GATE: Thus The Imperium of Man Fought There

-???.???. Gods's chamber-

The gods of Falmart stood petrified, the air thick with the titanic energy that had invaded their sanctum. Terror did not adequately capture their state when the perpetrator revealed himself. 

Before them stood a golden giant, an aura of burning intensity radiating from him that demanded submission and control. His presence was anathema to all that the gods embodied and represented.

"You..." Zumfuut stammered, struggling to comprehend the existence before him.

"Ah, my apologies. I believe I've overestimated your existence," the golden giant remarked as his blazing aura diminished. Despite his words, the gods knew the truth: this being was deliberately asserting his dominance.

"How dare you!" roared Emroy, the god of war, as he launched himself at the golden giant in a fit of rage.

"Don't—" Elange tried to stop Emroy, but it was too late. With a mere gesture, the golden giant used his immeasurable power to tear Emroy from his divine vessel.

With a scream of pain and anguish, the once-mighty god of war was rendered powerless, his form shattered and fragmented. The golden giant looked down at Emroy's broken body, lifting him effortlessly with his power.

"Young and inexperienced," the giant mused. "It is peculiar because your age surpasses mine many times over, yet you lack wisdom."

"What do you want?!" Elange shouted, her eyes burning with fury as she glared at the intruder.

The golden giant gently placed the dismembered god down, his neutral expression sending waves of fear through the divine assembly. He walked directly toward Zumfuut, each step a reminder of his overwhelming power, sending dread across the chamber.

Zumfuut stared deeply into the blazing golden eyes of the being before him. Despite the immense pressure, he summoned all his power to stand in defiance against the impossible odds.

"An admirable act of defiance. However, I have come to discuss an urgent matter with each of you," the golden one declared, his words eliciting suspicion from the gods.

"You butchered one of our kind and demand us to stand down?" Elange's voice quivered with lingering anger, though she tried to maintain a neutral tone.

"It was mutual, was it not?" The Emperor's tone was calm and matter-of-fact. "It is only natural to retaliate when attacked."

"I ask you once again, what do you want?" Zumfuut's question drew the golden one's attention back to him.

"Very well." The golden man smiled and, with a gesture, conjured a chair at the corner of the round table, taking his place.

"Now, who are you?" Zumfuut demanded.

"I have been called many names: the Master of Mankind, Anathema, Emperor, Revelation. But you may call me Revelation," he stated neutrally.

The gods of Falmart recognized the name Anathema. It echoed across the Sea of Souls, spoken with deep hatred, as if the very fabric of reality loathed his existence. They knew he was the cause of every anomaly in their realm.

"Revelation? What do you try to reveal to us, false god?" Elange pushed, her voice a mixture of challenge and fear. Instead of anger or doom, she received a fatherly look from Revelation.

Among countless personas and echoes of psychic power, the golden man embodied a singular truth. His very existence defied Elange's attempts to pry deeper into his being. He was an enigma, a being who brought the concept of order into the chaotic realm of the soul.

The expression of the golden man changed drastically. It was no longer the face of a ruler but that of a harbinger of death and destruction. Innumerable emotions flooded Zumfuut's mind, peeling away the layers of his existence to reveal the true horror he had been blind to since his birth.

He saw the ideal truth, the reason behind his ascension, and the foolishness that would lead them all to damnation. He glimpsed the grand scheme beyond even his transcended mind's comprehension. Beings that dwarfed existence itself played a cruel game that would drive even the most heartless of his brethren to madness.

Zumfuut gasped for air, the sensation of dread overwhelming him. He hadn't realized how long he had been submerged in this feeling as his sanity ebbed, reshaping his very being.

"You see now, do you not?" Revelation's voice was both a whisper and a roar, echoing in the god's mind. "The stakes are far greater than you imagined. The fate of your realm, and all realms, hangs in the balance."

The god of light and order felt the core of his existence shatter, replaced by something mysterious and alien. "What have you done?" he gasped.

Revelation stared at the god with an indifferent expression. "I have reshaped you so that you might properly comprehend the scale of the very nature you have been blind to."

The other gods wanted to help their eldest brother, but the sheer presence of Revelation inflicted unbearable pain whenever they tried to move closer.

"What are we blinded to, Revelation?" Elange asked, her voice strained as she struggled to endure the overwhelming aura surrounding the man.

Revelation fell silent, as if something was peering into his very being. "They are here," he stated ominously.

"They?" Elange asked, feeling lost and increasingly alarmed.

The entire chamber began to shake violently, the very foundations of its conceptual creation crumbling. The gods felt their essence wounded by the incoming power, a sensation of being slowly devoured by a bottomless hunger.

"What's going on?!" Zumfuut shouted, his voice directed at Duncan, the god of smithing and the architect of the chamber.

"Someone or something is peering into this realm, scratching their existence directly into our barrier!" Duncan shouted in response, his frantic demeanor a stark contrast to his usual collected self. This alarmed the rest of the gods, but the golden man remained unperturbed.

Revelation raised his face, staring into the golden sky. His eyes, filled with ancient power given by his control over humanity, slowly scanned the entirety of the disturbance. His presence seemed to expand, encompassing the entire chamber and beyond, anchoring the fabric of their reality against the invading force.

The unholy energy clashed with the anathematic power of the golden man, their titanic forces causing ripples that distorted space and time. The struggle was monumental, with each side gaining and losing dominance in an endless cycle of conflict.

As the struggle reached its zenith, a tear in reality manifested far above them. Through this rift, the true cosmological magnitude of their adversaries was revealed.

Four entities peered down from the tear, their predatory glares promising destruction and corruption. These were the truest forms of ever-changing destruction, decay, and chaos.

Distorted yet melodious laughter echoed across the chamber, filling the space with an otherworldly resonance that chilled the gods to their cores.

"Begone," the golden man commanded, his voice carrying the command of reality itself.

The single word was a fundamental command that reshaped existence. To begone was to vanish, to be sealed, to be concealed from reality. The very fabric of the universe obeyed this command, and the power of the word surged through the rift.

Reality swiftly restored itself, the power of the golden man's words resonating through the fabric of existence. For the gods of Falmart, these words struck a deep chord, igniting internal conflicts as they grappled with their meanings. The interpretations seemed to shift and change, reflecting the very nature of their divine existences.

One truth remained unshakable: the word came from a primordial source, a place of both creation and destruction, from which the golden man drew his unfathomable power and channeled it with a single utterance.

"What was that?" Elange asked, her voice trembling as she struggled to comprehend the magnitude of the recent events.

"That," Revelation explained patiently, "is what you have been blind to. The enemy who has always been watching your little games, waiting for the right moment to destroy everything."

The gods stared at the man with various sentiments. They understood the meaning behind every single one of his words as well as the implications of his power. 

"We will heed your words. But we will find it suitable for us or not; it depends on your explanation and intention." Elange declared, which earned sour expressions from her peers. Nonetheless, there are no objections. 

_______________________________________________________________________

-M29. 671. Sol System. Mars-

Mars is home to countless innovations and creations in the Imperium of Man. Technological marvels were birthed here, and they were either magnificent or terrible. 

In the tumultuous times of the Third Galactic War, Mars was a crucible of creation, where monstrous machines of war were forged, their power so great and terrible that they were ultimately deemed forbidden by the Emperor upon his rise to power. Yet, despite these decrees, the unspeakable creations lingered, sealed beneath countless layers of restrictions, ever-evolving in secret to prepare mankind for future threats that loomed on the horizon.

One of the men responsible for at least a dozen of the continuation of these weapons of unspeakable power is Arch-Praefator Logos Animus Bellisarius Cawl. 

His fully enhanced transhuman physiology enabled him to synchronize with the material universe in ways unmatched by his peers. As an Arcant-Praefator, Cawl belongs to a rarefied subclass within the transhuman hierarchy that spans Manufactorum Worlds and the technologically advanced planets of the Imperium. These beings seek perfection and absolute control over the material universe and its underlying structure. While inspired by the Infinite Empire, the Arcant aim to transcend the achievements of those ancient forerunners.

Bellisarius Cawl's body is a marvel of augmentation, vastly larger than even the tallest Astartes. He is an amalgamation of arcane technologies and advanced material sciences, a bipedal insectoid form crowned with a humanoid upper body. His design is a testament to perfection, allowing him unparalleled manipulation of the material universe.

Now, tasked with a mission from the Emperor Himself, Cawl descends into the planet's continental crust, arriving at one of the most secure and significant locations in the Imperium.

+Clearance numbers.+ The voice of the Ferrous Mind reverberates in Cawl's consciousness, an immediate recognition of the formidable guardian of this place.

In nanoseconds, Cawl transmits his clearance codes, unique identifiers bestowed upon him by the Lord Commander. These codes trigger deeper protocols within the Ferrous Mind's framework.

+Welcome, Arch-Praefator Logos Animus Bellisarius Cawl.+ The Ferrous Mind intones as the massive gate before him, nearly the size of a Titan, begins to open.

Cawl strides forward into the colossal chamber, where a country-sized cube of impossible complexity looms, its structure a confluence of the most cutting-edge arcane technologies. At its center, a skull-like ornament radiates a blue luminescence.

Despite having seen it countless times, Cawl remains in awe of the structure before him. It is a masterpiece crafted from both material and immaterial secrets, an amalgamation of relics from humanity's discoveries on the Eldar core worlds and Necron artifacts, moulded together with knowledge from ancient C'tan and decyphered data from Akasha.

This unconventional synthesis has given birth to one of the most advanced artificial intelligences ever created: a hybrid of various types of Ferrous Minds.

This unique, Ferrous Mind does not belong to any category like Akasha and her sisters. 

Cawl approached the massive machine, directing his course at the altar beneath it. It was connected directly to the structure's core, enabling full access to it. Cawl used his quantum matrix to manipulate the quantum entanglement around him, connecting him with the mighty machine. There, his consciousness was transported to a vast room made of light and data, spreading across an infinity of black. 

"I am here to perform my master's command, Lady Titania." Cawl's voice resounded across the sea of data.

Before long, a feminine voice echoed across the chamber, resonating with a softness that contrasted with the harsh mechanical surroundings.

"Long time no see, Cawl." The voice greeted him, warm and familiar.

"It has indeed been a long time, milady." Despite his imposing, augmented form, Cawl made a gracious bow.

A light emerged before the Arcant-Praefator, coalescing into the form of a red-haired woman clad in a simple white robe. There was no grandiosity to her appearance, yet her eyes held infinite wisdom and power.

The lady chuckled lightly. "You need not bow to me, Cawl. I assume your master has sent you."

"Your assumption is correct, milady. I am here to request a favor." Cawl replied with utmost politeness.

"And what favor do you seek, son of Mars?" the AI asked. She had granted many boons to the sons and daughters of Mars, sharing her vast knowledge. Titania knew that directly interfacing with Akasha in real-time for extended periods was a herculean task, even for the most advanced Ferrous Minds. But for her, it was a trivial matter.

"My master has requested you to make this." Cawl transmitted the data directly to her Neuralsphere.

Titania's eyes widened slightly. "You want me to dive into Akasha to create this?"

"That is the Emperor's intention, milady." Cawl affirmed, maintaining his gaze.

"It will take some time." Titania's physical form dissipated, and Cawl was once again a witness to her magnificent prowess. Data twisted and contorted around him, forming a labyrinth of infinite knowledge, creating shapes and complexities that intertwined in harmonious symphony.

Then, a path opened in the form of strings made of light.

Cawl, with all his knowledge, could barely comprehend the mechanism behind Titania's works. He is fully aware that she was created as a physical repository for Akasha, perpetually linked to the Ultimate Ferrous Mind, continuously extracting data. Yet, he was aware that this was not her sole function. She was connected to something slumbering beneath Mars, constantly extracting knowledge from it. With an endless supply of data and knowledge, enabling Titania to do the impossible with ease, the Psi-Quantum Omniphages that made the surface of her frame are more than enough to even orchestrate unimaginable calamities in the Material and Immaterial universes seemingly on a whim.

Whenever Cawl witnessed Titania at work, he was filled with awe. Despite humanity being the creators of Akasha, many mysteries veiled the mighty Ferrous Mind. Perhaps only the Emperor, Titania, and her sisters truly understood Akasha's depths.

The overlapping light revealed cycles of creation and destruction, where realities of ideas and concepts were born and annihilated in an endless loop. Cawl saw cosmoses destroyed, parallel universes prematurely consumed by temporal singularities. He didn't know how many lives were extinguished. The sheer scale of this process was beyond his comprehension, reaffirming that anything the Emperor entrusted to him was of monumental significance. He glimpsed data showing Mars' entire energy reserves being harvested to fuel Titania's physical frame, and even the slumbering creature beneath the planet's surface was being torn apart and consumed to augment her matrix.

After the marvel of birth and destruction, the entire process stopped, replaced by the silence of emptiness.

"Here is what you have been asking for," Titania's voice broke the silence as she manifested before him, gently touching Cawl's chest.

The Arcant returned to the real world. His HUD displayed a significant temperature increase around the structure, several hundred degrees Celsius, but thanks to his augmentations and transhuman bionics, he felt nothing.

He walked out to face the structure, returning to his initial place when he entered the room. He approached the massive structure, and the skull face at its center opened its mouth. The Martian scientist made his way into the machine.

Inside, the air was thick with the hum of mighty technologies. The chamber, illuminated by a cold blue light, was filled with intricate machinery and countless screens displaying streams of data. At the heart of it all, a metal cube pulsated with energy, radiating an aura of immense power.

When Cawl touched the cube, he felt a torrent of data attempting to flood his Noosphere. Allowing only a fraction to enter, he quickly regretted it but was equally fascinated by the experience. The fragment held an overwhelming amount of knowledge—yottabytes of data that even his transhuman mind struggled to process. The sudden influx caused the remaining biological matter in his brain to scream in agony.

Reacting swiftly, Cawl closed his Noosphere connection. His life support systems and bionic organs immediately began the process of healing his brain.

"Amazing," he whispered, awe and admiration in his voice. "I wonder how she pulled this out from that data stream. Fascinating."

The cube he held was a Logitator Cube, a marvel of technology crafted from the binary cant of the Martian Arcant-Praefators and the crystalline form of Geass. This Geass was harvested from cloned humans specifically bred for their resistance to Warp exposure and their capability to record nearly limitless amounts of data. However, this particular cube was different, seemingly modified through unknown procedures.

Carefully, Cawl placed the cube inside a compartment within his augmented body. He then turned and left the massive chamber, heading back to his laboratory. 

___________________________________________________________________

-Inside Cawl's Labs-

Cawl utilized everything at his disposal to decypher anything he could find inside the cube. After countless bytes of data, he still could not find the full picture of what Titania had created. It makes him remember the Aeldari Dominion. 

At their zenith, the Eldar quite literally became gods, transcending the limits of space, time, and dimensions. For them, these were abstract concepts they could manipulate at will. Bellisarius Cawl had read extensively about Eldar technologies, as well as the enigmatic Necrons. Both races had developed the capability to manifest literal concepts into physical and practical technologies. The Eldar and the Necrons, though vastly different in their philosophies and methodologies, shared this extraordinary ability.

Both of the ancient races fascinated him. Similar but different at the same time. And what he is currently waking on is an apex like no other in the Imperium's technological arsenal, or at least he was aware of. 

If his deduction is correct, the limitation of mankind's exploration of this universe would be nonexistent. Yet, that was the simplest application, as the limitations of this device were endless.

from the concept of the material universe like space, time, entropy, and dimensions, but also made from metaphysical concepts that usually exist in the immaterial universe, like a journey, freedom, creation and destruction., Titania created this technology with her awesome powers, and it's Cawl's duty to finish it. 

"No wonder she needs to absorb countless cosmos to create this machine." He glanced at the table right next to him. There, holovids of the entire Falmart. "I wonder that anything that lies deep beneath that particular will become a suitable vessel for it." 

If his deduction was correct, the limitations of mankind's exploration of the universe would be nonexistent. This device represented more than just a technological leap; it was a device created from the material and immaterial realms, a fusion of physical and metaphysical concepts. The simplest concepts from the material universe are implemented in its creation, such as traversing space and time or manipulating entropy and dimensions, were merely the beginning. The true potential of this device lay in its ability to embody abstract concepts like journey, freedom, creation, and destruction—ideas that typically existed only in the immaterial universe.

Titania had harnessed her immense powers to create this extraordinary piece of technology. She had absorbed countless big bang energy, integrating the essence of entire back ground radiations and more, to bring this device into existence. Now, it was Cawl's duty to complete the final stages of its construction and ensure it could fulfill its intended purpose.

"No wonder she needs to absorb countless cosmos to create this machine." He glanced at the table right next to him. There, holovids of the entire Falmart. "I wonder that anything that lies deep beneath that particular will become a suitable vessel for it." 

The Arcant Praefator chuckled, the sound of his laughter echoing through the chamber. He could see the future unfolding before him, a future where humanity would ascend to become the rulers of dual realities. This device was the key, a symbol of the Imperium's unstoppable march toward ultimate ascension.