"We're invading the Underhive?"
Hopper found it hard to believe. The events of nearly twenty years ago were still vivid in her mind; Sisters of Battle entering the Underhive for combat was never a good omen.
"The people of the Underhive now threaten the entire planet. We are moving in."
Even though Hopper harbored doubts, she remembered the teachings of her seniors. The people of the Underhive were wavering; they were easily seduced by evil and required guidance.
The Sisters of Battle reached the surface, moving from the Spire into the Mid-hive. Everything in the Mid-hive seemed fine—supplies were plentiful, logistics were sound, and curious citizens even gathered to watch them pass. Hopper felt a sense of unease but said nothing.
The Astra Militarum, Planetary Defense Forces, and Arbitrators were also advancing toward the Underhive. What exactly was happening down there? The outposts below always reported that everything was normal, but Borlais did not believe them. For some reason, he was certain the Underhive had completely fallen. He even suspected the Schola Progenium had been taken by the enemy.
Tanks, heavy weaponry, and even the warships in orbit were ready. Hopper was merely a capable Battle Sister; these strategic decisions were not hers to influence. She only needed to focus on the fighting.
"Hopper? You used to live in the Underhive, didn't you? We might need you to lead the way; none of us know the situation down there."
"I... I haven't lived in the Underhive for a long time. I'm not sure how much help I'll be," Hopper hesitated. She didn't like war, a thought that, if voiced, could lead her to the pyre. However, this wasn't her first conflict.
The Underhive.
The vanguard had established an outpost at the elevator platform. Reconnaissance teams moved into the iron warrens to find traces of the enemy. Surprisingly, they found no one.
Within a twenty-kilometer radius, there were no enemies—not even a single person. Houses were empty, resources were gone; it was as if everyone had vanished. The Sisters of Battle were deployed, but calling it "combat" was an exaggeration, as they encountered no resistance for days.
The absence of people and enemies across a hundred-kilometer range only deepened the confusion as more troops poured into the Underhive. It was strange. Too strange.
Hopper followed the main force into an abandoned factory. Curiously, there were still many supplies inside, mostly food. Hopper knew the conditions of the Underhive; surviving on the bare minimum was usually the limit. Was this a secret cache for a specific gang?
As the group rested and prayed, they saw Astra Militarum outriders approaching from a distance. Due to the Shadow in the Warp, they had to rely on primitive methods to relay information.
"Disaster! The elevator platforms are under heavy enemy attack!"
"Are you joking?"
The Sisters of Battle were shocked. They looked back in the direction they had come. Their slow, methodical advance had taken nearly a week; returning at full speed would take at least two days.
"Where did they come from? We didn't see anything when we passed through!"
"They came out of the pipes! We couldn't react in time. Dammit, they aren't human—pure xenos! All contact between us and the Mid-hive and Spire has been severed!"
This realization filled Hopper with dread. Millions of troops were now trapped in the Underhive. What was meant to be a swift pacification using numerical superiority had turned into a massive waste of manpower.
"Move out immediately! We can't waste time!"
If the Mid-hive was under attack, the garrison left there wouldn't last a month. While the Spire had more troops, the enemy's strength remained unknown. They had tried to seize the initiative, but now they were the ones in a passive position.
Hopper gripped her gun tightly. She knew nothing—how the Inquisitor judged the Lower Hive as traitorous, or what kind of enemy they were facing. She knew nothing at all. She stepped onto the battlefield with a lingering doubt, and her intuition—along with the ghost of a leg she had lost long ago—told her she wouldn't leave this place in one piece.
The Sisters of Battle were the fastest; it took them less than two days to reach a point fifty kilometers from the great elevator platform. However, a group was already waiting for them. The hybrids of the Genestealer Cult unleashed a massive amount of firepower upon them.
Across the entire Underhive, previously hidden forces emerged. They had been concealed in pipes, overlooked small rooms, or hidden within a vast network of tunnels. Few knew how they had hidden so effectively, but now, they were everywhere.
...
Yuki stood in a large conference hall. All the tables and chairs had been cleared, leaving a massive map of the Hive City in the center—the largest map the room could accommodate.
"The hidden forces in the Underhive have made their move? Good. This is proceeding as expected."
Yuno sat nearby, looking somewhat tired. "Is it really as expected?"
At least the previous Chaos incursion had been outside Yuki's calculations. He hadn't connected the Chaos breach to the Inquisitor. Thus, when the Spire sent their routine inquiries about the status of the Underhive, Yuki had ordered his subordinates to report that nothing was happening, as usual.
Then, the Spire's troops had marched straight into the Underhive as if confirming a suspicion. Only then did Yuki realize the Chaos incursion was the Inquisitor's doing.
Typical Inquisitor behavior. Among the Inquisition, if you lined them up and shot every single one, you might occasionally kill an innocent man; but if you shot every other one, you'd definitely let too many villains go free.
Fortunately, they didn't know that the Mid-hive was also largely under Yuki's control. Since the Inquisitor wanted to play this way, Yuki would turn their own plan against them.
"Everyone, the Spire's defenses are currently thin. This is our moment to mount up, destroy them all, and take this planet completely!"
The Purestrain Genestealers and gang opportunists around him were ecstatic. Their goals differed, but their actions would be the same.
"For the Emperor!"
Yuno watched Yuki with a smile. Yuki had indeed grown strong, and the biomass on this planet had increased significantly, just as he had promised. Yuno didn't care what this planet could offer her; she felt Yuki's love for her, and that was enough.
"So handsome, so cute. Hehehehe."
Yuki didn't notice Yuno's gaze. He remained silent for a moment, then suddenly remembered something. He turned back to Yuno and smiled sincerely.
"Thank you, Yuno."