After liberating the knight-world Damaetus, Nareth set off back toward Mezoa, preparing to launch the decisive campaign against the core of the Mitu, the Manachean Star System.
The Fifth company was left behind to help the Vyronii Knights hunt down the Mitu who had fled into the forests.
When Santiago Bogkamp led his five squads into the woods, the first enemies they encountered were not Mitu xenos, but the alien beasts that had been driven into the forest by Damaetus.
For centuries, the Damaetus Knights had struggled to resist the Mitu invasion and no longer possessed the strength to send their young knights out to hunt dangerous monsters as they once had.
Under the cover of darkness, the alien beasts had grown in number and strength again, preparing to launch their own assault and reclaim the world that had once belonged to them.
When the Shadows of Order were still several hundred meters from the forest edge, they keenly sensed the creatures lurking within the hollow trunks of the rotting trees.
"Attack!" At Santiago's order, the Shadows of Order raised their boltguns and unleashed a dense barrage at the monsters, who thought themselves well-hidden.
Adamantine-tipped rounds tore easily through the decayed trunks. The blasts and pain shattered the ambush, ripping apart the creatures' arched exoskeletons.
Large sections of inner tree trunks exploded, and swarms of cephalopod-like creatures poured out.
Only then did the Shadows of Order clearly see their appearance, humanoid in overall form, but with tentacles for arms and legs, and octopus-like heads.
They immediately recalled the Damaetus Knights' warnings: this world contained hybrid monsters between cephalopods and mammals.
Because the ink they spat made a sound similar to the High Gothic word "Nord," the knights called them Nords.
The Nords opened their mouths, releasing their strange, namesake cry, then spewed clouds of ink to cover their retreat.
Santiago raised his staff and poured psychic power into it.
The embedded Firedrake runes glowed, and a stream of molten flame roared upward, turning the ink cloud to ash.
The Shadows of Order charged forward, cutting down the panicked, retreating creatures.
When the battle ended, Santiago drew a harvesting dagger of his own making, selecting intact tissues to cut free.
One of the Shadows asked in confusion: "Lieutenant, why are you collecting those?"
"Father," Santiago replied, using the term to refer to the Primarch, "one of his greatest hobbies is appreciating strange curiosities."
"Dangerous Catachan brainleaf, the gold-edged sunflowers of Mordian, he loves them all."
"When I had the honor of serving in the Honor Guard, whenever I encountered unusual things in battle, I collected them."
"These Nords can spit ink. Look, the upper half of their lips is red, the lower half black. I think Father will be interested."
Hearing this, the warrior's eyes lit up. He drew his combat blade.
"I'll help."
Except for those standing guard, everyone began harvesting.
Santiago then ordered the squads to rest. Taking two pairs of Nord lips, he walked out of their sensory range.
He drew his ritual knife, created a spiritual field, and began a prayer to the Black Emperor.
Even without an altar, he had twice received the Black Emperor's blessings. He was confident he could complete the rite and offer the two lips as a sacrifice.
"Black Emperor of the Shadows of Order…"
"I beseech Thy gaze."
"I beseech Thy favor."
"I offer You this sacrifice."
.....
"O Iron Laws of Monarchs, basis of the Kingdom of Disorder, grant strength to my invocation."
.....
the Trickmaster finished the first recitation and began the second.
As he reached the third repetition, black mist churned before him, and a mysterious gate appeared from nothing.
Wind surged within the spiritual wall, and the two pairs of Nord lips flew into the doorway.
In the fourth layer of the Kingdom of Disorder, Nareth immediately recognized them as the potion ingredient for the Hanged Man Pathway, Sequence 9: the Secret Supplicant, a pair of Nord lips.
He hadn't expected such an unexpected gain. His spirit spread, carrying his will:
"I am very interested in the lips of the Nords, and you, in the name of the Court, ask Carlo to order and collect them."
Though Carlo was the Company Captain, he was a Sequence 9 "Lawyer," a mere knight of the Court.
Santiago, however, was the Fifth Company's only Court Baron and Nareth's favored candidate.
The Court had existed for nearly thirty years and had taken deep root in the Shadows of Order.
Ordinary soldiers, unaware of Court ranks, naturally gathered around Court members after losing their commander.
If two Court members were present, formal command went by rank and Court title.
Thus, Santiago's influence extended far beyond that of a mere lieutenant; whenever he submitted requests that did not affect major strategy, Carlo usually accepted them.
On the surface of Damaetus III's second moon, Santiago knelt and said, "As You command, my lord."
He ended the ritual, switched communication channels, and sent Carlo a message, not invoking his baronial authority, but as a polite personal request.
"Captain, the Nord lips are half red, half black. Father would be interested."
"I believe we should order the Shadows to collect them."
After several seconds, Carlo replied: "I accept your suggestion."
Santiago returned to the squad. Five days later, during resupply, he confirmed the company had fully begun the collection effort.
Nord lips were neatly packed in cooling containers and transported by shuttle to the ships in orbit.
After resupply, Santiago led his squads into another forest region, a swamp, where one of their squads had previously gone missing.
The Captain had ordered the Company to enter this zone, search for the missing squad, and eliminate any enemy threat.
Following the order, Santiago reached the marked location and entered the swamp.
After twenty-seven minutes, he halted and opened his Warp Insight.
Creatures were slowly rising from the swamp.
"Prepare for combat!"
As soon as he spoke, a massive Nord, three times the size of a normal one, burst forth.
He emitted a strange noise, and a psychic shock echoed in their minds: "I am god! Submit!…"
The Shadows froze. A psychic spike stabbed into Santiago's mind.
He immediately recalled what the Damaetus Knights had said: some Nords proclaimed themselves gods, capable of communication and psychic domination.
They had enslaved travelers and even tried to control the knights.
Santiago ascended to the second layer of the Thelema mindstate. His spine erupted with light.
"Awaken!"
His voice rang through the minds of the Shadows, cleansing the Nord's psychic control.
The Trickmaster waved his hand, a Flash trick striking the Nord's unaccustomed eyes.
Having lived all his life in the swamp's darkness, the creature screeched in pain.
Another gesture: a curtain of shadow grew instantly, blocking sight between them.
A smirk appeared on Santiago's lips.
'You can only spit ink, but I can make my own Black Curtain.'
He charged into the darkness.
A loud crack erupted on one side, misleading the creature's hearing.
The Nord stumbled in the wrong direction.
Santiago felt a subtle dissolution inside him; every use of his tricks slightly wore at his essence.
But he had also seen, through Warp Insight, a healing scar on the Nord's back, a weakness.
To pierce its tough hide, misleading it was necessary.
He closed in fast, placed his palm upon the wound, and unleashed Electric Shock, a trick that could not leave the body.
The creature convulsed violently.
The wound burst open.
With a scream, the Nord collapsed dead.
Just then, his comm-bead beeped.
"The Captain is dead, the Mitu launched a surprise attack."
Santiago left the Thelema mindstate and entered Enumeration to calm his fury and grief.
Gathering information across channels, he pieced the situation together,
A squad vanished first.
Then multiple squads were hit.
The Mitu ambushed the Captain.
'Are the Mitu and Nords working together?'
'If not cooperation, then at least some tacit alignment.'
He exited the Enumeration and saw that his squads had already eliminated the remaining Nords.
"Follow me. We avenge the Captain."
As the higher-ranked of the two lieutenants, it fell to him to avenge their captain and re-stabilize the company.
Santiago led the advance straight toward the Command Squad's last position.
On arrival, he immediately saw the Mitu warriors; besides their walking tentacles, each of their three pairs of arms wielded snake-like whips over two meters long.
Once trained as a psychic artificer, and the fifth company's most skilled craftsman, Santiago instantly recognized the six whips as psychic weapons.
The Mitu called them arcane weapons, forged through metallurgy, psychic discipline, and biotechnological synthesis.
The Honor Guard charged in righteous fury.
The Mitu warrior's six arms blurred. Energy fields crackled, detonating bolter rounds before they touched him.
A whip lashed out, ripping open power armor with a thunderous crack.
As he raised another arm for the next strike, the Trickmaster dashed forward, thrusting both hands out.
A gale equal to Level 8 wind burst forth, staggering the creature.
The whip missed the Honor Guard by inches.
Fog surged up around them as the Trickmaster gestured again.
The Mitu steadied himself and spun violently, whips slicing in dense arcs that made approach impossible.
Five meters away, the Trickmaster stopped and pointed at the ground beneath the creature.
Its limbs slipped, as if coated in oil, and it crashed onto the ground.
Santiago slung his staff, drew his archaeotech pistol, and fired a psychic round of his own making.
The Mitu's body burst into a cloud of blood.
With the last of his spiritual energy, the Trickmaster swept away the fog.
Feeling his control over his tricks deepening, he thought quietly:
'My tricks are weak individually… but when combined well, they can defeat powerful foes.'
As he pondered, the other lieutenant arrived and declared:
"The Captain has fallen, and Santiago has avenged him. He is favored by Father. He should assume command."
.....
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