"You damn traitors!" Colton roared, his spittle nearly flying onto Lutheca's face.
Alexei tucked the dagger back into his clothes and looked at Lutheca with a puzzled expression. "And who is this?"
"My Lord, he is the High Commander of this planet's PDF, the Marshal of all its legions," Lutheca replied respectfully.
Impressive, Alexei thought. A High Commander who leads from the front. He studied the old man, who looked as if he wanted to eat him alive, but Alexei had no time for a slow interrogation.
"Take him away. Lock him up. I'll deal with him later," Alexei said, dismissing the Marshal. He would wait until the Infestors could "fill him up" with parasites before speaking to him again.
The moment he turned around, a voice echoed in his mind. "Brother."
It was Allie. Her powerful psionic potential allowed her to contact him directly through the Hive's psionic network without the need for an Infestor's parasite.
"What's wrong?" Alexei replied mentally, closing his eyes.
He had originally arranged for Allie to stay at the gang headquarters in the Underhive, but for some reason, the little girl preferred the Hive clusters and had stayed there ever since.
"Brother, I had a very scary nightmare. So many people died... so, so many people. I'm so scared."
Alexei froze. A nightmare experienced by a powerful psyker often carried prophetic weight. Could it be...
"Can you tell me more about it?" he asked urgently.
"I don't know... I can't quite remember. I just remember lots of blue lights... and at the end, a terrifying two-headed bird monster was smiling at me..."
A two-headed bird monster? A Greater Demon of Tzeentch? Could it be Kairos? Alexei immediately thought of the Fateweaver. He comforted Allie, telling her not to worry and to stay close to Abathur and Zagara. The current psionic network was large enough to offer some resistance against the whispers of Chaos. Besides, he didn't particularly fear a small-scale demonic incursion—the Protoss units he could eventually summon were no pushovers either.
During his thoughts, a gang member in power armor ran up to report that the factory district was largely under control. Alexei nodded and ordered them to stop the advance for now, stabilize the area, and construct defensive perimeters at every passage leading from the Lower Hive to the Upper Spire.
He had saved a vast amount of resources for this moment. Once the tide of battle had turned, he had ordered numerous SCVs to descend to the factory district via the large elevators. Now, he selected an area and had the SCVs dismantle the old structures; he was going to build a new industrial zone, turning these ancient factories into raw materials for his own war machine.
Upper Hive
Sunlight filtered through the atmosphere, resting quietly on clean streets lined with various luxury hover-cars. Although it was daytime, the streets were deserted, save for PDF patrols blockading the intersections. The travel ban signed by the Governor had been in effect for days, bringing the Upper Hive to a total standstill.
Residents stayed in their homes, whispering about the situation in the Lower Hive, anxious about how long their supplies would last and praying to the God-Major to end the riot soon.
Suddenly, a light breeze blew, and a small figure darted through the shadows of an alleyway.
Little John had slipped out of his house while his parents weren't looking, clutching a small stone tightly in his hand. He had found this iridescent little rock in an abandoned house not long ago. The stone could talk, but his parents hadn't believed him.
Over the past few days, he and the "Little Stone" had become best friends. He had come out because the stone told him that many more friends had appeared back where he first found it. For some reason, John loved the stone more and more; he wanted to bring more back so his mother and father could have "best friends" too.
He hopped through the shadows to avoid PDF patrols until he reached the building. Adults said it had been abandoned for years, yet it was never demolished. John skillfully opened a window and climbed inside. The interior was empty, covered in thick dust save for the footprints he had left during his last visit.
He reached the entrance to the dark basement and fumbled for a light switch that—inexplicably—still had power. Click. As the light flickered on, a small altar appeared before the boy, covered in countless iridescent stones identical to the one in his hand.
"Go on... go on... put it there..." the stone in his hand urged incessantly.
As the stone whispered, the boy seemed to lose his consciousness, walking toward the altar in a daze. "Place it... place it..."
Snap! The boy placed his stone onto the altar.
An immense surge of psionic energy erupted. The boy vanished instantly, consumed by the tide of power. A pillar of light shot upward, bursting through the roof and revealing itself to everyone in the vicinity.
The PDF in the distance rushed toward the area, but by the time they arrived, countless identical pillars of light erupted behind them. In alleys, residential blocks, underground gardens—one by one, the pillars lit up, some reaching as far as planetary orbit.
Roar! As the PDF watched in shock, a screeching howl reached their ears.
Countless soul-hungry demons surged out of the buildings behind them. "Agh! Warp demons!" "Requesting support! There are mass numbers of—" "Save me! I don't want to die!"
The soldiers roared as they opened fire, but in an instant, they were swallowed by the endless tide of Warp entities. Everywhere a pillar of light stood, demons poured forth. The PDF engaged the enemies of mankind immediately. Massive war machines turned their guns on the invaders, but the demons seemed infinite; all resistance was futile.
They didn't understand where the demons had come from or why they were appearing in the rear. Civilians wailed in despair as their souls were harvested.
The former Planetary Governor, Isaac Hordem, dragged his deformed body onto the palace plaza. He looked down upon the horrific massacre in the Upper Hive, the psionic energy within him churning.
These commoners' souls would allow more of his Master's loyal servants to manifest in the Materium. Everything on this planet—the rebellion, the heresy—would become his sacrifice to his Master.
He would become an immortal, great being, eternally following his Master to strike down the "greedy False Emperor."
"My Master's glory shall spread across the entire universe." If that pathetic Corpse-Emperor was heartless, then he felt no guilt in his betrayal.