Bzzzt... crack...
An indescribable discomfort, acting directly on nerves and perception, quietly coiled around several members of the party like cold, slippery tentacles.
Hercules was the first to show signs of trouble.
An almost imperceptible hesitation crept into his stride. His breathing grew slightly heavier, and each heavy footfall seemed to lose its former precision.
Thunder Warrior Cassios followed close behind.
This living relic of the ancient Unification Wars, a veteran who had witnessed stranger scenes than this, now tightened his rocklike features.
His ancient Power Armour gave off faint, irregular hisses of static. He furrowed his brow, veins standing out at his temples, as though resisting some invisible pressure.
The Dwarf Grom fared worst.
The short Squat let out a stifled groan and staggered, nearly falling.
His elaborate support apparatus emitted a string of chaotic noises, like jammed gears, and several smaller servo-arms drooped limply.
Ragged gasps came from beneath his heavy breathing mask. Beads of sweat instantly covered his grease-stained forehead.
"What's happening?" Lorgar immediately noticed his companions' distress and demanded an answer in a low voice.
He stopped abruptly, his sharp gaze sweeping the surroundings like a searchlight. Smooth metal walls, silent pipes, occasional glimmers—everything looked no different from before, and no obvious toxins or abnormal radiation had been detected in the air.
Without hesitation, he marshaled the vast psychic energy within him. Golden light kindled in his eyes, and invisible waves of perception rippled outward, carefully probing every inch of space for hidden energy fields, psychic marks, or Warp contamination.
Nothing.
The psychic feedback vanished without a trace—or, more accurately, passed through the purest void. There was no sign of anomalous energy, hostile psychic power, or Chaos corruption.
Yet that only made Lorgar's heart sink.
Anything capable of affecting superhuman constitutions like Hercules's and Cassios's while