In the end, it wasn’t the threat of returning Zetans that brought the settling Nexus Unity into the interstelr stage. Seven years after Sev’s arrival, seven years after he tamed the wastend, and no more than a month after Nat Wright joined her sister in offering herself to Sev, the nascent interpnetary sensor grid lit up with signals from the edge of the sor system.

  The Nexus was mobilized for war as the civilian popuce hastily evacuated to underground arcologies. The small space fleet that was just seven months old were brought into defensive formation, while automated listening posts on Mars and the solid moons of the outer pnets kept track of the trespassers.

  Whatever they were, the readings were clear that the arrivals were not Zetans. The crafts gave off distinctly different energy readouts, and what blurry visuals that the outposts managed to secure at such great distances showed a silhouette that was not of Zetan design.

  Seeing Sev give a worried frown put everyone on edge. On his orders the full pnetary defenses were brought online, and full priority was given to the orbital drydocks to finish up the next batch of ships.

  When visual confirmation was finally made from Mars’ more powerful sensor suites, the commanders of the Nexus found a massive fleet of ships not too dissimir from their own, save that these ships had a lot of unnecessary ornamentation and unidentified things jutting out of them.

  A tightbeam signal was received, and upon pying the message on the screens, everyone in the Nexus save for Sev was surprised to find a human face on the other end. The proportions were a little off, like a super mutant’s girthy head, but the traces of humanity in its features were apparent enough. What was also shocking was the sheer presence the figure in the screen radiated, a potent charisma that almost felt solid.

  It took a while before Eva’s transtors figured out the patchwork conglomeration of dead and existing nguages that these unwanted guests were using, mostly a jumble of Indo-European nguages.

  “It is good to see fellow kindred once more. I am Horus Lupercal, primarch of the Sixteenth Legion of the Imperium of Mankind’s Legiones Astartes, the Luna Wolves. I come to welcome you into a greater humanity within my Father’s Imperium.”

  Silence reigned as everyone struggled to process the message, even Eva and Cabal remaining silent as they began massive recalcutions. Words failed everyone in the command bridge of the Tupile.

  Everyone except for Sev.

  “FUCK!”

  *****

  Horus personally participated in the diplomatic mission to this curious mirror system. It bore an uncanny resembnce to a primitive Sol, and the habitable pnet was clearly just recovering from some major cataclysm. This ‘Nexus Unity’ also showed simir designs to some of the Imperium’s own warmachines, as evidenced by their fleet comprising nine blunt-prowed ships of equal size to the Imperium’s own Gloriana battleships, and a dozen escorts that could easily be mistaken for trimmed down Cobra destroyers.

  As many worlds encountered throughout the Crusade, the wary people of this system seemed to have no inkling of the greater gaxy beyond their own system. What was almost unique though was that evidence pointed to the popuce having rapidly advanced up from a colpsed civilization into a homogenous pnetary power. Horus looked forward to meeting these isoted humans and to see what lost knowledge they might offer the Imperium.

  Their leader, a mortal man with no titles named Sev, had agreed to welcome a delegation aboard the massive spacefort that was no smaller than Dorn’s own Phanx. There was no doubt about the lethality of the fort, despite how pin and smooth its hull seemed. Enough encounters had taught the primarch that the ck of obvious weapons ports or bays did not mean an absence of defense capabilities.

  As a sign of goodwill, the expeditionary fleet anchored out of weapons range from the Tupile and its protective fleet as the primarch, his delegation and his honor guard traveled by Thunderhawks and Stormbirds into the designated hangar bay. No signs of hostility obstructed their nding, though Aximand noted that the Nexus’ encrypted communications had gone silent.

  They disembarked to meet their hosts with practiced precision. Fnked by the Mournival beside him, Horus walked out to the rhythm of marching ceramite boots of a dozen Justaerin Terminators that served as his honor guard. A coterie of remembrancers and diplomats, as well as Army and Martian representatives, followed behind the primarch.

  Before them was an apprehensive young man in a great coat, attired completely in bck. Twenty sleekly armored and helmeted forms stood behind him, and behind them were what Horus assumed as his administrators and advisors.

  Horus’ superhuman hearing picked up some mumbling from Sev before he gave a soft cough and offered a welcome. “Welcome, representatives of the Imperium, aboard the Tupile. Now what can I do for you?”

  The diplomatic exchange did not go as well as the primarch expected. These people - almost all of them still comfortably in early adulthood, he noted - were politely resistant against integration into the Imperium. Sev and his advisors kept a stoic, neutral front, a novelty to Horus who was used to mortals succumbing to his and his brothers' primarch aura. Even the subtle, and then more obvious, threats of force were ignored, and nothing Horus nor the other members of his delegation could sway them to embrace his Father’s rule.

  “The Nexus was founded to protect the liberated who were once oppressed and ensved,” Sev stated at the end of the talks. “From your accounts of your Imperium, accepting your rule would dissolve all we’ve struggled to build. You talk of providing aid - that we do not need, by the way - and I can see that we’ll be put under the boot of colonial rule. You say mutual protection, I’m hearing that this world I’m trying to repair would be plundered of people and resources to callously fuel your own wars. You speak of Imperial Enlightenment, and I’m looking at everything we’ve worked hard to develop to get us here be censored, looted or outright erased. The Imperium has nothing to offer us, and we have everything to be parasitized by it. So no, the Nexus Unity will reject the offer of vassage or assimition into your Imperium.”

  As much as the rejection stung, Horus had to admit to being impressed by the resolve of this ruler. Sev was looking a primarch in the eye without the ravings and rantings of the usual defiant rulers, without the barest hint of fear or nerves, and kept a calm demeanor throughout. And those with him shared his inner strength, not so much as fidgeting in the primarch’s presence.

  It would be a shame to have to crush and break this world to force compliance.

  Horus gave a soft sigh before nodding sadly. He could simply reach out now and crush Sev and his people, decapitate the leadership before unleashing the might of his legion upon his world. He could order the Mournival and the Justaerin to tear into the mortals and get it over in a blink of an eye.

  But the primarch admired this Nexus Unity too much, found them worth bringing into the fold. Maybe once they have been humbled, Sev and his followers would reconsider their stance.

  “It is truly a shame,” he announced gravely, sincerely meaning it. “Out of the respect you have given us, the offer will still stand once we depart from here and return to our fleet, and it will still stand even as we regretfully have to force your compliance. For your people’s sake, I hope you reconsider.”

  To Horus’ surprise, Sev gave a huff and a smirk. “Appreciate the offer, but for your people’s sake, I hope you call off your compliance quickly enough once it fails.”

  Horus couldn’t help but grin and give a respectful nod before leaving for the transports. The sheer gall and defiance of this young man was refreshing from the whimpering kings and senators the primarch of the Luna Wolves had encountered so far. This was likely a fight that even Russ might find admirable, as regretful as the coming massacre might be.

  The delegation returned to the fleet and the order to mobilize was given. Boarding forces were assembled in the hangars, the teleportarium was awakened, and the ships of the expeditionary forces thundered towards the pnet.

  *****

  Fucking spehss mehreens. We watched from the command room’s many screens as the fleet led by the fucking primarch of the fucking Luna Wolves got closer to us.

  “Guided projectiles detected from enemy crafts,” Eva alerted in her usual calm tone.

  “Point defense for now. Save the bots for when they’re too close to do anything about it.”

  “Acknowledged. Initiating point defense interception of the projectiles once they enter effective range.”

  “Also, hold our weapons until they get their first salvo off, so we can see what we’re dealing with.”

  “Understood, Sev. Adjusting optimal firing queues and solutions.”

  Cabal’s harsh voice came up. “All surface poputions have been evacuated. All automated defenses are standing by for enemy ndings.” Which left all human defenders not on the Tupile guarding the arcologies. Here’s to hoping we don’t get to that.

  I looked around to meet the gazes of my girls, the commanders, and the Tupile’s crew, noting their resolve against the impending fucking space marines. Eh, after a few eldritch monstrosities and defusing world-ending superweapons, what’s a fleet of people from outer space, really? They’re only beeg people in heavy armor and loud guns.

  “Right, looks like there’s always someone out there who keeps looking down at us,” I said, forcing a smirk. “Let’s keep proving ‘em wrong.”

  I’m pretty sure I took more comfort from their confident cheers than they did from my words.

  *****

  It seemed that the Nexus was able to offer far more significant resistance than everyone had assumed. The initial torpedo volleys failed to get close to either ships or spacefort, each projectile removed by accurate point defense serfire. Long range bombardment with macro cannons shared simir fates after the first successful but ineffective barrage, the tank-sized rounds initially exploding against the defender’s arcane shields and ter on shot down with pinpoint accuracy. Only nce weaponry made it through unobstructed, but the shields that protected the enemy had so far kept any of the massive energy beams from doing any actual damage.

  Disturbingly, the techpriests and techmarines could not come up with an estimate on how strong those shields were. Either they would die out in no time, or what seemed more likely was that they would endure anything and everything the expeditionary fleet could throw at it, including the simultaneous detonations of every ship’s psma drives.

  The return fire from the defenders was devastatingly more effective. As Horus thought, hidden gun ports from the Tupile and the ships were revealed, and the salvo of psma macro-bolts and ser nces was an unrelenting storm that quickly colpsed several ships’ void shields and fatally tore into their hulls. Destroyers and frigates became a consteltion of minor stars as their enginariums were melted through and subsequently detonated. Throughout the chaos of dying and routing ships, the primarch grimly noted how several escorts had been disabled instead of destroyed, and held little doubt that the incapacitation was intentional.

  After that first impressive show of power, the expeditionary fleet split off, the bulk of the warships keeping the Nexus starfort and its anchored fleet pinned down as best as it could while a nding force moved to the other side of the pnet to begin pnetary invasion.

  There were virtually no practical targets for pnetary bombardment, as auspex sweeps on the surface found no surface defenses to crack open, and the pnetary popution seemed to have been moved to secure underground sanctuaries. The order was given for a nding in force, and the legionaries began raining from the skies in transports or drop pods.

  Then the Nexus revealed their underground defenses.

  Sudden power spikes from beneath the pnet betrayed the activation of ground-to-air and ground-to-orbit empcements that were hidden all across the world’s surface. Swamps drained, mountain faces fell away, pins split apart and new isnds surfaced as hatches slid open and psma and white ser macro batteries were raised up.

  It was too te for the legionaries who were strapped to their drop pods and Storm Eagles to do anything but be bsted out of the sky by guns designed to erase a theoretical full-scale Zetan invasion. Reinforced ceramite offered little resistance against the Nexus’ physics-breaking technology, and the nding crafts vanished under the attentions of the intense light show.

  Due to the sheer numbers, a few drop pods and other craft nded intact, and a few legionnaires survived the fall onto the surface. Their signals abruptly died as things came out to swarm and drag them away, helmet and vehicle pict feeds barely able to make out anything amidst the flurry of movements other than countless red eyes and a swirling tide of metal.

  The orbiting ships fared better, their void shields negating most of the damage. But the ndings had to be called off and attempts at retaliatory orbital bombardment had to be aborted after repeated assaults by highly focused EMP beams brought down void shields and threatened to depower the battleships. Mauled, the failed nding force withdrew to a safer distance from the pnet to await a better opportunity to nd.

  With such ridiculous results, the primarch reluctantly ordered the withdrawal from the Nexus’ firing range, to discuss a solution to this surprising problem. After losing a third of his fleet and a dangerously high number of his sons, Horus began regretting his act of respect to Sev. Admirable or not, the primarch should have just crushed the man’s head there and then.