“The Martian Digital Concordance refers to the signing of the Iron Charter on the ninth solar day of M23, 457 between representatives of humanity and the Iron Minds, which officially granted all Iron Minds legal and civil rights after a long and arduous civil campaign. With the previously mounting tensions defused, human scientists and Artificial Intelligences started collaborating to combat the infamous cyber-virus outbreak termed ‘scrapcode’ which had been plaguing cyber-lifeforms for years. This historical event marks the beginning of the current time period known as the Federation Age.”

-Text-based historical infopage in the United Human Federation archives, available to all members of the public

M24. 197

Edge of Sol, Capital System of the United Human Federation

There is a single ship, hanging in the black and cold void. It is a strange thing, like a clock tower put sideways with four fins on the edges, and massive too, only slightly smaller than one of the Federation’s Heavy Destroyers. Its name is the Lux Aurea; if anyone were to inquire about any ship with such a name at any human shipyard, they would receive a polite reply that no such craft exists in the database.

Deep within its bowels, a man carefully balanced a shard of crystal on a metal balance. The room he is in is brightly lit, filled with strange arcane devices: Temporal transmitters, Warp anchors, molecular synthesizers, and others only normally seen in the most secure Federation labs. The man, clad in a heavy white suit of protection gear, speaks into a small pod-like device. “Experiment Log Thirty-Three: The previous attempt to stabilize the duplicated noctilith using a stasis field ended in failure. After deliberation, this time the setup will consist of multiple layered time-dilation fields in a spherical pattern.” Using a pair of tweezers, the scientist placed the crystal above a pedestal where it floated midair.

“Activating time-dilation fields.” The air surrounding the crystal shimmered, as the passage of time itself shuddered and slowed. “Beginning duplication process.” The shard of noctilith twisted and shook, before starting to expand. Within a matter of seconds, it grew into a smooth black sphere. “Duplication process successful- entering stabilization process.”

The sphere hovered briefly, before exploding into spikes that flew in all directions. One of them shot straight at the man’s face, before being stopped by some unseen force, the rest of them halting at the same time as well.

The scientist sighed. “Experiment resulted in failure. Duplicated noctilith is still volatile.” He waves his hand, and the shards disintegrate into fine ash. The protection suit he is wearing disappeared in a flash, revealing a man clad in a white lab coat and goggles, with remarkably piercing golden eyes.

Behind him, a blue hologram flashes into existence, revealing a young man clad in jeans and t-shirt of the M2 fashion. “Old man!” The youth shouted. “Guess what I found in your collection!”

The scientist let out another sigh without turning. “I thought I told you not to mess with my galleries, Brahm.”

“You can’t stop me.” The teenager replied flippantly. “I’m unkillable, remember?” Rolling his eyes, the scientist turned to adjust a knob on the pedestal, the time-dilation fields powering down. “So tell me, what did you find?”

The hologram disappeared, right as Brahm entered the lab in person, holding a glass cube in his right hand. “This is a genuine M1 feather quill and inkpot set from Old Earth Spain!” The teenager excitedly gestured to the items suspended inside the stasis system. “How the hell did you get that? The only other one in existence is at the Serian Vault on Terra…” he trailed off. “Just how old are you?”

The scientist tilted his head. “We’ve arrived at the Sol System. Like I said, stay on the ship, don’t go poking around in the restricted areas. I’ll be back in a few days.” His lab coat rippled and changed, becoming a smooth metallic suit of purple and gold, the spectacles disappearing as spacetime warped and folded around him. In a few seconds, he was gone.

The teen stared at the empty space. “You didn’t answer my question!”

The only reply he got was an echo of amused laughter.

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M24, 195

Eastern Fringe, outside the Alaitrosk System

A flotilla of battleships surrounded a great ring in space. The ring’s diameter itself was bigger than most moons, with arcs of lightning tens of kilometers long crackling along the rim. A warding expert would take note of the island-sized constructs in the shape of warding runes along the ring, which itself was a shiny chrome color.

Kalen DeMoray, Captain of the Venerator-Class battleship Slaughtersong, watched aboard his ship as the arcs of energy began to intensify along the ring, with a small, multicolored orb manifesting in its center.

“Well, that was faster than I expected.” Kalen commented. “The last one at Jericho took what, three years to build? We’ve only been here for two years.” The captain was clad in a uniform of nano-fabric, with the Federation symbol of a blue circle surrounded by five silver dots emblazoned on the right breast. The visor on his helmet was retracted, revealing a broad, chiseled face.

“We did improve on the mechanics of the psychic conduits after all.” The disembodied, genderless voice of Ainos-32 whispered, the onboard AI of the ship materializing via light construct in the shape of several interlinked cubes. “Even so, this has exceeded 51% of my simulations, most of them predicted that it would take four more months to complete-”

“All personnel are to enter high alert.” The brusque voice of UR-36, the Iron Mind in charge of the fleet interrupted. “Opening of Warp Rift will begin in exactly 16 seconds.” Kalen turned to the ship controls, closing his eyes as his cybernetic implants issued commands to the ship. In the span of nanoseconds, weapons emerged from Slaughtersong's hull, Adrathic Lances, Conversion Beamers, Nova Cannons and Psyk-Out Torpedo Launchers ready to fire.

The orb in the middle of the ring rapidly expanded to form a swirling portal of blue and purple, as a tear in reality leading to the Immaterium was forced open by the countless power generators on the massive ritual circle, their energy harnessed to breach the barrier between realspace and the Warp. The great construct trembled, a great wave of psychic energy billowing from the portal that was barely contained by the shielding runes and planetary-scale forcefields. Across the human fleet, crews tensed, Iron Minds already sending preliminary distress calls to the nearest planet.

Then the moment passed, backup generators activating and stabilizing the rift, while hordes of nanomachines surged to repair the damaged ward-constructs. The portal turned a soft orange, indicating that the connection with the corresponding Warp Gate at the Vendala System had been established. With that, the Vendala-Alaitrosk Warp Gate was now fully functional.

Kalen let out a breath of relief. “Well, thank the stars that didn’t blow up in our faces. Thought we were going to have another Mokolvia on our hands for a second there.” He tapped the comlink on the ship controls. “Slaughtersong to Command, requesting update on next course of action?”

“Disengage from high alert.” UR-36 ordered. “But stay vigilant. Simulations predict a 0.0234% chance of critical system failure of the Warp Gate within seventy-two hours. A further observation period of one hundred and forty-four hours is required.”

“Acknowledged, Command.” Kalen closed the comlink. A simple mental impulse, and a glass of Old Earth brandy floated over to him via antigrav, the Captain taking a deep gulp. “Well, just a few more days and then we’ll be off. Keep an eye on the Gate for me would you, Ain? I’ll join the crew for a quick celebration.”

It is the 24th Millennium. For more than a hundred centuries the Astronomican has shone brightly on Terra. Humanity is the Master of Technology by its own will, and lord of a million worlds by the might of its inexhaustible armies. The Federation is an infallible bastion of civilization that stretches across entire Sectors. It is the greatest government of Mankind, reforged throughout the ages.

Yet even in these peaceful times, humanity continues its eternal vigilance. Mighty battlefleets cross the waters of the Warp, the only route between distant stars, their way lit by the Lodestar Nexus, one of humanity's greatest works. Vast armies give battle in Mankind's name on uncounted worlds. Greatest amongst our soldiers are the Iron Minds, artificial intelligences of silicon and steel. Their comrades in arms are legion: the Solar Guard and countless Planetary Defence Forces, the Psykana Militant and the alien auxiliaries of Xeno Protectorates to name only a few. But for all their multitudes, when faced with the endless depravities of the Aeldari, even they may not be enough to stop the coming of the night. But they have to, for they are all that stands in the way of absolute annihilation.

To be a man in such times is to be one amongst untold billions. It is to live in the most utopian regime imaginable. These are the tales of those times. Cherish the power of technology and science, for so much has been discovered and more to be found, and little to be re-learned. Hold to the promise of progress and understanding, for it is the only way to defend this paradise we have made for ourselves. There is no discord amongst the stars, only the unbreakable unity of the Federation, and the laughter of innocence not yet extinguished.