Editing The Tales of the Emperasque: Part Seventeen (section)

==9-175-001-M42==

Vect watched the explosion from his throne room, inscrutable. The damage from the warships was vastly greater, of course, but the fact that the warships had extracted first was significant. He straightened up from his throne, waving the crystal away. The damage was done. The city was crippled, and now there would be Archons from half a dozen Kabals shrieking for his head in retribution for what he had ‘allowed’ to transpire.

As he turned his back on the sight of the ruins, the faintest sense of prickling on the back of his neck alerted him to danger. He spun about, but even to his eyes, the room was vacant.
A feeling of dread, fading since the battle ended, grew back in his guts. He knew that sense. He had suppressed it, like every Dark Eldar of his age did, but he knew it. It was some remnant, some lingering shred of his psychic power, reacting to something powerful.

Unseen, in a scorched and burned room many hundreds of kilometers away, a machine covered in glyphs pulsed to life.

The Emperor released He’Stan and Vulkan from his psychic grip as they emerged on the plains outside the Dark Eldar building they had used to launch the attack. 

“WELL DONE, MY SON, LORD HE’STAN, VERY WELL DONE INDEED,” he said.

“The beacon worked?” Vulkan asked.

“I SENSE IT EVEN NOW,” the Emperor confirmed. Vulkan allowed himself a sigh of relief. 

“That’s our secondary mission accomplished, at least,” he said.

“AND OUR PRIMARY IS WELL UNDER WAY,” the Emperor confirmed. “SEE TO THE TROOPS. I MUST RETURN TO CADIA.”

“To Cadia, Sire?” He’Stan asked.

“INDEED, PILGRIM, CADIA. A SMALL FORCE OF SPECIALISTS IS GATHERING THERE FOR THE NEXT STEP OF MY PLAN TO BUY US SOME MORE TIME BEFORE THE NEXT MAJOR CHAOTIC INCURSION,” the Emperor said. 

“NECRONS ARE PROBLEMATIC, BUT FINITE. TYRANIDS ARE PROBLEMATIC, BUT PREDICTABLE. CHAOS IS POTENTIALLY INFINITE AND BY ITS NATURE, INSCRUTABLE. I WILL NEED TO THIN THE HERD BEFORE WE CAN SAFELY BEGIN ANY MAJOR INTERNAL REFORMS,” he explained. 

“FEAR NOT, YOU WILL BE CALLED UPON TO ASSIST WHEN THE TIME COMES, BUT UNTIL THEN, I THINK IT BEST THAT YOU RETURN TO NOCTURNE AND PASS ALONG WHAT INTELLIGENCE AND TACTICS YOU HAVE GAINED ON YOUR SEARCHING FOR THE ARTEFACTS.”

“Especially since I’m here to show you where I left them,” Vulkan added. He turned to regard the shorter man. 

“If that is what you prefer, of course,” he said.

“YOU DON’T HAVE TO DECIDE NOW, EITHER OF YOU.” The Emperor’s eyes glowed purple for a moment. 

“MY DETACHMENT ON CADIA’S NEARLY READY. I’LL SEE YOU WHEN I CAN.” He vanished in a rush of air as the two Salamanders departed for the re-forming Imperial unit.