Space War: City of Light.

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rtal silhouetted by the chromosphere of a livid sun. colours trailed from

knuckles pressed into the ivory keys, visibly shaken by an ordeal he had endured countless times. He was tall and gaunt, a wraith of a man with hollow cheeks and a stooped, twisted posture that was testament to his countless wa

hololith turned slowly in the air directly in front of First Officer Castulo. On the opposite side of the projection, hazed by its emerald glow, two figures in power armour towered over th

their inner sanctum. They were unarmoured, dressed in a simple red surplice. The small circular chamber was lit by a single candle suspended on a anti

rough the blast doors and void shields, out past

thought, +give

on was reading the mind of the Blood Oaths Navigator, who w

roaching the starboard

es and twenty seconds, shiptime.+ Bronius sounded surprised.+

s would struggle to produce anything intelligible. The gene pool of the Navis Nobilite was potent in ways unique to their own ancient Ho

ariah, +What do the l

ers with no larger ships in range? Where did they launch from? Let me check the master of auspex.+ Th

g clarity. Since the emergence of the Great Rift, Mephiston and Mariah's seer-sig

t loud, breaking the

nishing?+ said Antros, addressing him

d in this system. A few fighters could not be responsible. These are not interstellar warsh

t beyond those fighters, on the far side of the first planet, the gas giant. It is almost as though... I can not place it. There is s

starboard," he said addressing First Officer Ca

no psyker but he had a pleasing habit of anticipating Mephiston's every comma

+ said a voice, communicating with a wry, amused

ght Mephiston,

ius was in pain. +Something is in my head,+ he said, then his thoughts becam

ius. The Navigator was trying to speak. It was a terrible sound, full of incoherent pa

Something had come between them. He frowned. Without a Navigator Mariah would

ston into the vox. "Take a squad to the N

n," came the re

managed to sat, +but

oice. +The dancers are led. Dromlac

consciousness had entered the Blood Oath's sanctums. The w

Antros,+ he thought,

arian,+ they ans

ust took a blow to t

ine," said First Offic

he weapons were armed, the vibrations even reac

nning of the Aeldari race, Mephiston's mind brushed against alien thoughts. However powerful he was becoming, he still found the xenos psyche and

idge, painting the crew gold as the attack ships

s died, then the Blood Oath shuddered and

"they've hit us amidships. Void shields are down. It was a trick. Those firs

Mephiston, referring to the ships

rvation decks bloomed into flame, spit

Castulo's voice over

Mephiston. "I'll not have

he pilot had some kind of innate psychic ability and tried to resist but it was useless. Mephiston seized the xenos' mind, then took control of the attack ship, loo

of debris but the simply vanished, flashing out of sight a

c shapes. Though the pilot he had possessed, Mephiston his trajectory and la

lves," said Castulo over t

brarian," replied Ma

ifteen degrees from the starboar

s. Dozens of ships simply rippled into view from nowhere, diving towards t

er reserves from engines to void shields. Master of armaments, bring torped

tulo. "If we cut the engine

e cannot out run the

Libra

ulkheads and Mephiston felt the strange, draini

stance, he could see the beauty of their markings. The xenos fighters were streamlined and nimble, but the stormtalons were bullish, venerated relics, layered

scence of exploding hulls. White-hot plasma spewed from the Blood Oath's gundecks as xenos fighters speared p

size, but there was still no sign of it. Some appeared to be mirages, vanishing when fired on

mind, but he easily crushed him, willing his slender fingers across the

everal fighters were now hurtling back towards him from

s closed as Mephiston spoke to Castulo again over the vox. "Keep them away from the ship I've hijacked.

al fighters. Some blinked out of existence; oth

nd, surprising the flailing presence by forcing it head on. He felt a surge of emotions, amusement and disdain chief amongst them. The xenos clearly considered Mephiston and Mariah a lower form of life

graphic descriptions of the massacres they inflicted on themselves. Then, when the pilot was at his most apoplectic, Mephiston turned his seer-sight in a different direction. Since he had taken possession of the pilot, he

as too late – Mephiston had caught a glimpse of a great stage filled

mlach filled

nius had mentioned earlier. Not that he had seen it through the eyes of the Aeldari pilot,

r of fireballs and destroying the fighter he had stolen. As the Aeldari pilot died, Mephiston opened his eyes b

into the vox. "On a heading of

de his confusion. "I see nothing at tho

and Mariah stood up and waved for a