From the moment the cruiser Path of Glory departed, carrying Vanessa and Yoan, to the moment it returned to the Talon system's orbital starport, less than a month had passed.
Vanessa once again found herself in the underhive fortress of Talon I, where she came face-to-face with Qin Mo.
Yoan was already reporting at Qin Mo's side, detailing everything that had occurred during their journey: how Vanessa had used her psychic abilities to influence the Planetary Governor and secure unrestricted movement within the hive city, and recounting every word spoken by the strange robed figure.
Vanessa remained silent, waiting patiently until Yoan finished and displayed all the recorded data from his power armor.
"Did I pass the test?" she finally asked.
"You did," Qin Mo said with a nod.
It was clear Vanessa hadn't lied; everything she said was true. She indeed had a way to contact the highest echelons of the Imperium.
The robed man was likely a retired Adeptus Custodes now working in Imperial Intelligence, which explained quite a few things. Or at least someone with access to the Custodian level of authority, which in practice made little difference.
"Is there anything else I can assist with?" Vanessa asked.
"No, at least not for now," Qin Mo replied, shaking his head.
Vanessa had actually hoped that Qin Mo would assign her another mission, something she could use as a natural pretext to bring up the request to send military support to the Forge World of Agripinaa.
But since he hadn't, she could not avoid broaching the matter directly.
"I remain at your command, but I would like to request fleet support for a Forge World," Vanessa said, taking the initiative. Her voice, though steady, carried the edge of urgency. She then explained the recent failures of the Imperial Navy and the looming threat.
Qin Mo listened in silence.
The Forge World of Agripinaa sat perilously close to the Eye of Terror. It was a vital Forge World responsible for supplying arms and materiel to the massive military forces stationed around Cadia and the Cadian Gate.
Its foundries forged the weapons that outfitted entire Crusade fleets. Its void docks repaired battlefleets returning from the front lines, and its orbital yards served as staging points for the Segmentum Obscurus's greatest defensive campaigns.
Losing Agripinaa would not merely weaken the Imperium's industrial capacity, it would cripple the sector's ability to respond to any sustained invasion from the Eye of Terror. It was, in many ways, a keystone in the Imperium's crumbling arch.
With the Thirteenth Black Crusade looming, the importance of Agripinaa could not be overstated.
As far as Qin Mo knew, in the lead-up to the 13th Black Crusade, aside from the long-lasting ravages of the Plague of Unbelief, multiple raiding warbands of traitors and xenos spilled out from the Eye of Terror, sowing chaos.
Fleet Admiral Quarren of the Imperial Navy had clashed with a Plague Fleet, a confrontation that ended in disaster. Quarren's forces were ambushed and severely mauled. The victorious Plague Fleet then ran unchecked through multiple sectors, including Agripinaa, spreading contagion and enslaving entire populations.
These events were unfolding now, and what made Qin Mo uneasy was how early all of this was happening.
"…It's too soon," Qin Mo muttered irritably after a long silence, his voice taut with frustration. "I thought I had a few more years, time to prepare, consolidate… before getting dragged into this war."
Vanessa blinked in surprise. Her brow furrowed. Did Qin Mo somehow already know all of this would happen?
Perhaps even foreseen it?
"I didn't even get the chance to warn Quarren," Qin Mo added bitterly.
His original plan had been to deliver prophetic warnings to all those destined to fight in the Black Crusade. Even if they didn't believe him, at least they would be armed with foreknowledge.
Though he'd never met Admiral Quarren, Qin Mo believed that at the very least, the man should have had some idea of what was coming, whether he believed it or not was another matter. He would have moved more cautiously.
"I did warn Quarren," Vanessa said. "It didn't matter. Some things are inevitable. Even if someone knows the future, they'll still be pushed by events to walk the very path foretold."
"…You're right about that," Qin Mo sighed in agreement.
The Eldar were infamous for trying to avert grim futures through endless prophecies, always trying to twist fate.
And yet, after all their efforts, they usually ended up fulfilling the prophecy they tried so hard to avoid, sometimes making things even worse.
Qin Mo's gaze turned distant, as though peering through the fabric of time itself.
Qin Mo had believed that knowledge of coming disasters would grant him leverage over them, that forewarning could be turned into a weapon. But now he saw the truth more clearly: foreknowledge was not just a boon.
Sometimes, rather than obsessing over the future, it was better to act in the present.
"Do you think this Forge World is truly worth defending?" Vanessa asked, testing the waters to discern Qin Mo's stance.
Qin Mo didn't answer immediately, but in his mind, the answer was clear.
Forge World Agripinaa held immense strategic value. If the Imperium hoped to prevent Abaddon the Despoiler's Thirteenth Black Crusade from annihilating Cadia, then Agripinaa had to hold. If Cadia was the wall, Agripinaa was the forge that repaired the shield and sharpened the blade.
There was another reason, too.
Magos Vick, the Tech-Priest who had accompanied the Inquisition to the Talon System, had been stationed at Agripinaa by Archmagos Belisarius Cawl himself.
Qin Mo had provided Vick with an STC fragment and made trade arrangements with Cawl to ensure Vick's rise within the Adeptus Mechanicus.
An investment not born out of altruism, or the Magos's fervent faith in the Omnissiah, but because Vick had potential. Strategic potential.
Vick was pivotal to Qin Mo's long-term vision, perhaps even more so than the Forge World Agripinaa itself.
In the end, Qin Mo came to a decision, Agripinaa must be protected.
"I'll do it," he told Vanessa. "I'll move to defend the system Agripinaa resides in. But don't expect me to wipe out every enemy fleet ravaging the surrounding sectors. The Talon Sector has only had two standard years of development. Integration across the wider sector has only just begun."
"That's more than enough…" Vanessa exhaled with relief. She was visibly pleased, even a little surprised. "What do you want in return?"
"I haven't decided yet," Qin Mo replied with a slow shake of his head.
Vanessa found that odd. She felt this decision to aid Agripinaa must have been premeditated. If Qin Mo had planned to ask for compensation, he would have done so immediately.
Reflecting on all that had happened, Vanessa suddenly realized that perhaps not everything Qin Mo did was for power, wealth, or women.
Where she once thought Qin Mo was just another warlord seeking influence, now she believed he might be fighting for something far greater, for the survival of their species, maybe even the preservation of the entire material universe.
"You may go," Qin Mo said, dismissing her.
Vanessa rose, offered a respectful salute, and returned to her quarters within the fortress.
Once she was out of sight, Qin Mo began drafting the next stage of his plan.
The Talon Fleet would remain in-system. If an invasion swept across the sub-sectors, they would be the only force capable of mounting a rapid defense.
As for the force to be deployed to Agripinaa, it would be the Celestial Engine.
Deploying such a planetary-scale weapon platform offered more than just brute force. If Abaddon launched a full-scale assault on the Cadian Gate, the Celestial Engine could dimensional-jump directly to Cadia.
Of course, it couldn't orbit the planet like a moon, if it did, Cadia would collapse under its gravity long before Abaddon ever fired a shot.
Instead, it could remain in a stable orbit around the system's star, a sentinel that no enemy fleet could bypass unchallenged.
The same effect could be achieved by positioning it near Agripinaa.
As for the ground forces, after some thought, Qin Mo decided to send Grey and Yoan, both Thunderborns, along with a hundred full regiments.
These regiments weren't your average Astra Militarum formations of a few thousand troops. These regiments were tens of thousands strong, with numbers swelling past hundreds of thousands.
When combined with the Forge World's own native Skitarii Legions, battle-automata of the Legio Cybernetica, and orbital defense stations, the defense would be more than sufficient to withstand even a major incursion from the forces of Chaos.
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