Editing End Times (Warhammer 40,000) (section)

==Part 3==
On the other side of the Eye of Terror, a motley band of warriors fought their way through the Arx gap. Clad in mismatched power armor, no two warriors looked alike. Some wielded power swords, others bolters, and others with whatever they could find that would work. They had been fighting in a place where time had little meaning, yet they had fought for thousands of years. Standing over these warriors were four martial lords unmatched in all the galaxy, save for their kin. They stared at the stars – real stars, the like of which they hadn't seen since.... none could remember when they had last seen real stars.

“Right,” said Leman Russ, “Does anyone know where we are?”

In the void between the galaxies a hungry malevolence observed the psychic ripples of these events and hurried onward. Soon it would reach the Light, and then it would feast.

Back on Terra, in the lower core of a hivespire, a child was being born to humble, pious parents who worked for the Administratum. Conceiving had taken longer than either of them expected, and only the advice of a local doctor had finally allowed them to become parents.

“You can do it, Maria, just push!” said Iosephus. He held her hand tightly, love in his eyes.

“Aaaaaargh!” screamed Maria with a final push, and as the child entered the world the doctor caught and swaddled the babe, and snipped the umbilical cord.

“We did it...” she panted. “We did,” he replied.

“Congratulations,” said the doctor. “It's a girl.”

“I am going to strangle Cegorach,” thought the God-Emperor of Mankind, as his avatar cried and suckled at her mother's breast.

Within the Webway, the Laughing God's cackle grew to new heights as his greatest trick unfolded. He – although such a concept as gender had little meaning to the Laughing God – bid his harlequins to dance, and on every craftworld in the galaxy Farseers awoke with a screaming headache.

Months passed. The galaxy turned.

On Terra, a girl child, newly born, blazed with the light of the Emperor and grew into a young woman even as she led her devoted followers to the gates of the Imperial Palace itself. They swung open as the Adeptus Custodes marched out in force.

“My Custodes, do you not recognize your Emperor?” she said, and even those at the rear of the massive crowd could hear, though not with their ears. Only a few at the very front, such as the holy couple Iosephus and Maria, heard the reply.

“We do, my lord. We welcome you back home.” As one, they bowed. A cheer went up. Terra celebrated for days, even as the darkness grew.