The vision faded, leaving Arcturus stunned and disoriented. As he stumbled back to his squad, he realized that the Mark of the Xenos – a symbol of the Genestealer's corrupting influence – had been impressed upon his power fist. The taint of the alien was now a part of him, a constant reminder of the dangers that lurked in the shadows of the 41st millennium.

In the grim darkness of the far future, the Imperium of Man was beset on all sides by threats. The unending wars against the alien, the heretic, and the mutant had taken their toll on the Imperium's resources. On the remote planet of Molech, a world on the edge of the Segmentum Obscurus, the Imperium's grip was tenuous at best.

In the vision, Arcturus saw the Eldar, ancient and proud, as they forged the webway – a labyrinthine network of dimensional tunnels that crisscrossed the galaxy. He witnessed the birth of the Great Rift, a catastrophic event that had shattered the webway and plunged the galaxy into darkness.