Disclaimer: I don't own Worm or Warhammer 40K, they belong to their respective creators and/or copyright owners. I don't make any money from this story. It is written with no commercial aim in mind. It is not for sale or rent.

Emerald Dawn

Prologue: Digital Dreams

=ED=

Part 3: Warp Shenanigans

Third month of the war

Nan Yanoi, "Sword Moon"

Kaurava System

Lithesh Sector

Ultima Segmentum

When ninety thousand pissed off Necrons are on the march, there are a few things that could slow them down, much less stop them. The horde of cultists and corrupted IG troopers, who made up the enemy front lines weren't up to the task. They were in the open or in shallow, hastily prepared trenches. Just more souls to be harvested, something my warriors did with practiced ease. They died, erased from existence by a tidal wave of Gauss energy.

Behind them stood five hundred or so Chaos Space Marines, all clad in corrupted power armor. They wielded weapons cracking with Warp energy. Weapons that could hurt my troops with relative ease.

It mattered not. My legions marched on. Plasma and warped bolter shells slammed into the vanguard of my force. Emerald lighting answered. Moments later corrupted artillery joined the fray only to be silenced moments later by my Monoliths which were waiting for it to unmask. Seconds later, jump infantry engaged my leading elements. I gave a signal and Flayed Ones teleported in to take on their counterparts.

I waited until the enemy was fully engaged before sending the Destroyers, escorted by the few squadrons of fighters I had on my disposal. The enemy responded with their own small craft, filling the skies with dog-fighting planes.

Warp enhanced bolters blew chunks of necrodermis, plasma boiled armor. Gauss flayers and Tesla carbines shattered power armor and turned warped flesh to ashes.

It was just another day in this madhouse of a galaxy. I stood behind my lines, scanning multiple feeds with tactical information and subtly guiding the flow of the battle. The Chaos Marines were fighting well, yet they were no match for our technology and numbers. Only the Warp craft protecting them allowed the enemy to survive more than a handful of minutes.

Now they were out of time.

Warning. Warp Activity spike. Delta level.

A swarm of lesser Daemons spawned behind the dying Alpha Legionnaires. They wasted no time and ran into the fray. Claws sheathed in pure Warp energy cleaved through necrodermis, blast of chaos slammed into Necron Warriors, putting them down with ease.

Energy levels sufficient.

My eyes blazed as I drunk power straight from the generators. The Nodal network lit up as I started issuing orders.

One moment I was at the back, surrounded by my personal guard. In the next, we were sheathed into a vortex of energy.

Destination. Coordinates locked.

Compensating for Warp distortion…

Executing…

We teleported with a crack of emerald lighting, blinding anyone around us. It took mere milliseconds for my systems to stabilize.

Perfect. We were just half a kilometer from the ritual site. There were about a hundred Chaos Marines and a handful of Daemons protecting it. The rest of the Legion was behind us, dying in an attempt to slow down my forces.

Just as expected, they fell for the diversion that was the bulk of my army.

Half of my guard turned around to ensure that the rest of us wouldn't be hit in the back while stopping the ritual. In the same time, we advanced. The Immortals and a single squad of Pariahs who went with me opened fire, blasting the closest enemies with their weapons. The Chaos forces answered in kind. A missile blew up an Immortal, another melted when he was hit by a plasma cannon.

I blasted a Legionnaire with my Staff of Light, frying him within his armor. Using my ability to phase out, I melted in the ground an instant before my position was racked by a heavy bolter. Moments later I appeared behind the heavy weapon's nest. The Chaos Marines manning it felt my presence and were already reacting as I became tangible. I slammed my staff through the chest of the superhuman to my right and kicked the man in front of me, throwing hit out of the weapon's nest. The third marine had enough time to react. He turned towards me with uncanny speed and opened fire with his bolter. The shells slammed in my improved Necrodermis chassis staggering me back. I used my staff to keep myself on my feet. The marine impaled on it helped in that regard. I made a punching motion with my left hand and Gauss energy cascaded from my open palm. A green scythe of power slammed in the armored helmet of the Chaos Marine shooting at me and melted his face off. In the next moment I retrieved my staff and finished him off.

It was just in time, because the third enemy had recovered and jumped in the gun nest. He was wielding a force sword, which was cracking with energy. I caught his weapon on my Staff's blade. My legs sunk in the ground as I absorbed the energy of his hit. Then I shoved with all my strength, throwing him back. Before he could recover, I had my staff pointed at the man and fried him with a blast to the chest.

Alert. Warp Activity spike. Level Beta. Warp disruption increasing. Compensating.

"Advance!" I rasped.

While my personal encounter was going on, I kept an eye on the engagement. My army was advancing steadily, forcing the Alpha Legion to throw everything they had in an attempt to slow them down. That left the ritual circle as a somewhat soft target. The enemy tried to throw what was left of their reserve at us, however those forces were intercepted by units of my main force which teleported in. My personal guard was heavily engaged, carving me a way to the Sorcerers.

Warning! Warp rift bearing…

I whirled in place and used my staff to impale the Bloothirster who appeared behind me. The creature screeched and tried to get me with its sword anyway. It died in the next moment as I channeled energy through my staff.

Multiple rifts were opening, allowing additional Daemonic reinforcements to pour in. I needed to finish this before the ritual was complete.

I sent a command through the network, activated one of my artifacts and sprinted forward. The world around me slowed down as I charged the Ritual circle. My personal guard shifted their fire, cutting me a way through the incoming enemy reinforcements.

Daemons and Chaos Marines were either killed outright or disabled by the barrage. I could see them slowly flaying as the Gauss energy shattered the molecular bonds that kept them together. That left me to dispatch a mere handful of enemies before I was at my target. Two slashes by my bladed staff and a single shot was all it took and I was at the circle.

Warning. Warp Activity Spike. Level Alpha…

Temporal disruption detected… Compensating…

Time resumed its natural speed. I slammed my hand through the skull of the closest Sorcerer who was chanting in rapture. Without his helmet, the idiot. My steel fist popped his skull like a watermelon. Then I used my staff to decapitate another, before shooting a third.

The bastards ignored my efforts and simply continued to chant as I was killing them. Suddenly, the still alive Sorcerers screeched as one. A wave that made me hurt passed through my body, staggering me. A rift appeared in the middle of the circle, showing starry sky.

Then something tackled me from behind and sent me straight into the screaming abyss.

Danger! Warp concentration exceeding chassis design parameters! Compensating…

Emerald energy exploded from my chest, creating an impromptu shield against the rift which was closing around me. That in turn didn't made much sense, because I was already on the other side, tumbling through the void. Yet the damn tear in reality was around me, spinning as a maw filled with razor sharp teeth.

Warning! Dimension instability detected! Compensating…

I felt like hitting glass with the consistency of cotton. It shattered and at the same time simply gave away and wrapped around me as a sheet of cloth that was used to catch something.

Then I hit another barrier. And another…

Danger! Dimensional transition detected! Countermeasures failing...

Danger! Warp saturation nominal! Countermeasures failing...

Alert! C'tan energy detected! Activating… !&^ !)$ $&^ protocols… Error… !# $! $(y

My world went dark.