Hive Worlds were the largest and most chaotic human settlements in the history of human civilization. Each Imperial star system had only one Hive World as its capital, and it was the center of Imperial administration, justice, religion, and economic production.
Nearly every Imperial Hive City could trace its history back thousands of years. When the first colony ship arrived on a planet and the Adeptus Mechanicus built its first plasma reactor, construction of a Hive City was put on the agenda. Centuries later, the colossal structure would finally be complete.
Some Hive Cities were even older than the Imperium itself. Long before the Dark Age of Technology and the Age of Strife, colonial cities from humanity's earliest age of colonization had already existed among the stars, like countless points of light.
Countless cities, large and small, eventually merged into one. The land was buried beneath buildings stretching beyond sight. Towering spires and magnificent upper-level structures climbed toward the heavens, stacked atop countless other buildings and constructions. Beneath the surface, dense urban complexes had long since been built layer upon layer, advancing like a beehive until they reached the planet's deepest depths.
This was a great monument to human civilization, a symbol of humanity's total conquest of a planet—and of that planet's destruction. By the time a colossal Hive City was complete, the planet's resources had usually been exhausted.
The unchecked breeding of its enormous population eventually crushed the planet's ecosystem. Endless generations of humans, along with their buildings and machines, swallowed up everything and made it part of the ever-expanding city.
In the end, the planet could no longer produce natural resources. The only resource it could provide was manpower—an inexhaustible supply of it. Hundreds of millions, even billions, of people were sent to other worlds in the system to develop and extract their resources. Those resources were transported here through the colossal orbital Starport that circled the planet along its equator, then processed and forged in factories stretching to the ends of the land.
Vito sat in the cockpit, looking down at the Hive City through the shuttle's thick glass. The shuttle descended in a straight line from low orbit. Once he had broken through the storms in the stratosphere, he had come upon this sight, seeing the colossal structure with his own eyes.
Billowing smoke and toxic fumes rose from the surface. Under the influence of emissions from the Adeptus Mechanicus's factories, even the sky had turned a sickly gray-green. The forests and mountains had vanished generations ago, and there was no trace that oceans had ever existed.
Vito worked the control stick, guiding the sleek, elongated shuttle through the magnificent urban sprawl. They descended in a straight line, slipping beneath the city's luxurious upper levels and into the Hive City.
Vito glanced around. Buildings of every size filled the space on all sides, layered one over another and linked by elevated platforms and roads.
Sunlight couldn't reach this place. All illumination came from the signs above shops, streetlamps, and passing vehicles. Their multicolored lights mingled together like a strange dream conjured by hallucinations.
"Ah, another Hive City like this," Vito remarked. He had visited quite a few Hive Worlds, and honestly, not every Hive City was so oppressive and unsettling.
Vito flicked a switch on the instrument panel. After he pressed several more buttons, the vector thrusters began to turn. The shuttle descended slowly, propelled by roaring blue flames, and landed smoothly amid a powerful burst of backwash.
The sturdy landing gear slowly raised the hull, settling the beautiful interstellar shuttle onto the platform. The vector thrusters gradually cooled.
Vito emerged through the hatch beneath the shuttle and stepped onto the platform deck. The entire platform began to move, its heavy mechanical structure drawing the projecting landing pad back into the main building ahead.
The surface Starport was the first stop for anyone who wasn't an aristocrat or powerful noble upon arriving on the planet. Vito was no exception.
Vito looked to one side. A heavy transport ship, as tall as a high-rise, had also landed on the enormous deck. Cooling and pressurized gases blasted from its hull, and rolling clouds of white vapor swallowed everything around it.
Vito straightened his collar and looked ahead. The landing deck was being pulled steadily into the Starport building. Its sturdy reinforced-concrete structure rose around them like a bunker, forming a barrier that cut them off from the planet-spanning city outside.
Inside the ground-based Starport, beneath a dome supported by enormous metal braces, a golden Imperial Aquila hung high overhead. Countless ships of all sizes were docked below it. Travelers, Rogue Traders, and cargo ship workers came and went, walking beneath enormous vessels. The din of their voices and the thunderous rumble of engines made up the place's constant refrain.
"Purpose of your visit?" A listless administrator came over with a divination slate in hand. He pointed and tapped at the screen with a stylus, mumbling indistinctly as he did so. Fortunately, Vito could make out what he was saying.
"Sightseeing, visiting, and travel," Vito replied with a smile. The administrator rolled his eyes. "Who comes to this godforsaken place for sightseeing and travel?" "Then what should I put?" "I don't care. Put down personal business. Two thousand Imperial Aquila credits for landing and administration fees."
The young, lazy administrator spoke as a Servo-skull flew over. It hovered in front of Vito, presenting a card slot.
Vito took a black card from inside his coat and casually inserted it. A moment later, he pulled it back out, and the Servo-skull returned to the administrator's side with a mechanical chirp. "Payment complete. Landing authorized."
The skull flew off, perhaps to collect another payment. The administrator didn't seem to care. He scribbled on his slate. "Name. Ship name."
Vito smiled and looked toward the ship exit at the far end of the enormous Starport. A vessel was gliding toward the runway, its thrusters emitting slow-burning flames. Judging by its markings, it seemed to be a transport ship from the world of Owen-4, which he had visited before.
Beside the ship's runway, several large cargo containers had been piled up. The crew were negotiating with several bald locals. Each of them had a snake tattooed on their arm—a distinctive-looking species of snake, though Vito was certain all the planet's native species had gone extinct.
The deal seemed to be going very smoothly. They had reached an agreement, and the local gang members were already making payment. The Starport guards nearby seemed completely blind to it, paying no attention at all. But Vito was sure they weren't blind.
Vito tilted his head slightly, as if considering something, but the administrator had already begun cursing impatiently. "Hey! Idiot, your name! Are you planning to keep me here all day?"
"Vito. Vito Constantine. This beauty's called the Aquila. Take good care of her," Vito said, accepting the registration form the administrator handed him. The man shrugged helplessly. "We will. Now go do whatever you want."
"Hey, pal, got a question." "By the Emperor, ask it, and make it quick." The administrator stopped and shouted irritably. Vito, still smiling, pointed toward the distant transaction.
"Those local gang members over there. What's their gang called?" The administrator looked over, then twitched an eyebrow. "The Devout Society. I suggest you stay away from them. Religious fanatics from the Lower Hive." "Religious? The Ecclesiarchy?" "Yeah, yeah, that's right. But they're crazier than the fanatics in the churches. Just stay as far away from them as you can."
"I'm curious, friend. With all the chaos in the Lower Hive, how has faith in the Ecclesiarchy become so widespread?" The administrator shouted irritably, waving a finger. "Who are you, some kind of scholar? Go ask those preachers. Don't bother me."
He stalked off, arrogant and dismissive. Vito laughed in amusement, hands on his hips as he watched the young administrator walk away. He wondered what the man would think if he knew he'd just spoken that way to an Inquisitor.
Vito shrugged. Fortunately, he wasn't one of those neurotic colleagues of his. So the young man could keep acting so arrogantly until some irritable captain finally taught him a lesson.
Vito rubbed his chin, thoughtfully gazing up at the Imperial Aquila. Then he patted the bolt pistol at his waist and headed for the Starport exit.
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