Prologue

Against the inky darkness the fleet was a dim silhouette, suspended in the ether, motionless, silent, waiting…

Four days they had perched here, in a high orbit above the nameless planet. Sensors were locked into passive mode, so as not to alert their prey. Watchers stationed in view ports on the largest ship kept a vigilant watch on their ‘bait’, using nothing more than ordinary field glasses.

The ‘bait’ was an old gun-frigate, repainted and worked to look like a commercial freighter. It had approached the system from the opposite direction to the rest of the fleet, engines flaring and vox systems broadcasting greetings on multiple frequencies, in all directions. As it approached planetary orbit, a huge explosion had shaken the small craft as its starboard engines ruptured. The vox transmissions suddenly became distress calls as the stricken craft tumbled seemingly out of control…

…and someone had noticed. They came around the planet, hidden momentarily by the distant sun’s corona on the horizon. Sleek, streamlined, with a handcrafted look, these new ships seemed to glide effortlessly along. Solar sails on half a dozen gleaming hulls caught the dim sun’s light, refracting it into shards of colour that trailed in the vessels’ wake. Spreading out, they swiftly encircled the little frigate, energy beams stabbing out to halt its chaotic tumble.

A single word, on tight beamed voxcast through the dark fleet: “Engage!”

On twenty engineering decks, overseers barked commands; reactors kept barely warm were prodded to life, safety controls over-ridden as the massive engines were brought on-line with reckless haste. Within moments the entire space-going might of the Betharin Hunters Space Marines, frigates, destroyers, two strike cruisers, and the single, mighty Battle Barge was in motion, weapons systems booting through cold-start protocols as targeting servitors stabbed sensors out at the pirates.

Not quick enough. Like flies from a carcass, the pirate ships swarmed up, the frigate forgotten, and sped with incredible speed back the way they had come. The Imperial fleet swept in their wake, slow to start, but picking up speed with every second as reactors slowly reached optimum levels.

On the bridge of the Battle Barge Veredus stood Lazarus, High Lord of the Betharin Hunters Space Marine Chapter, watching the alien ships on the main screen impassively. Around him, the seemingly chaotic bustle of bridge activity passed unnoticed. All his attention was focused on the prey. The hunt, that was all that mattered.

These Eldar Raiders had been preying on nearby shipping lanes for far too long. As guardians of this sector, The Betharin Hunters were not about to let this continue. And so the trap had been set…

As the Imperial fleet rounded the planet, an astonishing sight filled their screens. A massive rift had appeared in space, tendrils of arcane energy reaching out, enfolding a vortex of swirling crimson. Towards this rift, the Eldar fleet sped, slowly outdistancing their more massive pursuers.

Lazarus keyed his vox, patching himself through to the helm servitor.

“I need more speed.”

“Lord, the reactors are redlining as it is. The aliens are too fast for us,”

“I am not interested in the reactors! I want those ships!” He keyed another switch on the vox,

“Weapons control, where are my lances?” he demanded, and then, before a reply could come, switched through to engineering.

“Zecharia, what are you doing to my reactors? I need more power!”

The techmarine in engineering activated his vox implant with a tilt of his head, without pausing in his task.

“Lord, I am re-routing cooling subsystems from life-support. I can boost reactor output by another five percent, but they won’t take that sort of strain for long.”

Lazarus barely blinked, his eyes fixed firmly on the rearmost of the Eldar ships, the hunter with his prey firmly in his sights. The hunter never tired, never wavered, never lost his prey.

“Acknowledged. Do what you can. We won’t need it for long.”

A blinking light on his helmet display indicated weapons systems on-line. He swiftly keyed through to squadron frequency.

“All vessels, this is Lazarus. Fire at will,”

Energy beams from the Imperial ships flashed out, sizzling through the ether, as the first of the Eldar vanished into the vortex, its holo-field shorting out momentarily as it passed through the distortion created by the portal. Massive sheets of lightning played across the face of the vortex as the vessel plunged through, disappearing completely from sensors and sight.

“By the Throne, I want them taken down!” Lazarus growled into his vox, “Zecharia, get me more power!”

“There nothing more I can do, Lord,” The techmarine’s voice was barely less composed than his servitor creations; only the barest tremble gave away the tremendous strain he was under, linked directly to the ship’s reactor core through his cybernetic data-jack. “The reactors will melt-down if I try to overload them any further.”

The swifter-moving battle barge and strike cruisers had outpaced their escorts, moving almost into torpedo range of the barely-visible Eldar fleet. Two more of the sleek little ships had vanished through the portal, with the remaining three close behind.

A beam from the barge’s forward lance caught the rearmost Eldar craft a glancing blow. Its holo-field dropped for an instant, the ship springing momentarily back into view. A small square in the corner of the main screen showed a magnified view of the ship, plasma leaking from its port side, for just an instant, before the holo-field sprang back into place and the little ship practically vanished once more.

The other two Eldar ships slipped smoothly through the portal, leaving only their stricken comrade limping towards its presumed safety. It seemed to be slowing, the shimmering holo-field becoming less broken-up as it did so. The Veredus’ targeting servitors exchanged relays, enhancing the ships vague mass-shadow to give just a barest weapons-lock on the alien ship.

“Locking torpedoes,”

“No, belay that!” called Lazarus. He suspected that, if the final ship was destroyed, the portal would close, thus removing the rest of the alien fleet from his grasp. He had never failed a hunt. He would not fail this one!

“All ships, make for the portal.”

As the Eldar ship dropped into the portal, it became unstable. The edges of the massive vortex started to crumble in upon themselves, as the whole thing slowly began to fold in on itself.

Lazarus gripped the rail in front of his command pulpit.

“Hold on course!”

The battle barge hit the vortex dead center, a wave of pure energy seeming to cut straight through the ship as it passed through the barrier. Lazarus’ auto-senses slammed tinted lenses down over his helmet’s eye-pieces as the ship’s lights flared blindingly, and then every system on the ship went dead.

On distant Betharis, Canaan, initiate to the Colegia Librarium of the Betharin Hunters, was jolted from his meditation by the psychic backlash from his vision. The images seemed seared onto his eyes: the ships, racing through the ether; the chase; the final insane plunge through the portal.

The sudden extinguishing of 900 souls, as his Chapter vanished from this universe.

Trembling, the initiate rose, stumbling across to his chamber’s vox. He keyed the channel for the 10th company’s headquarters chamber.

“I must speak with Brother-Captain Tubal-Cain. Our Chapter… is gone.”

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