The psychic shockwave caused minor damage to the wide-spectrum energy detection arrays across the mechanical fleet, but the effects were negligible. Under the direction of the nanites, the speed of repair matched the rate of destruction. The energy compression apparatus remained entirely unaffected, its power output climbing steadily.
The vast psychic essence, once a diffuse mist, was gradually crushed into a smaller volume. The ultra-high density triggered violent discharges of psychic lightning that crackled through the air with deafening roars. The pale blue psionic energy, which had previously drifted like ethereal silk, was now being kneaded by invisible, titanic hands.
Deep within that pale blue luminescence, flecks of inconspicuous black began to appear, merging into the mass like impurities tainting a clear sky. As the psionic field contracted, its form shifted and its volume dwindled, yet the primordial power contained within remained undiminished, radiating a terrifying, suffocating pressure.
Never before had anyone attempted to harvest the power of a million psykers in a single instance. Such an act was inconceivable even to the Aeldari. The Imperium's Astronomican consumed a mere thousand psykers a day to maintain the beacon that illuminated the galaxy. But this was a million. Even without the souls being "ignited," the gathering of such a colossal psychic mass generated massive ripples within the Immaterium.
As the containment fields of the compression device intensified, the nebulous psionic energy transitioned from a gaseous state to a liquid one. In that instant, the black streaks abruptly multiplied.
Axion did not understand the nature of this substance. To the Iron Man, psychic energy was merely a peculiar form of power; he had performed no extra operations to alter its fundamental properties beyond pure compression. If a small amount of energy could be condensed into a solid crystal, there was no logical reason a larger volume should result in a mutation.
Yet, in his energy-vision, the black matter within the liquified psionic mass was unmistakable. Though these black particles showed no distinct energetic divergence, they began to crystallize ahead of the surrounding "normal" psionic energy. Despite the anomaly, the compression process remained identical to the previous small-scale successes.
Though the cause eluded him, Axion knew that halting the process was no longer an option. Every biological entity aboard the Void Sword was dead, not just the psykers, but every organism within the artificial biosphere. If the test were aborted, their deaths would be stripped of all utility. The fleet would be forced to wait for new mandates to harvest more psykers and restart the experiment—an unacceptable inefficiency.
The titanic containment fields surged to their maximum output. This time, not even a stray bolt of psychic lightning or a fragment of psionic grit could escape the constraint. The liquid psionic mass began to crystallize rapidly, encasing the smaller black crystals within its structure.
Suddenly, the black crystals shattered like pressurized ink bottles. The dark energy bled into the surrounding psionic lattice, staining the once-pale blue mega-crystal into a somber, ashen grey-black. As the solidification finalized, the energy monitors recorded one last burst: a short, high-frequency spike, sounding like a digital transcription of a terminal death-rattle.
In the center of the containment field stood a crystal obelisk nearly a hundred meters tall. Unlike previous psychic crystals, this giant was not only different in hue but lacked a smooth surface. Its facets were etched with strange, intricate patterns—tiny, dense runes that swarmed across the crystal's skin.
Axion observed these runes with caution. According to core archives, most aberrant symbols of this nature were linked to the Warp. However, these specific sigils matched no known patterns in either Imperial records or Old Federation data. It appeared to be an entirely new class of runic script.
Exercising prudence, Axion commanded his nanites to construct several specialized emitters around the obelisk, projecting an inverted Geller Field in real-space to isolate the energy crystal. While the functional difference between this mega-crystal and its smaller predecessors remained unknown, the fact that each required a million psykers to "forge" necessitated careful calculation.
Since death was inevitable, Axion mused that perhaps a more brutal approach, the instantaneous, total extraction of both psychic potential and life force, might yield a higher production efficiency.
But first, the efficacy of this crystal had to be measured.
Several Eight-Legs drifted into the colossal chamber, their grav-impellers humming as they moved the mega-crystal from the compression bay to a transit platform. The weapon trials would not take place within the Void Sword; Axion would risk no structural damage to the Titan-ship. As of yet, no heavy weapon system had been tested with a psionic power source. He had no desire to see a Nova Cannon warp into a "Nova Sword" or a Fragmentation Cannon fuse into a solid rod of metal due to unpredictable psionic transmutations.
Psionic-metallic fusion structures possessed a stability that nanites could not replicate, and an experimental failure within the Void Sword's hull would require the tedious deconstruction and recasting of entire modules.
From the surrounding fleet, a heavy assault ship broke formation and approached the Titan's Spear. Nanites stripped away most of the vessel's upper superstructure, leaving only a flat horizontal hull deck, the aft engine block, and the reactor core. The ship was transformed into an open-air weapon testing platform.
The targets for these tests were already at hand. In the far distance, a brilliant green beam of light lanced into the heavens from a Necron pylon. Both Guilliman and Cawl had resorted to Exterminatus to cleanse planets of Necron Dynasties. Axion reasoned that if he accidentally shattered the planet below, it would hardly be a breach of protocol. After all, the Imperium handled the problem the same way.
The only difference was that the Imperium usually left a scorched rock behind. Axion wasn't entirely sure what would be left after this test.
From the Void Sword's internal bays, Eight-Legs riding atop Heavy Combat Drones gripped the floating grey-black crystal and ferried it through the vacuum to the modified assault ship. On the deck of the testing platform, metal structures shifted and reformed with fluid speed.
A Nova Cannon, an Antimatter Annihilation Beam, a Fragmentation Cannon, and an ultra-heavy Railgun were mounted in a row along the ship's centerline, their muzzles extending into the void. While the platform was unfit for actual combat and could likely not fire all weapons simultaneously, such concerns were irrelevant for a calibration trial.
The power conduits were rerouted, a massive energy housing was constructed, and the ashen-black psychic crystal was locked into place.