The Proxima Centauri system, located approximately 4.3 light-years from the Sol system, was also enveloped in an atmosphere of silent tension. As a gateway to the heart of the Imperium of Man, this ancient star system had historically possessed formidable defensive fortifications and a strict monitoring system.
Massive orbital defense platforms hung like silent sentinels, the shadows of their macro-cannons and lance arrays appearing particularly stark under the starlight.
Within the system, several converted planets or those with massive orbital stations formed a deep defensive network.
Imperial officials here had long received the highest-level notification from Terra, informing them that a critical test was related to their location today.
At such a close distance, it was difficult to completely conceal major developments in the core Sol system from them. However, the specific content of the test and its potential ramifications remained an enigma shrouded in nebula; no one knew for certain.
On the planetary surface, ancient Hive Cities, established before the Dark Age of Technology and continuously layered and expanded over tens of thousands of years, mingled with the magnificent cathedrals and command structures newly built in the Imperial era, forming a strange picture that spanned long epochs.
Deep within these structures, officials waited with complex emotions. They did not know what was about to arrive—was it the gospel foreshadowing the Imperium's rebirth, or the beginning of another period of turmoil?
Would it be an internal schism like the Horus Heresy, or the increasingly frequent Chaos incursions of recent years? The unknown brought deep anxiety, coupled with an instinctive reverence for the will of the Imperium.
On the outskirts of the star system, a different scene unfolded as several Forge Arks that had arrived early assumed position. Gryphonne IV's Immortal Forge, Lucius' Paragon of Artifice, and the colossal ships of other Forge Worlds hovered like mountains of steel in the void.
They did not possess the overt aggression of the defense platforms, but they exuded a different kind of suffocating pressure.
All these Forge Arks had pushed their detection capabilities to the limit. Their massive augur arrays were fully deployed, like colossal beasts opening all their sensory organs, not scanning the star system interior, but projecting all their "attention" toward that specific direction several light-years away—the Sol system.
These powerful sensor arrays possessed multiple modes and functions, with a detection range and accuracy far exceeding that of conventional Imperial Navy vessels.
They were now tuned to long-range, high-precision spatial awareness mode, targeting the designated void near Mars' orbit. They were not waiting for a signal; they were waiting to "personally" witness, and record with the most direct data, the precise instant the test ship dropped out of Warp travel at the edge of the Proxima Centauri system.
The core processors of every Forge Ark operated at high speed, analyzing near-real-time spatial readings from the distant star system.
They were tracking the spacetime ripple—theoretically extremely faint but demonstrably present—left by the test ship as it entered Warp travel, attempting to predict its exact arrival coordinates and time window.
The entire Proxima Centauri system, from the anxious officials in the surface Hive Cities to the Forge Arks pushing their detectors to peak power in orbit, was locked in a state of near-frozen anticipation. Time stretched and flowed, each second feeling prolonged.
Suddenly—
On the main detection array screen of the Immortal Forge, spatial parameters near a preset coordinate point underwent an abrupt, unnatural change.
Almost simultaneously, the highly sensitive spacetime chronometers aboard the Paragon of Artifice captured an identical anomalous reading.
In the next second, at the edge of the Proxima Centauri system, in the void targeted by all detectors, space violently twisted and rippled like the surface of water hit by a stone. There was no deafening roar, no blinding energy burst, only the silent groan of space itself.
Immediately following, the test ship, with its simple lines and strange engine installed at the stern, abruptly and without warning "surfaced" from the center of the twisted space, as if it had always been there, merely emerging from an invisible state.
It was a success!
Almost the instant the test ship fully materialized, a pre-prepared, encrypted confirmation signal was transmitted from within, captured simultaneously by all Forge Arks and the star system's defense network.
At the same time, the Psychic Spire located in the main Astropathic Sanctuary of Proxima Centauri received the psychic beacon confirmation code from the test ship.
The Astropath presiding over the ritual dared not hesitate. Immediately committing their full focus, a psychic shriek bearing the concise message "Test successful, safe arrival" pierced the veil of the Warp and, at speeds far exceeding light, accurately shot towards the direction of Holy Terra.
The waiting in the Proxima Centauri system was over. The result had been revealed.
The confirmation Astropathic message from Proxima Centauri was captured by the psychic receiving arrays in the Sol system almost the moment it was sent, and immediately presented to the Martian Council and the Eternal Crusade.
In fact, the Martian side had already detected the spatial signature of the test ship successfully exiting the Warp almost synchronously with the observers at Proxima Centauri, thanks to their powerful augur arrays.
However, the impact of cold observational data was fundamentally different from the shock delivered by this unambiguous psychic message of "Success" crossing the Immaterium.
"It succeeded..."
The word spread like a spark into hot machine oil, instantly igniting all of Mars. From the colossal orbital shipyards to the deepest Forge Temples on the surface, from the highest-ranking Archmagos to the lowest Servitor, every individual connected to the data flow or information channels registered the result at the same moment.
An irrepressible binary cheer spread through the data network with near-viral speed. Countless mechanical voices expressed astonishment and euphoria in their own ways, and even the millennia-old, rhythmic, low mechanical hums seemed to adopt a vibrant cadence.
This was a technological breakthrough capable of overturning ten thousand years of navigation history, clear evidence of the Omnissiah's glory made manifest!
Meanwhile, Holy Terra was also struck by an invisible tidal wave upon the arrival of the Astropathic message. The High Lords of Terra, the Departmento Administratum, the Departmento Munitorum... every center of power received the briefing in an extremely short time.
This was more than just the successful validation of a new technology; it meant that the Imperium's structure of power, military logistics, and mode of territorial control were all facing fundamental reshaping. Some saw hope, some felt threat, and others began frantically calculating their own positions in the new great game.
The violent emotional upheaval sweeping across the material universe, coupled with the technological breakthrough itself challenging physical laws, was like throwing a mountain into the tumultuous tides of the Warp.
A malicious Warp storm, aimed at the Imperium and this successful test, began to coalesce and gather with unprecedented speed. The churning, blasphemous energies sought to breach the veil of reality, to bring damnation and confusion down upon the celebrating Mars and Terra.
However, in the instant before this chaotic force could deliver a tangible impact—
The cold sun that burns eternally in the Warp, guiding humanity's path—the source of the Astronomican, the embodiment of the Emperor's will—suddenly erupted with a light far surpassing its usual intensity, like the brilliance of a supernova. This light was not warm, but carried an absolute, undeniable majesty and power.
It swept through the Immaterium like an invisible greatsword, or perhaps an unbreakable dam, obliterating the newly gathered, unformed Warp storm in an act of utter crushing force. It was instantly scattered, leveled, and reduced to nothingness.
Faint, distant roars of anger and frustration echoed from the depths of the Warp, quickly fading away to conceal themselves within the endless disorder.
Evidently, certain unspeakable entities attempted to disrupt or even stifle this technological breakthrough that could change the fate of humanity, but the Master of Mankind, seated upon the Golden Throne, used his supreme will to once again shield his subjects, and the future of the Imperium, from the malice of the highest heavens.
The celebration and turmoil in the material universe continued, but the brief confrontation in the Warp had already concluded. Yet, all those with the power to perceive this invisible struggle knew that this was only the beginning.
The success of the Warp drive was like igniting a new bonfire in a dark forest.
The light would illuminate the path, but it would inevitably attract more, and more dangerous, predators. The wave of change was unstoppable, and with it, far greater trials were sure to come.