First the Cow's Father, Then the Cow's Son

944.M30.

The "Kingdom of Disorder," Third Layer Space.

Nimrod picked up the Dice of Prophecy. "Should I divine Blackstone IV, or the artifacts that control it—the Hand of Darkness or the Eye of Night?"

He had already decided that this divination would be preparation for the attack the Colonid Sector would suffer during the Great Birthday Celebration.

The subject of his divination centered on the Blackstone Fortress.

The Blackstone Fortress had been named the "Talisman of Vaul" by the Aeldari, after Vaul the Smith God.

Legend had it that it had existed since the brutal war waged by ancient races—the "War in Heaven."

In Nimrod's memory, the first Blackstone Fortress had originally been discovered in the late 31st Millennium.

He could discover it after the Great Birthday Celebration and it still would not be too late.

But he faced a threat. In his memory, after the fighting in the Isstvan System, Horus launched an attack on the Cyclops Cluster.

As it happened, the fortress the Imperium would later designate Blackstone IV was in the Rebo System within the Cyclops Cluster.

Nimrod imagined that even if his forces were at a disadvantage, if Blackstone IV suddenly appeared when the rebels launched their attack, it could still turn the tide of battle.

Once he controlled the Blackstone Fortress ahead of time, it could support the defense of the Cyclops Cluster, and even the entire Colonid Sector.

Unlike a Ramillies-class Star Fortress, which could no longer move after deployment and could only defend important systems, the Blackstone Fortress possessed a certain degree of mobility.

Controlling a Blackstone Fortress's movement required two ancient xenos artifacts—the Hand of Darkness and the Eye of Night.

After the Imperium discovered six Blackstone Fortresses in the Gothic Sector, it could not understand the technology they contained.

After a