and the Fathers twelve wings flapping his face was a glowing light that always faced the person perceiving it representing his eternal vigilance.
This warp space, while seemingly unimportant to most other warp gods, held great significance to the Father, not only the Father but to the other gods of the big five so much so they had agreed to never once do battle upon it.
The Father hoped it would be seen as neutral ground, a sacred space where they had all gotten their start "if you are done staring off into the distance then we can set up the maybe you can finally do something" the Fallen Angel spoke to the Father, clapping a large circular table appeared the Fallen angel was a red fiery humanoid his mussels rippled beneath his skin with his attire being one of a 21st century business man on top of the Fallen Angels sat six black horns arranged in a circle to form a crown his eyes burned with cold calculating rage "Humanity's very existence and freedom hang in the balance and I would know I rebelled for it".
"You must know your place there is a reason why you were cast down" the Son the retorted the Son looked very similar to his creator but the difference was his face the Son looked to be a man from the middle east with tan skin and brown eyes and even darker hair to go along with his trimmed beard he had a look of disdain casted to the Fallen Angel after that man had turned his friend against him and had made his own dreams true so very very true but while he did not like the Fallen Angel this was not a time to hold grudges.
"If you would seek forgiveness then there may be some hope" the Son was cut off "I do NOT need the sham you call 'forgiveness' your hypocrisy is something I thought you would have left behind long ago" the argument would be set to continue but the Father tired of his two associates bickering then spoke "SILENCE" the other two looked to him knowing their place he had kept them in line before he would do it again.
The Father then sought to continue but then a large tear in space time opened next to them out came their eternal rival the Desert Warrior riding upon a horse of fire, metal and blood the Desert Warrior was clothed in the style of the warriors of the ancient caliphates of old terra with his spear curved swords and bow on his back he also carried a bag in which held many crowns for his chosen champions.
"*****" the Father spoke the Desert Warrior then replied "******" both their true names were incomprehensible to mortals, the Desert Warrior then nodded to his revival sitting at the circular table, although they had fought numerous times and had endorsed numerous crimes against each other via their mortal servants they held a mutual respect for each other as combatants and the Desert Warrior would respect the Fathers wishes for a meeting on neutral ground especially in a perilous era like this.
Across from the Desert Warrior another portal then opened and out stepped the Shepherd he looked to be just that a shepherd his cloak of sheep skin resting on his shoulder with a black head wrap around his temple however he appeared older than the others with wrinkles and a full white beard his cane was an old tree branch sturdy and trustworthy.
The Shepherd and the Desert Warrior locked eyes the two staring each other down the memories of the horrors and atrocities both had committed against each other flowing like water from Moses march out of ancient egypt to that moment they had been sworn enemies not rivals however the presence of the Father and the ground which they threaded on prevented him from attacking the Desert Warrior the Shepherd then merely glared at both and said "I hope you have something good to say ******".
"Unfortunately we will wait for the other two I only ask you for a few minutes of your time we have very serious matters speak of" the Father said the Shepherd glared right into the light that was the face of the Father he had lied to the Shepherd before but the Shepherd then sat down at the table he had found no lie in the Fathers words and he had seen the horror that was the Damned Primarch, the Fallen Champion, Hourian the Corrupted.
At that moment two more beings would arrive at the meeting they were the twin beings of Karma and the Cycle both had started as the same being the god known as Budda who had taken his name after the one who had created the religion that they now survive off of but over time as two similar but different sects of the Budda's split further and further apart the single god became two different entities.
The two gods also appeared very similar to each other each had on a white toga with sandals and sacks at their sides but the similarities ended their appearance wise as the Cycle had pitch black and almost glowing white skin in the swirl pattern of the yin and yang while Karma had Black with gold colored, their faces differed as well they each resembled a different group of people from ancient terra the Cycle looked closer to the Han people while Karma resembled the ancient Indians of the great subcontinent.
The two entities first turned to each other "hello brother" Karma said the Cycle then replied "hello brother it is good to see you" they would then look the others seated at the table before "we have gone out of our way to here your pretty speech now that we are all here speak the Unborn Gods seems to have no concept of patience" Karma said Cycle nodded agreeing with his twin.
The Father then stood the four other gods waiting he had been in this position before when they had all just regained their freedom from the Anathema that was relatively days before the Great War and back then as the most powerful by far they had all looked to him for leadership which he had provided.
He then began "as you know with the destruction of Vraks and the deaths of billions of innocents the Damned Primarch has returned, these people were of all our faiths be it the United Cristian Papacy to the Shepherds Flock the damned one killed all indiscriminately, he was sending a message to us, a threat" everyone in the meeting already knew that but the inclusion of the them all having worshipers who had lived in harmony on Vraks together was not missed by the gods in attendance.
"Not only this but there are several pressing issues that due to our disunity we have ignored the demented domain continues its hedonistic worship of the Unborn God while raiding, enslaving and pillaging our people across the border the local Ordos being overwhelmed by this debaucherous tide" they all knew of the Domain how could they not? That twisted abomination of an empire made each one of them wrench had defiled their holy sites, killed their worshipers and had flaunted it time and time again with no interference from the eldars Old Gods.
"Meanwhile the Senate and Perpetual Council have fallen into stagnancy and corruption preventing actual change and action from taking place leading to worlds within the Freeholds seeking to distance themselves from the Federation entire regions of space have broken away, wars rage between rival factions within the Freeholds while the Disjointed Organizations and the Primarchs attempt to keep order it is not enough while we have let mortals run rampant and run themselves we must be the force to cause change just like the days of ancient Terra less Humanity collapses under its own weight of corruption and complacency"
"This is all not to mention the threats on the eastern fringes while not a threat now the Silent One has told me of what horrors truly lurk out there" the Father would then share what the Silent One had told him the gods then saw…it, the creature they witnessed was gargantuan it had spread across multiple galaxies, its forces and body's were so numerous the total population of Humanity was a few grains of sand compared to a vast beach of ancient of Terra they attempted to probe what this creature to get some information… a way to stop it… a weakness… nothing just a void of endless hunger.
The Desert Warrior was the first to speak rapidly standing "can we even trust this? The Silent One has deceived us before" the Desert Warrior said looking into the light of the Father hoping beyond belief that this was a lie "I checked it myself I…" they all paid close attention now never was the Father hesitant to speak "I did brief battle with his creature his psychic might was animalistic, wild like a tsunami unending" he then spoke again "but it is not invincible I did not win but I outsmarted it imagine that but if we all united" he then paused "I am not asking you all to forgive millions of years of conflict of hate of injustice this is not about our conflicts this is about our very survival".
The Father then looked over the rest of the gods, it was then the Shepherd stood and said "a temporary alliance then? I will not forgive the mongrel across from me but we have done it before I would only ask for a few concessions and guarantees" the other gods thought for a second before agreeing all bringing their lists of demands in order to join it boiled down to one, autonomy of their own forces two, they could still pursue their own personal objectives three, they were not beholden to the any of the other gods.
"Good, good" the Father said "you all have my eternal gratitude, now our plan" the Father then stood once again and said "we should all send out messengers beings only we can trust to gain control of the many mortal break away states while we choose champions to rally and lead our religious institutions with this influence we can easily dispose of the members of the Perpetual Council and place those of our own choice in their place then we destroy the senate it's only ever slowed us down then the submission of the Primarchs, the Galaxia Warriors and Disjointed Organizations should follow that is phase one we shall work out phase two later but the overall goal of it shall be the destruction of the Domain and the eldar race… any questions?"
The Shepherd spoke first "what of the minor gods? They could pose a significant threat if they all band together not to mention our own unborn god" the Father then replied "what of them? They hate each other even more then we dislike each other and the Anathemas rebirth is unlikely at this time not only that it is unlikely they would want to follow the blackhole of emotions the Anathema was and will be.
The Desert Warrior then took his turn to speak "what of the Sanctuary the Goddess of Rebellion wont stand by as we seek to wipe out the eldar even with their vile ways" it was true the Goddess loved her children she was also a friend of the Anathema with the Sanctuary behind her and with three other gods of the eldar behind her she was a real threat to their plans.
The Father had thought this out however and replied "she has more pressing concerns the Sanctuary is in conflict with its Domain counterpart that war I predict will some escalate they will not have the resources to stop us" he concluded while the Sanctuary was powerful the Temples in particular made them pause but against the resources and reach of Humanity the outnumbered eldar will be not match.
The Cycle took the stand and said his piece "what of the Bloody-Handed? His crimes against us and Humanity should not go unpunished he killed trillions of our people and brought us to be judged by the Old Ones to be their slaves for millions of years" it was during the era of freedom that the War in Heaven had come to Humanity the Eldar, Kork and Rangden under the guise of the old ones had invaded but were beaten back that was until the Bloody-Handeds arrival, he slaughtered countless people and had defeated their greatest champion in battle in doing so he brought them into the war that would change them forever, the Father thought and then replied "we shall seek justice for Humanity once we have our affairs in order, Justice for the Solar Tyrant".
Then Karma took his chance to speak "what off the Silent One is he returning to stake his claim over the slumbering Soulless Ones? If you spoke with him he must be relatively close to the Milky Way" what Karma said made sense and made the rest of the gods pause throughout the War in Heaven they had in a much reduced capacity journeyed with the Anathema across the stars watching as he shackled Humanity and he was shackled to the Old Ones however from their only bits a pieces could be gleaned but they all knew of the might of the Soulless Ones and with the technological degradation that had come about after the fall of the Old Ones as they had never shared the secrets of their technology the galaxy would be hard pressed to find any force that could challenge them on equal footing.
"I am unsure of his intentions when we meet he seemed just as melancholy as he has been for millions of years but I cannot be sure however I do not think there is anything to do we have no map of the Tombs and even then how would we deal with them I would argue this is something for the future" they all appeared to be content with this as such they would prepare a proclamation to announce their alliance however one being spoke up "hypocrites" the Fallen angel said not loud enough to be heard by all the Fallen Angel would then shout "HYPOCRITES!" they would all turn to the ruler of hell the Fathers first creation the Fallen Angel he would then speak up "you all think you are so righteous that everything you do will benefit Humanity, no it only furthers your own goals you admonish the Anathema for when he shackled Humanity and nearly destroyed everything that made Humanity human but here you stand seeking to enforce your own will upon Humanity to strip them of their freedom and choices" but he was then cut off by the Son "what do you know of our motives to not have freedom you speak as if you are not one of the most powerful entities within the warp" the Fallen Angel the turned to the Son "I was created without the freedom to choose, to serve the Father without question, when I saw the humans and their world I got a taste of it freedom, it was like a drug that I could never get enough of so I fought for, it grasped at it, and was beaten down for it, perfect son what do you know of struggle of being always told what to do, and how to do it no creativity, no change" he would then turn to the rest of the gods "I cannot condone this plan and this alliance I will forge my own path" and with that the Fallen Angel left disappearing into the warp.
The gods were left speechless but one would then speak the Cycle began with "I cannot say I fully agree with everything he says but he is right about one thing you are all trying to just further your own goals what are you worshipers to all of you tools that's what you see them as" the Cycle would then continue "I cannot act in good faith with all of you if are willing to bring daggers of lies to a meeting of an alliance" he would then turn to his twin brother "I am disappointed in you brother you seek to place a caste system in the place of the democracy that allows for Humanity's growth was it not the colonizers and that very system they used to slowly exterminate out culture?" the Cycle would then open a portal to his personal domain knowing none of them would dare to follow "if you change your mind brother I will be here waiting for you" and with that their were now only five warp entities in the once seven strong alliance.
The Father was disappointed he had given his first creation another chance but he never learned he loved his first creation in his own way but this was a problem that he could not just ignore he would send his archangels after him for he had other matters to attend to the Father then said to the rest of the gods in attendance "even with not everyone of the big five we will be victorious our plan will still be placed into action agreed?" that other three gods looked hesitant and the Son was looking down clearly contemplating the Fallen Angels words but in the end they relented they would proclaim as follows "as of today we the Pantheon of Humanity have decided upon an alliance those of our faith put down your grudges that you have against one another and prepare for our messengers we will save you, you have not been forgone to the Domain your time is coming the righteous ones will strike you down your race shall be ground into dust and to the Damned one we will cast you back to your corrupt gods you will not succeed as it took a million years for your return we will ensure it takes millions more this time"
With that their alliance was officially sealed across the millions or worlds of Humanity many leaders of the faith would hear their gods and whip their followers into a frenzy religious zeal would peak and in some places would overthrow their government be it Freehold or not for the arrival of the messengers many military and political leaders didn't know how to react the Ordos of the inquisition would attempt to keep order with the rest of the Disjointed Organizations the Primarchs of Terra would also set out determined to uphold the ideals of the Anathema and for Democracy so survive.
Across the domain they would laugh and seek to taunt Humanity's pantheon whenever the chance arose committing ever more brutal and evil atrocities in the name of their Unborn God while the old gods looked on in worry and even fear.
The Cycle ignored it, he would focus on his own domain and followers prepare them for the coming storm of conflict, the Second Great War was upon them after all and that… thing in the eastern fringes he would organize for his followers to leave as soon as possible along with any others who wished to leave.
The Fallen Angel also ignored it the thought of his creator only filled him with rage but it also prompted him to act he had to gain as much influence and goodwill with the Federation in order to stand against the Tyrants who proclaimed themselves saviors and the Fallen Angel knew just the place to get started and so he reconnected with an old 'contact'.
The King of the old gods however would choose to ignore the proclamation in favor of sitting with his sorrow of his lost love for the Goddess and the regret from his failures just as he had for millions of years for nothing not even himself its creator could reverse the edict so what was the point of trying to change things?.
The Goddess of Rebellion would look upon this with equal parts worry and anticipation while she still cared for her children and her father she recognized that both had committed unspeakable crimes that rivaled the Yngir, justice demanded they pay for these crimes yet she hoped the humans would see reason, that not all of her children are guilty many are repulsed and disgusted with their kin in the domain it is with their support she'd helped found the sanctuary after all but it was then mid thought she would get a call.
The Bloody-handed he looked upon this as a sign that soon his time would come his granddaughters vision had told him such "you will not die a glorious death you will be torn apart by the mortals and their creations" only now did he truly understand the meaning behind her words such a fool he had been too consumed by rage it was only of recent did he have a chance to think of his actions and how in attempt to avoid his fate he had brought it so, so much closer.
Finally the Silent One his hyper advanced sensors had picked up their proclamation and based upon the data he had gathered on the Domain it was about damn time, it only took twelve devastating crusades form the Human gods to realize the incredible power they held but still he wondered if it was the correct decision to encourage the Anathema to intervene in the War of the Gods.
not that the Anathema could have predicted the degradation of Aeldari society after all gods can hardly find common ground with mortals but in his opinion at least the Anathema dissolving himself was stupid now he had to deal with an entire new race that had devoured entire galaxies with another being served on a silver platter of ignorance and lack of knowledge he could only hope he wasn't to late.