Oasis
For centuries, Magnus the Red scoured the Warp and Materium, seeking a cure for his children's flesh curse and the vile Rubric. Yet salvation always slipped further away, tangled in the schemes of Arhiman—until now.
From the Tower of the Cyclops, Magnus glimpses a small human planet—an oasis in the warp where three of the Powers almost unite, forging something unprecedented and full of potential.
Across the Materium, the Crimson King projects his consciousness to the anomaly: Cainpolis. Its architecture defies the monotony of the Imperium, adorned with crude wards and intricate psychic constructs.
Instead of the randomness of traditional Chaos, there's an almost scientific approach to building something new. Magnus could tell there were deliberate designs behind them. Not the desperation the forsaken had when there was no hope besides Chaos or the obsession that often drives disciples of the Architect or the Dark Prince. There was a genuine desire to build something new for the benefit of humanity.
In a heartbeat, Magnus surveys Cainpolis. Heretec factories craft weapons and tools of prosperity without the Mechanicum's cruelty. Khorne's armies train with discipline, embracing martial prowess over bloodlust. At the Creche, children master their gifts without fear. Even Slaanesh's rituals radiate joy, free of obsession."
Though touched by Chaos, the millions within Cainpolis remain unclaimed, their focus centered on a single man: Ciaphas Cain, the embodiment of Liberation. Magnus's mind reaches the Royal Palace—a centuries-old opulence now tempered by pragmatic engineering and psychic wards.
Ciaphis Cain is having dinner with his daughter in a small dining room. The last daughter of Legienstrasse, the closest humanity had ever come to recreating the Primarchs. Unlike the stale decorum and bonds of obligation, Magnus senses the fear and love that come from a parent and child. She is being raised not molded into a weapon. There are no psycho conditions, wards or any other machinations. A genuine daughter of spirit and principal of the Liberator.
Magnus is baffled: an ordinary man without psychic gifts or augmentations, yet capable of uniting Chaos factions and Mechanicum renegades. Cain is a paradox—a coward masking fear, an aloof man devoted to others, a leader propelled by circumstance but without ambition.
Even stranger, Magnus feels the gaze of Chaos upon Cain but none of their blessings.
Honest Manipulator.
Heroic Coward.
Liberator.
In that moment, Magnus feels a forgotten emotion: hope. Hope for his children. Hope for humanity to escape the madness of Chaos and the Imperium's dogmatic decay. The planet offers new possibilities—for his sons, and perhaps for himself.
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"Jurgen, why is there a fleet of Thousand Sons asking to set up a research facility?"