Guilliman had just finalized the strategy for the journey to Mars, and the heavy atmosphere seemed somewhat diluted by hope for the future.
However, that brief respite was ruthlessly shattered by a rapid, discreet buzzing—the alert from Guilliman's private communication channel.
His brow furrowed slightly as the communications officer's tense voice was transmitted directly into his auditory nerves. "My Lord Regent! Urgent military report! The Unyielding Will expedition fleet bound for the Nephilim Sector... has gone missing!"
"Missing?" Guilliman's voice instantly sank, like ice striking the ground. "Specific details?"
"The last standard transmission we received was a routine report seventy-two hours ago. Everything was normal. But just now, we received an extremely chaotic, indecipherable astropathic message. Its source is the identification code of the Unyielding Will's flagship. The signal is weak and filled with... incomprehensible interference. We tried every method of decoding it, and all failed. The information has been forwarded to your private terminal."
Guilliman immediately called up the message.
On the screen was a distorted, fragmented stream of audio, as though countless metallic scrapes had been mixed with the wails of the dying. No useful content could be discerned at all.
He shared the message with the holographic projector in the center of the hall. "Everyone, something has happened in the Nephilim Sector. This is the last 'message' we received."
The hall instantly fell silent as everyone looked toward that unsettling noise.
"This sound..." A sharp gleam flashed through Luke Skywalker's azure eyes. His powerful Force perception caught a cold, lifeless rhythm beneath the noise. "It carries intense... energy fluctuations with non-biological characteristics."
Sanguinius's golden eyes grew grave as well, her delicate brows drawing together. "I sense an... ancient coldness, entirely different from the filth of the Warp. It reminds me of..." Her gaze met Luke's in the