In comparison to the vastness of the Immaterium and the materium, the Webway constructed by the Old Ones was far from spacious.
The majority of the Webway network spanning the galaxy functioned like a system of biological capillaries, with tunnels measuring only a few meters or tens of meters in diameter. Only those apertures situated in deep space, intended for the transit of Aeldari voidships, reached diameters of dozens or even hundreds of kilometers.
The constraints of the system were rooted in the unique nature of the Webway itself. A thick spatial veil exists between the material universe and the Sea of Souls. While this veil appears as thin as gauze when pierced by a warp drive, it actually possesses varying degrees of thickness. The Webway was established within this very veil.
Most Webway gates are anchored within the veil close to realspace. However, sections that run too close to the Immaterium are prone to breaches, akin to internal hemorrhaging. Whenever these weak points fail, the energies of the Warp and the daemons within seep into the tunnels.
Even so, the safety of Webway travel far exceeded that of Warp transit. Daemonic incursions were occasional rather than constant, and for a system designed for military purposes, such localized threats were minor defects. Realspace apertures were even less of a concern.
Yet, since the fall of the Old Ones, the Aeldari had faced their own cataclysm, and the Webway had fallen into total disrepair, its expansion rendered impossible.
Now, Vashtorr acted like a rabid bull, commanding the ancient "Shield-Borer" of the Old Ones to tear through the Webway in a frantic flight. Due to the sheer scale of Wyrmwood and the adaptability of the Dissonance Engine, the newly carved tunnels were large enough to accommodate an entire planet.
This was the only reason the Void Sword could pursue the enemy into the labyrinth. While the Titan-class ship was ten thousand kilometers in length, its width and radius remained manageable. Depending on the hull's architecture, its cross-section ranged from several thousand to nearly ten thousand kilometers, not significantly exceeding the diameter of Wyrmwood.
Furthermore, the new tunnels carved by the Dissonance Engine were not a tight fit; they were roughly one and a half times the size of the planet itself. Though this resulted in the destruction and leveling of vast sections of the original Webway, leaving a gaping wound in its wake, it was of no concern to Axion. Such headaches belonged to the Aeldari, not him.
The profane planet saturated every inch of the new tunnels with Chaos energy. Countless daemons, birthed by this psychic runoff, began to manifest within the Webway, spreading like a plague into the surviving adjacent chambers.
As the massive hull of the Void Sword vanished into the Webway in pursuit of Wyrmwood, the remaining Chaos fleet faced immediate annihilation. Countless heretic vessels were reduced to orbital debris by Fragmentation Cannons and Nova Cannons, their remains drifting as silent shrapnel in the void. The Adeptus Mechanicus and Imperial Navy ships seized the opening, moving in to mop up the splintered Chaos forces.
Though Vashtorr's power had tainted the Necron pylons throughout the Pariah Nexus, his victory was incomplete. The lingering "null-field" was already accelerating the dissolution of the Daemon Demigod's influence. Once the remaining blackstone pylons resumed normal operation, every daemon in the sector would be instantly banished back to the Warp.
Even with the loss of a key nodal planet, the Necron field's efficacy remained intact. However, the machine fleet's combat efficiency far outstripped that of the Imperial and Mechanicus forces; the trapped Chaos vessels and daemons did not survive long enough to see the field restore itself.
Just as the remaining machine fleet prepared to depart to deal with the blackstone constructs, Cawl contacted Axion.
It was not yet time to destroy the pylons. The massive Warp-rift torn open by Wyrmwood had yet to seal. They had to wait for the Necron blackstone pylons to recover, disperse the Warp energy, and close the spatial rift before taking further action.
In the interim, Cawl required time for observation and research. After all, a much larger, seemingly unsealable Warp-rift, the Great Rift, still bisected the Imperium. If he could observe the Necron devices expelling Warp energy and mending a rift in space, the gathered data might provide a vital reference for dealing with the Cicatrix Maledictum in the future.
Axion raised no objection to Cawl's request; currently, the machine fleet's directive was to assist the Imperial forces. The massive silver fleet stood sentinel at the edge of the battlefield, evolving as they waited. Several machine ships merged to form a stationary platform. Since the Void Sword had lost communication upon entering the Webway, Axion needed to establish a localized Webway interface here to monitor the ship's status.
During the wait, Cawl spoke to Axion for the first time regarding the Void Sword.
Through a communication link distorted by residual Warp interference, Cawl's massive, snail-like mechanical frame appeared in Axion's visual feed. To ensure maximum efficiency, Cawl bypassed standard speech, utilizing Binharic Cant for a rapid exchange of information.
As the deluge of data from the ship's mechanical throne flowed into Cawl's systems, he finally understood the sheer scale of events that had transpired since the Men of Iron's departure. He also understood the source of Guilliman's recent, palpable anxiety.
The Tyranid war in Segmentum Pacificus was enough of a headache for the Primarch, while the Pariah Nexus and the T'au expansion had tied down a significant portion of the Ultramarines' strength. The return of the Lion had not reduced the tally of crises; it had only brought new complications. These were the burdens Guilliman was forced to shoulder. He needed a reliable hand to assist him, which was why he had consistently pressured Cawl to find a solution for the Pariah Nexus.
Now, however, Guilliman would undoubtedly feel a sense of relief. The Men of Iron had repelled the Tyranid invasion of Segmentum Pacificus, and, while the Imperium was looking elsewhere, had summarily crushed the T'au expansion fleets and quietly annihilated the xenos' homeworld.
Even Cawl had to admit that having the Men of Iron as a strategic reserve was the greatest possible boon for the Lord Regent.
Cawl did not forget to inquire further about the Void Sword. When Axion revealed that in addition to the Void Sword, a second vessel, the Titan's Spear, was operational, Cawl immediately expressed his desire to conduct an inspection.
Axion did not rebuff Cawl as he had the other "Red Robes." Instead, he granted the request, while stipulating that he wished to board and inspect the Fortress of Enlightenment. Axion had noted that the strange battle-sphere, which looked more like a space station than a ship, appeared to be a variant hull of a Titan-class vessel.
It was a curiosity he intended to investigate.
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