Planet Dal, atop Blackrock Castle.
The night wind blew from the direction of Crimson Peak City, carrying the faint, distinct scent of dust and smoke unique to the crystal mines. It was a lingering proof of tens of thousands of mining rigs grinding away around the clock.
[Have You Been Loyal Today?] slowly walked up the spiral staircase to the observation deck. His footsteps were light, yet they echoed clearly in the vast, empty night.
A towering, twelve-and-a-half-foot golden figure stood with his back to him at the edge of the deck. The Aquilon Terminator armor gleamed under the silver moon's glow, the Imperial Aquila carved into the pauldron looking so lifelike it seemed ready to take flight.
Paul wasn't wearing his helmet. His dark gold eyes stared down at the sleepless city below.
Crimson Peak City.
Once known as Bancal City, it had been the final bastion of the Dal xenos. Now, it was ablaze with light. Countless mechanical arms swung through the mining zones, and transport rigs scuttled back and forth like ants between the urban sprawl and the ore veins.
Further out lay the sprawling, undulating crystal veins. The pale yellow glow emanating from them merged into a single sheet of light in the darkness, looking like a galaxy of stars that had crashed down to earth.
[Have You Been Loyal Today?] came to a halt about ten feet behind Paul.
Even as a Son of Horus who had undergone continuous genetic enhancements from the shop—pushing his height well over eight feet inside his white power armor—he still looked ridiculously short standing next to this golden giant.
Paul slowly turned around.
His dark gold eyes landed on the player, and a faint smile touched his sharply chiseled face. He gave a slight nod. The gesture was small, but it made [Have You Been Loyal Today?] instinctively straighten his spine.
"You're here?" Paul's voice was calm.
[Have You Been Loyal Today?] stepped up to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with him.
On the observation deck of Blackrock Castle, a golden figure and a white figure stood side by side.
Standing together, they looked like...
[Have You Been Loyal Today?] slowly spoke up. "Paul, G Bro already had someone log off to pass along a message to us."
He paused, a hint of relief in his tone.
"Guilliman and Sanguinius are very satisfied with Crimson Dawn's governance, and they've completely accepted the intel you left behind. They'll be leaving Aurelian in a few days.."
Paul looked at the brightly lit mines below, watching the busy figures of the Aurelian citizens, the Dawn Defense Force soldiers, and the Crimson Dawn players.
He slowly nodded. "That's good."
There was a trace of relief in his voice too. "Sanguinius didn't lose his temper, which is the best-case scenario. That hasty decision back then to lie to him... thank god it didn't trigger any disastrous fallout."
[Have You Been Loyal Today?] couldn't help but laugh. "Yeah, good thing Sanguinius isn't prone to breaking things and actually has a rational head on his shoulders."
He paused, gratitude flashing across his gene-enhanced face. "If it had been meatheads like Angron or Leman Russ, or a total psycho like Curze... our Crimson Dawn would probably be at war with the Imperium right now."
Paul smiled, raising his master-crafted golden right hand to gently pat [Have You Been Loyal Today?] on the left shoulder. The hand rested against the Luna Wolves insignia on the pauldron. It wasn't a heavy blow, but it carried a reassuring, grounding weight.
"Things aren't going to stay quiet for long," Paul's voice grew deep. "The Four Chaos Gods have already made their move. The entire galaxy is about to be swept up in a massive undertow."
His gaze drifted past Crimson Peak City, past the glowing mines, and up toward the deep, fathomless starry sky. "In a few days, I'll take a crew to clear out the other planets in Planet Dal's system. We need to lay the groundwork for the rest of the Crimson Dawn fleets. You guys need to keep up the grind, too."
Hearing this, [Have You Been Loyal Today?] immediately slammed his right fist against his chestplate, the booming crash of metal echoing into the night.
"Understood!" His voice was ringing and resolute, carrying the crisp snap of a true soldier. "I'm heading down right now to help coordinate command with Tax Bro, White Scars, and G Bro—and I might even hit the mines myself!"
He paused, a grin breaking out on his young face. "I might not be on your level yet, Paul, but after getting converted into a Son of Horus and buying all those genetic upgrades from the shop, I'm easily sitting at the level of a hundred-war veteran. I'm definitely going to be a beast at mining!"
Paul looked at him, seeing the burning motivation in the player's eyes, and his smile deepened. It was a look of pure gratification.
"Alright, go on then."
[Have You Been Loyal Today?] flashed an OK sign and turned to head down the stairs. The heavy footfalls of his white power armor gradually faded away, eventually swallowed by the night wind.
Only Paul was left on the observation deck.
He slowly turned back, gazing once more at the brilliantly lit mines below. He watched the silhouettes sweating it out in the crystal veins, pouring their souls into working for Crimson Dawn's very first Primarch.
His lips parted slightly, murmuring something so quiet that only he could hear it.
Eternal Dawn Primarch... when will I actually be able to pull that off?
His eyes fell on his system's inventory interface.
Resting quietly inside was a single item.
It was a light.
An incredibly faint, almost imperceptible sliver of light.
But just that tiny glimmer was enough to make the five hidden stars deep within his pupils spin a fraction faster.
Hope, Compassion, Resolve, Pioneering, Wisdom.
For a brief second, all five traits trembled simultaneously, resonating with that sliver of light.
Paul stared at the light, sinking into a long silence.
--
Korianis Sector.
Endless artillery fire ripped through the void.
The hundreds of warships belonging to the 52nd and 28th Expeditionary Fleets were currently locked in a brutal deathmatch with a massive armada of ancient starships.
The silver-grey battleships of the Iron Hands and the purple-and-gold vessels of the Emperor's Children split into two distinct formations. The roar of macro-cannons was swallowed by the vacuum, transforming into silent blooms of fire, while the blinding white beams from laser batteries wove a deadly web across the void.
The starships of the Diasporex wove frantically through the net of fire.
Their vessels had a bizarre design, featuring sleek, fluid curves covered entirely in cyan crystal plating. They dodged through the Imperial barrage with extreme agility—bursting forward one second, flanking the next, showing off an incredibly deep well of void-warfare experience.
But against the combined stranglehold of two Primarch-led fleets, they were starting to crack under the pressure.
One by one, the cyan ships were tagged by macro-cannon rounds. Their crystal armor shattered, and the hulls ripped apart in the vacuum. The debris drifted out in all directions, becoming fresh space junk in the sector.
Any enemy ships that tried to close the distance to the Imperial line were immediately bogged down by swarms of escort frigates, stalled entirely by a saturation of laser and torpedo fire.
After days of intense, grueling combat, the joint Imperial fleet had finally figured out why the Diasporex was fighting to the death for the Korianis Sector.
Scattered densely across the star system were massive solar collectors.
These collectors were gargantuan, looking like mechanical flowers in full bloom. Their colossal reflective mirrors were angled squarely at the local star, endlessly harvesting its solar energy.
This was their lifeline.
It was the sole energy source keeping this nomadic fleet alive in the void. To protect these collectors, they didn't dare retreat.
And now, they were being forced into a final, bloody stand against two Imperial armadas.