44: Chapter 44 The Swarm Begins Listening to the Imperial Astrologers, Terra's Secret Orders Are Read Aloud

Four hours after the Battle of Hails ended, the Imperial Fleet in orbit around Griffin IV received something that rendered the entire bridge silent. It wasn't a declaration of war, nor negotiation terms, nor a diplomatic note from a Necron fleet. It was the original text of an encrypted Imperial Navy psychic communication, publicly projected onto the main screen of the Wrath of the Emperor's bridge—sent from Terra to the Imperial Navy's Third Assault Fleet Command in the Ultima Segmentum, with a security clearance at the highest level of the Inquisition. The content was Terra's latest strategic directive regarding the Swarm War Council.

Marcus Aurelian stared at the main screen, his right hand gripping the edge of the command console until his knuckles turned white. "This secret order was sent from Terra using the 'Eye of the Emperor' protocol—it bypasses all relay stations and is sent directly via soul-bound Astropaths." He turned to the Tech-Officer, his voice kept extremely low, "How did The Swarm intercept it?"

The Tech-Officer's hands flew across the console, his forehead drenched in cold sweat. "Theoretically, it's impossible—the Eye of the Emperor protocol is a zero-relay, zero-external signal psychic chain that only the recipient Astropath can decode. Unless they can directly read an Astropath's psychic pulses—bypassing communication equipment and signal transmissions—reading it directly at the Warp level."

"They cannot read psychic energy," Bern's voice came from the flank of the bridge. "Last time at the Forge Temple, the blackstone engine suppressed all psychic power—The Swarm's research into psychic energy approaches it from an anti-psychic direction, not the energy itself. They aren't using psychic power to read the Astropaths; they used another way—"

"Hails," Marcus cut him off. "The Blackstone Reliquary. Fabrica-7 said before he died that they were dismantling the adamantine gates. The Swarm obtained something deeper than a blackstone amplifier in Hails. It can now access the blackstone network, and the blackstone network itself is a Warp inverter—when an Astropath sends a psychic pulse through the Warp, it's detected by the blackstone. It isn't reading the psychic energy; it's reading the blackstone's disturbance of that energy." He paused for a few seconds, moving his gaze away from the main screen. "And then it reverse-decodes the original text."

No one spoke on the bridge. The Imperium's highest military secret encryption protocol had become an open book before The Swarm, and every sentence written in that book would be read aloud by them. "The Astropath communication system is no longer secure. Immediately initiate the highest-level 'Astronomican Blind Spot' protocol—all long-range psychic communications to Terra are to be suspended, replaced by physical messenger ships carrying encrypted data blocks. Simultaneously, order all units in orbit around Griffin IV to refrain from using any form of psychic communication until tactical adjustments are complete."

Oldenburg stepped up from the side, his voice even lower: "The contents of the secret order have been exposed. The Swarm now knows that Terra ordered us to deploy orbital defense platforms at Griffin IV—"

"More than that." Marcus scrolled the original text of the secret order on the main screen to the very last paragraph. "Terra has ordered the Ultramarines headquarters to assign a Deathwatch task force specifically targeting the Tyranids. The order includes a full table of organization—the number of Terminators, the psychic specializations of the Librarians, and a list of anti-psychic equipment. The Swarm has seen it all now. It knows the composition of our next wave of reinforcements, the special skills of every Grey Knight, and which pieces of Deathwatch equipment are designed for blackstone."

Bern walked to the main screen and tapped the last paragraph of the secret order with his index finger. "This line—'If the War Council determines that the Ultima Segmentum defense line cannot effectively delay The Swarm's expansion, authorization is granted to requisition all blackstone-related relics from the Adeptus Mechanicus reliquaries, including Tomb-class blackstone devices that have not undergone full safety testing.' The Swarm now knows how many blackstone relics we possess. What will it do next?"

Marcus did not answer. He turned to look at the holographic star map, where purple markers representing The Swarm's controlled zone were flashing over the coordinates of Hails. Beside them, newly connected blackstone network node icons were spreading from Hails across the entire Ultima Segmentum like ripples of cold green light. Every ripple that lit up meant The Swarm might have already locked onto the location of another blackstone relic through the blackstone network.

"It will dig up all those Tomb-class blackstone devices that haven't undergone safety testing before we can act." Marcus drew a circle in the central region of the Ultima Segmentum. "Talastra, an ancient tomb, listed in the sector archives as one of the 'Forbidden' coordinates. The last scout scan recorded an extremely strong blackstone signal there, but the Inquisition has never sent anyone in. There is a cross-reference in the Nephilak database—'Tomb-class blackstone engine Array.' It has already retrieved the master key from the Hails altar; the next step is to use the Hive Mind to awaken more things underground."

The next news came from Oldenburg. He took a freshly decoded data slate from the Tech-Officer, his face turning pale. "The orbital picket satellites at Talastra have been consumed. The last frame sent back by the sensors wasn't a loss of signal—it showed a new Tyranid species entirely different from any previous unit. It has an adamantine chitin carapace with no exposed bone blades, and its entire cranial cavity is encased in a frontal plate flowing with the light patterns of the blackstone engine Network nodes. Scanner readings confirm a matching blackstone energy signature. The Swarm isn't going there to fight; it's going to activate a terminal."

"Blackstone Cerebrate." A cold, dark red light flashed in Marcus's bionic eye. "Once the key in its possession gained critical permissions at Hails, it could do more than just open doors—it can now remotely drive every engine still dormant within the blackstone network. It's going to flip the Blackstone Defense Line on a conceptual level—it used to be us using it against them; now the blackstone will help them defend against us."

Bern donned his helmet, his psychic eyes burning deep within the eyepieces. "Rather than sitting and waiting for it to dig up the blackstone wreckage hidden beneath our feet for ten million years one by one, we should concentrate all our strike forces to assault Hails and reclaim the key—even if the success rate is low, it's worth the gamble."

"Hails is no longer within the Imperium's orbital coverage," Marcus's voice came from the command console without him turning around. "In the day since it occupied Hails, it has completely purged us from the system. Now the orbit is filled with Brood Lords and a new batch of Leviathans outfitted with blackstone anti-psychic lattices. If you assault Hails now, you'd be slamming Grey Knights head-on into a fully awakened blackstone network—the harder you hit, the higher the probability of our Astropaths being eavesdropped upon."

He turned and issued a series of brief, clear orders to Oldenburg: "First, upon the arrival of the Deathwatch task force, do not deploy them at the original coordinates on Griffin IV; instead, have them stand by on the outskirts of Talastra. Second, requisition all Adeptus Mechanicus blackstone relics that have not yet been located by The Swarm and immediately transport them to the northern Bastion Worlds of the Ultima Segmentum closest to Terra—set up emergency forges at key nodes. Third, have Canoptek-7 check all communication logs between Hails and the Wrath of the Emperor; I want to know what else was intercepted after they read the secret order. Execute immediately."