With the Great Crusade threatening to grind to another halt due to the rupture of the Green Pilgrimage and the near-dozen separate WAAAGH!!! that resulted from it, the Imperium of Man underwent another phase of mobilization. This time, not just legionnaires but also mortal auxiliaries were recruited by the millions to contain the orks from compromising critical systems, while also bolstering breakthroughs to cim equally important footholds at the edge of Imperium space.

  To ensure maximal success, the Legions Astartes found themselves divided up almost entirely on their perceived specializations. The Imperial Fists and Iron Warriors were entirely assigned to hold back the ork tide along what was now being called the Green Wound. Rogal Dorn and his sons in the VIIth accepted their assignments with usual ck of comment, and a string of lynchpin worlds found themselves settled by the indomitable warriors who took little time in turning their wards into fortress pnets.

  In contrast, a still recovering Perturabo eagerly accepted the task of turning buffer worlds into deathtraps. Though his wounds weren’t permanent, the primarch of the Iron Warriors still took his defeat to nine ork warbosses as a deep scar to his pride, and now bore an enmity against the greenskins that was starting to worry his brothers.

  Alongside them, Vulkan and Mortarion also supported in the defense against the greenskin tide, waging war on countless worlds held by the orks, as much as to liberate them as to draw attention to buy time for the Dorn and Perturabo to complete their defenses.

  While the four primarchs contained the Green Wound, their siblings carried on a more conservative Crusade. Even with the manufactorums loaned by the Nexus churning out materiel at an matchless rate, until the re-compliant forge worlds returned to optimal production levels, the unforgiving demands of logistics kept most of the Compliance Fleets from venturing too far and too long. Only the White Scars of Jagathai and Corax’s Raven Guards would roam the stars so freely, their inclination towards autonomy and self-reliance freeing them from the shackles of supply logistics, while the presence of the Alpha Legion and Night Lords were left unaccounted for.

  The might of the Legions fell on the aliens and the resistant with brutal swiftness as a result, as most legions opted for more decisive strategies and tactics to keep the momentum of the Great Crusade from fgging.

  Perhaps ironically, it was Lorgar Aurelian who led the charge with his Word Bearers. Where once the primarch had preferred a slow but complete assimition of conquered worlds into the Imperium, the Urizen now exhorted his sons into zealous frenzy that spelled the doom for human worlds refusing to bend the knee to the Imperium. The primarch of the XVIIth had seen Sev and his Nexus Unity as an affront to his Father’s realm, and the humiliation the Emperor suffered being an abhorrence that he deeply regretted not being able to prevent. Though powerless to change anything for now with Pax Nexus strictly in effect, Lorgar swore that he would not see another Sev rise up to further threaten Imperial dominance of the stars. To this end Lorgar spent the time not enforcing Compliance by holding council with his inner circle, particurly Erebus and Kor Phaeron, in divining a means of overcoming his target of resentment.

  That same resentment festered in other primarchs, especially over the treason of Angron. Some, like Lorgar and Russ, y the bme at Sev’s feet for corrupting their brother, or at least nudging the Red Angel down the path of desertion. Testimony from Ferrus Manus of Angron’s newfound ‘softness’ that came with his liberation from the Nails further convinced the other primarchs - particurly those that weren’t present to face the Nexus - that the primarch of the World Eaters had been subtly compromised.

  Knowing that such a threat like Sev existed, the spread of Imperial Compliance became a harsher affair as legionnaires and mortal Imperial administrators warily searched for nascent hazards that might simirly endanger the Imperium. Local cults and traditions, once tolerated and marked for adjustment by Imperial iterators, now were ruthlessly snuffed out. Exotic technologies were confiscated and quarantined for extensive study by reformed Martian engineers. To avoid a repeat of the Vhalix System, every Imperial representative kept an ear out for any and all mention of Sev and the Nexus, while agents of Malcador skulked in the shadows, investigating conquered worlds for hidden Nexus portals.

  While the Imperium adjusted its Crusade, it kept a wary eye on the insur realm of Sev’s Nexus Unity. For the time being, with the Green Wound effectively barring any access into (and hopefully out of) the Nexus, the Emperor chose not to forward a diplomatic request for Angron’s extradition, not without any advantage to press.

  For the time being, resources were allocated to form a new covert organization which would be specialized to carry out the duties currently burdening the Legions and Imperial Administration in rooting out hidden threats. It would take a while more for its ranks to be filled and for its doctrine and responsibilities to be clearly defined, but both the Emperor and the Sigillite believed that a dedicated Inquisition would be the best path in nipping future threats before they could evolve into another Nexus…and perhaps find the means to overcome the oppression of Sev and his Nexus Unity.

  *****

  The growing absence of Eldar within Imperium space was noted with some concern. Encounters with both corsairs and the so-called Craftworld variants of the species, though already rare, were becoming rarer, and Magnus was far from the only one who viewed the fact with a sense of foreboding. Even conflicts with the Exodites, those Eldar who id roots in worlds, were slowly decreasing as more and more of their Maiden Worlds were found abandoned, entire poputions vanishing in mere months since the initial survey reports, and leaving the pnet itself a rotting wastend.

  It was a wholesale withdrawal of their entire race, the primarch understood. But what escaped him at the moment was the why of it. Until now the Eldar race, while mercurial, were not one to simply give ground, especially their verdant colony worlds.

  They usually left cryptic warnings in ruins or the Immaterium, or even sent the occasional messenger.

  They often sent catspaws to misdirect or dey confrontation with Imperial forces.

  They opportunistically struck from the shadows at the most vulnerable points of the Imperium.

  But in recent years, no raids were reported throughout Imperium space that could be attributed to them, and there was no decisive csh with their forces.

  Ever since every recorded craftworlds were found redirecting to Nexus space, and the massive psychic backsh that momentarily sent the Immaterium into a roiling maelstrom, the Eldar seemed to have given up on their holdings in the gaxy.

  What pact have they wrought with Sev?

  It was a question that started to gnaw at Magnus’ thoughts, especially now as he stared down from his ship’s bridge windows into the ruined world below. Auspex surveyor sweeps had mapped it to be a broken remnant of the once mighty Eldar Empire, a port world of some import judging by the remains of megastructures dotting and orbiting the pnet. It was an invaluable site to glean knowledge of the ancient race, and as such, the Thousand Sons deployed in force in the system, expecting the Eldar would deny what to them is trespass into forbidden grounds.

  Yet beyond the future being obscured to the divinations of the Corvidae cult, the legion entered the system and made orbit with the ruined world designated Nineteen-Five-Eighteen without so much as a psychic warning. The legionnaires made pnetfall in standard formation, ever in fear of a devious trap, but found nothing but dust in the howling winds of a dead world.

  Some artifacts were found and sites of import located, but even as teams of xenoarchaelogists were sent down, the Eldar did not try to deny them as they usually did. There were no signs of the pnet’s core or tectonics being compromised, nor either of the system’s binary stars.

  The whole affair left the full might of the XVth Legion Thousand Sons orbiting a dead world, bracing against a blow that never came.

  Just what was Sev doing with the Eldar? What sort of alliance could they form that would see them forgo even a warning against trespass, nevermind hostile resistance?

  The primarch of the Thousand Sons continued staring at the dead world in silence, as if at any second the answer might manifest itself.

  “My lord.” Ahriman’s voice brought him out of his musings, and Magnus turned to his equerry. “Scouts at the edge of the system have reported fluctuations in the Empyrean Sea. It is possible we’re about to receive visitors.”

  For a moment, the primarch felt a fre of the same anticipation as his equerry, but then something told him that there would still be no battle today, or anytime in this system. Still, that didn’t mean they should simply remain unprepared.

  “Khnum formation. Have all weapons at the ready, but do not fire without explicit permission.”

  As the Thousand Sons fleet spread out to form a multi-yered hemisphere, the ensign monitoring the system auspex barely kept her surprise as she gave a report.

  “Immaterium breach detected…minor breach. Tracking locus…”

  “Minor?”

  The woman shrank a little under the primarch’s gaze, snapping around almost violently to answer him. “Energy signatures read at most a single cruiser-sized vessel, my lord.”

  “Eldar?”

  The ensign gnced back to her instruments, and Magnus noted how she tensed with surprise for a second before responding. “I…I’m not sure, my lord. The readings…”

  “Order to all ships: fix auspex onto the intruder,” Magnus smoothly ordered. “I want as much information about it before it gets too close.” If the Eldar suddenly decided to adopt fireship tactics…

  It took a tense twelve seconds before the readings across the fleet began to flood in. The engine readings were definitely Eldar, but it was unclear if they belonged to a corvette, a swarm of attack craft, or a battlecruiser. There were also confusing reports on the vessel’s energy output; either it was completely unarmed, or it had been severely crippled that it was now relying on life support systems to power it. There were also the exotic energy readings that were befuddling the legion’s systems; the craft was either wreathed or radiating something.

  As Magnus began to piece together the clues, the xenos craft serenely drew closer. Then the first visual readings came back, and Magnus felt a twinge of frustration that he missed the obvious.

  It was an Eldar vessel for sure, a close approximation to what was cataloged as an Eclipse-css cruiser, but absent on it were the vast sor sails that gave it its notorious speed and agility. Instead, bulbous, almost blocky attachments in its rear betrayed a new source of propulsion. Small, nodules also sprouted on its hull, glowing in a familiar baleful green light.

  “The Nexus’ tiberium…” Magnus hissed.

  So this was the extent of the Eldar’s cooperation with the Nexus?

  Before the primarch could process the far-reaching implications, a psychic call swept across the fleet.

  “Peace, warriors of the fifteenth. I have come bearing a message, from the Nexus.”

  The High Gothic words sounded clumsy rolling out of the singsong voice. The messenger’s psychic voice was neutral and serene, almost eerily so. Quickly harnessing the ripples of the psychic voice, Magnus sent a reply across the void.

  “The Children of Asuryan now serve the Nexus?”

  It took a few seconds before a response returned, though to Magnus’ mild surprise he found no emotional reaction to his provocation.

  “The Children of Isha have graciously agreed to ally with the Nexus of Sev. Would you agree to a parley?”

  The answer to that was obvious, and an hour ter, the xenos craft drew close to the now pcid Thousand Sons fleet. Magnus stood by the docking bay to receive the arrival of the messenger. The Eldar’s shuttle swept in with barely a sound or a swirl of turbulence, its hull still sleeker than an Imperial attack craft. Whatever antigravitic device in the craft muffled its nding to a soft rumble. A ramp lowered from its underbelly, and in no time at all a figure in robes of bck and ivory glided down to sully its feet with Imperial adamantium and ceramite.

  It was unnerving to Magnus, to see the bare face of the male Eldar messenger bearing such a calm expression. There was none of his race’s usual contempt or condescension, the air of arrogance from even the most cordial past encounters was missing. Instead, Magnus picked up on an undercurrent of contentment and…resignation?

  Fnked by a line of legionnaires at attention on either side, the Crimson King offered a bow to this puzzling guest.

  “We warmly welcome your presence,” Magnus greeted in the Eldar tongue.

  The messenger nodded in return, offering a faint smile that almost felt sincere in its warmth. “Primarch Magnus,” the slender alien replied in High Gothic. “I am Eldrad Ulthran, and I come with a warning from the Eldar race, and an offer from the Nexus.”

  Their meeting was short and to the point, and Magnus wasted no time in reying the farseer’s warning back to Terra through his fleet’s astropathic choir. Whether the Emperor would heed it and stop his delving into the Webway, though, was beyond the primarch’s control. Appended to that warning was the discovery of a possible Eldar armory world, which Magnus and his legion would immediately investigate for potential superweapons.

  “Abort the survey, call back all teams immediately.” The primarch calmly gave his orders, ignoring the discomfort of his sons and crew at the presence of the Eldar farseer standing beside him. “Inform the Navigators I want an estimate for the coordinates I’ve provided. I do not want us to be stalled in ork systems or Warp storms.”

  If the Imperium did go to war with the Eldar, then it would find the XVth Legion too far away to respond in time. Hopefully, that would be enough to abide by its treaty to the Nexus.