Information about Calth flashed rapidly through Nareth's mind.
'Ultima Sector, Veridia System...Blue-white star: Veridia.'
'A five-planet system. Calth, green continents, blue oceans, white cloud layers....'
Among the Five Hundred Worlds of Ultramar, Calth was a particularly special one.
Roboute Guilliman had turned most of his realm into industrial worlds, yet Calth possessed both top-tier industrial output and a beautiful environment.
Aside from the garden world of Lax, Calth was the most ecologically pristine planet under Ultramar's rule.
Guilliman regarded it as a model world, before the "Battle of Calth," he even planned to appoint a Fifth Champion to govern from Calth, developing it as a new center of Ultramar.
As the memories of the Veridia System flickered through his mind, Nareth quietly recited:
'Star map of the route from Incaladion to the Veridia System.'
'Star map of the route from Incaladion to the Veridia System.…'
After eleven silent repetitions, he tossed the dice of prophecy in his hand.
The tetrahedron spun several times in the air before falling into his open palm.
At the moment it landed, a holographic-like image unfolded before his eyes, a star map.
Nareth recorded the map into a data crystal, then returned to the realspace and had the "Robot" John perform a divination.
Through their psychic link, he shared the information with the gyrinx.
In John's home, his metallic eyes glimmered. As with his divination of Talassar, he chose to use dream divination again.
He gripped a quill in one paw, unrolled a parchment with the other, and swiftly wrote:
[Veridia System…]
He whispered the phrase, writing it over and over, eleven times in total.
Then, John laid the parchment aside, leaned back against his bed, and entered a trance.
A glowing sphere appeared within his mind, his pupils turned black, and he plunged into deep meditation.
The surroundings faded into a weightless void, filled with faint colors and distant, shifting lights.
Images flashed rapidly through John's mind, and through their mental link, Nareth watched.
Unlike the divination of Tarrasa, no alien invasion appeared this time.
When a vision of endless caves unfolded, Nareth realized, this was Calth.
He narrowed his eyes and saw primitive humans clad in fur, wielding wooden spears, hunting beasts in packs.
"Sparse population, weak foundations… so this is Calth's present state."
The vision faded. Nareth thought quietly:
'Population, that's the greatest challenge in developing Calth.'
'If I recall correctly, Calth would one day become a retirement haven for many Auxilia veterans, both as a reward for service and as…'
A name surfaced in his mind, Ollanius Persson
In the future, Persson would live on Calth for eighteen years after retiring.
As the oldest perpetual, he had lived for forty-five thousand years, seven thousand older than even the Emperor.
Persson had once been the Emperor's first warmaster, but after his plea to destroy the tower of Enuncia and it's forbidden dark knowledge was refused, disenchanted with the desicion, Persson stabbed his old friend with a dager.
Later, using the Black Speech, he destroyed Talin and escaped.
During the Great Crusade, he disguised himself as an ordinary soldier among the Imperial Auxilia. For his valor, he was granted land on Calth.
He would later become one of the key figures in the Emperor's victory over Horus, posthumously honored as a saint.
When the Emperor prepared to embrace the powers of Chaos and had turned it a proto-god Horus, it was Persson who appeared before him, reminding him of his humanity.
After a fierce argument, Persson finally convinced his stubborn friend, pulling him back from the brink.
He gave the Emperor the anthame ritual dagger, then used his own life to complete the act of protection before his friend regained consciousness.
The image of Persson, standing alone with a lasgun against Horus, burned vividly in Nareth's mind, a hymn to human courage.
Compared to Horus, Persson's strength was insignificant; his laser shots couldn't even scratch the Warmaster.
Yet when Horus's claw struck and turned him into blood mist, Persson stood like a mountain, ensuring humanity's survival for another ten thousand years.
Nareth pulled himself from the memory, his heart heavy with awe.
'I wonder if Persson will still choose to settle on Calth this time…'
'Would I have the chance to meet him?'
'Could I perhaps… learn the Black Speech from him?'
He knew that the Black Speech was an ancient tongue, not for communication, but a tool and a weapon.
To speak or inscribe it aloud was to manipulate the structure of reality itself.
Refocusing his mind, Nareth entered the fourth-dimensional space, spreading his spiritual presence until he touched a crimson light-sphere.
He saw Sanchez in his office, reading a data slate.
A shroud of black mist enveloped Sanchez, drawing him into the Kingdom of Disorder.
Having experienced this several times, Sanchez quickly knelt.
"My lord."
Nareth gestured, using telekinesis to float the data crystal toward him.
"Follow the star map within it, go to the Veridia System."
"The planet Calth has great potential. Develop it following the Triken model."
He wanted to turn Calth into the jewel of the Eastern Galaxy, while preserving its natural environment.
"Orbiting it is a massive asteroid called Alamasta, almost the size of a moon.
It's perfect for use as a forge world."
In Nareth's memory, Alamasta wasn't only the Adeptus Mechanicus' main base in the Veridia System, but also one of the most vital industrial sites across six nearby systems, deserving full development.
"Beyond that," he continued,
"Lamane is rich in minerals but uninhabitable, make it a mining world."
"Veridia Force and Ravisol, both resource-rich and habitable, should become industrial worlds."
"Isala is a habitable planet; focus colonization efforts there."
Then Nareth added, thoughtfully:
"Veridia's greatest obstacle is immigration."
"I'll coordinate with Malcador to grant land to distinguished Auxilia veterans."
'The Auxilia number in the billions. Finding one perpetual among them is nearly impossible.'
'But drawing Persson to Calth, that's feasible and compared to other worlds, Calth's beauty would surely attract him again.'
Nareth smiled inwardly at the thought.
'Sorry, Guilliman.'
'I've intercepted six of your worlds, including your precious Calth.'
In the Imperium, a "world" wasn't limited to a single planet; asteroids and moons could count as worlds too.
The key measure was whether humanity had developed them.
A star system could have fifteen planets, but if none were settled, it would still be classified as unregistered.
Alamasta, though an asteroid, had greater output than many smaller forge worlds, unquestionably a "world."
Vostroya was similar: besides its main planet and the Symphony of the Sea, its shipyard moon also qualified as a separate world.
Thus, the Veridia System was one of the rare multi-world systems, five highly developable planets and one major asteroid.
"As you command, my lord," Sanchez replied.
After returning to realspace, Nareth summoned Arsena and Diana Pauline to discuss the war Mitu Conglomerate.
.....
If you enjoy the story, my p@treon is 30 chapters ahead.
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