Chapter Text
Jackson Melver of the Imperium outpost 773433 was doing his routine check of the system's radar, real space sensor array, and looking for any warp-based phenomenon on constant charts. To say Jackson was bored and just a little bit annoyed at the officer who stuck him in this backwater sector would be an understatement. “All I did was say ‘yes, siree’ to her, and boom, I got new orders from ‘command,’” Jackson muttered bitterly. “I swear, every officer has a stick so far up their ass the God Emperor himself couldn’t pull it out.”
All scans looked nominal, besides a small bleep in the warp-sensitive instrument, indicating something just entered real space. Jackson wasn’t too concerned since the bleep was so small it couldn’t have been made by anything threatening to the Imperium, but protocol still dictated that he observe with the real space instruments. Sighing, Jackson walked a mile (“why did they make this station so Emperor damn big”) to the machines and started checking around to see what caused the disturbance. The machine spirit came alive as Jackson pinpointed some radiation runoff that appeared after warp travel, so he simply used the observation system to get a view of the source. “By the Emperor, a Space Hulk, kinda?” Jackson questioned. On screen, there seemed to be a mass of ships floating in space; however, not a single one of the ships was completely attached. The Space Hulk looks about half the size of a cruiser and is in a horrendous state. Jackson just blinked at something he wasn’t sure deserved the work “Hulk” in the name, as he simply shrugged like a man who had been in the guard long enough to stop questioning reality. “Ughhh, the paperwork I have to do will be bigger than that fack, it’s not even heading towards the station. Emperor, give me the strength to walk another FACKING MILE BACK TO MY DESK.” Jackson screamed to himself as he prepared to send his superiors a report about this Space “Hulk.” The mass of broken ships continued toward a section of space ignored by the Imperium. The Space Hulk would continue to travel for another couple of months before leaving the station's scans. Jackson would get a report to simply observe the phenomenon, because it has been deemed unimportant for Imperiam at large. After a couple of years, Jackson would forget about this event and join back with his squad before dying against an ork playing toss the humie. Without anyone knowing, the only man who saw the catalyst of Hallownest's expansion died a humiliating death.
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Sitting upon his throne of silver, the Pale King was feeling the weight of centuries of life. “The Radiance, the scorn of all under my light, is going to regret this little tantrum she's throwing. The vessel project has already borne fruit, with the corrupted eggs showing signs of lif---motion inside.” The Pale King smiled with a hungry glare that showed his previous form was not shaken off as neatly as he pretends to state. “All I must do now is damage control to keep morale and faith up till the Hollow Knight has ascended. In the end, that foolish moth would have wished they had never been remembered again. Patients are what my visions tell me to do, except for the couple that say an earthquake is about to hit.” The Pale King snorts at that thought, because why would so few visions tell him an earthquake will hit when natural disasters normally happen in bulk visions? The Pale King decides to head to his workshop to continue his tinkering with the void molds he’s been working on.
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In the realm of dreams, the Radiance and an aspect of the Nightmare Heart are discussing the current regime. “The pale wyrm will be ripped apart by his own subjects soon. You parasite of the dream can chew upon the remains of his profane kingdom. I will reclaim my subjects through the dreams and become worshipped like the days of old!” The Radiance’s wrath could be felt throughout the realm, causing the infected to scream in pain, as the nightmare simply smirked at the forgotten higher being.
The Nightmare Heart’s shade moved forward and made a mocking bow at the Radiance before opening its enflamed mouth. “I thank you for letting us have such a delectable meal in the future, but we worry that something else is coming. Don’t you feel the disturbance in the realm? Something foreign is coming towards us with no connection to dream or nightmare, just a desire to feed.” Grimm looked at the Radiance with the most serious expression he had given in a millennium. “We don’t think it is the Pale Wyrm’s doing, but perhaps he is messing with something that should have stayed buried in the earth?”
The Radiance felt fear flow through her ichor for a moment as the ancient predator seemed to have shifted by just the thought of its existence. Thankfully the nothing went back to millions of nothings, and the Radiance felt herself breathe out the breath she didn’t know she was holding. “If the fool dares, I won’t have to even lift a wing to end his life. It would be poetic if the being that forced others to be lost would be consumed by the very avatar of lost.” The moth gave a short laugh at the idea of the wyrm’s face being emptied of all life, as dark tears streamed down his face. “That would be a wonderful day, but the realm doesn’t sense the predator of gods. The pressure you are feeling is wholly different than all other energies the dreams have ever felt. Perhaps an ally to my vengeance could be acquired from these new actors, hmm?” The Radiance turned her head towards the force above the clouds that had caught her attention. Grimm, on the other hand, looked at the sky with a feeling of foreboding coming.
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On Dirtmouth, many bugs were walking on the surface, discussing the plague that had become rampant in the Kingdom below. Most of the Bugs here were simply avoiding the sick, or lived their whole lives in this barren area. Most of the Bugs seemed relaxed thanks to their king's assurance that the plague would be purged soon, and they could go back to the norm. In this quiet little town, a beetle no older than a couple of cycles looked up at the sky from the town’s public bench. It was a beautiful night filled with stars and a deep contrast to the void in between. Then the small bug noticed a star getting bigger and bigger in the sky. “Whoa, that’s so cool!” the child whispered out loud as others started to look up and see the growing star. A moment of silence filled the town as the star grew from a pinpoint to a guiding star and finally to the size of the moon. The people started screaming as the object hit the planet, causing the entire Kingdom to shake in an earthquake. Only a few miles away, the small chunk of Space Hulk had landed, and from the strange object, large Tiktik-like things started to consume everything around them, including a poor bug that was injured while on a walk outside the town. The screams began as the creatures started eating the bug alive. Below the Pale King was cursing up a storm as new visions of monstrous creatures started to fill his mind. In the dreams, the Radiance smiled as the aspect of the Nightmare Heart felt the hunger of these invaders. “So they make themselves known.”