It is the 41st Millennium. For more than a hundred centuries the Emperor has sat immobile on the Golden Throne of Earth. He is the Master of mankind by the will of the gods, and master of a million worlds by the might of his inexhaustible armies. He is a rotting carcass writhing invisibly with power from the Dark Age of Technology. He is the Carrion Lord of the Imperium for whom a thousand souls are sacrificed every day, so that he may never truly die.

  Yet even in his deathless state, the Emperor continues his eternal vigilance. Mighty battlefleets cross the daemon-infested miasma of the warp, the only route between distant stars, their way lit by the Astronomican, the psychic manifestation of the Emperor's will. Vast armies give battle in his name on uncounted worlds. Greatest amongst his soldiers are the Adeptus Astartes, the Space Marines, bio-engineered super-warriors. Their comrades in arms are legion: the Imperial Guard and countless planetary defence forces, the ever vigilant Inquisition and the tech-priests of the Adeptus Mechanicus to name only a few. But for all their multitudes, they are barely enough to hold off the ever-present threat from aliens, heretics, mutants - and worse.

  To be a man in such times is to be one amongst untold billions. It is to live in the cruelest and most bloody regime imaginable. These are the tales of those times. Forget the power of technology and science, for so much has been forgotten, never to be re-learned. Forget the promise of progress and understanding, for in the grim dark future there is only war. There is no peace amongst the stars, only an eternity of carnage and slaughter, and the laughter of thirsting gods.

  'Are we sure that these are the right coordinates?' asked the inquisitor, carefully analyzing the hololite of the star system.

  They just translated out of the Warp; these parts of the galaxy were uncharted territory. If one could call it still a part of the galaxy, it was so far on the edge of it that one could say that it was a separate entity altogether. However, its layout was familiar, for it was like the Holy Sol system. Two ice giants, two gas ones, and four terrestrial planets. They arrived close to one of the gas giants, which was closer to the star of this system. The scans for life forms were yet to begin.

  'Are you suggesting that my crew is unable to read the coordinates you got from the Angels of the Devoured, Lord Lucian? Do you think we are that incompetent, my lord?' asked Marya Relt, rogue trader and young captain of the Spirit of Unknown. Her vessel was taken off from its regular tasks by the inquisitor so it could be used to follow this intel. She was not happy about this fact, even though it held the promise of a much greater benefit to the imperium's citizens who lived on this side of the Great Rift. Most could only hope that this was only the worst side of the Imperium and not all that was left. For this fact (and for the fact that this area was unexplored, so it could hold great profit for the rogue trader), she put up with a great amount of undesired things. Insulting her and her crew was not one of them.

  Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  The Inquisitor stared at the woman; the light of the hololith danced on his black skin. He was about to answer when another passenger cut in, trying to calm down the two prideful parties, just like always.

  'No one would dare to insult you or your crew, Lady Relt. Lord Lucian just wanted to make sure that we are at the right place. After all, we traveled far from the nearest imperial system on unconfirmed information. Information, which could be wrong, but one that holds great promise.' Sir Ghallian, not Fortan. A knight of the high court of planet Fortan. His wisdom and calm demeanor often proved just as valuable to the crew of the ship as the imperial knight suit he piloted. He walked beside the captain's throne and made a small bow toward the inquisitor. He was old, but no one from the crew would have dared to challenge him to a duel even outside the Spear of Wisdom.

  The two arguing parties quickly stopped their feud. For now.

  'Open the shields and scan the system for any signs of life! And just to be sure, disrupt any signals and radars. If there are any hostiles, I do not want them to notice us too soon.'

  The grand cruiser's crew quickly sprung to action on the orders of their captain. Auspex sprung to life, and scanners started to map out the entire system down to the most minute details. The shields started to open up, letting in the light of the distant star to the command deck. The new readings appeared on the hololith, which Lucian watched carefully, especially the third planet from the fiery stellar ball. The scans revealed that its size and its moon's size are really close to that of Holy Luna and Terra. In fact...

  The Lord Inquisitor started to operate the device. Bringing up data to compare. The knight walked over to the hololithic projector as well. Even the captain left her throne to watch.

  'What are you doing, Lord?' she asked.

  By the end, there was a double of every stellar object. One in green and one in blue.

  'By the Emperor,' said the inquisitor. He could not believe it. 'If this data is right... What do you see on this map?'

  'Uhm, that you made a copy of everything?' shrugged the rogue trader.

  'In green you see the planets of this system,' explained the agent of the Ordo Xenos. 'In blue, you see the map of the Holy Sol system. It's almost a 100% match in composition.'

  'Interesting,' joined in the knight. 'What are the chances of that?'

  'Almost none,' said the inquisitor. 'There should not be this close of a match anywhere in the galaxy. In fact, if this data is right, all of the differences between the two maps appear to be man-made constructs. Even the estimated rotation type is a match to that of the Blessed Cradle of Humanity.'

  The shocking news left all of them speechless.

  'Can it be the work of heretics or xenos?' asked Sir Ghallian, breaking the silence.

  'Possible,' answered Lucian. 'But there are no artificial or obscured objects according to the scans. If this is some type of manipulation, the ship's systems would have to show something. Data that makes no sense, objects obscured from the radar's vision. Some anomaly. But I can see nothing. Unless, of course, one of the crewmen manipulates this machine.'

  Marya opened her mouth to argue, but one of the helmsmen was faster.

  'My lord, we are picking up signs of life. It's short-ranged radio signals. They are... primitive, but steady. Nothing like I've ever seen. We can only detect that they are there but can't read them.'

  'Where are they coming from?' Asked the captain.

  'From the third planet from the star, my lady.'

  'Can you get me a visual?'

  'Projecting it now.'

  A magnified picture of the planet appeared on the deck. It was mostly seas and oceans, with noticeably big continents. Some kinds of ice regions were clearly showing themselves on the top and the bottom.

  'It... it cannot be,' said Sir Ghallian in awe.

  'Have you seen anything like this, Sir Ghallian?'

  'It... it is almost identical to the pictures depicted in our main cathedral on Fortan. If this image is true, this planet looks identical to....'

  He stopped for a moment, considering if he should continue. Even the suggestion could be heresy by the standards of the Inquisition. Finally, he decided to speak regardless.

  'To ancient Terra.'