Our journey into the Halo Stars had barely began, when Sister Stern arrived with Sister Darcy into my room, where I was working as usual on the cogitator, trying to make a better Sentinel walker.

My work was actually going great this time, since I was cheating and using multiple 'research teams' for this project, from the displaced 25M time travellers, to the even older Necron cryptek, then a certain C'tan shard who was feeling bored and sated, then a giant Primarch and his clones, and lastly my own team of Mechanicus and tech-marines adepts to verify and secure everything with techsorcist protocols and basic common sense. Laser-based weapons were quite simple and shouldn't explode when fired...right?

"Yes, my dear Saints?" I asked the two women as they sat at my sides and stared at the holoscreen in silence.

"...I sense a tremendous peril ahead. And Darcy has been gifted a vision, giants of stone fighting Eldar Titans." Stern said in a cold voice.

Well, if the Breath of Gods weapon was what I suspected it to be, then there would be other players trying to get their paws on it, or destroy it.

"Exnihilo. That is the word our God-Emperor sent." Darcy added in a shy voice.

I saved the new Sentinel walker project, and leaned back in my seat. 'Out of nothing' is what the word meant. Zath would know more, but I shouldn't abuse his knowledge or favour too much. I learned my lesson by dealing with other gods, And since I suspected I already burned all my goodwill with Isha, no point losing my C'tan favour too.

Stepping out of a different dimension, the devil I thought about emerged at my back and rested his wolf head on my shoulder. 'Forge World Exnihilo, now under attack by the Craftworld Biel-Tan. The weapon is powerful, but already misunderstood and misused by those stupid techpriests...stone golems, really?' Zath commented on my Manifold connection, sounding kinda annoyed at the regular stupidity of the techpriest-hood.

The coordinates for our destination appeared by C'tan magic in my database, just as I began the index search for this new Forge World. Okay, fine. Having a C'tan Star God on your side was quite a boon. As long as he was truly helpful, and not planning something deadly or nefarious. And considering his fun time was eating billions of souls or entire stars, I wasn't ready to bet anything on his peacefulness.

'And if we go there, will you behave, or will I need to consume a precious weapon to pacify you?' I asked rhetorically, while Stern jumped back and began glowing mencingly at the fake Fenrisian wolf.

"Whorf! Wuuf!" Zath spoke in wolf togue, which likely meant 'we are allies' or 'Pack brother', then he vanished in his pocket dimension as Stern made a claw out of Warp and Faith energy to crush him.

"Damn monster. I don't like it being so close to you, my love." Ephrael Stern growled as her aura slowly dissipated.

"That wasn't Canis, I would guess..." Darcy said in a confused voice.

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

"His evil twin, more or less. You can tell by the lack of a Rosarius necklace." I explained in a lighter voice. Common sense was painfully lacking in most of humanity.

Darcy blushed, then nodded. "The Holy Wolf is the only one deserving His protection. Makes sense."

I just shook my head. Darcy was a classic Sister of Battle in most regards, including the unwavering devotion to the Emperor. She was also a Living Saint, which meant sometimes the Emperor would reach out to share a thought or advice, and maybe even grant her superpowers in dire need. Hasn't happened since Cadia to be fair, so Darcy must be quite low ranked on the Emperor's discord channel.

Then again, the Emperor himself sent me a warning, via his Saint. Maybe I should pay attention.

An entire Eldar Craftworld and their Wraithbone Titans...I had a feeling my Inquisitor wife would not suffice as a diplomatic envoy to settle things out.

The Emperor wouldn't like it if I demolished said Craftworld, without a perfectly good reason.

And since the Craftworld was called Biel-Tan, that meant...

"Why is Biel-Tan important? I should know this." I mused out loud, and began searching the database on the cogitator.

Yes, they usually exterminated anyone trying to colonize an Exodite, or Maiden planet. So if this new Forge World was located on a Maiden World, there would be conflict. But the Emperor had sent the name of the planet not the name of the Craftworld...which meant Exnihilo was a target, not a rescue operation.

It pained me, since Forge Worlds were rare and precious, and I would rather burn a Eldar Craftworld than a Forge World, no matter the Heaven Alliance or whatever the good gods called themselves. Good Gods, hah! Khaine was the god of war and murder, while Cegorach was arguablly worse (think not just murder, but sadistic murder while laughing madly), and Ynnead was literally the God of the Dead. I wanted better allies! Come to think of it, the C'tan Star Gods were probably worse. Damn, this galaxy sucked.

Wait! Back up a minute. Ynnead, thus Yvraine. Yvraine was born on Biel Tan. She wouldn't like me burning her homeworld, right?

Who would resurect my mother, if I burned the bridges with Yvraine?

Sorry, poor Exnihilo. It seems I do have to burn you down, even if the Emperor ordered it or not. He probably did though. A single word, but the guy likely lived with the Spartans for some time.

Or even created their culture, as a proto-Astartes eugenics program. Hmmm. Best not to think on it too long. I would dream of smashed defective babies on the rocks for a week otherwise.

"Valerian, new coordinates, fleet wide. A new Forge World, called Exnihilo. Expect a strong Eldar presence, and worse." I ordered while sending the nav data to the fleet, then turned the Sentinel walker project back on.

The multi-laser was the mainstay weapon of the Imperium, but it was also too weak. Not even regular Chaos Marines or Tyranid Hormgaunts could be killed by the weapon, which made the Sentinel having to relly on the other weapons like the Las-cannon or Chainsword to engage deadlier targets.

Luckily, the Demiurg Fane database had the perfect weapon to replace the multi-laser, the Demiurg Ion Beamer. Which was likely why the Tau also used the Ion Beamer for most of their walker suits, with deadly results versus most enemies, including Space Marines, Orks and even Necron infantry.

I wasn't above copying a good design choice, especially if it worked so well. Good job, my Tau friends!

After delicately and painfully modifying the Sentinel schmatics to replace the multi-laser with an Ion Beamer, I saved the project and sent it to my 'research teams' for extra verification.

While I was quite good at my job, I didn't get to be me, by acting stupid. There were smarter people around to check and fix my work.

"Want me to help you relax, my Lord Captain?" a shy voice whispered as I leaned back.

Uh. Should I make love with a beautiful Sister of Battle, before heading into Emperor-knows-what danger?

Was I even asking?

"We can start with a shower." I answered smartly.